Snips and Snails

"What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"

Tuesday at my Babysitting Camp, I was priveledged to have just two little 2-year-old boys. For the most part, I get an overwhelmingly large number of girls over boys and it was great to pull out the legos, matchbox cars, and trains for the morning. I love the way boys are boys, how they growl scarily with their dinosaur toys, fling cars from high heights (aka the ping pong table), and get a kick out a little bit of punch in their step (like smashing animals into each other or watching towers of blocks fall over). I thoroughly enjoyed the excitement of the two as I poured our giant bucket of stuffed animals onto their heads, smiling as they broke into little boy giggles, rolling around in the piles of fluff. They chanted to do it again so we loaded back up our bucket several times and I watched the animals tumble all around them as I poured. Boys will be boys, and we should let them!

(I got a tad bit into the legos myself!!)

She Sold Seashells by the Seashore

So as promised I want to update you all on how my first craft fair went.

BeachFest July 9, 2011

That Saturday morning mom arrived at the green lawn on Engleside in Beach Haven, LBI to get in line for my booth spot. Tyler and I arrived shortly after and began the set up of the booth which lasted a little past 9am when the fair began. I sold my wares (and seashells too!!) until 4pm.

Take a look:

So there you have it!

Thankfully I did break even for the booth and made a little extra (which I blew on candy that afternoon, hehe). But, it was a dream come true and everyone told me it would be a learning experience and it definitely was just that.

Things I learned:

-Know your audience, I would definitely do best selling my Christmas items in Oct-Dec.

-Get to fairs early, you get the better spots.

-Craft Fairs down the shore don't do as well when the weather is sunny and hot (people are all on the beach!!), my booth was pretty dead from 12-2

-Customization should be a free perk!

-Give shoppers room to browse don't scare them off by over talking

The woman at the booth next to mine was an experienced craft vendor and I was thankful for her advice throughout the day!

I had two memorable moments throughout the day. First, was the mother who bought the sign to my booth. Her son was having a Christmas in July birthday party and bought my sign as decor!!

My other most cherished moments of the day was the walk I took with Tyler after the fair. The shells I had painted on the beach Friday had gotten sand in-bedded in the paint and were thus not really suitable to sell. So, Tyler and I brought them along planning to drop them in the sand for some lucky beachcomber to find. As we were walking down along the foam, I noticed a young girl scurrying along the sand picking up seashells as her family walked along beside her. I quickly plopped my clam shell down in the sand upside down and headed up the beach with Tyler to watch. To my delight the girl spotted the shell and darted towards it to save it from the impending wave. I was overjoyed by the look of sheer astonishment on her face as she flipped it over to inspect the underside. Tyler and I watched as the family gathered round laughing at her find. Tyler and I soon began walking on and I couldn't stifle my excitement as I stole glances over my shoulder several times to watch the family disappear into the distance. It was so amazing to get to be a part of setting up one of life's little surprises and I can not wait to do it again when I return to LBI for vacation in a a little over a week. I wonder where that girl has her shell now, is it in her room, a little reminder of her vacation surprise?

Today!

What a great day! Some days my job can be much less then exciting as I watch the clock while the children play, but other times the joy of children captures my heart as I get to enjoy childhood again with them! Today was one of those days! I got to watch a little two year old boy giggle as I pushed him high on the swing and play with an awesome Cars toy that changes color in hot or cold water with a first grader. I also made a telescope out of an empty Pringles' can. Although it is more of a craft parents would have to do most of, I felt really creative stitching together the gold pipe cleaner to hold the plastic lid to the hole I had cut from the bottom of the can. Although the boy was not all that interested in helping decorate, I think he did enjoy the final product and learned to draw stars in the process.

I have been running a Girl's Lacrosse Clinic the past three summers for middle school girls and today's session was probably one of my favorites ever. We had water day to beat the heat and I thoroughly enjoyed watching my lesson plan of fun water activities mixed with lacrosse run smoothly. I loved watching the faces of my girls as they giggled carrying cups of water back to their relay line throwing the water at their teammates as well as laughing hard at the end of the practice throwing water balloons and squirting water guns. I also felt great success watching as they completed the Star Drill and worked hard learning lacrosse cuts. I was just rewarded by each girl today who seem to be opening up to me more and more. I felt the connection with each of them and we enjoyed and practiced together. I was blessed to hear one little girl say she had been looking forward to the clinic all week and have one mother tell me her daughter wanted to come back from vacation to attend the session she would miss.

Overall, I am so blessed by the influence God allowed me to have on the lives of a bunch of children and middle schoolers today! I loved knowing that my energy has an impact on their lives. I'm so excited that I am going to have this opportunity many more times in my future both as a teacher and a mother! I am blessed and joyful today!

Sparrows

After planning out my to do list for the day I had an unexpected surprise. This morning my mom gave me the job of watering the outdoor plants. Between water runs to the different plants, I noticed a baby bird had fallen onto the deck. Initially repulsed by the sight of the pink and gray blob, I bent over the small creature saddened to find that he was only half dead, beaten and bloodied, gasping for breath. The poor bird was still so young that his eyes had not yet opened.

After a few minutes I decided I could not ignore him and came to his aid. I went up to my bedroom, looked up the site for the Raptor Trust, a famous bird sanctuary that happens to be located in my small New Jersey town, and found their directions for taking care of injured birds. I grabbed and old teeshirt and shoebox and headed for the deck. Checking to see if the bird was still breathing I used the teeshirt to gently lift the bird into the shoebox. I drove carefully over bumps as we headed for the Trust, hoping not to jerk the feeble life that I carried with me. At every stop I would lean over to check for the little fella's movement.

Finally, we arrived at the Raptor Trust and I carried my shoebox to the Admittance Office. The woman in the office quickly recognized the baby bird to be a sparrow and commenting on his poor condition she hopefully brought him into the back. She told me I would not be able to check up on him because he would be unrecognizable from the other baby birds she had at the time. So, I left and drove home. As I drove in my Jeep the little adventure of my day caused me to think about God' love. There is a verse in Matthew 10 that says this:

^"9 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^{[b] 30} And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

It just shows that the meager care I can give to a fragile baby sparrow can only be far surpassed by the love of God. If even I, a blundering, imperfect human, knows to take care of a baby bird that way, how much more can our perfect heavenly Father take care of our needs. God knows every sparrow that falls, even the little one that fell on my deck today. This incident today was proof to me that if God cares about one tiny, insignificant bird how much more does He care about me, His child? Even using this happening as a reminder is just proof that He wants to proclaim His unconditional love to me!

...1 day in Counting!!!

Only one more day, well actually, only a few short hours until the craft fair tomorrow.

I have not done much today because we spent the day down here in Long Beach Island. What a paradise! This morning my sister, mom and I packed up the car and found some last minute items around the house before heading out at 10am. We made a few stops, including one to Dunkin Donuts, my favorite pre-shore stop and I grabbed breakfast and a caramel iced coffee, made perfectly to my liking...lots and lots of sugar!!

We made it to the Island around 1pm and stopped at Sweet Jenny's in Ship Bottom before digging our toes in the sand. Rachel and I spent the day in the water, bobbing on the waves that were fairly large for the Jersey Shore. I painted two shells on the beach, but sand got stuck in the paint, so I'm not too sure of the quality, but they "have character" as described by my boyfriend.

Somehow our little patch of paradise was untouched by the storms in the area. The weather channel predicted 70% chance of rain, storms, and hail but mom saw that the radar showed LBI, Atlantic City and Cape May the only areas untouched by rain. God truly blessed our day!

Soon Tyler will be joining us (he is traveling as I write this) and we will be heading out to Chicken or the Egg, my favorite LBI restaurant because it was the first place we ever went on the island, for dinner and, if the rain holds out, a night on the town.

Praying for the morning that all goes well with set-up, location and sales. But off to enjoy a lovely evening in one of my favorite places on Earth with some of my favorite people. I am truly blessed today!

...2 days in Counting!

There are 2 days in counting technically, until my first ever craft fair! However, it has become more like one day because my mother, sister and I decided to head down to LBI in the morning to spend an extra day at the beach. Yay!!!

So, what did that mean for me...CRAM!

Although I did not do much today it was a cram session of making sure everything was together; making print outs, psuedo business cards, a music playlist, my booth sign (which was the big project today) and then packing stuff together. I had intended to paint personalized sand pails but never got the chance so they served as excellent carrying cases

and will be great decor for the booth.

In the morning I have to pack up, make sure I have all the last minute supplies and decor (boogie boards, table, tent) and then run through the checklist in my journal, as well as pack beach supplies (and clothes too!) for our little trip. The rest of the day tomorrow will be spent with my toes dug in the sand relaxing before the busy day Saturday, maybe I'll even paint a shell or two on the beach.

...3 Days!

Today I did not accomplish much because it was such a busy day with babysitting, my lacrosse clinic, field hockey, and gym workout.

However, with the help of my sister I was able to package the mint my Grandmother gave me to sell from her garden, into little mesh baggies. The minty scent wafted up to my nose as I packaged, and the smell was phenominal. I also printed off some of my Grandma's mint recipes and made little recipe books to go with each package, complete with little ribbon bows.

See them below:

...4 days in Counting

Today was a busy day of getting ready for BeachFest, the craft fair I will be a part of on Saturday, down in Long Beach Island, NJ, one of my favorite places on earth. It could not get any better; crafting and the beach equals tons of excitement for me.

Check out the details of the craft fair here: http://www.necraftshows.com/NJJul2011/BeachHavenNJJul2

011.htm

So, here is a checklist of what I was able to accomplish today:

• Took down and chose Christmas decor from the attic
• Painted my prices sign
• Bought more ribbon and mesh bags for the mint
• Painted 4 spoons
• Painted 4 glasses
• Painted 6 shovels
• Put ribbon on the shovels and some spoons

See some pictures here:

I was a little tense toward the end of the night after about 5/6 hours of crafting but it is right up my alley in terms of how I like to dedicate me time! I am filled with some stress, nervousness, excitement and joy tonight. Check back here tomorrow for another update!

Craft Fair Countdown..5 days!

It is just five days away from my first craft fair. I have been painting, painting, painting whenever I get a free moment and now it is time for it all to begin to come together. I can not wait to set up my "Christmas in July" themed booth which will feature both my summer scapes and my snowy winter scenes.

Today, at a 4th of July BBQ I located a family friends' tent that they are allowing

me to use..check!

I also started to create a board of all of my prices, the general outline is done and I will just add some design elements tomorrow. See it below:

And check out my stockpile of goods:

Tomorrows tasks include finishing up some more painting, searching through the attic for more Christmas/summer decor to go with my "Christmas in July" theme, as well as creating some signs and decorations of the booth. Check me out in these next few days to track my progress with me! Hope you enjoy!

Budgetting like a Child

Anyone out there old fashioned like me?

So you may say, "You aren't old fashion, your writing a blog online, thats pretty new agey to me." And yes, it is. I do indulge in e-mail, facebook, my new iPhone and other technologies but at the end of the day I'm a pen and paper kind of gal. I like my college notes to be handwritten (in Sharpie) and bound together in a binder as opposed to typed up in a computer file because by hand I am better able to express myself creatively.

Anyway, as a budding adult I am just beginning to learn the ways of managing a budget. As I previously mentioned I am spending my summer changing diapers, blowing bubbles and playing with dolls as a babysitter. Many think babysitting is not a sufficient way to make money. Although it may not be completely consistent, I am still up to my ears in work. And what do these jobs bring; some cash, a blessing from God in today's economy. (I thank Him for the amount of work I am getting, He is very faithful!)

I was sick of putting all of my earned money in the bank and having it spent on knick-knacks, such as a pack of gum or a sharpie here or there, never knowing if I actually saved any money. I decided it was time for a budget. This way I could make sure I was saving cash while also allotting money to spend on clothes and crafts without feeling guilty. As one who can hardly turn her TV on, I found managing a budget on the computer would not satisfy my lifestyle.

So I reverted to the childhood methods of keeping jars. I began the process by selecting some old plastic lotion jars I had been storing in my basement and labelled them each and designated a percentage of each jobs earnings to each category.

Here's what I came up with:

Saving- 10%

Spending (on eating out and activities) -20%

Car-%10

Charities- 10%

Clothes- %15

Crafts- 5%

Tax-%10

And thus is sufficient for the life of a college student. All you adults are now gawking at my percentage of spending which I know will decrease when I need to support a family and am responsible for things like food. For now, this works and teaches me about the process of managing funds. Like I said, often I feel stifled in creativity because of technology, and being able to select jars, decorate them with sharpies and stickers allowed me to be who I am. Who cares if it seems childish? I am being me, child-like, quaint, and simple, but its the only person I know how to be.

Oh for a Child's Joy!

A huge part of my life this summer; babysitting!

The perks: experience with children for my future job as a teacher, good money, and making my own hours (so I can enjoy visits to friends and to the Jersey Shore)

Amongst the diaper changes, crying toddlers, and never ending task of occupying the children, there is another highlight:

Discovering the silliness and simple joy of children.

These moments can often make for the best stories and I'll share a few thus far this summer:

On Monday, I had my busiest job yet! At one point during the morning at my Spring Kids Camp, where moms drop off their preschool and toddler children at my house for playtime, I had five young children. I was bouncing from kid to kid trying to keep them all occupied and was finally satisfied to have each child happily playing, not crying and not getting into anything they were not supposed to. I had two children playing together with legos, one playing with trains, one admiring a bouncy horse, and one building with blocks. I was proud, I had successfully occupied my campers. Complete bliss!

Then, it ended, just as fast as it came. I was left to my own devices trying to keep a girl who missed her mom from whimpering, trying to stop the other children from throwing legos, and trying to convince another boy that if he saw the other children misbehaving he had to tell me, not boss them around.

Amidst the choas, however, there were some moments I could not help but stop and laugh and enjoy the ability children gain pleasure from the simplest things in life.

In one such moment, I went to check on one of my toddler girls to notice that she was busying herself with rubbing her lips back and forth across the glass door, getting slobber all over the window. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I tried to occupy her with a real toy.

Just before I found this girl, I looked over to see one of the boys pointing at two shiny knobs to one of my basement closets.

"There are two of me," he giggled looking over at me. he thought it was completely hysterical and I joined with him in laughter, admiring his simple joy. He got a huge kick out of his own reflection.

Two of the children I babysit were able to entertain themselves simply with a glass door and golden door knobs. I stumbled upon this quote that sums up the incredible ability of children appreciate the simple things in life:

"A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm." ~Bill Vaughan

Friends and Newtown, PA

Hey all! I have not been around these parts for a while, instead many of these past ten days have been spent college friends and family. Last week was spent with my girls in and around the quaint, historic town of Newtown, PA. The girls and I stayed at our friend, Danielle's house, and she acted as tour guide and party planner for our stay.

We spent the first morning together at Rice's

Flea Market. The market had great

deals and a large selection of items. Three of us decided to adopt a few cactuses for our dorm rooms next year. (Visit the Rice's website at :

http://www.ricesmarket.com

/Contents/home.aspx )

In the afternoon, we had a picnic and took a walk through Tyler State Park. Then, in the evening we walked around Newtown with Danielle as our guide. Below is a picture of the oldest theatre in the U.S. that continues to show movies and plays!

It was a nice time spent together and we all agreed that even the simplest things, such as exploring a small town, are made into exciting adventures when accompanied by your friends!

Journalling! Journalling! Journalling!!

Finally finished my journal for my freshmen year of college after 10+ hours of adding pictures and creating collages over the past two days!! Can't believe I went through a whole book so quickly! This year I have to have a separate summer journal. Phew, I'm tired but satisfied! Now to start my summer one (I have to add pictures from the last week of school) ...I think that can happen tomorrow!

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Cupcake, n.: a smile with frosting on it

I have this "definition" of a cupcake hanging on a my collage wall in my room. Ever since I purchased "Hello, Cupcake" about two years ago, I've become cupcake obsessed. Even my college essay for the Common App was written using cupcakes as a metaphor for my journey as an up-and-coming teacher. "Hello, Cupcake" was most of the inspiration behind it. The book is filled with awesome cupcake decorating ideas. (if you are a cupcaker this is one you need to check out!) The designs are fairly simple and most come out looking very professional. And when they don't, they end up looking sort of silly like my coy fish below. These designs come from "Hello, Cupcake's sequal "What's New Cupcake." I got to spend yesterday evening catching up with a high school friend from my art classes and work on replicating these amazing cupcake designs. (My favorite are the roses to the left) Cupcakes never fail to put a smile on my face!

These coy did not quite impress me like the ones in the book, but were worth a try.

My friend created these flowers to the left. I made ones similar back in January for a college friend's birthday! This has to be one of the best designs in the book!

Finally, we attempted to make the ones that looked like pies, they sort of turned out more like the coy, but you know what they say; nothing ventured nothing gained!

Today, I also had a fantastic encounter with A.C. Moore, but my encounters with craft stores are hardly ever less then fantastic. Today, I spent time scouring the shelves of stickers, it seemed that around every corner there were rows of them just tempting me to draw near.

Stickers are just one of those craft items I just can not get enough of! Who can? From childhood we are exposed to these sticky wonders and there are just so many different kinds. The trouble for me has always finding the perfect place to put them. You only get one shot to give them the best home. Personally, my biggest trouble was parting with them, so, often I just keep them on their glossy page, waiting for just the right moment to peel them off and place them in their new surroundings. The stickers I bought today will have just the right home, placed all over the pages of my journal, accenting the pictures, words and memories there.

Hope you, like a sticker, can accent your world today!

Hey! And, My sister is the cutest!

I just wanted to say hello and welcome to everyone who eventually stumbles upon my page. My name is Sarah, as the title suggests, and I'm plain and tall. (but I will get into that later) I'm home for the summer after my first year at Messiah College, located in a small town outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

As a child I longed to be able to depict my exact thoughts and ideas in my mind through drawing and was always let down when I could not quite transform these thoughts into masterpieces. However, I have recently discovered that I can express my inner ponderings through writing and have become more and more excited about the ways it allows me to depict even the sensations surrounding the idea. I guess I am excited to become a painter with words!

I have been keeping a journal for five years now but wanted an avenue to share some of my ideas with you. After taking a Magazine Writing course this past semester with an adjunct professor, I learned about feature writing and decided to try my hand at blogging. It has always been a secret (or not so secret) dream of mine to own a crafting magazine and as an aspiring Early Education teacher the simple, cutesy little things of home-making, decorating, child-like crafts and pleasures still make me happy even as an almost 20 year old! It is my hope for this blog to get to share some of my crafting adventures and just simple daily pleasures with you. You may occasionally get a post about a greater issue that I get passionate about and can't help but put pen to page, or more accurately type to screen!

So, to start I would love to share with you a quote that I found last summer before heading off to school.

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost." by Marion C. Garrety

If you have a relationship like that of my sister and I, you would see how very accurate Garrety is. As the oldest of four siblings and my sister the youngest, at 7 and 1/2 years younger then I, she kept me younger for a lot longer. As a young girl with two younger brothers and mostly boy friends at church and in the neighborhood, I did not really like dress up or Barbies at a young age like many other girls. It was not until my sister came along that I got a second go around at a girly childhood.

Every time my mother got pregnant, (and that was twice before my sister was born) I prayed and prayed each time my mom would have a girl. Rachel Joy was born when I was in second grade and my later elementary and middle school years were spent with her as my test subject.

She kept me young and taught me the art of girliness. She would prance around the house in her tights and bathing suits, plastic high heels clacking as she walked across the floor. Through her I got to experience childhood a second time, this time much girlier. We dressed up in dresses and gowns strutting about the house, showing off for family. I played Polly Pockets with her, dressing them up in their rubber clothes, for a long time, with the excuse, "I have a younger sister."

She truly is a piece of childhood that can never be lost.

One trait that is unique to and characteristic of my own sister, is her capacity to love. I have never seen her look on the bad side of anyone. (Except maybe my one brother, with whom she would get into frequent squabbles, but I have even seen that fade in the past months.) In fact, I think she is blind to people's flaws. She can even love the hardest people and break their shells with her charming ways. Although sometimes my brothers and I feel she is a "suck up," I really honestly think she is just genuinely loving, and unconditionally so.

An example of her unconditional love and kindness that she showed me today spurred me to write this little blurb about my 11 year old sister. This small gesture is not rare, (I have a whole folder in my room of notes and drawings Rachel has given me) but I found this one especially ingenious and wanted to note the significance of all her small gestures.

Earlier today, I walked into my bedroom, adjacent from her own, and noticed a tiny ball of golden yarn resting on top of my desk with a note that read "Pull here." I quickly began unwinding the tiny ball wondering what small trinket Rachel had wrapped (since she has a fondness for small "treasures") until I eventually reached the end of the yarn, my heart melting as I saw a crumpled note. I began unfolding it to read in her curly hand, "'I just wanted to say I love you and your amazing' Love, Rachel."

Rachel, you are amazing and I love you!