Crafting; Life Lessons…
A few weeks ago, I decided to give my autumn home décor an
overhaul. I pulled out some old pumpkins
from a storage bin and inspected their sorry state of existence. A few years ago I had purchased them from a
craft store and brought them home. I
painted them with an orange paint that had glitter in it and was pleased with
the way they had turned out. But, years
had passed and their paint job had faded… and very few “sparkles” still held to
the surface. It was time for a
makeover! I wanted something elegant or
maybe something rustic. I opted for a
shabby chic solution and began my project – I was going to Mod Podge each
pumpkin with vintage sewing pattern paper!
The result was sure to be charming!
So I got busy and spent the better part of the day layering each pumpkin
with Mod Podge and pattern paper. This
process continued on the following day.
Coat, dry, repeat, coat, dry, repeat, and so on… there’s nothing quick
about Mod Podge pumpkins. When I could
no longer continue out of sheer exhaustion, I declared them “DONE” and let them
cure for another day before sharing them with the universe.
Between you and me, I was not pleased with my pumpkin
project. They did not turn out like I
had hoped… in fact; they didn’t turn out like anything I had imagined. Two words came to my mind as I looked at them: EPIC FAIL.
{Heavy sigh} But, rather than
make a hasty ruling on my own, I decided
to allow my efforts to be judged by my peers, after all – I am usually much
more critical of my work than others… how bad could it really be?!! I have a vintage/boutique e-commerce site and
a Facebook page to promote it, so I posted pictures of my pumpkins and shared
my pumpkin project journey. Most
comments were favorable, but a few of my followers noted that the pattern paper
didn’t show up very well and/or that it was hard to see it. Great.
My ‘epic fail’ was not only visible to me; it was obvious to others,
too! I gathered up my Mod Podge pumpkins
and set them up on the shelf. Surely,
such a disappointment could not grace the centerpiece on my harvest table. Thanksgiving would be ruined! {Dramatic? Hmm, perhaps.} So, the pumpkins sat on the shelf and started
collecting dust. I have walked by them
each day since – glancing up at them, only to be reminded of my failed pumpkin project.
Today I was hunting for a Sharpie pen and I discovered a
misplaced Krylon 18K gold leafing pen. I
picked it up and gave it a good shake… there was still a lot of paint in the
pen. I took the cap off and worked the
paint down to the tip of the pen. It was
still in good working order! My eyes
drifted up to the shelf… and I locked in on those pathetic Mod Podge
pumpkins. What if I slapped some 18K gold on
them?!! I quickly pulled the pumpkins of
the shelf and began making gold swirls on them… and as I busied myself, my mind
began to wander as it often does. Crafting
is a lot like life. Sometimes, it is a
work in progress. These pumpkins were supposed
to be perfect after some slight embellishing and despite my best efforts; they
didn’t turn out at all. I was
disappointed. I had to put them on the
shelf and leave them alone, until I came up with a new plan. Life is like that, isn’t it…?!! We are all a “work in progress” at times. We have dreams about how our careers, our
marriage, our families, or our lives will be – only to discover that,
sometimes, things just don’t turn out as planned. In fact, sometimes things turn out so badly,
we have to put them on the shelf for another day until we can face them and
make the improvements that are needed.
My mind drifted back to my pumpkin project and I realized
that I was nearly done. I finished up
and sat back to take a good, long look at them.
No, the pumpkins aren’t perfect…but nothing is ever truly perfect. Despite that cold, hard fact of life - these
pumpkins will be perfect for my Thanksgiving table centerpiece and I am
thankful for the life lesson I learned while I made them, after all... I am a work in progress.
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