The Favorite Thing in My Craft Room

I love my craft room. It's the one space that is entirely mine. I can go there when I'm bored, stressed, or feeling creative. I'm proud of what I accomplish there. But while it's "mine," my husband's touches are all around. He is constantly helping me turn it into a space that is pretty and efficient. Most recently he's put in some shelves and fabric storage cubbies. He also made a kick-butt cutting table for me. But, my favorite thing of all is a little picture. Here's the story:

My husband is a very creative guy. He is a good artist and craftsman. A few years ago he decided to try his hand at sewing and make a unique Christmas gift for me. He got the idea to make a Sympthy Doll here. What is a Sympathy Doll, you ask? According to the Make Magazine website the idea is to "make a doll that is so sad and pathetic that it inspires empathy and love from people. You really can't feel too bad around these dolls because you just know you don't have it that bad!"

On Christmas morning, this is the gift I unwrapped. It really does invoke sympathy, doesn't it?My husband used black felt to lovingly craft the doll. He hand-sewed the whole thing. Pretty impressive for my manly man, huh? :)

But...a few days later I was in my craft room and noticed a suspicious looking face looking up at me from my trash can. I dug through the trash and uncovered the sad little remnants of my husband's first attempt at making a Sympathy Doll. The severed head, body and original drawing were so cute! When I looked at my husband's original pattern, I noticed that he had been so ambitious--wanting to put plaid pants and a little scarf on my doll. But...when he started to put everything together he forgot about one thing: seam allowance!! Turns out, when he started to sew it together, it was way to small for him to stuff.

So, in a moment of frustration, the first Sympathy doll was beheaded, discarded, and forsaken in my trash can. When I found it, though, I was overwhelmed at how good my husband's intentions were and knew that I had to keep the remnants of his token of love. So, I framed it and it now hangs proudly in my craft room. I will never part with it :)