Puffy Paint For Dummies

So, there's this stuff called Puffy Paint. Have you heard of it? Evidently, you're supposed to be able to "paint" with it, and it will turn out colored and well... puffy.

I have a dilemma. I have two of the exact same (Can I say that? Exact same? Don't care, moving on.) bags that I use at the same time, but have to be kept separate. Both of my daughters have Type 1 Diabetes and they each have a blood glucose monitor bag that we use many times a day. I need to be able to grab the right bag for the right kid so the personal information and blood glucose numbers for each girl stay with that girl. No mixing them up.

What to do... what to do... I know! Stickers! Let the girls each decorate their bag with stickers. That worked for, oh... one day. Then, because these bags get handled A LOT, the stickers started curling up and coming off. Onto me. I walked around half of a day with a rainbow sticker on my butt and an Elsa sticker on my leg and didn't know it. Awesome.

What to do... what to do... I know! Puffy paint! I could write their names on their bags in bright, beautiful, mysterious puffy paint! (I thought about regular paint, but even I am crafty enough to know that wouldn't work. Wait, would it?) When I announced to the hubs that we needed to made a stop in the craft section of the store, he looked at me a little funny. "Are you sure? The craft section?" he said. (He knows me well.) "Yes! Puffy paint is the answer!!"

Now, you have to know, I'm not really a crafty person. My mind and my fingers don't always agree on how to make crafts and, well... you can tell. But, I decided to give this one a go. Oh, I was so excited! Until I got there and couldn't find painty-things. The employee looked at me and actually said, "I can tell you need help. You look very lost." I explained my dilemma and she gently led me (like a lamb to slaughter) to the puffy paint section.

So have you BEEN in this section of a craft store? Could there BE any more options??!! There really should be a little book called Puffy Paint For Dummies dangling from a chain for customers to reference. Apparently I could have benefited from it.

The clerk showed me these puffy paint pens! She said they're much easier to write with, if you're not just decorating. (Ha! Decorating?! Baby steps.)

She left me to think (and think) about paint and I examined the regular puffy paint, the neon puffy paint, the paint pens... Okay, paint pens it is. Now... color....

.......a half hour later.....

The hubs finds me and asks if I'm ready YET. Almost... okay, just make a decision... puffy paint glitter pens it is!! I decided to go with glitter. My girls are into glitter, let me tell you. I wanted to make these soon-to-be-awesome bags fun and pretty and special.

Oh, I was so excited to get home and do some crafting! I got it all laid out, decided on spacing and started to write. FYI, puffy paint is a little tricky to "write" with. It's kind of well... puffy.

I got both of the bags done and was pleased with the beautiful red, glittery paint for Julianne and the sparkly purple paint for Edie. I made a few dots around their names with silver glitter as decoration, too. I did it! I crafted!

Now... to wait. It takes 4+ hours for puffy paint to dry, the package says.

Waiting... waiting... waiting... wait, what? What's happening? Where is the color going? It's disappearing! WHAAAT? The white "paint" part that the glitter is suspended in is drying clear and only the colored glitter is left! Oh no!!! The package didn't say that would happen! The color samples on the front are dark and colorful and glittery and glorious! Noooooo!!!

Look at that gorgeous, sparkly color! Lies.

It says it's convenient! Perfect! Or is it...?

This may have been fine if I had white bags, but the bags are.... black!!! Noooooo!!! Puffy paint!! (Shaking my fist in the air)

Well. That's that. So much for crafting. The girls say they love them, but I think they may feel sorry for me. I guess I can grab the right bag, but probably not at first glance. Although, on the bright side, I should be able to feel my way to the right bag in the dark, because it's well... puffy.

The red sparkles are almost visible...

You can kind of see the purple sparkles

Some people are meant to craft and some are meant to buy crafts from crafty people. If you're one of the crafty people, I'll most likely be visiting you soon. Oh, puffy paint...