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Hello and welcome.

Today’s project is something that I have needed for a long time. I don’t know about you but if you like crafting you might have the same problem as me. I always seem to have multiple projects going at one time and they make a mess of my craft room. So I devised these project boxes where I can store the projects as I am working on them and hopefully keep my room a little tidier.

This week I am also continuing my review of a book called the Write Brain Workbook by Bonnie Neubauer. It’s a book full of creative writing prompts, 366 of them to be exact and rest assured I will not be cover all of them here. Anyway, just for fun, I am selecting one writing prompt for the next few weeks to write and share with you. To make it a little more challenging or surprising I’m just flipping to a page and doing that writing assignment rather than looking through the assignments and selecting one with more intent.

So, if you are inclined you can read and or play along or you can skip down to the project for today. So let’s get started.

Today’s writing assignment is called Metamorphosis. The assignment is to finish the story starting with the phrase like a butterfly she magically… So here goes.

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Like a butterfly, she magically sprinkled bits of sunshine and happiness like fairy dust everywhere she went. Whether it was the politely placed compliment or a thoughtful suggestion or even a friendly smile she had the ability to brighten the mood of even the darkest places.

Currently, that dark place was my mood and I was determined not to let her get to me this time. I was mad and I was hurt and I had a right to be, so I was going to hang on to my anger, I deserved to!

She knew of course. She knew me. She knew my mood. She knew I did not want to hear a glass half full analogy. Or any other chin up cheerful anecdotes. I had had a terrible day and all I wanted was to stew in my righteous anger.

We sat in silence for several minutes, me stewing over all of the day’s injustices while she sat calmly with her hands resting gently in her lap. When she finally spoke her voice was soothing, a strange combination of balm and wisdom.

” I think I’ll do some knitting.” She said, “Would you mind holding the yarn for me? Just keep the balls from falling on the floor and the yarn from getting tangled.“

She hadn’t waited for my answer. The balls of yarn were already resting in my lap. “No problem,” I thought with relief, as I realized she wasn’t going to ask me about the details of my day and I thankfully went about my duty of keeping the yarn straight smooth and off the carpet. It seemed an easy enough task at the onset but on occasion, my mind would wander and a gentle sigh would bring me back to find a mess of colored yarn in my lap at which point I would sheepishly resume the task at hand.

We worked like this for some time without speaking her clickety clacking away with her needles and me shifting and juggling my balls of yarn. Just when I thought I had the system down something would change and I would find myself unraveling a new tangle of colorful yarn.

Loosen the yellow, don’t drop the red, crossover with the Orange I thought to myself. The mantra continued, cross under the yellow, loosened the red and the needles continued their rhythmic clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety clickity, clickity-clack.

How long had we been at this? It had started to get dark and somewhere in the mesmerizing clicking and clacking and loosening and de-tangling my breathing had slowed my shoulders had relaxed and the knot in my stomach had come untied.

At last, she spoke, “When my mind is troubled I find it helps to keep my hands busy,” she said with a sly little grin.

And just like that, she had worked her magic again.

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And now on with today’s project. You can find the cliff notes below and all the details in the video above.

Step 1 – Collect Cardboard Boxes and Tin Cans.

Step 2 – Measure Cabinet Space, Cut Cardboard and Layout Design.

Step 3 – Paint, Decorate and Label

Thanks for stopping by and…

Happy Upcycling,

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