Craft Fail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong

I consider myself to be an avid crafter. Sometimes, I feel happy when I look down at my finished project but I’ve also had my moments of, well… disappointment, disapproval, and feelings of defeat! I found myself asking the question, “How did they get it to look like that?”. I’ve experienced my fair share of craft failures.

I was given the opportunity to read and review Craft Fail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann. The author, Heather, describes herself as a “failure enthusiast”. Heather is the founder of craftfail.com, a fantastic blog compiled of her own craft fails and those shared by other crafters. Heather confesses that prior to starting her blog craftfail.com, she would “chuck” her “unappealing prototypes” so no one else could see her mistakes. (I also am very guilty of this). As she began her blog she noticed her readers responded right away, relating in their own personal craft fails. She’s a genius I tell you! For her book, Heather Mann has gathered real home decor fails in the following categories: fashion fails, holiday fails, food fails (this section felt all too familiar), kid crafting fails, and most anticipated- EPIC fails. This book is intriguing to look at with it’s bright colors and clear comical photos of unsuccessful crafting on each page. I personally enjoyed reading the captions underneath the fails, I found myself literally laughing out loud.

Sadly, I found this book very easy to relate too. I myself have had my fair amount of craft fails. I love this book because not only is it laughable, but it is also inspiring. How many times do we try, fail and easily give up!? This book motivates it’s readers to triumph in the “trying” and to enjoy the creative learning process. Heather explains, “I value my ability to fail- It’s the most important thing I’ve taken thirty years to learn”. I highly recommend this comic read. You will laugh, you will cringe, you will learn that it’s okay to fail, and you will continue to “try, try again”. Now go get yourself a copy!