Craft Weekend was wonderful.
It is horribly difficult to get out of the house sometimes. And as much as I would love for the ideal picture of my departure to go as planned...you know, a clean and happy house, dinner made for my family, my bags and supplies packed hours in advance so that I can cuddle my babies before I go with no rushing, and a husband and kiddos sad to see Mom go...reality is that it was not like that at all. I'll spare you all the details. But I'm pretty sure my family was probably ready to get rid of me for a bit. (dinner was ready for them, but that may be the only thing that went as planned).
But I'm thankful for a husband who knows when I just need to get away. I'm thankful that he assures me everything will be okay and that he can handle everything (even the fussy baby that I couldn't even handle that day). I'm thankful that even when one of the kids throws up in the night and he's up from 4:30am on...that he doesn't make me feel guilty for being gone and tells me everything is just fine.
Maybe I should learn some lessons from him.
Megan's house is such a fun place to be, and it was perfect for our girls weekend away. Even if it was just 3 minutes from home. Even when we love our kiddos with every ounce of our soul, it's so necessary to just get away from mom-responsibilities sometimes. It's lovely to go to bed super super late and know that you can sleep till you wake up on your won. It's wonderful to sit and eat a meal and only have to dish myself a plate. Sometimes it just feels good to get some things accomplished that just don't get done when you're playing, cleaning, reading, singing, cooking, picking up, cuddling and caring for others all day long. A break makes me ready to go home and have a fresh start (especially after the way I left). It's just what I need to return to the job that, while draining and demanding some days, it's the job that I'm most grateful for.
Did you look at the pictures from the posts that I posted earlier? They are way better pictures than what I took.
But here's a little peak into the happiness of Megan's "craft house"...
This was the room I stayed in. One of the happiest rooms ever.
I loved all the little details of her house. The floors, the colorful quilts, everything on the walls, the warm personal touches.
I guess some of you may be wondering what we did. I had a friend ask me "what in the world do you do on an all-weekend craft weekend?"
I was on my computer most of one evening, editing pictures, working on Christmas cards and fighting with Photoshop.
We sat around the table one night and just chatted, and laughed and cried.
I felt blessed to be in a room with such amazing girls. All such wonderful Godly women, who are encouraging and fun. And it makes it even better when we all share the love of crafting enough to make a whole weekend of it.
But don't you worry, we didn't craft non-stop. A group of us took about a 4 hour break to do some antique and barn shopping! And there was even some K-State Football action in a house of 12 girls.
I came away with a few new treasures that I love. Some more turquoise mason jars, a red lantern and a wire basket to hold towels in our bathroom. No pictures though. Maybe eventually I'll show you where they are now in my house.
As far as crafts, I definitely didn't get through my entire to-do list. Things always seem to take way longer than I planned on. And most of the time I deal with a sewing machine, it involves some frustrations, and this time was no exception. The good thing about having 11 crafty friends around me is that someone always comes to my rescue.
We've always done our craft weekend on the first weekend of December because it's good timing to make gifts. Cheap gifts are always the hardest part of my Christmas shopping/planning. You know, those people you would love to give gifts to, but you have to keep them under $10, and sometimes even $5. I just feel like it's so hard to come up with something that is meaningful and that someone will actually like and use. So I made 15 Noel banners. Super easy, cheap gifts. And it's something that I would love (well, actually I have one on my mantel now, and love it!). So I'm hoping the recipients love them too.
And since all things are wrapped in jute these days. I made these for my mantle too.
And I planned out our advent calendar of activities and tasks, and got the little numbered envelopes ready to go for when I got home. We've all agreed that this is our most favorite thing in the house right now!
My crafts are easy and pretty self-explanatory. That's kind of how I roll. But I'll try to post some details of them soon.
I love our annual craft weekend. I loved everything about Megan's house, and the girls I got to spend the weekend with, and I love being able to create. I remember back in 2009 and even 2010 we all had to ask each other for help with ideas of things to make. Thanks to Pinterest now, I don't think anyone has any trouble coming up with a list of ideas to tackle.
It's just too bad it only gets to happen once a year.
It's just too bad it only gets to happen once a year.
