‘Crayola’ Articles at Sweetnicks

How to Snap Out of a Funk … in 10 Easy Steps

October 27, 2011 · Narrative

But, of course, we all know it’s not that easy, is it? But the idea really isn’t about snapping out of your funk, but more so, redirecting your funkiness. A dear friend popped up on GoogleTalk late this afternoon and mentioned she was in a funk. Given the cold, wet, and downright dreary day we’ve had here in the Northeast today, I can’t say I blame her, but this funk was pre-weather. We’ve all been there. Sometimes more often than we care to admit. A big overwhelming feeling of the blahs. The I-don’t-want-to-do-anything thank you very much. But the question is … how best to defunk yourself? For me, it comes down to basically taking a mind break. Doing something that requires absolutely, positively zero brain power.

Make a list of things that put you in your happy place. And go do one.
Watch cartoons with the kids.
Bake up a batch of homemade cookies. Nothing says defunk thyself more than a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven.
Take a nap.
Grab a coloring book and a box of fresh Crayolas and go to town. In my early 20s, it was one of my favorite forms of therapy. And to this day, the reason why I have my very own set of markers and crayons that I don’t share with the kids.
Clean out your pantry or a kitchen cabinet that overwhelms you. I don’t just mean rearrange everything. Empty it, wipe it down, throw away what you don’t need, donate what you don’t want, and put it all back. Neater. Better.
Go through your shoe collection. What fits? What doesn’t? Toss, donate, trade, trash.
Chick-lit. Invented for defunkifying sessions, no doubt.
Purge. Whether it’s your filing cabinet, the top of your desk, or your nightstand, or a combination of all three, go through and purge. Nothing makes me breathe deeper than getting rid of stuff.
Paint your nails. The Fall line of Essie is swoonworthy, just ask my friend, Beth. Take a few minutes, indulge in some me time, and pretty up those digits.

Would love to hear about YOUR ways to snap out of a funk – do share with the class! Although not currently in a funk, my mindless activity tonight included hole-punching millions of scalloped circles and butterflies. And I don’t think “millions” is an exaggeration. The circles are for a project I’m making for Madeline’s room (tutorial coming when it’s done), and with the scraps I had leftover, I made butterfly confetti. Butterfly confetti which can be yours with a purchase from my Etsy shop. Perfect for scrapbooking, a photo shoot, table decorating, or an upcoming fete, they are tiny, pretty, and all shades of pink. Doesn’t pink make everything better? Oh wait, that might be bacon. It makes me happy just to look at them. And now I can send YOU that happiness too.

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Craft Time: Crayola Art Project

September 6, 2011 · Craft Ideas

This is how we spent the Friday before Hurricane Irene. Making art work. Less than ten dollars of supplies and inspiration from Pinterest, this is a reasonably kid-friendly craft that I love because a) it has the rainbow and b) you can totally customize it to use whatever colors you want. You can coordinate it to match your kids’ rooms, or a specific theme, or do a rainbow like ours. Get creative!

With school supplies on sale, this is the perfect time of year to make this art. You will need a canvas, boxes of crayons, glue and a hair dryer. The canvas was 40% off at Michael’s for a two-pack, the crayons were 40 cents a box (I ended up using four) and the glue was $4. My grand total was $9.60 for individualized art that we could do together as a family. Which you all know is priceless, baby, priceless.

I opened up all the boxes of crayons and removed all the whites, browns, blacks, pinks, aquas and any other non-rainbow colors. Then I arranged them neatly across the top of the canvas in ROY G. BIV order, making sure the Crayola label was front and center for all of them.

Madeline helped by arranging crayons on her coloring book.

Like so. She is not the OCD member of the family.

She also helped me by grouping colors together.

Man, I love crayons. Especially Crayola crayons. And crayon art even more.

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Crocs, Post-Its and Back-to-School Mania

August 8, 2011 · Narrative

Random picture for tomorrow’s post. Mostly ’cause I hate to start a post without a cool pic.

“Can you believe the back-to-school stuff is in Target already?” I texted Mystic.

Yes, especially if people are buying it. Are they? came the reply.

“Um, if by ‘people,’ you mean me, then yes.”

That was three weeks ago. Even in the world of crazy retail sale schedules, I thought it a bit early for back-to-school sales, but of course I looked. And picked up a few bargains. The best sales are yet to come.

I have no problem admitting I’m a sucker for a new stash of school supplies. For we use the stuff year ’round with crafting, journaling and general all ’round creative pursuits.

I love a fresh clean notebook, just waiting for the first stroke of pen.

Crayola crayons perfectly sharpened bearing that familiar crayon smell.

Bic medium blue ballpoint pens.

Glue sticks.

And Post-Its.

Man, does the O’Malley household love the Post-It line.

The folks at Post-It sent me some of their fun supplies, including this handy holder that goes on your refrigerator. Methinks it’s far easier to have sticky notepaper stuck to the side of the fridge than rummaging around an overly full junk drawer for a scrap of paper. Assuming, of course, that YOUR junk drawer looks like OUR junk drawer. And I’m kinda hoping it does.

When it first arrived, I tore open the package and stuck the dispenser right on the fridge.

It promptly fell off.

I tried again, this time applying more force.

Down to the floor it went.

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Wordless Wednesday

August 12, 2010 · Narrative

Project 365
August 11, 2010, Photo #145

Long before kids, this time of year, when school supply sales abound, was always something I looked forward to. The masses and masses of familiar green and yellow boxes of freshly sharpened Crayola crayons, the brand new markers begging for inspiration, the crisp black-and-white blank Composition books that crack when you first open them … and all the Back-to-School sales to boot. I simply love this time of year. Always have. Always will.

It’s a signal of another fresh start. A clean slate. New beginnings. A time when new things are possible. An opportunity to get inspired.

I happened to fill this particular glass jar of markers when Nick was at camp earlier this week. He spied it on my office bookshelf as soon as he walked in the door. These kids don’t miss a thing.

“Whose markers are those?”

Mine.

“Yours? You’re not going to share with us?”

Nope. All mine.

Because whether you’re heading back to school or not, no matter your age, we all could use a little inspiration these days, and if it comes in the form of a dollar box of washable Crayola markers, all the better. And I’m not sharing.

P.S. If you like the photo above, it will be making its way to my Etsy shop this week.