Sometimes crafting is stupid

Pin ItTweet

I like to think I’m a crafty person. I have sewn pillows and drapes and full bed sets…and they look pretty darn professional.

I can paint on canvas, make dolls out of scrap material, and cook as well (or better) than everyone I know.

I have found that crafting is a good way to spend time with my kids. When my older girls were younger I taught them how to use the sewing machine. They made cup holders and small pillows…and it was fun teaching them how to sew and connecting with them on another level other than just bossing them around.

They’re older now and rarely home except to change clothes and ask for money, but that’s OK because luckily for me I have TWO MORE KIDS…who are still young and have to (as required by law, I think) hang out and do stuff with me.

So last weekend I was trolling my favorite site, Pinterest, when I came across this kids craft.

Adorable yes?

I showed the kids the picture of the gum drop turkey and their eyes lit up and they started jumping up and down and singing, “Let’s do it, let’s do it.”

And so…

The three of us jumped in the car and raced up to the nearest store to buy the few simple ingredients needed…
small gum drops
large gum drops
Nerds
gummie worms
marshmallows
toothpicks

This should be simple enough, right? I mean…we’re not talking about making origami turkeys…IT’S CANDY for cryin out loud.

But…I’m getting ahead of myself.

We stood on the aisle marked Bulk Candy and stared at the many options.

There were no gum drops, small OR large. But there were Dots. Dots are like gum drops, right? I mean the only difference is that Dots aren’t covered in sugar. So basically they’re the same thing.

Like I mentioned there were no large gum drops either, but there were sugared fruit slices…which are EXACTLY the same thing as gum drops except for their shape.

The rest was easy. We found Nerds and gummie worms and marshmallows and toothpicks.

So.

Back at home we prepped our area.

Since we didn’t exactly have the correct ingredients we had to be creative.

Let me say this about substituting ingredients for this craft. DON’T DO IT.

Because if you do your turkey will turn out like this.

This really was the most frustrating hour of my entire life.

My armpits were sweating. My BOOBS were sweating. Harley became hostile and agitated and yelled at me. “This isn’t working! This is the stupidest thing we have ever done!”

Dots are NOT the same thing as gum drops. They’re heavier so they kept making the turkey fall back on its butt. The fruit slices we had to end up cutting in half and sticking a toothpick through to give the stupid feathers more support. The marshmallow stuck to my fingers–not to the Dots. And after trying and trying and trying to make this work we gave up and walked away.

The only person who seemed to enjoy the failed craft was Ethan.

What does he know though? He’s SIX!

Just look at Harley’s face in the background. Hers is the real story.

PS. If you would like an invite to Pinterest so that YOU TOO might become addicted, leave your email address in the comments and I’ll send you one.

Be Sociable, Share!

•