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~ Like dew hanging from the tip of a leaf, a single bead or word adds sparkle where there was none.

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Category Archives: Craft Fail

Craft Fail – Butterfly Wing

11 Saturday Feb 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in Craft Fail, crafts, nature, projects

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

butterfly wing, cutting, embroidery scissors

It didn’t work! So disappointing! About three years ago I found a butterfly wing in the driveway. I couldn’t bear to let it go so I pinned it to my bulletin board. For the past three years, it has gently fluttered on my bulletin board every time the furnace or air conditioner kicked on.

I needed a little butterfly for the project I’m working on and thought it would be sweet to cut the butterfly wing up to make a smaller butterfly. The first “alas!” was trying to draw cutting marks on the wing using a permanent marker. The marker bled rapidly into the wing, ruining the beautiful yellow. The second “Alas!” was when the butterfly wing shattered when I pressed an x-acto knife on it. I tried to cut the wing using sharp manicure scissors and that fared better but the wing is beyond use and the beauty that I have enjoyed for three years is gone.

Craft Fail - Cutting a butterfly wing did not work


What I learned:
1. Do not try to mark a butterfly wing with anything, just cut freehand.
2. Use sharp manicure or embroidery scissors to cut butterfly wings.
3. If the wing is really beautiful, don’t do anything at all to it. Just pin it to a bulletin board and enjoy it, especially if it flutters in the breeze when you walk by.

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Craft Fail! Corks and Chains

07 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in Craft Fail, jewelry making

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Tags

chain, cork, craft fail, jewelry

Some of my short lengths of jewelry chain were getting tangled up in the box so I decided to wrap them around something. Great use for the wine corks, I thought. I drilled one hole through the middle of the cork and then another hole from the top center to the side of the cork.
I dropped an inch of chain through the center hole and then secured it by wrapping chain around the cork. Then I put the remaining end of chain up through the side hole and out the top of the cork.
Looks great!
But then when you lift the cork, the chain falls right off the bottom of the cork! Ha ha!
Back to the drawing board on this design.

Craft Fail - Jewelry Chain keeper. The chain falls right off the bottom!

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If at first you don’t succeed… (Vintage Glitter Cloche)

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by juliamonroe in Christmas, Craft Fail, crafts, projects

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

bottle brush trees, Christmas, craft fail, crafts, trees

Working on the Vintage Glitter Cloche was a good learning experience in crafting. Here is my first attempt at making those awesome cream-colored bottle brush trees.

Bottle Brush tree fail.


What a hoot! I had no idea that the trees would disintegrate if left in the bleach solution too long. The green trees were placed in the big jar of 40% bleach/water solution and left to bleach. I stirred them occasionally and watched the green leach out for about an hour. Then I went Christmas shopping. When I returned hours later, the trees looked wonderful. But when I pulled them out of the solution, they were rusty and disintegrated. Such sorry little trees! I’m going to make another cloche that will fully showcase the awesome character of these trees. Perhaps a Dr. Seuss-inspired cloche. That will do nicely! Never waste a crafting failure, just re-purpose it!

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