a simple necklace

Lately, I've been adding all of these big projects to my to-do list and all its done is made me freeze up and not accomplish anything. I'm putting it all off because its too much! I just needed a simple project I could complete in a day so I could feel productive and let off a little creative energy. So, when I spotted these fabric bead necklaces I immediately thought, that's it! A fun and easy craft I could do with LM, and I even have long strips of vintage fabric hanging out in my scrap bag.

But, how to best go about letting a toddler paint wooden beads? Necessity truly is the mother of invention, and one potato and one toothpick later we busted out the paint!

By the end, the paper got most of LM's brushstrokes, but she did a pretty good job of helping with the beads.  And for me, it was just the right amount of creative therapy to start feeling better. My mom says that she likes making quilts because sitting at the machine and sewing straight lines for hours gives her time to think and helps settle her soul. Painting these beads for an afternoon was a little like that for me.

To get the beads onto the fabric I cut the tip into a point, and then wrapped a little bit of packing tape around the end. I didn't tie any knots to hold the beads in place so they could be moved around to give the necklace a different look, depending on how you feel that day.

Sometimes, the best projects are the simplest ones.