Given last Friday's events in Connecticut many bloggers have chosen to step away from their blogs today in order to take a moment to reflect, to pray, to meditate , to grieve, and to deal with this tragedy in their own way. I had decided to join them in this National Blogging Day of Remembrance, but then I walked past my dining room table
There sat two paper vases filled with paper flowers, a project Violet and I worked on a couple of weeks ago.They were a bright spot on this gloomy day.
It is gray and foggy outside today. That is how I feel inside too whenever I read more stories from Newton.
But, these bright orange flowers in their toilet paper roll vases were bright and cheery, they made me smile.I thought about how much time I've spent with Violet and Henry since hearing the news. We spent much of the weekend preparing for the holidays, sewing, shopping and spending family time together. The tragic events were at the back of my mind, but, because we were shielding them from the news we kept the TV off and weren't reading much while the children were around. We were keeping busy. We were thinking of our families. We were being creative with gift ideas and gift making.
And then, this morning, in a moment while both kiddos were at preschool and I walked past our hand crafted flowers, I realized that we all grieve in different ways. We all need to find different outlets for our emotions. And, for some of us it may be doing something with our hands to busy our minds and to make something beautiful to brighten our days.
And, with that in mind, I wanted to share these flowers with you. And, because I think they would make such a sweet little gift to brighten someone else's day, I thought I would briefly share how we made them.
Supplies: toilet paper roll, pipe cleaner, tissue paper, card stock, origami paper (glue and scissors).
Glue origami paper onto the toilet paper roll.
Trace a circle onto your card stockCut out circle.
Tape circle onto the bottom of your toilet paper roll. Next, make flowers. Cut out two squares of tissue paper. Pinch in the middle of the square. Twist the pipe cleaner around. Twist the other end of the pipe cleaner into a small circle (this helps it stand up better in the vase).
You can also add a stamen to the center of the flower to add more color.
Put flowers into your paper vase and enjoy.
I wish that I was an eloquent writer, especially in times like these, but I am not. My outlet is to make, and these flowers really did bring me some peace today. I wish you peace today too.
