Fleeced!

I've heard all about the highly addictive power of Pinterest. Recognizing my limited free time and my tendency to get sucked in to "seemed like a good idea at the time" projects, I've resisted the website's lure. As soon as I saw an invitation was required to join, I took it as a sign and moved on... most likely to Facebook or some other timewasting social media site.

I know my limitations. And yet somehow this past weekend, I still got fleeced.

It started with a simple idea: make AJ a blanket out of polar fleece for his birthday. I could do it in his school colors. No sewing is required. What could be more perfect for someone with my particular skill set?

I'll tell you what could be more perfect: just about any other gift idea imaginable. 

By the time I was done, I was seriously sleep deprived, my thumb was bruised and I'd taken a firm vow to never again spend a cent at Hancock Fabrics. But, hey! At least my daughter's Barbie Camper is accessorized with lovely scraps of polar fleece material.

And I ended up with not one, but two blankets.

Mistake #1: taking my daughter with me when I went to the fabric store. How did I not realize that of course she would want to pick out material to make a "super snugly and warm" blanket of her own?

Mistake #2: forgetting how much I hate the multi-part process of first waiting in a slow-moving line to have my fabric cut, and then waiting in an even slower line to pay for the fabric. Let me just say, if there is any justice in this world, the clueless young couple shopping for 10 yards of tulle who felt no guilt cutting in line... will someday go shopping with tired and hungry children of their own. And when that day arrives, I hope some idiot does to them what they did to Sydney and me. And to the even more clueless employee who took their fabric and started measuring and cutting it, despite the line of customers who'd been waiting at least 10 minutes... don't worry, my daughter will never create another scene in your store, because we won't be back.

Exhale, Dana... let it go.

Mistake #3: forgetting how dull my "good" scissors is. If I ever get the crazy idea to work with polar fleece again, someone please remind me that I need a new scissors.

Mistakes aside, I stayed up late Friday night cutting and tying Sydney's blanket. I did hers first because I could work on it openly (as opposed to AJ's, which needed to be a secret.) When it was done, Sydney thought the blanket was nice,

though it wasn't nearly as exciting as what she was able to do with all the tiny scraps of material I handed her. All of her Barbies, along with a few Playmobil and Disney Princess figurines now have polar fleece blankets of their own. Even her Barbie dog's bed now includes polar fleece scraps as padding. (Too bad Gus chewed up the Barbie dog tonight. Oops!)

Saturday night, I finally started working on AJ's blanket. It was after midnight and my thumb was throbbing by the time I tied the final knot, but at last it was done.

AJ was as excited as you could expect a seven year old boy to get over a new blanket. But he's used it each night since, as has Sydney (and her Barbies).

Now that my thumb has stopped throbbing, I want to make one for myself. I just have to find a new fabric store. And a new scissors.