Stressors and Coping

Last weekend, my husband and I drove up to my parents' (yes, we can do that now!) to retrieve my stuff. Well, some of our stuff too, but mostly my stuff. They had nearly everything I own...my childhood memorabilia, decor and furniture from my 2 bedrooms (home and college), wedding gifts and decor, a washer and dryer...everything!
So, when I say we got "my stuff" I mean LOTS of stuff. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a pack rat and I spent last week sorting through my life. It was very overwhelming having all these boxes stacked in the "dining room" in our apartment. I've had various stacks of stuff throughout our place...things to go in the storage shed, boxes to go to the trash, wedding stuff, stuff to go to Goodwill...it was such a mess! We also had one issue after another hooking up our washer and dryer. After 3 trips to Home Depot, mopping up 3 floods in the laundry room, and emptying the washer by bucket twice, we finally thought we'd finished. Oh, wait. Nope! The supply isn't giving us any cold water, so we can't actually wash anything but towels. I did get a work order put in today for that. I also managed to break one of our champagne flutes from our wedding while I was handwashing it at 2:30am. It was a long week!

Friday, I decided I needed a break. The mess, on top of everything, was really getting to me. I got rid of all the trash and consolidated boxes and went out! (I still haven't finished all of the baby doll and yearbook boxes yet, but I at least have things organized.) I hit up one of my favorite stores...Hobby Lobby. If you don't have one near you, it's sort of like a ware-house-ish mega Michaels, with a lot more home decor. I had found a few places in my home that needed a little something (I know, amist all my stuff, how could I think 'I need more'). But I was in search of specific things for specific places. For example, the flowers for this vase...I also decided I wanted to make curtains. I've been pretty crafty since, I guess my senior year of high school. I was getting ready to go to college and decided I wanted to take all my friends with me, in the form of pictures. Frames were getting expensive, so I decided to start making my own. I decorated mattes and glued the backs on 3 of the 4 sides so I could slide the pics in and out, then, attach a string or magnet to the back for mounting. Since then, crafting has been a big hobby of mine. I have tried to apply this toward useful things, for the most part, not just nic nacs I'll have to find a place for and dust. This time, I wanted to break out my new sewing machine and give our room a little color. I had seen this trick on Design Remix where they used some branches to make a curtain rod, so I adapted that for my tropical oasis in our room and used bamboo rods. I also tied the curtains on with raffia. I love how it turned out (here's your pic, mom).

I frequently get compliments on the things I've made, but I never really saw the big deal. I think the real key is not talent so much as it is inspiration. Mosaic an old tabletop to spice it up--you can get tiles in any color and design it to suit your own decor. Get a cheap frame at a discount store and glue on overlapping buttons, or shells you've collected from the beach, or puzzle pieces in whatever colors you like (I find Tacky Glue works best). Get a shelf in unfinished wood from a craft store and paint it or stencil it or even stain it. Find a fun margarita glass or mason jar (they're starting to have fun summery cups out at places like Walmart) and add a couple drops of food coloring to melted parafin wax to pour a fun candle (wicks are available very cheaply at any craft store).

I guess I have always been blessed with a can-do attitude and have just played around with things to figure out a way to make it happen. You can do it too! You don't have to be a knitter or a scrapbooker to do something fun and crafty. I hope I have inspired you to try something new, maybe with the kids, this weekend, because, like I said earlier, I think the inspiration and idea is the key. Happy Crafting!