less than perfect...

The last few months have been hard on me.  Not unbearably so, but wearyingly so.  I know that we chose to take the risks that got us into this situation, but that still doesn't mean it's been fun--living in a tiny, cramped apartment above a crass, angry woman; waddling uncomfortably up a flight of steps with Jane on my hip; having most of my personal belongings inaccessible; missing the comforts of a real home with a garage and a yard.  This situation has definitely been less than perfect.  At the same time, however, I can't say I'm not extremely grateful for where we are.  We have our own place with two bedrooms, super cheap rent, and we are all healthy and well and waiting for our baby boy.  Besides, the fact that we have decided to be here is hopefully going to allow us in the long run to end up in a better place than we were in before we made our lives crazy.

And recently, I've found something that really helps me feel less weary--crafting.  I've been creating all sorts of little crafty items that have taken my mind off the things that aren't quite the way I'd hoped.  I've become one of those moms who spends nap-times searching the internet for unique ideas and crafts.

In my searches, I often see things that I would love to make but don't have the skills for.  Then I realize some of the people sharing their finished products didn't either.  I have been, I'll admit, slightly critical of others' "less-than-perfect" results.  "How embarrassing," I'd find myself thinking, "that she thinks this is good enough to share with the world."

Well, living in our less-than-perfect situation, it is only fitting to be sharing my less-than-perfect projects.  And I do it proudly.  I am sharing these things because they make me feel happy, not because they're impressive.  If you look closely, there are a lot of mistakes, but I still want to remember these projects that have made my less-than-perfect life so much more enjoyable these past months.  They've been the little something I could look forward to each day, especially as they are things that I have had control over during a time when so many things are out of our hands.  Besides, they keep me thinking of the little boy soon to join our family as they are for the nursery I'm planning for him.

animal collages

mobile

crib quilt

crib skirt

baby blocks

pillow

(Ok, as a side note, since people are commenting on how things don't look flawed:  I unpicked at least 50% of what I did on the quilt and in the end the squares didn't all match up, the zig-zags on the pillow are spaced unevenly even though I measured the distance between with a ruler then pinned them, the crib skirt somehow ended up not quite squared at the corners, and if you saw how many times I scratched and scraped the Mod-Podge off to tear off some wayward, wrinkly part of the collages, it would make you crazy!)