Crafty Hearted: Better Than Diamonds

I am proud that my boys are so incredibly creative already, not so they can be my little drones, but because I feel like creativity is an incredibly important skill. It's something I can nurture in them that the school system can't. Whether they become artists or bean counters, it will be something they can use to express themselves or problem solve. It gives me a little reward to see their little minds at work, it's like a whisper letting me know that keeping them home with me until Kindergarten didn't damage them with my imperfection. Add creativity to the sweet generosity of a little kid and my heart is mush, especially when that kid is mine.

Mr. Golden Curls is 6 years old now and he has always been a creative spirit and a problem solver. At Christmas time with my parents we were all sitting around after having opened gifts and he was roaming around the house. He kept passing through saying "I'm looking for a bead. Do you have a bead?" It is not strange for him to be on a mission to make something but when he presented my mom with this ring made out of a twist tie from one of his new toys and a cut piece of straw for a bead we were pretty blown away. As far as I know he's never seen jewelry made like this but he had the ability to go measure Grammy's finger, create a bead, and get it twisted onto the wire just right. Then he gave it to her with the words, "I didn't have anything to give you for Christmas so I made you this."

For The Love of Paper

I'm so excited about this new paper craft I'm testing out! I've been wanting to try this for awhile and I think it actually worked out. I made the beads out of strips of scrapbooking paper left over from my business cards. I hate to throw those strips out, even if I'm recycling, but they're really not terribly useful for scrapbooking. I mean I'm sure they are but I never think of them for that. I've been hanging on to them and this is my solution, paper bead and safety pin bracelets. Each one has a tiny skull bead on it, which my boys love to try and find. I like them so much I may try to sell some on etsy. I think I'll keep the first bracelet, which I'm lovingly calling my little piece of rockabilly.