How to Get Creative With Your Family Even If Your Not Creative
Make Something Together (especially at Christmastime)
Every year when December rolls around, I feel like Charlie Brown - bombarded by the commercialism, trying to resist getting caught up in it, searching for the heart of the season and angrily deleting every single sales email that pops into my inbox (and then digging them out of the Trash when I need them).
And every single year, I end up having to remind myself to slow down, savor the good stuff, and let the rest go.
In those times when I get the most stressed about Christmas shopping, depleting bank accounts, and the gobs of stuff we're pressed to buy, some of the good stuff I try to hold onto is making things with my family. While we try to do it year-round, we also try to take extra time to make things together in December.
It's a great way to slow things down, make some memories, and give a few handmade gifts too.
You know those super cool folks who can make even a toddler craft project look like an Instagram photo waiting to happen? I am NOT one of those people. In fact, if those folks were in the dictionary under "supercrafter" or "cool craft lady", you would find my name listed as an antonym. I'm the kind with glue in my hair and paint up to my elbows making even a well-planned adult art project look like a mess. It's always been one of my talents. But I don't let that stop me - I've been making a mess of art projects for decades now. Thankfully, some things turn out pretty well anyway, and when I'm making things with my family, the experience of making something together always turns into a huge togetherness win.
Whether we're baking cookies, painting a landscape, beading a necklace, or planting an herb garden, making things with our families is big for bonding.
If you're up for trying it and need ideas, here are a few we love:
Paint pottery at a studio
Bake cookies, cakes, quiches, whatever
Draw maps, animals, video game characters, scenes
Cook a meal and give everyone a dish to prepare
Paint on canvas (it can be abstract if you're "challenged" like me)
Redecorate a room, a house, anything
Plant a seasonal garden
Make figures out of Sculpey clay
Build Lego shadowboxes (we've loved these in our Airstream!)
Take a glass blowing class
Put together a puzzle
Buy an art project kit and complete it together
Go to a painting, drawing, or pottery class
Make glass fusion ornaments at a studio
Write a song, a poem, a story, or a book
Plan a trip, a surprise, a book club discussion, a party
Design a website, a book cover, a business, a new type of clothing
Sew or knit a scarf, a quilt, a sweater (I haven't braved this one yet, but I'll get there one day)
See what you can come up with - the possibilities are endless, and honestly, I don't think the actual item you make is all that important.
It's the experience you'll remember - the topics of conversation that come up, the moments of connection, the memories made that will last a lifetime.
In our house, we have one person who likes to make music (especially when he thinks no one else can hear him), one who loves to draw maps and trace detailed illustrations, one who loves to make his own toys out of Sculpey clay (and play with them until they fall apart), and me - the one who is happy with all of the above but really loves to make paper bead necklaces. It's a hobby I've been dabbling in for years now, and I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to share it.
A few months ago, I teamed up with a young lady who runs a nonprofit in Uganda from her home in Georgia employing ladies to make paper beads as a way to give them a sustainable income for their families. The ladies there make the beads by hand and are paid a salary for their work. Then the nonprofit sells those beads to me, and I've been having loads of fun with my little crew making them into necklaces for the past few months.
I hope you're taking the time to enjoy all of the joys this season has to offer. Or, if the big Christmas hullabaloo isn't your jam, I hope you're able to get outside on an adventure and find so much joy in the small family moments, making it possible to slow things down in your own way - maybe even making a thing or two yourself (possibly a plan for your next family adventure?).
Let’s go after those family adventures you’ve been dreaming of together.
What’s your favorite thing to make with your family?
Hop into the email group and join the discussion - I'd love to hear all about it!