Watching The View

Rosie O’Donnell’s new craft book Crafty U was designed as a way for children and their parents to work on something fun and creative together, as an alternative to watching television or playing video games. At first glance, the book is a visual stunner, with beautiful photographs of the crafts that are art themselves. Initially I was a little intimidated by the crafts because they looked so perfect. However, I heard Rosie say in an interview that the crafts in the photographs were done by professionals and that, in the end, it is the process of having fun and not how the crafts that is important.

With that in mind, I decided to tackle three crafts from the book. Although the idea of the book is to craft with your children, I didn’t have any available. I tried to talk my cats into crafting with me, but they wanted to sleep in the sun instead. As a result, I made my attempts on my own, with varying success. The most important thing, though, is even the crafts that did not come out as well were still a lot of fun to make.

The 100 projects in the book require different amounts and types of supplies, so I selected three that I could make without having to add too many additional items to my art supply collection. All in all, I spent about $10 to do the three projects, finding the Dollar Tree to be most helpful in the thrift department. Keep in mind, though, that I already owned some of the more expensive staple items like acrylic paint and paintbrushes. If you are starting from scratch, your projects will cost you more than that.

1. Rope-It-In Basket

I saw Rosie make this craft on Good Morning America and I wanted to try it ever since. The directions give a great disclaimer that this one is messy. It is a great project for kids who are in the stage where they like getting their hands dirty. Once you glue the yarn to the balloon, you have to be very patient and let it dry completely or it won’t work. I am sure that it can be hard for a kid to wait to see how it turned out because I was impatient myself. Luckily I managed to wait until the proper time to pop the balloon and see the final project. This one definitely turned out the best of the three projects I tried. Even my cats liked it, as you can see below. (Final project also pictured above)

2. Baubles and Beads Mosaic Pots

This one was pretty easy. The acrylic paint easily goes on the terra cotta pot and dries fast. That way you don’t have to wait too long to add the embellishments. I think that this craft is excellent for using your creativity because there are so many different designs you can make. If you don’t want your kids using a glue gun, you can use craft glue so that the kids can get even more involved. My creation did not turn out as beautiful as I hoped, but it will make a good paintbrush holder.

3. Glitter Globes

I tried this snow globe project first because it seemed to be the easiest and quickest of the three items. Unfortunately, though, the project did not turn out to be either. I glued my toy into the lid, but got stuck trying to glue the lid onto the jar. I think that I was gluing it wrong, because the glue kept drying and I couldn’t turn the lid to put it back on the jar. Then the toy fell off the lid. I eventually got that part right, but then I was never able to seal the lid. I even tried caulk and the water still leaked. I blame the jar. Or my dollar store glue gun. Or user error. Below are some shots of the dismal results (taken after the majority of the water had leaked out)

My overall impression is that Crafty U is an immensely fun book and I highly recommend it for families who want projects to work on together, especially now that summer vacation is right around the corner. However, I am testament to the fact that it is fun for adults as well, so don’t let the lack of children deter you from having some creative fun.

Rosie O’Donnell, Crafty U, crafts, rblog