Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

New Year and NOT a New Me.

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Friends,

We did it. That week after Christmas when no one knows when it is and all the schedules are off in beautiful, messy ways. We did it.

It’s during this week between years that Matt and I traditionally go away for a weekend to process out the highs, lows, and complexities of the past year and dream/plan for the new year. This year, I will not forget sitting over tacos (and breaking my “low-histamine-only-foods” diet) crying about how 2023 was actually harder than my 2022. 

All the hopes for my new work, getting healthier habits, and being more present at home took me literally ALL year to make wake in.

  • Selling a course turned out not to be fulfilling work for me.
  • The stress of running a studio had taken more of a toll on my mind and body than I had given credit to. It was an untangling mess to sort.
  • My mind, work and time could not figure out the balance of fulfilling work + helping to pay for 3 kids in braces, a third car, and teens on our car insurance.

I knew I had closed our studio to be more present at home, yet I didn’t know how hard the mix of everything all together would be. 2023 was a doozy.

So, when I hear the phrase “new year, new me,” it kind of makes my skin crawl. I don’t want to be a new me. I don’t want to start over. Last year was hard, but I dug deep and I just want to continue the work.

Can you relate?

I want you to know that YOU are enough. Just as you are! Right here and right now… you are alive, breathing and a one of a kind masterpiece.

This year, at our goal planning weekend, was the first time in all our years of marriage that I had no business goals. No launching a store, studio, subscription kits, courses or workshops like there has always been in the past. It was really freeing.

What we all need is to feel confident that we have something to offer right now. It may just be a smile, a little extra kindness, the initiative to reach out, and be a connecting force to show others they matter too. I know I can do that without big business goals. I just need to show up as me. I will be sharing little one minute videos over on YouTube as daily doses of my imagination. This is just for fun, and if you need a little inspiration, I welcome you to follow along.

If you need a reminder, that you can keep going, with where you are in your journey too, I will be launching my “YOU” collection this Saturday in the shop. The pieces have been created to remind you and those you love that YOU MATTER. This is our year to continue to play, rest, heal, and grow. Cheering you on always.

In it with you,
Erica

Butterfly Nature Craft for Kids

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What is a better way to celebrate that spring is here with young kids than to do a craft together!? This butterfly nature craft is a perfect opportunity to have fun, get outside, encourage the imagination and teach new vocabulary with your young artists.

This multi step project allows you to prep a little and the artists to paint, explore, and design. It’s fun and I’m pretty sure it can keep your artist happily entertained for a WHILE! Let’s dive in…

The first step is to collect some cardboard.

Grab a cardboard box and cut it into a fun shape. We did a butterfly in this sample, but you could also keep it simple with a rectangle and turn that into a picture frame!

Divid the cardboard into sections with rubber bands.

Simply slip rubber bands onto your cardboard image to create some natural divisions in the design.

Painting comes next!

We kept it pretty simple with including only 3 tempera paints for our sample and a q-tip for each color. One thing with creating is we can control the mess by how many supplies we put out. Don’t be afraid to put out less.

It allows artists to experiment and try new things. Simplicity breeds invention. For example, we didn’t give purple paint. In the creating process, colors can be combined to make new colors and purple can be created with the colors we provided.

This paint project allows your artist to learn some new vocabulary.

  • They can paint by doing lots of dots to create a pointillism look. The goal is to collage each section of the butterfly with color to fill the whole image.
  • They can practice painting semetrical so the sides are identical or not- it’s up to their taste!

While the butterfly dries, your artist can go on a scavenger hunt.

Can they pick, find or cut small nature clippings like these:

    • dandelion
    • grass clipping
    • leaf
    • feather
    • stick

Once the butterfly is dry, your artist can stick the little nature clippings into the rubber bands on the butterfly.

This butterfly nature craft can be done or you can explore with more details and textures.

We added some circle stickers to help hold the natural elements in place and allow another texture to be in the project. Kids love stickers, right!? You can’t go wrong with stickers as a detail.

It is our hope that in each step of the project your artist can create, play and imagine the possibilities! There’s even a good chance that on the nature scavenger hunt, your artist starts playing organically outside. It’s a win-win.

If this craft sounds fun, but you don’t want to do all the prep- you are in luck. We have a few kits listed in our online store. You can jump over there and see if they are still in stock!

Have fun and get out and enjoy the blooming plants this spring season!

Celebrate Earth Day 2023 with your artist!

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I love teamwork. (**stay tuned to later in this post where I share Earth Day Craft kits for $1). In celebrating, Earth Day 2023 we can practice working as a team.

It can sometimes be overwhelming to work with others. We may feel like we get lost in the discussion or like we could handle things better, if we did it on our own. Yet, we have all been there, when the overwhelm and stress sneaks in from trying to tackle something too big solo.

We need one another.

There’s big issues like our planet that we literally can’t take on by ourselves. We need everyone working together as a team to help preserve our earth. This Saturday, April 22 is Earth Day.

Earth Day is an annual celebration that honors the environment and raises awareness of the need to protect the Earth’s natural resources for future generations.

These are all little changes to our habits, if we collectively do together, they can leave a big wake of change. Just imagine the possibilities! One of those above ways may be easier for you than the others. Lean into it!

For me, recycling and reusing trash is one of my favorite ways to give more life to already created objects. We can do so much with tools and resources that come into our home daily-rather than just tossing them out!

One of my favorite materials to recycle into something new are soup cans!

As an art instructor and mom, I know one of the easiest ways to have a conversation with a child, is to have a project that goes along with it.

It opens the door to have a tangible, physical element to refer back to.

Save your cans and use them in a craft with your artist this week to talk about Earth Day 2023!

If you need help, I have some pre-prepped cans with paint + yarn as a kit for just $1 each this week in honor of Earth Day. Snatch up your kits today!

Why Writing Greeting Cards Still Matters

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Do you love receiving snail mail? Like an actual fun piece of mail delivered to your mail box? We all get junk mail. That alone gets so annoying that I have moments that I wish all the mail would go away. Instead, I let that junk mail build up on my counter, before I do a deep purge. That I am guilty of! But, you know what gets opened up right away!? Any piece of mail that seems fun, personalized, and meaningful. This thought has gotten me to actually start writing greeting cards.

Greeting cards are an intentional act.

I have always loved making them, but I am leaning in to sending them more too. Connection to others matters. It breathes passion and fulfillment in us and our relationships. Yet, we often lose it from busyness, anxiety, responsibilities, and work. Can you relate?

One way to create a deeper connection with those you care about (especially those who live further from you) is to send greeting cards. It’s a powerful, meaningful way to say I was thinking of you and YOU Matter!

I’ve been on a mission to write 3-5 greeting cards every week this year. We need more happy mail. Through this new card writing habit, I’ve noticed a few things:

What a gift that we can use our time and words to encourage others!

It’s a crazy beautiful thing that it also builds into us!

New habits can be hard to start, so pausing to see progress and the good that is happening is so powerful. Would you like to join me in this mission to send more love and encouragement out? I’ve made a list of 26 prompts to get you started. 

Pick one prompt to write to several people in a week or pick a different prompt per a day to use for different people. The way you use this list is up to you! 

Fill out the simple form by clicking the button above, and we will give you the PDF download right away! 

Don’t stress that this is another thing to do.

Just add it as an option instead of scrolling on social media or sending a text. This is intentional, meaningful, and investing into relationships that you care about.

I do love making my cards.

If you don’t love making your cards, you could pick some up in my store or so many other wonderful places. The actual card is fun and special to receive, but what really matters is what you write on the inside.

Let me encourage you to be intentional with your words and to build into others! We are all fragile and going through something. What a powerful way to show someone you care about that you see them and they matter.

Send a greeting card today!