I have a birthday coming up in a couple of weeks. It a milestone birthday and I wanted to do
something special. I am unusual birthday girl in that when I am asked what I
want to do to celebrate my birthday; I usually say “create something”.
Now I make things all the time but for my birthday I usually
want to try something new or make some special item so it is a memento of the
birthday. With a friend one year, we
made dolls. It was the first doll I had
made in a long time but I remember her as my birthday doll. Another year, when I had access to a long arm
quilting machine, I quilted a quilt top for myself. It is not only a beautifully embroidered quilt;
it is also my birthday quilt.
This year I decided since I have no appointments or meetings
the week of my birthday, I am going to arrange a creative retreat for myself. I
am going to plan out a few little small projects and then also work on a big
quilt for myself.
I have a little jewelry kit I bought at a craft store so I
think I will do that. I also have a
little embellished mini quilt wall hanging.
It is of a flamingo which seems to fit summer time. I started a punch needle doll at Christmas
and never finished it so that is in my basket of ‘to do’s for this retreat. I have
been working on a sampler quilt with a tropical theme; I’d like to get more
work done with that. And I would like another birthday doll so I am
going to try my hand at an embellished art doll.
Even though I know what I want to do, I am not quite ready
yet. I still need some supplies. I want
to spend my time that week creating and not hunting around for what I need. The jewelry kit has everything I need as far
as supplies so that activity is set. I
have everything for the punchneedle doll since that is a project I have already
started.
What I need is fabric for the mini quilt wall hanging
and more fabric for my sampler quilt and some beads and fancy ribbons for the
art doll. That is what I can do from now
until my birthday creative retreat. This is what makes doing ‘at home’ retreats or
‘away from home’ retreats fun. If you
do all the planning ahead of time, you are actually enjoying the retreat before
it really starts.
Now not everyone is able to have a whole week of creating
and crafting. But you can maybe do a
weekend or even just a day. Your family
might like to join you or at least help you enjoy yourself by making meals or
do household chores. I am planning a lot
of take out meals during my retreat.
And as for birthdays, you might even plan a crafty birthday
party for your kids or even yourself.
Instead of the game ‘pin the tail on the donkey’, how about ‘let’s
creatively color the donkey’. One friend
had coloring sheets and colored pencils as the activity for his daughter’s
birthday party. When he posted the
pictures, it looked like so much fun; I wished I had been invited.
You can do the same thing for yourself. Plan some type of make and take craft for
yourself and friends (or request it when asked “what do you want to do on your
birthday?”). The gift would not only be
the finished craft but the company of your friends and the memory attached to
that day.
I’ll let you know how my birthday creative retreat goes. And
to help me celebrate, you also do something creative during the first week in
July in honor of my birthday.
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