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.

End of an era...

We said goodbye to my car today.

We replaced her months ago. But I still held out hope that we could repair her. Even though her repair costs would have been way more than any average person would've sunk into a '95 car. Under different circumstances, we would've repaired her. But it wasn't meant to be.

She was a good car. She did everything we asked of her and more. From 1997, when we bought her used, to 2013. All of our road trips with the kids, the grandkids, the dogs, just hubby and me.. the memories are all wrapped in that car.

Goodbye sweet girl, you were loved and will be missed.

Secret Santa

Back in December, I got the cutest dog head shaped shower caddy during a White Elephant/Secret Santa gift exchange at the training center. I knew the second I saw someone open it that it would fantastic in my bathroom.

Now, we're not going to talk about how long it took to actually be put up on the wall. This is the same family that took 2 years to put a simple shelf up... We're just a little weird about things like that. It can take 2 years or we can think of it now and have it done in an hour. It's a toss up really.

Anyway, on to the picture :)

 

Isn't it cute?? I would say that I'll take another picture soon of it empty so you can see the dog head in all its cuteness. But we know that could take a while, so I won't promise.  

It holds only some of my dogs supplies...  

Sensory Bin

My grandson's educator and sensory therapist both recommended a sensory bin. After some pinterest searching, I went digging through my pantry and school supply drawers. Here's what I came up with.

The neon colored gummy looking things were pencil/pen grips that were buried in the school supply drawer. Not too bad for a first try. The boys liked playing with it.

Now for a trip to the dollar store! I found tons of links with wonderful ideas for other bins.

Play dough

Pinterest can be evil.

Pinterest inspired me to make homemade play dough.

Forget the fact it came out pretty well. Forget the fact it made my grandson very happy. Forget the look of pride on my husband's face when he kneaded it.

Well wait... don't forget those things. Those are the little things that make everything worthwhile.

I just wish there had been a way to get that nice play doh smell in there.

Little buddy

This little guy made himself at home in my yard. Isn't he cute!

Another organizer

I'm very big into totes of all sizes to help organize my crafting supplies and anything else that doesn't have a regular place to stay.

That being said, I could not pass up this cute little gem. Not only is the bag purple, but it came with a bunch of organizers inside!! Finally, a simple place for all those little things you can never find a place for.

Super Mario Nostalgia

I don't remember where he said he found it. But my oldest son, picked this up yesterday. Not only is it completely adorable. It was a real joy to watch him and my husband play together. It's been a while. Maybe this cute chess set will make that a more regular thing.

and now the other side of the board

The neighborhood rabbit

This little guy lives with his family under my neighbors shed. You can see in the picture the opening they use behind him. For the past few years, there's always been an adult and a bunch of babies coming out of that opening.