Valentines

This is a little idea I have been enjoying; making mini montages so the kids have mini pictures of themselves.  Last year we had extra pictures of G from his birthday cards.  I let him use those to put on valentines.  M and P were of course jealous.  So this year I made a mini montage so we could send valentines to cousins and friends with pictures.  The kids have 30+ cousins that are young enough that we wanted to send valentines.  Sorry older cousins!

I make these montages by putting the pictures into a word document.  I crop them, and make them all the same height, so the rows work out.  Still there was something strange with G and L...  Good enough for pictures that I plan to have cut up.  I've made a few other montages for M's birthday and bookmarks that I paid more attention to details...

So we've been making valentines like crazy.  I'm trying to help M understand that she can't spend 5 minutes on a valentine and then crumple it up.  I dislike perfectionism.  Poor girl.  She doesn't have to make valentines for all the kids at co-op, but a few would be nice.  And done is better than perfect.  I used to say "Done is better than good."   But I think the key to that is developing skill to get things done and have them be decent. 

I have some nice water color paper that I got for the kids.  Unfortunately I rarely let them use it.  But I did once let lP use a sheet which she made a lovely shade of coral by mixing the red and yellow beyond distinction.  At the time I was like "Why did you mix it up so much?"  But I saved it and turned it into hearts for them to glue their pictures onto.  I pointed out that it was a page lP painted.  Hopefully she doesn't remember my criticism....

I love my mom and I see in myself a similar desire to make things rather than buy the commercial option.  This can be fun, but it is also not cheaper or easier.  But I just accept that part of me that needs to add value.  It is really fun to do things, and create.  That's all the wisdom I have for today.