Craft-palooza, holiday-style

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Today, I’m going to tell you about our recent craft-palooza, holiday style.

I simply adore a handwritten letter; I have loved writing letters since I was a child. I would write letters to classmates, pen pals, and cousins. I exchanged letters with my great aunts from childhood through graduate school. One of the best gifts I ever gave to Schizz involved letters. Call me crazy, but I love a good thank you note. And, I have always been proud of my hand-written holiday cards.

Then I had three children in quick succession and the holiday cards soon gave way to photo cards, stuffed in envelopes with haste, with pre-printed address labels. I’m not saying there is anything *wrong* with photo cards- I absolutely love receiving holiday cards with photos. We display them on the door frames in our kitchen so that we can see all the people we are blessed to have in our lives, even if we don’t see many of them as often as we’d like. What I’m saying is that, as someone who has always enjoyed writing letters, sending a photo without a note didn’t feel like me. I felt like I wasn’t being true to myself and I hoped that once life settled a bit, and got a little easier, I’d return to the hand-written cards- especially since there are so many people in my life that I am not able to connect with as often as I’d like. Life is so crazy that phone calls and letters and even e-mails do not happen as often as they should. (Side note: I find it comical that today, when I had this post brewing in my mind, I actually received-and happily participated in- *two* phone calls from loved ones).

Well, life has been feeling easier of late. Seuss is out of diapers and all three kids are more independent than they have ever been. Schizz and I are in a new phase of parenthood; it feels both lighter and bittersweet. I decided this would be the year that I attempt the hand-written cards once more. And because my little poppies are so much more independent, and because they love all things craft-related, I invited them to help me. Earlier today, when I was actually having a phone conversation, I confessed to my friend that I was worried that this plan might turn out to be more trouble than it was worth. I was concerned that the kids would be excited about the first two cards they made and then I would be abandoned with a huge mess on my hands- much like I always feel when carving pumpkins.

Linda was craft-palooza supervisor for the second day in a row!

I am happy to say that I was wrong. While I glued photos onto blank cards, my little poppies went to town! They drew pictures, stamped, wrote notes, and put stickers on everything. Leo meticulously worked on a handful of cards and then opted to write some blog posts, as he said he needed to brainstorm more card designs for tomorrow.

Leo at work.

Meanwhile, Seuss let his imagination run wild! He drew bears, ghosts, rollercoasters, and lions. He told us all elaborate stories about his characters as he worked. As always, he was entertaining.

“This scary ghost is going to jump on the person! And there’s a P for person!”

Miss T drew friends holding hands, flowers, hearts, and dancers. She hummed along to the Christmas music and was sad when our card-making time ended.

“These are three best friends, holding hands.”

The cards are unique, they are adorable, they are messy, and they are perfect. We aren’t done. We weren’t rushing to finish- we were having fun. It was quite a change from the way holiday cards have felt to me the last six years- something that I rushed to get done, rather than relish. My dining room table is a disaster, but so is the rest of the house. I’m looking forward to making more cards with my little buddies this weekend.

What about you guys? Do you love to write notes? Do you dread sending holiday cards? Do you adore receiving them? Share your thoughts here!

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You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.

~Maya Angelou

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Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley

Cait is a school psychologist, mom to three amazing children, and an unexpected homeschooler. She loves nature, good books, board games, strong coffee, and dancing in her kitchen. Cait believes homeschooling *can* be almost all fun and games!

Cait co-hosts The Homeschool Sisters Podcast and is co-founder of Raising Poppies, a community for parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children. Cait is also founder of the Family Book Club at My Little Poppies, a fantastic community of book-loving parents and the Gameschool Community at My Little Poppies, a vibrant community of gameschoolers.

Cait is a contributing writer for Simple Homeschool. Her work has also appeared on The Huffington Post, The Mighty, Scary Mommy, GeekMom, and many others. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram
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