Today, September 27, 2012

Today’s project: Motivation

I didn’t do what I wanted to do today.  Because today, I wanted to wallow.  In bed. In self-pity. In guilt. In a bubble bath. Wallow, wallow, wallow.  Like a big fat pig in the middle of a soggy summer day.

Yesterday, I had a stupid migraine in my stupid head. Stupid stupid.  Leading to me not doing the things that I had scheduled; two of which were helping out friends.  And when I can’t help out like I said I would, I feel like a giant waste of a friend.  I truly was incapacitated for the majority of the day, but it didn’t stop me from filling my head with lovely guilt-ridden imaginings about just how angry my friends are with me; if they still want to be my friend, that is, after being so intensely let down by me.

Guilt-wallow.

Today, in between trying to decide if I should send the large or the extra-large apology bouquet to these friends, I’m having a conversation with myself about my lowly state of job-less-ness.  In this economy, what’s a highly-skilled, intelligent, college degree-minus person supposed to do?  Then I spent a good 30 minutes scrounging around in the couch cushions for a dollar in change so I could buy the winning Lotto ticket that will solve ALL my problems.

Self-pity wallow.

“They” say I have to shower every day.  Don’t smell, blah, blah, blah… Isn’t a giant bubble bath for two or three hours just as effective?

Bubble bath wallow.

That’s what I wanted to do. Yep. Be a lazy, useless freak eating chips and watching Jerry Springer.  Feeling my butt spread a tiny bit more with every push of the button on the remote control.

But as my mom is fond of saying, “People in hell want ice water, too.”  Gotta love nuggets of wisdom from your parents.  That one is on my list of favorites.  I’m looking forward to the time I get to pass it on to my children.  I'm just waiting for the best moment; it’s not an adage you want to waste on any ol’ whining tantrum.

So, even though I’m an adult and can make my own choices and no one would care if I was lazy today and blah, blah, blah - you know, all those things that we say to justify our actions when we opt to do (or not do) things that we should/shouldn’t – I made myself find some motivation and come up with a project for today.

I actually have a whole random list of projects that I could pick from, but the Wallow Monster wouldn’t even let me look at that piece of paper.

Fortunately, I had an idea yesterday that I was able to do today.  Take THAT Wallow Monster!  I thwart you with a dose of MOTIVATION!

Please note: possible side effects of motivation include – running all over the house like a chicken with no head because you have several different projects going at once – needing to take a break because you are out of breath from running up and down the stairs from forgetting and re-forgetting all the tools and supplies needed for said projects – distraction from things you actually needed to get done today because you are too focused on completing aforementioned projects.

Anyways…

I have several items from previous Steampunk adventures that I’ve started going through in anticipation for upcoming adventures.  I was annoyed to discover that one of my treasures had gotten mashed a bit because someone (meaning a person who looks a lot like me) put it in a bin with a bunch of other treasures and it got jostled. I have got to have a word with that person about being more careful with things. Ahem.

This particular item is a hat – or a head piece, I guess.  Here it is:

I decided it would be cool if I stored my Steampunk hats in hat boxes.  I looooovvvveee hat boxes.  They are such a neat item that I wish we still used for their original purposes.  Now, you can buy decorative hat boxes at just about any craft store or department store. They are an ‘in’ item and come in lots of patterns and styles.

But, of course, they cost dollars…and I’m cheap…and I have all those pesky paper bags.

So I made this:

Spoiler alert – HOW-TO FOLLOWS!

I ‘measured’ the hat and cut the top off of the bag and formed it into a tube.  This forms the body of the box.

For this project, you will see, I used mostly masking tape.  For paper to paper projects, I like masking tape a little better than duct tape. Sneak craft tip:  I found that taping all the way around the edges of the tube made for a much stronger structure overall.

Using the rest of the bag, I cut a circle for the bottom of the box.

The body of the box was my guide, and I made a little ‘jig’ for measuring out of a piece of masking tape.

Then cut down to the line all the way around and folded it up to give myself something to tape to the tube.

I taped it on the outside too, to give it more stability.

I didn’t think that the paper bag would be strong enough on its own to be effective as a protector for my hat, so I cut up a cracker box…

Formed a tube…

and put it inside the box, taping it down on the walls.

What I have so far is pretty durn ugly – that will never do!  Scrapbook paper it is!

Covered the outside of the box with three pieces…

Now for the lid – Still have some paper bag left over; another circle for the base of the lid and cover the middle with coordinating scrapbook paper.

Using the same method as the bottom, cut slits to the middle and fold it to form the edges of the lid.

Cover in masking tape for some extra stability

Hey, that’s still ugly – cover that!

Um… we need to cover that tape edge there…left over ribbon from Bella’s Birthday Bash? Don’t mind if I do!

This time I used hot glue.  It has a more solid stick and doesn’t show.

We need a handle of course!  I took two pieces of the ribbon and glued them back-to-back so that I ended up with a double-sided ribbon.

Punch a hole in the side of the box, thread the ribbon through and secured it with a dollop of glue on the inside.

Hey! Now the outside is pretty, but the inside needs help. 

I didn’t have any black/white paper left, so I chose a cute pink instead.  Make a tube and cut a circle, glue it down and we are all set!

Here is the finished box housing my hat – happy hat in its new home!

Well, there we are.  I did something today.  YAY!

But mostly, I’m proud of what I avoided rather than what I completed.  I avoided being overwhelmed by the Wallow Monster, but I also avoided the Guilt Gremlin and the Self-Pity Pooper! And I managed to create a feeling of accomplishment in addition to a little hat box. 

I am definitely Super-Hero Mommy today!  Smashing evil psyche villains in a single craft!