It might have come to your attention by now that I won’t be a cake decorator when I grow up as evidenced by Cake Disasters I and II. So let’s move on to ornaments.
There was a time, long, long ago—let’s call them the good old days—when all the women in my family lived in the same town, and we got together often and did crafty things. Let me say first that I am not a crafty person (see cake links above), but I am shifty. I didn’t want my mom, sister, and sister-in-law having fun without me. Nor did I want them talking about me behind my back, especially since I provided them continuous gossip material in which to discuss. Of course, looking back now, my life wasn’t near as newsworthy as I imagined. In all likelihood, I would not have made headlines in any of their conversations. I might have made the comics section, if at all (Born Loser comes to mind).
So when they got together for Christmas crafts, I was right there in the center of it all, an imposter among the creative. Lucille Ball vs Martha Stewarts. Once I got into it, there was no turning back. My over focused ADD took center stage, and I committed myself 110% to the project, tuning out the banter, the background Christmas music, the instructions. And I would look up and they would be gone, finished light hours ahead of me, dispersed to other parts of the house or to bed. But ha! I finished. Let’s take a look.
The first pictured are the oldest from my childhood. Here we have some silk and velvet fabric-draped bulbs with fancy pins. My mother’s is the one on the left, my sister’s on the right. Time of completion: 30 minutes.
And here’s mine.
Time of completion: 3 hours.(sans instructions, of course)
Pictured below is a cinnamon log by my sister-in-law and a handpainted bulb by my mother.
And here’s my horse/donkey/whatever.
Pay close attention to its face. Forget the time involved.
I’m scared. What if I’m an imposter to writing too? What if any one of these ladies, should she decide this minute, writes a book. Will it be done in a fraction amount of time than mine? Will it shine with effortless prose, structure, and style? Will it be about me?
Okay, I can strike off that last one. Where I lacked in creativity, I made up for in paranoia. But I have enough residual paranoia left to worry I’m all a sham, and if my cakes and ornaments are anything to show for it, then I’m in deep doo doo.
Are you creative in areas besides writing?
These are beautiful.
Duke~Yes, some of them are. Just none of mine. 🙂
Heck, I don’t even know if I am creative in writing. Some guy told me my blog articles are awful 😦
We must keep trying, right? Wait, isn’t that insanity at some point?
Mel~I made a quick visit to your blog and would have to disagree with “some guy”. Of course I went straight to your ugly cats and determined that if I were to make a cat as ugly as my cakes and ornaments then those would be my finished masterpieces.
Thanks for the complement.
Friday’s post will be about me whining about this dude one more time… then I’ll quit.
Again, your kindness made my day. 🙂
I don’t know if it is considered creative, but I look at different ways to do things.
The ornaments you made looked as nice as the ones your mother and sister made.
Ahmnodt~That’s my defense from now on: I do things a different way. Way different.
Thanks for the sentiments.
Laughing, as always, though less at your ornaments (which I am absolutely certain are better than anything I could make) than at your descriptions of them. Which, given your chosen vocation, is a good thing.
I love the little walnut… um… skiing bird? It’s adorable. And I don’t think we should get all hung up on things like identifying the animals we create. 🙂
I shared this post on Twitter! Woo-hoo! I never noticed your twitter button. What a doof.
J~Skiing bird? Yes! That’s what it is. Thank you.
And Twitter? I haven’t the foggiest notion on what to do with it now that I have it. Did you “friend” me? I only ask because I’m afraid of social sites. What if I get friend requests and ignore them due to ignorance? I hope the world forgives me my Twitter twitness.
I am laughing, not at you but with you. They look suspiciously similar to some of my crafty endeavors. And yet I can sew a decorative pillow lickety-split. What is with that?
Oh, and the cake decorating? I took a class last winter and it is not to be discussed.
TinfoilMagnolia~Thank you for identifying with crafty disasters. It’s always nice to know I have company. 🙂
And decorative pillow? Oh. my, do I have another post. Thank you for reminding me. My decorative pillow endeavors put my cakes and ornaments to shame. I’ll have to see if I still have it. I think I threw it away.
I loved the ornaments. But my favorite was the donkey. Loved that expression! In my house that would be on our tree every year.
Creative in other areas? Hmm. let me see it wouldn’t be card-making for sure. I can be creative. I do knit and I can croquet, but I spend most of my creative time writing.
Laura~The donkey is on the tree every year–hiding in the back. Sometimes I get caught and my kids will bring them front and center then I’ll relocate it again. It’s a game to them. It’s a “save face” for me.
I was going to say writing is about as creative as I get, but on second thought that isn’t entirely true. I dabble in a lot of creative things… “dabble” being the word to notice. I occasionally make cards; I knit two baby outfits forty years ago but found I hated knitting and haven’t knit anything since; I’ve crocheted most of one afghan, but it took way too long and I lost interest before I finished. I like to scrapbook but only when I have unlimited time because it takes me forever to do a page. I like photography, but I discard more photos than I save. I used to oil paint but haven’t painted anything in years. Are you getting the gist of my creativity? I think the secret is to do what you enjoy and not worry about how long it takes or what anyone else things of the results.
For the record, I think your efforts are admirable. 🙂
Carol~I tried scrapbooking once, which produced an outcome very similar to my ornaments and with a large chunk of time involved.
That would be “thinks” of the results. Aghhh!!
I’m creative in procrastination… Does that count?
leafprobably~Indeed it does. Excuses are right up there with fiction writing, though I feel that for myself, I’ve improved more in the procrastination than I have in the writing.
[…] Ornament disasters: Tricia shares her beautiful, creative, handcrafted art work just in time for Christmas. You better watch out Martha Stewart because there’s a new sheriff in town. Wait? I don’t think Martha was on that side of the law. Hmm… […]