Friday, January 20, 2012

Charming

Having 2 kids with autism has changed my life in a lot of ways. Before we started all of our many therapies, I never knew that a lot of the people that would be helping us would come into our home. Truthfully, it's a little intimidating to have people that you don't know come into your home to talk about the problems your child has and what needs to be done. I am pretty outgoing and knew that my kids needed a lot of help, but I was a little nervous. I guess I always thought of therapy as something that happens at a clinic, but I have realized that really all aspects of life are hard for my littles and so we need therapy in every setting. I do not feel like I even have the words to describe how amazing our therapists are. I literally feel their love for my children. Keep in mind that these kids do not willingly do any of this!! And yet, here they are, tirelessly motivated and upbeat. Bramli's therapist, Mara, always greets us at home or school with a new idea to help Bramli and her victories are just as special to Mara as they are to me. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten a text on the weekend or in the evening from Mara following up to see how she is doing or to offer advice. She is priceless!!!
I found out that it is Mara's birthday tomorrow and so I really wanted to make her something that was meaningful. A puzzle piece is the symbol for autism and Mara started working at the program she is at in 2001. So with this as my inspiration, I decided to make a charm necklace.
I had a gift certificate from Christmas and I have been wanting a few charm making supplies so I went with my 40% off to Michaels and got metal cutting craft shears. Some metal sheets, the alphabet stamps, and the thing that drills holes, sorry can't remember what they called it. It is the silver thing up top. Then I found a 2001 penny for the year she started and a 2011 dime to mark her 10 year anniversary there. I also got a chain and some jump rings to attach the charms.
The puzzle piece was a bit tricky, the far right was my first attempt and it was pretty rough, I tried scratching it up so it looked distressed, but I knew that a second attempt would be better. I also got 30 gage metal and then found a site that recommends 22-24 for charms so that could have been part of it. I cut out the second one and then, of course, decided hers needed to be gold. I cut the last one out of gold and then stamped it with letter O's to make it more textured and not so plain.
It was a fun little project, didn't take very long and I think its something a lot of moms, teachers etc would like!

Here is our sweet Mara and Bramli today at school!! Notice she is wearing her necklace! Happy Birthday Mara!!!!

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