creative adventures :: kiwi crate

Over here, we continue to be totally delighted by the kits from Kiwi Crate. We've been subscribing to their monthly crate for about two years now, and each month, Ellie's face lights up when she sees her name on the big green box. (Love that the kits are addressed right to the kids.)

Each month there's a new theme and this past month the theme was baking. We both said it might be our favorite box yet! Though we're also big fans of the Rainforest Kit, which includes this Rainforest Frog Game. The Pom Pom pets are maybe our ultimate favorite though. Ellie and Jon still make them from time to time. (I've started giving the Mini Kits for birthday gifts now that Ellie is in school and birthdays pop up every few weeks.)

If you follow me over on Instagram, you've probably seen peeks of the boxes each month, and I thought I'd share a bit more. What I like about Kiwi Crate is the kit includes everything you need to complete the two projects inside (there are also ideas for other projects to do around the theme too in the little "magazine" that's included). 

Ellie and I do craft together a lot and she plays with beads and other things in my studio while I work sometimes, but I'm not really one of those moms who can look at popsicle sticks, beads, and pipe cleaners and say, "You know what we should do today? We should use all of these things to BUILD A CASTLE!!!" Not so much. (Maybe there aren't a lot of moms like that, but doesn't Pinterest make you feel that way sometimes? A whole post about that coming soon.)

Which is why I love kits like this one. (And that's why I only pin crafts I feel like I can actually do to my "creative fun with EJ" Pinterest board.)

The kits are also perfect for Ellie and Jon to do together. Sometimes a kit has a science theme, which makes him super happy, and they often do one of the projects in the kits when I'm away at a retreat. (Though he's really the true crafty one. Did I tell you about the coat and hat he made for her stuffed turtle while I was away at my last retreat? Seriously!)

These kits give us a great weekend afternoon activity, and the completed projects are fun to get out, especially on rainy days. Over the last two years, it has been really fun to see Ellie grow as she's gone from being able to do some of the kit to doing almost all of it herself. The company that makes Kiwi Crate also now has kits for older kids too. Love that! I pretty much want to subscribe to the Tinker Crate for me (for reals).

Do you do any crafty kits like this with you kids? I'd love to add another subscription or other kits to the mix over here. Share in the comments so we can all learn from each other.

Note: This post is not sponsored by Kiwi Crate, but links throughout are affiliate.

playing with one-moment memoirs

When she's not around, it sometimes feels like she leaves rainbows for me to find.

My friend Jenna McGuiggan is hosting a month of prompts over on Instagram to inspire people to begin to write little snapshots of a process she calls the One-Moment Memoir. 

I've been having so much fun with these one-word prompts and exercising my writing muscle in a different way, thinking about capturing a moment with a photo and then telling a very small story about it in the description on Instagram. 

Here are a few of my favorites so far.

This simple ordinary act of reading at night ties her childhood to mine to his and to so many of you. One day maybe she will read to someone small and think about these ordinary moments with us and she will have this glimpse of knowing how much we love her.

Using my grandmother's bread cloth tonight. It's been in a drawer and then a box since she died almost ten years ago. My mom gave it to me when we visited her at Christmas. Tonight, I think about my grandmother's hands ironing this cloth and then baking, carefully wrapping, and serving rolls or bread, and I miss her so deeply. But the missing is softer and with a new sort of rhythm, a new sort of breathing that begins deep in my belly instead of catching around my heart.

The rhythm of stitch after stitch takes me from frazzled to centered, from there to here. It becomes the gift within the making, the giving.

One-Moment Memoir: The Virtual Workshop

I was lucky enough to dive deeper into Jenna's process and take a sneak peek class of the one she's offering this Saturday. As Jenna explains, "One-Moment Memoirs is a series of writing exercises designed to help you discover and write the stories of your life. This hands-on workshop will help you take a relaxed, yet focused, approach to telling life's big and small stories in bite-sized pieces."

The exercises she shared in the class helped me to come up with new angles on stories I've been wanting to tell but haven't quite known where to begin. I'm excited to share those stories here soon and maybe even in the second book I'm gently pushing myself to get back to writing.

I highly recommend her course. It's a virtual course, but it's going to run live this Saturday and it is going to be awesome! And if you can't attend live, you can still sign up and receive all the course goodies + recordings so you can work at your pace. Find out more here.

the half-granny triangle shawl

At my fall retreat, Kelly was using the most gorgeous yarn to crochet a half-granny triangle shawl.

And as I watched her double crochet back and forth, I was smitten.

On the drive home, Kelly, Sasha (my retreat kitchen goddess), and I stopped at Rainy Day Yarns in Gig Harbor and I bought yarn to make my own shawl. And then a few days later, I went back to buy more*.

I kind of can't stop making these simple, delightful, shawls. 

You can find the awesome and very easy to follow video tutorial to get you started right here. You can crochet one is about two movies worth of time. A beginner(ish) project for sure.  

The truth is, I think of them like a prayer shawl of sorts. As I said here, I like to imagine love being woven into each stitch. And while I'm crocheting away, I'm holding the person I'm making it for in my thoughts and truly hoping they feel a hug from me when they wear it.

And even though shawls might not be as "hip" as a cowl, scarf, or even wrap, I hope they'll put it on in the evenings when there's a chill in the air or when the lonelies set in or when life just feels a bit tough. Perhaps in those moments they will feel that love surround them and remember they are not alone.

Can a shawl really do that? I think it can.

Variegated yarn is really fun to work with when using this pattern. It gives it a bit more of the typical granny square look. Mochi Plus is my current favorite (you've seen peeks of me using it on Instagram lately). I also like the Liberty Wool Print yarns (Ellie's shawl is "Cupcake"). Yarn used in my shawl is Malabrigo Rios. I couldn't find a source for my color way, which is Indiecita, but etsy and ebay can be good sources.

Photos of Ellie and me by Vanessa Simpson (we might have used that one of Ellie for our holiday card because do you see that face? oh my goodness that kid.)

*The second time I went back to the yarn shop, they were having a class and didn't have time to wind my yarn.

This is the part where I could say, "Note to self: Never leave the yarn shop with skeins that aren't wound into balls." But luckily I know how to wind them at home without a winder.

And I made a tutorial for you in case you need to know too right over here.

Still, note to self: Don't leave the yarn shop without getting them wound honey. 

the file drawer {4}

oh how my word of the year is teaching me | shown here on the whole heart talisman

I recently decided I wanted more pineapple in my life. Seriously. Added it to a smoothie last week, and it was so good! And then I ran across a pin that led me here. Bring on the pineapple people!

Ellie and I are meeting my dad and step-mom in Disney World in TWO WEEKS! And I'm so happy I found these Dansko sneakers. Even though I am not a sneakers person, so figuring out what in my closet goes with sneakers is all kinds of something over here...more on that soon. If you're someone who wants free shipping and free returns, Nordstom carries a few other colors here but not the blue/orange that I have and linked to above.

Sweep your street well from Alexandra Franzen reminds us (me and you) to focus on our work and how we want to make a difference instead of fretting about how many people are reading our work. Love this post.

This storypeople story from Brian Andreas had me nodding and feeling that deep yes inside. Getting the daily stories in my inbox is awesome.

I'm so excited about Elise's Get to Work Book I can hardly stand it. She shares awesome sneak peeks and behind the scenes info here. It feels like it might be the system this crazy idea brainstorming but wait work has to get done too mind needs.

Speaking of behind the scenes, love this series of posts from Emily McDowell about the growing pains and awesome moments she and her business experienced last year. And this post from Katie Daisy that has an undercurrent of "Will you still support me when I'm no longer a struggling artist?" had me literally wanting to cheer.

And I'm going to dive into the world of homemade bone broth this week using this recipe. Do you make your own? I keep reading about it and am totally intrigued.

Me elsewhere: I'm over on ebay sharing a few ways to Beat the Winter Blues

New in the shop: The "I love you" postcard with the sweet little brass envelope is back in the shop in time for Valentine's Day! One of my favorite things about this set is that it is made here in the US. Most of the charms and brass pendants in my shop are.

where have i been all my life {a book review}

TLC Book Tours contacted me last month about doing a review of Cheryl Rice's book Where Have I Been All My Life? When I saw the tagline, "A Journey Toward Love and Wholeness," I knew I had to say yes. So they sent me the book, and I dove into Cheryl's journey while curled up on my couch.

The overarching theme of Cheryl Rice's book is about how her mother's death and the grief that followed became the catalyst to finally beginning a deeper, more honest relationship with herself. This topic is one I know in my own way, as I've had that experience of grief cracking me open in unexpected ways and finding there are gifts inside the grief even as you deeply miss the other person...in finding that someone else's death gave me space to dive into my own journey in ways I hadn't before the grief.

I also appreciated the honest way she talked about the grief that occurs during the first year or so after the person dies. At the beginning of the fifth chapter she writes:

Ten days into my motherless life, and I know already that I am not going through grief - grief is going through me. I am not in charge, which is quite disturbing, since I like being in charge. Not only that, but while my mother left lots of lists for what and who she wanted taken care of after she died, the one list she didn't leave was the one telling me what to do with myself without her.

One of the things I like about this book is that the path to this new relationship with herself isn't described as happening like a magic wand appeared one day and "aha!" Cheryl finally understood.

Instead she invites us into her non-linear, messy, reluctant-at-times, raw adventure into finding a home inside her. This includes developing a crush on her therapist, trying to control something, anything, by controlling what she eats, and trying to literally find her mom in the places where she could be, like Cheryl's childhood home, and the experiences that are a result of this searching. She writes, "I was bobbing in a stew of grief and longing. My homesickness for my mom was unrelenting."

Even though my mom is still alive, I could viscerally feel this while reading it. If you know grief, you've tasted this raw truth. 

Throughout the book, I like the way Cheryl invites us in with her conversational tone and realness. It reads at time like a journal, other times like a peek into a long conversation with a new friend with whom you instantly hit it off and you share everything over a three-hour lunch, and then it will read like pieces of a raw story you might hear at a storytelling evening at The Moth.

She also shares some journal-like writing she did at the time, and the prompts she's used (shown by the title of the chapter) would be beautiful ones to write in your own journal. I love that even though this isn't a book with prompts in it, we get a peek at the creative, self-care processes this woman used to get through her grief. And she talks about reading Mary Oliver, so you know I love that.

One of the criticisms I've read about Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild is that it's about a woman who left her life in order to literally go on a journey to find herself, and how leaving our everyday lives to walk the Pacific Coast Trail isn't possible for most of us. Now, this book review isn't really the place for that conversation (though I do want to say that I found Wild highly relatable, and I think we champion Thoreau and other men who leave their "regular" lives but have a harder time supporting women who do), but there is a comparison to be made here. If you're looking for a memoir with similar themes to Wild - rebuilding your life after you're broken open by grief, realizing that you alone are the home you've been seeking - and you're looking for a protagonist who is living a life that might be a bit more similar to yours, then this will be a really good fit for you.

And one of the best ways I know that I really enjoyed a book? When I'm sad to see the story end because I feel like I've met a friend with whom I really want to spend more time.

People who are beginning the path of realizing they want to feel like they are enough and want to have a softer internal voice, and people going through grief experiences, often ask me for book recommendations. I'm delighted to add Where Have I Been All My Life? to my list.

Note that while I was given this book to review, all opinions are my own and I did not receive compensation other than the book. And of course it is always fun to write a book review when you end up really enjoying the book. Book links are affiliate.

the beauty and the grit

Ten minutes before this moment we were both yelling and I was setting the boundary of giving us space by walking the five feet to the kitchen and unloading the dishwasher. She cried and got really mad and then listened to her choices of staying at the table with kindness or playing alone while I kept cleaning. She chose to stay. So here we are laughing and cutting and staying in it.

It can be so hard to stay in it sometimes, but gosh when you do, you create so much more space for love.

And I guess I have a thing about sharing the "real" moments at the table right now. It feels important to gather evidence of what life looks like over here and remind myself of the little wins in the midst of all of it...of the ways I can hold beauty in one hand and the grit in the other and see them both and nod and say, "Yes, this."

(And I've been reading Parenting with Love and Logic and the idea of giving two choices that are positive come from that. It is really helping us and I highly recommend it...even if Ellie does sometimes say, "I don't want the choices again Mama.")

take a quick mama break

As part of my collaboration with eBay, I'm sharing a few quick ideas for taking a short "mama break" in the midst of whatever might be happening in your day. These are all things you can do in just 1 to 5 minutes, and my hope is you can use them in the carpool line, when you're moving from being on the floor playing with Legos to the kitchen to make lunch, and even when you're on the bus on the way to work.

I'm having so much fun sharing different guides over on eBay, and I hope you'll take a moment to read this one along with the others over there. And a shout out to Vaness Simpson of Focus in Photography for taking so many of the photos in several of the guides I'm sharing over there.

And here's one quick way to take a mama break right now: close your eyes and take five deep breaths (or even just one) and focus on the space you create inside you each time your chest opens as you inhale.

*****

If you're a mom want to dive even deeper into ways to practice self-care, check out Water Your Mama Soul. It's a 10-day class that invites you to come home to yourself through photography, writing, and self-care prompts.

here

Instagram caption read: "It may be takeout in the midst of a mess, but it's still my little family together around the table sharing about our day and annoying each other and laughing and singing along with Johnny Cash."

Because I want to sit at the table more.

Because I want to invite in more joy.

Because I want to keep things simple when that will bring in more ease.

Because there can be beautiful, real, true, for-the-scrapbook moments even when the house is cluttered and you're eating amidst a current creative project.

Because judging myself does not create space for more joy.

Because noticing these moments invites in more light.

Because look at that smile. 

Yes.

(Instagram photo + words prompted by Jenna's One Moment Memoirs daily prompts. It's free and she's sharing prompts for the whole month right here.)