Sometimes mistakes are really fun, and sometimes they are just plain gross.

Where crafts intersect with math or general common sense, I usually fall short. As witnessed by today's error. Which also resulted in lots of laughter.

Moral of the story: If you are experimenting with block printing, you need to reverse the image. I'd like to tell you that if I thought about that for a minute before creating the template, it would have occurred to me. But honestly, it would not have.

One of several projects I have lined up for this craft workshop I'm doing on Saturday. Otherwise known as the event which is causing all kinds of hysteria in my small mind. Not sure which crafts we're actually going to experiment with, but this is a possibility. And it would be so AWESOME if people came to my workshop, only to create a mildly-dyslexic piece of art.

And, to stick with our theme of keeping it real, I will have you know that there was a strange odor in my family room this morning.

Now. Strange odors, in and of themselves, are not really a red flag for me, as I live with four children who constantly hide all kinds of food and waste and fermenting substances in unlikely places. My defense to that kind of trickery is to ignore. See if I care that the wall is growing fur!

But, this was weird. And for me to say that, you must realize we are at a bio-hazard level of, like, 10.

My first thought: Something's dead in the chimney. Ick.

So, as I bend down to open the fireplace doors, I see it. Guck oozing from the monkey pumpkin on my mantle. This is worse than something decaying in my chimney. I touch the pumpkin, in an attempt to carry it to the trash.

No go.

The stump INSTANTLY falls off, as the pumpkin has transformed to liquid, and is being held together by the thin shell of paint Little J coated it with. I am fearing that the simple pressure of my breath will collapse it into a river of stink and gnats (which I am also noticing, but on their own, is not enough of a warning sign). By the grace of God, I manage to roll this thing into a trash bag...and banish it to our outside trash cans, where it will sit for a week, because it seems our trash pick-up occurred 15 minutes prior.

Just a warning. DO NOT open our outdoor trash cans this week. Or possibly, EVER.

Now. Even if you didn't sweep your floors today (which I DO NOT do on a daily basis), this has got to make you feel good about yourself and the general cleanliness of your home.

Happy to be of service.