In kindergarten, we always would do fun art projects for the holidays. As Christmas break was nearing, we knew that we would be making something relevant to the winter, so of course, it was paper snowmen. I particularly remember this project above the others, maybe because of the time and effort I put into it, I wanted to make sure it was perfect.

Before we started, I scanned the room and spotted glitter, colored paper, buttons and gems, and  in my little five year old eyes, they looked like an art supply gold mine. I wonder, what I could make with them? What designs should I do? Maybe I could make it an ice skater, or standing by a Christmas tree or just a traditional snowman. Right as I was thinking, I heard the teacher say “You may begin now” and  without much of a plan, I dove right in. I grabbed markers, colored pencils and crayons and started coloring the coal eyes and mouth, embellishing details on the nose and wildly decorating my snowman. Too concentrated on what I was doing to notice the minutes that I was working fly by.  I began drawing on a scarf, sprinkling some glitter here and coloring some polka dots there. I saw that everyone else was starting to complete their projects when the teacher asked me: “Kaley, are you almost done?”

“Yes” I instantly said without looking up.

Nearing the end of my work,  I started to sprinkle gems onto it, gazing at them as they turned upside down and finally landed in the glue that I smeared on the snowman. As I was finally finishing, inserting the final touches on my masterpiece, the teacher came back to bother me. What could she want this time?

“Your gems are upside down, Kaley, are you sure you want them like that?”

“Yeah, it's fine.” I replied, even though I did want them to be the right way.

Now I just need to put a few more details in and i'll be done! So I went to go get some construction paper, glue, and scissors. I got back to my table and snipped the paper into tiny pieces then glued it to my snowman.

Then finally, the masterpiece that took me hours to create was completed with my best effort, and I was proud. I strutted over to the counter with my head held high and a smile on my face, because I knew I had forged something that I was very proud of.