girlfriend crafting day

we had a really sweet time at our home yesterday! madison invited her classmates from classical conversations – the girls, that is 🙂 – over for an afternoon of journal-making and ice cream.

we’d been talking about organizing something for these awesome kids to do and finally a few weeks ago i just said, let’s do it! a crafting time is a no-brainer for my artistic, creative girl. she was so excited and swimming with ideas, but finally narrowed it down to journal-making, because it is frugal and has more appeal to a variety of girls vs a very girly-girly craft that may not interest some.

{an aside: as a mama who has decided to keep my daughter home – out of a large school setting – i believe i carry a great responsibility to steward well her time particularly as it relates to cultivating and growing friendships. i have to be intentional about ensuring she has adequate and positive opportunities to spend time with friends with whom she can share her growing life. i take this seriously and grapple often with this responsibility … and the fact that she spends her mondays in CC seminar with honestly some of the most incredible young teens *ever* makes it simple to decide to create more time with some of these kiddos!}.

the supplies for the party were simple: cheap “composition” books, some pretty paper and rubber cement, then a collection of random pens and stickers and glitter glue that maddie had in her stash. easy & cheap. the day was totally lovely!

chores were done to ensure everything was clean and guest-ready; after that, maddie had a blast setting up!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

such sweet girls!!

 

an added bonus was the opportunity i had to connect with some of the other mama’s … one that i hadn’t yet met and ended up having a really awesome heart-sharing time of conversation with as she dropped her daughter off.  what a blessing!

another mama was a childhood friend of mine – crazy! – and now our daughters are enjoying their growing friendship so much. in fact, when this mama came her daughter was protesting having to leave, insisting her mom sit and visit with me longer. 🙂 no problem!

i was struck by a comment one mama made: that we are all overwhelmed by the intensity of this *very* academic, challenging, rigorous classical schooling program and that i – having two small babies at home – opened my home to host this wonderful time for the girls. honestly, i don’t feel like it’s that big of a deal as far as effort, etc. it’s so worth it!

most of all, it’s worth it because relationships matter. they  matter to GOD – he designed us for relationship with Him and for unity with one another. it can be so easy to let the busy-ness of life get in the way,

i have also been thinking about how *stuff* can get in the way of relationships … not having the “right” stuff, having too much stuff. STUFF!

i confess that since we’ve moved and haven’t yet been able to furnish the way that i’d love to, it can feel a little intimidating having company over. i want so badly to have the big comfortable couch that would be cozy and beautiful; the lovely pillows and rug and pictures and …

stuff.

on the flip side, i know someone who has such nice stuff, who cares so much about all this stuff, that she doesn’t have company (especially little people) because getting all that stuff messy would totally stress her out.

how crazy is all this?! so, i determined to no longer put off opening our home … in order to do what matters most: love people. build relationship.

make memories.

sewing project: we made a skirt!!

me and my girl completed a really cool sewing project! we’ve been *wanting * to use our sewing machines for some time, often discussing the different projects we’d like to do together. but somehow, the crafty projects were always postponed – honestly, i often didn’t feel i had the time or creative energy to devote to really diving in.

until yesterday! we were home, all sick with a frustrating summer cold, so it was a perfect time to pull out the machine, the material we’d gotten, and to find the blogs that we’d bookmarked with cool patterns and ideas.

this is the one we chose.  maddie was actually given a skirt a few years ago that has a very similar pattern. *super* simple, even for the sewing novices!!! 🙂

we had a little “glitch” after completing the first part of the skirt – maddie tried it on and didn’t like it. this is before we sewed on the bottom layer of bordering fabric. (and to be honest, this particular style – with the elastic waist – may be better suited for younger girls as far as style goes). maddie was ready to throw in the towel but that was not an option ( a good teaching moment about how we don’t quit but we finish what we start).

i am glad we did, because she *loves* the finished project! she was even inspired to create a shirt – her own design – and a matching headband.

here are the finished products:

maddie's cool shirt!