Ode to Martha Stewart

Oh, Martha Stewart...
You make crafting look so fun, so easy, so doable
Your pictures are stunning
No glue smudges on your papercrafts
No strings showing in your jewelry
No stray lines on your drawings
No stickers off kilter.
Only perfection.
Your photography skills (or your company's photo skills) are marvelous.
They make me want to buy more!

Okay, not really an Ode - let me break out my oboe and try an ode.  Ha!

Martha Stewart crafts - they are packaged so beautifully.  I always think mine will look the same.  The kids crafts pictures look awesome on the packaging too.  But in real life - that doesn't always happen.

(Yikes!  I can't believe I still have this many!)

 

So, this is part of my hoarding crafting problem.  A few years ago, when stores like Michaels first started selling Martha Stewart packaged crafts, I fell in love.  But I didn't fall in love with the price and apparently, not a lot of other people did either, because a few months after they were out in the first string stores, I was browsing a Big Lots ad and found a lot of the Martha Stewart craft kits on sale for $2!!!!!!  I flipped out!  I was ecstatic!!!  And, although I only had a baby (maybe a toddler - don't exactly remember when it occurred - but I do remember my oldest child being an only child at the time and sitting in the Big Lots cart while I did my shopping), I had all of these dreams of doing the kid's crafts with my daughter and future kids when they got a little older.  I dreamed of playdates they would have where I would whip out these awesome crafts and be the cool Mom for providing such a fun thing to do! 
I was so excited I bought a huge amount of the kits - like at least 40 - probably more.  Yeah, that's at least $80 on these kits.  In fact, I remember going to Big Lots twice because I didn't think I bought enough the first time. 

Well, the kits to make cards have turned out to be awesome.  And I've already done 5 of the kits.  They were meant for adults (I think, anyhow - I had fun working with them!) and clearly very easy and useful.  I like cards, so they were right up my alley.   And these are the remaining...

On the other hand, Martha Stewart still can't overcome some of the problems with some of the other craft kits.
There were felt flowers for hair kits.  Apparently, my daughter was supposed to grow multiple heads so she can wear all of these.  I bought one of each kind Martha Stewart sold.  The two kits that I've made are a little tricky and the glue in them just doesn't hold them together.  She can't actually wear them in her hair, because nothing keeps the flowers stuck to the clips.  And the buttons (the centerpiece of the flowers don't stick to the felt either).  So why am I keeping these?

Balloon animals.  I actually gave away kits of these after trying them, because they are impossible to work with.  The stickers stick well, but the balloon doesn't stay in place and it just becomes a big hassle.

There were poof ball animals - already gave away these because I've learned - nothing sticks to those stupid poof balls.  (Maybe I should have saved them and sold them on ebay - they are going for $9.99 today- even the one with the obvious crossed out Big Lots price tag.  That's where the pictures are from).

There were pipe cleaner animals - not too bad to make but they easily get bent out of shape and I seriously have a ton of pipe cleaners - why did I need to buy a kit with them?  And you can bet I bought all 3 types.

There are refrigerator picture frames - not too bad to make, but since then, I've kept on finding little poof balls (they are my nemesis) on the floor in the kitchen, because, again, they don't stick to damn near anything with any type of glue! 

There were puppets - ok, these are awesome but how many does one need of each kind?  Everything sticks pretty well.  And the bags are thicker, so they've been beat up a little bit and still stay nice. 

And these are the remaining.  I keep thinking I am going to make these, but haven't figured out when.  So this year, we will be flooded with flowers - paper flowers that is.  I am working on the pastel ones now.  And just realized I have 2 of the pastel flower kits. 

These alone have caused a majority of my crafty hoarding and to top it off, two years ago, there were some Martha Stewart stitchery kits on clearance at Michaels.  Aren't they so pretty in the packaging?  See what I mean?  This year, I will find out the results of how these hold up.