arts and crafts

Arts and Crafts

Those words used to scare me to death.

It began with elementary art. She was a nice teacher who referred to everyone as "honey," emphasis on the first syllable. She would present a project, show us how to do it, and give us time to replicate it ... on ... our ... own. That was the scary part. I needed boxes, guidelines, requirements, and restrictions. I needed one-on-one, step by step instruction. I was always asking the people around me how to do things and actually trying to copy them, which only worked sometimes. Drawing self-portraits challenged that process. Art stressed me out to the point of having to come in early to school to finish things. Yes, this is elementary school, folks. In summary, I was always behind and never really ever knew what was going on.

As a little girl growing up in a baptist church in Oklahoma, you are forced to craft whether you like it or not. You WILL attend VBS and you WILL craft. You WILL go to GA's and you WILL craft. You have to craft and you have to make what they tell you to make. When I think of these crafts, I think of two paper plates filled with beans, stapled together, with streamers hanging from them. What is that? A musical instrument? A waste of beans? I'm not sure, but I wasn't inspired. Besides, crafts were usually messy and my creation never looked as good as the example. I looked forward to snack time. I was good at that.

At one point my friend and I were babysitting some kids who wanted to do crafts ... all the time. Covering the kitchen floor and table in glue, glitter, paper scraps, and whatever else eventually did us in. "Crafts" started sounding like a curse word.

Once upon a time, I worked at a camp called Centrifuge in New Mexico. I was a part of the band and we played twice a day for two services. I also happened to be a bible study leader, rec leader, and the leader of two tracks. My two tracks? Well, Choir, which was not a big deal, and ... wait for it .... Crafts. They had to be joking, right? Nope. Now, yes, we made the same craft every week for eight weeks, so it wasn't hard. And yes, it was just painting whatever you wanted onto a t-shirt and letting it dry, BUT, it was still a craft.

Are you catching my drift? I was not a crafty or artsy person. I learned to crochet in high school and that was the craftiest kind of thing I could do. However, over the past few years, I have really enjoyed creating things. I'm not awesome at it and I certainly don't come up with ideas on my own, but it's very enjoyable to me. Some of my favorite blogs to read are the ones that are always posting new craft ideas. I also am surrounded by a lot of friends that are way cooler/craftier/artsier than me, which is great! It's such an accomplished feeling knowing that you created something that you will either use, wear, or put in your home.

So, during fall break, Reese, Sara, and I made a pretty little rosie wreath from The Pretty Poppy. We also watched Thumbelina and Mary Poppins and drank peg tea from Cuppies and Joe. It was a lovely time. Here is my fall wreath (I used orange burlap instead of cream felt):

So, afterall, I do like crafting. :)

The End