My Elvish Opinion

Image Via becausemollysaidso.com

Let me preface this post with the obvious realization that probably over 50% of the people who read this post . . . won't agree.  Let's agree to disagree, shall we?  I'm really not expecting everyone to agree just to consider.

Moving on . . .

I hate Elf on a Shelf.

I know, I know, every kid over the age of four has received, purchased, or in some other way attained this elvish creature that sits on shelves and mantels alike.  Harmless, right?

Not in my opinion.  (Remember, this is opinion, you may not share it . . . breathhhhee)

Besides the fact that I personally find him FREAKY.  I think he's a distraction.  An apparently little distraction, but in Christmas terms . . . he's a HUGE distraction.

Kids wake up in the morning eager to see what else this mischievous . . . or generous . . . elf has done during the night.  They are either given things each morning, see the newest prank, or hilarious activity of this miniature figure and the time, money, and/ or energy of the parent is spent on dreaming up new gifts, ideas, and adventures for this Elf.  Why add another distraction this holiday season?

I believe that Christmas about celebrating the birth of Jesus the Son of God.  I believe that Christmas is about remembering that God gave everything to mankind in the form of a baby that was miraculously formed in the womb of a virgin, Mary.  I believe that Christmas is about reveling the knowledge that a God so big stripped himself of all the power, majesty, and his existence in heaven to come to our messed up, hurting earth to bring us new life.  I believe that Christmas is celebrating the fact that God didn't announce Jesus' birth to the wealthy, to the important, and to the rulers of nations, but instead made Himself known to dirty and undesirable shepherds (I count myself in that lot).  I believe that Christmas is about seeking truth like the wise men who sought out Jesus.

In my house, accepting the Elf on the Shelf as a Christmas tradition would be downplaying the excitement I want my son to feel over the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

I'm not all for killing fun or being too serious.  I understand that the Elf on the Shelf is a fun game.  He seems harmless enough, but I'm not going to sacrifice what is best for what is good.  This is my opinion and I'm making it known for all to see.  If you do not agree, cool.  I'm not expecting that everyone is going to send their Elf packing.  BUT if you haven't yet sought out an Elf for your shelf . . . maybe this will help you to think it through more.  Maybe you will find that the Elf might be too much of a distraction for your home.  I don't know, but I do know how I feel.

Elf  . . . you are kicked off the shelf!

Joining with Fancy Little Things

Joining

Synonyms:  Getting Together, Assembly, Amalgam, Fusion, Connecting, Bonding, Touching, Reaching

Scary?  It shouldn’t be.  Yet how often do we consider true connection as an unpleasant experience?  Even as I formed my little list of Thesaurus words (I’m a synonym maniac . . . addict), I became a little uncomfortable when I got to the words bonding, touching, and reaching.  "Dude!  Get off me!"

 
Found

However, sometimes reaching out and touching someone else is exactly what needs to happen.  Recently, I stumbled upon a cute little blog called Little Fancy Things.  I have no idea what exactly drew me in, but I quickly realized that this was a team of blog authors working together to minister to women across the world through the medium of a blog.  As I searched through their site and through the various posts, I knew I wanted to be a part of it.  I wanted to JOIN, GET TOGETHER, FUSE with this blog . . . with these ladies.  These Fancy Little Ladies connected by God.

The Reality

The blog world can be so impersonal.  You sit and read the words of a blog author who lives far, far away and never form a true connection.  Call it your morning entertainment or perhaps your naptime hobby.  While learning from blogs and simply reading blogs for entertainment is great, I have realized that there is a possibility for more.  Authentic connections . . . friendships . . . mentorships can be created through blogs.

The More

Why hide behind cyberspace and maintain your comfort space?  Jump in!  Well, no.  I didn’t mean jump into cyberspace (though I have often thought it would be awesome if you could).  I mean get involved, join the discussion, have your heart and life open to be touched, and get in there and reach back to touch the hearts of others.  Personally, I did this by writing to Fancy Little Things and asking if I could be a part of what they were doing, a part of who they are.  Let me tell you what, God is cool.  They were already in the process of growing and being molded by God into a blog with more authors and they readily accepted me into their team.

Acceptance: Given and Received

I know the reason we don’t reach out, the reason we hold back.  Not only do I know it, I’ve felt it, been hurt by it, and considered myself damaged by the lack of it.  Acceptance.  We want to feel accepted and we fear being rejected.  Truthfully, that holds me back tons.  I’ve stepped out to try to be a friend and I have been hurt by the result.  We’ve all had it happen.  Instead of seeking authentic relationships, we press the skip button.  Let me skip all the hurt, fast forward through the dagger in the heart, and we’ll just pretend to be friends without the depth.  Sure it saves the hurt temporarily, but the walls we build hurt us because we want someone to break through and love us.

Tumble, Tumble, Wall Fall Down

My challenge to you is to intentionally make real relationships.  Don’t close the doors up and shut yourself off from the good just because you’ve experienced the bad.  Seek relationships everywhere.  Find God’s leading in every encounter with new people, but also look in unexpected places.  Look online, look in the grocery store, look in Fancy Little Things, look in your favorite new blog, but by all means look!

Fancy Little Things

As for me, my new acquaintance, my new set of friends, has come in the form of a blog community.  Of course, I still have friends offline, but you never know where God is going to minister you and to whom He has called you to reach out.  Each encounter, each happenstance is an opportunity for God to use you and for the other person to be used of God to touch your life.  Through blogging at Fancy Little Things, I cannot wait to reach out to women all over the world in different walks of life, but even more than that, I cannot wait to be changed by God by the women who will reach out to me.


When I say bless and be blessed . . . you know I mean it! ;-)

Brooke


P.S.  Just so you know, Fancy Little Things is going though a big update come December 1st!  The site might be down the 29th or the 30th, but keep posted, change is in the air ;-)  Join up with Fancy Little Things and see some amazing things going down!

Find Fancy Little Things at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

www.fancylittlethings.com

Black Friday Sale - 25% off!

Get organized for the holidays this Black Friday with Designing Life's printables!  Today and today only get 25% off of all the printables in my Etsy Shop!  Check out the amazing designs at:

 

www.designinglife.etsy.com

www.designinglife.com

 

 

These are a few examples of the printable designs that are offered in my shop!

 

 

 

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!  I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

Brooke

 

Connect with me on:

 

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I'll add you back as soon as soon as I can!

Getting Geeky for the Holidays: Lego Minifigure Display Case

Today, I finally decided what my son and I would get James for Christmas.  James loves Legos.  I think most grown men, if honest, love Legos.  The past few years he has been collecting the Lego Minifigure Series Collections as they come out.  This year we are so far away from any Lego stores (or any Targets), he hasn't been able to get any!  So I search Amazon and find . . .

the entire Series 8 Lego Minifigure collection.  SCORE!

Amazon: Lego Minifigure Series 8

Josiah's gift to daddy in the mail!

Now I had to think of something for me to get him, since he already picked out his "big" gift for Christmas.  I found a picture of a Lego Minifigure Display Case that someone had actually built out of Legos to house their Minifigure collection.  Then BINGO, I had an idea.  I'll use the Lego Digital Designer and rebuild the shelf in the picture and order the pieces!

After a bit of playing around and figuring out the program, I have the completed design.



Lego Digital Designer:  Lego Display Case

Of course, now I feel so terrible because I accidentally closed out of the Flickr picture where I found the original design.  I would love to give him credit.  So if you find the original Flickr picture, please let me know!!!!

Here is another picture in case you are interested in building this for the little or big man in your life.



Here is a list of the bricks you need to make it.

8 dark green 1 x 2 bricks

80 dark green bricks (2 x 2)

32 dark green inverted roof tiles (2 x 2/45)

4 dark green plates (1 x 2)

12 dark green plates (2 x 4)

8 dark green plates (2 x 6)

 

I hope this helps you out in planning your Christmas Lego shopping as much as it has helped me!

Merry Christmas!

Brooke

DIY Pirate Costume: Pirate Telescope

My son, like most, is enamored with pirates. He occasionally grabs a hanger and pretends to be Captain Hook. He thinks Peter Pan is a pirate too. He loves that new show Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Yeah, so guess what he asked to be for Halloween this year? A pirate.

I'm not one to go to the store pick out the first costume I see and say alrighty, pirate, check! I don't like the hard plastic swords, I don't want him to wear a big golden hoop on his ear, and what pirate doesn't wear an eye patch? Just my opinion. I wanted to do something different, something a little out of the ordinary. I decided to DIY with the pirate look.

My first project was making him a pirate telescope. He just loves those things and I keep passing by paper towel roll after paper towel roll thinking about all the neat projects I could do, so I figured it was about time. Here is how to make your own pirate telescope.

Supplies

• Paper Towel Roll
• Scissors
• Thicker Cardboard Roll (a carpet roll, etc.)
• Coping Saw (for thick card board roll)
• Marker
• Clothes Pins
• Tacky Glue
• Black Craft Paint
• Paint Brush
• Ribbon Leather pieces in two shades (or other fabric)
• Gold Paint (enamel paint is great)

Step One

Cut your rolls to size.  I did this with both the coping saw and the pair of scissors.  You need four tubes about four inches long each. Each of the three rolls you will cut from the paper towel roll can be cut length wise to aid cutting. They will be inserted inside of the large thick roll, and then be made to smaller diameters along the length of the telescope.

Step Two

Begin to glue the tubes to the right diameter. Stick one of the paper towel roll pieces inside of the large thick cardboard tube. When you get it just right, take the marker and mark your spot on the side of the tube to be glued. Add the glue to the inside of the tube line the other edge of the tube to the marker line. Then take the clothes pins and clamp each of the edges. Continue to the third step while waiting for each one to dry.

Step Three

Paint each of the tubes black. This will help any gaps in the covering to blend in with the design and create a seamless look. I suggest painting one to two inches inside of each of the end tubes.  My son was happy to help with this part!  Just set your little one up with a paint brush or foam brush and a little spot of paint.  I like to cut up plastic shower curtains to use as catch alls during art projects.  The black craft paint will clean up with a wet rag as will those fingers or whatever else your little one might get the paint on!  Be careful for clothes though, the craft paint may be more permanent on clothing.

Step Four

I attached ribbon to the end of each of the ends of the paper towel rolls to be inserted into the larger tubes. I felt like the fabric would make a firmer hold and take up any gaps between the tubes. The final tube, the smallest, didn't have space for the ribbon; I tested them all first to be sure they would all fit. I then glued them all on with tacky glue.

Step Five

I chose to use leather to cover each of the tubes. I have tons of small pieces of leather from a design job I used to have. A brown fabric with a yellow fabric could work or a black fabric with red fabric. Shoot, you could even go with scrapbook paper! After the glue was securing each of the tubes into their correct sizes, the black paint was covering each tube, and three of the four had ribbon, I covered the remaining exterior tube portions with the leather using the tacky glue.

Step Six

On the ends of the tubes that are showing, use the paint brush to paint gold paint on each of the edges. The darker the colors you use for the fabric, the more the gold will pop. I definitely think that having some strong metallic color in between each of the sections helps to make it look more dramatic and the sections more defined.

Step Seven

Yea! Now you get to put your pirate telescope together. As soon as it's all dry, you can put the tacky glue on each of the ribbon portions and attach them together. Try to find a drying surface that can support each of the segments, but at least support the smallest segment otherwise it might skew when drying.

Ta dah! Your pirate telescope is finished! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial; I'd love to hear your feedback and hear how your project goes.

Ciao bella!

Brooke

How NOT to Keep your Children Busy and NOT Keep Their Time Occupied

I know what it’s like to feel like an overwhelmed, underappreciated, and overworked mother.  Sometimes circumstances, attitudes, and accidents all compile until all we can do is survive.  It’s time to stop just surviving and start thriving as mothers.

I’ve noticed a trend on Pinterest lately.  Link after link is dedicated to keeping children busy and keeping their time occupied.  While I am fully understanding of the parents who need to find games and activities to help their child deal with certain circumstances such as riding on an airplane/car for hours, but these new pins on Pinterest aren’t for that.  These new pins are for pacifying, placating, and getting children out of a parent’s hair, as if children were pests.  It’s time for parents to pay attention and stop pacifying their children.

I propose a change of focus.

Here is my list of ways to NOT keep your children “busy” and NOT keep their time “occupied”:

1.  Plan activities to benefit your kids, not to benefit you

Instead of just giving children a bowl of rice and some measuring cups to keep them busy with a task (I mean, doesn’t anyone remember how it felt to be given “busy work” at school?),  purposefully think through why you are doing it.  Are you doing it to help your child build their pouring skills or are you trying to gain time for yourself?  If we are constantly focusing on how to get more time for ourselves, we are not spending enough time focusing on our kids.

2.  Schedule a set “me” time that does not involve fighting for your time

Every mom needs a little time to do things for herself.  I simply propose that this is not done at the expense of her children.  We shouldn’t feel the need to escape on a regular basis, instead we need to feel the freedom to take a little time, use a babysitter, request a husband sitting day, or take the kids over to a friend’s house.  If you feel like you are fighting to stay sane, need to escape, or must get away then you are in a mindset that needs to be changed.  You don’t have to just barely survive, thrive!

3.  LOG OFF

Ouch, I know this suggestion will sting a little.  However, it’s true.  If you are trying to find ways to keep your children busy because you want to read everyone’s posts on Facebook, browse all of the new pins on Pinterest, and read all of the blogs you are following, then your butt needs to LOG OFF!  Do you want your child to have a memory of a mother who is constantly sitting in front of the computer (or on her iPhone) and does not want to connect with them because she is constantly connecting with millions of online persons?  NOT ME!  I want my son to remember an ENGAGED, FOCUSED, and PLEASANT mom who cared about him more than I cared about my blog, my Etsy, my Pinterest boards, or my Facebook page.

4.  Make a Schedule

Don’t just use your time as a parent.  Plan your time.  Without a plan, we are not the type of mothers that we want to be, we just exist day to day.  Plan to be the parent that you want to be instead of letting yourself fall into the trap of being exhausted, surviving, and merely dealing with each situation that arises.  You are better than that and your child deserves more than that.

I believe that our children deserve better than being given busy work.  I believe our children deserve a responsive parent who will shut off technology in a heartbeat to make their child feel important, special, and loved.  I believe our children deserve a parent who is engaged enough to notice bad habits, bad dreams, and to realize when their child is in need of a little encouragement.  If you agree, get this blog out there to other parents who need to hear this.  In this day and age when technology reigns . . . TAKE BACK the reigns and use technology instead of letting technology use you.

Brooke Shambley

Concerned parent, loving mother, and a few other cool things that are less important than my boy

DIY Potty Training Chart

Today, I decided to face up to the fact that my three year old son, who is mostly potty trained, really needed some more encouragement to make it all the way.  Some days my son will stop what he is doing to run to the bathroom to take care of business (especially if it’s number twos), when he has to just pee . . . he doesn’t always stop playing.  He waits until the last possible second and often that is one second too long! 

The End of Wet Pants

My idea was to make a DIY Potty Chart to help my son recognize the goal and work towards it.  I pulled out my supplies (as seen in the picture below) and I got to work.

DIY Potty Chart Instructions

1.  I personalized the top of the chart with his name and called it a Pee Pee Potty Chart.  You may need a Pee and Poo Potty Chart, but I wanted this to fit my little guy’s issue. 

2.  Then I wrote down the days of the week, who knows, maybe he’ll learn those while we are at it!  On the end I made a star to symbolize his reward upon success.

3. I made blank boxes where I planned to either stick a sticker or pin a pin.  This was a work in progress.  (I also cut the chart at this point to make it rectangular and fit to the drawing size.)

4.  I grabbed my train edge puncher to get my son to really like the chart.  He loves trains!  So I punched the bottom with the train punch.  If I were to make it again, I would punch every side.

5.  I cut out squares that would fit into the blank boxes on the chart.  The last one was smaller so I could just write in the rewards that would encourage him.

 

Need an edge punch?  This one is adorable.

 

6.  I wrote encouraging words on each square for each day.  On the backs, I wrote numbers so he could match the number on the square with the number on the boxes (that I then wrote numbers in). 

7.  I wrote three rewards in the smaller rectangles.  I picked things that we do not do as often that I know he loves to do . . . or eat!

I decided that I will either put a magnetic surface behind the chart and attach magnets to each of the encouraging boxes or perhaps attach the square and rectangle boxes to clothespins to clip onto the chart.

Potty Chart Rules:  For my son, he gets to attach the days square to the chart when he makes it through the whole day with no accidents.  At the end of the week, if he has the appropriate amount of success squares, then he gets his reward.  You may want to start with success three days a week to spur on your child rather than hoping for the whole week.  Add on a day whenever you think your child is ready.

Since I recognize that many mothers are so busy with work and all the other things that life throws at us, I decided to make a printable version of the Potty Chart for anyone who wants to simply order the chart, print, and go with it.  Below is the picture of the printable chart with printable pieces and the link to my Etsy page.

Custom Potty Chart - Designing Life

Custom Potty Chart - Designing Life

I hope the DIY instructions for the Potty Chart give you some ideas for your little one and good luck with your potty training!!!

Brooke

Mommy/Etsy Shop Owner/Designer/Organizer/Blogger

www.designinglife.etsy.com