(mis)adventures in crafting.

I've used a lot of excuses in the last four years for not updating this blog in a timely manner - working too much, traveling too much, partying too much (whoops), just to name a few. 

But crafting too much?  Well, that's new, uncharted, unfamiliar territory for me.

Yet, thanks to the recent baby boom and subsequent baby showers that is happening right now among my closest friends, I have been crafting up a storm lately.

In fact, I've been doing so much crafting, party planning and cooking lately, that I thought I might feature some of my domestic endeavors on this site for you to marvel at and enjoy.  Maybe that's what this blog has been missing all along - lofty craft projects with impeccable results?

Only my results haven't exactly been "impeccable," and craft "projects" have felt more like hard labor for someone of my amateur status.  
 
So, if you've stumbled upon this space having Googled, "baby shower," or "crafting," or "Michael's is scary to me," you may want to head over to Pinterest where real crafters are offering real advice. 

Don't get me wrong, I do make a mean diaper cake and have been known to cook up a few delicious dishes in my day.  I even stole a great idea from my friend Amanda and made jars of homemade pickles as favors to pair with a King of Pops ice cream bar representing two of the stereotypical cravings women experience while pregnant.   

 

But, my friend Lauren's Baby Shower last weekend came together thanks mostly in part to my fellow hostesses Emily, Katherine and Mary and only after I glued my fingers together with super glue and smoked Jacob out of my house grilling vegetables.

And while I still stand by Pickles & Ice Cream as a sweet (and tasty) shower idea, the execution, was, well, how can I say, not quite suited for 80 degree temperatures in Atlanta? 

Despite my valiant attempts to domesticate, I fear I did not take after my mom, seamstress and chef extraordinaire, a former home economics teacher nicknamed, "Becky Homecky" in her glory days.  

But we still had a great time, mostly because we achieved what we came to do - and that's shower Lauren with plenty of gifts and love for her, Donald and Baby Bain, who will make his debut at the end of October. 

 

Thankfully, Lauren is the best kind of friend on whom to test your crafting skills because she's so sincerely appreciative of us doing anything for her - I think we could've ordered a pizza and passed out canned soda and she would've been just as gracious, just because that's the kind of person she is.   She is going to be an excellent mother. 

We all got a good laugh when we took the presents out to the car, and found someone had left an extra "surprise" gift on Lauren's car.

 

Well played, Kyle. Well. Played.
 
I'm baby showering again this weekend - this time for my brother and Katie, and then I'm headed off the grid for a much-needed vacation that will not involve ribbons or sewing or trips to Michael's.