Craftiness

Posted On January 25, 2014

Over the past few weeks I've been slightly more crafty than usual. I think it was the holidays that gave me a little creative jump-start. It probably doesn't hurt that it's so cold out that we are pretty much confined to the indoors, too. I'm even knitting a hat right now, and I'm not really a knitter. Or maybe I am.

The kids and I made masks out of old t-shirt fabric. Asa is a ninja, and Vera is a spy. I didn't realize that spy masks simply are longer on the face and have a nose hole. Did you? The things you learn with kiddos… 😉

Jeff's birthday was nice and low-key. It's nice to be developing simple family traditions for things like this. We hang up the birthday banner, the kids make cards. My sister made Jeff this beautiful origami crane hanging. So nice! Equally a present for me, since it's just my taste.

It was funny that she gave us the cranes, because I was simultaneously working on a similar project making these stars. Origami is not something I've ever been into, but I can see myself getting more and more into it. It's calming. I just may run out of window space!

I thought I would give a little run-down of our crafts over the holidays, too. Since this year had been so taxing on us, I resolved to keep the projects simpler than usual. No sewing this year! No stressful pre-holiday late nights.

Above is a gingerbread house from a kit. It was harder than I thought it would be to get everything to stick. Lots of the candy seemed to melt right off the house. It was fun though. Although afterwards the kids begged and begged to devour the whole thing, so I had to stash it up on top of the fridge to keep them from it.

For gifts I made simple beeswax candles in half pint mason jars.

The kids and I gathered small toys to give away in the form of homemade snow globes.

I also made these family magnets made with mod podge and old canning lids. It's a Yoder-family set!

My friend made elderberry syrup for immune boosting, and so I got some of the dried berries from her and made some to give away. So easy!

Jeff also made some of his delicious toasted honey coconut pecans for gifts. Mmm!

Anyway, I'm liking just doing what we can do, and keeping our expectations in check. I often find that simple is better, and I'm grateful that mentality is infusing its way into my creative space. It's better to keep creating in the way that I feel happiest and most relaxed about, because, like anything, the best kind of creating is the kind that you'll actually *do*.