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Fighting the Stay At Home Blues

April 8, 2020

craft kids for kids by small businesses

I can’t believe a whole month has gone by since the last time I posted, and oh what a month it has been! Our local daycares have been closed for a few weeks now, making life quite a bit more complicated around here. (Remember how my health condition makes it almost impossible for me to take care of my toddler right now??? I am missing our daycare teachers so much!)

Our Jane Austen project is still ready and waiting to be worked on, but unfortuntely it will need to wait a bit, as I focus what energy I have to taking care of my little guy.

So… until then, I had a thought.

When I first got sick, I was stuck at home WAY more than I’d been previously accustomed to. I felt like my world had completely changed. Most of the things I loved where no longer accessible. It’s almost strange now, as I talk to my friends who are stuck at home because of COVID-19. It’s almost like they are going through the same grieving process that I had to go through when I was first stuck at home so much because of my health.

I’ve been thinking back to those early days of being home so much. Someone gave me some advice early one that helped so much: Learn something new. That’s it. It doesn’t sound so fancy, but it really helped. Whenever I felt overwhelmed with my world shrinking and opportunities dwindling, I’d try and learn something new. It’s an easy way to add opptimism to a difficult moment. Now whenever I have a period of time when my health is especially bad, I try and learn something new, even if it’s just watching a new documentry or reading a new book. Afterwards I get to look back on those periods and think, hey, that was the year I learned how to make French pastries instead of thinking, wow that I was the year I wasted 7 months in bed.

So in the spirit of learning something new, I thought I’d share a few of the most tempting kits I’ve seen on Etsy. I know that we are all stuck at home, and it’s hard to go out and get materials for new hobbies- that’s why kits are great. They come with everything you need. AND if you order from an Etsy seller, you are directly supporting a small business owner during a time when any support is very much appreciated. So here it goes, some fun things to learn to chase those Stay At Home blues away…

Learn Something New (Grown Up Edition)

beginner craft kits
  1. DIY leather baby shoes making kit
  2. Macrame Hanging Planter Kit
  3. Beginner’s Wood Burning Kit
  4. Beginner’s Embroidery Kit
  5. Drop Spindle Yarn Spinning Kit
  6. Beginner’s Book Binding Kit
  7. Learn to Watercolor Kit

Learn Something New (Kid Edition)

  1. Sock Kitty Craft Kit
  2. Norwal Stitching Kit
  3. Lemon Sewing Kit
  4. Fingerprint Art Kit
  5. Tshirt Printing Kit
  6. Whale Sewing Kit

Want to find more ways to support small business? Check out Etsy’s Stand With Small page, where you can find lists of beautiful products made by small business owners!

*** The links posted are affiliate links, which means that if you click on them and purchase the item, I will receive a small % of the sale.***

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Hi, I’m Jessica

I’m on a mission to create handmade items that are cherished for years to come. I hope you’ll join me along the way!

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Instagram post 2327252897543629252_417393240 It is finally getting warm here and I'm so excited for long days in sunny fields.
Instagram post 2321314328934193695_417393240 Did you know that ladies during the Regency Era often wore a shawl because the breezy empire waist gowns they wore were a little chilly? ⁣
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I've been having so much fun adding historical details to this project. I love the idea of history seeping into a child's mind through play.⁣
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I know it's just a tiny detail, but I wanted our dolls to have shawls because I keep reading about the huge cultural shift that came with the style we see in Jane Austen's time period.⁣
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In a period of about 15 years we went from Marie Antoinette style gowns with huge, structured skirts, to these breezy gowns that might (gasp!) show your silhouette if a breeze came in.⁣
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To the younger generation they were progressive. Napoleon's wife was the one who made the style popular and because of her influence it symbolized a new way of thinking. (Marie Antoinette's way of thinking was, after all, proven slightly ineffective.) ⁣
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Sure, the dress was a little chilly. But it was a way to leave dated ideas in the past. So they grabbed a shawl and moved forward!⁣
⁣
I know that a shawl on a doll won't automatically teach a kid all that history. But it might give us the opportunity to tell the story as we play, and I want to add as many of those opportunities as I can.
Instagram post 2320150626645961038_417393240 What's the best glue gun out there?⁣
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I love the ease of hot glue, but have always found my glue gun work rather sloppy.⁣
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A while back I talked to my good friend Erin from @thegreyrose about this. She is the closest thing to a Glue Gun Expert there is: She uses a glue gun full time to create her amazing felt floral arrangements. Her work is delicate and skillful, which are words I'd never use to describe my own glue gun efforts.⁣
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Her secret is this amazing detail tipped glue gun. (The Surebonder Detail Tip Glue Gun...Please note, this is NOT an ad. No one is paying me to review this thing. I just genuinely like it and thought I'd share.)⁣
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I bought the exact model she uses for her work and I will never go back! For the first time I feel like my hot gluing can be clean and precise. It's amazing what a difference having the right tool can make.
Instagram post 2318523881759128711_417393240 amen.
Instagram post 2316180582466133425_417393240 The bonnets are finished and I'm off to work on top hats and cravats. Because we definitely need a Mr. Darcy Rabbit.
Instagram post 2315017019194132946_417393240 The next Jane Austen play set tutorial is up and running on our blog!⁣
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This week we make bonnets and shawls to complete for our Regency bunnies and I can hardly contain my excitement.⁣
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Link in bio -> @sweetbriarsisters
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