tips Archives - Spoonful of Imagination

Transitioning

November 15, 2014 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

We have moved!!

In my last moving post, I shared how things were moving fast, and we were trying to hang on. In some ways it’s hard to believe we actually got moved and are now in Indiana! We couldn’t have done it without the help of so many friends and family. Last Thursday we emptied our house and on Friday we closed on the house and started our travels north.

This house was a part of a very special season in our lives. It is where we began being foster parents and was the house we found when we started pursuing this calling. Everything in me knows we lived in that house for 18 months, so we could get to know and love on one very special boy. It was sad to leave. On top of leaving this house, unlike our last house move, we were moving hundred of miles from most of our family and friends.

You know that feeling when you think you can’t cry anymore, but then you do cry more? I feel like I lived that for a week as we slowly said our good byes.

We got to Indiana and were welcomed at an amazing country home with sweet, sweet friends and with a crew of strong guys to unload our stuff into storage.

We immediately started house shopping. It felt like we just ran a marathon and should crash, but we couldn’t. We didn’t.

After a few days, we started getting into a new routine. Matt started his new job at Mission Point Community Church. We came off “fall break” and started school back up. Oh, the beauty of homeschool!

We have already enjoyed a couple light snows, and I think the kids have finally gotten used to wearing shoes and coats.

Now, that we have officially been here for a week, I am coming up for air and finding rest. Without having a home, I can just enjoy my kids in a fun way without a huge to-do list. There’s definitely still some transitioning and learning, but I am enjoying it. Ask me again in January, but for now I have loved wearing layers. I love the small town. I feel so welcomed and supported as people I have never met are reaching out to me. I know we are where God wants us, and I have so much peace and strength in that fact.

I’m sure there are hard days ahead, but I’m living with the people who mean the most to me. We are on adventure. We have so much to be thankful for. Perspective does a lot for attitude. We have had some funny moments along the way though and want to share 10 tips for moving your family across the country. Enjoy these truthful moments.

10. Have family and friends that can pack a moving truck and accept Chick-fil-a nuggets as payment.

9. Let the whole “we’re not buying any more pull-ups” thing slide for another month or three.

8. When you start packing your 2^nd moving truck, give up hope and consider burning all of your possessions.

7. Make sure to schedule your move 700 miles north the week that the Polar Vortex is going to hit.

6. When hubby is driving Uhaul towing one of your vehicles, make sure to follow him, so you can let him know every time he drifts into another lane. He loves that.

5. Eat at every Chick-fil-a that you pass; it may be your last for a while.

4. Convince yourself as the skies turn from bright blue to a hazy grey that it must just be an overcast day.

3. Enlist the church to unpack your truck into storage while you are out house shopping. This will save your back when you need to move again in a month.

2. Find friends that will graciously let you live in their basement while you are homeless…and keep giving your dogs drowsy pills so they give a good first impression.

1. Figure out before you move that Old Navy does not ship winter coats to PO Boxes.

With more down time than I am used to, the reality that all my craft supplies were packed in storage hit hard. No worries, this small town has a Wal-mart and I was able to get some supplies and have picked my crafting back up. I can’t wait to show you what I have been working on. Hopefully, my next post will be back with the usual tutorial crafting.

Thank you so much for caring, journeying with us, helping to dream big and use our imaginations in every area of our life. This life is an adventure. Love you friends!

Reindeer Hands

December 12, 2013 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

Tis the season of crafting for one and all. Lots of us LOVE it, but I know for some it can be intimidating and scary. Especially kid crafts. They can be a lot of fun, but let’s just be honest…they can sometimes end up in a mess. It’s always a successful kid craft when it doesn’t end in tears or a destroyed house.

I love capturing my kids imagination and crafts so I brace myself, try to put some of my OCD tendencies on pause, and let them create. Here are a few tips to help you get through this season of glitter, paint, and glue.

1. Pick the a day and time, when you are not rushed and the kids are in good spirits.

2. Be ok with the crafts taking a few days to complete! For this craft, I got the hand prints and footprints one day and cut them out, added the embellishments, and glued it all together the next. Typically, one craft time per day is enough.

3. Have LOTS of baby wipes on hand, if you are doing a paint project. I don’t trust my kids to go through the house to wash their hands at the sink without touching anything. And while I’m painting hands, I just need to keep going down the line as fast as I can, so I don’t stop to take one to the bathroom (and leave my open paint and brush out loose on the table). I paint a hand, press it down, and immediately start wiping it with baby wipes to get it clean. Once I have most of the paint off, I send that child on his/her merry little way to the bathroom to finish the washing. I think on this craft we finished off two already opened packages of baby wipes. No joke. They are a cheap cost to my sanity and my walls.

4. Bite your tongue. I often want to say, “sit still” “don’t touch that” “you missed a spot”, but I try to refrain. I want crafting together to be a memory they look back on and love, plus I want to give them a love and confidence to create and try new things. My goal with crafting is to be quiet. The excitement and fun for them is enough joy that I can sit and participate and not say much and they will have a blast. The encouragement and praise can happen later or if you trust yourself-say that stuff at the time, but nothing else. You can protect your walls and furniture while protecting their little hearts at the same time by moving fast and pretending you can’t talk. 🙂

5. My last goal with crafting is to try to bring out their creativity in as many ways as possible. Kids hear “no” a lot. No more sugar. No climbing on the couch. No more iPad time. No screaming in the library. Etc. etc. etc. Crafting and creating should be a time of saying “yes!” Although this reindeer craft is pretty standard, I let them choose every part of it.

which color paper they wanted (I had brown card stock, creme, dark red, red, lime green, dark green, and white paper to choose from.)
What color of paint they wanted for their hands (reindeer antlers)
What color of pant they wanted for their foot (reindeer face)
What size googly eyes they wanted
I handled the hot glue gun while adding the embellished eyes and nose, but they point to where they wanted them, so they choose spacing and placement.
I let them sign their names and be proud of their artwork right on the front
They could draw a mouth if they wanted (Caleb came up with that idea on his own)

My boys cut their hand prints and footprint out themselves. J’s is not cut as closely as I would have done and Caleb’s is cut more than I would have, but I let them do it. It might have grated on my OCD nerves a bit, but it gave them more ownership of their work and I love that it is THEIR work and not mine.

I love how this little craft turned out, and I love that I have a piece of their creativity and a way that captured their favorite colors and skill level. Matt always tells me we have energy and time to do the things we really want to do, so crafting with my kids is something that I just have to make time for in my schedule. Otherwise, I’ll push it off and miss these moments. It’s worth making memories like this and getting over the mess.

I hung our reindeer herd up with my Joy Coaster Banner and you can see my little DIY Rope Balls tucked away in the can on the side. Christmas decor is so fun! I hope you are able to craft with some little ones this season, and that you have tons of FUN while doing it!

Crafts Delivered to Your Door

December 8, 2013 By Erica Deuel 7 Comments

Have you ever wanted to attempt a craft from Spoonful of Imagination but needed a little extra nudge?

Have you seen promotions for Spoonful Lab but have been too far away to attend?

Are you looking for a community of people to encourage and challenge your creative potential?

I’m excited to let you know we have created a solution for you.

Coming in early 2014 we will be launching a special members only portion of Spoonful of Imagination called Spoonful Tribe. You don’t have to wait for 2014 to start participating though! Today to celebrate this new chapter of Spoonful we are offering a limited quantity soft launch.

Last Thursday at my Handmade Christmas Spoonful Lab, the ladies that came created these beautiful Winter Wreaths and Holiday Ornaments. I set aside 12 sets of these craft supplies and you can sign up today to have them delivered right to your door!

Wouldn’t you love a fun craft to do during the holidays? By signing up, I will ship all the supplies directly to you which will include a secret code to a special video tutorial where I teach you how to do your crafts. Coming in 2014 will be more crafts, goodies, store discounts, and members only privileges for Spoonful Tribe members. Each month you will receive a new craft. You can purchase a Spoonful Box for you or you can request multiples to host your own craft night party!

The only catch is that once my supplies are sold out, you will have to wait for the next month’s offering. Don’t wait to join in!

Once we announce our official launch we will have different levels of membership available. For today’s special you can reserve your Spoonful Tribe Box for $20. Remember, when 12 orders come in, the offer will be closed for the month.

This is a one month offer with no further obligations!

Thank you to many of you for helping to contribute and inspire this idea. We’ve heard your feedback and I’m hoping this will be a special way for us to continue to expand the Spoonful of Imagination community and connect more with each other!

Unique and Inexpensive Room Accessories

October 7, 2013 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

Decorating could break your bank account, if you let it. It doesn’t need to though. There are simple ways that you can be creative and think outside the box to make and come up with decor that keeps your costs down and your spouse smiling at you proudly.

I want to share just a few things that I have done in our foster care bedroom that have been inexpensive, yet they are cute and all come together to create a statement room.

1. Frame scrapbook paper to create wall art. I cut a hippo silhouette out and glued it to another piece of scrapbook paper and stuck the two in a thrift store frame to create a fun, subtle wall art piece. This cost about $2.00 to create.

2. Buy solid or plain pillows and embellish them to create a more expensive/nicer look. I took a $3.00 Ikea white Ikea pillowcase and embellished it with a little paint. You can get the full tutorial here. This cost about $5.oo, since my pillow insert was a $2.00 thrift store find.

3. Repurpose items to create a unique look for less. I bought a ceramic owl salt shaker in the $1 section at Target and am using it as a cute statue on my shelf. I also bought a metal owl napkin holder to hold special books.

4. Recycle cool things for a new use. I turned over a barrel used to sell candy in a candy store and created a unique end table.

5. Think past the obvious. I bought a cute little metal pail in the paint aisle at Home Depot and am using it hold little stuffed animals.

6. Don’t be scared. Try something new. See if you like it. If you don’t, you can always change it. I don’t usually like my handwriting, but I tried my hand at writing a simple message “let them be little”. It worked!

This room is coming together! I have a few more DIY to show you, before the full reveal is ready. If you missed the artwork that inspired it all you can read “There is A Whole World Inside Me” here. I am so excited to put this room to use. I hope you had a great weekend and were able to be creative and use that IMAGINATION!

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