Mumsnet Talk

That's it really.

DD woke up poorly today. My kind friend took DS out for a couple of hours and lo and behold...

Me: what would you like to do this afternoon? Anything you like

Her: Craft

Me: (heart already sinking) OK what kind of craft? Shall we do the sewing dolly you got at Christmas?

Her: No. I want to do cutting and sticking

Me: Right...

Her: And glue and glitter

Me: Are you sure you're feeling well enough?

<*DD disappears to return heaving the box of doom (glitter/googly eyes/glue - you know the one)*>

Me: Oh ok, so let's see what we need?

<*watch in horror as entire box is tipped out*>

Her: I think we'll need everything

Me: ok what are we making?

Her: I don't know but anyway mummy, you're not making, you have to watch me. Because I am ill

cue 10 minutes of glue blobbage, glitter spillage, 4 million snippets of useless paper - all stuck to kitchen table

Me: so what are you making darling?

Her: I don't think i want to do craft anymore. Will you play a game with me?

watch in silence as cat pads through glitter glue blob and begins journey up stairs

^ this exactly ^

Ha ha - I was going to say YABVU but now I realise you're not - kid craft is painful!

As above plus having to sit on my hands to stop her sticking everything on an a messy and uncoordinated manner. What the hell is it meant to be??

'I'm giving this to grandma/daddy/my best friend/teacher at nursery who will be very impressed.'

It gives me high blood pressure.

When DD started nursery (8 months old) within the first week her diary said "and in craft she did gluing and sticking". FFS. She's 8 months old, no she did not.

However we have received numerous 'made by staff' holiday items including a lovely valentines card which I enjoy pretending my genius child was remotely involved in.

glitter <shudder> 'nuf said!

YANBU!

YANBU - The devil's own work. I never go near it. My DCs feel hard done by but I don't care!!

sorry but

I hate glitter glue and all that palava , thats what nursery and school is for , Its fine if you are crafty yourself and can do an activity but im not , Mine are older and my heart would sink when my mum would give them activity sets for christmas , glitter sequins , beads , blah de blah , would end up hoover food ,

hehehe @ an 8 month gluing and sticking

My DH thought he had found a cancerous mole on his arse the other morning. It was a little pink stick on gem. As he doesn't really do craft with the DD let alone in the buff we have no clue how it got there!!!!!

My children don't know what craft is. I pride myself on this bit of ignorance!!

I only do it because I feel I should. Working mum guilt. Why do I bother when I get piles of the stuff from nursery? It's what I pay them for.

Ha Ha MrsJay - " hoover food"! Exactly!

YANBU, I detest it as it's faff. And I don't "do" faff.

I find it a bit Iffy when adults do it on their own , my friend is into it card making , stampy things glitter and glue guns a , Id rather stick pins in my eyes , Thing is she makes the creations out of card as a Birthday card and they are lovely but what are you meant to do with them keep it Bin it , keep it till its ripped then bin it , What ?

I also loathe it, thankfullyu dd is now 16 but she went through a card making craze when she was 10, and we used to have to go to Hobby Craft every weekend <glum>. Fucking stickers and stamps and crap.

I hate baking as well.

YES it is even worse when adults do it imo.

Norks you are a wise woman.

My DM has bought the DC Aqua Beads and an ice cream maker. They will never see the light of day.

Getorf YYY to baking as well

'Fucking stickers and stamps and crap ' that sums it up nicely

My friend has a room a BLOODY CRAFT ROOM ,

dd2 had one of those science centre kits , make your own perfume what a faff that was , one trip out was back in the box and hidden forever ,

At least baking gets eaten. Or if it is indefinite it can be binned. Crafty crap your kids make you are supposed to lovingly keep. Meh.

Although ds brought home a heart shaped paperweight of his own making and I do find myself gazing lovingly at it.

*inedible

thats ok though chub its a gift that he did elsewhere and you know what it is

Lol at cancerous glittery mole

Glitter is the work of the devil and people who give kids craft kits with glitter in as presents should be lined up and shot made to come round and hoover it up afterwards.

WHY would someone have a craft room.

DD still has all her craft shite in boxes under her bed (she is a hoarder and won't get rid) so every time she goes under her bed looking for something, a whole load of glitter and sequins somehow gets out.

<shudders> at sequins. Sequins and little feathers on gluey fingers.

mrsjay you are quite correct that adults should not peruse craft-based hobbies. It's is iffy and a bit wrong and yet a quick search eBay tells me that there are millions of grown women scrapbooking etc SCRAPBOOKING FOR ADULTS?? What the actual fuck is that about?

Actually, you know when people ask you what is the one bit of advice you would give to a new mother? I would say

Do not buy, and return unopened if bought, the following items:

Aqua beads
Hamma beads
Play doh
Glitter / glue / sparkly shit
Ice cream maker
Lip gloss / bath bomb / perfume making kit
And king of them all - Bastard Moon Sand

Yes craft is for other people ie nursery/childminder/school. Summer holiday on maternity leave was murder from a glitter and glue perspective - at eight and a half months pregnant I willingly played pirate football on the trampoline to avoid craft.

Stickers. I fucking hate stickers.

I hated craft even as a child. I remember being 5 or 6 at school and the teacher telling us all to stick pasta shapes on cardboard, cover it with tinfoil and create a "terrain" and I clearly remember thinking, "This is boring!". I never liked crafts at school and thankfully my parents and childminders never forced it on me.

My DH was the same.

Interestingly my DD (3.5) much prefers to play rather than paint or stick. I always offer to get paints and glitter glue out (thinking that I should) but she always says No.

I am so happy .

Adults who do scrapbooking and card making need more in their lives - what's so bloody creative about buying a load of glittery tat things someone else has designed and sticking them on top of each other?

Disclaimer: I do enjoying making stuff myself - sewing etc - and would love a craft room, but I draw the line at most of the contents of Hobbycraft anything where someone else has done half the work for you.

mrsjay - I see your friend's craft room and I'll raise it. I live in a craft town. A woolly, weave-y, glittery, felty, painty craft TOWN! Hence rapid name change, because not only am I admitting here that I HATE all craft with a passion, I'd also out myself fairly rapidly and be hounded out of said town with pointy sticks.

The dc know not to ask me. Luckily their father is pretty good with a Pritt, and they bring all manner of cardboard shit back from the grandparents.

Give me a good jigsaw any day.

My 3yo calls it arts and craps. I haven't corrected her

I remember having to make a puppet for school <yawn>

Had to model a head out of plasticine. And then apply layer of papier mache...wait to dry... apply another, and repeat for weeks. And then cut the head in half and remove and then papier mache it together again. And then paint the bloody thing. And THEN make a costume for the bastarding thing.

I am not joking at all when I say that I would have rather spent Monday afternoons for a whole TERM doing sums. So, so boring and messy.

there is a whole adult craft community i just dont get it . crafthater friend who i really do like honestly lives in a crafty town with craft fayres and everything , I think its fine to stay ANON though because you may be run out of town with pitchforks

My aunt sends me a lovely xmas card each year.. that she has spent at least about 3 hours making.. which works out, even at minimum wage to be in the region of £20 per card... surely there is a reason why Hallmark and Clinton exist....

Exactly Wannabee!

Two types of crafting IMO, there is the totally acceptable knitting/crocheting/lace making/wood working type of crafting and then there is cutting and sticking type (which most people grow out of by the age of 5).

Yes jigsaws are bliss by comparison.

still feeling uncomfortable at the thought of Getorf's little feathers stuck to gluey fingers. That is EXACTLY what 'craft' comes down to*

And to living in Craft Town

I do think that knitting and woodwork etc is more of a skill than decoupage and crapbooks.

My gran used to knit - that looked hard.

This thread has highlighlighted one of the reasons I struggle to connect with my craftastic SIL, who also has a room full of the stuff, own sewing machine ( for personalised bunting and such, not stuff like curtains), handmade cards blah blah.

The smugness of it is another aspect, eg distributing hand-made-by-DC (yeah right) xmas offerings and getting stroppy when they go in the recycling in jan (oops)

Despite (or maybe because of) only rare forays, I have spent one afternoon too many in agony / in A&E with glitter in the eye. Ouch!

There are a few joys though, eg peeling PVA glue off fingers, the smell of playdough.

Where is crafttown?

Is it Stroud?

Whilst YANBU, I actually love doing craft with DS when we're both in the right mood - it's utter chaos, mess everywhere, but he enjoys it, and it saves me from fighting him all the way round the park because he wants to pick up all the dog turds or jump into a patch of nettles. What I like best about it is binning most of it, admittedly. But we get the odd gem, which is kept.

Also love baking with him, again, total chaos, but we get food out of it. Mostly edible! (not when he does baking at nursery, strangely, it is grim)

Not so keen on the idea of craft for adults, but I'd love to be more artistic and able to paint/do art of some kind. Everything I draw seems to look like a spider, sadly. Except spiders, which look more like sheep. sigh.

I think craft towns are dotted about in mostly rural areas and have a market on a wednesday

I hate crafts, but do have a craft box in the garage. It's not allowed to be accessed by the children on school days. Only weekends.

Agree with a lot of the above.
-Glitter is banned.
-Glitter glue is banned.
-Moon Sand. Bought it once. Never again
-Hama beads. Meh! I can put up with that but often burn or warp the much worked on figure . You don't press hard enough with the iron, it doesn't mould together. You press harder and it warps like buggery.

They can have crayons, paper, sellotape, every empty loo roll and cereal box, and water based paints ONCE THEY HAVE PUT THE TABLE PROTECTOR ON!

Also, trying to teach a left-handed daughter to crochet, knit or sew will end in tears. We've been reduced to making pom-poms.

After years of being a SAHM it was wonderful to send my children to after school club, where craft activities are put on for them No more glue and cutting in this house.

God no, it's the work of the devil. It has to be the very end of the holidays and we've exhausted all other activities, funds, friend invites before I get that sodding craft box out. Bloody hate it! And yes, that is what I pay for at nursery - isn't that why it's so expensive?!

My craft town is in Scotland. I actually love living here but I wanted attention .

There are some really talented people. Sadly, I am not amongst them.

I knit. I have a sewing machine. These are adult pursuits which produce useful and attractive objects. Did all to do with a four year old and done glitter.

Ds's teacher let them loose with a glue gun the other day ffs.

And that is why they go to Nursery ...

Lego - good
Jigsaws - good
"some" games - good
Craft - bad

x posts with thinneratforty

I absolutely bloody hate it. My OCD goes into overdrive at the mere mention of craft the word has a snide tone to it. It sounds so quiet and unassumming but in reality it means a right load of mess for pile of shit in return.

Ds1 (6) is never happier than with a a pile of a4, a pair of scissors and a roll of Sellotape. Oh and a big black marker pen and one of my propelling pencils if he can find them from where I have hidden them deep.

So far I have a large pile of paper DSs, iPhones, laptops and the like as I have not let him have any of these of his own, so he's made them. There's also a complete deadly 60 animal hunting kit equipped with everything a budding steve backshall needs to hunt and film dangerous animals from the arctic to the desert and everywhere in between, a space rocket (complete with washing machine and washing line) and so much more.

Current project this week is a 'post office system' for at least a larger town [heart sinking smiley] - so far we have the letters (a large tub full of bits of paper about an inch square), a number of pipe cleaner people (apparently we need to get several thousand more so there ate enough people in the town ), several trolleys for the postmen and two sorting machines each with lots of weeny trays... Lots of house to come next apparently. I have no idea where he gets his ideas from but he always seems to know what he wants to make and gets very frustrated when dh and I don't share the same vision for turning the house into a pile of chipped up paper bits.

I've point blank ignored the presence of glitter, goodly eyes and loads of other 'goodies' the craft shop could provide - a4 white paper Armageddon is already as much as I can cope with!

So no, yadnbu!

Oh and it bugs me when nursery sends home cards etc with stuff that is basically done by the helpers.

All cards etc at that age should be based on hand and/or foot prints so that you have a cute reminder of how teeny their hands are and how they get bigger as the move through the classes!

You are so not being unreasonable! DS1 (6) adores crafty shit an also regularly subjects me to white paper armageddon. My DM does not help by buying him crafty kits with glitter an shit in them! For Christmas she bought DS2 play dough.

He was one and three weeks! FFs!

I now make her do all the arts and craps ( stealing that ) at her house!

I absolutely adore baking but that is my hobby and no one else's. I have been know to scream politely ask my DS to get out of my kitchen.

Hi there is light at the end of the tunnel, I now have a 15 yr old who takes charge of all the christmas wrapping - and adds ribbons, bows and cards.
It is bliss - and I can make her clear up as well!

BTW, forgot to say YANBU.

I swear I will have breakdown soon. I'm looking at (yet another) empty Cheesy Dipper box with baby wipes sellotaped to it. I have to keep it in my bedroom as it's there to "protect me"

YANBU - I hate any type of craft/arty stuff. I have no imagination or originality so can't help DD in the least. Luckily DD is now 6 so therefore I tell her if she wants to cut/stick/glitter stuff, then she can wipe and hoover it up

God, I love craft. Craft means I don't have to go to the sodding wet cold park.

And zipzap, your DS would get on well with my DD, aged five. She has made today:

A cardboard LeapPad for her favourite toy in case it felt left out

A crown with ribbons trailing from it in order to be Rapunzel

A height measuring chart (which she measured me on and confidently informed me I weighed one million - thanks v much, child)

A Valentine for her favourite toy

A magazine including a feature on meerkats, which are apparently purple and glittery and like to eat slugs

A family of spiders

A pair of binoculars

and a box full of tiny bits of random coloured in paper which she says is a snow box. I haven't enquired further.

The really great thing is that I have had no input into any of this apart from being required to wield a stapler five or six times because she's too weedy. I have been reading my book while the hive of activity progressed.

Oh OP I feel your pain! YADNBU! I hate anything that involves glue, glitter, playdough, anything messy. I try my hand at jewellery making so I'm not totally against craft per se.

But this junk modelling crap that is so popular now - why? And why - because DS is not interested in taking hours over drawing, painting, or crafting, preferring instead to do something useful - does the school think that's strange?

And why oh why oh why do we have for half term homework, make a sodding bloody effing sea-life themed puppet out of said junk?! How about doing something radical with them like, oh I don't know, teaching them to read and add up?

I lurve craft.

However kid craft as in my dd who is 3 and dd2 who is 20 months means Play for 10 minutes then they want to do something else whilst I clear the crap mess up

And where the hell are you meant to put all the "master pieces"??

Dd1 goes mad if she catches me throwing it away...

TOTU Am weeping at the cheesy dipper box with wipes having to be kept in the bedroom to 'protect you'. DD does this - brings home some shit creation but then ensures an extended 'display lifespan' by allocating some significance to its purpose.

We had a fucking huge large box with bits of tin foil stuck to it and a washing up liquid nozzle protruding from it, in the kitchen for about 4 months because it was a 'fairy computer' and the tooth fairy (should she have cause to visit) needed it to google map her way home.

The imagination is genius even if the art is not

Still fucking hate craft though.

I love kid craft, we do lots of it always have. Bit of music on, bit of cutting, sticking or painting, bit of chat.

my husbands cousin is an avid card maker and makes truly horrible decoupage cards. Layers and layers of pictures of teddy bears, men playing football, Christmas trees etc. They are awful but the rest of the family buy them off her in bulk so we get loads of the bloody things.

I have lived through "craft" and its abominable consequences.

So I was not impressed by the friend who looked admiringly at my gluey, glittery and blobby free sitting room the other week and said "I bet you can't wait for dgd to come round and do craft".

As it happens, I am in no hurry at all. In fact I don't mind how long I wait.

I am crying with laughter at TOTO and the protective baby wipe

As for the cancerous glitter gem DH has ended up with those in his beard and thou it looks pretty they do sting on the way out. Much sniggering.

I haven't really experienced child craft yet, but nursery is certainly for messy play!

Also crying at the baby wipe protector thing. Are you me? I have had more shite like that than I can remember.

I have all this to come with ds2.

Zipzap there are the makings of a computer programmer... perhaps it would work out less annoying to let him have the PC and a copy of The Sims

I can't wait until DS is old enough to do proper craft. I used to make endless tiny things with my sister. Great fun.

I did actually make tiny letters for his happyland town and was probably a bit too pleased when they fit nicely into the postbox and the letter basket in the post office. He, being 3, managed to crumple them swiftly with his baby fingers while attempting to post them and they ended up as hoover food too.

OP, I actually don't mind the craft stuff, and love the baking, which is useful because DD loves both!

DD (5) has written a list of things she wants to do over half term. It comprises "craft, painting, baking, making {bread specifically} and making pudding". We've done the bread and the painting. 'Baking' a chocolate valentine's day cake is today. That just leaves craft and pudding!

At Christmas she received a new box full of new craft supplies. Packed to the rafters. DH and I dozed off on the sofa after Christmas dinner. DD didn't...

The dining room has almost recovered!

BertieBotts when I was 9 I made my Sindy a blanket out of knitted squares of different coloured wool - you know the sort. I knitted the squares on cocktail sticks.

I used to spend hours making things for Sindy...

I love glitter and all kids craft bits and DS will soon be too old. Its fab and all cleans up unless you buy paint/felts that are not washable.

I hate craft with a passion, but I do love baking except that I am a control freak but I have to make sure my DS stirs properly, and make sure he puts the right amounts in!

I am always so glad that my DS goes to nursery ft and they do crafty crap with them there because then I don't have to get my house covered in glue and glitter, and then end up cleaning it up because he gets bored in ten minutes!

I do wonder about some of the stuff he brings home, they call it junk modelling cereal box with yoghurt tubs stuck to it but maybe I am not artistic enough to appreciate it.

Whoever mentioned moon sand, that is truly the work of the devil. Bloody stuff took me over a month to get out of my carpet!!!! Give me playdoh any day inhales the lovely scent, it's much less stressful, except that my DS mixes the colours

Slightlyjaded no offence, but yours sounds worse than mine.

At least my sons' creation was small and is hidden behind a vase in my bedroom

It's half term so he's pounced on the fact he's allowed access to the craft box on a weekday. Damn! He's currently constructing something as a surprise for me for Valentine's Day. I can hear lots of sellotape being used but I'm not allowed to look. God knows how big/fugly it's going to be

TOTU what was your valentines present? And thank god for Sellotape. Within the arena of craft, I would have to say Sellotape is fairly innocuous (when compared to glitter glue for example)

I hate doing crafts with children because I am a control freak Art Nazi who can't let them do it badly and ends up grabbing the glitter glue/playdough/card off them and saying "go on let me just fix that" and they end up wandering off somewhere where there isn't an insane woman.
.

I love craft, although primarily sewing and making clothes. I even have friend round for sewing circle style evenings.

DD (2.3) likes making a sticky glittery mess, which I don't count as craft but wll facilitate on a semi regular basis. I'm hoping she will develop a bit more of a taste for it as she gets co-ordinated, Mr.Maker is her favourite program on Cbeebies so she likes the principle! I have to absolutely sit on my hands though to stop taking over and making something properly rather than just splashing glue about in a happy fashion.

NorthenWreck - I'm so glad it's not just me!

SlightlyJaded. Oh God! It was a chocolate cake box, with the front torn off so I can keep 'precious' things in there. Sellotaped on top of that was a Cheezy Dipper box. To each side of the CDip box there was a Jaffa Cake box. Attached to each side of the Jaffa cake boxes were pieces of cardboard (wings apparently).

And the crowing glory was a toilet roll tube.

It's mahoosive! And I have to give it bedroom space because he made it, it's a gift and I have to store my stuff in it.

I await being judged for having all crap boxes for the kids to do crafts with. It should all be 'organics'. .

Chocolate cake, Jaffa cakes, Cheezy Dippers. MNetters will be fainting. I'm throwing in a mention of a blackcurrant fruit shoot that he just told me he wants to use as a skittle.

TOTU it sounds magnificent.

I am still awaiting mine because there was much drying that had to take place. I believe clay may be involved

at Fruit Shoot skittles.

And Northern that's it exactly! Into am a self confessed craft-Nazi. And apart from
hating the gluey, pointless mess, It's the inevitable abandoning mid-way that really makes my heat sink.

i don't have a craft room (well, i DID have one but then dd's Sylvanian Families collection got too huge and needed a room for itself) so now I "just" have a very large craft cupboard. everything is in labelled boxes and sorted on the shelves by craft type.

i can feel you all getting twitchy at the very thought of it all (muhahaha!)

for those of you who have dc who enjoy "craft" but you don't - may i suggest a look at the Baker Ross website as they do oodles of "craft kits" where everything is cut out and many things are sticky backed so no glue required.

I love doing crafts - so far DD has made a fish tank, a unicorn garden, a modular castle and a cave (cereal boxes, plastic bits..) I don't mind glitter and mess and don't interfere (much) when it's a bit wonky. Role play games on the other hand send me mental in minutes. DD is currently obsessed with Kung Fu Panda and 'jail' games with superhero rescuers. I cannot be 'Mummy' Panda again without screaming inside!

You need the tray . The tray that you can hose off at the end of the fun. And double sided tape. Muuuch better than glue.

Worse than craft.... DDs request for half term was "pleeeease can we go pottery paintin again?" So yesterday I sat and knawed through my knuckles as she merrily sploshed paint across a ridiculous giant goblet that cost £15. And then next week I'll have to go and collect it, and use the darn thing, have it sitting in the cupboard and never drop it on the floor by accident

And she has got though an entire ream of paper by cutting it up, sticking all the sheets together to make bricks so she can build a secret wall around her bed with a magic door in it. At least that should keep her busy for a while

Wow, I like the secret wall and magic door idea!!

I don't mind kiddy craft but frankly, an adult with a "craft room" is just sinister.

I am basing this opinion entirely on the fact that my DP's dad has a witch girlfriend who has a fecking craft room at their house which is basically the big spare room, so whenever DP's lovely sis goes to stay, with her 2 children, they have to sleep in the box room as this supposedly grown up woman has taken over a large part of decent living space with her crap where she churns out utter shit home made cards with fluffy kittens on which we have to ooh and aah over on birthdays and at Christmas as she is so --fucking mean--talented that she can't bear to buy a normal card from a shop.

I don't like her. Can you tell?

fucking mean

I'd like to stick up for adult card-makers! I made all our wedding invitations (very simple design, no glitter or sequins I promise) and the whole lot cost about a tenner, so saved us a heap of cash. Also, I hate most of the cards in shops & resent paying £2 for a card which most of them seem to cost now.

I don't have a craft-room though

I'll let you orf then WillSing.

Only just though

Making wedding invites which I did is not in the same league as regularly churning out decoupage fluffy kitty cards with personalised names in gilt foil.

My DMIL has a neighbour who does these so we all get birthday cards with layers of shut doilies and whatnot, personalised foil names in a football theme for DH and DS and kitten themed for me and DD

I have no doubt that she has a craft room, buys supplies on eBay and does serious amounts of scrap-booking to boot.

HOWEVER she is 70 odd which vaguely excuses her a bit. Young people with craft rooms alarm me.

Oh God CraftFlashback time

Hated it then, htre it now.

So to any future GC's, it will not be happening unless DH does it.

<remembers the bottles of paint, glue, stickers, feckin glitter, paper everywhere, the mess, the sudden onset boredom of the DC's, scrap books, ewwwwww>

I'm so relieved I'm not the only one who hates craft! I can't even deal with DS colouring in as he doesn't stay in the lines then has the cheek to scribble over mine!

Us SAHMs are supposed to love baking cupcakes and crafting with the DCs. Well I hate it. I don't do it. Glitter = shitter. Drives me to self harm. And I'm supposed to feel guilty for locking up felt tips finger paints Sellotape glue and shitter. WELL HELL I DON'T.

I hate craft, I have a 5yo and a 6yo and I just leave them to it then clear up after, it's what to do with the actual art itself....

did you find the time to wash pussy"s paws ?remember >revenge of the seriously annoyed cat !was it"s tail swishing high ? oh dear !

Craft? Isn't that what school and grandparents are for?

A few weeks after Halloween DH was talking in a meeting. One of his colleague's said,

"I can't take you seriously with glitter on your face."

DH has never been a fan of glitter and sticky stuff, now he is even less. I'm guessing I won't be dressing up as anything that involves glitter for Halloween again.

YANBU. I have never done crafting with my Dc's apart from a little bit of painting, and I love making things! just not messy stuff with children!!

I love craft, the more mess the better.

Our kitchen table has a beautiful sparky sheen from ingrained glitter - it's my favourite piece of furniture now.

Not one but two people have given my 4 year old DD sand picture kits. You peel the impossibly small stickers off the overly cute sexualised picture of a little girl, scatter one of 20 colours of glittery sand over it, shake off the excess all over the floor then throw straight in the bin display proudly. One was from my best friend. FFS.

thereis to Sand Picture. This is exactly the sort of thing I HATE. Overly packaged shit in a box with pictures on 10 year olds on the front (as if) and my DD thinks "oooh big girls craft" so we spend an hour setting it up, 3 minutes doing it badly then she wanders off and I am left with glitter carnage and another piece of tat art to display.

nip it in the bud NOW or she'll grow up to be a Kirsty type who gives you home made scrap books and cushion covers for christmas even if she earns enough to buy you something decent!

"I hate craft, I have a 5yo and a 6yo and I just leave them to it then clear up after, *it's what to do with the actual art itself....*"

I give it to the grandparents evil laught

LAUGH!