CraftFail : When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong

Poor Bridgit, who overestimated the size of her head—her homemade frilly lace shower cap came straight down to her chin. And who can blame Lindsey for thinking “glitter shoes” sounded like a cool, easy project instead of what it turned out to be: a puddle of sparkling glop. And really, whoever posted that incredible Spaghetti-Stuffed Garlic Bread on Pinterest should be sued. When Mindy pulled hers from the oven, it looked like a “hot mess of intestines streaming out of doughy flesh.” Mmmm, thank you, Pinterest!

Written by Heather Mann, publisher of CraftFail.com, her hilarious blog with millions of page views and hundreds of thousands of followers, CraftFail celebrates the creative process, but from the other side. This is the stuff that gets the “A for Effort” and LOL for outcome. But once the laughter dies down, it also inspires a warm feel-good respect for crafters who aren’t afraid to fail. After all, even if there’s not a mortal alive except Martha who can make a Waxed Heart worthy of hanging in your window to catch the sun, why shouldn’t many try? When it goes wrong, why shouldn’t the rest of us enjoy this Epic Fail? And then look at all the full-color photos that document it.

Home decor fails, fashion fails, holiday fails, food fails, kid crafting fails— as one anonymous crafter said: “It wasn’t supposed to end this way.” Luckily for us, it did.

Heather Mann, the founder of CraftFail.com and DollarStoreCrafts.com, has been crafting with middling success all her life, but blogging expertly since 2000. She is also cofounder of The Blueprint Social, a social media consulting company and network of influential bloggers, and cohost of the web show “Get a Little Creative.” She lives and crafts in Salem, Oregon