When I was a little kid, I was way into beading and making jewelry, so it's probably no surprise that I dabble in DIY and crafting as a mom. It started innocently enough, the way it so often does, with dry macaroni and big wooden beads on string. By the time I was in middle school, I was hunched over my Caboodles, sorting seed beads into retired pill cases for hours on end, and poking my fingers with needles as I maneuvered the beads onto string, creating some sort of accessory that I’d present to my mom hours later. I still have all the supplies, and enjoy pulling it all out on occasion, for gifts or when I need to freshen my own stash of earrings. My other go-to projects are handmade cards and paper flowers, which sound kinda nerdy — OK, they are definitely nerdy — but I swear they’re actually pretty cute.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. For me, it was beads, for others it’s scrapbooking, or knitting, or sewing, or one of the billion other things that we can do with our hands. Very, very few moms are actually Pinterest perfect, but many of us have that spark of creativity, or that urge to turn nothing into something.
And that, my friends, can be an awesome thing. Here’s what I mean: