I’m going to start a new thing… There’s been way too much chatter about the way so many blogs only post the good stuff… Apparently some people think that us bloggers aren’t keeping it real. So here it is. On Friday’s I’m posting an epic craft/sewing/art fail. I’ll try to do mine, but I’d love to have you guys share your mishaps too!

So here’s the first one. An eel costume for Alexis’ 3rd grade research paper presentation. She was supposed to make it herself, so we talked about how to do it. I had this great image in my mind about how it would look. I even let her do the sewing on the machine.

It should be noted that the design was entirely mine… she tried to convince me to do things a little differently… but I didn’t listen. Of course.

Fail!

I was once again desperately searching through my iPhoto library looking for blog inspiration when I came across these photos. They’re post processed with an app called Poladroid.

Aren’t they fun?

I love how it instantly makes the photos look like they were taken in the 70s… Have you ever noticed that photos from back then just look different? And I’m not talking in an old yellowing sort of way. More of a life-was-brighter-and-we-wore-lots-of-patterned-cotton-shirts-in-bright-Holly-Hobby-colors-with-our-overalls. (Which is funny since the colors in these photos seems more muted.) There also seems to be a frightening number of photos of toilets from that era (you saw the one on the poladroid homepage didn’t you?).

I remember when my brother and I got our first cameras… they were big bulky blue polaroids. I remember how expensive the damn film was… and if that wasn’t bad enough, the flash cartridges were insanely priced as well. But it was so fun to run ride your bike around the block with this giant camera bouncing against your chest on its strap and taking terribly aimed photos of the most mundane stuff and then waiting anxiously for the picture to develop. I wonder if I have any of those old pictures around… I bet my brother still has his camera. He saves everything.

I don’t know, maybe old photos just evoke memories of a certain innocence that we all lose when we become adults. At any rate, it is a fun app. You actually have to wait for the photo to “develop”. You can, of course, “shake” the photo to get it to develop faster… (Did that actually work?) And you can only “take” (read: process) 10 photos at a time. Fingerprints and scratches can be added. Try it out. Then show me your pictures! (and no, they aren’t paying me to say that… it’s a free app!)

Apparently I’m late to the party. How did I miss these lovely voile fabrics from Anna Maria Horner? Actually, how did I not know about her at all until a few days ago? I’m just going to say that “yeah, having a baby puts you completely out of the loop!” That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

There is a shelf in our garage with all of these unglazed pots on it.

My favorite is the bird house. It’s the third one I’ve made, and I learned a bit about designing them after a momma bird built her nest in one of the others. For example, that little perch would have been really helpful to her… as it was she had to land on our clothesline (yes! we are that low tech!) and then sort of hop-fly into the opening. Precarious at best when you’re carrying a big fat bug in your mouth for your obnoxiously chirping babies.

I’m not nuts about the canisters, but they are pretty well balanced and probably actually useful (as opposed to some of the wonkier ones I’ve made). I love the bowl, and there is a tiny bud vase that isn’t shown in these pictures that I also love.

They’ve been sitting there for years just waiting for me to finish them. Actually, there were lots more, but I decided to only keep the best ones with the hope that someday I will either start taking classes again (in all my voluminous spare time), or I will drive my butt all. the. way. down. to the clay store and buy some glaze. Then I’d only have to find a place to fire them.

On the other hand, they’re really pretty where they are, and I really like seeing them whenever I walk into the house. A little bit of beauty in an otherwise totally and completely trashed out garage*.

*Ok, maybe it’s not really that bad.

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