Letting go of crafty control is ok, in fact, I encourage it as a mom.

There is little I like better than crafting with my daughter. She is amazed at everything I show her how to do and eager to try it. She can get a little frustrated at her skills, but I keep telling her that is why we practice, to develop them more. I have to remind her I have a few years of experience on her. That I bet when she is as old as I am, she will be so much better.

I was pretty excited to work with my daughter on a project for her room.  We had a new chandelier light to hang in her room and some plain white chandelier shades to customize.  I had my own idea of what to do on the shades, and my daughter had her own as well. 

She had picked out fabric that she liked and wanted to use for her projects. She wanted to simply cover each shade with fabric.  I wanted to do all sorts of fun things to them and make it much more complicated that she did. I envisioned them all the same, using the variety of fabrics she selected.  I had such heartache when she wanted to simply cover them with three different kinds of fabric. Two cotton fabrics and one shiny satin dark pink.  That makes no sense to me. Why not use the three of them on all three shades and do some cool layering and textures. 

I thought- "That's it?!?!" Just simply cover them? 

She knew that that was what she wanted to do though, and good for her, she stuck to her desire to do simply that. "It's my room and my light and that's what I want to do," she exclaimed to me. Well...I couldn't disagree with that, so simple was going to be ok. I tell you though...

I had a hard time letting go of my desire to have 

crafty control on this project. 

But I want her to be able to make her own decisions and stick to it, not having a mom that questions everything and tries to get her to do it her way. After all, there are so many ways to do something and they all have their own beauty.

I showed her how to roll the shade to get the shape that will fit over the shade, she was completely impressed with how I knew how to do that. Kids sure can make you feel so smart sometimes!

Her focus on this project impressed me. 

She knew exactly what she wanted to do. 

It was nice to see her so focused on something. 

This quilt my mom made with her impressed me too. My daughter got to pick out all the fabrics, when I first saw them, I thought-

"Oh no, we have to put that in her room?!?!?" 

My crafty control wanted to take over then too, but I fought it off.  Now I have to say I am quite fond of it and means much more that she picked it all out.  She has such a sense of pride about it too. That is something I couldn't give her by doing it myself. I love that she was so decisive when she was picking the fabric out.  She had a list of colors that just did not sound good together. But, somehow it all worked and brings such a happy focal point to her room!  

I've decided it's much better to let go of that desire for crafty control.

It turned out just gorgeous. More importantly, she loves it and is so proud to tell others that she made it. As a mom, my advise is let go of the crafty control you want to have over your kids to make it perfect in your eyes. When they make it themselves with a little guidance, it's perfect in their eyes...that is what is most important.

Personalized happiness at work

It's no surprise that I like to create little pieces of happiness in so many ways. Finding joy in the small things gives me such satisfaction, especially when I create it myself.  Having an office cubicle that looks like everyone else kinda drives me completely nuts. I have to add little bits of color and whimsy to make it more "me". Below is a little sampling of some of the things you will find on my desk at work.

I had a little fun with my mousepad and some scraps of fabric.

It's different than any other one I have seen. I useed some fabric that I had at home...makes it feel more like my home away from home.  It is comforting to be reminded of my home at work.

Working overnight, espresso beans come in quite handy on the graveyard shift.  I work at Hallmark, and you know...you get a ton of cards working there.  I took a used glass container, cut up a card from a co-worker to use as decoration and made a 5S label for my bean jar. I love it and it's a great way to reuse a glass jar and transform a card into something I look at every day. Looks like I need a refill on my beans though...

 I need a little light therapy working at night. I customized my lamp shade using some Hallmark tissue paper I got in my wedding gift from the Hall family.  It's my way of showing my brand pride while I'm at work, it shines all night long and tricks me into thinking I should be awake.

I love this coffee mug I ordered and designed on zazzle.com of my hubby and I. It says "WE SAID" "WE DO" on either side of the picture. On Zazzle's website, the wide variety of products to personalize delights me.  I went a little crazy on it before my wedding personalizing everything from the ties for the guys with my own unique design to stickers.

The coaster below it, was made in my studio at home during a day of co-worker bonding. We each drew a name and had to make a coaster for their desk.  The one made for me I just loved. It it so colorful and interesting.

We all have cork boards in our cubicles, but you know me, I couldn't deal with the color that everyone else had. So I recovered it years ago in my favorite funk green color with a staple gun so it's removable for future users. It is much nicer to look at. 

My writing utensil mug I painted over 10 years ago at one of those paint your own pottery stores.  I have used it on my desk where ever I have been since then. My taste hasn't changed much, I still love it. 

I manage the party department, hence the party letters. I like to say I party all night long.
~Whoo Hoo~

Even my time adjustment box I had to decoupage with some tissue paper. I can't leave anything to be just plain I guess. I sometimes just look at things and brainstorm on ways I can transform them in even just the simplest of ways. I am a big fan of rearranging. In fact, after I took my break and took some pics on my desk, I rearranged it all. Ah, such satisfaction. That is also the only way I can get myself to do a good cleaning. It's how I trick myself into being neat, which I have a tendency not to be most of the time.

 There is a big trend in personalizing...I think I fall right into it. 

It just makes your surroundings feel more comforting and more you.