Crafting Creativity

Growing up with four kids in one family causes a mother to get creative.  When a mother gets creative, she inspires her kids to be creative as well, if only to spare her household budget the tiniest bit.  We had a very crafty (in a good way) mom, sewing clothes for the dress code at school (before uniforms), teaching us how to make our own birthday gifts for friends' parties, pulling out odds and ends when we were bored and running all over the place...  I'm pretty sure she's the reason we kids have a artsy/creative streak.  My older sister knits things that would make my hands cramp for weeks (I await each Christmas eagerly for whatever she's made me, it's always so cute!).  My brother is incredibly talented at drawing, pottery, sculpting, painting, you name it, he's good at it!  My little sister has the best dance moves and can (literally) shake her hips anyway she wants; she also can dabble in just about anything she wants, cooking, sewing, music, etc...  I love to cook and see (and taste) art in food.  I'm finding more and more a love for sewing and making my own patterns.  Then there's these little wooden boxes you can get at any craft store and I have such fun painting them all kinds of different ways!  So today, I'm sharing some of my creative-doings!  I enjoyed making all of these and I have alot more currently in progress or waiting to be started.  FYI, I had cute "Titles" for each photo collage, but I'm not very technologically... adept.  In other words, I've no idea why they're not there!

See? Painted boxes!  I've made so many, starting from when my mom gave me one to paint for a gift for a friend when I was 12.  Since that one turned out so well, I  remember I wanted to make a box for the next three or four friends' birthdays.  The blue "lacy" one with the fabric lining is my most recent.  I made it for my ASL (American Sign Language) teacher last semester.  I really liked the class and adored the teacher, I can't wait to learn from her again!  On the inside of the lid I'd painted, "The Beautiful Song of ASL".  The yellow and blue striped one I made just for fun, no other reason.  Ramen Girl ended up liking it so much I gave it to her.  The pink one was for a girl in the youth group I used to help teach.  I have more already finished in my closet, I just don't know what to do with them...  Anyone want a painted box?

Hi, I'm Nicole, and I'm a food addict...  I love to cook.  I LOVE to bake.  I love Love LOVE to eat!  One of the great things about being a vegetarian is I eat very often (veggies don't keep you full terribly long), so I get to have wonderful food all day long.  The awesome thing about cooking is there aren't really any rules.  As for baking, as long as you understand the food science and what ratios are needed, recipes can be altered or discarded completely!  Excuse me for a second, I think this has made me hungry...

My mom taught me how to sew when I was younger, but I could never read a pattern well enough to actually make clothes.  Most of my sewing was patchwork pillows and other small things I could make without a pattern.  Having adorable nieces has made me want to actually make them something besides pillows, so I tried my hand at clothes without a pattern.  Actually, I made my own patterns.  I may dislike math, but I seem to enjoy working with measurements and figuring out how the pieces should fit together like a puzzle.  I'm not technical with my sewing at all, but I have alot of fun!  My older niece seems to be living in that purple dress, I never thought it would be that popular!  I couldn't find a laptop bag I liked, so I made my own.  Those pants are the first I've ever made and were intended for my younger niece, but I think they might be just a tad to small for her so I'm making another pair slightly bigger.  So now I have a pair of pants that I'll never wear...  I'm thinking I have a friend somewhere that has a daughter that these would fit!  I admit, I used a pattern for the blue dress, and I still have to sew the zipper (currently pinned in), but I added some details I wanted and changed a few things to make it more "me"!  Sigh, can't I just sew instead of doing homework?

I could have included this apron with the other pictures, but then you all would've been denied my cute older niece!  While sewing this apron, I discovered I LOVE the look of ruffles more than I thought I did (which was already a substantial "like").  Miss Niece loves pink and girly stuff, so she had fun in this little number, particularly since she got to make cookies while wearing it.  She was so cute!  She rolled out and cut those cookies on her own and frosted them in a myriad of colors her Aunt Buggy helped her mix. 

If I had time to do any of this alot more often, I don't think I'd have room in my apartment for Ramen Girl and The Ginger, but you know I'd be incredibly happy!!!  Next on the to-do list: finish the coordinated pink outfits for Miss Niece and Little Niece, make a long sleeved dress out of this delicious red wool recently acquired, work on the Nieces Easter dresses, sew The Ginger a black skirt for her performances, and more!!!!  Let the fun begin...