When I was younger, I went through a craft phase. I remember making bows and t-shirts. I remember an outfit I made for my sister, Mary Kate, that had kites on the shirt, shorts, and bow. I don’t think my craft craze lasted very long, we will see how long it lasts this time.
For some reason since I became an at home mom, I’ve keep thinking- “I should be doing more.” I think it is my need to feel like I’m doing something productive and that I find somewhat interesting. Sorry to say cleaning house and doing laundry may be productive, but it is not very interesting! Then I found Pinterest. And I’m addicted. I am trying justify my addiction by not just filling my boards up with all these different pins/ideas; but actually use them. So, here is a story of the Valentine’s for the boys inspired by Pinterest!
I finally made a decision on what I was willing to make and the boys liked. I thought it wouldn’t take very long and had it all planned out. I was going to make the lips and mustaches for suckers. It looked really easy. Now this is where I got myself into trouble. I also saw the different labels that you could print and use for cards or goodie bag labels. I decided it wouldn’t be a big deal to combine the two ideas. The goodie bags also plan into the whole couponing thing, because when you have all these candy coupons- why not use them, right? So, I bought candy, foam, baggies and labels. I really didn’t spend much and I have left overs of all of it. Side note- Hobby Lobby had the small clear plastic gift baggies for $1.99 for 100. This is a much better deal than the baggies I found at Christmas for the boys at Wal-Mart and Target.
This little project turned into another example of how life changes, so plans must change. I try not to get stressed out about things and what ever comes up- I can regroup and do just fine. Now, I’m not always that calm about changes in my plans, but I’m learning and this time I was very calm. Just tell me the new plans and I’ll figure it all out!
We didn’t have anything on the calendar for the week before Valentine’s Day, also John’s birthday. So, I made the plan to get the supplies Monday, and then have the rest of the week at my leisure to cut out the foam lips and mustaches. Then I found out that the in-laws would be coming down and we would be working on the deck that weekend. No big deal- I had Friday with the boys to get it done, since during the week I would need to do some cleaning, grocery shopping, and cut everything out. Then John decided to take off work on Friday and start working on the deck. Still, no big deal; regroup and move forward.
The Gallander thinking is “We are procrastinators, because we work best under pressure.” So, waiting till the last day wasn't that unusal for me. I spent the day cutting out the lips and mustaches, printing off the labels for the baggies. The labels took a little bit of time since I was mixing and matching a few different tags from different sites and using labels that weren’t the same size as in the original post. Why I have do I have to make it more difficult?! Pinterest doesn’t show the mess that you can make when you do these projects. They make them seem very easy- which this was sort of. Foam is not very easy to keep nice clean lines when you cut shapes out. It tends to squish. Also, foam sticks to fleece; so even though you thought you contained the mess in one area, you can spread it to the rest of the house without knowing. My little helpers helped spread the mess as they came to check on me. About two hours of cutting, my hand was cramping and my neck and back ached. Still not too bad.
Just wanted to add, the corkscrew in the picture had a purpose, and it wasn’t for a bottle of wine to get me through this project. It was to punch a hole in the lips and mustaches for the sucker.
When the boys got home they worked on homework like normal. I thought that afterwards we would get their goodies finished up, while I worked on dinner. Then I got a call from John wanting to go out to dinner and swing by Sear’s to pick up a needed saw. Change the plans again. I rushed to get the three little kids and myself dressed in something more decent than wind pants and sweatshirts. Caleb got started putting his class names on the labels. Multi-tasking, the only way I survive. Then we ran to have an early family Valentine’s Day dinner (no crowd at Chili’s that night). This was very nice, didn’t want this to seem like I was complaining. I’m always up for eating out, instead of cooking! Also, we swung by Sear’s and John got the saw needed to help make the deck go a little easier. While he was getting that, Makaela got a much needed new pair of shoes.
It’s all about multi-tasking! Then we were back home, where the entire family pitched in to fill the goodie bags with candy, put lips and mustaches on suckers, and put the labels on the baggies. It was kind of fun with everyone helping out and teasing Noah and Caleb about girls. I guess this is why these crafts are fun. We were done and the boys still made it to bed just a little past their normal eight bedtime.
Oh, and I also took on one more quick little idea from Pinterest- Teacher gift. When the goodie bags were finished, I traced their hands on construction paper. They cut the hands out and we taped them to a small lotion. I also had a tag ready to put on the hand. That was an quick and easy idea, especially because we only had to make 2 not 44!
Tuesday afternoon, the boys said everyone liked the bags. Caleb’s class didn’t open their bags, but Noah’s did. I guess the boys in his class enjoyed pretending to be old men with the mustache’s. The boys also said their teachers seemed to like their gifts. I guess it was worth it.
The verdict is still out on if I will go back to the store bought card, but I did learn don’t do too much. Pick one idea at a time!! It may seem easy enough, but can easily get overwhelming fast when life gets in the way!!!