Crafts for the Soul

a little while back i was doing some soul searching. i found myself always feeling stressed. always feeling like i was working; not only for my job but my wifely and motherly duties as well. i was really asking God what it was that was making me feel like i was drowning. i've had stress in my life before. i've had sports demands and school demands. i've been over-committed and under pressure. but hadn't felt like this too many times before. then it hit me; i had no creativity in my life.

so about two weeks ago i made it a priority to carve out 20 minutes a day to do something creative. it didn't matter what it was, it just had to be fun and require some imagination.

we've been on a pretty limited budget but we've been diligent about setting aside some money for fun things. mike recently built the kids a little wooden playhouse. and i have been wanting to do something but didn't know what. then the holidays came. and i knew what i had to do.

christmas decorations!

so here are a couple of my projects that i've worked on the last two weeks. some of them were completed in one 20-minute creative period...others over a couple days. enjoy!

no sew tree skirt

materials:
1 yd red felt ($2.10)
approx. 2 yds gold ribbon ($1.00)
hot glue gun and glue (already had them)

time: 45 minutes (i did this on a weekend, so i went over my allotted 20 minutes)
total cost: $3.10



christmas stockings

materials (for all four):
2 yds red felt ($4.20)
2 squares white felt ($.55)
2 squares brown felt ($.55)
fake greenery (approx. $.10 for all four)
buttons (already had them)
hot glue and glue (already had them)

time: 30 minutes to cut pattern and sew the stockings
10 minutes to glue white felt
30 minutes to make felt flowers/glue greenery
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1 hour 10 minutes (did it over 4 days)

total cost: $5.40 for four ($1.35 each)



kids "masterpieces" display

materials:
piece of scrap wood (already had it)
paint (already had it)
10 clothes pins (already had them)
hot glue gun and glue (already had them)
screws, anchors and a handy husband :) (already had all of them)

time: 20 minutes to paint the board
20 minutes to paint/glue on the clothespins
5 minutes to hang
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45 minutes (did this in one day, 20 minutes in the morning, 25 in the evening)

total cost: FREE!!!!



cinnamon christmas candle

materials: 1 red cinnamon scented candle ($1.85)
cannister of cinnamon sticks ($.50)
fake greenery (maybe $.03)
twine (already had it)

time: 20 minutes
total cost: $2.38



decoration wine bottle
materials:
empty wine bottle (already had it)
silver spray paint ($4.50 and used very little)
gold decorative greenery (2.10)
twine (already had it)

time: 20 minutes
total cost: $6.60 (and would have been cheaper if not for SUPER expensive spray paint here)

no sew christmas advent calendar
materials:
2 yds green felt ($4.20)
5 squares white felt ($1.37)
5 squares red felt ($1.37)
4 squares light green felt ($1.10)
gold ribbon (already had it)
paint for numbers (already had it)
glue and glue gun (already had them)

time: 4 days x 20 minutes each day = 1 hr. 20 min.
total cost: $8.04

(do you see the little paper man next to the advent calendar? landon made him and he calls him "the christmas boy." love his imagination!)