Fall Festival Failure - Leaf Bowl

It's been a week! One filled with lots of early mornings, late nights and a stupid cold that I can't seem to shake. Luckily, I had a relaxing weekend in front of me with Pinterest at my fingertips.

I tried for TWO this weekend. Both ended in the statement "F' you, Pinterest!". So... that's how that went.

The first I tried was this pin - The Leaf Bowl

I was super excited about this. Doesn't this look so great? And it could totally be out as general fall decor - that's a full 2-3 months before the dreaded snow hits. I went out and immediately got my supplies.

As for leaves... I had a few to choose from.

To answer your question: No. I don't rake that anymore. Ain't nobody got time for that.

So I grabbed about 30 leaves that were super pretty, brought them in the house and took off the stems. I blew up my balloon, covered it with mod podge, stuck my leaves on and covered it again in mod podge. You should definitely be reading that last sentence with the full momentum I felt while doing it.

Now that you've built up that momentum - lets kill it, much like mine was. It didn't work! I don't have pictures of this because my hands were covered with mod podge, but trust me - it was so bad. These things would not lie down for the life of them. After more than one or two creative swear words, I decided that I wouldn't give up. I was going to try again.

I thought, maybe the leaves are too dead? I did choose them from the ground. I went outside and grabbed some live leaves directly from the trees.

This worked a little bit better... but they still would't stick completely. I'd get one on there, glue it down, and then it would start drying and peel up.  Not only did the live ones not stick but since they were alive they were still waxy, so they were moving around all over this balloon. I gave up after applying about 5 leaves.

More swearing ensued - including "F you Pinterest". (Edited for appropriateness)

Full Breakdown:

Balloons: $2.49 for the bag (20 balloons)

Mod Podge: $10.99 for 16oz (this can certainly be cheaper - my JoAnn's was out of the smaller sizes)

Foam Brushes: $5.99 for 20 (why do I have to buy everything in bulk?!)

Leaves: Free.

Loss of Ego: Priceless.

Total: Who cares. This shit doesn't work.

On the bright side, when I was done I had the very relaxing task of peeling off the dried glue from my hands 3rd-grade style. Let me tell you - Mod Podge is way more satisfying than Elmer's glue.

Enjoy your weekends, friends. And don't waste your time on this. Unless you do and it works. In that case - teach me, o' wise one.