DIY, DAMMIT! A Practical Guide to Curse-Free Crafting + Win a copy!

If DIY failures have made you think about swearing off crafting forever, Joselyn Hughes is going to make you think again. And pee laughing while you’re doing it. Just a few pages into Joselyn’s DIY, DAMMIT! A Practical Guide to Curse-Free Crafting and I was annoying my hubby reading funny bits aloud and wanting to make all the things. There’s 35 easy, affordable and good-looking crafts for gifting, organizing, wearing, decorating and entertaining, plus a quiz to help you find out what kind of crafter you are (I love quizzes!), what to drink while crafting (ha!) and what to do when disaster strikes. And more! So what to make first? The platter with panache? Beer in a poncho? (See, the crafts even sound funny. Dammit she’s good!)

Each project is ranked according to Joselyn’s “super super scientific scale of dammits” — a rating of 1 to 5 hammers, with the 1s and 2s being those she was able to nail on the first try. I started with the two-hammer Marked Mug. It’s supposed to be for wine, but can also be a planter in a pinch. (Crafty, right?) All you need are mugs (we picked up a couple for next-to-nothing at Value Village), oil-based markers (Michael’s had them) and an oven to cook them in for 20 minutes to set. My 6- and 8-year-olds had so much fun decorating their own and have been using them ever since (for milk, not wine). Winner, winner chicken dinner! This one we loved.

But I had to talk myself off the ledge a few times making the two-hammer Bow Tie Key Chains, struggling to cut the leather just perfectly with the &%!!#$ X-ACTO knife (“a sharp mini dagger used for fine cuts and punctures but also, realistically, a pretty badass weapon”). I should’ve used scissors from the start like Joselyn suggested. They did the job much better and I didn’t have to keep yelling at the kids to back away from the knife (them things are dangerous!). I got myself all tied up in knots trying to make the key chains perfect from the get-go (like always), and p.o.’d when I got the damn super strength glue on the kitchen island (it came off) and my fingers (it came off eventually). “It’s NOT normal to be able to craft without messing up, starting over, and swearing a lot,” Joselyn says. “Just because there are cute l’il pics on the Internet, that doesn’t mean crafting’s going to be easy for you.” This woman knows what she’s talking about! Must learn not to take everything so damn seriously, including crafting for fun.

“Crafting has caused me more pain and suffering than you can imagine,” says Joselyn, “but that hasn’t stopped me from doing it.” Which is true of a lot of things, but still we press on. Why? Because there’s something so satisfying about making something with your own hands that you dreamed up yourself, plus a whole bunch of other benefits you can read in the book.

I love Joselyn’s chapter on lessons she’s learned and her list of crafty DIYers (more inspiration, yay!), but most of all I love her everygirl vibe. She’s the crafting bestie you want at your side to laugh when you tape a lame paper moustache above your lip and cry when you hot glue gun your fingers (because dammit, that hurts)! She’s also the star of the popular YouTube series DIY, Dammit!, which is totally gonna make you fall in love with her when you watch it. But don’t run over there just yet: first enter to win a copy of DIY, DAMMIT! right here!

GIVEAWAY!

To enter to win a copy of DIY, DAMMIT! A Practical Guide to Curse-Free Crafting (thanks HarperOne books!), leave a comment telling me about something crafty — what you like to make, what you’d like to learn how to make, a crafting fail — whatever!

For a second entry, tweet the following and leave me a separate comment with a link to your tweet. (Feel free to tweet once a day, just be sure to come back here and leave me a separate comment with a link to your tweet.)

#Win a copy of the HILARIOUS new crafting book DIY, DAMMIT! from @HarperOne and @trysmallthings CAN/US http://wp.me/p4xBed-Kb #DIYDAMMIT

For a third entry, follow me on Instagram and leave me a comment here with your Instagram handle.

The giveaway is open to Canadian (excluding Quebec) and US residents ages 18+ and ends November 26, 2015 at midnight EST.

Good luck everybody!

Update November 27, 2015: Congratulations Jeannie L!

HarperOne sent me a copy of DIY, DAMMIT! in exchange for an honest review. And honestly, I love it!