Na na na na na naa, you say it's your birthday!

I love to make gifts for people, but I always worry when I do. I want to make them something they’ll actually use and something that won’t make them go “a handmade gift? Are you five?”. It can be a delicate balance. If you get it right, you get it really right. If it goes wrong, it can wind up on some listicle about Pinterest fails (which I love to read but do not aspire to be on).

Why is this weighing so heavily on my mind? Well, my dear friend Carrie just had a birthday. And I really wanted to make sure that I gave her something nice. Because Carrie isn’t just a regular friend. She’s a really good friend. The kind of friend who has helped me through multiple (and I mean multiple) anxiety attacks. The kind of friend who helped me get a job at her company when I was out of work. The kind of friend who flew from Los Angeles to Chicago just to go to my wedding. The kind of friend who is still friends with me even after I got drunk and threw up in the parking lot of a Jack in the Box. That kind if friend.

She’s pretty damn awesome.

So naturally a special friend deserved a special gift. And I decided to go with something that really showcased her and related to so many of the fun times that we have had together: wine glasses. Hand painted wine glasses, to be exact.

I’ve painted glassware before, but I’ve usually just done generic designs. Polka dots, the occasional word, that kind of thing. For this gift, I was going to really try to put the receiver’s personality into the designs. The only problem? Yeah, I’m not the world’s best artist.

This, like all my craft projects, will be fine

I decided to begin with the “measure twice cut once” technique only, in this case, I was going to be drawing my designs on paper before attempting to put them on glass. The designs I selected were: Carrie’s name in the Friends font (her favorite show) an ocean themed glass (her favorite place is the beach), a Christian Louboutin glass (for her fancy shoes), and a musical glass (because she loves live music). Some of these designs were easier to execute than others.

I haven’t spent any time practicing writing in the Friends font since Friends was showing new episodes. But I figured it was like a riding a bike. It wasn’t like I forgot.

Except, that the last time I tried to ride a bike I kind of fell off a couple of times. That was the same thing that happened with the Friends font. It almost fell off the glass.

Let’s pretend that up slope is intentional.

I have to give a shout out to my husband for his help during this craft project. Because even though my drawing skills are lousy, his are actually okay. Even when it comes to drawing high heels. Yes, my darling husband taught me how to draw a stiletto for the Louboutin glass.

He’s a keeper

Thankfully even I was able to draw music notes and shapes resembling waves. And I decided to give the glasses even more pizzazz by adding glitter to the base. Of course, I’ll add glitter to just about anything. In this case, though, it really did add to the glasses.

I gave the glasses to the birthday girl today and she seemed delighted by them. And the best part of any DIY project is seeing the person you made it for enjoy it.