I have a bunny craft that my mom made. It is a bunny made out of construction paper. It’s paws wrap around a 1-1/2 inch paper soufflé cup which may be used for holding party favors, jelly beans and such. I’ve held onto this craft for many years. To me, it is a piece of a picture of my mom, something by which I can remember her. It is a sample of her creative ability. I should have kept it in a box were it would have
been better preserved, but alas, that is not the case. I kept it in a small basket by my kitchen phone which is not far from the kitchen sink, unfortunately, close enough to have gotten sprays of water on it occasionally. I did move it out to my sunroom not that long ago, to sit on the white wicker shelf I inherited from my parent’s sunroom, along with some tiny flower pots my mom decorated and used as party favor holders at her brother Ken’s fiftieth birthday.
Yesterday I started hunting for the bunny pattern, I vaguely remembered having, for making mom’s bunny craft. This hunt for the bunny involved racking my mind as to where it might be, where I put it, or last remembered seeing it. I looked in a box high up on a shelf in one of my closets which held some craft papers and books mom had given to me. Not being able to find it there got me thinking I might make another Easter craft. That got me started down the rabbit hole of looking for crafts I could make with liquid starch on the Internet. You see, my oldest sister Deb, gave me a half used bottle of Linit starch one day as she wanted to get rid of it and thought I might use it someday on one of my husband’s shirts (which never happened). I thought I would be able to come up with another use for it someday, not wanting to just throw it out. My bunny hunt continued through this morning and the start and middle of this blog.
Creativity can be defined as the use of imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. But one can find creative solutions in all disciplines of life. You cannot create in a vacuum. Some pieces of information need to be there for ideas to be developed. Reading a book or searching the internet can give us some fodder with which to work. Through discussions, debates, and conversing with colleagues all over the world, solutions are more likely to be found. We all have some creativity in us. If you want to test your creative ability, take two minutes to concentrate on an everyday object, such as a spoon. Think of all the ways one might be able to use it. It can be a way of practicing thinking “outside the box”.
I eventually found the bunny pattern my mom had made. Being frugal, she used the back of an Easter card she had received from probably a friend, on which to draw her bunny pattern for making the bunny party favor craft. The bunny is all curled and has faded ink pen and magic marker around its edges. Looking at it more closely, I turned it over and discovered that one can make out the manufacturers writing on the inside of the card. 
I would like to conclude this blog with those words in a minute. First I would like to say, may we all find time, even if it is just two minutes, to put on our thinking caps to come up with solutions to the new problems we are currently facing. Also, take time for yourself. If you do have an Easter egg or basket hunt at your home or yard this year, I hope they won’t be as hard to find as my mom’s bunny pattern was for me. I have to admit, the hunt was worth it. Now starts my hunt for 1-1/2 inch soufflé cups.
The surprise conclusion I promised you: “May hope and health be yours this holiday and throughout the coming year.”
Love,
Janet and Rainier 