create

The doldrums of January get to me.  It's not the cold or the snow (although ours has melted away)...it's the shortened daylight hours and the grey, dismal sky...the barren landscape.

I'm someone that thrives on color! 

Don't get me wrong - I welcome being cozied up at home every once in a while.  For example, who doesn't love a family movie night - the buttery popcorn, downy-soft throws, curled up on the sofa with your loved ones snug and safe within arm's reach?

But I also thrive on activity!  Endless days stuck indoors being too sedentary give me and my family serious cabin fever! 

To combat the January blues, we get creative!  Out come the watercolors, the glitter pens, the colored pencils {above}, the crayons {below} and whatever other craft supplies we can dig up!

This past weekend we took plain, white coffee filters, and painted them with watercolor paints.  Then we took pipe cleaners, bent them in half, and twisted them in the middle of the dried, painted coffee filters to create a myriad of beautiful BUTTERFLIES!

We hung them in my son's room, surrounding a construction paper tree that was decorated with my son's multicolor painted handprints.  Adorable!

I'm lucky enough that my ever-creative husband made me a craft table several years ago, using an outdated desk, some simple shelves, and old library card catalog drawer, a leftover piece of crown moulding, and paint to make a darling, Pottery Barn-esque craft table {below}!

I can't tell you how very handy it is to have a designated space to work, filled with things that inspire me.  But even if you don't have a designated craft area, don't let that stop you!  You can always clear off a part of the dining room or kitchen table! We ended up crafting on the living room floor!!

The important thing is to let your imagination go and have fun! 

So if the winter doldrums have you down, try your hand at something creative!  Paint something, sketch something, create something!

Happy creating!