Easter and Makers Day extravaganza! Note from your publisher: 3/20/19

I'm not sure what it is about NJ Makers Day that has me all amped up, but I think it's one of the coolest fake holidays ever. I have a deep respect for artists because I consider myself to be one of the least artistic people ever. I've recently come to understand, though, that just because I'm not "artistic" in the traditional sense doesn't mean I'm not a creative. I am definitely someone who needs to "create" which is why I love my job as a MK publisher so much.

My favorite quote about "making" that really inspired me over the past year is from Charles Bukowski:

"If it doesn't come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don't do it. Unless it comes unasked out of your heart and your mind and your mouth and your gut, don't do it. If you have to sit for hours staring at your computer screen or hunched over your typewriter searching for words, don't do it. If you're doing it for money or fame, don't do it... If you have to sit there and rewrite it again and again, don't do it. If it's hard work just thinking about doing it, don't do it. If you're trying to write like somebody else, forget about it. If you have to wait for it to roar out of you, then wait patiently. If it never does roar out of you, do something else... If you first have to read it to your wife or your girlfriend or your boyfriend or your parents or to anybody at all, you're not ready... Unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to madness... don't do it... When it is truly time, and if you have been chosen, it will do it by itself and it will keep on doing it until you die or it dies in you."

I love that NJ makes a point to celebrate all of our creatives, our makers, our artists, our hands-on workers, and I think it's such an organic progression to focus on events specifically for children, who are natural creators with no inhibitions, and encourage their creativity!

That said, I have a few articles this week centered around Makers Day:

• A feature on local maker and #momboss Lindsey Shevkun Aguayo
• Local NJ Makers Day events for kids
• How to create a gallery wall using your children's artwork

With Easter also on the horizon, I have:

• An awesome GIVEAWAY for a train ride with the Easter Bunny!
• The 2019 Easter Events guide (PLEASE drop me a line with any egg hunts or events in your towns that you don't see listed so I can add them!)

And a few more this week:

• Spring break camps for those of us sticking close to home this Spring Break
• Get your kid doing math with this printable
• How to make yogurt in your pressure cooker
• How to be a friend to a family whose child has a food allergy

Will you be celebrating NJ Makers Day with your kids? Or am I alone in my enthusiasm for this event?!

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