How crafting works around here

My friend down the street was talking to me about doing an advent calendar for Halloween. Which led me to look at Halloween advent calendar blogs. Whilst blog hopping, I ran into one where a lady took an old clock, and used scrap book paper to refinish it, and added a witch cut out into the middle and put the hands back on. The clock was broken so she put them at 12, and said the clock was bewitched to stay at midnight, and that it was her witching hour clock. How cute, right? And how much work, right? Who has the time, right?

I loved the idea of a "Witching Hour" clock, so I put a spin on it, and I used polymer clay, because I already had it, and I know that it works like silly putty and will pick up any image printed with toner. So I designed it in 2003 Microsoft Word (I was exceedingly limited, ugh!), printed it out, rolled out my clay, and put the paper on it, and baked it. Here is the finished product! Of course it isn't a real clock, so I just put a clay hand on it that is stuck at 12.
Now that being said... I am going to get on a soap box. Everyone blogs with their best faces on. We are all out here sharing our lives with others, because we have this need for others to validate our amazingness by commenting on the amazing things we have done. I am so guilty of this! And when I read peoples blogs, I always come away feeling inadequate, less than perfect, and with need to do something over the top so I can write a swell blog post about it, that everyone will comment on.

So maybe this isn't you, maybe you read all those blogs where the women can cook, sew, take care of her perfect baby, clean, design, take a amazing photos, is super spiritual, and always looks beautiful, and maybe you walk away from it not feeling like an empty soul who can barely keep it together most days. But if in the off chance you are like me, and feel like most blogs are geared at making us feel worthless, then let me share something with you:

This blog post was to show my cool, easy idea with you, not to make YOU feel like I am super woman and you are not. I want you to know exactly what went on at my house to make that decoration... everything that went into it that you don't see in that photo: What should have taken 2 hours, took a week. I only worked when Spencer was asleep. Lyla was one the counter playing in my clay and rolling it in the pasta machine, while I worked. I worked in my underwear on several occasions, because I didn't get around to showering or dressing (sad but true). My otherwise clean house was exceedingly messy. I had piles of clean unfolded laundry on my bedroom floor. I was also guilty of yelling at Lyla on two occasions as she stuck her finger through my project to make it look "pretty".

So let me say this, when we see a fabulous blog, and think to ourselves how the heck does she balance everything so fabulously and have all that time to do all that fabulous stuff? Just remember, you are fabulous, and you are amazing... and while that lady was doing all that fabulous stuff, something had to give. Her life wasn't pristine like the picture or blog would have you believe.

Ok, soap box over.