One of my biggest “bad” habits is the computer. Or my phone. Or my husband’s “iTab” as BB called it the other day. This totally cracked me up, because i usually call it an iPad (even though it isn’t), Husband calls it a tablet, so BB just put them together.

Usually, after a long morning of “mothering”, as soon as the kids are tucked into their beds for afternoon nap, I’m online. I’m checking and responding to email, browsing Facebook, looking at some blogs. These usually lead to other rabbit trails, and the next thing I know, nap time is over, and I haven’t accomplished anything.

These activities are clearly not “bad” – email is almost always necessary, Facebook helps me connect with friends from faraway, and blogs are my entertainment and inspiration. But when I’m trying to do something – to create something or even just “get things done” – these habits get in the way of time I have to do something.

So today is the 2nd day in a row that I put the kids to bed for naps, took a different path bypass the laptop, and got out my jewelry supplies to make something. Because, I’m trying to replace one habit with another one – a creative one.

I found this “Mother” charm at the Rummage Sale two years ago. If you weren’t here last year, the Rummage Sale is a HUGE sale that is a big fundraiser for BB’s school. It is a lot of fun, but it is a lot of work. (In fact, I was there working tonight, and that’s why I’m typing at 10:30, which is usually past my bedtime. That’s why I’m keeping this short and sweet.)

I believe the charm is sterling silver – it has a beautiful shine to it. When I pulled it out of my miscellaneous stash this afternoon, it was begging me to become a bangle. So I raided my bracelets and found a simple one. I attached it with a jump ring, but I just don’t find jump rings to always be the most secure. So I started experimenting with some ways to make a secure connection with the sterling silver wire I had on hand.

I like to use cheap floral wire to practice when I’m trying something new. And like I said yesterday, creativity = problem solving. Problem solving can be pretty messy.

After a few failed attempts, I decided a figure 8 would keep the connector small.

It still took a few more failed attempts to get the figure 8 right. I would get it perfect on one loop and then totally wonky on the other one.

I finally made an 8 that was pretty near perfect.

I like it as part of a stack of bracelets. I need to make more.

Creative habit progress report: I’ve made something three days in a row. Good job, Mama!

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This post is part of a 31 day series. Find all the posts in this series here.

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