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  • Coping Through Creative Expression

    Posted by Colleen on March 11, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    The life of a teenager can be challenging. You are dealing with body changes and stress from worry about school, peer pressure and probably a number of other concerns. Adding PH to the mix must be difficult. Do you have a creative outlet to help you cope, perhaps artwork, music, journaling or photography? Share what you like to do.

    jen-cueva replied 4 years, 1 month ago 3 Members · 9 Replies
  • 9 Replies
  • Brittany Foster

    Member
    March 11, 2020 at 7:55 pm

    I always liked to do crafts. Especially some canvas painting along with using glue or a hot glue gun with add ons in the picture. For example, for my cousins 1st birthday I made his initial out of small buttons glued onto a canvas that I painted a background color. There’s always some cool canvas ideas on Pinterest to copy. I’m not creative in making up my own designs but if you give me something to copy I usually do a good job and it’s pretty relaxing and mindful!

  • Colleen

    Member
    March 12, 2020 at 5:20 pm

    Brittany, the gifts we make are the most special. How great is it that something you really enjoyed making is probably going to be something that your cousin will keep and enjoy for the rest of his life.

  • jen-cueva

    Member
    March 14, 2020 at 4:14 pm

    Such a great question, Colleen. Unlike, Brittany, I am so not creative. I do like to journal and write. I think that having some creative outlet is important for everyone, even more, important for teens with PH.

    Like Colleen says, I love the homemade special gifts from the heart. I often write and frame letters on a nice background and frame them for gifts. That is such a great idea, Britt.

    I wish I was more creative. I know a few PH teens who are amazing at drawing and making jewelry.

  • Brittany Foster

    Member
    March 16, 2020 at 3:16 pm

    @jenc I really wish that I could just go to town with baking and cooking right now. But with the virus that I have going on, I just need to keep my distance from a lot (especially food that other people will be eating or that I will be taking bites of!) I definitely don’t want to do anything to make things worse for me or for the people around me. Bakers are super creative in their decorating skills! I think this would be a good outlet for people to utilize now and learn something new or make it fun by trying to create a different dish or some of your favorites at least a couple nights a week. Desserts are always so fun for me to experiment with and try out making “Pinterest worthy” creations.

  • jen-cueva

    Member
    March 16, 2020 at 3:42 pm

    Great points, @brittany-foster. I love cooking and have some fantastic dessert decorators out there. I am not the best in this area, although I can make it taste good. It may not look pretty, hehe.

    I do like to be creative about once a week when making dinner. I need to start back again as I would try one new recipe per week.

    My daughter was more a baker than I am. I like to eat baked goods, is that a hobby?

  • Colleen

    Member
    March 16, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    I’m really not much of a baker unless you count the cookies I bake with the store bought pre-made cookie dough. However, this whole situation made me remember something my mom use to have me make with her when I was really little. We use to make chocolate covered frozen bananas with sprinkles (or jimmies which is what we call them in NJ). I purchased the ingredients this weekend but haven’t made them yet. Might do that tonight then watch a movie with my family.

  • Brittany Foster

    Member
    March 17, 2020 at 12:58 pm

    @jenc I don’t know about you but I would classify eating baked good as an extreme sport. It takes effort, determination, and practice LOL. But seriously, I saw a meme that was a news interview and on top of it said “what are you planning on doing during the quarantine” and the woman said “just sit around eating bread and desserts and getting all fat and sassy” I nearly peed my pants from laughing so hard! Definitely would be relatable if I could eat all the bread and desserts I would HAHAHA!! I am definitely a sweets gal myself!

  • Brittany Foster

    Member
    March 17, 2020 at 1:07 pm

    Colleen,

    That sounds fun and really easy to make!! If you just concentrate on the fruit inside the chocolate coating you can pretend it’s healthy too. Anything is possible when you believe it is LOL! I like to dip treats in chocolate and find it pretty relaxing to stir the chocolate and let it harden over whatever I am dipping into it. I really like to dip brownie balls in chocolate and make a cake pop. I usually do this by making brownies and letting them cool a little bit but taking them out of the oven a little before they are done so they are more gooey and moist. Then I form them into balls (I think people should be doing this with gloves especially now) and then dip them with a spoon into chocolate and put it on parchment paper. you can even add some sprinkles, nuts, coconut, pretzels chopped, etc on top! Super easy!

  • jen-cueva

    Member
    March 18, 2020 at 3:22 pm

    Too funny @brittany-foster, I love that! Fat and sassy is what I will be for sure. Of course, when I cannot get out and get things, I want everything except what I have at home. -Hehe

    @colleensteele, did you make your treats? I like Brittany’s thinking; if you dip fruit into chocolate, it becomes healthy. I think all things are healthy during this time. I thought about you, Colleen, hubby came home the other day with break and bake cookies. Hehe –

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