Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

  • Home
  • Our Family
    • Our Home
  • Courses
  • Shop
  • Contact

The Stories We Tell

August 27, 2023 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

A little over a week ago, I was pulling into my driveway, after going on my first ever business trip. I snapped this picture to remember all that I felt.

[I had just taken 4 flights in less than 48 hours, found myself driving an electric car solo for the first time in a new city, set up a table and shared all about Generous Coffee at a fun event, and felt extremely grateful for this life I get to live.]

I do work that I love and have a family I adore.

For the last year, I searched and tried new things, dabbled with different ventures, and wondered what was truly next. All the while, the stories I told were of what I use to do, the studio I had run, burn out, or how dreams change. As I was searching for more life, I did a lot of looking back and living in what was. I know it was all part of the healing and letting go process.

Our journeys can leave wounds. We all have them. They mark us.

As Jeff Henderson so perfectly said, “Wounds mark us for good when we learn from them, decide to shift to a different path, show ourselves grace, repent and change direction or choose to no longer be a victim or listen to our excuses.”

Get this, my new job….builds into non-profits. It gives all its profits away to help sustain amazing organizations fighting human injustices all over the world.

I loved the work I did, but I also love the work I do now. I don’t think I would be as good at what I do now, if I hadn’t done what I did before.

Life is a journey. We only ever get little views at a time, but how cool when we see how things build and connect.

Wherever you are in your journey today, I just want to gently encourage you that it is part of the bigger puzzle of your life. Each moment matters, yet nothing is forever.

So, buckle up and enjoy the ride. We get to do this thing called LIVING!

In it with you,
Erica

Ps. Now, you have officially been warned my emails may start to talk a lil about life changing coffee or gushing about my family’s ventures. Don’t worry, I will sprinkle in my latest creations and ways you can connect with me. Spoonful began as a side hobby and it is officially back to where it began.

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

What to do with the nerves that come with trying something new!

April 11, 2023 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Those pesky nervous butterflies come at us just when we have gotten the courage to try something new. Do you know the ones I am talking about? As if trying something different, new, or stretching isn’t hard enough to overcome the mental hurdle-those butterflies then show up!  I have come to learn that those butterflies that get in our nervous system is our bodies way of warning us. It’s saying, “Hey, we haven’t done this a lot. I’m not sure how it’s going to go, so I can’t warn you in all the feels and triggers yet”. They make you more alert. It can be helpful to be aware of the nervous feelings emerging, but I have also learned a few tricks of how to deal with the nerves that come with trying something new.

In this post, we are going to dive into 5 things I have learned over the years from leading an art studio, stepping into leadership, and having the courage to try something new or grow in something that makes you uncomfortable. These tips might sounds basic, and I hope they do. Don’t think too much and over analyze as the butterflies come. Just prepare and act. You can do this. Let’s dive in…

For me, going on camera is still something that is stretching.

I’m not sure exactly why. I have been doing marketing, teaching, and brand vision casting for years in videos. I’m not super self conscious by how I look, yet I get those pesky butterflies every time it’s ‘go time’. For me, I think it is that there isn’t any audience to really read in the video setting. I love to teach. I love to connect with people. When you are doing a video, it’s just you talking to a camera. There is no audience to read to know if they are tracking with you. There is no head nodding, staring off, or encouraging words immediately after to know if what you did was right and you hit the gauge of the assignment.

As much as I don’t like the nervous feelings going live on video, I know it’s part of my job and I have gotten better at it. I have learned to picture the audience on the other side in my mind. Maybe you can relate to being nervous for videos? Or maybe for you it is simply picking up the phone and calling someone? Having to do an interview or conduct a presentation are all things that can bring the butterflies your way as well.

I recently went live to teach an art workshop online, and was reminded that although I’m not super comfortable with it, the nervousness no longer controls me.

I sleep fine the night before. There is more excitement than stress. I am able to be present in the situation so I can think on the spot, remember it, and be present to feel the wander of it. For me, I see/feel growth and there’s tricks that helped me get there. Let me share these with you on what to do with your nerves, so you too can tell your body that you are ok and prepare mentally and physically to do a stretching thing.

1. Wear clothes that are you.

In our excitement or maybe even in our attempt to prepare, we may buy something new to wear for the occasion. It can be looked at as we are thinking ahead and want to be ready for the part for this new, stretching activity. My advice is wear something you already own. Our bodies hold memories. If you can wear that favorite hoodie, pair of jeans, or flip flops, do it. If the occasion calls for something fancier and you have to buy something new, buy something you know you will wear again. Make sure it is something when your friends see you in it, they think you either already owned it or it just screams that it is you.

If you are able to be comfortable in your clothes, you will feel the most like you. That is the goal. For you to be present in the situation and activity, we want you to be YOU. So, go ahead and give yourself a win from the beginning by wearing something that is you.

2. Eat before the event.

Often we have those nervous feelings, we don’t want to eat. What I have come to find is we still NEED to eat something. Try to eat the meal before your event or at least eat some kind of healthy snack. Be smart about what you eat. Maybe a sugary donut is not the thing to eat, but try eating something like a banana, egg, granola bar or cheese stick. These are a few things that are my go to items to grab.

It’s helpful to have something in your stomach, so you don’t begin to feel sick or have only caffeine in your body and get the shakes. Remember food is fuel and your body needs fuel to keep going, especially at a time when it is working in overdrive with extra feelings and fears at bay.

3. Don’t try something new for the event.

Buying new high heals for the event, is not the time to practice walking and standing in high heels, if that isn’t something you already do. Trying a new hair do or a new makeup technique is not ideal either. Be yourself and do what you know. If you do things you are already comfortable at, even when your body might begin to get locked up you wont have a freeze moment. Your body will kick in and do what it always does.

For example, I love to teach about the creative process. When on video and teaching live, I teach the project or tips I know that helped me create the sample craft. I might experiment a little with the supplies, but only as it applies to the project. Breaking out a circuit, stencil machine for the first time, while teaching on a live video would not be smart. So, in this new lesson, I will show how to cut a heart the good-old fashion way that I know. Do what your body has done lots of times.

4. Arrive Early for it.

Give yourself the gift of time. Wake up a little earlier if need be, but definitely get to the event early. You don’t need any extra stress of walking in at go time and having to quickly switch gears. Allow yourself to get there early, walk around, use the restroom, get accustomed to the space, and be alert to any thing that might have changed in your planning.

5. Be yourself.

This last tip is my favorite. Be yourself. I’m quirky. With my dyslexia, I mess my words up a lot. I think I am using the right word, but it’s totally the wrong usage of it. My family will call it my “Erica-isms” as if I have my own language. It’s just part of me. It use to stress me out and I would want to practice what I was going to say to prevent these mess ups, but now I just roll with it. I might ask out loud, “did i say that right?” or “what is the word I am looking to use here?” I engage the audience. I will even catch it, laugh at myself, and fix it live. I think when we are the most ourselves, we are the most comfortable, and it gives everyone around us permission to be themselves too.

People like to know you are real, and if you aren’t all polished and smooth- that’s ok.

When painting our snow room, I stepped into a bucket of paint. Instead of hiding it in the room reveal video or blog post, I just laughed about it and pointed it out. If you are polished and smooth naturally, that’s amazing too. Just be you! People can read through the fake and know when you aren’t being genuine. At the core, we all just want to connect to what’s real.

Whew, do these tips help you feel a little more empowered to try that new task or to do that stretching activity? I hope they do. We were made to be life long learners and it’s never too late to try something new. Just take note of a few tips to get you through it. You will be so proud of yourself after you do that stretching thing. You can do hard things!

I still don’t love to film, but on this day (the pictures were taken), I took my kids and showed them I could do something I don’t love. Isn’t that a good trait to model always!? It did help to film to be at the beautiful, DreamOn Studios and have their amazing team do all the video components. Yet, in their professional amazing-ness, I psyched myself out a bit by that too.

In all the nerves though, I was more excited than nervous.

I wore my favorite jeans and flip flops. I had a banana and drank water. I arrived 20 minutes early, and I told everyone live that I love cutting cardboard. Is that a quirk? Maybe. I went with it. It was honest and me. If you would like to see the video from this shoot, you can pick up the craft kit + lesson here. I’d love to encourage your imagination in this online workshop! 

There are nerves that come with trying something new, but we can deal with them and teach our body that it’s ok to grow.

It’s ok to change and be stretched. Otherwise, what all could we be missing out on? Allow yourself to be stretched. You will be so proud of the YOU you are becoming.

Which tip sounds like it would be the most helpful to you? Please leave me a comment or find me on social media to let me know. I’d love to encourage you on!

If this post was helpful to you, it would mean so much if you would share it with someone you know or post it somewhere others can find it. Thank you for allowing me to encourage your journey, and I will be back again soon!  

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Spoonful of Imagination Freebies

February 2, 2023 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Hi Friends! 

Erica from Spoonful of Imagination here. Do you ever find yourself feeling stuck in the creative process because “finding the time to start AND finish” can be tricky!? Kids have no problem creating, and we can re-learn a lot from their playful spirits. Being young at heart is a lifestyle that we have to practice.

Thank you for finding my little part of this great, big world. It is my goal to encourage YOUR creative process. You can imagine the possibilities and create the life you want, while connecting to others. Let’s have some fun. Please browse these freebies. Try one, try them all! I hope they can jump start your own creative endeavors. If you love it, it would mean the world if you shared this page with others.

It will ask for your email to get the download. Please know, that I don’t ever do anything with those, other than send you my weekly letter on Tuesdays. It’s full of tips, inspiration and pictures to my creative lifestyle, so you’ll want that anyway. Now, let’s get creating!!

Imagine the possibilities, 
Erica

Let's Get Imagining.

What is it: 

Vision Board Workshop: This video lesson walks you through what is a vision board, why they matter, and how to get started on creating your own.

Watch it now!

What is it:

Collaborative Art Game: Erica is showing you how to create and play one of our most popular art games in this video lesson. It encourages teamwork, play, and FUN!

Watch it now!

What is it:

The Best ‘All About Me’ Form:

Maybe you filled out a get to know you form in elementary school. Do you know what you listed as your dream job? Most ‘About Me’ forms I see these days ask kids what they want to be when they grow up.

What if they grow up and get that job, and they are miserable? There’s better, exploratory questions to ask.

That’s why I created a new kind of form that is all about encouraging kids to see this as a journey in learning about themselves and an exploration of things they care about.

Download it now!

What is it:

Quick Checklist of Ideas:

This list is a quick imagination starter. Imagining the possibilities is part of the creative process. It’s a skill you learn and practice. These quick, little exercises open up a new loop in our brain and can set us up to have a more playful, imaginative day.

Download it now!

What is it:

Free craft tutorial for kids:

In this lesson, Erica walks your artists through how to create their own paper lion. It’s fun, interactive, and encourages options!

Watch it now!

What is it:

Free plan to throw the best art parties: I’ve been throwing professional Art Parties for over 15 years. Today, I want to give you my checklist and roadmap on how to do it! You can create a FUN day, and I can help prevent the stress.

Download it now!

Thanks for letting us help you imagine the possibilities.

Instagram Facebook Youtube Link

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

The Perfect Collaborative Art Party Game

December 16, 2022 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Do you have an artist who loves to create with friends! It’s my bet that he/she would LOVE this collaborative art party game!

Over the years our art studio was in business, we hosted hundreds of birthday parties. We found that even after the individual projects were done- the artists would want to keep creating. We always had a coloring station, magnets and play-dough available, but we quickly became known for this fun art game that we held at the end of each of our parties.

We would play an art version of i-spy

Have you ever sat in a restaurant or a doctor’s office and needed a way to entertain kids, while they are waiting? I-spy is a classic game and one you have probably turned to in a moment like that.

Kids get into it and have fun-without even realizing you may just be making the most of some idle time. It’s fun. It forms a connection and you learn a lot about how your child thinks, what he/she notices, and enjoy each other’s company in the process.

We would create a recycled art collage to use for our art version of i-spy. If you want to learn more about how we created this collage, you can view the 5 Reasons Why Creating With Trash Matters post or this quick video lesson from Erica.

How to play i-spy as an art game

I always demonstrated a couple of rounds of leading/playing i-spy first. The idea is you call out things you spy, and they can only be on the i-spy board. The importance is to have a creative collage that is full of different items to make a well rounded, entertaining game. A few idea categories to think through and call out as you play…

  • shapes
  • colors
  • item’s uses
  • item’s location
  • funniest

After I did a few rounds, I would let any artists who wanted to think of one to call it out. If everyone was excited to call an “i-spy” item out, we would just take turns going around the table with everyone getting a chance.

We would play this for as long as kids were really interested. Want to see this game in action? I convinced two of my kids to play with me in this video, so we could demonstrate it to you! They are getting a little old for it, but once they were playing, they still had fun!

Paint that i-spy board

When the fun in the i-spy game is winding down, you can breath new life into the game by allowing the artists to paint the board together! We always just gave out the leftover paint from individual projects and each child a brush. We tried to encourage that teamwork happens in art too. They could each start by painting what stood out to them.

It was so fun to watch the artists paint such unusual items. They’d paint in the items, on the items, around the items and get to see how the paint moves, absorbs, and takes to each item.

We use tempera paint, just in case paint gets on clothes, as hands start reaching. I promise you will know the moment the game is ready to end. You simply say, “on the count of 3, it is time to end and then brushes need to be placed down. 1-2-3 brushes down!” and then it’s time to wash hands. Your artists run off laughing and talking about the fun they just had.

It’s not everyday that artists get to paint a bottle cap, straw or broken shell. Let alone do it with friends after talking, studying and playing i-spy with those items. This i-spy game really is the perfect collaborative art party game. From creating the i-spy board to playing with it and then painting it, you breath a lot of extra life, engineering and fun into those recycled materials.

Sometimes the birthday child would want to take his/her collage home and sometimes we would share the picture and kindly toss the piece.

Isn’t that the beautiful thing about the process being the focus of creating and playing in the arts? If the focus is to have fun, play, and learn as you go then there is no pressure to save the final product. It can just be tossed!

I hope this game inspires you to play a creative art game at your next party or artist has a slumber party. If you need a little extra encouragement, check out this 5 minute video demonstrating a game in action. Let me know, if you try this fun!

Share this:

  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
Next Page »
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube
YouTube-Channel
Erica Deuel

Subscribe for Weekly Updates!




Most Popular Posts

DIY Outdoor Table

Categories

  • All About the Kids
  • art journal
  • Blogging
  • Christmas
  • Craft Projects
  • Dancing Zebras
  • DIY
  • Eddy's postcards
  • Embroidery Journal
  • Family
  • Featured
  • Fireside Chat
  • Foster Care
  • Giveaways
  • Guest Posts
  • Home
  • Homeschooling
  • Kid Activities
  • Kid Craft
  • My Heart
  • Our Outings
  • Project Spotlight
  • Send Out Love
  • Shop
  • Sponsored Posts
  • Spoonful Lab
  • Spoonful Tribe
  • Tips + Tricks
  • Traveling
  • Uncategorized
  • Vlog

Favorite Categories

Subscribe for Weekly Updates!

Favorite Categories

© 2025 Spoonful of Imagination, Inc.