DIY Gone Wrong? What Happens when DIY Projects Fail.
Hey friends, Cynthia here, getting ready for some tried n’ true REAL TALK. Have you ever had a project that’s just gone wrong. Like, gone SO wrong?
Well hold onto your buttons cause this post is for you. Giiiiirl, I’ve been there. Gone wrong? Yup. Yup and yup and a little more yup.
But here I am, living to tell the tale. Want to hear more? Keep on reading.
DIY Gone Wrong? What Happens when DIY Projects Fail.
I’m gonna get really real for a moment. And this might shock you, given our propensity to shine and polish snapshots of our instaperfect lives. Sometimes DIY projects fail. And not just fail. Sometimes they crash and burn and then the embers just sort of simmer, letting off this acerbic plasticy sting that makes your eyes water for days.
Sometimes DIYs are epic, epic disasters.
This week, a DIY project totally bit the dust — namely a mustang rocking horse that I started working on about two years ago.
Yep, back in the heyday of late 2016, I found the most amazing rocking horse plans, lovingly cut the parts, and then … I found out I was pregnant. Growing a human and woodworking? Yeah, that’s a tough combo.
Being the tenacious tiger I am (read: cheapskate with an attachment complex), I refused to just STOP and instead hit a long pause. I packed up my pieces and parts for one day well into the future when I could continue.
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Well, last week, I found myself trying to make sense of those poor horse parts, which had dried, warped, and twisted in the last 22 months. Imagine horse meets raisin and you’ll get a picture of my situation.
I spent a dozen or so hours huffing and puffing, mentally gripping onto the thought that I COULD DOOOOOOO THIS.
And you know what? I did. I tried and I did and I made a lot of progress. Until the rocking horse frame split right down the middle, dried wood chunks cracking like saltines.
I think my neighbors heard me curse from several houses away.
And my husband’s ever so helpful input: “Yeah, you should’ve thrown that project away months ago.”
(Thanks honey, love you.)
And you know what? I actually got really down about it. Like, questioning my worth, kind of down. As in: how come THEY can do these kinds of projects but I can’t? What’s WRONG with me?
Sigh. You ever feel that?
But several iced coffees later, and I’ve regrouped. And here’s what I’m thinking now:
DIY Gone Wrong? Here’s the Lesson to be Learned
Our successes are built on heaps and piles and mountains of failures. But when we see our victory shot, standing at the summit with our arms held high, we tend to crop out the landscape below. Yep that big old mountain of failures? Trimmed right out of the photo.
So I wanna talk about the mountain. I want to talk about how important it is to try and fail and try and fail and, yes, try and fail again.
And I realize now that even though I have NO ROCKING HORSE, I have more hours spent learning and more confidence with my tools. All that? It means I’ve come out further ahead than when I started.
So if you’re in the middle of a DIY project that just. isn’t. going. well, here’s what I want you to know: it’s okay. Welcome to the club. I promise you that you’re in good company. Because even if we don’t tend to show it, we’ve all been there.
And if you’re in need of a little eye candy, here are some gorgeous rocking horses I just love (tagged with affiliate links):
