Tutorial: Dining room decor

I like to think that on some occasions I can be "crafty". You know, creative and original.  Most often I just copy ideas I have seen and pretend they are my own.  But hey, take what you can get, right?

Recently, I found a craft I really liked, it was even a "green" craft.  I get to be creative and pretend to be good to the environment (please do not judge me for my lack of effort to preserve the environment in every way possible). I do care about the earth, but there is no way I am putting poopy cloth diapers in the same washing machine as my regular clothes.

Okay, craft.  I saved up a bunch of bathroom tissue rolls, in a much shorter time than anticipated. My kids were happy to help by TP-ing our living room.  I then cut them into similar(ish) sizes.  Roughly 5 pieces each. Although it turns out that different brands do not have the same size, or rather length, of rolls.  Never fear, it's truly not a big deal if they are different lengths.  It's actually quite alright and doesn't matter at all.

Now you have your cut up tubes (did I forget to mention that to cut them you squish them in half?)  and you lay them out to make your design.  Putting a few of them together kind of makes a flower shape, it's pretty.  I arranged the flowers with a flowing design around them.  It's below in the pictures.

Then you glue them together using your hot glue gun.  *REMINDER* Be so careful with those dang glue guns, even if you hide them in a box, behind a chair in the corner, your preschooler can still somehow find it, and burn his cute little foot and you will feel like the world's worst mother ever.
So, you glue them together, and all the while think "I hope this is worth it".  And as it comes together, you'll slowly change your thoughts to more positive ones, and you may even become slightly proud.
My original intention was to spray paint it black, but I made it in January, in Utah.  Turns out that paint doesn't set well in sub frozen temperatures.  I am far too impatient to wait to hang it up until warmer weather (which may never happen in Utah).  Also, I'm pregnant, and apparently it's unsafe to paint while pregnant. I suppose that makes sense.  Anyhow, it's now hanging in my dining room, and I LOVE it!  It turned out much better than I anticipated.  And guess what, with it's level of difficulty, anyone could do it!  Take a peak:

It Matters to Me

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Little kids are cute, and they have little clothes, and little toys, and little likes and dislikes. They are just all around cute because they are little. The little things in their lives are the only things in their lives, so to them, they are big things.

Some people reason away children's wishes with a thought that they are just little things, but to each individual kid, their best friend is a stuffed animal and they really want to have a sleepover every night with their best stuffed friend.

Even older kid's wishes and dreams are sadly easily dismissed. A pre-teen in love is thought of as just cute, it's just a phase, just puppy love. But to the pre-teen, it feels like real, intense, unalterable love, to them it is real love. Dismissing their thoughts of being in love hurts them. It's little to us, but to them it's big.

A child's imagination is far greater than ours. We've lost most of our imaginations. When a child wants to be a cowboy, have cowboy clothes, toys and sheets, it's a real thing for them. To them they really can be/are a cowboy, they can make that happen with their amazing imaginations.

Same thing goes for adults. I know several people who are zealously protecting their views, both on different sides of the argument. I haven't made a zealous effort one way or the other, it's not a fight I'm fighting- I chose other fights. To me, it seems like a lot of effort and love put into a topic that I'm not willing to put the effort in to. But to them, both sides, it's a big deal, it's a big part of their life. It's real, it's not little, it's big.

They may see my zealous efforts in other fights as inconsequential and pointless, but to me, those things are worth fighting for.

We all live in our own realities- personal, familial, societal realities that vary from person to family to country. Other people's realities may not seem like the real reality, but they think the same of us.

If it matters to you, I'll try my best to understand that it's big for you, not little, and hope you do the same for me. It matters to me.

Social Media Challenge: Compliment Someone Today

In an effort to spread some joy today on the internet your challenge (should you choose to accept it) is to compliment five people on social media today. 

Maybe you'll choose to tag someone in a Facebook status

Maybe you'll write on their wall

Maybe you'll comment on an outfit someone posts on Instagram

The options are limitless...

Just make sure the compliments are sincere and meaningful!

Fundraising Woes: Killing unrealistic expectations

Elementary school fundraisers are an introduction to failure and disappointment.

You know what I'm talking about. A company swoops in and gets already hyperactive children overly excited about selling coupon books, wrapping paper, cookie dough or the like.

They pontificate to the children about their solemn responsibility to support their school. They talk about the value of education and the hardworking, underpaid teachers who deserve their respect.

And as if guilt tripping them into participating wasn't enough, there are the prizes. Ooooh the prizes. If you work hard enough you can earn from tee shirts and slap bracelets (is that still a thing?) to stereo equipment and even iPads! I kid you not.

The school claims that participating in these events teaches students to have a positive attitude, to put others first, teamwork, and responsibility. All I see is that it turns these kids into ravenous prize grabbers.

My four year old came home from pre-k the other day with a fundraising packet. I asked her what it was for and she informed me that "Daddy has to work harder so he can give me money for my school." This was not appreciated by her daddy, who works plenty hard to provide both necessity and comfort for our little family. The thing is some nice man promised her that if she helped earn money for her school she could earn prizes, and she really has her eye set on either a rocket launcher, or a helicopter that flies. I calculated that she would need to earn $600 dollars in order to get the $20 dollar prize.

Now, I know schools need to have fundraisers. My degree is in education and my husband has worked as a teacher or specialist for our school district for the last 7 years so we know the ins and outs of public education funding. But seeing the hope and excitement in my daughters eyes, knowing she was going to be let down made me want to cry because a) I'm pregnant and everything makes me want to cry and b) I hate to see her experience disappointment and I know this is going to be a huge one.

Unrealistic expectations plague both children and adults. No one is immune. Hope is good and wonderful and serves us well. False hope, or unrequited hope is depressing and can cause anxiety. Failure is also good and wonderful, and it can teach us in ways that success cannot. But when we are faced with something too daunting for our age or physical ability it can wreak havoc on our psyche.

If you set your expectations too high, there’s obviously the risk of reality slapping you in the face This can potentially make you pessimistic and continually result in you having that kind of negative attitude toward any new venture you choose to pursue in life.

When setting goals and expectations, lets remember to:

Stay positive, yet realistic. Ask yourself if you are biting off more than you can chew, and if the undertaking is reasonable to ask yourself.

Make a plan, and make sure that plan is conducive to your lifestyle. Don't overwhelm yourself!

Stretch yourself and take reasonable risk, but remember baby steps are imperative to success. Telling yourself you are going to train for a marathon in a month without any experience is probably not the best approach, but if you set aside 15, then 20, then 30 minutes a day (and so forth) to go running you will gradually achieve your goal.

Remember something that is realistic for another person may not be realistic for you. I have a friend who reads 100 books a year and I set the same goal for myself. I could never reach it, and then I discovered that the average book length I read is around 375 pages while the average book length she reads is about 230 pages. She still reads much more than me, but I was attempting the impossible for where I am in life based on my own goals.

Be patient, and remember that life is a process. Patience is required for others, but also with ourselves! Give yourself a break!

Appreciating Small Towns

I may live in a metropolitan area now, but I grew up in a small town. While I enjoy the convenience of many things in a larger city, I still appreciate the benefits of small town living.  Here are a few examples:

Car mechanics

• Not only do you know who to go to in town for what problem (electrical, engine, tires) but they know you, your parents, and knew your grandparents (and possibly even your great grandparents if your roots in the town grow that deeply). This is helpful almost all of the time. Why? Not only do they call it like it is (“You can probably get away with another 7,000 miles on those tires, but if you’re going somewhere with hills in winter you might want to put on new ones before then”), they don’t charge you for simple things that others might (“I don’t think that rattle is anything to worry about” or “Don’t worry about having us clear that ‘check engine’ code--it didn’t hardly take any time”). Also, they let you into the work area to visit with them. If you happen to be there, chewing the fat, and (light bulb!) remember a funky sound you’ve been hearing (in addition to the oil change you originally brought your car in for) or if you’ve ever wondered what that funky shaped thing was next to the other thingy, you can ask and they’ll answer! 

Bakeries

• My sister was putting together a surprise party for my Dad’s birthday. Technically his birthday was on Friday, but in order to be sure everyone could be there (six kids, plus partners, grandkids, and helloooooo schedules and weather!) we agreed to have the party on Saturday. I was in charge of cake for the Saturday party and called several weeks in advance to place my order at the local bakery. In order to make sure he didn’t suspect our plottings, my mom and I, and my siblings who lived closer to the area, threw our typical “birthday dinner” party and got a small cake from the bakery. Because the bakery is 1) awesome and 2) knows my family from years of ordering cakes and delicious dinner rolls, they called my mom to check to see whether we actually did want two birthday cakes: one for Friday (decoy) and one for Saturday. They’ve had instances where different members of the same family had each ordered a cake, not knowing the other had already taken care of it. Talk about service and attention to detail! Plus, it is where local folks gather to get their morning coffee and doughnut and shoot the breeze.  

Grocery Stores 

• While the selection of items may not be as diverse as that of a larger city, every time I head back to my hometown grocery store I run into people I know--Whether it is customers I grew up with or employees with whom I graduated high school (or perhaps I know their kids from my school days). It is familiar and welcoming, and half the time in the store is spent visiting with them about how my folks are doing, or how their folks are doing, or how many kids they have. And then I realize I need to rush through the checkout to get home to put the melting carton of ice cream that was sitting in my cart the whole time into the freezer before it turns into soup. 

Gas Stations

• Small town gas stations have an amazing selection because they tend to be the only store open past 11 p.m. And sometimes, you really are willing to pay a ridiculous amount of money for a four-pack of toilet paper...and you might as well throw in that awesome battery-powered spinning candy sucker while you’re there (because who has the energy to twirl their candy using their own manpower after 11 p.m.?). 

Neighbors

• Growing up I knew our neighbors. Their daughter babysat us; we bought hay from them for our horses; the neighbor two houses down (which in the country is at least a quarter-mile away from the edge of our driveway) would come and plow out our driveway (which itself was about a quarter-mile long). We kept track of one another, asking about their extended family, and generally just chewing the fat. If their dog would come visit ours it wasn’t a big deal--It was just neighbor dogs being neighborly. If their horses got out, we’d give the neighbors a ring and help shoo them back over to their place. 

Quirky Attractions

• If you’re looking for fun slogans or strange attractions, look no further than small towns. Here are just a few of my favorite slogans from Iowa that just might charm you:
• Readlyn: "857 friendly people and one old GRUMP"
• Jewell: “A gem in a friendly setting”
• Lake City: “Everything but a lake” 
• Stuart: “Home of 1,700 good eggs and a few stinkers”
• Mallard: “We’re friendly ducks”
• In the realm of strange attractions, small-town Iowa has you covered, once again: 
• Ames: World's Largest Concrete Gnome
• Brandon: Iowa's Largest Frying Pan
• Britt: Hobo Museum (and annual festival!)
• Maquoketa: Two-Butted Lamb
• Sac City: World's Largest Popcorn Ball
• Stuart: Bank robbed by Bonnie and Clyde
• West Branch: Creepy Goddess of Life: a Gift for Herbert Hoover (I’ll just say that the statue is appropriately described and leave it at that)
• Villisca: Villisca Ax Murder House and Museum

What is it that you appreciate about small town living, or visiting the small towns around you?