What a nice afternoon I had. The house was quiet and I was sitting at the kitchen table completely absorbed in a craft. Absorbed in that way that lets hours go by without you even realizing it. It reminded me of when I was a child and had all the freedom and time in the world to do (almost) whatever I wanted. I could play outside, read or colour for hours.

When I read Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project, I recall her saying that if you want to uncover the things that bring you joy, look back to the things you loved to do when you were a child; when you had no responsibilities or worries. I loved reading, doing crafts, playing in the ocean and skipping. I still love reading and playing in the ocean but I haven’t skipped in years (I’m OK with that).

Doing crafts is something I think I would enjoy doing now, as an adult. I’m not sure why I haven’t really been pursuing it though? I guess that’s one more benefit to this month’s adventure-a-day challenge. The task of finding an adventure each day is motivating me to really think about the things that I enjoy doing – even those things that have been long neglected.

Adventure-A-Day: Day 14

I started making a paper tree this afternoon. I saw a picture of one on Pinterest (of course) and thought it looked fun, easy and functional. It’s a decorative paper Christmas tree. I should add that although I love doing crafts, I’m not exactly a crafty person. I’m not seeking perfection here though. I actually just enjoy the somewhat mindless repetition of this particular craft – it’s a good stress reliever.

Walking into Michaels craft store was like walking into a foreign country for me. I didn’t know where anything was or even what everything was. I had a list that said I needed paper, a styrofoam tree shape and a shape paper cutter (??). Before today, I didn’t know you could buy a contraption that cuts specific shapes out in a single punch – all you scrapbookers out there know though don’t you! You have an entire section at Michaels. I was grateful to stumble upon your scrapbooking paper too; especially since it was on sale $1/5 sheets. I also came home with spray tack (totally useless for today’s project) and Modge Pod – I’m still not sure exactly what it is (the label says that it “adds dimension”??) but it has such a cool name it made it into the shopping basket anyhow.

The best part though was that I got to use a glue gun. It made me feel very professional. I have legitimate crafting tools in my possession now. I’ll definitely be hunting down a major glue gun adventure before the month is over. 

I’m not finished my tree yet. I’m not ready to be finished. This is an adventure that I just want to take my time with and enjoy. These are the simple pleasures in life, the little things, and they should be savoured. 

Did you have an adventure today? Share it with us in a comment below or tag it with #AdventureADay on FB/Twitter/Instagram.