Presents for God

So, I am not a "craft mom".  I see cute craft kits in stores and think they look great, but once they get home they stay locked in the basement closet, never to see the light of day again.  In addition to the guilt I feel for wasting the money on the craft supplies, I also feel like I am missing the opportunity to teach and learn with my girls. 

Why? You might ask.  Because I don't like the mess, because the project may not be perfect, because it is another spot of clutter to clean up...  recently I realized these were not only not good reasons, but just excuses for limiting me from being the mom I could be... just because of my own fear of failure.
So yesterday, Magnolia and I read a delightful story from  Catholic Children's Treasure Box magazine about St. Therese of the Child Jesus about creating a reminder chain for giving presents every day to God.

There was a craft described at the end if the story that looked like one I could do.  I had the supplies or the close approximations and I could follow the directions, and all the parts were relatively contained in one box.  The girls could do the craft without too much help and best part, I had a babysitter coming who could certainly handle the craft and give them something constructive to do together while I was gone.

Well you know what they say about the best laid plans ... to my shock and dismay ;) they did not decide to do the craft.  They chose to play hide and seek instead... the gall.

So this morning the craft box and directions were still sitting on the kitchen table staring me down over my morning coffee.  (This might be a slight exaggeration.)  But after new revelations, I realized I could tackle this and move forward on my path of the mom I want to be.

I called Magnolia and Daisy in to start our task.  When I found a misplaced St Therese of the Little Flower medal in my purse, I knew we were on the right path.  So we tied a medal onto the middle of the string and threaded on 10 pink heart beads and finished the strand with a crucifix.  Magnolia used a crucifix with Lourdes water that we had gotten last year.  Daisy used one of the turquoise crosses that we had gotten when we lived in Arizona. 

At the end, we had two beautiful beaded chains for them to use to count their daily presents to God, two happy girls who did a craft, and one happy mom who had accomplished something new.

The icing on the cake was when Daisy said "we should start the beads down by the saint medallion everyday because they will help us do the gifts for God, then each time we move a bead up to the cross it helps Jesus as a gift to Him."

JACKPOT!

Are you a "craft mom?"  If so, how do you do it?  If not, have you found any tips to make crafting with kids easier??