# Craft items that you just don't "get" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2003, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693 "2003-04-01T13:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/81 "2003-04-02T16:10:27Z")
I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned beer can cutting. I’ve seen cans assembled into bi-planes, and my favorite, Barbie Furniture. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/82 "2003-04-02T16:20:52Z")
**Tabithina** , I liked this claim especially: > [@](#): > > This one of a kind, heirloom quality holiday decoration can be yours with very little effort. _heirloom quality?!?!?_ You mean like crystal and china and jewelry and furniture passed down from generation to generation? \ ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/83 "2003-04-02T16:40:45Z")
Wow the beer cans brought back memories!!! For a time the fad in my mom’s circle of friends was bottle cap wreaths. I can’t find a link that isn’t crocheted wreaths… these were different. You took an inordinate amount of beer bottle caps and sewed red and green fabric over them then when you had enough (I mean at least 100) you would sew them together in a big ring of red and green. Glue a bow on and there ya go! My mom also had friends who outfitted their christmas tree in beer cans with a funky cut can for the top. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/84 "2003-04-02T16:50:39Z")
I just remembered another craft that was big when I was a kid - at least in my area. You took plastic margerine tubs, punched holes around the top edge, and crocheted thru them to make little drawstring purses. Gah! ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/85 "2003-04-02T17:00:17Z")
Which jarred another memory for me…Crocheted Hats with beer can panels. Couldn’t possibly be comfortable. Who would ever wear one? A neighbor of ours used to make wreaths out of the plastic six-pack rings. Horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/86 "2003-04-02T17:12:25Z")
**MagicEyes** , I know _exactly_ what you’re talking about regarding rag clothes. Here’s a few links: [http://www.seamsndreams.com/ragpatch.html](http://www.seamsndreams.com/ragpatch.html) [http://www.sloanfarmstudio.com/wearable.html](http://www.sloanfarmstudio.com/wearable.html) [http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2821920992&category=11570](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2821920992&category=11570) Be sure to rinse your abused eyeballs when done looking. I’ve been doing craft shows for more than fifteen years, and vendors who make these items tend to come in waves. Some years, I think the trend has mercifully abated, then the next year it rears its ragged head once again. These jackets don’t look flattering on _anyone_ (Talk about a way to add inches to your waist and butt…). Once I saw a woman wearing one of her creations at her booth. It was made of several earthtone colors of dotted swiss in a solid swathe of rag strips from shoulder to hem. At the time, my husband and I kept a large flock of [pearled guinea fowl](http://www.poultrypages.com/page5.htm) in our paddock for tick control. So, I had to supress a giggle when I thought, “She looks like an angry Guinea hen in that getup!”🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/87 "2003-04-02T17:16:19Z")
ugh gwendee… my mom had that pattern too! Except we didn’t drink cokes in six packs… so my dad took us to the park to troll for rings. Who wants those? _shiver_ Then again my dad had a hobby of bringing home other people’s trash… He’d take my brother and I on “dumpster runs” when he knew companies were tossing “good” stuff. So much was wrong with my childhood! ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/88 "2003-04-02T17:23:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OxyMoron \* > GODDAMNIT, I WANT MY EYE BACK. I might need it to look at something less hideous. [Psst…All Eyes Are Upon You…](http://www.michaels.com/art/online/projectsheet?pid=e01650&categoryid=54) > [@](#): > > Like, amateur porn shots of Rosanne with Henry Kissinger. \*\* :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/89 "2003-04-02T17:29:48Z")
Oh and thinking of the hideousness that is plastic canvas… We had a no smoking sign in our house… a huge red ghostbuster ring with a big smoking cigarette in the center. Garish at best. And we had a brick with a square kitty plastic canvassed over the top as a door stop. There was more but everything that entered that house was destroyed pretty quickly… the sign lasted because it was hung above a doorway. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/90 "2003-04-02T17:52:58Z")
> [@](#): > > if it’s fun kitschy, cutsie crap. For instance, I have a set of Butt Up people painted like Uncle and Mrs. Sam. My original plan was to have them holding a sign reading “Kiss This, Bin Laden!” but my husband wouldn’t let me. You must defy your husband like it will be a first time,eh? and do this. It is absolutely hysterical. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/91 "2003-04-02T17:54:42Z")
Too bad I …uhh…:::cough::::threw out::::cough the gnomes that my MIL gave me. I could have put them in a squad formation with a sign on my lawn " Iraq or Bust." ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/92 "2003-04-02T18:04:27Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally Posted by Jeep’s Phoenix:_ > It looks like a piece of roadkill sprayed with Armor-All. **BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!** Thanks **Jeep’s Phoenix**. That is one of the funniest and may I add most vivid things I have read in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/93 "2003-04-02T20:02:53Z")
[Here’s](http://frugalliving.about.com/library/bl4Bluewreath.htm) a nifty plastic bag wreath to make! Go to Walmart, buy some tacky florals and ribbon. The clerk will often put only one or two items in each bag, so you will have plenty to work with. Carry home your crafty crap; take it out of the translucent blue bag. Snip bag into little bits, fashion a wreath. Now reunite crafty crap with the bag it came home in. 😛 But, wait! There’s _more_—if you shop at a variety of stores, you can make [this thing of beauty](http://frugalliving.about.com/library/bl1Easterwreath.htm) in time for Easter! ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/94 "2003-04-02T20:15:08Z")
Holy Martha Stewart! It just gets tackier and tackier. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/95 "2003-04-02T21:07:32Z")
ROFL! Hey, I HAVE a plastic bag wreath! Don’t you get it? It’s a profound statement about the mass-consumerism and wastfulness of the Christmas machine. (Yeah, that’s the ticket!) Besides, it’s on the OUTSIDE of the door – only the neighbors have to look at it. HA! ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/96 "2003-04-02T21:10:54Z")
Oh, I should mention mine is just white bags. No assorted colors and gee-gaws. It’s actually sorta spooky-cool looking. Plus, sometimes it blows off the door in the wind and lands in the mud, but who cares? It’s just bags! I rinse it off, give it a shake and hang it back up! ---
**Author:** ![Tabithina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f04885/32.png) [@Tabithina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabithina)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/97 "2003-04-02T22:01:02Z")
A white wreath would be kind of cool. I’ve seen them made from clear dry cleaning bags. They have a silvery sheen to them. Is that what yours looks like, **voguevixen**? What amused me about the site I linked to was the obvious Walmart origin of the bags.😉 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/98 "2003-04-02T22:30:01Z")
The plastic bags reminded me of yet another craft I read about. You could take the bags, cut them into strips about 2" wide, and crochet them into a doormat with a giant crochet hook. Considering how those bags tend to deteriorate in the sun, I didn’t think it was a very smart idea. Plus when I thought about how much time I’d spend cutting the bags in to strips, then twisting them together so I could crochet them, I decided it was much more sensible to just buy a mat. Besides, how ugly would a mat like that be?!? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/99 "2003-04-02T22:35:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gwendee \* > \*\*Which jarred another memory for me…Crocheted Hats with beer can panels. Couldn’t possibly be comfortable. Who would ever wear one? > > A neighbor of ours used to make wreaths out of the plastic six-pack rings. Horrifying. \*\* Yes, they aren’t bad comfortwise, and I know a couple who used to where them to picnics. These people do not usually indulge in tasteless crafts. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693/100 "2003-04-02T22:40:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FairyChatMom \* > \*\*Besides, how ugly would a mat like that be?!? :eek: \*\* Only slightly less ugly than this [plastic bag bedspread](http://www.bagbed.com/index.html). **swampbear** : Glad you enjoyed that! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/craft-items-that-you-just-dont-get/165693.md?page=6)