The Bead Factor

Beads Beads Beads! Almost unavoidable with little girls. I've lost count of how many spills & sweep ups we've been subjected to when buckets fall over, egg cartons (full of organized beads) are knocked off the counter, little girls drop handfuls down their dress and run like mad from room to room, beads are used as props for mock rainshowers...the sensations are just too much to handle.

Little Janelle is such a sweetheart in helping with the cleanups, having the sharpest eyes in the bunch, closest floor proximity, and a perfect cheek pouch to store them in.

So thrillingly we found a good use for this messy, fine motor developing craft, that not only rids us of most of them, but puts them to much better use.

My dear friend, smartmama, gave us some ideas for donations for her Operation Smile mission.

As no person is too small to serve, and no service too small, (even small round almost invisible objects...)...we decided to put together some bead necklace and bracelet packets for the children waiting for operations.

Everyone loved lining up beads into patterns, putting them in bags with stretchy string, and labeling. (Ashley even labeled some with her own phonetic spelling..NEKLIS..I couldn't stand to change it, hopefuly the volunteers have a smile when passing her bags out.)

We worked for hours, using up every last bead!!!!

My vacuume breathes a sigh of relief...but most importantly my family had a great service experience, and talked for hours about why this boy, or that girl would like certain color schemes, designs, bead shapes, sort of like a hug to wear around their necks and hopefully

know they were loved by a small family in Massachusetts.

"At the heart of the message of the Savior of the world is a single, glorious, wonderful, still largely untried concept. In its simplest terms the message is that we should seek to overcome the selfishness we all seem to be born with, that we should overcome human nature and think of others before self."
--James E. Faust