A Crafty Horror Story

Since I’ve got things coming along with the (surprisingly popular) Cthulhu necklace, I decided to have a little horror segment. This is a true story that will shiver the bones and curdle the blood of any crafty type.

When I was a lass in the 1980s, during the final era where kids went home for lunch, walked to school in big packs, and moms made 7 layer Jello for class Pizza Day; my mother made Raggedy Anne and Andy dolls for the church Christmas Bazaar.

They were beautiful dolls. The faces were all hand embroidered. The stripes matched up perfectly on the seams. A tiny wooden heart was inserted under the fabric of the chest so you could feel it when you hugged the dolls. The yarn hair was pieced in by hand and Anne’s dress and pantalets were edged in pretty lace. I never had one myself (something along the lines of “shoemaker’s children go barefoot”), but they were much admired.

Mom brought them to the bazaar and settled down to man the payment table. Before long, a disheveled woman came up carrying the dolls and set them down in front of her. Mom had a closer look and noticed that the price tags had been changed. She has set the price at $20 for the pair (a steal if you ask me, but she is a modest creature) and the price tag now read $3 for each.

She looked up at the woman and said “I’m sorry but the price isn’t right on these.”

The woman looked innocent and explained that she was going to buy them for her senile mother who liked to pick things apart!!

Needless to say Mom didn’t let that sale go through.

Ugh, that story makes me feel so icky even though I’m the one telling it. As frustrating as the thought of someone changing a price tag on your piece, there just isn’t anything worse than someone who doesn’t appreciate your hard work and dedication to making something. How lovingly you choose the fabric, how carefully you matched the seams, how many stitches you picked out because you wanted the face to be perfect.

That’s one of the nice things about etsy. You wouldn’t be there if you weren’t appreciative of the handmade.