Crafters Unite!

So I didn't mean to spend the afternoon being crafty--but that's what happened. Here is the result. Not bad, huh? I found myself in Michael's this morning. By the way, I absolutely hate that store--the aisles are so goddamn skinny you can't help but knock things over making the store more of a mess than it already is. And it makes you smell--stop by any Michael's and you will immediately notice the smell. Anyhoo, I was perusing the holiday wreaths, mentally calculating the 40% discount, when it hit me: I can do that! And cheaper!

And I did.

Every once in awhile, I experience moments of craftiness-DIY spirit. I trace it back to my mom, who is one of the craftiest women out there. When I was a kid, my mom went through phases of crafting: ceramics, baking, toll painting, sewing, floral arrangements, crochet. She's stuck with crochet since we moved to El Paso, I think because her sisters and mother all crochet, too (it seemed like my abuela crocheted 14 hours a day. Her fingers were always wound in fine yarn and a needle. You'd request a tablecloth and ta-da! it was ready almost instantly.) I think crafting was a way for my mom to get to know people when we moved around. She'd find the local ceramic shop or join classes of some sort and then meet fellow crafters. My mom is also infamous for taking on huge projects and finishing them before my dad got home from work. G. and I unexpectedly stopped by her house last year and caught her sawing wood in the kitchen amid an enormous mess (I think she was making a shelf). Come 6 pm, the entire kitchen was spotless and dinner was ready.

I really admire my mom for taking on all sorts of projects. She never let a project overwhelm her. Sure, all that crafting also created a million knick-knacks suitable for every single holiday. But thanks to her as my DIY role model, I never have to be a slave to expensive premanufactured decorative crap. Instead, I can make my own decorative crap, thank you very much!