aleatha shannon

stylish recycled hangtags

2012-02-24T11:22:00.003-08:00

if i do say so myself.

these hangtags have been a long time in the making. ever since i officially opened up my etsy shop a year and a half ago, i've wanted hangtags for my products. i want them to look legit when customers open their packages. i also want them to have a tangible, readable, memorable reminder that the item came from my shop. i wanted all these things, but i just didn't have the money to order custom ones or the printing capabilities to print my own (our printer won't do cardstock).

i don't have much money, and recycling stuff is my shop's schtick anyway, so i knew i wanted a recycled sort of hangtag. i went through a few different designs but nothing seemed to work. i wanted them to look colorful and memorable, and obviously recycled. about a year ago i had the idea of using recycled cardboard like cereal boxes after watching a youtube video about doing just that. i could also use playing cards, puzzle and game boxes that are missing pieces inside, or anything similar.

finally this christmas i made a pretty decent amount of money from my shop. yay! i decided to invest it back into the shop, so i bought a circle punch and some printmakaing supplies which are for my fabric labels that i'll write about later. the circle punch was for these hangtags. i had the rather brilliant idea to take advantage of the colorful side of the cereal boxes to make my hangtags colorful. then i printed out a few sheets of kraft paper cardstock on my neighbor's printer with the design i had come up with. cut those out, and sewed them to the circles. colorful, recycled hangtags! since i used the colored side facing up, i can hand write a size and some care instructions on the reverse. finally, something that should work great for my shop!

moop market bag knockoff

2012-02-23T07:49:00.001-08:00

yesterday i was reading this fun book when i saw this bag in a picture. it's a moop bag. i saw it and said, "i must have it!"

this is kind of funny because i hate handbags.

well, i don't hate them. i just have never gotten into the habit of using one because i don't like schlepping them around. i prefer to carry my wallet and keys in my pockets, and have my arms free. but for the past two years i've had to use a diaper bag, so i'm schlepping that around anyway. and it is very functional, but ugly. i saw this moop bag and thought, "diaper bag!" it's not quite as functional because it doesn't have a cup holder pocket or an outer pocket, but otherwise it is about the same.

(please pardon my unbrushed hair)

of course i had to make it in a bright pink fabric. he fabric is from a thrifted tablecloth i had in my stash. isn't it great?

the pattern was pretty easy to approximate. it is just a few rectangles and pleats. it took me about an hour start to finish. a very satisfying project!

feel so good

2012-02-21T11:38:00.000-08:00

when i was a teenager, i did a lot to move my body daily: p.e., running, stretching, yoga, lifting weights, walking. back then i was single, and i didn't have kids. almost everything i did was for myself. that is not to say that everything i did was for pleasure. i never actually liked p.e. i didn't really like school either, most of the time. but it was still all about me -it was an investment in myself.

now, as a mom, and this may be really cheesy, but i find that a larger portion of my daily activities are not for myself anymore. i have less time for my own activities, even ones that are not pleasant. luckily, i love being a mom and find it fun and fulfilling. but just recently i've noticed that i'm not taking care of my own body as well as i ought. i eat fairly well (though i do have a sweet tooth) but i haven't exercised regularly in, oh, two years or so. it is just hard to fit that in. especially since i have so many fun projects lined up in my head that would take up all the "me" time i have if i allowed it.

i was telling someone the other day that i feel like i'm in for a long stretch of "on" years and "off" years, meaning pregnant years and not pregnant years. this is (i hope) a not pregnant year, and so i have about 1 million projects i'd like to do before i get pregnant again and most of my energy is used to create and carry a new baby (which is wonderful of course, but can be frustrating when you don't have the strength or energy to do all the projects you'd normally do).

anyway, the other reason i haven't exercised is that i got pretty lucky in the skinny gene department. i've always been skinny no matter what i do. i gain a little extra weight while pregnant and then it all comes off within a couple months. it's nice to have an easy (really, effortless) time of maintaining my weight (and yes, i know that as i get older this might change). unfortunately, being skinny does not mean being strong, having endurance, or being flexible. my legs have almost zero strength -seriously, they are embarassingly skinny. i can't run more than 5 minutes without getting extremely out of breath and coughing and wheezing the rest of the day. i can't reach down and touch my toes -not even close. being able to do these things, i would argue, is much more useful than being skinny, but for some reason much more easy for me to ignore.

but somehow i got inspired to brush the dust off my old pregnancy yoga dvd (figuratively. i'm actually using the netflix instant view version). i can feel that my body is still in a postnatal state, so i thought the pregnancy workout would be best for now. i love yoga. it's slow and deliberate, so i don't end up wheezing (i think i might have some kind of asthma?) it helps with flexibility and strength. this one has lots of squatting poses (labor position anyone?) which have really been working on my wimpy legs. also lots of stretching -maybe someday i'll be able to touch my toes. i've never been able to. not even as a child (well, probably as a baby. but i was in ballet class at 6 and remember not being able to). yoga helps me remember to breath well (they remind you throughout the workout) and concentrate on moving each part of my body to get the position correct and feeling good. in a lot of workout movies, they go so fast that you can't get the position right before they've moved onto the next set.

so i've been doing my yoga dvd every day during naptime. it feels so good to do something for my own body. i love, truly love my body. sure, it has many weaknesses, but i love what it has to offer: most notably the senses. i have a taste for beautiful things and if i could not see, hear, touch, smell or taste the things around me, i think i would die of sadness. while yoga isn't really about beautiful things, i relish the feeling of focusing completely on my body for the moment. moving a muscle just so; breathing in and out rhythmically, feeling the burn while stretching, holding unusual poses that force you to contemplate your body. i used to do yoga a regularly...it feels so blanketyblank good, why did i stop? so here's a new goal: do yoga during every naptime that i possibly can, and don't stop!

tour de force

2012-02-16T08:34:00.000-08:00

not sure if it's appropriate to call my own piece of art a "tour de force" but oh well. i'm proud of myself!

before reading this post, you may want to read this one about dying wool with kool-aid at the beginning of this project. it's been a while since i started this project, and i blame pregnancy :)

about a month ago i finally cut into my kool-aid-dyed turquoise wool felt yardage using the pattern showing in the link above. i believe i cut it out, and sewed most of it together in one night. i used flat-felled seams to make the jacket look cooler :)

after it was all sewn together it was obviously lacking...something. i'd been reading my alabama chanin book recently and decided to try her spiral applique idea. i had some leftover jersey bedsheet scraps that were light blue, so i dyed them first with a little black and then with tea to get the warm grey color.

then i cut out the circles, decided on the placement of them, and hand stitched them on.

in the end, i wasn't sure what kind of buttons to use. nothing i had worked. the jacket is so unique that i was worried i'd never find anything. for now i just used some felt scraps stiffened by glue and embellished with embroidery floss. i might change them eventually if the right buttons come along. the felt buttons are hard to use because they stick to the fabric while i'm trying to fasten them.

you may wonder where i got the time to do this. well, lately samuel has been reading to me in the evenings. actually, he reads to me every night, but usually in bed. lately we've been reading in the living room on the couch, and i do projects like this while he reads to me. just an half hour here and there really adds up.

this is one of the most intense projects i've ever done. i believe it may only be rivaled by the coat i made in high school. for that one i tore strips of complimenting fabric scraps (reds, browns, greens) and sewed them together to make striped yardage. then i quilted it onto a psychedelic bedsheet with quilt batting in between. then i cut out and sewed a coat from the quilted yardage. oh my, it was awesome. i should probably take pictures of that....

anyway, for this i:

felted the wool

dyed it with kool-aid

cut out and sewed it

dyed spiral scraps

cut out spirals

hand appliqued spirals on

made buttons

i love it so much! and it reminds me a lot of when i was in high school :D in a good way.

our new van!

2012-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

last year with our tax refund we bought a house...this year we bought a minivan!

unlike the house, we were able to pay for the van in full :)

isn't it beautiful? it's a 2004 kia sedona with leather seats, a dvd player, cd/cassette player, power everything, and only 96,000 miles. we paid $5779.50 including all the sales tax and everything.

our beloved subaru legacy station wagon has been with us for our whole marriage. it was a gift from Samuel's parents (actually, it was on loan to Samuel as a single man at BYU. when we got married they gave it to us) and now it is going back to them, possibly for his little sister to use, or something like that. it is a really great car.

i absolutely love that car. people, it has 322,011 miles on it. yes, the transmission was replaced about 150,000 miles ago, but still. we've owned that car for almost 5 years and it has cost only about $1500 in repairs and maintenance. it has taken us on approximately 10,000 miles of road trips alone, often loaded to the gills with furniture, presents, luggage, and people.

thank you, subaru. :D you are a great car.

we decided to get a van because the subaru is very old and has so many miles on it. we want more kids so pretty soon we would need a van anyway. and we wanted to get one before the subaru broke down so we could take our time picking one out.

i spent weeks looking around on craigslist and edmunds.com reviews to find this van. this is what i did:

search "minivan" on craigslist for under $6000

pick out the ones with the lowest mileage/fewest issues

write down the make, model, and year of each van i found

look up each one on edmunds.com car reviews to see if there had been any recurring problems with each van (this knocked out about 2/3 of the vans i found!)

vans that survived the edmunds screening process were emailed to myself

i also started to look for specific make/model/year vans that i knew were good, thanks to edmunds

then i waited and debated for a few days until this van with only 96,000 miles showed up right in our price range. i checked the carfax report to make sure the mileage was accurate and it hadn't been in any major accidents. it was everything we were looking for and had about 30,000 fewer miles than all the similar vans i'd found. so we went and had a look, slept on it, and then bought it!

what i love most:

-only 96,000 miles!

-lots of space

-leather seats (samuel doesn't like this)

-power locks and windows. the subaru has hand-operated locks. remember those? like, i am holding peter and trying to keep abraham from darting off. i fumble in my pocket and get the keys. i unlock a door. i reach back with my hand and unlock the door behind it. i open the door and put peter in his seat. then i walk around the car with abraham. i unlock the door. i reach through with my hand and unlock the door behind it. now all the doors are unlocked! and i will have to lock them all one by one when we get to our destination. NO MORE! yay power locks! now I can unlock all the doors with one button.

-the sound system on the subaru was a little messed up. i think the driver's side speaker was broken. now everyone can hear the sound.

-the air conditioner works!!!! not so important right now, but in a few months this will be sooo nice. so nice to NOT arrive places sweaty and red-faced, with your shirt stuck to your back.

-the air conditioner has vents in the back too. so nice for the kids :D

being used means that our new van could break down within a few months. it's possible. here's hoping all my research will be worth it and this van will last us until we outgrow it!

steam buns

2012-02-02T07:41:00.001-08:00

the other day we made steam buns for dinner, using our new bamboo steamer and this recipe from a seed catalogue :) It took about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish -not bad for a meal from scratch, especially one that involves fresh bread, and stuffing things.

One major thing I've learned in my years of cooking is that recipes are mere suggestions. Baked goods are less flexible than other things, but for the most part the foods I cook for meals are flexible as far as ingredients are concerned. Understanding this saves me a lot of money. Instead of buying expensive special ingredients, I buy similar things that are cheaper because they're in season or more common. It also gives me the freedom to use up what we already have instead of going out and buying more stuff.

So, to make these, I took note of what we already had in the fridge (lots of cabbage, lots of chicken, a couple mushrooms, cilantro; but no bok choy, chives, or basil) and modified the recipe. It tasted great. It would have tasted great if I'd followed the recipe exactly, and it would taste great using completely different vegetables, meats, and mushrooms. Steam buns are basically stir-fry in a bun, and stir-fry is incredibly flexible.

Abraham enjoyed them too! He was afraid to try it at first, but I found a new trick. Abraham loves to smell things. I smelled my steam bun and said it smelled good, then held it out to have him smell, and he said it smelled good. After two or three times doing this, he literally couldn't resist taking a bite after smelling. And then a couple more bites! Now he knows they are called steam buns and that they taste good :D

We're excited to make other versions, most notably a sausage+saurkraut version. Yummy!

garden plans 2012

2012-01-31T05:29:00.000-08:00

I am so excited for this: my first real garden ever. I have been doing tons of research and planning. Here are my plans as of January (always more extensive and complex than what actually happens in July, but that's half the fun).

I'm using a modified square foot gardening layout. Our garden plot is roughly 20'x8'. Here's my map:

1 cabbages and radishes
2 beets and carrots
3 cucumbers
4 peppers
5 tomatoes
6 tomatoes
7 peas, then green beans
8 various leafy greens
9 green onions, regular onions, and herbs (at least cilantro and basil)

Planting starts in late March with peas and leafy greens outdoors, and tomatoes from seed indoors. Before that happens, we need to fix this:

That's our garden when it rains. Not only does it flood, but it also has landscape cloth under the dirt. So before we plant, we have to dig out the landscape cloth. I already did about 1/3 of that, in October and November in my post-pregnancy state. It was really exhausting and I could only work for about 20 minutes a day and then I'd have to take a nap! Hopefully we can get it done together in Feb. or March in one afternoon. And when that's done we have to spread soil over it to fix the grading issue. That portion of our yard is a good 12 inches lower than the portion next to the house. I'm hoping if we level it out then the water won't pool anywhere and will just soak into the ground throughout the yard.

Here's a picture from today. I moved the brick border a couple days ago, so now it is nice and straight. I'm planning to use more bricks (we have tons) to line each garden bed.

So in March we will hopefully be adding soil, then planting peas, greens and radishes (a few each week or two through April and even May for a continual harvest). Then in April we'll plant beets, onions, and carrots (in a similar way through June, for a continual harvest). In May we can plant green beans where the peas were (for a continual harvest) and cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes all at once. I'm only planting two or three cucumbers, two or three peppers, and tons of tomatoes but those will be for canning so I want them to all ripen at more or less the same time. In June, July, and August we will go crazy trying to use or preserve all the produce :) and in August we can start planting more leafy greens for a fall garden. Salad greens only do well in cool weather, so we will not be getting any salad in June, July, and August. I'm also planning to plant cabbage for the fall garden, but I can't remember when that happens. Hopefully we will be harvesting all kinds of things in August and September, followed by just greens, cabbages, and root veggies in October and November.

Now that you think I'm insane, I'll explain how I plan to actually use all this food, should I be blessed with success.

cabbages and radishes: we love cabbage and radishes, and I'm planning to try and make saurkraut to store the cabbage. Cabbage also stores well in a basement-type environment.
beets and carrots: these also store well in a basement-type environment.
cucumbers: eating fresh, possibly pickling some.
peppers: fresh, canned salsa, freezing some for cooking
tomatoes: I know that looks like a lot of tomatoes. But last year Thora bought around 40 pounds of canner tomatoes and it made about 8 quarts of tomato sauce. That's like 8 jars of spaghetti sauce. Not a lot if you're thinking about the whole year! Forty pounds was maybe like two paper boxes full. TONS. We can also eat them fresh, and canned as salsa
peas: fresh, frozen
green beans: fresh, frozen
various leafy greens: fresh, with some frozen spinach
green onions: fresh
regular onions: basement storage
herbs: fresh, canned salsa, homemade pesto (frozen), dried

We're getting a half-size deep freezer for free from someone who's moving. I already have a canner. I'll have to buy more jars and lids and freezer bags/jars. For the basement storage, we'll see if it works. No way of knowing unless we try it! If things start to go bad I will try and can things or give them away. At the very least, it can all go into the compost pile.

It's easy to plan an extensive garden in January :) (actually I have been planning for the past three months) especially when it is your first garden. We'll see what actually happens. I know it won't be perfect, and some things will fail, but I'm hoping to record my experiences so I can keep tweaking and perfecting my garden each year to get better and better throughout my life.

bubble wrap printed skirt

2012-01-30T06:55:00.000-08:00

Here's the skirt I made recently, printed with fabric paint and bubble wrap for a stamp. Before cutting out the skirt pieces, I stamped two paint colors onto the fabric: a blue grey and a tan, letting the first layer dry before adding the second. I love how it turned out!

I have both big and small size bubble wrap in my possession; hoping to get more use out of them both. I used small bubble wrap for this project. The result is a honeycomb-like pattern. The big bubble wrap produces big, wrinkled polka dots. It looks pretty neat.

I decided to use exposed seams for this skirt because I liked the way they added a linear element to all the circles, and accentuated the skirt shape and structure.

I have an idea for a grease-splatter-stained shirt of mine, to use masking tape to make wide stripes of bubble wrap print and plain t-shirt. Or maybe a big circle logo on the front, made out of bubble wrap printed through a circle stencil.

new art on the walls

2012-01-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

speaking of needing art on the walls, i finally made some art to hang on the giant blank wall in our living room. eventually it will be replaced with a box shelf, but until i make that we will enjoy this wallhanging!

remember the flower quilt i'm making? ok, apparently i never blogged about it. long story short, my grandma gave me a box of pieced flowers that someone gave her a long time ago. i picked out a bunch and appliqued them onto 12x12 blocks and made a queen size quilt top. it is basted and just under half quilted (by hand). i'm still working on that. it is taking a long time. but i had a few extra flowers left over, and i love looking at them so much that i finally realized i should hang them on the wall and enjoy them, since i don't know what else i'd use them for. i already have pillow shams to go with the quilt.

so i made a giant piece of cardboard using smaller pieces and tape. then i covered it in fabric. then i adhered the flowers onto the board in a star pattern. i love it!

i also hung up these pretty papercuts of the four pilgrims from the chinese epic "Journey to the West." monkey, sandy, the monk (forgot his name) and pigsy.

and here is a pretty vase i bought last month at a thrift store for $3.

while i was hanging these things up, abraham kept saying, "that's prettys!" and "that's prettys flowers!" it was so sweet of him :)

alabama chanin skirt

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-08:00

this was my first experience with stenciling using the techniques from Alabama Chanin. i made this skirt using the pattern and stencil from her book "Alabama Studio Style." some of the paint bled through the stencil, but overall it turned out pretty cool.

here it is modeled on my new dress form! i got it for Christmas. it's a "twinfit" from the 1960's. it's like a wire chain link corset that you put on and bend to fit you. it works really well!

here are the things i used: fabric paint (dye-na-flow -which was probably actually too watery for stenciling, but it was ok) stencil, spray adhesive, and a sponge.

it was really fun to get all messy with the paint and stuff. i made another skirt using fabric paint and bubble wrap for a stamp. it turned out pretty awesome. i will post about that later. :D

sewing projects of 2011

2012-01-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

1 shirtdress

1 jumper

5 needlebook/pincushion sets

1, 2 slipcovers (didn't blog about my own chair's slipcover, because I'm not done with the matching chair yet)

1, 2 skirts (one was a simple maternity skirt i never blogged about)

1 Han Solo jacket

1 Princess Leia costume

1 mei tai (for a friend)

Note that only 5 of those items are adult-size clothing, and only 3 of those were for me. I was pregnant. For some reason I don't like sewing for myself when I'm pregnant. It's hard to fit my body, and my body keeps changing anyway, and it's all so temporary....

And in the first month of 2012 I’ve already made

1, 2, 3 skirts (haven't blogged about one of them yet!)

1 shirt

1 jacket (just need to find the perfect buttons....)

1 rug

2 pairs of curtains

ALL of the clothes were for ME. And I credit that 100% to the fact that I’m not pregnant anymore.

cooking as a family

2012-01-25T09:18:00.000-08:00

last week we made spicy soba noodles together, with bean paste dumplings for dessert using our new bamboo steamer. it was so fun! the food looked so pretty, even while we were making a mess, i just had to take some pictures.

the noodles were tossed with finely chopped cilantro+parsley+olive oil+jalepeno+fresh garlic
then they were topped with poached, shredded chicken marinated in a soy sauce mixture, fresh red and yellow pepper strips, and blanched snow peas. the whole thing was meant to be served cold, which was great because we had to take it over to a friend's house for a samurai dinner/movie party. it was fantastic!

here's samuel poaching the chicken

noodles cooking and dumplings steaming

a big, but tasty mess

final result (noodles are hidden under all the yummy chicken and veggies)

the dumplings were made with sweet rice flour and filled with red bean paste (a can of red beans mixed with sugar and blended, then fried with lots of oil until it turns into a pasty candy-type consistency) then they were steamed for 10 minutes. they were so yummy! chewy and sweet.

i'm so happy i married a man who loves to cook. i love cooking too, so cooking together is practically a date! i believe abraham was napping this time, but lately he has been joining in the fun too. last night he helped put potato chunks in a pot of water for me, and he also "helped" samuel cut butter into flour for a pie crust. (we had shepherd's pie. yum.) ever since i let him taste cookie dough, he has been interested in helping cook. :D

tidied computer wires

2012-01-20T08:27:00.000-08:00

I was trying to take a nap on the couch, but in doing so I was forced to stare at our computer desk and the tangled mess of wires underneath it, in plain sight. I had meant to tidy them earlier, but it seemed like such a hopeless mess.

before:

So finally I just got up and fixed it. It's such a simple thing and makes a huge difference! I also cleaned the desktop, which also makes a huge difference.

Everybody has lots of cables these days. If you're like us and have a super old (but very updated) computer box and printer and none of it is wireless, that adds up to a lot of cables. Most of them are longer than we need, so that ends up being a tangled mess of lots of cables. Even if you have some wireless things, there are still all the cords needed to plug those things in while charging. And things that aren't wireless: Stereo? DVD player? TV? Landline phone? Lots and lots of wires. In my ideal world everything would be wireless and work perfectly all the time. But that would require replacing every electronic we own.

It took about 30 minutes to do this.
First I unplugged everything from the surge protector.
Then I placed each electronic where I wanted it (on or under the desk).
Then I put the cords where they needed to go.
Then, starting from one end, I bound the cords together with twisties and velcro strips.
Then I folded up excess cord and bound that with twisties.
Then I put in a little cup hook on the underside of the desktop, and hooked the rope of cables onto it and out of site. This picture shows (barely) the cup hook that is pulling the rope to hang behind the file cabinet and out of sight:

Everything plugs into our two surge protectors hidden behind a file cabinet. One is for our phone, and the other is for everything else (so we can turn off the "big" one every night and leave the phone one on). To turn it off, I just reach down behind the desk (I don't have to crawl under it -it's accessible from the side) and flip the switch.

Here's a closeup of what is visible:

Ideally the file cabinet would be in front of the outlet and jack, so almost nothing would be visible. But I am totally ok with this amount showing. The plates are centered on the wall, so in order to make them disappear either the desk would be way off center and look funny, or we'd have to make new outlets, rewire, and patch/spackle/paint the old ones. Not worth it to me. Yes, we're missing an outlet plate. Need to get one! And yes, we're using a phone jack doubler thing when there are two jacks on the outlet. I think it's just so we won't lose the splitter...

new shirt McCall's M6398

2012-01-11T09:08:00.000-08:00

I made a new shirt for myself, McCall's M6398. I like it. It was easy to sew (although I have to mention -DON'T SKIP stay stitching the neckline) and I like the drapey look.

This is the shape of the shirt that makes the drapey part:

It just curves out at the waist about 8-10 inches, and then straight down.

vintage bedsheet curtains

2012-01-06T07:16:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, I bought this vintage bedsheet. I wasn't sure what I'd use it for but it was too cute to pass up. I finally decided to use them to make curtains for the dining area of the kitchen. Last night I sewed them and this morning I hung them up. They are so bright and cheerful :D

I almost always prefer floor-to-ceiling curtains, but in this case one of the windows is behind the table. Also, I didn't want them to get food spilled on them, so I didn't want anything below table level. Anyway, there wasn't enough fabric. I cut the bedsheet into quarters to make these -nothing was leftover.

Cute and fun! Click on them to better see how bright and colorful they are.

And don't mind the missing baseboards (if you even noticed!) we refinished them and they are waiting to be glued on.

a new rug, colorful + wabi sabi

2012-01-05T06:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it. I bought 18 rag throw rugs and stitched them together to make an area rug. The green rug I had before had two problems: it was too small and it blended in with the walls and couch, so the room looked rather boring. I went back to the store I'd bought it at with the intention of spending another $35 for an identical green rug and whip stitching them together. It would still be boring, but the size would be much better.

The rug was about the right size back when we just had the loveseat. But with the big Ektorp sofa it was too small to look right.

Then I saw a pile of colorful rag throw rugs and came up with the idea to make an area rug. I bought 18 of them at $3.99 each. They were really colorful and crazy. I thought maybe they would look too colorful or too crazy. But then I remembered what my bedroom had looked like as a teenager:

That's me at 18 and a friend, Annie. I absolutely loved my room as a teenager. It was colorful and crazy! If I liked an object, I hung it on my wall. Today, I still love this picture of my old room, and I feel a little sad that my house is so much more boring. You can't see it in the picture above, but in my doorway I had made a curtain out of playing cards. I punched a whole in the top and bottom of each card, then used wire to link them all together in a chain. I made probably 8 chains and hung them in my doorway like a bead curtain. A lot of the art on the walls was done by me or a friend. The rest was random items I'd found or been given.

Now, I do like a slightly different style these days. A bit more "grown up" I guess. I like fewer knick knacks, and more natural colors. But I still love rooms that are colorful, I still love hanging unexpected items on the wall, and I still love using pretty found objects for decor. The walls are still bare in my living room, but slowly I am coming up with ideas of what to hang up. I feel better about the boringness when I remember we've only lived here 6 months, and we're not moving for a while! Really this is the first chance I've had as a married adult to truly decorate, since we've only lived in one place for one to two years at a time until now. We're stuck here for at least five years!

Here's a picture of the rag rug:

I love it for a few reasons. First, it's made out of rags, and you know how I love recycled stuff like that. Also it has that "well-loved, well-worn" wabi-sabi kind of look.

Second, it's an old concept to sew small carpets together to make big ones. It used to be how all area carpeting was made. I love connections to the past like that.

Third, I feel like it's more "me" and that I'm understanding more what my style is now. Obviously as a teenager I had a very defined style, and I want that definition back.

Major items on the to-do list for this room: slipcover the pinky-orange chair to match.

Tidy up the computer wires so they're not as visible, and build a 4' long box shelf to hang above this desk, for pictures and knick knacks.

Build skinny open white bookshelves for either side of this dresser.

knit skirt and Alabama Chanin

2011-11-17T08:33:00.000-08:00

Time to dust off the ol' blog.

Recently I've been obsessed with Alabama Chanin. It's a company headed by Natalie Chanin of Alabama. She designs handstitched, hand appliqued, stenciled, airbrushed clothes that she encourages others to re-create using recycled materials whenever possible. What I love most about her stuff are the texture and the details. Stuff like that just makes my eyeballs cry out with joy.

So with some birthday money I went out and bought some fabric and supplies to start making some Alabama Chanin-inspired clothes. I've got all sorts of plans, but first I made this skirt with some fabric I bought at Jo-Ann's. I was intending to buy only solid knits, but this printed knit was so pretty I bought a yard and made a skirt. It is fairly thin, soft, and fuzzy, and I wanted to make it a bit heavier for winter. So I flatlined it in recycled t-shirts (Alabama Chanin often uses double layers of jersey in her products). I love it! It's the perfect weight -kind of like a sweatshirt, but it has a lovely swingy drape still. And I sort of hearkened back to the Alabama Chanin inspiration by using old t-shirts to line it with.

Incidentally, I just bought several pairs of fleece-lined tights, and I'm wearing the grey pair in these pictures. They're fantastic for winter.

Peter's birth story

2011-10-05T06:14:00.000-07:00

Labor for my second pregnancy began on October 1 in the late evening. I was hanging out with Thora while our husbands were at the General Conference priesthood session. We were watching a movie and I realized I was having very uncomfortable contractions. They weren't painful enough for anyone to notice though. When our husbands came back I told Samuel about them, and we talked about how they would either go away overnight or keep coming. We stayed up pretty late with Avram and Thora, and I was feeling increasingly tired and uncomfortable. When we got home I knew the only thing to do was try to sleep like normal. I was able to sleep, sort of, but I felt like I was constantly being woken up by contractions.

Around 7:30 I could feel something wet trickling between my legs and I wondered if my water had broken. As I stood up out of bed, I felt something squishy slide out of me. I wondered if it was my mucous plug coming out. I walked to the bathroom and sat down. My underwear was soaked in blood and there was a horrifyingly big dark red chunk that looked like a clot, sort of. It was about the size of a golf ball. I immediately thought it might be from placental abruption, which, as I understood it, is very scary and life threatening for both mom and baby and means you need a c-section immediately. I called Samuel over and showed him and he was really scared too. There was still more blood coming out. I called the midwife, Cassandra, and told her what was going on. She asked me if I could feel the baby moving and I said yes -he even had the hiccups right then. She said it was normal for some women to bleed during labor because of the cervix changing and stretching. She said to keep an eye on the baby's movements, the contractions, and the bleeding, as well as how I felt (I felt fine at the time, but if I ever felt dizzy that would be bad) and keep in touch with her. She said it sounded like I was in labor!

I was very relieved to hear this. The bleeding was still freaky -it was like a very, very heavy period, with clots. But now that I knew it wasn't an emergency (at least not yet) I was able to feel calmer and hope and trust that everything would progress the way it should. I can't remember all I did that morning -I think the next thing I did was soak in the tub for a while, and then take a shower. The contractions were definitely getting stronger and stronger. I was supposed to try to go to the hospital at around 5-6 centimeters dilated, so there would be enough time to get my GBS antibiotics, since I had tested positive for GBS this time. So I had been monitoring my cervix all morning, and when it reached what I thought was about 5cm I called Cassandra and told her we were heading out. We went to the hospital, at around 2:30. We dropped Abraham off at Avram and Thora's house. Before we pulled away I had Samuel give me a priesthood blessing in the car. It was a very comforting and reassuring blessing and made me happy to be a mom :)

Labor wasn't too intense yet, so I was able to walk into the hospital just fine. I was actually a little worried that labor was stalling, but I knew that sometimes it slows down when you go to the hospital because of the change in environment. It just takes a little while for the body to get comfortable again and keep progressing.

We went to the triage room, which is where I had been the most worried about being, since I knew I'd have to be monitored and wait around until they said I was in labor. But since I had to go it a little earlier than I would have otherwise, it wasn't a problem. Labor wasn't intense yet, so I just lied in bed and listened to the baby's heartbeat. The nurses were obviously a little concerned about all the blood. Since I had to completely undress and put on a gown, it was seeping out everywhere. There was a LOT of blood. It was really scary, but the baby was still doing totally fine, and I felt fine too. Triage was pretty boring. It seemed like it took about an hour to get out of there. But finally we went to the labor room. Sadly, it was not a room with a big tub like I'd wanted. They said they wouldn't be able to monitor my blood loss if I were in the water. They also said they wanted to keep me on the the monitor continuously. So I had to do two things that I hadn't planned on -no tub, and continuous monitoring. But it turned out to be fine because one of the main reasons I didn't want continuous monitoring was so I could use the tub. I don't tend to move around much during labor so I was ok with just using the bed and the birth ball next to the bed. Besides having to work around the cords, the monitors weren't a problem at all. And honestly it was nice to be able to constantly hear the baby's heartbeat and know that he was still doing great, despite the blood that was EVERYWHERE. They did give me a pad and funky hospital underwear, so that helped, but I was still leaking blood on things.

Cassandra came in and we talked about the blood, how dilated my cervix was, that she could feel the amniotic sac, that my contractions had slowed but would most likely pick up soon after my body got used to the environment, etc. I knew that she was concerned about the blood, but she was very good at sounding calm and helping me feel good, and saying that I was progressing fine and we would see what happened! She found a birth ball for me to use, which felt much more comfortable than the bed. I used that for quite a while as my contractions picked up again. At some point she told me that she felt that if she artificially ruptured the amniotic sac, labor would be over very, very quickly. She said my cervix was at 7cm, but was so stretchy that breaking the sac would let the baby's head stretch it open and out he would come. She wanted me to consider it since I was losing so much blood and time was a bit of an issue. I said I didn't want to yet but I might later. There are some risks with doing it, including cord prolapse, where the rushing water carries the umbilical cord down with it and the cord gets kinked, cutting off the baby's oxygen. So I didn't want to do it unless it was really necessary. After a while Cassandra brought it up again. She said my body was progressing fine and would eventually get through to delivery, but if I had her break my water it would be over much sooner. I talked to her about cord prolapse and she said it was very unlikely to happen here because the baby's head was so low that the cord would not be able to slip past it. So I decided to let her do it. I was looking forward to labor being over, but not to having it get much, much, MUCH more intense.

Oh boy. Did it ever get intense. After she broke my water I got on my knees on the bed and leaned on the back of the bed, which was tilted up. I think I had about one or two contractions (which hurt WAY more than the previous ones) and then I started feeling like pushing at the end of them. I started grunting a little after each one, and there were maybe two or three like that. Then I started pushing for real, and I was yelling really really loud. Cassandra told me to feel the baby's head and I reached down and could feel what seemed like a hopelessly tiny bit of scalp :) But then one or two pushes later she said, "You can have your baby after this next contraction!" and I was so surprised and encouraged by that. I thought, really? OK! That sounds FANTASTIC! And I pushed HARD and kept pushing until I felt the baby slide out! It is impossible to explain the level of relief that is felt at that point. I don't think there is anything like it in the world. I picked up the baby and held him, he was all purple and crying, and NOT covered in blood :) Pretty much everything else was though. I had blood literally from the waist down, even between my toes. Somehow I rolled over onto my back and held Peter on my chest while Cassandra did the rest of her work. The placenta was a bit slow coming out so they gave me a shot of pitocin to help. Funnily enough, I didn't bleed super heavily after the birth, I didn't hemmorage or anything. In fact Cassandra said that once she broke my water I stopped bleeding (until after the birth of course). By the way, it took 20 minutes from the moment my water broke until Peter was born!

After looking at the placenta, Cassandra said it looked like maybe an extra "lobe" had in fact broken off and might have caused all the bleeding. She sent it to the lab and is going to call me when they get their results in a week or two. I am really curious about it. I asked Cassandra if she had seen anything like it before, and she said the only times she had seen that much blood during labor had been times when something was very wrong. But since everything about my labor was going perfectly in every other respect, she felt ok with continuing my plan for a normal, unmedicated vaginal birth, as long as things still were going well. I was very glad to have her be my midwife and not freak out about the blood and order an emergency c-section! I really think it was very brave of her to be able to trust my body and encourage me to trust it too.

So Peter Elias Shannon was born at 5:41pm on October 2, 2011. He was two weeks and one day early. He weighed 6lbs 3.6oz and was 18 3/4 inches long. I held him on my chest right after he was born and he nursed for about an hour straight! He seems to be kind of a slow nurser, and right now he is acting a little lethargic. He had a bit of jaundice at the hospital so I am worried it is getting worse. Luckily though I went through this with Abraham and right now I am a few days ahead of where I was with him when we realized he had jaundice, so hopefully I can get enough milk into Peter to flush out the jaundice so he won't have to go back to the hospital. We're seeing the doctor on Friday and they'll test him to find out.

no-sew roman shades

2011-08-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

If you follow me on Pinterest, you may have seen my pin this tutorial for no-sew Roman shades made out of cheap mini blinds. I actually did this project quite a while ago for our old apartment kitchen window. It was so easy and cheap and had such good looking results that I wanted to do it again for Abraham's room.

I used the fabric that I had used for curtains in his room at the apartment -but this new room has two windows, so there wasn't enough fabric for curtains. Fabric shades were the perfect solution. I also bought some blackout liner fabric at the fabric store. It's not too expensive -$7 a yard I think, and if you have a coupon even cheaper. I got lucky and found brand new blinds at the Re-Store for $3 each. But even if you have to buy them at a normal store, they are still very, very cheap -under $10 I think. If you moved into a place that already has these blinds hung up, you're even luckier! Many apartments replace all blinds every time someone moves out -you might want to ask. If that's the case, they won't care what you do to them! These shades use very little fabric, which also make them cheap. Like the person who made the tutorial, I highly recommend Fabri-Tac, but it is expensive so make sure you have a coupon or something.

These shades are a great way to make your room have custom window treatments without spending $100 per window or more. I spent:
blinds: $6
fabric: $10 (from a yard sale)
blackout liner: $3.50 (it was on sale)
glue: $8
$27.50 for two custom Roman shades

I highly recommend this project. If the tutorial doesn't make sense to you, try just going for it and it will most likely make sense when you have all the stuff right in front of you. That was the case with me anyway.

Still to do in Abraham's room:
make pelmet boxes above windows
hang pictures
hang medicine cabinet above changing table
figure out how to fit two kids in here

my very own sewing studio!

2011-08-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my very own sewing studio! I am so excited and happy to have this room. Of course it's not "done" yet but it is basically functional at the moment. It's in our attic room which unfortunately doesn't have heating or air conditioning. However, there is a ceiling fan, and with the windows open it's not too bad in the mornings and evenings or on cooler days. A great project we'd like to do someday is insulate the ceiling and add vents so the heating and a/c can work up here. There is actually a government program here that works on a sliding scale based on income that will insulate your home, so we're looking into that, but we're told you must have one year's worth of utility bills before you can apply.

Anyway, here is the studio:

From left to right are a tall cabinet filled with fabric, a white desk with my sewing machine and serger, my treadle machine, and ironing board. In the left foreground you can see part of my cutting table. No more cutting out on the floor!

Here's the cutting table. It's made out of the same door we used for our computer desk at our apartment, plus a filing cabinet and shelf from the Re-Store. I was going to use our blue filing cabinets, but saw these at the Re-Store and thought they would be better suited.

The top drawer has...not much in it yet

The middle drawer has my etsy shop shipping envelopes, and I'm planning to put my products for sale in there too

The bottom drawer has all my patterns and magazines, with room to spare

Here's my tall cabinet full of fabric

And another cabinet that is still mostly empty. Also you can see my rolls of fabric behind it

And here are all my fabric scraps that don't have a home yet. I'm planning to put up a shelf, buy clear storage boxes, and sort these scraps by color.

Also up here are Abraham's toys. We bring a few downstairs at a time so our living room doesn't get cluttered. Also, he enjoys playing up here while I sew.

And the rest of our attic: bookshelves and a big mess. Someday I'd like to buy a futon for guests to sleep on and put it here.

What do you think? I personally am on top of the world!

new computer desk

2011-08-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here's our new computer/tv desk in the living room. It faces the big window -picture was taken from the couch. We got a solid particle board door at the Re-Store for $15 and Samuel's dad cut it to size for us. It's really heavy and solid. We painted it white. It's sitting on top of the same two file cabinets I spray painted for our computer desk at our apartment. I was planning to use them for a cutting table in my sewing room -but I found something better. More on that soon.

I stapled a fabric skirt to the door to hide all the wires and things.

still to do:
-move the printer from underneath to another location and connect it wirelessly (it is so huge that even with this huge desk it takes up leg room)
-cut a couple boards to size and put casters on them for the computer tower, dvd player, shredder, so they can be stored underneath but still be accessed easily
-buy an adapter so we can use our dvd player and computer monitor to watch dvds instead of our tv moniter (which you can see on the left -it has a really, really bad picture. otherwise we'd just use it exclusively). yes, we can watch dvds on our computer without bothering with the dvd player, but it is not as convenient (no remote) and we have yet to find free dvd playing software that doesn't make the screen super dark. we used to have PowerDvd and loved it but lost it when the hard drive crashed. if you have any suggestions, let me know. also someday we'd like a larger screen. maybe with a tax refund sometime?
-make a photo wall with lots of picture frames on the wall above the desk
-possibly build some shelves and place on top of the desk on each side

Flowers

2011-07-23T06:34:00.001-07:00

There are so many flowers at our new house. Five or six hibiscus bushes (those things are big!) some lilies, roses, sunflowers, and other things I don't know the names of. I've been trying to bring as many inside as I can.

Mini roses I brought inside. The bush is small and looks unhealthy. I will have to do some research to rescue it.

Anyone know the name of this one?

Samuel's mom says this is a Rose of Sharon. It's a big bush!

Hibiscus -this flower is like 10 inches in diameter!

and more hibiscus

sunflowers!

The lilies seem to be gone now, but they will come back next year. I also saw evidence of daffodils when we moved in. TONS of them. Can't wait for next spring.

small progress in the bathroom

2011-07-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

We've done a few small things to the bathroom. This bathroom is very, very small. Smaller than any bathroom we've ever had. The sink vanity touches the edge of the tub so you can't close the shower curtain, and there are about 3 inches of space on either side of the toilet. Both the vanity and the medicine cabinet are tiny and can't hold much. We needed more in-bathroom storage, as well as a hand towel bar. Here's what I came up with:

A small wicker shelf holds lots of stuff! Tall things on top, washcloths, hand towels, and soap in the middle, and lots of small things in spray painted tins on the bottom. Under the shelf I hung a towel bar. I am planning to make some kind of fabric box with a lid for the toilet paper on the toilet.

The other small change had to do with the window in the shower. It is big enough that we needed something covering it for privacy. The previous owners had installed a cut-to-size shower curtain on a tension rod, but I didn't like that because it made opening the window for ventilation difficult. Also it was ugly. So I frosted the window. Now it is private enough for us and easy to open.

things we've done that aren't pictured:
-put in our water saving showerhead
-installed diaper sprayer

still to do in the bathroom (ha. ha. ha.):
-gut the floor and shower walls
-install cement board where the (now wet and soft) greenboard was ripped out
-re-tile entire bathroom (floor, shower walls all the way up, other walls halfway up) we already have the tile
-install ventilation fan
-paint the walls a pretty color (NOT royal blue)
-install a row of hooks so more bath towels can be hung than on existing towel bar
-replace sink and vanity with a simple white sink and fabric skirt

I'm hoping we can do the Big Bathroom Project next year.

small progress in the living room

2011-07-20T08:50:00.001-07:00

We've made a few small changes to our new living room lately. Well, I guess the couch is actually pretty big. We bought Ikea's EKTORP loveseat+chaise lounge with washable slipcover. Yes, it cost $600, but we had the money and so far we have not regretted it. Things I love about it: it fits perfectly into our small house, while still contributing lots of comfy seating; it doesn't look hugely, overwhelmingly overstuffed but it is really comfy; it has a chaise lounge (great for pregnant me); the cover is 100% removable and machine washable; the color hides most stains (Abraham has already wiped his boogers all over it since he has to shove his face into it in order to climb on by himself).

We also got bamboo shades for the living room and kitchen. Here you can see the big ones for the big window. I searched and searched and the price for bamboo shades this wide are around $70, but I got these for $25 at overstock.com because they were on sale for a short time. Unfortunately the smaller sizes for the other windows were not on sale, so I bought them elsewhere, and they do not match in color. But I found them for $15 instead of the typical $30, and they look similar, so I am happy. I purchased the rug for $40 -it is cotton and kind of like a rag rug. We also bought simple white curtains but haven't put them up yet.

This dresser and mirror are on the wall by the front door. We bought the dresser last year at an antique store for $55. It has a beautiful veneer wood grain pattern and is very solid. We use it to hold all our DVDs. I got the mirror on craigslist for $25 the other day.

still to do in the living room:
-build desk for computer/tv
-finish slipcovers for chairs
-re-cover pillows with new fabric
-hang curtains
-hang pictures

Not much left to do in this room! I love spending time in here. I am over the moon with how calm and pretty it feels to me.

New Paint and a New Floor

2011-07-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

I've got some progress pictures finally!
This past weekend Samuel's parents and sister came over to help do projects. Mainly, we painted the master bedroom, the kitchen, and put in a new kitchen floor. They were generous enough to give us, as in, for free, their extra beautiful bamboo laminate flooring they had and help us (as in, Samuel) install it. It looks so beautiful and feels so nice underfoot, I can't believe how lucky I am.

Here's a picture of the kitchen with the yellow paint and the old carpet:

and the dining area:

And here with some new paint on the walls and the carpet+linoleum ripped up. Samuel and his dad had to rip it all up and then scrape all the old glue off.

And here is the kitchen with the new floor and new paint:

And the dining area:

Do you like the yellow lillies? Those came from the garden. If such a thing as an overabundance of flowers were possible, we have it. The lady who lived here before us loved flowers.

Now, here is the living room as you last saw it, with the new paint color:

And here it is with our furniture:

Here is the master bedroom with the old lavender paint color:

And here it is with the new paint color and our furniture and curtains:

In reality the paint color is a little more green and a little less tan. Unfortunately I haven't downloaded GIMP yet since we got a new hard drive right before moving, so I can't really edit any pictures very easily.

That's our progress so far. We are really excited about it all! This Saturday we are having a yard sale. Wish us luck!

Slipcovered Chair and Ottoman

2011-07-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

We are finally moved in to our new house, and have been doing projects for the past week. Haven't unpacked much yet...so I am going to write about all that later.

Right now I want to write about the slipcover I was commissioned to make in May. A friend was trying to sell her house and wanted a recliner+ottoman slipcovered to tie in to the color scheme she was using for her living room. Originally the chair was covered in a nursery print -pale yellow velvet with pale moons and stars all over. So she needed a slipcover that was less baby novelty fabric and more sophisticated. She wanted it slipcovered rather than reupholstered in case she decided to use the chair in a nursery again. But she was unhappy with the selection of ready made slipcovers at the store, because they were all solid colors and she suspected that none of them would really fit quite right. So she called me up and asked if I would make her one.

I said yes, and I'm really glad I did. It took about three evenings of work (not counting buying the fabric and supplies) and was not difficult at all. Luckily the chair was a very simple shape, unlike my wingback chairs, which I still have yet to finish. They are high up on my list though.

Here's the chair in the yellow nursery print:

And here's the chair after I slipcovered it:

You can click on the pictures to see them bigger.

It has a zipper up one of the back corners for easy removal. All the seams inside are serged. I also tested a swatch of the fabric before she bought it to make sure it was machine washable. It's linen and has a cool abstract-ish flower/plant print. It cost around $25/yd if I remember right. I estimated she would need 9 yards, and I was just about perfectly accurate. There is about 1/2 yd left over I think.

It turned out really beautiful! I was so excited to see it come together.

Sewing and Saving Money

2011-06-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

I am feeling pretty good about myself right now because I've made around $200 in the last couple weeks from sewing jobs and my etsy shop. It's really been a flood after a drought kind of thing, since I made $0 in the past five months, but I'll take it. I've been thinking lately about DIY sewing, custom sewing, and money.

Mainly I have been thinking about a common misconception: that sewing saves money. Now, none of my customers were stingy at all so that's not why I've been thinking about it. It's probably more because I feel a bit insecure about charging them, even though I try very hard to have fair/typical prices -and on the lower side since I'm not actually a professional. So anyway, sewing does not save money unless:

-you do it yourself
-you acquire your fabric, patterns, and notions as cheaply as possible
-you have very specific clothing needs, like extra tall or short people do

Hiring someone to custom sew something for you, on the other hand, costs way more than buying something new at the store. Many times more. For example, you can buy a canvas slipcover for a couch for about $90 at Wal-Mart. To have a custom slipcover made for your couch it would cost maybe $200-300 plus maybe $300 or more in fabric. You can buy a wedding dress at a shop for $500, but to have one custom made would cost around $3000. (On the other hand, I was able to sew my own -albeit very simple- wedding dress for $150.) I had a sewing friend who complained once that all her friends wanted/expected her to sew them things like Halloween costumes for free like their moms and grandmas had. Sewing is an awful lot of work, especially sewing custom things for other people. Of course your mom would do it for free, but no one else would or should.

DIY sewing used to be cheaper than buying new clothes. I suspect now it is more expensive because clothes are made so cheaply in foreign countries. You can buy a t-shirt at Target for $10, but by the time you buy the pattern, fabric, and thread for the same t-shirt at Jo-Anne's, you've spent at least that much and probably more. Add awesome thrift stores into these calculations, where you can buy the same t-shirt lightly used for $2, and sewing quickly becomes much more expensive.

The exceptions to this are if you have trouble finding things that fit you off-the-rack, whether at the thrift store or not. If you are really tall or short, or have long arms, or "atypical" proportions, or whatever, it will probably be cheaper to sew your own clothes if you buy the supplies wisely. Another exception is making baby and kid clothes out of unwanted adult clothes. If you need a fancy dress for your toddler for a wedding, you could spend $80 at the store, $10 at the thrift store, or $0 by refashioning the old prom dress in your closet that is stained anyway. If you buy your pattern during a 99cent sale, you would only spend $3 or so total. Because kid and baby clothes are so small, you can often use adult clothes for the fabric, making them free or nearly free. Also, if having totally unique clothing is really important to you, it will be much cheaper to sew your wardrobe yourself rather than buy custom or designer items.

Here are my tips for saving money when you sew:
-cheap fabric sources include used curtains, tablecloths, sheets, dresses, duvet covers, skirts
-never pay full price for a pattern (unless it is out of print and vintage) -always shop when they are 99cents or buy them at the thrift store
-use your Jo-Anne's coupons to buy thread and notions
-understand that for sewing larger items like formal gowns, suits, slipcovers, bedclothes and curtains, you will probably have to shell out the big bucks. Try not to be too picky and do look for a good deal on fabric. Home decor fabric typically starts at around $15 (which is really, really cheap) and can go up over $100 per yard. A slipcover for a couch would take about 12-15 yds, so you could easily spend $400 on the fabric. Formal gown fabric can be anywhere from $10-$50yd and up, depending on the type of fabric. You'll also probably need lining, boning, trims (which are often as expensive as the fabric) a zipper, and thread. It would probably be around 6-10yds of fabric, so that would quickly add up to $200 or more. If you are smart and not too picky, you can lower these prices significantly by trying really hard to find cheaper/sale-priced fabric.

House Hunters

2011-05-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was a child, I've loved looking at real estate ads. So this has been pretty fun for me. I thought I'd tell you about the houses we've looked at so far.

1. $40,000 house -short sale. I found this one online and the pictures looked ok. The hardwood floors looked a little dull and dirty, but things seemed to be more or less ok. I looked up the google satellite view and noticed there was a huge grody pool in the backyard. Yuck. Anyway, we drove by, parked the car and walked up the driveway a bit to check it out. The pool was gone and in its place was a sunken sandy puddle. I guess they filled it in with sand. The garage door had broken windows, and a few of the basement windows had plywood over them. The roof looked questionable -maybe sagging, definitely old.

2. $60,000 house. This was a cute little house and I loved it. It had hardwood floors, a finished attic, a basement, a beautiful tree in the front yard, and the dining area was expanded a bit (if you know cape cod houses we're looking at you know the dining area is too small for more then say two people.) I emailed the listing agent but she said it was under contract :(

3. $45,000 house, bank owned. This one looked rough in the pictures. Our buyer's agent wanted to show it to us, I think because he wanted to make the other houses we were looking at look much nicer. Well, he kind of failed because we went there and the realtor's key had been stolen! We walked around outside a bit. The neighborhood was not very nice looking. The backyard had a truly ancient shed that looked really scary, like from a horror movie. The windows were old, the roof shingles looked terrible. Part of the gutter was hanging off.

3. $69,900 estate sale house. This house was like walking into the 70's. Rusty brown shag carpet, old furniture and drapes, 70s vinyl tile in the kitchen, wood paneling, you name it. There was a working phone in the bathroom -an old vintage phone on the wall by the toilet. It had a label on it that said "Pot Phone". Haha! There was a two car garage in the back that made the backyard feel like more of a side yard because it took up so much space. There was no basement, so the carpet was probably cement slab underneath (I really want hardwood floors). Oh, and there was a huge tree stump in the front yard.

4. $69,900 dream house. This was the first house we officially looked at. It was also the house that started this whole adventure -a friend mentioned it because she lives next to this house and was talking to the owner who desperately wants to sell it because she's already moved. The house has been listed since December (originally at $99,900 and dropped to the current price in January) and NO ONE has made any offers yet! The house is beautiful. It has all new insulated windows, a new roof, a garage with a garage door opener, shiny wood floors, new kitchen cabinets, new bathroom floor tile, a finished attic, a fridge, stove, washer, dryer, and even a laundry sink, a fenced backyard with wood privacy fencing. The electric system is up-to-date, the plumbing we're not sure but going to check again when we look on Saturday morning. The basement smelled musty and had damp areas on the walls. In all fairness, it has been raining much, much more than normal here and if that is all the water that got it I'm not worried. However, we will be sure to check that out. Also, there is carpet in the kitchen and dining area (only place in the whole house) so we'd want to rip that up. It probably has old vinyl underneath, so we'd need to rip that up to expose the cement or cover it with new vinyl.

We both loved it. I could easily imagine us living there. Of course they say not to "fall in love" with a house before things are official because there are a million things that could go wrong in the process of buying it. I know that we might not get the house. We are going to try though, and I hope we get it. If we don't, I will be a little disappointed and then move on with my life. It's not that big of a deal. But in the meantime I am planning all the fun things I want to do to this house.

Another perk to this house is that there were several things left behind that I assume will come with it, since the owner has already moved away. Lots of landscaping things like cement frogs and turtles and birdbaths, lots of bird feeders, a two-tier pond with a pump and lights, a metal gazebo frame...these are all things I don't want and I'm hoping we can have a yard sale and make a few bucks to buy things I'd like for the house, like a rain barrel and a clothesline, not to mention paint (I've already started picking out colors for each room) or maybe flooring for the kitchen.

So that's where we stand right now. We'll probably make an offer on Saturday when we go look at it again. Wish us luck.

Thinking of Buying a House

2011-05-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

In a very sudden change of events, we are now considering buying a house here. Several of our grad student family friends have done so and recommend it. Houses are dirt cheap here (we could easily get a house that suits us and is in good condition for under $70,000) and it would be cheaper each month to pay for a mortgage than rent a house. We will need to move into a house eventually whether rented or owned due to our growing family and the fact that we will be here for 5-7 years.

Taking all other expenses into consideration (taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance/repair) we would most likely break even or come out a few thousand dollars on top in the end, if we are able to sell the house. I was opposed to the idea previously because I am afraid of not being able to sell the house when Samuel graduates, and then we would have to be landlords (worst nightmare, ugh). Will the housing market/economy be recovered enough in 5 years to be able to sell a house in a reasonable amount of time? It seems like it should be. It crashed in the fall of 2008, so that will have been 7+years' time recovering. It can't get worse, right? Maybe?

Like I said, I was totally and completely opposed to the idea until just yesterday, because I was afraid of the risk, and Samuel was too. But we talked about that and agreed that fear is almost never a good reason to make a decision. So then we opened our minds to the idea a bit. Last night we prayed about "whether it were a good or bad idea to buy a house now" and I got the answer "It would be alright." I have very little experience in receiving specific answers to specific questions, so I felt a little insecure about whether I really had gotten any answer. So I asked if "It would be alright" was the answer, and I felt that the answer was "yes." Samuel has said that he thinks I am right about that answer.

So here we are now actually thinking about buying a house. Our lease ends in July and that gives us two months. The market here is very slow and there is literally a house for sale on every street, and cheap. We have many to choose from. First of course we have to visit the bank about a loan, but since several of our friends with the exact same income as us have been able to buy houses I am pretty sure that will work out fine, and I know how to go about it too. (It's really nice to have friends who are a couple years ahead of you on the same path.) Also, we have no debt of any kind, excellent credit scores, and should not (fingers crossed) have to get any student loans while going to school here.

Here's a list of pros and cons. I could really use some input, especially from those who have done similar things.

pros:
-we would have a larger living space for less per month, with a basement for storage and possibly a garage for our poor car
-we would have a private yard (garden? clothesline? kids playing outside without parents worrying too much? yes.)
-we could do whatever we want to the house to make it pretty and increase value (I really think I would LOVE doing this kind of work and would actually do it, and it would be worthwhile)
-we would learn how to do basic maintenance things
-I could get a piano
-we could have a bedroom with no sewing machine or computer in it
-goodbye nasty bluish-purple utility carpet, hello hardwood floors! many (most?) homes we're looking at have them.
-I would have space to put a clothes dryer
-we wouldn't have to move again for years!

cons:
-we might not be able to sell the house when/for as much as we'd like
-we would be in debt
-we would have to do/pay for all the maintenance, including expensive things that come up like new windows, new roof, fixing electric/plumbing stuff
-we might have to buy appliances for the kitchen
-we'd have to move again for the third time in as many years

the pros of renting a house would just be the opposite of the cons above.
the cons would be:
-we couldn't do whatever we want to the house
-we might have to move out at some point if the landlords want to sell the house or something
-the landlords might be horrible people, or they might sell the property to horrible new landlords at any point
-the rent would probably be $100-$200+ more per month than a mortgage payment, plus we'd probably still have to pay all the same utilities

I think I am the kind of person who would be successful buying a house in this situation. I love the work (or want to learn how to do it) that would be involved in maintaining and improving a home. We are extremely careful with our money and I love doing home improvement projects as cheaply as possible -it is fulfilling to me. I'm not expecting to make a huge profit with the improvements but I think we would be able to raise the value of the home.

On the other hand, being THOUSANDS of dollars in debt is pretty freaky.

Ugh. I am excited but still scared!

Slipcover Cushions

2011-04-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've learned so far about making slipcovers: it's hard work! For me and my sewing machine.

So far I've made the two cushion covers. The first one took me about 3 hours. The second one only took one hour!

Before making these I had to:
1. Prewash and predry the fabric in hot water and a hot dryer
2. Iron the fabric (not meticulously -just to get major wrinkles out. It still took an hour. It's a lot of fabric! I'm hoping when I wash the slipcovers I can put them on the chairs slightly damp and they will dry quickly and smoothly)
3. Make 17 yards of piping
4. Cut out the pieces for the cushions

I'm pretty happy with the way they look. They aren't as smooth as the original velvet but slipcovers are never as smooth as upholstery. You have to work with the "casual" look.

The rest should in some ways be easier because there isn't as much piping to negotiate. The only other piping I'm doing is along the front arms and all around the bottom.

They've got zippers in the back and all the seam allowances are serged.

I'm pretty nervous about doing the rest. I've never done anything like it before. A major problem at the moment is that my pincushion and almost all of my pins have been missing for a few weeks. I really need lots of pins for this project but I'm at a loss as to where else to look. I'll probably end up buying more but pins are kind of expensive!

Toy Cabinet and Decorating Plans

2011-04-22T08:09:00.001-07:00

Samuel and Avram were kind enough to hang this cabinet up for me yesterday. It's Abraham's toy cabinet! I bought it for $25 at the Re-Store, and painted it white and yellow so we wouldn't have a huge looming dark presence in our living room. It was very dark wood before, which you can see on the inside that I was too lazy to paint.

I wanted a toy cabinet in our living room for a few reasons. Abraham's room is very small, and when the new baby comes to share the room, it will be even smaller. There's not a lot of room for toys. I liked the idea of having toys in the living room so Abraham could play when we hang out there. But most toys are an eyesore, so I wanted them to be hidden when not in use. Also, I want to start implementing the "toy closet" idea I read about online. Instead of letting your kids have access to all their toys all the time, keep the toys in a locked or out-of-reach closet or cabinet. Every day each child can pick out X number of toys (maybe 5 or so) to take out. At any time throughout the day they can exchange the toys for different ones. That way they don't dump all the toys out, or abandon toys on the floor to get more out. I LOVE this idea and want to start it before Abraham realizes what's happening :)

Of course, some toys are too big for the cabinet! But we're ok with that :) as long as they don't take over the living room. I wanted our living room to be for both kids and adults while still looking nice. That's probably the main reason why I made this little toy area. By the way, the toys in these pictures are about half of Abraham's toys. Maybe more if you are going by size/volume. The rest are in his room.

And here is my most ingenious creation, if I do say so myself. Perhaps you have heard of using double-duty furniture in small houses? Storage ottomans and such? This, my friends, is triple-duty. Food storage + play table + extra seating bench. See the food storage buckets underneath? Flour, beans, rice, and sugar. The table is the perfect height for kids to play at, and also can be used as a bench by adults or kids.

To make things look a little better, I still have a to-do list to check off:
1. touch up scratches and paint bottom of cabinet
2. move kid table/bench over to center it more
3. change fabric skirt to something with a little happy yellow in it
4. paint some picture frames yellow for a few spots in the living room
5. make ivory SLIPCOVERS for my salmon pink chairs (already bought the stuff!!!)
6. make new pillow covers in pretty colors to go with the new stuff

Here's a bonus picture of Abraham. Isn't that semi truck cool? That shawl on the chair in the background is airing out because I wore it last night while cooking bacon. It stinks like bacon, and so does my whole house. Does anyone have any remedies for this? It's too cold to open the windows.

My Sewing Corner

2011-04-19T09:14:00.001-07:00

After my serger arrived, my sewing "desk" looked like this:

That is three sewing machines stacked in a 3x2 space. It was pretty ridiculous. I quickly got tired of lifting machines up and down and fumbling for the correct foot pedal. I never used my treadle machine anymore because it was just too much effort to move all the other machines out of the way, especially when I was often going from serger to straight stitch machine and back again every few minutes. That made me sad because I love to use my treadle machine most of all because it's pretty :)

I decided to get a desk that would hold both of my electric machines. It's just a cheap desk from Wal-Mart. I would have preferred something used and more sturdy and so on but it is hard to find quality used furniture when your requirements are really specific and you would rather not wait very long. We got the desk yesterday and I put it together. I'm very happy with it!

It holds both my machines, fits in the space well, and even has two big drawers.

My treadle machine now has its own spot and is much more accessible. Plus now we can enjoy the pretty antique look without a bunch of plastic and cords all over it. The ironing board is supposed to be up most of the time, but I use it so much that it rarely is.

So there is my sewing corner, such as it is. Just a little corner of our large bedroom. The tall cabinet holds my fabric and a few other notions. All my patterns are in one drawer of our filing cabinet on the other side of the room. I'm very happy to have this much space! The only thing that would make it perfect is a nice cutting table. But I'm afraid that's out of the question!

What do I really want?

2011-04-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

I recently read How to Make Money Using Etsy and The Handmade Marketplace (which I got from our awesome library). I've made a grand total of two sales via my etsy shop since I opened it in October, and neither of those customers left me any feedback. One person ordered a hat for her daughter, the hat was too small, and I said I would be happy to send her another one (because I had sized it improperly in the description -which I immediately remedied) she said that would be wonderful, I said please send me your child's measurements (and explained how to do it) and then she never got back to me. This was months ago. I feel really bad but I'm not sure what to do. The ball's in her court.

I look at my products, and sometimes I think they're great. Other times I think they're ugly, unprofessional, and about to fall apart at any moment. I am scared that someone will buy something from me and it will fall apart at the seams the minute they put it on. It's ridiculous (my stuff is much more well made than that) but I do have this fear.

Arguably the cutest thing in my shop. It's not going to fall apart -seriously.

Then there is the pricing issue. My products are handmade. I try to pay myself a decent hourly wage of $10/hr (though I have been considering $8 recently). This makes my products much, much more expensive than products made in foreign countries where a seamstress might get paid $40 a month for full-time work. But how can I ask people to pay an amount that I would never, every pay for a piece of clothing? Granted, my household income is below the poverty level, and maybe someday I would be willing to pay that much for a handmade product. But currently I am conflicted.

In essence, I guess I am afraid to sell.

I've always had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit. My mom heavily encouraged it -I think she rather has one too. I've been specifically wanting to have a successful Etsy shop since I first heard about it in high school (which was right when Etsy was brand new -and I am kicking myself now for not getting in on it then. But then again my sewing skills at the time left much to be desired.) I want to sell my stuff. I don't even care about making tons of money -I just want to have regular sales. I guess I want people to validate my products and style with their money.

This has been in my shop since October. I think it's adorable.

The two books I read helped a lot. I changed several small things in my Etsy shop that I think will help, if I can just get people to look at my stuff. And I have plans for more changes -like sewing on labels that have my name and stuff. But I get scared thinking that someone will buy something of mine and hate it in person. I guess since no one's bought something and loved it yet. I have friends tell me all the time that my products are adorable, well-made, and I should sell them -and I believe they are being honest. But none of them have the money to buy them.

Will I get more confidence when I finally sell a few things? Will I ever sell anything? I'm going to be selling at a craft show at the end of May. I do feel like if people saw my products in person they would appreciate them more (though I am working on better photos for my shop.) I'm excited but I know, deep down, that I'm not going to sell a single thing. At least that's what I feel. It's depressing.

I'm not a salesperson, and I never, ever, ever want to be like one. I just want my stuff to sell itself. I want people to appreciate my style and share my love for gorgeous fabrics, recycling, and handmade. I know I'm good at sewing and I know I have a unique style, which I'm trying to fine-tune a bit more.

I guess I need advice and encouragement.

How can I shake off the fear of selling things and having the occasional upset customer?

What can I change to make more regular sales?

Who is my typical customer? How can I find them and get them to look at my shop?

How can I advertise/market my products without feeling like a pushy salesperson?

I think my prices are fair, but I'm still conflicted. What do you think of my prices?

I know most of my friends and family don't have the money to buy my products, but would you mind visiting my shop and telling me truly what you would or wouldn't buy if you could? Even if you think something is ugly, at least that would help me find out the type of customer I should aim for. I'll tell you right now so you won't be shy, I regret making the flower pincushions. I now think they're butt-ugly and I am considering taking them out and leaving the needle books by themselves.

Any encouragement would be great. Fishing for compliments here. :)

Style Quiz

2011-04-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

I took the style quiz at http://www.sproost.com/ and I think the results really helped me out in terms of knowing how I want my house to look. I got the result

Rustic Revival:

"The clean lines of the modern softened by rustic /vintage elements is the perfect mix in your mind. And can we blame you? You've taken the best aspects of two popular designs and mixed them in a manner that appeals young and old alike. A subtle background of white or light colors provides a nice canvas for all the wonderful flea market, eBay or garage sale finds as well as the classic modern pieces that you love.

"The material palette for urban country runs the gamut because of the two extremes being mixed. On the countryside you see a lot of wood, woven rope, canvas and linen, rustic metals and wrought iron, cowhide and vintage leather. On the more modern side, you see acrylic, satin and polished nickel and chrome, glass, faux fur, refined leather, fiberglass and sleek woods. It's the mixing of these elements that makes the style work so well. Seagrass and other natural woven materials are often used for floor coverings. Concrete and natural wood floors are very popular, and work really well together.

"When it comes to color, think light, casual and airy. White, pale gray or beige, khaki and sage; all of these colors make nice, subtle backdrops for Urban Country style. Think of the colors of natural linen, concrete, and if you'd like to go dark, use the dark brownish-black of iron or the deep burnt orange of rust. The key is to keep the spaces feeling open (go modern!) and yet warm (yay for rustic!), and by going light on the walls and major pieces and more color on the accents and accessories you can achieve this mix really well."

This all reminds me that I love natural textures and colors, beautiful wood and stone (not too polished) leather, fur, plants, and so on. Linen, wool, and silk -especially if it's textured. I tend to dislike metal, plastic, black anything, bright glossy paint, and so on. But at the same time I don't like the rustic "lodge" style -I do like some light paint and smooth textures to break up the wood and everything.

The quiz mentions that I like modern style, and while I do appreciate a simple, clean-lined sofa and a lack of clutter (though not extreme), in general I do not like the modern style. I do, however, like traditional Japanese design, which does a beautiful job of using mostly clean modern lines without alienating nature. The colors and textures of wood and rice paper, for example, are warm and natural, and when put together in a shoji screen, they look simple and modern without looking cold and fake.

Here's a rather bad collage of what I would want to get if I were decorating my perfect living room:

colors: browns, creams, mustard yellow, "natural" red/green/blue
1. dark brown leather couch with sheepskin rugs draped on it
2. two ivory canvas slipcovered wingback chairs
3. a beautiful rustic wood coffee table
4. a wool tribal rug
5. shoji screens
6. lots of green plants
7. an icon of Christ, because I've always wanted one and I think the warm colors would look good
8. I would make pillows and use a few accessories to bring in more color, especially the yellow, red, and blue colors in that gorgeous rug

I'm actually hoping/planning to make slipcovers for the chairs (which I already have) soon. Oxyclean and sunshine have really opened my eyes to the versatility and utility of white fabric. Since they would be slipcovers, they'd be totally washable and I'm not worried about stains.

Go take the quiz if you'd like. It's fast and only involves looking at pictures. :)

Sneak Peek + What My Serger Can Do

2011-04-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

That's a sneak peek of my latest project for my etsy shop. Made possible by my new serger. I love the narrow rolled hem -it looks so nice and is so versatile. That and the differential feed instant soft gathers makes for super quick and easy ruffles! Yards and yards of ruffles! It's amazing how many yards of 2inch wide ruffles you can get by upcycling one women's cotton shirt. And it's amazing how fast they are to make with a serger :D

Felt flower pincushion/needle book sets

2011-03-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

My latest addition to the etsy shop:

Wrist corsage pincushions

With matching needle books

Several colors available as sets in the shop

I love using a wrist corsage pincushion because it keeps me from leaving my pincushion behind when I move from ironing board to sewing machine and back again. It's always there with me, which keeps me from indulging in the lazy habit of laying pins on the table/ironing board sans pincushion, at the risk of falling off and getting lost in the carpet. Beware, however- habitual use may result in accidental stabbing of pins into pincushion-less wrist when you aren't using the corsage pincushion. ;)

The needle book, which I've blogged about before, is one of the most useful things I've ever made for myself. It is remarkably handy to have all my needles in one place. I highly recommend a needle book to every sewist in the whole wide world.

Now that I have a serger (it came in the mail a couple days ago!!!) I am so excited to make my next product. It is adorable. It is colorful. It is made out of old cotton shirts. :D

Spring Projects

2011-03-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Sadly, there are no leaves on the trees, it is too cold to open the windows, and my wardrobe is completely lacking. It turns out that not really cold+not really warm=me being at a complete loss as to what to wear each day. Add to that sort of needing to wear maternity clothes, but not REAL maternity clothes, AND being rather behind in laundry....

So I guess the result is that I have been doing a lot of home projects in strange and frumpy outfits.

Spring cleaning was on the menu, and since my family came to stay for spring break, I did it just before they arrived. Vacuuming corners, wiping walls, cleaning windows, rotating area rugs. Whew! It is all done.

Then we rearranged the living room. I made a much better "conversation" area that can still easily see the TV. Now no matter where you sit, you do not have to turn your head awkwardly to look at the person you're talking to.

Then I bought a used $20 utility shelf for food storage. It is so nice to have things so accessible and visible, with room to grow.

I had a brilliant idea here: food storage furniture. That kid table/bench you see below is four 5gal buckets with food in them, fabric draped over them, and a dumpster salvaged wooden tabletop placed on top. The blank empty space on the wall will soon have a repurposed kitchen cabinet for Abraham's toys. So this will be both a play table and extra seating, with most of the toys hidden from view unless they're being played with.

Boy or Girl?

2011-03-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

Last time I was pregnant, I felt like it was a boy. When I made baby clothes, I thought of boys, when I tried to think up names, I couldn't get past the name "Abraham." The heartbeat was usually in the "boy" range. I just felt like it was a boy and that we would name him Abraham. When he was born, I immediately asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?" and someone said, "It's a boy!" Then I said, "His name is Abraham." We didn't find out the gender during the pregnancy because the Birth Center only prescribed ultrasounds if there was a medical concern. So I had the whole nine months to think and wonder about the gender. Honestly I lost confidence in the last month or so and felt like I had no idea what the baby would be. But the rest of the pregnancy I was pretty certain.

This time around, I think it's a girl. Before I knew I was pregnant -but when I actually already was- Samuel and I both had dreams. Samuel dreamed that I was pregnant. I dreamed that I was in a hospital bed, holding a tiny, naked, soft, warm, bright pink baby girl with a little bit of dark hair. Well, it turns out Samuel's dream was right -I was pregnant. And my dream was so vivid that I think it's right too. When I found out I was pregnant, I remembered the dream, and put the name "Miriam" on the baby girl. It seems to be the right name, like Abraham was. Miriam because we both like the name, and for a middle name, Margaret -after my grandma, Margaret Estella Gile, who died when I was a teenager.

This time we will find out the gender "early," since there is no birth center in Ohio and to have a homebirth would be costly. So we're going to a natural birth friendly CNM group (the only group in Ohio that allows waterbirths!) and will find out the gender via ultrasound. I debated asking the ultrasound tech to not tell us the gender, but thought it would be lame to have him/her and everyone who reads our medical papers know and us not know. With Abraham, it was a genuine surprise for everyone. This time, it would be a fake, fabricated surprise only for me and Samuel. That just seemed kind of weird to me, so we will find out at the ultrasound.

We're having our first appointment and dating ultrasound on March 20!!! That's in two weeks. Of course, it will be too early to find out the gender. But I am excited for the appointment! I will blog about the CNM group then.

Mary's dress -finished!

2011-02-24T08:29:00.001-08:00

Sleeves rolled down, sleeves rolled up. Mary and I are about the same size -but she is a few inches shorter than me so the hem should be just below her knee I think. Notice the little piece of white string stuck on the skirt? Yeah, I didn't until looking at these pictures later. oops.

The dress is very loosely based off of this shirt pattern:

I had to make lots of alterations:
1. make it a size 34 instead of 31
2. make it a dress
3. make the yoke not pointy
4. design and add pockets on skirt
5. make belt loops and belt
6. make tab on sleeve for rolling sleeves up
7. changing back pleat to not-inverted

I didn't do any darts on the dress because it needed to be able to slip on and off over the head -Mary didn't want buttons going down the skirt. There is a tiny bit of waist definition in the cut of the dress but mostly it is the belt that does it.

This dress is so awesome because it is so versatile. Think of all the ways you could wear it:
In cold weather: sleeves rolled down, with a shirt and leggings or tights underneath, and a cardigan, sweater or jacket over it.
In hot weather: sleeves rolled up, and sandals.
And any combination for in-between weather!

I dropped it off at the P.O. this morning -should get there in 2-3 days, Mary!

Warmer Days

2011-02-16T12:06:00.000-08:00

Thora just posted this picture (along with many other cute ones) on facebook. It was so cute I had to share it.

Lydia, Abraham, and Elisheva on a warm day last November. We walked to the nursery down the road and bought some bulbs and plants.

Spring is Coming!

2011-02-15T06:24:00.000-08:00

The window is open, and birds are singing and playing outside! Abraham was showing an interest in looking out the window, but there's no window in the house that he can actually reach. So we moved the cedar chest under the window in our bedroom, and now he can see out!

Abraham is normally dressed much more warmly than this, but he currently has a horrifying diaper rash, so he's going coverless in an effort to allow more air circulation and remind me to change him frequently. Thankfully it seems to be working.

Ok, the heater just turned on. Better go shut the window. :P

Wow, that was fast.

2011-02-11T03:30:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm pregnant. I just found out yesterday. I had suspected it for a few days as my period was late, but I actually got a negative test three days ago. So that was sad. But then my period still didn't come, and I took a test today and it was positive!

So, remember how it took us eight months to get pregnant with Abraham? Eight months of waiting and waiting and wondering if there was something wrong? Yeah. One month this time. ONE. It's such a relief to know that my body is perfectly fine.

Our decision went like this:

ME: "I'm not sure I want to try and get pregnant yet. I kind of want to have my body to myself for a while after Abraham is weaned."

SAMUEL: "Yeah, I understand."

ME: "But I want our kids to be two years apart, and if it takes us eight months like last time, if we started now, they would be almost three years apart. And honestly I wouldn't be disappointed if I got pregnant now, it's just not how I would plan things perfectly. So I guess what I'm saying is that I would rather start trying now and risk getting pregnant right away than put it off for a few months and then have kids that are three years or more apart."

SAMUEL: "Ok"

Samuel is really supportive, isn't he? :D <3

So we tried, and it worked.

And the funny thing? The due date is Oct. 17 -two years to the day after Abraham's birth.

What a lucky mama I am. I am so excited!

Pregnancy symptoms so far:
-mixing numbers up. I never do this while not pregnant. Last pregnancy I accidentally switched numbers in my SSN around a couple times over the phone for appointments. It was bizarre. I did it again this time with my eye doctor appointment a couple weeks ago. I wondered if I were pregnant -turns out I was!
-tiredness. On Monday I felt really tired but thought I was just sick or it was PMS or something. I shouldered on through my errands and remember thinking, dang, I am really exhausted in the store.
-baby dreams. I had a vivid dream a week or so ago that I gave birth to a baby girl. So now I think the baby might be a girl!
-the tiniest bit of queasiness and cramping which I thought was just my period coming but which is now so obviously feeling like pregnancy.
-depressed. On Monday I was feeling down for absolutely no reason (well, except I thought my period was coming any minute) but I think it was pregnancy hormones. It was kind of ridiculous. Samuel thought he had done something wrong. But it's gone now and hopefully stays gone.

16th century Flemish kirtle

2011-02-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

There is a Renaissance faire in this area each October, and this year we want to go. So of course that is my cue to make something awesome to wear to it. I wanted to make something like this Flemish outfit, with a corded "pair of bodies" using this method. Basically, I would need to make a white linen smock, a pair of bodies with hemp cord for boning, a linen kirtle, and a contrasting color overdress. The hemp cord for boning is a great idea because it's 1. cheap; 2. flexible, yet supportive; and 3. quite possibly period correct. I bought some navy blue linen already for the overdress and was planning on getting a pink/mauve color linen for the dress. But. But. I'm not going to be able to make the dress. I'll need something more like this, if I even end up going at all:

(available at http://www.verymerryseamstress.com/maternity.htm)

Cause I'm pregnant. Due in October. Haha!

Freedom

2011-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Abraham is weaned! It's nice. We had a great time breastfeeding and I was able to achieve my goal of breastfeeding for at least one year (just under 16 months!) but I have been looking forward to this freedom. He has been nursing once a day for about a week, twice a day for a couple weeks before that, and three times a day for a few weeks before that. I followed the "don't offer, but don't decline" method and he has lost interest very gradually. There are too many exciting things to do, and too many yummy foods to eat.

Here's a list of things I did that I want to remember. This is more for my own reference than a "what everyone should do" statement:
-breastfeed as soon as possible after birth, even if it takes him 20 minutes to figure out how to latch on
-breastfeed on demand
-co-sleep so breastfeeding on demand is easier at night
-wait a while to use a pacifier -until he's breastfeeding well- and then take it away at 3 months old so he doesn't get addicted to it :)
-don't use a bottle regularly
-don't start solids until 6 months or later, and go slowly
-don't leave him for more than two hours except on special occasions for which you have pumped milk (we did this for our anniversary date and a few other times)
-when introducing a sippy cup, take out the no-spill thingy so that it's more like drinking and less like sucking, which allows him to learn how to drink out of a cup sooner

And here is another list. The pros and cons of weaning:

pros:
-I can wear whatever I want
-I can leave him for more than two hours
-I can get pregnant (breastfeeding acted as a very effective form of birth control for me. I didn't ovulate for 14 months! And he was night-weaned at 8 months. Basically, until I started trying to wean him for good, I couldn't get pregnant. Which was pretty great, but I did want to get pregnant again eventually.)

cons:
-I can no longer eat whatever I want, as much as I want. Yeah, the combination of Holiday junk food+staying inside where it's warm+weaning has me starting to feel a little pudgy. Next week Thora and I are going to start walking at the mall.
-I miss breastfeeding sometimes. It was so nice to be able to comfort him so instantly.

Here's a picture of him at about 3 weeks old, right after he finished nursing and conked out. :)

then he grew into this:

and then this:

Ohio Homeschool Laws

2011-02-07T05:53:00.000-08:00

I've been reading the homeschool laws for Ohio because they require a bit more documentation and things than Kansas does (I was homeschooled in Kansas.) At the beginning of each school year you have to send a notice to the local superintendant, along with standardized test scores or an evaluation of each child for the previous year of school. Standardized test = blah. I don't want the stress of "teaching for the test," so I'm hoping I can go the evaluation route. Luckily the CHEO website has a very handy list of contacts for teachers who are registered and willing to do the evaluations. So hopefully I can easily get one of those wonderful teachers to do the evaluation each year. We should be in Ohio for Abraham's first 1-3 years of school.

Other laws include:
Assurance that home education will include the following, except that home education shall not be required to include any concept, topic, or practice that is in conflict with the sincerely held religious beliefs of the parent:

Language, Reading, Spelling, and Writing;
Geography, History of the United States and Ohio; and National State and Local Government;
Mathematics;
Science;
Health;
Physical Education;
Fine Arts, Including Music and
First Aid, Safety and Fire Prevention

Pretty intense list! But I think I can manage to squeeze all those subjects in somehow.

Here's a funny one:
Assurance that the home teacher has one of the following qualifications:

A high school diploma;
the certificate of high school equivalence;
Standardized test scores that demonstrate high school equivalence;
Other equivalent credential found appropriate by the superintendent
Lacking the above, the home teacher must work under the direction of a person holding a baccalaureate degree from a recognized college until the child's or children's test results demonstrate reasonable proficiency or until the home teacher obtains a high school diploma or the certificate of a high school equivalence.

I have none of these! On second thought, I suppose my ACT score would count as #3. But Samuel has none of them. Yet we both have baccalaureate degrees. I find it funny that they would forget that many homeschooling parents may have been homeschooled themselves and thus would not have a high school diploma, but may have a college degree. Actually this question has come up on job applications I've filled out in the past: "do you have a high school diploma or GED?" No. But I am in college. Thankfully most applications just ask "list the highest education completed."

I was browsing through the more homeschool-friendly states' state laws and thought it was interesting that in Utah the law says:

(d) A local school board may not:

(i) require a parent of a minor who attends a home school to maintain records of instruction or attendance;
(ii) require credentials for individuals providing home school instruction;
(iii) inspect home school facilities; or
(iv) require standardized or other testing of home school students.

Pretty much the opposite of the law in Ohio! I hope when Samuel graduates we will move to a homeschool-friendly state like Kansas or Utah. This article is interesting and helpful.

Life Skills Everyone Should Have

2011-02-04T07:35:00.001-08:00

I've been thinking about homeschool recently, and what I want my children to learn. Abraham's getting close to preschool age and so I've been doing some research. I'm leaning towards a little bit Montessori, a little bit Waldorf, and a little bit Unschooling (this is just for preschool). Pretty eclectic, no? I will write more about that later.

What I wanted to write about today was an idea for when my kids are a bit older. I read about a mom who made a list of skills her children needed to learn by the time they graduated from high school. She had a system of teaching and passing off each skill. It involved several steps: first, letting the child watch an adult perform the skill. Second, letting the child try the skill with supervision, a few times. For each time, gradually reduce the amount of supervision and guidance. Third, let the child do it themselves with no supervision or help. At this point the skill is passed off. This mom kept a chart and would mark off each step as it was completed. The child was not allowed to do the skill alone until it was passed off. It was pretty inspiring to me, so I've made my own tentative list. The "steps" won't work in exactly the same way for each one, but the basic idea is sound.

Life Skills Everyone Should Have
change a tire
drive a car
give a compliment
receive a compliment
be a good houseguest
be a good host
acquire or shed a habit
typing
good hygene
keep a clean house (includes all household chores)
basic cooking
jump start a car
read a map
use basic power tools safely
basic sewing and mending
speak in front of an audience
write a "composition" -an essay that is orderly and composed
basic geography
make and use a budget
save money
live within your means
fill out tax forms
swim
basic first aid
job interview etiquette
basic self-defense
build and maintain a fire
extinguish a fire
relaxation techniques
dress appropriately for the situation
ride a bike
put snow chains on car
maintain your weight
say no
apologize
punctuality
write legibly
ask for help
don't be afraid of failure

Anything I missed?

Spring Things

2011-02-01T10:08:00.000-08:00

That's what my bed looks like right now. It's covered in felt scraps.

:D

Today is supposed to be cleaning day, but I felt like making things instead. So I got to work making "spring things" for my etsy shop. Cleaning can wait, right? The house isn't too dirty anyway....

miniblinds surgery

2011-01-28T10:35:00.001-08:00

My dining area used to look like this:

and now it looks like this:

thanks to my new Roman shade! I love it! The fabric is much more the style and colors I was wanting for this space. I found it at...you'll never guess...the thrift store!! It was a tablecloth in perfect condition and if you look closely at the table -matching napkins! All hanging on the rack together at the store, waiting for me. I think I paid $5 (it wasn't half price day). I wanted to use the tablecloth as, well, a tablecloth, but it was too small. Then I realized it would look weird to have the same pattern for the tablecloth and napkins. But I loved the fabric and knew I would use it for something eventually. Meanwhile, I could certainly use the napkins. We use cloth napkins and they work great -most of ours are white linen, and no permanent stains so far! They have seen spaghetti sauce, chocolate, grape juice and other similar foods and are still white, thanks to bleach and The Sun. I love them, but it was nice to find some colored napkins just for fun and variation.

But how did I make the Roman shade? Well you know me -I'm not about to spend $$$ on grommets, cording and hardware at Jo-Ann's if I can help it. Luckily Thora mentioned reading a tutorial online on how to make a Roman shade out of miniblinds. I looked it up and you can read it here. It's brilliant. Simple, cheap, and earth-friendly. All you need are fabric, fabric glue, and those ugly miniblinds that came with your apartment (ours are replaced every time someone moves out so I wasn't worried about destroying them. You might want to just buy some -they are really cheap.)

This isn't a tutorial since you can just read the one linked above, but I did take a picture of the fabric partially glued to the slats.

And here's the end result:

Cost of this project:
Fabric: $3
Blinds and hardware: free
Fabric glue: $4 (with 1/2 off coupon at Jo-Ann's)
Total: $7

By the way, I kept the slats that weren't used -I just know they will come in handy for a really awesome Halloween costume or something like that. They're kind of the same thickness and flexibility as the plastic boning you can buy at Jo-Ann's.

My First Upholstery Project

2011-01-27T04:30:00.000-08:00

Several months ago Samuel and I bought this antique green chair for our living room for $20. I wanted to reupholster it eventually, but the color and look fit in with our living room nicely so it wasn't an urgent project. And besides that, I didn't have a staple gun.

You can see the fabric was very warn on the front of the seat -the velvet had totally rubbed off. Other problems were: when you sat on it, you sunk, and: the seat back was very not-cushy. It felt like there was something seriously wrong with the padding, and the back (the part facing the wall) was bulging out strangely.

This week I got around to reupholstering it, thanks to the staple gun I got for Christmas. I took off the seat back fabric and found a sad cushion made of straw and some kind of fur. The cushion was held in place by cardboard tacked to the frame. Some of the cardboard had torn off -creating the weird bulging back.

So I had to go buy some webbing to make a support for the seat back cushion. Here's what it looked like all stapled on:

Then I went to the thrift store and found these two pillows for $1 each. They would be the two cushions. Gotta love the kitty cat.

I did the seat back first. It's a little crooked but much more comfy and stable.
Abraham helped me a lot with this project. If only he knew how to use a staple gun (my hands hurt pretty bad from using it!)

Since I forgot to take pictures of the seat back cushion, I made sure to take pictures of the bottom cushion. Straw and fur, supported by burlap and...

these metal things, which are very strong.

After re-doing it TWICE, I got the bottom done (silly me -I thought the top would be harder!)

And there you have it!

My pretty new chair, in all its imperfect glory!

I love the way it looks. I am very encouraged by the fact that the third time I re-did the bottom, it took like 10 minutes, while the first time took like an hour, at least. Upholstery is pretty simple, but it is a skill nonetheless, and therefore takes practice. It also takes a LOT of strength. My hands hurt a lot right now, and last night after working for about three hours I was dead tired.

I specifically bought this chair to use as a first upholstery project, and I'm glad I did. Someday I want to reupholster my two wingback chairs but that will take a lot more work and time. I wanted to start with something a little easier. This chair was perfect.

Cost of this project:
Chair: $20
Webbing: $12
Fabric: $2 (thrift store find)
Pillows: $2
Total: $36

Awesome.

Fabric Jackpot!

2011-01-25T09:19:00.001-08:00

I won!

I went to the half price sale at the thrift store today (they have one on the last Tuesday of every month -everything is 1/2 off). I was specifically looking for clothes and linens to recycle into cute spring and summer kids clothes for my etsy shop I spent $18 and found these cute things:

And here's the jackpot: A shopping cart filled with rolls of home decor fabric! Each roll was priced between $2 and $4. Plus they were all 1/2 off! I got eight rolls for $20. I counted up the total yardage and it is 15yds, plus that giant roll of pink silky fabric -it must have between 10-20yds on it. It is really fat. I don't have the space to roll it out and measure it! So I got all this fabric for less than $1/yd!

I am so excited! I know the pictures don't do the fabrics justice, but trust me -this is really awesome.

If you ever want to make a silky pink ballgown...or maybe even a tent or hot air balloon...just call me!

Awesome Shirtdress

2011-01-21T06:12:00.000-08:00

My little sister Mary asked me to make her a shirtdress (she's paying me). She had very specific requests: Dark neutral color, long sleeves that can be rolled up and buttoned with a tab, tie belt, pockets, no buttons on the skirt part.

She sent me the following inspiration photos:

This is the first time I've made something with only the person's measurements. I sure hope it works out. So far I've cut everything out and drafted and made the cargo pockets. They go on the skirt like the second picture above (haven't done the buttons yet). I'm pretty proud of them!

I also sewed on the yoke, and did the shoulder and side seams. All the seams are enclosed welt seams so there will be no raw edges. The pockets are further apart in reality -there just aren't any hips to hold the skirt out in this picture!

Organizing: New Year Style

2011-01-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

Kid Clothes Edition

Yesterday I did something I've been wanting to do for months -I organized all the baby clothes. The end result I was working for was:

1. each size has its own box
2. each box is clearly labeled with exact contents
3. labels are easy to add more contents to

Here's what I did:
I got a sheet of paper, and folded it into quadrants. I labeled each one with a size: Newborn, 0-3M, 3-6M, 6-9M, 12M, 18M, 2T, 3T. I got down all the baby clothes boxes from the various storage nooks. I stood at the edge of my bed and opened one box at a time. I pulled each item out one at a time, noted the size, and made a pile on the bed for each size. At the same time, I wrote a description of the item in the appropriate size quadrant, e.g. "sleep sack," "s.s. shirt," "l.s. footie." For similar items in the same size, I made tally marks. Then I typed and printed each list, and wrote the tally marks in pencil. Here's an example of the 0-3M label I ended up with (except the tally marks were in pencil, and there were more of them -I couldn't figure out how to do the #5 cross tally on the computer):

0-3M

SLEEP SACK ||||

SWEATER ||

BOOTIES |

S.S. A.I.O. ||

L.S. A.I.O. |||

FOOTIE A.I.O. ||||

L.S. ONESIE ||||

S.S. ONESIE ||||

PANTS ||||

L.S. SHIRT ||

WARM HAT |||

SUN HAT |

Here's a picture of a few of the boxes, now in Abraham's closet. You can see a couple lists if you click on the picture.

I wanted the clothes organized this way for these reasons:

1. it's easy to pull down all the right size clothes when a child moves up a size

2. If someone (usually a grandparent) asks me what clothes Abraham or a future child needs, I can look at a label and easily see exactly what we already have in each size

3. If we get more clothes, I can put them in the appropriate box and tally-mark the label with a pencil. Likewise, if I get rid of something, I can erase tally marks.

3. this eliminates the need for separate seasonal boxes. Since each box is clearly labeled, I can put shorts and sweaters in the same box and still be able to find them when needed. Whether or not I store off-season clothes in the box will depend on the amount of dresser space the child has, and also whether or not they are the type of child who insists on wearing shorts in December (if the shorts are stored away, this problem is eliminated.)

Right now all the clothes are gender neutral or boy clothes, but if I have a girl in the future I might need to do separate sets for boy, girl, and neutral.

Here's a picture of Abraham's closet (well, the right half). All the storage boxes are on top, then there is a large and small cloth shelf for his clothes and shoes, as well as some clothes hanging in between, and a hamper underneath. On the other side of the closet is another cloth shelf and a built in shelf -the built in shelf holds crib sheets and blankets. The cloth shelf is empty! Awesome thing: I found all three cloth shelves at the thrift store, and the hamper was a gift (also found at the thrift store!)

Matching Girls' Dresses!

2011-01-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

Finally, we wrangled all the girls into their dresses and in front of the camera. Unfortunately, it was dark and so the pictures are terrible. Also, the girls would not stop wiggling and so you can't really see what the dresses look like in detail. But rest assured -they look cute.

They are wearing white cardigans over the dresses to keep warm.

Here's Guinevere's dress:

Her mama had to hold her down for the picture -she loves being on her belly and crawling around. I used this pattern for her dress -view A.

Here's Lydia and Elisheva:

Their dresses were this pattern. This pattern is very easy -no set-in sleeves or zippers or darts. It has raglan sleeves, an elastic neckline, and a tie belt. And the results are cute, cute cute! The girls loved the pockets, too.

Here's a bonus picture: the kids "playing" with Uncle Samuel/Daddy.

shorn

2011-01-18T06:20:00.000-08:00

We cut off Abraham's curls the other day.
He went from this:

To this:

I was worried he'd look half bald, but it's not that bad. I cut his hair myself -it's not great, but not terrible. He was really scared of the clippers :( but daddy fed him jelly beans the whole time and that helped.

Abraham can't walk yet, and at 15 months, that makes him a late walker. Because I'm his mama, I worry needlessly about that sometimes. So I wanted to make a list of the things Abraham can do:

he can crawl really fast -forwards, backwards, and sideways
he regularly uses the following words:
hello
hi
bye bye
no
yes
mama
dada
uh-oh
thank you
and many other words we don't understand!
he pretends to sneeze as a joke
he can play by himself
he regularly goes up and down the staircase
he likes to eat salami
he has a pleasant voice and hardly ever screeches or screams
he goes to bed at 7:00 every night without complaint and sleeps until 8:00 or 9:00am
he takes an afternoon nap every day without complaint
he lets us brush his teeth every night
he loves to take baths and cries when we take him out of the tub

I'm sure he will start walking soon. He's started crawling on his hands and feet occasionally. He can cruise around furniture no problem. He sometimes asks us to hold his hands and walk with him and he really likes doing that. He's just a little afraid to let go.

A Giveaway!

2011-01-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

My friend Katie is hosting a giveaway for me!

Go here to enter.

chocolate+raspberry floral wool jumper

2011-01-10T07:52:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love this floral jumper I made recently. It's so cute and soft. I was lucky to find such a gorgeous wool sweater at the thrift store, and even luckier to already have the perfect coordinating pink wool scraps on hand.

I cannot express often enough what a joy it is to work with wool -it is such a soft, gorgeous, natural, and amazing fiber. I love everything about it.

Take a look at the jumper in the shop.

That's what I like to see!

2011-01-05T14:41:00.001-08:00

Here's a screenshot of our budgeting program (Mint -which is free and awesome. I've been using it for years. You can download it here.) But the point is, that's how much we had to pay for Samuel to go to school this quarter. As opposed to about $30,000 per quarter, or, when we get state residency, $12,000. Samuel got lucky and got into a program that tries really hard to give all its grad students a full scholarship (the $166 is various school fees). As long as Samuel is teaching a class or has some other kind of work arrangement with the program (which they try really hard to do) he gets the scholarship and a stipend that we can live on (albeit frugally).

Here's to evading student loan debt! We might not make it the whole 5-7 years without debt, but then again we might if we're lucky! It wouldn't be the end of the world if we did need to get some loans, but it is really nice to know that we won't have tons, especially since professors don't tend to make a lot of money right away. I'm hoping we can avoid all debt, and at the same time start saving up for a minivan and a down payment for a house. We probably won't be able to get the house until Samuel's been working a couple years. But we can start saving now.

Sometimes budgeting is depressing. But other times it is exciting!

2010

2011-01-01T12:44:00.000-08:00

In no particular order:

Abraham turned 1
Samuel was accepted, then rejected, then accepted again to OSU for grad school
We moved to Columbus, OH and Samuel started attending OSU
Thora had baby Guinevere, then got pneumonia and hyperthyroid and couldn't do much for a couple months
My brother Joseph came home from his mission and we drove back to Kansas to welcome him
I finished my first quilt
I opened my etsy shop
Samuel and I celebrated our third anniversary
I started using a card file system to keep my house clean -and for the most part, stuck with it
Samuel, Abraham, and I flew to Seattle to celebrate Christmas and his grandparents' 60th anniversary with the Shannon side of the family

Sewing:
In 2010 I made:
3 pairs of curtains
10 infant gowns
2 toddler jackets
9 snow gnome hats
1 needle book
4 little girls' dresses
1 little boy's overalls
2 Avatar: The Last Airbender costumes
1 Kataginu
1 men's shirt
1 bench cushion
6 decorative pillows
1 suit
1 dress
2 blouses

My sewing projects have definitely diversified -I used to only sew clothes for myself for the most part. I can't find it now, but once a few years ago I made a list like this, and it said something like "6 dresses, 4 skirts, 1 pair of pants, 2 shirts." I guess I have a lot more people to sew for now!

Things I learned in 2010:
How to refinish furniture
How to decorate using a color scheme as a starting point
How to use a treadle sewing machine
How to hand-applique
How to felt wool sweaters
How to keep my house clean
How to cut Samuel's hair
How to get cigarette stench out of an apartment
How to dye wool with kool-aid (it really worked folks! I'm going to cut out and sew the jacket soon!)

And Now for Something Completely Different

2010-12-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

I was just reading some old writing of mine (we're talking six years ago) and I was made to remember that I used to love poetry and read it all the time. Unfortunately I think my BA in Literature made me forget about reading poetry for pleasure. But it also allows me to understand and appreciate in new ways the poems that I loved years ago. I get more references and allusions, and note more often the significance of the physical makeup of the poems -in addition to the emotional response that I got from reading them before. I should write a post about the poem that really changed how I value the physical makeup of poems. I used to think that taking a poem apart would kill the emotional response you get from it. Or that writing a poem with a strict form would make the poem less "true." Then I had to write a paper on a short Walt Whitman poem at BYU, and it made me change my mind. Perhaps I will write about that tomorrow.

Anyway, mostly I wanted to share this piece of poem:

                         Come, my friends,
 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
 Push off, and sitting well in order smite
 The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
 To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
 Of all the western stars, until I die.
 It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
 It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
 And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
 Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
 We are not now that strength which in old days
 Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
 One equal temper of heroic hearts,
 Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
 To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

-Ulysses by Lord Alfred Tennyson


Just because I love it so much. It makes me feel happy, strong, and hopeful.

Needle Book

2010-12-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

Abraham was home sick from church the other day, so I had to stay home with him. I was bored (he slept the whole time) and decided to make myself a needle book -something I've wanted to do for a while. I had a needle book, but it was cardboard, and was starting to wear out. Felt needle books are a home sewist's standby of yesteryear. They do seem to be making a comeback, though!

If you'd like to make one, there are all sorts of tutorials out there, including several with cute decorative touches like felt flowers. I chose to leave mine unadorned -I like the simple look and I think the beauty of the felt speaks for itself.

The felt is -of course- from a couple different felted sweaters. The cover is like 1/4" thick -that is some mighty felt!

First page is embroidery and tapestry needles and some notions

Second page is betweens, third is sharps

Fourth is dollmaker needles, and fifth is extra pins and needle threaders

It holds all my needles without danger of them slipping out and getting lost. It has a certain aesthetic appeal -not sure if it's the felt, or maybe the orderliness of the needles? And best of all, I made it myself!

Recovering from a BA in Literature

2010-11-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

Since graduating 1.5 years ago, I have not had a desire to read "literature" as in good, challenging fiction. I just could not bring myself to do it -it was totally unappetizing. I had to read a lot for my major, and when I graduated I was so excited to be able to read whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. But it turned out that, at least for a few months, "whatever" meant nothing, and "whenever" meant never. It was kind of depressing.

A while after graduating I did get more interested in reading nonfiction -and I do thank my BA for introducing me to that -I read Technopoly for a class and wrote a paper inspired by it. It's a great book and fun to read, so I learned that nonfiction can be very enjoyable -something that had slipped my mind for the past ten years or so. If college had taught me anything, it was how to research topics of interest to myself. After graduating, I read all kinds of books about babies and birth, (very much on my mind at the time) with notable titles being Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Birth Day by Mark Sloan, Buy Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas, The Baby Book by William and Martha Sears.

I was hungry for knowledge and couldn't get enough! Do you ever have the feeling that the library just doesn't have enough books? That was how I felt. I would browse through my favorite Dewey Decimal System numbers, and each section of interest seemed so small. I remember it as a child too, when over the years I read every. single. book. the catalog had to offer on each of the subjects of horses, unicorns, and dragons (unless they looked too boring or adult.) (Most regrettably, the library's copy of The Last Unicorn was missing throughout my entire childhood, and I had no idea how to get my hands on it. I loved the movie and was sure I would love the book. I didn't read it until Samuel read it to me a year or so ago. I should mention: I did get small doses of fiction from our nightly ritual of Samuel reading aloud before bed.) This nonfiction browsing continued (and still continues) and I have read many books, most recently about the science and history of home management -my favorite being Home Comforts by Cheryl Mendelson.

But though nonfiction was very fun to read, I still felt sad that fiction was so unappetizing to me. Then, this past week, I watched the movie The Young Victoria -a romantic "period" movie about Queen Victoria's coronation and her courtship and marriage to Prince Albert. By all accounts, they had a great marriage and were happy together, so the movie was about a happy marriage. Some people might find the movie a bit slow and boring -but Samuel and I really enjoyed it. Not to mention the costumes were to die for. Anyway, the point is, for whatever reason, this movie somehow rekindled my desire for good literature. Maybe it was the costumes or the setting, I don't know, but I found myself wanting to escape into a different world -preferably one with great costumes. So yesterday I found myself picking up where I left off in Sense and Sensibility a year and a half ago (luckily my bookmark was still in it) and just wanting to sit and read. I have a feeling it won't stop at S&S, so I now pronounce myself fully cured!

More about that movie:

There were lots of pretty gowns, but I much prefer the menswear of this period (1830s). Gotta love the greyhounds as accessories too! I think this was my favorite costume in the whole movie. I highly recommend it, if you like that sort of thing. It has beautiful costumes and scenery, a nice romantic story, and a very tasteful and heartwarming depiction of a happy marriage.

Check out that top hat!

I Am Thankful for Samuel

2010-11-24T19:33:00.000-08:00

Samuel, my husband, is a wonderful man, and I love him. As a husband, he is kind, warm, generous, thoughtful, romantic, comforting, protective, and snuggly. We've been in love for four years now. What a wonderful journey it has been!

An early "dating" picture of us

The day we got engaged!

Wedding day :D

July 2007

January 2008

Summer before Abraham was born. A difficult summer -but one that brought us closer together (unemployment is great for spending time together!)

At the temple one week before Abraham was born.

Birthday!

Christmas 2009

Third anniversary

kissy kissy!

This past summer

Don't Let Rebecca See This!!!

2010-11-24T06:33:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited about the Christmas present I made for my 5-year-old sister, Rebecca. I finished it last night. I told my mom I wanted to make her a dress (she loves dresses and wears them exclusively) and my mom said she could use a winter church dress. So I picked out Simplicity 3588.

Here's how my dress turned out:

It has pink, purple, and orange in it, along with a little bit of glittery gold. Rebecca loves pink and all things sparkly. I hope she likes the dress!

Dyeing Wool with Kool-Aid Part II

2010-11-18T09:24:00.000-08:00

The dyeing is done. I used 50 packets of "berry blue" kool-aid, a medium size hot wash, and one gallon of vinegar. I just let it agitate a few seconds first to mix the dye, and then again to get the (already soaking wet) wool all underwater. Then I let it soak for an hour. The wool came out a pretty turquoise color! Which is just what I had envisioned when I first thought up this crazy idea.

The only problem is that it looks blotchy. Either it dyed unevenly, or it's not totally dry yet (I don't have a dryer so have to wait for it to air dry). Wool can take a very long time to dry, so hopefully it's the latter. If it's not, I will buy more kool-aid and try again, hopefully with better success.

This picture without a flash shows the blotchiness better:

Dying Wool with Kool-Aid

2010-11-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

It all started when I wanted to make this jacket, McCall's M5759:

I want to make the view in red with the Mandarin collar (I love the big collar but am such a sucker for military-inspired jackets and coats.)

I had a ton of beige textured wool yardage that was gorgeous, but just not my color. I decided to dye it and use it for this jacket. As I looked up how to dye wool, I found out that you can't use RIT dye (my old standby) on it -it just doesn't work with protein fibers like wool or silk. I found several places online where I could purchase special dyes for protein fibers. But then in my searching I found out that I could dye it with Kool-Aid! Yep, Kool-Aid will dye wool very nicely (but not cotton or linen). I decided to experiment with colors. Originally I wanted a blue color, but I was worried that it would turn out green since the fabric was a beige/tan color at the start. So I got blues, pinks, reds, and purples.

From left to right we have:
black cherry, blue moon berry, strawberry, grape, pink lemonade, and ice blue raspberry lemonade

To test the colors I cut six swatches of wool, and soaked them in hot water. Then I boiled water and vinegar: 3 to 1.

I put one cup in each glass, and mixed in one packet of Kool-Aid.

Then I put in the swatches. Here's how they turned out (after rinsing):

black cherry, blue moon berry (actually much darker in person) strawberry, grape, pink lemonade, and blue raspberry lemonade. Totally awesome, right? The colors came out gorgeous (much better in person than in the picture.) Each time I took a swatch out, I would think to myself, Oooo, gorgeous! and I found myself wanting to make a jacket in each color!

So now I have to decide which color! I think I will go with the original plan and stick to blue, since it obviously turned out beautiful and blue instead of greenish.

I think the best part about this project is that it smelled sooo yummy!

A Terrarium

2010-11-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a new project I recently did: a terrarium.

I bought this glass jar at a thrift store months ago for this purpose. Saturday I finally got to a nursery and used some birthday money to buy the rest of the supplies: charcoal, potting soil, moss, and a tiny plant.

I got a fern, because ferns do well in terrariums. Any plant that likes moist environments could do well in one. Succulents won't -despite how good they might look under glass. (I just love succulents and actually ended up purchasing an aloe vera plant as well. All the house plants were 30% off)

Here you can see the layers: pebbles for drainage, charcoal for more drainage and water purification, potting soil, spanish moss (for aesthetics) and the fern itself. The idea is that it should nearly take care of itself from now on. Watering should only be needed infrequently because of condensation buildup. The charcoal is supposed to protect against mold.

A New Dining Set

2010-11-13T08:00:00.001-08:00

Remember our lovely antique dining set?

I've always liked it. My grandparents gave it to us last year when funds were very tight. It's beautiful, but I knew we would outgrow it someday. I figured we'd have to find a new table when our family size exceeded four.

But then a free table came our way. It was on the side of the road. It needed a little wood glue, some new screws, and a lot of cleaning.

It had mildew and mold growing on it, and lots of water damage. But it was just on the surface -the wood itself was in great, solid shape. I decided to clean it up and refinish it -I liked it that much.

I mean, this table was fuzzy with mold. Totally disgusting and disturbing. I cleaned it with bleach and a plastic scouring pad (wearing rubber gloves) and then again with hot soapy water. I was a little worried about the mold, but I figured with the bleach, soap, wood stain, and polyurethane it wouldn't be able to survive.

I wasn't sure what color to refinish it though. I figured I'd just use the dark stain I already had from refinishing our living room bench and our bed. I went to the ReStore on a whim one day and found dozens of sturdy, heavy, solid wood restaurant chairs with padded vinyl seats for $15. And -they were dark wood! In the store, I had a brilliant idea -we could use the living room bench at the table, with four chairs, and it would all be dark wood and look wonderful! I had refinished the bench planning to use it in a dining room someday when we had more kids.

So I refinished the table. It actually doesn't look very good close up -I didn't do a great job. But I am ok with it. And it looks amazing from a short distance.

The other great thing is -I was able to sell the other dining set on craigslist for $40. So the total cost of this project was $20. That's my kind of price.

So now we have a lovely solid table that seats at least six -depending on how many kids we can cram onto the bench- and it should last us a while!

Now I just need to redo the bench cushion, the chair cushions, and the curtains in coordinating fabric.... :D

The Snow Gnome Hat

2010-11-10T11:48:00.001-08:00

It all started when I made this pointy hat for Abraham:

The minute he tried it on, Lydia, my four-year-old niece exclaimed, "It's a snow gnome hat! Abraham is a snow gnome!"

I wanted him to have a warm winter hat that he couldn't pull off. The point is just for added cuteness. :D

These are easy to make. Here are some not-terribly-clear instructions:

1. felt a wool sweater
2. cut a rectangle out of the bottom ribbed portion of the sweater. the long sides are the face-framing ribbing and the back seam. the short sides are the part that goes around the nape.
3. fold the rectangle in half, right sides together
4. sew from the fold down to the bottom on one side of the folded rectangle
5. cut strips from the felted sweater
6. sew strips onto each bottom corner
7. turn right-side-out

ta-da!

I also add a bit more shaping to them, so they don't gape at the nape.
More cute pictures of Abraham in his Snow Gnome Hat

If you're not inclined to make one, I am pleased to offer some in my shop.

Ship Ahoy!

2010-11-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Abraham needed a winter coat. I had a few stipulations: wool, classic-looking, neutral colored. I just love wool coats and think they are far superior to the shiny kind of kids coats that are sold in most stores. Obviously those coats do the job, and if you are going to be skiing or something you don't want to be wearing a heavy, wet wool coat. Wool does a good job of keeping you dry but it does get heavy when wet. But for regular daily use, wool is awesome. Anyway, the main reason I like it is aesthetics. I think wool just looks nicer. Also, it is way more durable than the typical shiny synthetic kind of kids coat, and shows less dirt.

All of which is to say, I was really happy when I found this sz18 months navy blue 100% wool peacoat with a warm quilted lining for $1.50 at the thrift store. Um, yeah. Practically perfect in every way. The only thing was I had to hem up the sleeves about three inches. But that means it will probably fit him next winter too!

Blue Felted Wool Toddler Jacket

2010-10-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of boiled wool. It's so sumptuous. I found another sweater at the thrift store, but it was huge. So I made this toddler sweater with the wool, and some vintage buttons and trim.

My 2-year-old niece Elisheva was kind enough to model it.

And now it's in the shop.

Halloween 2010: Yue and Katara

2010-10-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

This year I ended up sewing three costumes: Samuel's, and my neices' (Lydia and Elisheva).
Samuel's costume has been in the making for about a year now, so I was planning on finishing that up. But L&E's costumes were originally going to be made by their grandma. She came to visit us when Thora had pneumonia and was really sick. She had purchased the fabric and patterns, and had a week to sew the costumes before the church party. I helped her cut them out, but then she (along with everyone else except me) got sick with a horrible stomach/flu bug. So in the end I did the sewing. I'm pretty proud with how they turned out!

Lydia wanted to be Princess Yue from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Elisheva wanted to be like Lydia, so she was Katara from the same show.

Princess Yue:

For this costume I made a satiny white skirt and a blue kimono robe with white fake fur trim, and a belt that ties in the back like an obi. I had to modify the neckline of the robe so it would be high like a mandarin collar instead of a V. Lydia's grandma made the jewelry out of sculpy clay, and we even found a white wig for her to wear (though she didn't wear it very long).

Katara: (I think this one is fan art and I'm really sorry I lost the link -if you know it please tell me)

For this costume I used a toddler dress pattern with no closure (except a small button at the back). I made a v-neck and used bias strips to make the front look like a wrap top. I made kimono sleeves to make it easier but forgot to add enough ease, so it was a little tight. She got a blue obi belt too, and blue pants.

Neither character wears a crown in the show, but both girls wanted one.... :D

I'm showing this off at Blue Cricket Design's Show and Tell

Three Boiled Wool Jackets

2010-10-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

I now have three boiled wool jackets, all of which I bought at thrift stores in perfect condition for under $5 each. I love boiled wool. It's one of those things I would never be able to afford if not for thrift stores.

Boiled wool is a kind of felted wool knit. It's soft, slightly stretchy, thick, and warm, with a distinctive soft, smooth texture. It also costs like $80/yard.

I totally drool over it -good thing wool is super absorbent.

I bought the above red jacket a few days ago to add to my collection of two. It's a bit sportier than my other jackets. I totally love it.

Here's one of my other jackets: it has buttons. Sorry you can't see it very well -it looks just like this one. Look how tiny that little baby used to be!!

I have another one like this in navy blue. I love them all. These two with buttons are from an Austrian brand called Geiger. I didn't know this when I bought them, but it looks like they sell for $300 new, and there are several on ebay listed for around $100 each. Holy cow! I feel rich now!

I looked up the brand of the zippered one -"Tribal"- and it isn't quite that expensive. I found a similar one going for $80, but it wasn't 100% wool.

Sometimes I feel sorry for people who pay full price for clothes. I spent less than $15 for these. You can hardly buy a nice t-shirt for that at retail price.

First Birthday Present

2010-10-12T09:19:00.001-07:00

I finished these cute overalls for my (almost!) one-year-old baby boy, Abraham! His birthday is in a few days, so when he officially gets them as a gift, I'll take a picture of him wearing them.

I got the fabric and pattern from my grandma.

More details and notes at my sewing circle account.

I'm showing this off at show and tell at Blue Cricket Design.

Thrifted Cashmere Sweater

2010-10-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Abraham wouldn't let go of my skirt....

I found this sweater at Goodwill on my birthday a few days ago. It was cheaper than I thought it would be, because the cashier thought it looked like a child's sweater -I said, "Hey, if it's cheaper!" I can't remember the price. $1.49 or so?

So this was an amazing find. Not only does it fit perfectly, and in a great color, but the tag says "Saks Fifth Avenue, 100% cashmere." Ok, so cashmere is wonderfully soft and not at all scratchy. I can wear this shirt without an undershirt and it doesn't feel like wearing a sweater at all, except it's warm. And Saks Fifth Avenue -isn't that pretty high-end?

So I looked up Saks Fifth Avenue cashmere sweaters on google. The average price was about $200. Unbelievable. I mean, this sweater is in brand new condition -there isn't even any pilling, not even under the arms where sweaters get rubbed a lot. Total score.

Columbus has AWESOME thrift stores.

Geeky Embroidery

2010-10-07T07:36:00.001-07:00

This is what I did during Conference:

They're for Samuel's Halloween costume: a Crane Clan samurai from the vaguely Japanese fantasy roleplaying game L5R. Here's an example of a Crane Clan samurai:

(from here)

I made a blue kimono, and I'm making a white kataginu (funny vest thing with pointy shoulders). It's mostly done except for finishing work. The mon that I embroidered (family crest crane circle design) goes on the kataginu like in this picture (I'm going to applique it on.) And by the way, the cranes aren't really backwards. There's also some white pants called hakima. Samuel has a sword set which he'll wear too.

It's going to be a sweet costume!

Feather Bed

2010-10-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

I got a feather bed and a bed skirt for my birthday. We found them a few weeks ago at Goodwill, both new in the package and I said "I want that for my birthday!" I guess Goodwill gets surplus/damaged items from Target, because they have a TON of new Target stuff. The damaged stuff is usually just damaged/opened packaging, which was the case with the feather bed.

If you don't already know, a feather bed is like a foam mattress topper -it goes on top of your mattress, to make it softer. It's a thick (ours is about 3 inches) pad of down-filled fluffiness. It's like sleeping on a cloud. Our mattress is pretty old and not the softest. Can I express enough how much I have wanted a feather bed? Plus, I love the natural/historical aspect of it. Ever look at the fluffy beds in historical museums of old houses? Yeah -feather beds. I love them, but I thought they were waaay out of my price range.

Here's an example of a feather bed, for sale on overstock.com:

Anyway, last night I slept on the feather bed. It was AMAZING. Not only was it super soft and wonderful in that way that only down-filled things are, it was also really warm and cozy. I hadn't realized that a feather bed would keep me that warm.

Here's a picture of the bed: you can sort of see where the mattress ends and the feather bed starts. Also, check out the lovely pleated bedskirt. No more ugly box spring to look at!

Cotton Sweater

2010-10-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

I got a little money for my birthday, and since Samuel needed to get some shoes asap anyway, I spent a little time at the local Goodwill and picked up a few nice sweaters as a birthday present. Today I'm wearing the cotton one.

I love cotton sweaters. When I was little I hated wearing sweaters because they made my hair staticy and I hated static -like the way some people hate nails on a chalkboard. But then someone gave me a cotton sweater. When I touched it it didn't feel scratchy and staticy. Just smooth and nice. I wore that sweater pretty much exclusively of all other sweaters, for as long as it fit.

So I haven't owned one since then. They're not that common, I guess. Seems like the ones I've seen at thrift stores are usually hopelessly dated. I can't remember ever seeing one at a regular store. But I finally found one! It's smooth, cool, but heavy. That's the other nice thing about cotton sweaters -they're heavy, so they drape really well. Anyway I think this one is handmade. It doesn't have a tag or any hint of a tag, and the sleeves are waaaay longer than normal. Unfortunately I have to cuff them up but it is totally worth it. Oh, and it cost $3.49 -a bit of a splurge (giggle).

Click on the picture to see the pretty details.

I absolutely love the pattern. It reminds me of a sweater on soulemama that I saw and loved. I love the yoke style. It almost convinced me to try knitting one for myself. But that is probably far too advanced for my knitting skills. Maybe someday. I never thought I would like quilting, you know, and look where that got me.

Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture

2010-09-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

I finished reading this book about a week ago. It's brand new. It's pretty good. I recommend it. I wanted to write something more about it but didn't know where to start.

My friend Jeanette just wrote a review of it and I pretty much agree with her take 100%, so please go read her review.

Alterations Price List for Friends Who Live Nearby

2010-09-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Disregard if you don't live near me and don't need this list! Alterations by Aleatha Shannon
Email: lethal.aleatha@gmail.com
Phone: 614-268-6282

Price List
SKIRTS ALTERATION
Skirt – Machine Stitched Hem	$10.00
Skirt – Machine Stitched Hem Lined	$14.00
Skirt - Hand Stitched Hem	$14.00
Skirt - Hand Stitched Hem Lined	$18.00
Replace Elastic in Waist (plus cost of elastic)	$5.00
Take In/Let Out (if enough seam allowance) Waist	$14.00
Re-line (does NOT include cost of material)	$20.00
PANT/SLACKS ALTERATION
SHORTEN OR LENGTHEN
Pants/Slacks Machine Stitched– unlined	$10.00
Pants/Slacks Machine Stitched- Lined	$14.00
Jeans Machine Stitched- shorten only	$10.00
Pants/Slacks Hand Stitched– unlined	$14.00
Pants/Slacks Hand Stitched- Lined	$18.00
Jeans Hand Stitched- shorten only	$14.00
OTHER
Replace Elastic in Waist	$5.00
Take In/Let Out Waist	$14.00
Take in sides from waist down	$15.00
Taper legs (from below waistline)	$15.00
BLOUSES, DRESSES, SUITS and COATS
Blouse Sleeves - Straight hem - machine-stitched	$7.00
Blouse Sleeves - Straight-hem - hand-stitched	$10.00
Blouse Sleeves - Cuffed hem - shortened	$14.00
Blouse replace elastic in sleeve	$5.00
Add hook and eyes, snaps	$4.00
Blouse - add darts	$10.00
Blouse Hem - straight hem	$12.00
Blouse - taper sides	$10.00


BASIC DRESSES
Side seams in/out	$20.00
Add darts	$10.00
Add sleeves (plus cost of fabric)	$25.00
Replace zipper	$18.00
Add modestly panel	$14.00
Lengthen/Shorten Suit Jacket Sleeves	$14.00
Lengthen/Shorten Suit Jacket Hem	$14.00
Suit Jacket Side seams in/out	$28.00
ZIPPERS AND MORE
Replace zipper - pants	$20.00
Replace invisible zipper (slacks/skirts/dress)	$12.00
Replace button/hook&eye	$1.00
Rip repair - on seam line	$4.00
Rip repair - elsewhere on clothing	$7.00
Patch - machine stitched	$2.00

Where I Come From (or in other words, Normal is Relative)

2010-09-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

I was just talking to Samuel the other day about how every once in a while I get a kind of a shock when I realize how "different" our family is from most American families when you look at statistics. It's a shock because most of my friends and family, the people I am around 99% of the time, are "different" too. Basically, we're poor student families and we like it that way (well, temporarily.) We are families of 3, 4, 5 people who live off of one parent's graduate school stipend and money from odd jobs. Or, if not in school, we live off of one parent's income (the other parent cares for the children at home.)

I thought it would be fun to do a comparison blog post. It might sound like I am proud of the frugal way we live -I am. But I do not have the right to say that other families' ways are wrong. So please don't take it that way. This blog post is meant to be for fun.

First I looked at this helpful website.

In 2008, the average household income was $63,563. Where I come from, the average income is (my own guess) more like $15,000-$25,000.

In 2008, the average household expenditures was $50,486. Where I come from, the average is more like $10,000-$20,000.

In 2008, the average person spent $720 on clothes. Where I come from, shirts cost $1-2, pants cost $2-3, a dress costs $3, children's clothes are usually free, shoes cost $5-20. If I spent $720 on clothes, I could potentially get 200 shirts, 100 pairs of pants, 50 dresses, and 34 pairs of shoes every year.

In 2008 the average family spent $8,604 on transportation. Where I come from most cars have over 150,000 miles on them and no one bats an eye. No one has a car payment, either, or if they do, it is small and being paid off as quickly as possible.

In 2008 the average family spent $2,835 on entertainment. That's $54 per week. Where I come from, the dollar theater is only attended on special occasions (a couple times a year.) We get most movies from the library for free. Instead of amusement parks, we go hiking. Instead of luxury resorts, we go visit family.

In 2008 the average family size was 2.5 people. Where I come from, a family of 1-4 people is small, 5-6 is average, 7-9 is large, and 10-12 is very large but not totally mind-boggling.

Now here's where I ran out of statistics, but decided to keep going anyway:

Where I come from, furniture is usually free: hand-me-downs, or picked up off the side of the road.

Where I come from, if there is a social gathering, the majority of the women there are either pregnant, nursing, talking about getting pregnant again, or two or more of the above, while their older children run around screaming and playing together.

Where I come from, 99% of food eaten is cooked from scratch, because we like it better that way. It's cheaper, tastes better, and is more fun to prepare.

Where I come from, 60% of people grow food in a garden, and the remaining 40% wish they had a garden.

Where I come from, it's not weird to go without cable tv or a cell phone or a second car.

Well, that's where I stop. Anyone else have more to add?

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Writing

2010-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

This chapter was pretty simple. Instead of despairing because you never have time to write your novel, take a few moments during the day to:

-write a letter
-write a small note if you are packing someone's lunch, and put it inside
-write poems for birthday and Christmas cards
-write notes to say "I'm sorry" or "I love you"
-write letters to close family members at milestone events: weddings, births, etc.
-keep a diary (or a blog?)
-write prayers or hymns

There are lots of daily opportunities for creative writing!

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Food

2010-09-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite ideas Schaeffer has:

-"There is something very positive in being involved in the creativity which is so basic to life itself," (119).
-cook with your children
-"The kitchen should be an interesting room in which communication takes place between child and mother and also among adults. It should be interesting in the same way as is an artist's studio, as well as being a cosy spot in which to have a cup of tea while something is being watched or stirred, or while waiting to take something out of the oven," (119-120).
-Variety will help make cooking more interesting and fun. Don't fall into the drudgery of having the same thing every week.
-"It is not necessary to have a large food budget to make meals interesting. In fact it is often the other way around," (120).
-do not waste food. Use up bones for soup, stir-fry with leftover meat and veggies, make compost with other scraps.
-see a plate of food as an opportunity for artistic expression whenever possible
-"There is no occasion when meals should become totally unimportant. Meals can be very small indeed, very inexpensive, short times taken in the midst of a big push of work, but they should always be more than just food. Relaxation, communication and a measure of beauty and pleasure should be part of even the shortest of meal breaks," (123).

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Flower Arrangements

2010-09-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, when I read the title of this chapter, I wasn't very enthusiastic. A whole chapter on flower arranging? I love flowers, but to me this topic is just a small section of the "decorating" topic and doesn't deserve a whole chapter. But Scheaffer does have some very inspiring things to say.

She says that someone she once knew often said, "If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily!" The idea being that "the bread becomes a different thing when eaten at a table with the lily in the centre," (99).

This is her chain of logic, all taken from page 99:
-human relationships make a house a home
-human relationships depend on communication
-communication takes time and is helped along by atmosphere
-atmosphere is helped along by the "things" creatively arranged in the home
-a quick and easy way to create atmosphere is to create a table centerpiece
-the centerpiece encourages the eyes of those sitting at the table to look up and into the center
-which creates a tendency to talk to those around the table, and communication begins in this small way

Well, when you spell it out like that, I'm sold! Unfortunately our table is too small for a centerpiece right now. It does fit candlesticks though, or a very skinny vase. Perhaps I'll be lighting some candles for dinner soon, especially now that it is getting darker in the evenings.

Here are some more of her ideas about centerpieces:
-it doesn't have to be big or perfect or expensive
-it doesn't have to be flowers, it could be:
-shells and stones in a wooden bowl
-a bare twisted branch
-a log with ivy wrapped around it
-a rock, covered in moss, in a bowl of water, with floating flowers around it
-a vase of wheat
-a houseplant
-leaves, ferns, spring twigs in bud, in vases or on the tablecloth
-dried weeds or thistles
-candles
-vegetables and fruit
-a mirror with a toy duck on it, with stones around the edge (for children)
-let children pick the tablecloth and/or candles and candlesticks for each meal
-for people in the hospital or bed-ridden -instead of sending a mass of flowers all at once, send one flower per week so they will always have a flower to look at
-to get your kids to go to bed, tell them that after their bath they will get a "surprise tray" in bed (a before-bed snack on a special tray with special dishes, a small flower, etc.) and you can read or talk to them as they eat

The last words of the chapter: "I must add one more sentence to this chapter: please try something in this area today. The only way to start, is to start," (111).

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Gardening

2010-09-15T07:37:00.000-07:00

The most inspiring thing from this chapter, to me, was this story:

"The first 'garden' Fran and I ever had was a wooden butter bucket, wide and low, filled with lovely black soil Fran had carefully gathered from a forest, and given a layer of manure to enrich it further (down in the middle somewhere). During those depression days after college, as he attended seminary, we were living in a downtown Philadelphia apartment - top floor rear of an old row house. We had a tin roof, surrounded by an ugly barrier, on which to step out and hang up our clothes. The wooden butter tub was the source of a transformed view! We could not substitute trees or mountains for rooftops, brick walls, electric wires, telephone poles and rubbish cans in bare dirt yards, but we could improve the immediate view of a tin roof with that ugly wooden barrier. We put the bucket in the middle, right by the barrier. At the back we planted heavenly blue morning glories. Oh the excitement of their actually coming up, and starting to climb the hopeful grocery string carefully tied in position for the start of their climb! And oh, the greater thrill when they began twisting themselves beyond the strings up to the barrier...and made their way across the top, in both directions! (...)

"It really was fantastic to see the difference made by the vine covered barrier and the flowers spilling out and over on to the tin roof. I felt as if I had a rather elegant penthouse - especially by the third summer of our marriage when Priscilla was born, and I sat out there rocking her carriage to put her to sleep in our 'garden' surrounded by the heavenly blue morning glories, for all the world as if we had a cottage in the country!" (90-91).

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

For Sale!

2010-09-11T13:57:00.000-07:00

Check out my first ever thing for sale on etsy.com!

A baby gown handmade by me! Isn't it adorable?

I will be listing four more next week -one per day.

If you know anyone in the market for cute, affordable, handmade baby clothes, point them towards my etsy shop! :D

Black Belt Frugality

2010-09-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Ok folks, I'm interrupting my series on The Hidden Art of Homemaking to tell you about my latest project. I really wanted a padded bench for my living room, to add extra seating without taking up tons of space. My budget was, um, $0.00. To get the look I wanted, I had to go to great extremes.

But I really, really wanted it. Samuel's parents have a lot of stuff in their house, so I asked them if they had a bench. Lo and behold, they did, gathering dust in their attic! We picked it up when we visited them last month. I had to refinish it before using it -not only was it a pine-y yellow, it was abused by small children: paint drips, crayon scribbles, chipped varnish....

So I refinished it and made it all pretty!

Then I needed to make the cushion. I went to Jo-Ann's to look at their foam by-the-yard. It was $30/yd. I couldn't justify the purchase at the moment ($0.00 budget) and decided I'd have to wait and save my pennies.

Then I got a brilliant idea: piece some cushions from the thrift store together into the shape I need for the bench. You know, chair cushions, or even couch cushions, are just foam inside. I just had to find some in decent condition. But then I realize that I couldn't even afford that -though I took comfort in the fact that it would take less time to save up for it.

Then I had another brilliant idea: get the cushions for free! The very next day after I thought of this, there was a decent-looking couch sitting by the dumpster outside. I checked it out, but unfortunately a closer look revealed that it was grimy and smelled bad. Then I saw this lawn chair cushion in a trash pile by the side of the road:

Samuel got it for me so I could inspect it for grossness. I had very low expectations (it looks really, really ugly, doesn't it?) but was pleasantly surprised that it looked and smelled fairly clean. Still, I washed it in hot water in the washing machine, and laid it in the bright sun to dry.

Then the real test: I cut it open to see how nasty the foam inside was. I was delighted to find that the foam was clean and white!

So I cut and hot-glued myself a cushion!

Then I cut out fabric from my stash (originally a large home dec. swatch which I bought at a yard sale for $0.50). The fabric is the same I used for the cushions on the couch, so it ties in perfectly.

Here's the finished product:

I am so proud of myself! It's exactly what I wanted, and it cost me nothing!

p.s. I sewed the cushion on my treadle machine! :D

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Interior Decoration

2010-09-09T08:04:00.000-07:00

This chapter is so good. It's probably my favorite one.

Some good quotes:

"...there is a terrific frustration which increases in intensity and harmfulness as time goes on, when people are always daydreaming of the kind of place in which they would like to live, yet never making the place where they do live into anything artistically satisfying to them," (66).

"Trying out all the ideas that come to you, within the limits of your present place, money, talents, materials and so forth, will not use up everything you want to save for the future, but will rather generate and develop more ideas," (66).

That might be the most encouraging quote in the whole book, to me. I worry sometimes that the things I make and do for this apartment will not "work" in my dream house. So then I wonder if there's a point! Am I just wasting my time and money? But then I realize how much I've developed over the past several years when it comes to interior decorating. I've learned bit by bit what kind of look I like, and I'm also learning skills like refinishing wood furniture. When I do have my own house, I'll have the taste, inspiration, and skills to make it beautiful. In the meantime, I'm learning by doing!

Schaeffer talks about she and her husband's first home. It was the Great Depression, and they had a tiny, bare apartment paid for by their jobs as counselors at a summer camp, where they made $30 for the whole summer. They had no furniture except for a sewing machine and a table (wedding gifts). They found "a collection of good springs from old couches...a damaged cowhide...plus one half of a 'pull-out' day bed," to make a couch, (69-70). Wow! How many people do you know who would have just bought a couch on credit?

Schaeffer's suggestions:
-decorate your home to express yourself
-make/do things yourself to make your home's decor more meaningful and pleasing
-make new candles by melting old candle stubs together
-brainstorm creative ways to make furniture
-refinish abused antique furniture
-make a play house, tree house, or doll house for a child
-learn how to design and make your own quilts, rugs, pottery, baskets, lamp shades, tablecloths, whatever you have the desire to do
-make childrens' toys (a doll house out of an old sideboard, wood blocks out of...wood blocks, other wooden toys, stuffed animals out of old moth-eaten woolen clothes)

Here's an interesting thought:

"If you are 'decorating' with clothes draped on every chair, with scratched or broken furniture - it is still your interior decoration! Your home expresses you to other people, and they cannot see or feel your daydreams of what you expect to make in that misty future..." (76).

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

Previous posts in this series:
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Music
The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Painting, Sketching, Sculptering

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Painting, Sketching, Sculptering

2010-09-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

"First of all, be satisfied with the fact that although your art or talent may never be accepted by the world as anything 'great', and may never be your career, it can be used to enrich your day by day life: enrich it for you, and for the people with whom you live," (48).

Schaeffer mentions painting murals on the walls in your home, but adds that "it is not necessary to attempt such ambitious projects," (48). What she does suggest:

-sketching and doodling on your letters to people "(sketches) can be beautiful, serious, or amusing," (49).
-making beautiful place cards for dinner guests
-decorating to-do lists, shopping lists, and menus
-making your own cards for birthdays and other occasions
-carving a child's toy

here's the suggestion I thought the most intriguing:
-during church, sketch out what the speaker is saying, either for a child's benefit (sitting next to you, watching) or your own. Schaeffer includes several pages from a sketchbook where she did this for her two granddaughters, to help them understand the sermon. She used stick figures and simple shapes to illustrate the spiritual messages in the sermon.

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

Previous posts in this series:
The Hidden Art of Homemaking
The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Music

The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Music

2010-09-05T06:51:00.000-07:00

The idea of this chapter is that you don't need an extensive education in music, or any marketable talent with it, to be able to use music to express and develop yourself.

Shaeffer says, "In the family, with small children; among friends, informally for one's own expression as well as for other people's appreciation; for relaxation; for just plain fun and sharing; for the experience of doing something creative together - music should be a part of the life of any family or other group of people who have any musical talent at all. Not only will the practice improve one's playing, but creative ideas and imagination will be sparked off in others in a way which will be fulfilling and satisfying, even if it is not earth-shaking in its talent. In the process something else will happen - the freedom to express yourself in a medium that is yours will develop, and so will your personality," (38-39).

Ideas and suggestions she gives are:
-playing instruments and singing together casually as a family
-bringing your instrument to a casual gathering at a friend's house if you think there might be an opportunity to play
-singing hymns at home
-singing lullabies to your children
-playing your instrument by yourself
-playing your instrument by yourself, in nature
-making "a joyful noise unto the lord" as it says in Psalms
-collecting unique instruments
-researching music history

She mentions, "Christian homes should not be places where nothing but a bit of sentimental or romantic music is heard, but places where there is the greatest variety of good music, so that natural talent may find the necessary spark to set it on fire," (40).

Though not as creative as making music, I want to add that simply playing recorded music regularly in the home can change that home's atmosphere dramatically. Try to match your mood with your music, or, if it would be better, try to elevate your mood with your music. Yesterday was the coolest pre-autumn day we've had yet, and I felt calm, happy, and thoughtful. So naturally I put on Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel :) It made the feeling of the day that much more potent.

Schaeffer, Edith. The Hidden Art of Homemaking. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1971.

The Hidden Art of Homemaking

2010-09-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

I just read The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer. I'd seen it mentioned on several evangelical Christian homemaker blogs (though no Mormon ones) so I thought I'd give it a try. A discussion of what homemaking is and how to make it meaningful is so interesting to me now, so that's what I was hoping for in this book. I was very surprised at the actual content of the book -but not disappointed.

I was expecting it to be more along the lines of what I read in those evangelical blogs: a slightly different approach than mine on being a wife, homemaker, and mother, but one I still enjoy reading about and adopting ideas from nevertheless. In reality, the book is about "hidden art" -that is, "the art found in the ordinary areas of everyday life" as it says on the back cover. Some examples include serving a meal -however humble- in a beautiful way. Or setting a goal to play the piano with your children or friends as an audience -rather than wishing you were good enough to perform for masses. Or writing great letters to your mother rather than moping because you've never had the chance to write that novel. The surprising -and refreshing- thing about this book is that it is not for housewives. Schaeffer mentions housewives creating "hidden art" just as often as businessmen or single women or real estate agents or truck drivers. Schaeffer assumes that those interested in "homemaking" would simply be anyone who lives in a home.

After a discussion of what art, hidden art, and creativity are, and why they are important (this portion of the book distinctly reminded me of a fantastic talk about creativity and happiness by Dieter F. Uchtdorf ) Schaeffer spends one chapter each on Music, Painting/Sketching/Sculptering, Interior Decoration, Gardens and Gardening, Flower Arrangements, Food, Writing, Drama, Creative Recreation, and Clothing.

Since this blog is about homemaking, and since I liked the book so much, I am going to spend the next few blog posts discussing what The Hidden Art of Homemaking says about each of these categories. You can look forward to a few of Schaeffer's ideas and suggestions, her inspirational points, as well as my own thoughts.

It's finished!

2010-08-31T05:57:00.000-07:00

Well, part one is finished.

All 30 flowers have been appliqued onto blocks. This weekend I'm planning to buy some fabric to sew in strips between each block (probably on the machine). Then it'll be time to baste, and quilt!

Thoughts on a Cleaning Routine

2010-08-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

Samuel and Abraham cleaning.

For the past month or two Samuel and I have been using the S.H.E. card file system to plan our cleaning routines. It's been totally awesome.

This is my basic weekly plan:
Monday: quiet day, filing, budgeting, planning
Tuesday: cleaning day (2-4 hours) and menu planning
Wednesday: shopping
Thursday: cleaning day (2-4 hours)
Friday: free day

The two cleaning days are where the card file comes in. I've written out different chores on individual index cards, with things like "weekly" or "monthly" on them.

For example, next Tuesday the 31st is my next cleaning day. On that day I will get my card file and go to 31, and take out the cards (which, for the most part, I had placed there the Tuesday before after completing them.)

These are the cards.

Chores include vacuuming the couch and chairs, cleaning the garbage and recycle cans (yuck! but so much easier if done weekly) and vacuuming the bedrooms. The orange cards are weekly chores, and the purple cards are monthly. At the beginning of the month I had distributed all the monthly cards evenly into the cleaning day files. Those shown include vacuuming the stairs and cleaning the front door (a chore which, previously, I would only remember needed doing as I was going out. So it never got done.)

Things I like about this method:

1. It keeps me from getting side-tracked. It used to go like this: "Washing dishes...washing dishes...hey! My cabinets are totally unorganized. I'm going to drop everything and organize them instead of sweeping and mopping the floor like I planned." And now it goes like this: "Washing dishes...washing dishes...hey! My cabinets are totally unorganized. Good thing I made a card for that chore. I know it will come up eventually. So I will ignore that for now and start sweeping like I planned." Now everything that needs to get done gets done.

2. It feels easier to be "told" what to do. I don't have to spend time in the morning wondering what I should do that day. When I used to do this, I would often just end up reading or surfing the internet because I couldn't think of what to do and/or was avoiding specific chores. Now during breakfast, I look at the cards for that day, and I do them. Sometimes I do a less thorough job than other times, depending on what is needed and how motivated I am.

3. I don't feel guilty for doing other things like sewing, reading, napping, or surfing the internet. As long as I've done all the chore cards for that day, I can do whatever I want. I usually finish everything before lunch, so my house is clean, and I get to do fun stuff. It's awesome.

4. Samuel knows exactly what chores I would like to get done, and I don't have to tell him to do anything. If I were to get sick, he could in theory do the chores in the card file, and the house wouldn't fall apart like it usually does when the main chore-doer is sick. This seems like such a simple idea, but for some reason it makes doing chores much less stressful for both of us. Since Samuel is home now, we just divvy up the cards during breakfast, and whoever finishes first helps the other person. The cards also make it easy to tell children what chores to do. You can write a detailed description of how to do the chore on the card.

5. Those less-frequent chores that I used to forget about until things got really filthy are now scheduled and done regularly (though still infrequently) so dirt/clutter doesn't build up. Examples: organizing closets, wiping baseboards, cleaning dirt and dead bugs out of windows, sweeping cobwebs.

6. If something comes up, I can easily switch the cleaning days to other days of the week.

Having a clean house is so refreshing. I feel like my home is a cool, clear haven. It makes me feel successful, relaxed and happy. I feel like I have more time to do things that I have always wanted to do, like sewing things for my own etsy store. If you think you struggle with the same housekeeping habits that I do, I highly recommend creating a card file routine.

Treadle sewing machine

2010-08-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here it is!

This is what it looked like back in January:

As you can see, it had water damage all along the back edge, paint splatters on the right drawers, and some of the veneer has chipped off on several of the corners of the tabletop.

My FIL patched the veneer with a thin slice of oak that he carved to fit in the chipped places. He glued them on and then filed them so they were perfectly level. Then he bought me some refinishing chemicals to fix the water damage and also stain the new oak patches to match. He showed me how to do it and then let me have at it.

Here's a close-up of one of the patches. You can hardly see it from a normal distance!

This is where the water damage was. Now it's nice and smooth and looks almost like the rest of the tabletop. I used the flash so you can see it, but in reality it is not that discolored. It doesn't quite look the same as the rest but is not noticeable unless you're looking for it.

Here's the machine head. It took a lot of scrubbing and polishing to get all the grime off. I used Turtle Wax, because it is safe for the decals. Notice the "SINGER" decal is a bit rubbed off. Maybe it's not as pretty, but I kind of like it because it shows the machine was used often: that spot is exactly where you grab the machine to lift or lower it in and out of the base.

I also scraped the paint splatters off and refinished that area.

I love it! I've been practicing a bit and already feel confident enough to try a project. When I first started treadling I got worried because it felt awkward and I wasn't very good. But it took maybe five minutes of treadling to get the hang of it.

peek-a-boo!

2010-08-24T08:57:00.001-07:00

We played peek-a-boo in the car on the way to Virginia last week. :D
Stay tuned for my post about the treadle sewing machine!

A family visit

2010-08-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

Samuel's side of the family has been staying with us for the past week (hence the lack of blog posts.) It's been fun but I am glad to get my house back in order.

Besides having fun with family, I got something else out of this vacation: my treadle sewing machine! My father-in-law helped me get started refinishing the cabinet, and I'm almost done with that. I'll blog about that later -it deserves its own post. Although, we are going to Virginia on Monday, for a week, so I'm not sure I will be able to do it before then.

Abraham got a couple presents from his grandparents, including a little school bus that his grandma found at the flea market we went to on Saturday. It's in perfect condition. Gotta love used toys!

I was sitting in the armchair, just watching him play. So enjoyable. I got the camera because the scene made me so happy.

Then of course he heard the camera beeps and came to see what I was doing!

working

2010-08-05T17:38:00.001-07:00

See that? That's my adorable niece, Guinevere.

See what she's wearing? An infant gown, made by me. I'm making lots more, to sell on etsy.com! I've wanted an etsy shop since I was 17, people. I just never did the work to get there. But lately I have been working! I have two finished gowns and six more cut out. I'm so excited! Wish me luck!