A Mommy Story

I’m generally in awe of all of you crafty moms out there.

You know who you are. The ones who prefer handmade to store bought, who can do anything with some craft sticks, googly eyes, pipe cleaners and a touch of glue. You have 1,000 different creative uses for old coffee cans and glass baby food jars and your supply closet rivals Martha Stewart.

I may be jealous, but I don’t hate you in any way. No, the truth is I wish I could be you. But I lack that ability to think up clever, creative crafts. More importantly, I lack the time and patience to do what you do.

So I repin your fantastic ideas and findings on Pinterest, dreaming of sitting at the table with my daughters as we paint chalkboard paint on lids of mason jars or sneaking into their rooms while they sleep to spread glitter and decorations as I pretend a fairy paid them a visit, fully knowing I won’t act on a single idea I’ve repinned.

And then occasionally I do something crafty without even meaning to. Case in point:

I just recently bought a pair of clogs for myself and for Cordy for the winter months. They’re suede and so I wanted to waterproof them before wearing them in this painfully wet weather we’ve had recently.

A few days ago, when it was dry, I set the shoes on our sidewalk and sprayed them with a waterproofing spray. After they were dry I brought them back in. No big deal, right? Just something I had to do to protect the shoes before I wore them.

The next (rainy) day, Cordy and Mira peered out the front door and shrieked, “We have ghosts, mommy!” Puzzled, I looked outside.

Had I been smarter with this, I would have staggered the shoes to look like they were walking towards the house. But I never thought I was actually creating something cool for the kids – I was just waterproofing my shoes.

So, to recap for any of you creative types that want one more spooky decorating tip for Halloween:

Waterproofing spray on and around shoes = ghost tracks on the sidewalk.

There you go, folks, my accidental craft tip of the day.

Suddenly I feel so accomplished.