(one of my) New Years Resolutions: Craft More

or Being Creative Can Make You So Happy That You Hardly Even Notice The House Being Messy For 17 Days In A Row.

Really. It's True.*

* results may vary with husbands.

I took most of this Christmas vacation off from working, which meant I had time, in between nuturing my children, dealing with their ringworm and broken fingers and annoying neighborhood friends, to do something I've missed: making stuff.

I've lamented over and over how much I hate to sew, but when you've got a pattern that's super easy AND turns out so cute.....well, you already know where this is going. Remember this apron? I've wanted to make another one forever and if you're going through the trouble of making ONE,

you might as well make TWO, right? My dining room table was already a mess anyway. My mom came to visit for a week (YAY!) and she caught the bug too. I believe her grand total was 5?? Completely out of control. It was in the midst of all of this that I realized that there is something very cathartic about creating. There aren't too many things more enjoyable then tucking the littles into bed, putting on "Baby Mama" and keeping your fingers busy. Especially if your OWN mama is there.

(Speaking of busy fingers, check out the talent that I certainly did NOT get. She bought the top headband to "use as a pattern" and free styled the bottom one. Ridiculous.)

I kept myself busy with (yet another) book page wreath. You gotta match the skill to the player, if ya know what I'm sayin, and the only thing required for this is a glue gun, a pulse, and ripped up bits of a book. Check, check and check.

Speaking of bits, sewing projects leave a ton of them that, with my hoarder nature, I can't bear to throw away. IT PHYSICALLY HURTS ME. When I spotted these on a Kroger endcap for $2, a solution was born.

I'm not a ruffle girl by nature, but maybe a little foof will make frozen chicken nuggets taste a little better. A girl can only hope. Or perhaps this is the year that the joy of creating will spill over into the kitchen. I wouldn't count on it.