Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Peg People



For any of you who, like me, have been sucked into Pinterest, you know that it is the best and worst thing to ever hit the internet. If you thought regular social bookmarking was cool, the addition of pictures makes it so much easier to find what you are looking for and enter a fit of distraction! Pinterest and procrastination go hand-in-hand. On the flip-side, once you peel your finger off the scroll button and avert your eyes from the screen, you are often consumed by a period of frenzied productivity. The DIY & Crafts section is the best/worst, closely followed by the Weddings and Holiday & Events sections, which are basically more specific DIY & Crafts pages. And then there are recipes, but that is a whole other story. Every pin viewed produces the desire in me to drop everything, run to the craft store, spend thirty bucks on supplies, and launch into a do-it-yourself spree. If I am lucky, my finished products will come out looking like the pins that "pinspired" me.

Therefore, I fully blame Pinterest for what is, most recently, my biggest “problem.”

I am addicted to painting wooden peg people. (I alternate between obsessions with pegs and felt flowers, which you can see in the background of the picture above.)

It all began when I was planning my wedding. During regular browsings of the Weddings and Events section (which usually occurred when I was supposed to be sleeping, or grading papers, or planning lessons) I came across homemade wedding cake toppers. Given how expensive or cheesy or inappropriate or impersonal wedding cake toppers can be, I thought a handmade topper was a brilliant idea. After some Etsy-induced sticker-shock, I figured I could do the same or better on my own for a fraction of the cost.

So, during a summer off from teaching, these were the first two pegs I ever painted:

One year later, the little cuties got to adorn the top of the most scrumptious coconut wedding cake with raspberry mouse filling:



I had so much fun making them and they were probably my favorite detail from our wedding day! I was immensely proud of myself and, like a good bride, I didn't let Drew see "me" until the wedding day. He saw the completed project for the first time just moments before we cut the cake. Don't they look perfect up there? When I planned the project, I bought extra pegs, because I assumed that I would need room to make mistakes, like when I drive to a new place for the first time and there are lots of u-turns and frustrations and yelling at the GPS. The endeavor worked out better than I anticipated and since I needed/wanted to use the rest of the pegs, I made a nativity scene, a couple of sports stars, princesses, and superheroes.

I recently donated my princesses to an auction to raise money to help my sister-in-law's sister adopt a fourth child, leaving me the opportunity to revisit my Disney friends as a seasoned peg-people-painter. So, for about a week, the kitchen table was a mess of pencils, paint, pegs, paintbrushes, and paper towels. The whole process to me is so cathartic and relaxing. I get so much joy out of trying to capture the essence of each girl and the finished pegs are simply irresistible.

In both a fantastic and terrifying way, the possibilities are endless; I find myself making lists of the peg projects I would like to tackle in the future . . . I could be very busy for the rest of time. 


If you are looking for a fun and inexpensive craft to occupy some free time, I recommend finding some pegs, paints, and brushes and getting to work!