JANUARY PROJECT

My first sewing project of the new year - one dozen stocking ornaments.

I'm going to be READY for the Fall craft show season this year.

My good friend and crafting partner, Deanna, and I have challenged each other to make at least one dozen Christmas ornaments each month this year. We've often talked about making things in January before we put away our Christmas fabrics and patterns. This time we're going to do it instead of wishing we had.

We've actually made post-Christmas crafting plans every year for many years. Many times our plans were shelved when we experienced unexpected family situations or simply weren't in the mood to craft and sew. We're now approaching craft show preparation in a different way and this year we have a better plan. After analyzing the situation, we concluded we could make a few things each month instead of trying to do it all in a few weeks. We'll be much further ahead by the time craft season arrives and feel less stressful when completing our projects. What novel thoughts!

For many crafters, these thoughts are essentially "no brainers", but for us, they are revelations which were the result of much conversation and self-evaluation. Like many women, we tend to put household chores and other things before our desires to craft, but maybe we're finally learning how to better balance our time. We hope so anyway.