Friday Five: Ways to Get Your Craft On! And a Single Mom Story

Happy Friday everyone! If you are popping over from Kelly's Korner you are so welcome! Kelly's is one of my very favorite blogs. As part of her Show Us Your Life linky party I can't wait to introduce you to my twin sister Melissa who adopted my nephew as a single mom at the end of my post.

First, I am starting a new weekly series today called Friday Five where I will list five sites, books, recipes or other inspiration around a theme for each week. I got this idea from Katie who writes for another of my favorite blogs that I'll be guest posting on very soon. By the way, I welcome guest bloggers too or more ideas for an awesome Friday Five theme so shoot me an email at teaganstravels@yahoo.com if you are interested!

#1
For this first Friday Five I am spotlighting my new obsession with crafting. It seems a wave of inspiring websites, books, shops and more have taken over making this a pastime that appeals to everyone and every budget. But in my opinion this popularity is primarily due to a little 'ole site called Pinterest. Trust me when I type that this site is serious. Seriously addicting, that is!

A basic rundown of the site is that you have a profile where you set up boards such as Favorite Recipes, Crafts, Kids Room Ideas, Party Themes...the sky is the limit and the themes can be customized to include whatever makes you swoon!


Above is a mini look at the boards I have set up. Now when I am on the web and see something I like I can "Pin It" using a button that I've uploaded to my computer. In addition, I can see what my friends and others I choose to follow have pinned recently. This.is.awesome. They have similar interests so I get so much inspiration repinning what they've found!

There is a big push to respect intellectual property with this invaluable tool so it's important to link your finds back to the original source...and if you are inspired by a craft or project give credit where credit is due so we can continue to enjoy the inspiration! Teagan's Travels is on Pinterest too! This week I will add new buttons at the end of my posts where you can begin to follow me and pin items from my blog which I so appreciate!

#2
Next up is a site called Craft Gawker. It is not as well known as Pinterest but has a similar concept. I find tons of inspiration on this site along with dwellinggawker, weddinggawker, and foodgawker. I wondered how much overlap the two sites have so today I ran a search on St. Patrick's Day crafts. Here's the return I received. I don't see any projects listed here that I've bumped into on Pinterest...verrrrry interesting!! That's what makes it number two on my list for today as more inspiration is always good inspiration in my book!

So with these sites and a plethora of others which should definitely include linky parties such as my Destination: Inspiration Tuesday linky parties and other crafting bloggers (see my side bar and Linky Love page for some crazy talented Mama's) you should have no less than a million projects pinned online or at least in your heart.

#3
So off we go! Now you need the materials to get started. A must-see site is Save-on-Crafts

Save-on-Crafts has it all. Get your fill of gorgeous apothecary jars, vase fillers, wall decor, greenery, moss, chandeliers and so much more. And the best part? It is always 20-50% off! What do we say about that? Super score! By the way, if you know of someone planning a wedding tell them about this site immediately. They will thank you. And maybe even mention you in their speech. Yep, the site is that good.

Last April I used a bundle of wheat from them as a centerpiece for Teagan's second birthday, a pink cowgirl theme. Here is one of the centerpieces. The bundles were huge and of such great quality. For the same money I would have spent at Michael's I was able to get four times as much wheat in one order!

In the fall I used another bundle in a simple but favorite vase as a day-to-day centerpiece. Loving' me some Save-On-Crafts!

#4
Pick Your Plum is another great way to get crafty and it is simply a-mazing. This site posts a deal a day at 7 am (MST). They list the retail price versus their own, amount remaining and maximum number you can buy per order. I also receive an email each day from them and it is ever so tempting to buy something daily as their offers are just that wonderful. Look at today's sweet deal that made my heart race with visions of neighborhood kids gathered round my yard on July 4th with these homemade treats in hand. Sigh.


#5
If you still need inspiration and just wanna craft without having to get the idea, search for materials and the best deal then look no further than Linda's incredible site Craftaholics Anyonymous. I simply can't get enough of her tutorials and plethora of inspiring ideas. One of the coolest things she offers is a craft of the month club. She provides the idea and materials inexpensively. One click and you are on your way!!

Here's one of Linda's craft kits from February. Who is with me that this is just too cool? I so want that banner, like now. I can't wait to see what's coming up in March.


There you have it. My first Friday Five. I would love to hear from you if you have another inspiring site. And I so hope you will join my Tuesday linky party. This week was our second week and we had over 40 crafty linky party submissions that were all of just outstanding quality. I'll be featuring the top three and choosing those will be no small feat! If you've got a family-friendly craft, recipe, domestic goddess or inspiring tip we'd love to hear from you!

Show Us Your Life: Single Moms
Now before you go, when I saw Kelly's Korner was featuring single moms today I knew I had to include my twin sister Melissa in this post. Melissa never married but always felt God prompting her to adopt a child. Five years ago on February 21st she did just that as a single mom. The courage it took was inspiring in itself. I've said before that Kade was a gift from God to us too as Brian and I suffered through multiple miscarriages and fertility issues. Our entire family embraced this baby and he will always be our special little boy in so many blessed ways.

Me on the left with Melissa on the right.
Melissa is a Senior Technical Project Manager which means long hours, high-pressured deadlines, and late nights. When she adopted Kade as an infant we worried for her but she just takes one day at a time and we try to help as much as we can too. But 99% of the time she is a mom on her own and I wanted to take a moment today to tell her how proud I am of her.

And in awe. Many is the night when I can't wait for Brian to come home so I can take a hot bath, not have to cut up someone's food or brush teeth. I am not sure how she finds the energy to do all of this by herself. In addition she makes sure he goes to church on Wednesdays and Sundays, birthday parties, soccer games and to our local adoption support associate meetings where she serves as a board member. They are a team, this mother and son.

I love you Melissa. Adore you. Thank you for being so special and for being strong, perservering, unwavering.

Kaden, Age 5

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17