Why I'm a sucky crafter...

Last night, while I was painting this little pot (to put it in our bathroom to hold q-tips), I kept scrutinizing it over and over again, wondering why I hated it so much. The colours perfectly matched the new bathroom colours. The leaves I drew, then painted in looked good (I even edged them using a black permanent marker to make it look smoother). But I kept wanting to toss it out. I was thinking and painting, thinking and painting and I finally figured out why, even as I crave crafting, buy materials to craft, obsess over doing crafts and scour Pinterest for craft ideas, that I hate everything I create. I suck. Yep, sounds completely negative but I think I really suck at crafts. Here are examples of why I suck at crafts: -I can't draw a straight line or even cut in a straight line. I have never been able to do this and I've found that things look WAY better when you can draw a straight line. -I'm impatient and want results right away. I don't like to wait for stuff to dry, to "cure" or finish. This is amplified by the fact that when I am doing a craft, it takes up valuable counter space in our kitchen and my husband grumbles about that until I put everything away...and I don't do that until the craft is finished. -I'm a perfectionist. If something looks wonky, I'll try to fix it but if I end up screwing it up more, I'm likely to toss it. I'm always critical and have high standards, which I never feel I meet. -I'm cheap. I don't spend oodles and oodles of money finding the highest quality products. My paintbrushes are dollar store, my ribbons are consignment store. If I don't buy it at the dollar store or second hand, I don't do it. Probably why my crafts LOOK cheap. They ARE! LOL -I'm a visual person. I like the way I see things but when what I do doesn't replicate that or what I thought it would look like, I get frustrated and give up. -I'm stubborn. Instead of conceding that I suck at crafts, I keep trying different things hoping it will work. So what have I learned here? Absolutely nothing. I will still do the crafts I have (cause I spent my money on them) and will probably continue to hate them (I made a canvas painted silver with blue buttons organized to look like stars (my best friend, Niki's, favourite) and gave it to her birthday back in December and every time I see it, I want to rip it off the wall and throw it in the garbage. I think it looks like a 5 year old did it. But she stubbornly tells me she loves it...I'll wait until she leaves... I'm such a frustrated crafter. I've only successfully made a few things that I'm actually proud of. The wooden massive shelf I made in Grade 9 shop class (even though I only got a 84 on it), the two cross stitches I made for Abby before she was born (I finished Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, did NOT finish Tigger and Eeyore...maybe if I have another kid!) and the "A" initial I painted and decorated with buttons. Also, the scrapbook I'm almost finished of Abby year 1 (don't remind me that she's almost 3 and I'm two years behind...I'm still optimistic!) So I've had a few (very few) successes to my many, many defeats. But I'm stubborn, so I will keep trying. I will never be one of those people who can turn crap into art or treasures but I will probably have to settle for turning my cheap crap into cheap art and hoping everyone thinks Abby did it! Now, if she becomes a better crafter than I am...sob sob...

Another big craft...

Ok, so I epic-failed on doing crafts for Christmas...but at least I remembered to get my presents all done on time and wrapped...sort of...thank goodness for gift bags!
So to kick off the new year, I have decided to pick a project from my "Crafts to try" folder on Pinterest and DO IT. I am trying to pick things that are relatively easy, don't take too much time (or counter space) and cost little to no money to do, using supplies I already have.
The next project is going to be a bin made from...wait for it...an empty diaper box...yep, Pampers and Huggies are going to LOVE me! Here's the project idea:



I don't know if I'm going to use burlap per se...but I'm going to go raid the thrift stores for some fabric (once I measure how much I'm going to need). I aim to be completely done this project by the end of the weekend. Wish me luck!