Arts and Crafts FAIL

I am giggling right now because I am SO right there with you. Pinterest projects (and you-tube projects, and those easy-seeming projects in family magazines) always look so easy and fun. And then reality happens.

One year I took an idea from a magazine. Homemade wrapping paper - how cute, right? So we got rolls of brown paper, red, white and green tempera paint, and big holiday themed foam rubber stamps. And then the "fun" of trying to manage a craft with a kindergartener and a 2 y.o. and a dog happened. I had rolls of wet wrapping paper everywhere. I had spilled paint (on the dog, no less). I had children walking in spilled paint and then running through the carpeted rental house.

And then I peeled myself off the ceiling and had a huge glass of wine.

I don't do craft projects at home any more. :-)

www.pinterestfail.com will make you feel soooo much better.

My son is six and this summer, we did a project of 'making a mummy' complete with a cool sarcophagus. The tutorial video took about 8 minutes; the real thing? About 2.5 hours. :) Sometimes, it's okay to say 'well, we tried!' and enjoy the fun thing about the process, even if the product wasn't what you wanted.

As a former preschool teacher, I've learned to accept failure on a grand scale!

Oh, sister, I get you. I loathe crafts. Loathe them. Mine always come out looking mutant (if you have ever seen the Pinterest project where you glue crayons to a canvas and heat them so they drip down and make a pretty, artsy rainbow...yeah, let's just say it doesn't always work so well).

No real advice here, just solidarity. Google "Pinterest fail" for a good laugh. :) Don't feel bad if you decide crafting just isn't your thing; there are plenty of ways to make memories with your child that don't involve glue guns or decoupage. Play to your strengths, is what I always say!

I have a suggestion for the ornaments that is much easier than crayons.

I get the clear glass ornaments and a few colors of acrylic paint in the small bottles. (Delta is a name brand, but I usually buy the Michael's or JoAnn's brands when they are on sale for 50 cents a bottle.) Pull the metal top & loop out of the ornament. Squeeze some paint in the ornament and swirl it around to coat the inside of the ornament. Once it's coated, I set it on a Dixie or other disposable cup with the opening pointing down into the cup to drain the excess paint. I let them sit for a couple of days to dry, put the metal top & loop back in, add a bow, and I have a pretty ornament.

You don't need to use a lot of paint. I usually have my kids add a couple of good squeezes of 2 or 3 colors and start swirling. Then they add a little more at a time as needed. Just keep an eye on the paint and make sure the ornament is swirled over a newspaper covered table because the paint will stain. I've been doing this with my kids since they were 4 or 5 years old. I supervised closely when we first did this to keep any mess to a minimum. Now that they are 10 & 12, I just need to make sure they don't start goofing around.

I like to mix metallic colors with regular colors. I think they are the prettiest. My son's class once coated the inside of clear plastic ornaments with white paint and then used sharpies to draw snowman faces on the ornaments. For my son's Minecraft birthday party this weekend, I got 2 shades of green paint and a black acrylic paint pen. I'm going to have the boys coat the inside of their ornaments with the green paint and then draw a creeper face on their ornaments.

Take her to a pottery store. It is very inexpensive and she will have a lot of fun.

I wonder if a glass ball would be better than plastic.

For me, if it's a "fail" at least I tried and DD and I worked on something together. Not everything is a success, but it is not a total loss if we spent some time doing something.

Thanks for the laugh. My daughter wanted to be little Bo peep for Halloween this year and wanted me to be her sheep. I found an "award winning" sheep costume on pinterest made out of an old hoodie and pillow stuffing ( using spray adhesive). Perfect!
We had a party to go to so I used to spray adhesive to make hawian punch into Gouhls blood and also made a few other treats.
The costume was a huge fail! I was leaving trails of pillow stuffing everywhere and everyone thought I was a cloud.
At least the food and drinks I brought were a hit.

I'm always scared to try the things I see on PInterest. At least you had the guts to try.

It's always a challenge to find crafts that match your kid's interest, age, dexterity, ability and patience.

I volunteered for Art in elementary school and for K we had to come up with a ciriculum. We tried many things out on our own kids before we did them with the classes. We were always surprised by activities that were difficult for them. We changed many lessons. We taught 4 classes in a day and the last class was always best. We understood what to change and how to taylor it to that age. So, yes, trial and error is part of the process.

I suggest you go to the library and check out the children's art books. Many of the lessons we taught came out of those. Most are paper, pencil, paints, poster board, and odds and ends. They are geared toward kids. Art is so much more than crafts. It's nice to get a product in the end, but art is about the process, not the product! Please don't miss the forest for the trees!

Pintrest has a lot of cool looking stuff but it runs the gamet on who it's geared for. I've made salt dough before but on a sheet pan and I've never had it stick! Oops! Ive got to tell you, that nonstick foil is awesome! Nothing sticks.

For the crayon project you need to get the glass ornaments, you can find them at Michaels.