Embrace your craft

Sorry, there's no picture or a scrapbooking freebie in this post.

What I do have is a link. I know, you're thinking, a link, what fun is that... Trust me, there's lots of fun to be had with a good link. Let me explain.

I joke to my friends, family, coworkers, random internet people, that the decorating gene skipped me. My mom has it, oh boy does she have it. Every room in her house is perfect! Every room has a color scheme and matching decorations. Her walls are lined with pretties and perfects.

Not me though. An interior decorator I am not. I once thought it was because I had small children. I wasn't going to museum my house and make it uncomfortable for them. Nope, that's not it. While I do recognize 'oh pretty!' and have a few of those things in my home. That awesome decorating gene did skip me.

But that's okay. The crafty gene skipped my mom and hit me full blast. I love to crochet, I once knew how to knit. Yes, I'm one of those people that literally can forget how to do things and have to relearn it all over again later. Knitting is not like riding a bicycle for me. Then again, I never did really learn how to ride a bike.

So anyway, I crochet. I love to sew. Now I don't mean sewing rips in clothes. Though that does satisfy the mom gene in me. I like making stuff. Though my blog is small, you can see some examples of things I've done.

When my children were younger, before mega internet, we were always doing crafty projects. A few weeks back, my oldest grandson and I were coloring when my oldest son came in. His face lit up when he said I should teach my grandson how to draw around his hand and start a project with him. Now, mind you, my oldest grandson is only 3. But boy did that warm my heart. My oldest son had an accident when he was younger, he lost his memory because of that accident. So most of his early childhood memories are just gone. That our projects stayed was wonderful.

Anyway... I used to be upset that I didn't have the decorating gene. I cannot pull a room together to save my life. I am not the one to call to ask if this would look good there. I see things in regards to their function and comfort first.

But now, I'm learning to let go of that missing gene and embrace my crafting power. As I'm writing this, I realize even my crafts are comfort based. Baking and cooking provides my family a level of comfort. Ever hear the term 'comfort food'. Well, there you go. Crochet is comfort. The things I crochet say I love you and I'm thinking of you. I'd rather not dwell on what all the unfinished crochet says.. let's hope it means mom's hand cramped or it got too hot... The fleece blankets for my grandsons, that's a powerful grandma loves you.

I bought my first sewing machine for the sole purpose of hand making my daughter a halloween costume. Granted, the cute little drawstring bags I sewed were solely for me. I did make some for my daughter. The bandanas for the dogs, again, something for me. But the stockings on my to do list. Well, that's for me too, but my grandsons will benefit in that they'll have awesome stockings that match the rest of ours.

I bought a little laminator/sticker/magnet maker for my grandsons. It's perfect for their flashcards. I used the magnet part to print 2x2 photos of family members. They absolutely adore playing with their family. I have tons of crafty things I want to do for them/with them. Reflecting on all this, I'm okay with not having the decorating gene. Sure, I'd love for my  home to be 'pulled together' like in a lot of other peoples houses. But hey, just like my family, as least we put the fun is dysfunctional.

I keep looking around for bigger and better things to do for the grandkids. I've started digital scrapbooking. Not only is it really pretty, but its a way to tell the stories behind the photos, behind the family, to the boys. 

Now, while I do consider myself creative, I need a starting point, a recipe, a pattern. Thanks to pinterest and google, its all there and easily found. It was while browsing pinterest that I found this link, I think. It might have been a link to a link to a link. You know how it goes. It's probably how you ended up here.

Anyway, this blogger has amazing creative and decorating genes. She's given me some wonderful ideas for my home, for my grandsons. She's reminded me of other ideas I've had and just hadn't gotten around to. I present this link to you now, hoping you get as much joy and thought out of this as I have.


Here it is The Homes I Have Made

Go, enjoy, drool, get inspired, get creative! Warning, make sure you have the time. I lost nearly an entire night of sleep browsing her site.

Now, no worries. I'll be back soon with pictures or freebies. A few days after my photo session of my aloes, I managed to find the time to do some work with them. I think they look a lot better now. Mama aloe is even kicking out another baby now.

Oh and yes, I'll be back with the start of what project I've been inspired to do. I'm hoping to keep it small though. Just a little get my toes wet type thing. I'm working hard to avoid adding more unfinished projects to my lineup.