An Epic Craft Fail!

Editors Note: This craft was thought up by the author without consulting Pinterest, and this post is her own commentary about this hairbrained idea that took up our table all week. (Perhaps, in the future she should consult Pinterest first.)

I’ve been working all week on a fun, “easy”, paper craft that can be done with kids in preparation for Halloween. I finished it today, and I have to say it was an epic craft fail!

It’s not that I don’t think the craft was cute. It just wasn’t worth the time or effort. What I was trying to make was a string of paper pumpkin lanterns .And, I was going to blog about how cute they were lit up, sitting on my window sill. I was also going to recommend this as a craft to do with kids. My kids even helped me. And I was going to say how quick and easy it was to do.

Except this craft was none of those things. It was frustrating to make. It took too long to create. My kids could only help with one part of the entire process – and that was stretching it.

I finished the craft because I had invested too much time into its creation. It’s lived on my table now for the better part of the week. We’ve eaten meals around it with the stark command to “not touch the pumpkins.” We’ve done homework around these pumpkin lanterns. They have in fact become “part” of the family, so I felt obligated to finish and proudly display them.

But I can’t recommend anyone make them.

Just to show how much of an epic craft fail these paper pumpkin lanterns are, let me explain how to make them.

First, gather the supplies. The supplies include five paper bags, orange and green paint, tissue paper, glue, tape, an egg carton, a string of 100 min lights, spray paint, scissors, and patience.

Take each paper bag and cut a Jack O’ lantern face into it. Next, glue tissue paper on the inside of each paper bag, covering the holes. Now, paint 2/3 of the bag orange –like a pumpkin. While the paint is drying, cut out the middle part of the egg carton. Cut each of the bumps apart, then take them outside and spray paint them green. These become the stems later.

The faces are cut out of the bags.

After all the paint has dried, cut access holes on the side of the lanterns large enough to run the strand of lights through. Next, paint the tops of the sacks green and allow them to dry. Now, string the lights through the paper bags, and stuff 10 lights into each lantern. Tape the access holes closed.  (Stringing the lights is an incredibly tedious and time consuming job, which often times resulted in the paper bag tearing. Like I said, epic craft fail.)

The completed paper pumpkin lantern.

Finally, it’s time to put the tops together. First, squish the bag together and create a bundle at the top that can be pushed into created stem. Tape the top of the paper bag closed and then squish the taped part into the stem.

This all sounds so simple, but the craft took an excessively long time, and didn’t end up looking very good. Have any of you had a craft that you thought would be fun and simple that just failed? I’d love to hear about it.

10 Comments


  1. What a great post! Sorry that it didn’t turn out as well as you had planned, but yeah, I can totally relate. I’ve had a few epic failures, and I always ask myself what I must have been thinking. And, honestly, I don’t think they look bad at all! Maybe it wasn’t as easy as you had anticipated, but they still look cute. I hope you put them in that window sill!

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    1. We have them displayed in the windowsill. And the kids love turning them on and off. Thanks for the kind comments and sympathy. :)

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  2. Oh it’s hard when a craft ends up that way! Sometimes I figure my time is worth what they would cost in a store. :) But they are cute and I hope you keep them!

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    1. These definitely fall in the “easier to buy from the store” category. We’ll use them for this season. Thanks for the sympathetic comments and for coming by.

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  3. My favorite posts are always the ones I relate can to. I always start projects with way too high expectations and then am completely exhausted at completion. They look adorable.

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    1. Thank you for your kind comments. I hope your next crafting experience turns out better than you have planned. Thanks for visiting. :)

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  4. Sarah

    Lol! I’ve had a couple Pinterest crafts go wrong and turn out to look nothing like the displayed photos. Glad to know I’m not the only one!

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    1. I’m glad you enjoyed my post. It’s amazing how sometimes things just don’t work like they were “supposed” to. :) Thanks for visiting and commenting.

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  5. I had a week of epic fails. It seemed like everything I had planned to make for the blog seemed to become a failure. I was determined to to make cinnamon rolls, but after 4 attempts I was begged to stop spending the money and time to make them. Thanks for sharing this. It’s a great reminder that I’m not alone.

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    1. I’m sorry about your cinnamon rolls. I hope your other ideas work out better. Thanks for sharing and commiserating with me. :)

      Reply

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