Outlet Covers

There are things to say.  I'd like to tell you more about vacation and post some pretty pictures, and I'd like to tell you about a knitalong in which I'm participating, and there's a yoga bag I'm knitting and I am worried about Greece and a couple friends who seem to have inexplicably run afoul of the karma train.

My mind is filled with random-ness (randomosity?  randomesque bits?)--probably even more randomness than you found in that previous paragraph.

So, since I can't seem to get any of that out in a coherent fashion, here are some photos of a craft project I did... well, earlier this month.

I modge podged.  I'd never messed with this gooey, opaque stuff, but it's a recipe for a good time and adorable outlet covers.  Just cut out paper you like, put gooey stuff on cover, put paper on cover, and continue to put layers of gooey stuff over the paper, letting it dry completely (and becoming clear in the process) in between coats.  I think I did 5 coats or so on these over a period of a few days.  I just slapped a coat on before breakfast, again when I got home from work, and that was that.

I'm not going to lie:  I think they're adorable.  This one is a map of part of my city, and I put it up in the kitchen.

The "everyone loves sweaters" one and the one above are in the yarn room guest room.  Etsy has a ton of this sort of thing for sale, and I bought Andrew one that has a comic page on it.  I loved it so much that I looked online for a tutorial and learned how easy they are to make.  (Google "light switch modge podge" if you want to learn, but really, you can fake it.)

Since continuity is obviously not a goal with this post, allow me to go into a side rant:  Many, many, many people look down on "crafty" (modge podge crafty, not sly crafty) projects and the people who do them.  They think crafts take too much time for too little return.* These covers make me happy.  They amuse me every time I flip the light switch or plug something in, and they cost a few dollars to make.  They didn't take long to make, and, honestly, what would I have done with that time if I wasn't slapping a coat of goo on this plastic?  

If someone said s/he didn't have time to spend making things because s/he was busy feeding the hungry, fostering children or animals, building houses for the homeless, or fixing Greece's financial problems, I'd heartily agree that they should not decorate light switch covers.  To those people, I say, "I will make you light switch covers myself.  You deserve them."  But what are most people who say crafts take too long to do actually doing with their time?

I haven't given time to making things that I would have otherwise spent saving the world, spending time with loved ones, walking my dog, and adoring my partner.  I have given time to making things from the inordinate amount of time I used to spend on my ass watching television.**

Rant over.  I'll really try to get some better content soon.  Soon there will be beautiful pictures of mountains!  Soon.

*I admit to having some prejudices on this issue myself, though much less than I had before discovering how delightful knitting is.  As this is my blog, I don't have to discuss my faults if I don't want to.  

**Well, actually I still spend a lot of my time on my ass watching television.  The difference is that now I am usually making something as well.