As the days and nights turn colder, some of us are easing into the holiday season a little early. Okay, some are jumping in enthusiastically and some are feeling trepidation. With all the uncertainties of the pandemic, this is a time of heightened feelings, anxieties, and worries for many.
Attention spans have shortened.
Purse strings have tightened.
The need to curl up and feel safe has increased for many of us. For me, this is a soft blanket, a hot cup of tea or soup, a purring cat, and a feel good project. This combination brings me back to me, but also to my most connected; connected to myself, connected to my crafty Grandmas, connected to who I am making something for or in memory of, even connected to where each of the materials are from.
In September, I mentioned my Share the Spirit initiative. Share the Spirit is my way of sharing that feeling or spirit of connectedness. My goal in the coming weeks is to share some of my favorite feel good projects with you. Each will be shared as part of my Whimsy Wednesday video series, some of which will be Whimsy on the Weekend. Some of them will be freely given templates and/or directions here on this blog or on my Don’t Paint the Cat blog. Others will be kits or projects available in my shop. (I would love to give everything for free, but that just isn’t doable right now.) My plan is to share at least two free projects a month and one shop project a month.
Most of you already saw the first Share the Spirit project: Clara’s Christmas Friends. These festive fabric felines can be made up with
what materials you have on hand or what you wish to pick out special.
I have several more ideas in mind to share, some of which will get unpacked as tree decorating comes closer. This list is tentative to go with
the flow of how the season develops:
Straw Cornucopia
“Birthday Bears”
Woolies (A heart filled favorite from my most broke of times)
FanU Style Gift Boxes
A Victorian Bird
A Victorian Slipper Ornament
I hope you each enjoy my Share the Spirit initiative.
If I Had My Own Blue Box: 
This sounds like a wonderful thing. I look forward to see what you show/share with us.