Market Basket Monstrosity

I was all set to name this post "Marvelous Market Baskets" or "Market Basket Miracle"...but then disaster struck...as usual. Now I'm left with "Market Basket Monstrosity" because the word monstrosity can be defined as "an excessively bad or shocking example," and unfortunately, that's how one of my little treasures turned out. First, you should know that although they include these in the "market basket" category, they are really more of a hybrid between a picnic basket and a cooler. They're completely collapsible when not in use and are perfect for tailgating and summertime in the mountains. So here's your first look:

As you'll see later, the inside is completely insulated. This caused a small problem when trying to hoop the top, but I was able to troubleshoot (after about an hour, that is) by cutting slits in the insulation where the hoops needed to go. Although this one looks pretty and I am excited about it, after doing the embroidery, I went to gently iron out the hoop marks and my annoying iron put some small black marks on it. I was devastated! I had worked so hard to make it perfect...and then in a split second, tarnished. Oh well...it's still a success, and I feel good about making these in the future. The actual stitching came out beautifully.

And now for the monstrosity.

Doesn't look too bad from a distance. But up close...

Gross. The "Go Tigers" was stitched first, and at this point, my post was still going to be "Market Basket Miracle," because I was able to troubleshoot the insulation problem and all the letters were coming out so nicely. But the tiger paw...oh the tiger paw. What have I done to make you rebel against me??

I mean really, what the world kind of screwed up tiger paw is this??

This is a shot from the back. A giant wad of thread. I've never seen anything like it. *tear* A monstrosity.

Overall, I'm still very excited about my new ability to embroider these. I think they make great gifts and are pretty high quality little coolers. Here's a few more shots to give you an idea for sizing. The small basket could easily hold about 8 can drinks. I ran out of Cokes, so the picture shows 5 drink cans plus some green beans and soup, but you get the idea. They come in red, orange, hot pink, lime green, camo (for all those hunters out there we know and love), black and white houndstooth, zebra print, black and white damask, burgundy, navy, and plain black. Most colors come in both large and small, but not all. Holla if you're interested!