details in the fabric

I am a "detail" person. 

I am married to a "big picture" person. 

We tend to balance each other out.

Sometimes, I get caught up in insignificant details. For example, when my seven year old wanted a birthday party, his only request was a piñata. I decided it would be a superhero party and I would make masks for all the boys. The games and food quickly became secondary in my mind. Would the games really matter, if the boys had awesome homemade masks? Of course, I planned some fun and easy games and food, but in my mind, they would not be the highlight.

I started the project about a week before the party. It involved printing and cutting patterns, cutting felt, cutting felt embellishments, sewing, unpicking because I forgot to add the elastic one too many times, then re-sewing.* They were not difficult, just a little time-consuming.
My "big picture" husband thought I was crazy.

I didn't finish until the night before the party. But it didn't matter: I was certain the party's success hinged upon these homemade masks and I was so glad I had lovingly crafted them for all the boys who would certainly be oh-so-grateful. 
I was also planning on making a homemade piñata.* I happened to see one at Target a few days before and bought it, "just in case," knowing I would probably return it, because my homemade one would be so much better. As soon as Mark saw it and heard my plan, he convinced me to just use the store-bought one. He was right and I consented. I was running out of time. 

At the party, I held off handing out the masks. We would start with some other activities and build up to that great mask moment. So the games were played. The food was eaten. Lots of energy was burned off in the backyard. 
When I finally pulled out the masks, yes, the boys were excited. But did they want to study the stitching and swoon over how cute they were? No. Of course not. They are boys. They were eager to choose their favorites and were happy to put them on. But mostly they just couldn't wait to break open that cheesy Target piñata.

In the end, Mark was right. The piñata was a big hit and won out over the masks. [Let's be real: The boys would not have cared if it was a grocery bag filled with candy, as long as they got to swing at it.] 
I'm glad I didn't slave over making one, only to have the boys crush my artwork to pieces. 
I'm glad I did make the masks, though. I am all about the details. I think the boys loved them in their own "big-picture" boy way. 

* I blame Pinterest for the masks and would-be-piñata.