The Great Craft Project Letdown

image via

Friday night I set out to entertain myself for the evening. Weekends can be long and challenging with The Man away. I had big plans to head to the hardware store to pick up some wood pieces and other supplies needed for a holiday craft project. I had been looking forward to for a while. After my hardware store visit, I planned to make a few stops at some of my other favorite shops in the area. I was happy to have a plan and something to work on.

I had a fairly good list of things I needed to get at the hardware store. I needed several kinds of fertilizers for my patio garden, house plants and small fruit tree. That took a while to figure out. Then I headed to the lumber section. I very soon crossed paths with a fashionable young woman and her significant other who were also wandering the lumber department. It was clear she had a project and he was helping her think it out and get what she needed. I hoped she wasn't making the same project I was making, based on something I'd seen online. She did not linger long in the trims and dowels section. I was glad.

I took my time to experiment with different types, sizes and shapes of wood. I laid the pieces out to see if they would work with what I had in mind. It took some doing. When I was just about done, another couple swooped into that section of the store. It was just the three of us. I was referring to the photos of the project on my phone for reference when they came to the wood I was looking at, and while discussing things aloud, pulled out the exact wood I was looking at, only a little wider and then began discussing how many pieces they needed and the lengths they needed for each cut.

I quickly began to sense they were making a nearly identical version of the project I was making. I suddenly felt a small pang of jealous that she had her man to help her. Things were moving much quicker for them with two people on the job. Soon he was cutting wood and I was feeling bummed that my project inspired by another blogger's creation did not seem so special anymore. My mind began to imagine this project on the mantle of every house in America, maybe the world. I was discouraged.

I took another good look at the inspiration photos and decided to go a different route and use square dowels that were already pre-cut, even if they were a little more expensive. I grabbed my wood and headed to the register. I paid for my purchases, threw the wood in the car and finished my evening. When I got home, I dumped the wood on the floor of my living room and attempted to ignore it for a couple of days.

Finally I decided to get things moving with my project. I got over myself and decided that I was going to make this project the way I wanted it. I didn't care how many other people had the same thing on their mantle this year. I wished the lumber aisle couple good luck and I started staining my wood with the driftwood stain I purchased.

I will show you the finished project tomorrow as my latest A Pin Test. No matter what I will like it for my house this year. There is a very perfect spot for it in front of the giant mirror above my mantle. If every house in the country does end up having it, I'll take it apart and make something new for next year. Hahaha.

Do you ever feel like every DIY that you find on line is suddenly being made by thousands of people all at the same time? Doesn't it feel like every cool project you find has already had it's fame 15 minutes after it's posted. That is discouraging sometimes. I am trying to learn to just love and appreciate what I really like and not worry about what everyone else is doing. It's tough sometimes though! How do you deal with that?