arts and crafts

When I was a kid, my family had a lake house in Livingston.  Normally, there is not much to see in Livingston, other than the lake, but once a year all of the locals gather at the courthouse right across the street from Church's chicken for the annual Pinecone Festival.  I saved my allowance for months in anticipation of all of the one-of-a-kind items that would be set before me on folding card tables - googly-eyed ceramic frogs, necklaces made from yarn and painted wooden blocks, laminated bookmarks, and magnets made from pantyhose that had been stuffed with cotton and twisted into the shapes of plump women's faces.  Oh, to be seven and running around in the teddy bear exhibit with a bag of popcorn and a grubby wad of one dollar bills just burning a hole in the pocket of my neon Yaga jammers!

These days, I'm still a fan of arts and crafts, but I'd like to think that I've moved on to more sophisticated and tasteful pieces.  So today, when my cousin challenged all of the guests at her sister's wedding shower to make a veil out of tissue paper, I thought for sure I would steal the show.  Wrong.  Who new the next Vera Wang would be sitting across the room working magic with some old processed tree bark?!  It's okay though.  Who needs to know how to make a veil?!  I can make lots of other things.  I can make a turkey out of the outline of my hand!  I can make a super stylin' purse out of an old pair of jeans and some puff paint!  I can make a pretty convincing seagull noise!  I can make three trips to Target in one day!  I can make a happy plate!  And sometimes, just sometimes, I can even make myself smile while wearing a ridiculous getup!

Happy Happily Ever After, Sarah!