Today I’m going to be talking to the mommas who need a little break to paint or craft. If you’re like me you find painting to be extremely therapeutic. I’ve had so many women in my Painter’s Clubhouse sisterhood talk about how painting is an escape that relieves so much of their anxiety. It’s true, painting has this really great effect on us. However, sometimes for us moms it is really hard to get away from our kids to do something we enjoy, or need to work on without getting distracted. I’ve been there and I totally get how difficult crafting when kids are home can be! 

During these days of COVID, many of us are at home working and teaching our children who are learning remotely. Carving out time in a busy schedule for yourself is so important. You can’t pour from an empty cup, so in order to be the best version of yourself you need to be able to fill that cup up.  

I’m sure you’ve seen my kids pop in while I’m doing a Facebook live occasionally. That’s okay, though, because before I’m a business owner, I’m their mom. Typically, I try to give my kids a heads up before I go live on Facebook.  I also have some tips to keep them busy long enough for me to get some painting done. These have worked well for me, I hope that they do for you too! 

Note: Affiliate links included within this post for your convenience. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Crafting When Kids Are Home

Crafting when kids are home is hard. When my kids were younger, I would paint during nap times because it was the only time I could get some time to myself. If you need a way to keep your kids occupied while you paint, I highly recommend finding “special” things that they only get to play with while mommy is painting. 

For example, we have a large plastic bin that is full of dried beans. This plastic bin has little tractors, shovels and toys in it that will let them scoop the beans. My kids love playing with this! I also keep things like Play Doh and water beads on hand. Keep these things put away and only allow them to be pulled out on special occasions, such as when you paint. Sometimes, I resort to technology by letting my daughter doodle on my iPad when I’m painting. It’s a fun thing for her to do and it gives me time to paint. Since it’s not something they get to do often, kids will be more likely to stay entertained longer with the special toys than with their regular toys. 

Let Your Kids Craft at Home With You

A fun part of crafting when kids are home is that sometimes they want to paint with me. I always have wooden crafts and canvases on hand for these special moments. You can pick up some cheap wood craft or canvases from the Dollar Tree. This set of ready-to-paint wooden Christmas ornaments from Amazon is also a fun craft option to keep on hand. 

Grab some different colors of paint and let the kids have some fun! You can craft together and even teach them some things you know along the way. 

Make Your Kids Feel Included

Sometimes the small things in life are the big things. This might seem like a small thing, but anytime I was painting, I would welcome the kids to come watch for a minute and talk with me. We would talk about the project I was working on. I would ask what colors they thought that I should use. This really helped my kids to feel included in what I was doing. 

Often times I talked about the customer I was painting the door hanger for. I’d explain to them that painting is what I did for work. I would explain that painting and selling door hangers is what pays for a lot of the fun things that they get to do. This really helped them understand that mom has a business and that also respected that the thing I was doing was important. 

When my kids were really young, I would often hand them a paintbrush and let them play pretend. Give your kiddos a paint brush (no paint of course) and a painted door hanger and they will love to play pretend along side of you! 

Make a Deal with Your Kids

This mom is not above bribery for time to craft when kids are home! There have been many times that I promised my kids we would go to the pool at 2 PM if they let me paint for a couple of hours uninterrupted. Believe me, it works!! Think of something fun or special that they want to do and make a bargain with them for time. Most importantly though, make sure you can follow through with your deal and that you get your part of the deal FIRST!

Running a Crafting Business with Kids at Home?

Working from home while your kids are learning remotely can be challenging. You still want to be able to grow your door hanger business and be creative. As things get hectic though, sometimes it’s easy to fall into a creative slump. I wrote an entire blog post on how to get out of a creative slump, you can find it here. 

If you find yourself painting or crafting at home with kids often, you should really consider joining our Painter’s Clubhouse. It’s a sisterhood of women that will inspire you. There are also monthly challenges that will stretch your creative ideas and keep you motivated to keep painting. Painter’s Clubhouse is only open a few times a year, so you can head to the waitlist to know when it opens again. 

Maybe you’re an established business and just need to find some ways to boost door hanger sales. I wrote an entire blog post on how to get more sales. If you’re looking for more ways to level up your business even when you have to fit it in between nap time and bedtime, Paint 2 Profit might be the perfect membership for you! P2P is the only business coaching membership made specifically for door hanger artists!

As a mom who runs her business inside the home, I just want you to know that I get how difficult it can be sometimes. However, I also know how important and therapeutic crafting when kids are home can be for me too. I hope that you are able to use some of these tips to get some time to craft while the kids are at home!

 

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