Craft Wars

Last night, I couldn’t resist watching, yet another (sigh), reality TV show. I just had to see Craft Wars, hosted by Tori Spelling.

Just because I make things, doesn’t mean I’m a fan of all crafting. I don’t like hoarding things I don’t need, so I don’t often find myself making things out of odds and ends around the house. I like the art of certain crafts, but that doesn’t mean all crafts get a free pass with me. That said, I love Tori Spelling. I don’t know why. It could be that I’m fascinated by her father, or maybe it is because I loved the original 90210, or possibly I respect her seemingly endless enthusiasm for everything she comes near. Whatever the reason, I love her and I love the idea of her being connected to crafts. I check out her blog, ediTORIal, from time to time and it has some fun craft ideas. (And her kids are pretty cute too.)

I’ve resisted watching Craft Wars, because I knew it was going to be just like every other reality competition show with unrealistic challenges, followed by catty remarks from the judges. In that regard, it was exactly as expected.

I quickly grew tired of watching the contestants make duffle bags out of assorted sports gear. The three competitors came up with some seriously ugly bags.

·         The first was held together with aglue gun instead of stitching. The poor woman lost because she didn’t have time in one hour to sew a cloth bag onto a tennis racket base. Who would.

·         The second was just a big hot mess, described as “fashion forward”. I don’t think so.

·         The third was a hideous “retro” bag. Yuck

The bags did not inspire, and the anal retentive part of me started twitching when one woman used spray glue to hold her fabric in place prior to using the sewing machine. Seriously! That glue will gum up the sewing machine from now to forever! Ahhhh.

The master craft challenge involved two contestants using school supplies to make a play house. While making play houses isn’t my thing right now, I do have a suddenly strong urge to get me some Mod Podge. I don’t know what I might recklessly decoupage, but there’s got to be something around her that needs to be covered with some kind of paper and glue concoction.

Best two words of the show – “Glitter Emergency!”

Squee - The Ewings are Back!

I’m so excited right now. I had a long day at work that completely drained my energy, but then I saw a TV ad that reminded me that the Ewings are coming back tomorrow! OMG – I am so excited for the return of Dallas!

I know it will most likely be a big load of crap, but still… J.R., Bobby and Sue-Ellen will be back in my living room tomorrow night. I’ve heard that even Charlene Tilton will show up at some point. She has to be the worst actor in TV history, high up on the so bad it is good list.

Forgive me if I don’t post a picture of the socks I finished yesterday. I will get to them by the weekend, but for now I’m all about waiting for Dallas!

Progress Report

I continue to make good progress on my Leftover Blanket. Here is where it is at.

I’m about 15% of the way through, and have incorporated my own leftover sock yarn as well as incorporating the minis from Catherine in California, Kool-aid yarn from Christine in New Hampshire, and leftovers from Meredith. I can’t wait to snuggle up under the blanket when it is done.


If I continue to progress at this pace I should finish the blanket sometime in January. The good news is that it will be cold enough in January to enjoy the blanket. The bad news is that I’m guessing when the July heat arrives my work on the blanket will slow down dramatically, so the January finish may not be realistic. Regardless the blanket will keep me warm in the winter of 2014.



TV  Thoughts


It is an exciting time in TV world tonight.

·        Canada’s Got Talent finals start tonight. I’m not really that into talent shows, but as a Rogers family, I feel like I must support the effort to build Rogers owned content.

·        Desperate Housewives last episode airs tonight. This is exciting in TV land, but doesn’t mean much for me. I’ve never watched an episode of Desperate Housewives, but I know plenty of people that have, so I appreciate the importance of a major series ender. (And maybe now Eva Longoria can return to Y&R to deal with her nutcase kid.)

·        Sister Wives is back tonight. Back in April I admitted that the Real Housewives are my guilty TV pleasure. That wasn’t completely truthful. My absolute guiltiest TV pleasure is watching Sister Wives. I can’t explain why I like to watch it. I don’t like the Brown’s, I don’t relate to the Brown’s beliefs and philosophy, yet I am strangely drawn in to needing to know about their life – will they build a new house big enough for four families?, why isn’t Christine happy?, will the teens go back to Utah after high school? So much that I want to know about them.

·        Survivor season finale is tonight. This is my big excitement for tonight. I’ve got Kim in our Survivor pool and she is looking pretty darn good right now. I could be in for some money if Kim can hang on through the two-hour finale.

Here’s hoping the Survivor pool pays off and that my next blog post is me prattling on about how to spend my winnings.

What's Your TV Guilty Pleasure?

As I said in my profile, I love to watch TV. I’ll watch anything on TV – Daytime soaps, nighttime soaps, reality TV, good movies, bad movies, talk shows, documentaries, even racing and UFC if it’s on. Some TV I love and some is just an excuse to sit on the couch and knit.

Today I’m wondering, what is everyone’s guilty TV pleasure? I don’t mean things like “I’m addicted to the news” or “I must watch some morning TV show before going to work”. I mean, what is the big piece of crap that shouldn’t have even been an idea, let alone actually made into a TV show. What is that show that is so bad you actually lose brain cells just by selecting it from your TV guide?

For me it is an easy choice. I love the Real Housewives franchise. I think I’ve watched them all (except Miami because I’m trying to show some restraint). I only sporadically watch Orange County, New Jersey and Atlanta, but I think I’ve seen all of New York and Beverley Hills. I even watched all of the Washington series (and that one was reeaaallly bad.) 

This week I was excited to see the premiere of Real Housewives of Vancouver. What fun to bring my guilty pleasure to my home country. And, they were going to be in Whistler – I’ve been there! I excitedly sat down to watch two full hours of crap – and it was as bad as could be expected. My Real Housewives focus group (you know who you are) and I had to agree that RHOV was bad. Sadly, us Canadians come off as boring. The selection of housewives is unremarkable. Although one does live in a spectacular water front home, and another drives some amazing cars, for the most part they are dull. Why can’t Canadians deliver better TV?

In case you are wondering, the boring factor doesn’t matter; I will still watch every episode of the Vancouver series.

I’m very excited for tonight when I get to watch Selling Spelling Manor. I just can’t wait to see the gift wrapping room!

Now I’m off to enjoy a good Friday. I’ve got some mittens on my knitting needles and after we feast on some pancakes I’ll be on the couch catching up on Young and the Restless, Survivor, Big Bang and Grey’s Anatomy. Bring on the remote.


So come on, tell me what is your guilty TV pleasure.