I'm published! - CraftFail Book

Good news, everyone! I forgot to mention this, but I have been published!

Well, actually, one of my craft fails has been published in this new book: CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann (creator of Dollar Store Crafts). So, if anyone ever wants to write an essay or research paper on craft fails, I technically can be cited as a source! So exciting! 

I was contacted by Heather in early July of this year and told me she was interested in putting my DIY Translucent Faux Pumpkin [Part 1] post in her upcoming CraftFail book. 

Of course, I agreed and here it is in all its glory!

My original post did end up as a craft fail, but it was salvaged in DIY Translucent Faux Pumpkin [Part 2]! 

The rest of the book is filled with other craft fails from craftsters around the internet. It is HILARIOUS. Seriously. I laughed till I cried!

If you're interested in purchasing this book for your own enjoyment, here's the link: 

CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong

Disclaimer: I have not been paid or sponsored to write this post. I also do NOT receive any profit from the sale or promotion of this book. All opinions are my own.

Acorns or Turdcorns?

The weather in Mississippi isn't getting cooler as fast as I'd like it to. This is very disappointing to me. Some of the inhabitants of the South are already wearing jackets and leggings. I don't believe it's jacket or jean weather until it's below 60°F. Ugh. Come on, +70°F weather! Go away! I want to wear my boots!

So, I'm still stuck indoors with the A/C trying to envision a cozy, warm house on a cool autumn day. To help achieve this, I decided my house needed some cute acorn decor. Since my kitchen is apple themed, the dividing wall  between the kitchen and dining area holds two glass apples (one green and one red). I made two giant acorns to replace them so it'd add more of an autumn feel.

The results weren't as great as I'd hope.... so are they acorns or turdcorns?

Here's a mini-tutorial on how I made them!

DIY Translucent Faux Pumpkin [Part 2]

I have managed to fix this pumpkin! Hooray!!! You may need to read Part 1 of my adventure so you can understand what's going on. After much contemplating and scouring my house for supplies, I managed to come up with a solution to fix my almost craft fail.

I've photographed the rest of my project so you guys can see what I did. I suppose it's like a ghetto tutorial. 

Anywho, here's the result!

DIY Translucent Faux Pumpkin [Part 1]

The autumn themed crafts continue! This is supposed to be the last project to be posted, but it's taken me forever to get done and I found another project to make after this one! It's been quite a hassle to work with and I ran (and currently still running) into a lot of pitfalls. As with most of my craft projects, I usually fly by the seat of my pants and hope for the best. In the process of imminent fails and shaky recoveries, I learned a lot!

This post will be in two parts since I technically haven't finished it. It's not really a tutorial per-say.... more of a step-by-step photo documentary of the process and its trial and errors.

I was originally inspired by Martha Stewart's translucent pumpkins tutorial that I pinned on my Pinterest board. Martha used real pumpkins, of course. I have only carved one real pumpkin ever in my life and it was a mess and a half. I decided to try a faux pumpkin instead. (No seeds!) I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon which came out to be about $25. It's the Funkins brand, which is pricier, but higher quality and more realistic looking than other faux pumpkins. I figured it would be a long term investment.

Nail Fail: Scalloped French Manicures

I'm sorry everyone. I didn't post yesterday and this post will explain why. Today's post is not what you expect. Well, I would hope by now you could guess by the title.

So, I tried to do a nail polish manicure tutorial with something I had not really seen done. I was attempting a scalloped-edge French manicure. It took me 4 TRIES and I finally gave up. First time, I didn't wait long enough for the base color to try before putting on the scotch tape and it pulled up ALL of the base polish. :(

Second try, I let the base polish dry for 1 1/2 hours! And it STILL pulled up the polish when I pulled the tape off!!!!!!!! ARRRGHHHHH. The other 2 tries? Me just smearing the crap out of the polish and having to redo them. So, I just gave up and painted my nails neon yellow.