I have raised little monsters of creative genius. Don't get me wrong—I am proud of them—but with creativity comes a LOT OF MESS. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

My girls are into American Girl dolls. They each have one, and I love that every birthday and Christmas is a piece of cake because they always have an outfit or accessory on their wish list.

Lately though, I've wondered if I should be wasting my money on those accessories. Abby especially has the most fun making her own!

Both girls have little "rooms" set up in the corner of their bedrooms. Here is Abby's setup:

I think every room of the house is accounted for here. That hip black bucket chair you see is made of a cute top and skirt that should be hanging in her closet. (They aren't damaged, just occupied.) The clutter that ensues is a bit frustrating, but I tolerate it as long as it is kept in one corner of the room. (It never does). It's the building process that is the messiest.

The craft room always looks like this.

So they make their creations on their bedroom floors. (Wait, this picture was AFTER she cleaned up! But the strings, supplies, and fabric scraps still carpet the floor. Never mind the hot-glue-gun-melted spot.)

I was too late to snap a picture of this, but one day I found their dolls laying out on a sandy beach of colored cardstock in their homemade swimsuits with homemade beach bags and towels beside them. I didn't think much of it until later when I was cleaning up and found pieces of socks on the floor. Their bikinis were made out of socks! No wonder my daughter never has enough socks! They are resourceful, I'll give them that. They know right where to find my best scrapbooking adhesive and scissors. I had a workshop recently and found all 3 of my adhesive cartridges empty. I've started buying it in bulk.

I'll end my rant and just say: beware of teaching your little girls to sew. Or paint. Or use scissors. Just sayin'.