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Jennie Moraitis - Dedicated to helping you nurture your God-given creativity
Jennie Moraitis
Dedicated to helping you nurture your God-given creativity
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Creative Life

How to Make Miniature Houses for a Christmas Wreath - Want to dress up a wreath but don't have the budget and/or time? This tutorial uses a couple of common items to make cute houses for a wreath. p.s. If you hole-punch the houses and add a ribbon, they also make darling ornaments! @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, Holiday, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make Miniature Houses for a Christmas Wreath

Several years ago, one of my sisters gave each of us the gift of a large wreath that we decorated with supplies she purchased. It…

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How to Make a Simple Quote Canvas - Pull out your paints and make this project in an afternoon. It's so fun to see your favorite song lyrics or quote in the form of a canvas print. via littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make a Simple Quote Canvas

I love our local library. It’s my go to for testing out all the books on my Amazon Wish List—you know, to see if they…

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How to Make a Paper Doll - Here's a tutorial on how to make a sweet paper doll and her friend. You'll love how easy this is and might not want to give it away when you're finished! :) via littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make a Paper Doll

Learn how to make a paper doll with this sweet tutorial! When I was a little girl we had a small box with several different…

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Sweet Notes & Hot Chocolate - Meaninful Gifts 101 - Some thoughts on how to make gifts that are meaninful plus the most delicious hot chocolate recipe you'll ever taste. (Makes a great gift, but I recommend making a double batch so you won't be too sad giving it away. ;)) via littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, Holiday, littlegirldesigns.com, Prompts and Tips, Tips

Sweet Notes & Hot Chocolate – Meaningful Gifts 101

The road to creating more meaningful gifts began many years ago, before I even knew what a meaningful gift was. One Christmas, my mom bought…

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How to Make Book Page Art - Use pages from an old book to make this simple craft. This is such a fast craft and you'll love the results! via littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make Book Page Art

When my mom was a teacher, she would often round up a stack of discarded books from the library at the end of the school…

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The Ultimate Gift Guide for Crafters and Creatives - Looking for a great (and meaninful) gift for the creative person in your life? Look no further! Here's a guide suitable for crafters, art journalers, DIYers, designers, wanna-be artists, and probably you, too! Great ideas for Christmas, birthdays, and just-because gifts. #artjournal #giftguide #Christmasgifts
Posted in Crafts, Holiday, littlegirldesigns.com, Prompts and Tips, Tips

The Ultimate Gift Guide for Crafters and Creatives

Oh my goodness, I am so excited about this ultimate gift guide for crafters and creatives! This gift guide is FILLED to the brim with…

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How to Paint a Journal Cover - Buy several plain journals, learn how to paint them with this tutorial, and give them away as gifts this year! via littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Journaling, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Paint a Journal Cover

One of the treats of going to The Hello Sessions last month was getting some creative time at the end of the day. When I…

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How to Make Ocean-Themed Hoop Art - Whip up this simple craft in an afternoon for your own home or the ocean-lover in your life. Makes a great Christmas, Mother's Day, or birthday gift! @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make Ocean-themed Hoop Art

Growing up in a little town in Southern California meant we spent many Saturday afternoons at the beach. My mom would pack a lunch and…

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How to Make Letter-writing Fun - Learn some tips on how to make letter-writing fun + a couple super easy tutorials! @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Letter-writing, littlegirldesigns.com, Tips & Prompts

Make Letter-writing Fun With These Tips

As I have been writing letters for the Bring Back Snail Mail challenge this month, it’s been so encouraging to come across more and more…

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This Was October - Are you doing the brave work? A look back at the month at littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Creative Life, Creativity Prompts and Tips, Life, littlegirldesigns.com

This Was October

Hi everyone. This post is going to be a little different from my typical monthly recap post. Usually I recount the projects I’ve been working…

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How to Make Name Cards (With a Secret Message) - Learn how to make simple and beautiful name cards for your special holiday meals with a twist. Each card has a secret message inside! A great way to show your guests that you care. @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, Holiday, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make Name Cards (With a Secret Message)

For as long as I can remember, my mom has made name cards for holiday dinners. Sometimes she paints our names, sometimes they are written…

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Art Books You and Your Kids Will Love and Use - Lab Series - I recently came across a series of books that I've completely fallen in love with. Whether you (or your kids) are budding artists or wanna be creatives, these are the books for you. Refreshing, creative, and completely accessibly for anyone. I love them! @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Creativity Prompts and Tips, Kid-friendly Crafts, littlegirldesigns.com, Prompts and Tips, Tips

Art Books You and Your Kids Will Love – Lab Series

One of my favorite places to frequent at a book store is the crafting/art section. I’m sure you guessed that, right? I love pulling out…

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Kid's Table Craft: Table Runner - How to make a simple table runner for the kid's table for Thanksgiving. You can also have the kids help out with this one. :) Tutorial @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, Holiday, Kid-friendly Crafts, littlegirldesigns.com

Kid’s Table Craft: Table Runner

After I made napkin rings for the kid’s table, I had an entire cereal box that was crying out to be used. And since we…

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Kid's Table Craft: Napkin Rings! - Ah, the kid's table. Give them something fun to do with these super simple fall-themed napkin rings. You're going to love these! @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, Holiday, Kid-friendly Crafts, littlegirldesigns.com

Kid’s Table Craft: Napkin Rings

The kid’s table. In some families, it’s a thing of legend. The tables off to the side covered in paper so the kids can draw…

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Make a List of Happy Things - a Simple Path to a More Thankful Life. When we reflect on the joys in our lives, even if they are seemingly small, we build up our thankful muscles little by little. Learn more @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, littlegirldesigns.com, Prompts and Tips, Tips

Make a List of Happy Things

Many years ago I drew a “Whenever You Need a Smile” postcard for a friend to give her some happy things to think about if…

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Lovely, Creative, & Simple Fall Crafts that you've got to try this year! Learn how to preserve leaves, paint a gorgeous watercolor leaf, and make a book page pumpkin! Too much fun @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Holiday, littlegirldesigns.com

Lovely Fall Crafts to Make This Year

Fall is in the air here in the Pacific Northwest. Seemingly overnight, we went from wearing shorts to searching for our sweatshirts. The leaves have…

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When {and Why} to Silence Your Inner Critic - Is it ever okay to listen to your inner critic when it comes to creativity? How do you silence it so you can get down to the real work of creatiing? Learn more @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in littlegirldesigns.com, Prompts and Tips, Tips

When (and Why) to Silence Your Inner Critic

If you’ve stumbled upon this article, I’d venture to guess that, like many of us creative types, you struggle with your inner critic. I received…

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Encouragement Stones - Learn how writing out words on simple stones can do a transforming work in your life. Words really do have power. @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make Encouragement Stones

Several years ago, I sat on a folding chair at a woman’s event at church, listening to the speaker. She shared about her life and…

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Consume Less, Create More - Have you ever noticed how easy it is to fall into the habit of learning and taking in information to the point where creativity gets pushed to the back burner? Well, believe me, you're not alone. I'm sharing some thoughts about how to make more room for creativity @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in littlegirldesigns.com, Prompts and Tips, Tips

Consume Less, Create More

I think the phrase, “Consume Less, Create More” is going to be my new motto. I would like to make it into a t-shirt, write…

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How to Make Felt Food - a simple tutorial on how to make felt food for imaginary play. Tutorial includes cookies and bow-tie pasta. Super simple and a great way to use up felt scraps! @ littlegirldesigns.com
Posted in Crafts, Creative Life, Easy Crafts to Make, littlegirldesigns.com

How to Make Felt Food

Have you seen the cute felt food you can buy for imaginary play these days? I’ve been wanting to buy my daughter something like this…

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Copyright

I love it when you pin and share tutorials and articles that resonate with you. However, please remember that everything on this blog: articles, photos, drawings, and artwork are created by Jennie Moraitis and are under copyright. Please do not remove watermarks, crop, or edit any of my images or artwork without first receiving written permission from me. You may use one photo to share but please link to the original post on my site. The printables I offer are for personal use only. Please do not email the pdfs to others. Feel free to share the original post link for the printable with your friends and family so they can come over and download one of their own! Thanks so much for stopping by!
“But soon there breathed a wind on me, Nor sound “But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Nor sound nor motion made:
Its path was not upon the sea,
In ripple or in shade.

It raised my hair, it fann’d my cheek
Like a meadow-gale of spring—
It mingled strangely with my fears,
Yet it felt like a welcoming.”

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I probably read The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in school…the fact that I can’t quite remember when or if proves it didn’t make an impact on me. 

But, with Malcolm Guite’s guidance in his work of a book, I now love this poem. He interweaves Coleridge’s life and faith with what became a prophetic poem for STC’s own life. I am so grateful for this book. 

I wanted to make a little painting for my dad for his birthday but having been steeped in the Mariner, I kept painting the sea. Thankfully, my dad loves the ocean. :)

This is a book I will come back to again and again—I think it will make an excellent mid-winter read. :)
I admit I sometimes schedule creative time. I don’t know why something so relaxing and fun gets pushed off to the side so very easily, but it does. So…onto the “to do” list it goes. 

Today we decided to try a project in a fairy and mermaid activity book. It is one of those books you buy with great intentions of doing all the projects and then you forget about it. But not today! We painted, waited for the paint to dry (five minutes), and then drew our details. My kiddo drew a picture 4x the size of mine and managed to make me two late Valentine’s Day hearts, a flower for Mother’s Day, and several additional art presents by the time I finished. She also gave me advice about who should get a heart wand, etc. in my picture. 

Now that I’m finished, I’m reminded once again of why I do this. Happiness abounds. 

#creativeretreat #happyjournal #happyjournalhappylife #poscapens
Just a reminder to be kind to yourself. 💕 Just a reminder to be kind to yourself. 💕
Summer means more time for art journaling. The bac Summer means more time for art journaling. The background for this girl has been waiting for years in one of my older sketchbooks. I thought it was time to finally finish it. 💗

Hope you're all able to get some creative time in this week. It does wonders for your 💗!

#mycreativeretreat #happyjournalhappylife #artjournallove
I asked my daughter how she would illustrate this I asked my daughter how she would illustrate this verse from the Psalm of Ascents. She picked up her sketchbook and whipped out the second picture within minutes. I love how she thinks—the first image shows a girl sitting inside while it rains and the second one shows her outside with sunglasses enjoying a sunny day. 

I don’t know if I’ll illustrate each one of these Psalms as I do this 21 days of prayer with @revelationwellness but it was fun to sit down and sketch a bit today. 

#happyjournalhappylife #rwwalkingprayer #psalmsofascent #sketchdaily
I love June. Walked in the forest. Found aphids f I love June.

Walked in the forest.
Found aphids for our ladybug larvae. (Priorities, people.)
Bought watercolor paper + new paints. 
Painted.
Ate dark chocolate.
Finished Tom's Midnight Garden (one of my favorite kids' books that I never read as a kid!)

And other things too.
I love June.
Two posts in a day because this quote from @sarahw Two posts in a day because this quote from @sarahwanders must be shared. Her new book comes out in a couple of weeks, and it is so breathtakingly beautiful.
One of my favorite verses. I’m thinking about ha One of my favorite verses. I’m thinking about happy journaling some of the Psalms of Ascent as I do the 21 Days of Walking by  @revelationwellness this month. Sketching and writing and doodling (which is the same as sketching, I know 😂) are how I process things so I might as well. 😊 

Hope you all have a lovely {and creative} week!

#happyjournal #happyjournalhappylife #mycreativeretreat #psalmsofascent
This book. @sarahwanders poured her heart into thi This book. @sarahwanders poured her heart into this one, and it is a treasure I will keep coming back to again and again. If you struggle with mental health challenges or wonder where God is in all the mess of our broken world...if you just need some light in your current reading that leads you to beauty and hope in a new, healing way...this book is for you. 

I’ve written this caption over a series of days, trying to find the words I want to use...especially since it is so beautifully written by Sarah. All I can say is give your soul a gift and retreat away with this book. You will not regret it. 

I received an early copy as part of her launch team for this book, but I’ll be rereading my good old-fashioned copy as soon as I get it in the mail. Can’t wait to highlight and underline all the things!

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