Flower card

I tend to get really excited about the prospect of craft projects before I've actually started them. I've even gone so far as to plan out dozens of variations before I've even crafted a single item. It's beautiful! It's easy! It's fast! It will be my new signature gift!

And then I discover that creating life-sized velveteen elephants takes a little more time and a lot more fiberfill than I'd expected, and I never get past version 1.0. That was the case with the sadly disfigured lamb pictured here. And the bookish bibs here. And the hungry hippo onesie. (Which I honestly think is one of my most hilarious craft ideas ever, but I made so many ridiculous blunders while putting it together that I might be too scarred to tackle another one. Seriously, this thing had "craft fail" embroidered all over it. (And by "seriously" I mean metaphorically. (But my literal embroidery wasn't too hot either.)))

I was on a bit of a roll with the tie onesies. Those suckers really are as fast and easy as they look. But it's hard to find long-sleeved onesies for adults, so I only make those for babies. (Sorry!)

So, when it comes to gifts for my grown-up friends, I've been at a bit of a loss for Beautiful! Easy! Fast! crafts. This one, however, just might be a winner.

At a craft party many months ago, I copied Tiffany and used this technique to roll a rose from a strip of an old table cloth I found in the Relief Society closet. (And there's more where that came from!) Then I added a cluster of beads and an alligator clip, and ta daa! Ten minute project. Another five to cut out scrapbook paper and attach the hair clip (I just cut a slit and slid the clip through). Add message, and you're finished in no time!

Of course, that only works if you have all the supplies on hand, and you know where to find them. The reality of this Beautiful! Easy! Fast! project is that it took 6 months from start to finish: Ten minutes to craft the flower, and 5 months, 29 days (+ a whole bunch of minutes) to remember to pick up a handful of alligator clips.

But the next one, it's going to be Fast!