Crafts for Addie & Granny

Looking at Instagram can sometimes cause me to buy things I never knew I needed. I suppose I should stop saying that I don’t like to shop because apparently I do like to shop but I like to shop from the comfort of my chair. I suppose for Vince, the fun is finding the bargain and I understand that but I’ve never expected nor wanted him to follow me around a quilt shop or a yarn store. There’s a fiber festival in Dallas at least once a year and it’s probably my best chance of ever getting to a fiber festival. There’s no way I could drive in or around Irving (bridges and overpasses), which is the actual venue for the Dallas Fiber Festival so the only way I could go is if Vince goes and drives. I just weigh it all out . . how badly do I want to go? Apparently not badly enough to drag him through an entire day of looking at yarn and fiber.

But, the other day I was looking at Instagram (Hunter Hammersen) and she shared transparent paper stars and straw stars she had made for the holidays. Not only do German children learn to knit perfectly at a very young age but they also seem to be way more crafty in so many areas.

Even if you have zero interest in making these two types of stars, please click on the links and see how beautiful and fun they look.

I fell in love with both the paper stars and the straw stars. I ordered a book and a kit to make them. It may be that neither the book nor the kit are in English so I’m hoping for very clear photos!

Finding instructions for the transparent paper stars proved to bit more difficult. There are some web pages with instructions but I haven’t searched those out yet. The books Hunter used and recommended are all out of print and quite expensive so I found this book, Crafts Through the Year, that looks like it will get me on the right path . . maybe.

From there, I ended up at the Bella Luna Toys site and ordered this butterfly mandala for sidewalk chalk and this peg doll making book.

Oh, what fun we are going to have and I am looking so forward to it.

I sent all the links to Nicole because some of the items will not arrive before I leave to go there so I sent them to her. She looked at all the crafty ideas and said “Can I make some too?” I told her . . my little apartment will be the playhouse for me, you and Addie!

I’ll always feel that the more crafty things a child, teen, young adult or even older adult can be exposed to, the better their life will be. Maybe I’m wrong but I love making things, beautiful things, and it seems Addie does too. She’s young, she doesn’t stick with anything long but maybe we’ll do a bit this year and a bit more next year. She will have experienced making them and if she ever wants to go back to them, that little bit of knowledge is in her head. At least she won’t be 65 years old when she sees her first transparent paper star or straw star.

I was showing it all to Vince and he said . . there are so many costs associated with this apartment that I never considered! But your wife is going to be so happy and how can you put a price on that? 🙂