Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Homemade beads


I've been taking it slow and easy this week (as slowly as I can with 6 kids needing me all day long) while I fight off some bug I've caught. This morning's dreary weather called for something new and interesting enough to channel some of the kids' energy. There's been a lot of interest in stringing beads lately, and our supply is nearly depleted. So I pulled out my handy dandy recipe book and we made a batch of bead dough from a simple recipe of flour, salt, cornstarch, and water. Our dough came out a bit too wet, but it was still compelling for them to get their hands into the sticky dough and shape it however they wanted. "And we can paint them! All different colors. And we can leave some grey, and that can be a color!"

I'm glad the kids are still creating, because I haven't made much of anything lately. I'm hoping hoping hoping I'll find the time and energy to get started on my next crochet project tonight. Sometimes, I'm on a roll, making one thing after another. But (just like writing blog posts) I find that once I get out of the habit, due to busyness or chaotic house or sickness or whatever, it's really hard to get back in the groove. I find that, for me, diving into the children's work and documenting what they've been doing is my bit of creativity that helps me work my way back to my own stuff. What works for you?

3 comments:

Deb said...

Clearly, I'm not the one to give advice on how to get back on a blogging roll. I've fallen and I can't get up :)

Jules said...

Knitting works for me and also a little gardening or baking sometihg frivolous (ie. not dinner). Just thinking about what can be done in a small way to feed the creative beast that has fallen asleep! Thanks for you kind comments on my blog yesterday, I so appreciated them.

Luisa said...

Hooray for mudworks. I think I've used that same recipe with my kids. Love it.
I hear you about getting back in the groove especially when outnumbered by little ones.
I finally posted today about "Forgot to Blog Week" glad I'm not the only one trying to get my groove back:)