Craftiness

I'm not much of an arts and crafts person. Growing up, I did my fair share, but I was always the kid asking a million times, "Did I do this part right?" and staying at the table long after the other ones had gotten up to play. As an adult, it hasn't been a big priority. But recently I've had more chances to indulge/challenge myself recently in the crafts department, and it's been great! It helps that I've gotten better since childhood at laughing at myself and just having fun. It also helps that I had a 6-week winter break from grad school - I foresee a radical decrease in my crafting this spring.

My mom and I tried out a painting technique she'd seen on Pinterest, involving plants and layers of spray paint. We loved playing around with it, and it's so forgiving! Whenever we sprayed a color too thick and covered up some cool silhouettes, we could just add more layers until we liked it again. I highly recommend it for recovering perfectionists.

My friend Adrianne*, a woman of many talents, has been the inspiration for several other craft projects. She organized several of us to do a Girls' Night In with her two adorable nieces, and she brought along some molding clay. It kept us entertained for hours.

*Astute readers will recall Adrianne as the force behind the mouse in the pudding (see #2) at my Anne of Green Gables party last fall. 

Adrianne's been an impressive knitter since we both learned together in youth group, and she's branched out into knitting stuffed animals the past several years, to her nieces' great delight. They've given her some tall orders, including a mermaid! This fall she published her own Etsy pattern for a snowman. (Available for only $3.50 - I highly recommend it.) I knew I had to try it, despite my 13-year knitting hiatus. It was a bit of a learning curve, but she kindly helped me get started and gave me all the supplies, and I was so happy with how it turned out.

2003, the pinnacle of our knitting craze

The kids I nanny have been another motivation to get crafty, whether I join them or just encourage them in crafting endeavors. We did several Advent crafts and lessons from Truth in the Tinsel, though the kids’ favorite day of Advent may not have been a craft at all, but rather the Joseph obstacle course. We also visited Paint'n'Pottery. They've never been more focused!

Two front teeth were definitely on his Christmas wish list

For Caely’s 10^th birthday, I spent a day with her and her good friend, and she got to pick activities from the menu below. One of the activities she chose was a scarf-dying craft kit that I came across recently when cleaning - I must have received it around age 12 and never used it. (I was pretty amazed that the dye still worked.) Their enthusiasm was infectious.

There have been hard and scary things happening in the world, the nation, even my neighborhood. Things that I'm not sure how to address on here, but that definitely deserve my attention and energy. Crafts don't replace, negate, or solve all that is broken in the world. So do they even matter? 

Andy Crouch argues that creativity is a crucial part of our vocation, a way to exercise power for good. I'm not sure knitted snowmen and dyed scarves are the ultimate means of harnessing power for the benefit of humankind. But they're not meaningless, either. I'm realizing creativity can add some pure notes to the cacophony, and I want to do that every chance I get.