Monday, December 6, 2010

Monday's Inspiration Celebration


I've had a couple of fun creative inspirations this past week. One was receiving an amazing thank you note painting from Lis that is just totally gorgeous and whimsical in the best possible way. Love it! Thank you so much, Lis, for brightening my week!

The other fun experience was assisting with a craft program at work and distributing a bunch of cigar boxes that have been taking up space in our basement. It felt great to get them out and into such appreciative hands. People did amazing things with them, mainly as holiday gifts. It reminded me of a story I read in Wayne Muller's book about a childless woman who invited all her friends' kids over before the holidays so the parents could have an afternoon off. She ended up with about 15 kids and they all made crafts - the older ones helping the littler ones. She also set up a gift wrapping station, so the kids could leave with gifts for friends and families already wrapped. Apparently the children had so much fun that when they got home they asked if they could make more presents. It took the attention away from the lists they'd been making for what Santa would bring them, and put it on creating gifts for others. I'd been totally inspired by the story, but hadn't anticipated seeing that same energy at our program. What fun to be surprised! I definitely will want to try to do something similar next year.