in which joseph cuts off his nose to spite his face

For a couple of years now my Mom and I have been finding little figurines to paint for Christmas. We started with angels one year, then did snowmen the next year and this year she found a little kids nativity set to paint, along with a few more snowmen. I get excited about it every year, and forget just how hard it is.

Really. It's like childbirth, I guess.

We start out painting and chatting and it's all fun. Then you have tiny details to paint and don't have a brush small enough. Or you take your green paint and accidentally hit the back of your white snowman. Or you paint the figure, and it falls over and messes itself up. I spent so much time on Jesus, Mary and Joseph, getting them the right colors, and using a shiny clear coat on it, only to mess Joseph up completely. I wanted to cuss. And I don't cuss. And cussing at Joseph isn't a good idea, is it?



In this picture, you really can't tell that he's messed up, but the teeny-tiny features on their faces were impossible to get to. In the picture on the package, the eys have the whites and the irises...which I could not do at all. And there were 9 other figures to paint! I figure if I paint 3 every year, I'll have the complete set in only four years! Score.

And, to top it off, when I put Joseph back in the package and shut the lid, the lid took off his nose. I guess the paint must have softened it and now he has no nose. So next year, I'll be performing a rhinoplasty on poor Joseph.



After giving up on Joseph, I turned my attention to a snowman and painted him white with a striped scarf. I thought he turned out pretty cute, but I did have to wash him off several times when I did get the green paint on his back with a freak paint brush accident. It was a comedy of errors.

We did have a good time, some good snacks, and fun with friends. My mom and I invited three people to come and paint with us, and their figures turned out well too. They didn't have as many issues as I did, and they were amused by all my accidents. Actually, what I think was going through their minds was "she has an art degree? Seriously?"

I promise. I actually do.

Maybe this just wasn't my proudest moment.

But I did come home with a really cute glittery snowman that I introduced to the two other snowmen that were already under my tree. They were happy to meet a new friend.

And we won't have to paint again for another year. Amen.