I am not crafty. Oh, how I long to be.

But I’m not.

Please remind me of this the next time I decide to do a project. Because I always do. And I always end up reenacting Amelia Bedilia. And crying. Then laughing like a maniac. Then crying. I think I confuse “crafty” with “crazy.”

I saw this Chevron tablecloth on Anthropologie’s Website and I loved it! But at $228, I knew that even if it went on sale, it would be too expensive for me. I thought, how hard could it be to make one myself?

You probably all ready know the answer to that.

Well, first I purchased a tablecloth in a neutral linen from Target’s website. Then it came and I promptly set it on my husband’s desk for three weeks and ignored it. Until finally, I begged my husband to help me make this tablecloth. And because my husband is the closest thing to committing me to a perfect human being that I know, he agreed.

He cut me a templet from Elinee Studio. And we watched the video Her video is for a rug, but I figured it would be similar enough to my project to work. This was incredibly helpful. Honestly, if we had not watched the video or used her template, we would have had a tear-splattered fiasco at the end of this project.

I took the tablecloth out of the package. And I stared at it. It was itty bitty. My husband looked at it.

“What size did you get?” He asked.

“Um. I don’t know. Whatever size it came in.”

“You mean you didn’t look at what size the Anthropologie tablecloth was and buy the same one?”

“I didn’t even think of doing that,” I said, as air whistled through my ears.

“Well, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know! Maybe I’ll just use it on our breakfast table.”

“Is it square?” Says my my husband, who is the owner of a square breakfast table…as am I.

“Uhhhhh. No. But I could just let the sides dangle.”

Silence.

Then the sound of me tapping on the computer and ordering the correct size off of the Target website. Thankfully they had it, and because I used my Target Debit Card I got free shipping.

But now I had to wait for the correct size to come…

It came rather quickly and we set to work.

It took the two of us approximately three hours to tape the tablecloth.

The next day, we decided to paint it. We mixed up our two bottles of orange fabric paint and quickly realized that it would probably not be enough.

We added some yellow and red that I had on hand and made this color. It still did not look to be enough. I suggested that we paint every other row just in case. Thank goodness we did, because we ran out. As you do…when you suck at DIYing.

Now, we had a soggy half painted tablecloth outside.

I decided to sacrifice my pink paint I had on hand to fill in the other rows. I just wanted to finish it. So, that is how our tablecloth ended up looking like this. A mished mashed version of the original. I am not sure how I feel about it. I would have preferred all orange, but we worked with what we had.

While we were painting, my husband burst out laughing. I smiled and asked him what was so funny. He said he was imagining what I was going to write about this tablecloth in my blog post.

I said, “Don’t laugh. We’re creating a family heirloom.”

He responded, “This will be the first thing our son’s wife will throw away.”

We both laughed. But now that kind of breaks my heart.

We continued to paint. And I asked my husband, “So, what do you think this is going to look like?”

The eternal optimist responded as if there was no other option, “I think it’s going to look great!”

I laughed and said, “Honey, when have we ever painted a straight line? Even with painter’s tape?”

He laughed.

I think you can guess the answer to those questions, too.

This was our finished project. It ended up costing much, much more than I thought it would. My husband is in love with it. Which is cute. I think it is okay. We will definitely use it. And I have happy memories of us making it together. You know, we should make another one! I cannot believe it actually turned out with no major mishaps.

On second thought, maybe waiting for sale isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Look at what us DIYers did to our concrete. Yup! We are super smart professionals. Obviously, if you attempt this, and why wouldn’t you after seeing all of the fun we had, place a tarp underneath your project.

Or maybe you want a permanent reminder of the day you painted a tablecloth?

Because, obviously, we did, too. Forget the tablecloth! Let’s just make a random half painted tablecloth design on our concrete. This is genius if you ever have company you don’t like over. Just start laying dishes on the pattern on the ground. Then sit cross legged around it like you would at a table. How fun would that be?

Thankfully it came off, but I should add paint stripper to the final total. And maybe a therapy bill. Because why do we keep doing this?

Project Costs: $61.76

After tax and my discounts (ebates, using Target Debit Card) Tablecloth = $16.78
Fabric paint (7 4 oz. bottles after tax and discount) = $29.48
Paint pan, 2 rollers, 2 sizes of painter’s tape approximately $15.50 (I lost the receipt. Surprise! But I remember it being $15 something).

Have you DIYed anything lately? Are you crazy crafty? Or are you like us and just think you are sometimes?

Oh, and if you are wondering what became of the “too small” tablecloth, well, I have just the project for it… ; )

* I am playing catchup from being sick. Sorry I am behind on emails and posts. I hope to accomplish everything by Wednesday. A new post will run on Tuesday night. I will also post Wednesday. And I am doing a “live” Thanksgiving post on Thursday, updating throughout the day with things I am grateful for. After that, my regular daily schedule will commence. Thanks for bearing with me! I hope your week is great!”