Every mom dreams of being like Martha Stewart right? We want each holiday to be a perfect memory for our children. We see all of the great craft ideas and think, “I can totally do that!” This month’s cover of Country Living inpired me to do just that. No more breaking my wrists trying to carve a pumpkin. Let’s paint it! Chevrons are so hot this season and I loved the patterned orange and white pumpkin they showed in the magazine. I read the instructions, studied the picture and gathered my supplies. Acrylic paint, painters tape, scissors and my favorite playlist from Pandora on my phone. And so I began taping. Cutting each angle precise and rubbing the edges of tape with my finger so that the paint would not bleed. It was looking good and I was starting to envision how fabulous it was going to look! How jealous my neighbors would be when they saw how darn crafty I was. I taped while the kids were napping. It took me two days to tape it off. I didn’t dare try to paint while they were awake so I did that after they went to bed. I would paint a coat and let it dry then go back and paint a second coat. Finally it was the big reveal. I was still worried about the paint peeling a bit so I meticulously scored the edges of the tape with an Exacto knife. I could barely contain my excitement.
Then I starting peeling off the tape. Oh no, NO, NO! The paint was STILL peeling and edges were so rough looking! How could this be? I followed the instructions, I spent hours making sure the tape was down perfect and scoring the edges with precision. Unbelievable. So many hours wasted on my project that really only looks decent if you are 15 plus feet away. So Country Living Magazine, I say to you, let’s get real. You have an unpaid intern working for you that spent four months making that pumpkin for the cover shot because they knew that if it wasn’t perfect they would never be able to step foot back in your crafty door! And I can only imagine a little Photoshop was used to make it even more perfect. So thank you for setting me up for failure. For making me think, “I can do that!” You stink. Happy Halloween.
Do you have a funny failed craft project? I want to hear about it!
I love this post. Thanks for making a very un Martha Stewart mom feel good about not wasting her time with all these crafts I see. However, I think your pumpkin looks great in these pictures!
I completely agree with Liz! Also, am I the only one who didn’t know that patterns like this are called Chevrons?!? I am so out of the loop!