Are you like me? Creative, but messy? Intentional but far from meticulous?
This is the first in a series of posts for women that want to do inspiring DIY projects that actually work and help your life. You won't find any hand painted jewelry boxes here that look amazing in the pictures and awful on your nightstand. Hang out with us here as we make intentional and awesome projects with imperfect hands and skills.
Y'all, I hate crafting.
I've got awkward hands and a bad back. Why does crafting seem to hurt your back so bad? All the bending and leaning over something, yeesh.
At the top of my craft-hatred list is scrapbooking. I once had a friend who scrapbooked like it was her j-o-b and I learned quickly by watching her that I just couldn't be a crafter. The stickers, the meticulous cutting and laying out of the pictures, the piles and piles of memories and the sticky paper. I am a messy and creative being, I don't have a meticulous or cautious bone in my body.
Now, that was like seven years ago, and I know that scrapbooking has evolved. I love watching women do the project life stuff and photobooks have taken us so far. It's no longer the preset photo pages with comic sans font captions - we have so many options! There is artifact uprising, even shutterfly & blurb. BUT - It's gotten to a desperate point in our home and we have NO photo books. We have one small one from our wedding, but nothing else. I knew I could order from one of the aforementioned sites, but I found myself at the end of 2013 with an intense desire to get my hands dirty and tell our story.
So that's just what I did.
Step 1. I downloaded the Walgreens app on my phone and praised the Lord that I'm a habitual instagrammer. When you download the Walgreens app on an iPhone, it connects with your instagram and connects all your pictures. You can go through your entire feed and order the ones you want - for .39 a piece. I took about ten minutes while I was feeding Cannon a bottle and selected the hundred or so pictures I loved the most from my 2013 instagram feed. Thirty minutes later, I picked those bad boys up at Walgreens! Woohoo!
Step 2: On the way home from Walgreens, I ran by the craft store and got a cute turquoise leather scrapbook on sale, some blank white paper, and scrapbook pages. I also picked up two rolls of washi tape and some project life small sheets of paper.
Step 3: When my kiddos went to bed that night, I spread out all my 2013 printed instas and lined them up. I arranged them in order of when they were taken and then wrote a short note or memory regarding that day, month, season. I applied all the pictures with washi tape and the same for the notes. It wasn't about perfection or excellence, it was about getting it done. A few hours and several cups of coffee later, I had my first and favorite scrapbook. It was quick and dirty, but it was ours.
I have to say, this little project may have redeemed crafting for me.
I love the idea that my kids can now look over this past year (forever and ever!) and hear my voice and see what my hands made. And for me? The project was SO good for my heart. When I laid out the pictures, I didn't remember headaches or hard days - I was just so stinking grateful for all that the Lord had done. And it inspired me to take more pictures, make more memories, fill this year's book from front to back with pictures and thoughts.
What about you? Are you a crafter? A scrapbooker?
Could you use some more inspiring projects for imperfect women?
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