Meet The Crafty Mommy
I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself officially since I have gotten a lot of new followers this week.
My name is Jenn Andrlik-McMurrer. I have been in magazine and online publishing most of my career. My favorite jobs were at Child Magazine and Martha Stewart. I loved both of these jobs because they let me use my creativity daily and I was surrounded by awesome and talented people every single day.
Eight years ago this week I became a mother and decided to scale back and freelance instead of going into an office every single day. It was the best decision I have ever made! It allowed me to spend time with both of my kids while taking on projects I really love!
Then my daughter was born in September of 2016. She was a tough one from the start and we quickly realized not everything typical. After lots of testing, therapies (for her and I), and more testing, she was diagnosed with Autism and Apraxia. This forced me to scale back significantly in all aspects of my life and focus on what my daughter needed most - support. I am a firm believer in early intervention and research, so I dove into both for her. We are so lucky because we have an amazing team of therapists and specialists and I’m happy to let you know that she is making leaps and bounds when it comes to speech, behaviors, and gross and fine motor skills. She is amazing, fierce, and inspires me every single day.
Then COVID happened and, like many of you, we were all forced to stay home and start virtual learning. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding times of my life as a parent. I learned, I definitely need more patience (who doesn’t), that children are resilient, and when you put your mind to something, it can be successful and fun!
I’ve always crafted and created with my kids, but quarantine was a whole other story! We crafted every day, sometimes more than once a day and displayed our creations in our windows so passersby could see and enjoy them. One night when having a socially distanced, outdoor happy hour with my girlfriends, they said “I wish you could just come to my house and teach and craft with my kids, we would love it!”
That was the moment The Crafty Mommy was born. I decided to take all of the projects I had been working on with my own kids and put them into kits for everyone to enjoy. I have subscribed to every one of the box kits on the market, but some months were a hit and some were not since you don’t get to pick what you want. My kits are by theme - that way you pick what your child enjoys most - and come with everything you need (materials and easy-to-follow instructions) so you don’t have to go to the craft store, or search around for materials, you can sit with your children or send them off on their own to make!
Those magazines I mentioned before were awesome to work for, but this has truly become my passion. My motto is craft, create, celebrate! I hope you will enjoy my kits as much as I have enjoyed making them for you.