Ways to Keep Creativity Flowing While Stuck at Home

*Disclaimer, this is a sponsored post.*

One thing that the virus has done has shown us how important being /comfortable in our homes needs to be. We spent months under restrictions and even though things are slowly going back to somewhat normal, it’s still going to be a long time before we are fully back. If you’re a normally creative person you may find yourself stuck despite being stuck at home. Here are some ideas to help keep the creativity while stuck at home.

Get or use a Cricut- these machines are fun and become easy to use. With them, you can design tee shirts, vases, candle holders, tote bags or anything else you can think of. There are tons of different designs you can gain access to.
Find a print on demand site and play with designing shirts or other things. You can find places you can purchase fonts, like this fun tattoo lettering font that will work great on shirts or wall decorations. With those sites, you can sell the items from the website or find a website like Ebay or even Etsy to sell the designs.
Look to Pinterest to get ideas for cute crafts you can do with the kids. I get a lot of craft ideas off Pinterest. They have any types of crafts you can think of doing- for all people.
Find videos on Youtube. Youtube has a lot of expert tutorials for all crafts and following suggested videos, you may find a new art you love.
Keep a journal by your bed, write down any idea that comes to you and write out any dreams you remember. If you love writing, a dream may end up being your next big writing project.
TikTok is a fairly new social network with a feed tailored to what you have been watching. If you search for crafting videos, before long you will find your feed filled with them.
Rest for a day. Give yourself a day of doing nothing to recharge your batteries. If you’re well rested, you will find that you can get those creative juices flowing again.
Redo a room in your house. Print off some art and frame it, make a new sign to hang in your room using the fonts from this site and it will add a pop of creativity. You can also add floral arrangements, redo the layout of the furniture or paint the walls a new color. Watch shows on HGTV or read Better Homes and Gardens to get some ideas.
Learn new baking skills. Watch Food Network or a cooking show, vlog or read a food blog and start testing new recipes. Michaels, Hobby Lobby and other craft stores offer everything you need for cake decorating, including fondant.
Make a list of every craft you have wanted to learn, write them all down and put them in a hat. Draw from the hat to see what skill you want to learn. You could also browse your favorite store’s website for beginner craft kits and pick some at random. It doesn’t have to be intentional.

With the virus dragging on so long, many of us who are normally creative can find ourselves stuck in ruts and straining for ideas to keep our creative juices flowing. If you find yourself in a slump, try one of the listed ideas and let me know how it went. If you have any ideas yourself, feel free to comment and share.

Fishing Destination: Elk Fork Lake

Located in Jackson County, between Ripley and Spencer, you’ll find Elk Fork.

Don’t expect to go to camp up here but you can find a place to stay in Ripley and you’ll only be a short drive away from the lake.

This is more of a day/evening trip location- they do allow people to fish at night and they will enforce fishing license as well as boat licensing.

There is a ramp and the lake is peaceful, so it’s a good starter location when you’re learning to kayak.

All in all, I don’t like this location as much as Charles Fork but my husband does enjoy going occasionally with his dad or friends to spend the day fishing. The lake is big, so if you’re learning to kayak and trying to catch up to a troller motor, it will feel almost like you will be paddling all day.

I went out with my husband and father in law. They both had boats with troller motors and I was trying to meet them. By the time I caught up with them, I felt I had a decent grasp on how to paddle in general.

Vacation Hotel Review: Compass Cove Hotel. Myrtle Beach, SC

The Compass Cove has become my favorite hotel. As a child and teen, we did stay at a few different hotels but none as memorable as Compass Cove and now, I can’t see myself staying at a different hotel.

Compass Cove could be a vacation all in itself. There is a DJ 1-2 days a week live at the pool (the Tiki Hut right outside the main building). They offer three buildings- the Pentacle, the main building and the Indigo (the Indigo used to be a hotel itself but they bought it out and it’s now under their ownership). They offer five kiddie pools, seven hot tubs, two indoor pools and water slides, four outdoor pools and three lazy rivers.

Picture- my husband sitting in the Crow’s Nest

My father in law and child eating breakfast at the Compass Rose

There are a few notable restaurants located inside the hotel as well. If you’re looking for a place to go when the kids are in bed (if you have more than yourself with the kids), The Crow’s Nest, located on the second floor of the Pentacle building has a great atmosphere. They serve foods like hamburgers, hot dogs, onion petals and a lot more, including a full bar. They are also a fun place to take the kids. The prices aren’t bad either and the onion petals are the best I have had. They offer vodka made with corn, for those who have gluten intolerance/Celiac (Eddy’s flavored vodka) and sweet tea or pop for visitors who don’t drink.
They have nights with live music, karaoke and always have the TV on at the bar.

When you make your reservation, you can get free breakfast buffet tickets for the Compass Rose. The Compass Rose is located near the check in desk on the main building (Schooner). They open at 6 am and close for breakfast at 11. The buffet has something for everyone- if you like bread, they have biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, sausage, cereal and anything else. The coffee is actually good and you can also get coffee to go after you finish.

The Tiki Hut offers slushies, drinks (alcoholic and non) and other fast/grilled foods poolside. They are open from 11 to 7 at the main pool in front of the Schooner building.

The Compass Joe is located on the bottom floor of the Pentacle building. They sell Starbucks brand coffee as well as pastries (mostly Starbucks brand)
The bad thing is that you don’t get points with a Starbucks card, can’t use Starbucks gift cards nor the app- but it’s still Starbucks food/coffee.

If you go to the fifth floor in the Schooner building, you will find a fitness center, reservations come with a free DVD rental (the DVDs are located in the pentacle building), if you have a room with no washer/drier, there is a laundry room in the pentacle building but some rooms come with washer/driers and dishwashers. They have grills for resident use located by some of the pools with plenty of picnic tables.
They offer free Wi-Fi for residents as well as a business room with computers and printers.

From the friendly service when you check in at the front desk, to the friendly staff you constantly see working hard around the hotels, this hotel has me expecting a lot from a hotel and the staff. We haven’t ran across unfriendly servers any of the times we visited any of the restaurants and even when you walk back to your room and interrupt housekeeping, you still get your fresh towels and trash taken out (although it’s extremely easy to take it out yourself). There are ice makers in some of the rooms and ice machines all over.

One problem we run across nearly every year, though, is that at least one of the three elevators is always broken down in the pentacle building. My father in law stayed in that building this year while we stayed in the Schooner. At one time, two of the three elevators were broken down.

Playing on the beach in front of the hotel, digging a 3 foot deep hole in the sand.

We always stay in one of the family suites, ocean front. It offers a large, wrap around balcony with a great view of the beach. The room has three beds, two bed rooms, dishwasher, coffee makers, microwave, range, washer and drier and large living room with a pull out bed.
The single rooms offer one bed, a large room, ice maker, coffee maker, range and microwave and both room types offer all dishes, pots and pans.

This is a hotel I always recommend to people when they’re thinking about going to Myrtle Beach. It’s my favorite hotel out of the hotels I have stayed in, in any state. There is always something to do and even days it storms, you are bound to find entertainment.

Doo-Wop Car Show

Event- Doo-Wop Car Show
Dates- 10/2/19-10/6/19
Location- Charleston downtown boulevard

The Doo-Wop is a show that happens annually in the beginning of October. It starts on Thursday and ends on Sunday, with fireworks displayed on Saturday night at the Kanawha river.

They have vendors, people selling auto parts, some of the cars being shown will be up for sale but most of the cars are being shown by the owners and a lot of care have been put into the (primarily hotrod) cars.

Since it’s close to Halloween, they always have a group that comes in with fun themes. This year had better Halloween props than most stores. It was a “Zombie hunter” theme complete with animated zombies and monsters jumping out when you walked past.

They have food, drink, fireworks, cars, the Drag Racer hall of fame induction and a lot of older music. It’s a fun (but loud) atmosphere to bring your future car lovers. It’s located down one street, so it’s easy to walk from one side to the other as you’re viewing all the cars and there are a lot of interesting stories- from car owners from WV and other states.

If You Visit Charleston, What is there to Do?

Charleston, WV is the largest town/city. It has a bad reputation and there are areas that are dangerous after dark, but no where near as bad as big cities in other states. It’s the capital city with a lot of history and a lot of stuff to do.

There are more areas to visit than just the downtown area, but just downtown has the Towncenter mall, the shops on Capital Street and all downtown is loaded with small privately owned shops.

If you’re going out near South Hills, or going to Kanawha State Forest park, you may want to drop by Bridge Road to check out “The Shops on Bridge Road“

If you have babies/toddlers:

If you come in the Summer, Coonskin Park and Kanawha State Forest are both great for all ages. There are plenty of hiking and walking paths in both parks with playgrounds, picnic areas, ponds and creeks.

If you have older kids

If you travel as far as Southridge, you’ll have a few choices. There is the Memorial ice rink beside Target where you can take your kids ice skating.

Marquee Cinema is the best movie theater in the area and after the movie, you can visit

If your kids want to play, Chuck E Cheese is up the street from the Walmart

There is also the Sky Zone right beside Marquee Cinema.

Outside of Southridge, there is a museum inside the capitol complex, the Civic Center has events- you just have to watch to see what they have. They have concerts, conventions and on occasion circus and on ice events for kids.

If you travel to the east end, there is the Clay Center which occasionally has

If you have teens

If you have teens, the towncenter has several trendier shops to go clothes shopping, there is Live on the Levee during the summer, the civic center and most of the other locations I mentioned for older kids work for teens as well.

If you’re traveling with adults

If the adults are over the age of 21, there is the bar district downtown. You walk around after dark on a weekend, and you’re likely to hear music and meet a lot of friendly faces standing around.

There are lots of restaurants to choose from and you can choose one of the not-so-child-friendly movies. The shops up and down Capitol Street and Bridge Road are filled with boutiques and other fun shops and the city of Charleston also has events like walks for various charities.

There are options for artists downtown, music lovers- a lot of the bars have local bands play shows on weekends, if you enjoy jogging or running there are plenty of places to go, downtown is friendly to walkers and bikers so if you’re traveling through WV, Charleston can be a destination worth visiting.

Camping Destination: Charles Fork Lake, Spencer, WV

Charles Fork Lake is a 70 acre lake with 21 miles of hiking trails where people fish, kayak and take other boats out. It’s a peaceful and relaxing area with a camping ground and bait shop located just above the lake.

You can choose between renting an electric campsite where you can plug phone chargers and other devices or a nonelectric if you’re camping more traditionally.

If you want to use the pavilleon for a birthday party, reunion or any other event, it is free- as long as there is an open picnic area.

We went with the intent on going camping the weekend of our anniversary (3rd-the 5th of August) and picked the wrong time. It rained the first night, so we stayed in the Boggs Grandview Motel located just a few miles away from the lake.

The inn was a good experience, they had cable and friendly staff. It cost less to stay, than fancier motels and we didn’t need fancy accommodations since we were going to the lake the next day.

We happened to go during one of the major events, so it was too crowded for us to finish what we wanted to be a private celebration, but we have gone together on many day trips fishing and riding the boat. We’ve taken my kayak, it’s a great place for a beginner kayaker and every year they have the “Light up the Night” kayak event, usually around the first weekend in August.

If you ever want a place to really get away from it all, Charles Fork Lake has great fishing, boating and hiking options but be prepared to get away- many phone carriers don’t get reception.

WV Fall Event: Gritted Fun Farm

Event: Gritt’s Fun Farm
Location: Buffalo, WV (Putnam County)
Dates: September 21-November 2, 2019
Family friendly, alcohol free, mainly for kids

Gritt’s Fun Farm is an event that starts in late September and ends in early November.

To get to the fun farm, you have to go up a huge, windy hill. It’s a long way off the main road. When you get there, you’ll have flaggers directing you to a parking spot so parking is easy.

There are two paths to take to get to the ticket booth. As soon as you enter, the events inside are free. There is a large corn maze at the entrance.

They have several small playgrounds up on the top of the hill, a corn crib for kids under 6 to play in, a pumpkin “house” set up with several pumpkin displays with huge pumpkins set out, so there are tons of photo opps. There is a pen where your kids (or you) can feed goats (the highlight of my trip was me and my kids being licked by the goats)

They also have a pen with rabbits.

When you’re finished playing up top, every 15 minutes on weekends, they have a tractor ride down to the bottom of the hill. Down bottom, you’ll find several more playgrounds, some large slides, two bouncy pads for kids (Four feet and above on one side, under on the other side but if a child is special needs, they will make exceptions- if you’re not comfortable with your child bouncing with much rougher kids and they aren’t rough.)

They have some carnival type games set up as well.

There is a pumpkin patch where your kids can pick out pumpkins, they sell mums and they have apple and pumpkin donuts and their lemonade is really good.

When you go, it’s best to go early in the morning and plan to stay at least a few hours. It likely won’t be a full day trip, but definitely will take a couple hours and as you get closer to noon, it will get more crowded.

Couple’s Getaway Vacation Destination: Smoke Hole Caverns (WV)

For our anniversary two years ago, in August, we booked the sweetheart cabin at Smoke Hole Cavern.

We originally were supposed to go in August, but due to a death in the immediate family, we had to reschedule. They have a 48 hour cancellation policy and we had to give shorter notice, so we had to reschedule instead of cancel. We also only had a very short time we were allowed to reschedule or they told us they were going to lose our deposit.

We rescheduled for a new date in September and ended up going during a very cold, rainy weekend and we were both starting to get sick BUT the cabin made up for everything. We stayed in the honeymoon (sweetheart) log cabin. The cabin was made for 2 people (actually has rules that you can’t have visitors) and they offer several extras- champagne, souvenir coffee mug (I loved it and used it daily until I dropped it) and some romantic foods. Since neither of us drink alcohol and I have to watch what I eat very carefully, the only extra we got was the mug, which like I said, I loved.

We were recovering from a four hour car trip so went straight to our cabin after grabbing a bite to eat in the gift shop and crashed a bit with some movies and trying out the hot tub the first night. The second day we went on tour of the caverns and shopped around before going back to try to find the football game.
The food was good at the gift shop and there were tons of shirts and stones for sale. We got a gold hunt game and a few pieces of rock for the kids as souvenirs. The staff was friendly.

The tour of the cave lasted around 1 hour. It was decently lit but some parts were dark, they take people in groups, so you’ll be going with several other families more than likely. The tour guides know the cave well and will answer any questions you have.

They have grills spread out randomly through all the cabins for grilling out, there is a small kid fishing pond and a bait shack in the middle and it’s only a couple hundred feet from the river where you can go and fish (make sure you have your license, though).
It was too cold and rainy for us to use those accommodations but we would like to go back to use those and see how great a vacation it is for the whole family.

If you’re looking to get away with your partner, honeymoon or anniversary, I highly recommend staying at the Sweetheart log cabin.

Book Review: The Year of Simple Living

The Year of Simple Living is written by Steph Parrell

She is the creator of ScaleitSimple.com. She wrote this book as a guide to living a more simple life over the course of one year.

The book starts off with the author listing the benefits beyond financial to living a more simple, back to nature lifestyle. She also goes into how her grandparents lived and how she started exploring their way of life a little more.

The concept of the book are working through 12 different areas in the span of 12 months. The challenge is to take the full month and do every part with an open mind, so I cannot tell you how much of an impact it has had already, I’m just getting started with month one but I will update over the course of the 12 months.

If you’re feeling stressed, frazzled and you’re wanting to live a less stressful, simpler and more natural life, this book is definitely worth the read. Remember, nothing happens literally overnight- so how this book is broken down month by month and all the aspects of your life are laid out, this makes it easier for beginners to the lifestyle to ease into the change.

Book Review: The Whole30 Day by Day

The Whole30 Day by Day is a journal. It’s best to buy than check out so you can write in the book.

It gives you a day by day on what to expect, possible symptoms and gives you a place to write encouraging thoughts as well as record your feelings, cravings and thoughts.

It’s a very helpful guide that helps track cravings and helps you get through the challenge easier- because it warns you how you will possibly feel, you can get an action plan started and continue on the journey.