Lately I’ve been working on a lot of crafty projects with my toddler.  Unfortunately, I’m plagued by ICTDT Syndrome (“I can totally do that!”), which means my result is never quite what I intended . . . and by “quite” I mean that I blame the two-year-old for the craftastrophe, and people actually believe it.  Of course there are a lot of As Seen on TV arts and craft products and tools for Do-It-Yourselfers, and these are designed to make crafting, building, and remodeling easy for even novices.  Unfortunately, for some of us, there’s just no help.

For example, The Bedazzler made creating jeweled fashions simple for anyone.  Well, almost anyone:

I’m sure Jaycee’s Mommmy will wear this Bedazzled garment with pride at the next PTA meeting.   And Jaycee will enjoy many years of therapy.

Crafters are not alone in their failures, however.  DIY projects of all kinds can go dramatically wrong in a second, even with the best of tools–although I’m not sure this qualifies as the best of tools:

Perhaps this home improvement genius should consider the Half Time Drill Driver, no?  Clearly, he’s in the market for a new drill.  At least, I hope so, or this is even more Fail than I thought.

Crafts, Do-It-Yourself . . . and let’s not forget Cake Fail.  There is a whole website dedicated to the ridiculous cake fails of professional bakers, but homemade cakes can often really take cake horror to a whole new level:

Oh, how I hope this cake isn’t for poor Jaycee.

Of course you want your cake to be the focal point of the party.  Of course you want your cake decorating skills to be talked about for years to come.  But not like this.

Or this:

Never.  Like.  This.

No, if you want a cake that is eye-catching, not eye-gouging, try a Big Top Cupcake instead, and keep your kids from joining Jaycee and Emma in their “Ways My Mom Ruined My Life” recovery group.

Or if you’re like me, and you STILL think you can do it, head over to SeenOnTV Express and check out the selection of As Seen on TV arts and crafts products, tools, and kitchen products.  You can totally do that!

You know, I really can’t say enough about how much I love my Snuggie.  I mean, I spent years mocking them, until I finally got one, and now, I love it.  Really, really love it.  Love it so much that it got me to thinking about the evolution of the blanket, which led me smack into the 1970′s afghan on the back of your grandma’s couch.  You know, the afghan–loosely knitted or crocheted with bulky yarn in all manner of objectionable colors and patterns?  Like this monstrosity lovingly crafted and displayed in the Ugliest Living Room Ever:

*shudder*

As I look at that afghan and the rugs and even the throw pillows (while trying to avert my eyes from that hideous couch lest I permanentlydamage my corneas), I can’t help but think the whole shebang was handcrafted via the Knit-Wit.  The Knit Wit was a simple, easy-to-use knitting device promoted in the late 1980′s and pre-dating modern knitters like the Knifty Knitter.  With the Knit-Wit, young and old alike could quickly knit both circles AND squares and stitch them together to create the warmth-giving beauties demonstrated in this 1988 vintage infomercial:

Crafting has certainly come a long way since the 1980′s and their knitted blankets that look giant versions of the “Toilet Paper Cozy” your grandma had in her bathroom (discreet and decorative) used for covering hideous couches rather than rolls of TP.  Now, you can get professional looking crafts with ease using items like the Cricut Expression or the Slice Digital Designer.  With these crafters’ tools, you will create projects you’ll be proud to display–not time-warp blankets that belong on plastic covered couches in the living rooms of the geriatric.

Speaking of geriatric living rooms, the ugly house photo above was taken from (drumroll, please) UglyHousePhotos.com, who did a whole post dedicated to the atrocity that is the afghan blanket.

Have you ever stood in front of your closet, eyeing your wardrobe with dismay because you simply have nothing to wear?  Have you ever thought your clothes were just too drab, too plain, too boring?  Well, then Way Back Wednesday has a solution for you!  If you suffer from a shortage of blinginess, then jump into the Seen On TV Express Time Machine, and travel with us back to the 1980′s, when hair was big and sweatshirts were sparkly.

That’s right–this week, we’re talking about none other than the BeDazzler.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  The BeDazzler is still available today, and it really is a good way to inexpensively recreate some of today’s fashions.  Instead of paying upwards of $200 for designer embellished jeans, or dropping a small fortune on a sparkly “Princess” t-shirt, you can use the BeDazzler to create your own custom style.  This infomercial product is one that has actually stood the test of time.  In fact, the BeDazzler was first sold through direct marketing in the 1970s, and it was voted one of the “Top 100 Gadgets” by Mobile PC Magazine in 2005.

While the product may still be alive and kickin’, the 1980′s infomercial marketing the wardrobe enhancer deserves a proper burial:

“Don’t be dull, be dazzling!”

Now that I know how to cover an entire blazer in rhinestones and silver studs, I just need to find a product that will allow me to quickly and easily create that perfect side ponytail.

Just added the YuDu Table Top Screen Printing System from Provocraft to our product lineup.  Looks like this could be a lot of fun and useful as well.  My Dad and I purchased some screen printing stuff when I was a kid and had a great time with it, but it was a lot of work – the YuDu system appears to be much simpler and compact than what we had to work with.

The only issue I saw was that it seems like it won’t be very well suited to making multi-colored screen prints – at least where you need colors close to each other.  The video did show taping off sections of the screen so you can do blocks of color, or mixing colors, but not any real multicolor prints.  That was a limitation with what my Dad and I did as well.  You probably need a pretty good commercial system to do something like that.

Right now, YuDu is offering a 30 day trial of their screen printing system for $33 (plus shipping).