One pillow closer to a new look

Getting there, slowly but surely.

(Don't mind the stained red slipcover that doesn't go so well with the pillows. We have a brown one which we switch out from time to time. Red needs to go into the wash; brown onto the couch. Just haven't gotten there yet.)

Handmade Home

It finally came!


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I bought this book for myself with birthday money--in May--and I've been waiting ever since for its publication. It arrived in the mail yesterday, just when I was desperately needing a little rejuvenation. I spent 45 minutes sitting in a coffee shop last night, reading and sipping from my latest addiction: ginger-lemon iced tea. (Ahhh.) Today, I've already finished reading every word. (In fact, that's my only quibble with the book; I want more!)

I love Soulemama's blog. I've read every one of her posts and eagerly anticipate reading a new one each day. So of course I was thrilled that she's published another book. And I love it for the same reason I love her blog: it describes lovely projects, but behind them lies an ideal--not just a project idea. The life that is revealed through her writing is mindful, beautiful, joyful, and, yes, soulful, and so inspiring to me.

There is much to love in this book. I love that her projects are not just about making a thing, but are about making a life, a home, a refuge, a tradition. I love that it's about re-using materials--and she clearly really means it, as all the photos show repurposed materials (unlike in some books I've seen). Even the matte pages suggest her environmental sensitivity. I love that things don't look too perfect--they look do-able and real and heartfelt.

Many of these ideas I already do--thrift shopping almost exclusively, cloth diapering, making my own pads, using children's art in creative ways. But she has given me more ideas, and inspired me to try some new things. I will definitely be making a rag rug, and a potholder, and a kids-art-decoupaged tray, and an "art and hooks rack," a healing basket... And I hope, in the process, to help make a home and a family life as beautiful as the vision Amanda shares with us here and on her blog.

Another bum sweater

I made Lucy another "baby bum sweater" from this pattern. Again, where the three points came together, I ended up with a weird little peak, despite efforts to avoid it, so I hid it all behind a vintage button. This one is made from the softest cashmere. Our good friend Tim once had a lovely cashmere sweater, but it met with laundry disaster, so he donated it to the cloth-diapering cause (lucky Lucy!)

This style of diaper cover is my new favorite for summer--cute enough to show off under a dress, slim enough to fit under pants or a onesie, easy to put on and take off.

Small treasures

I chanced upon an estate sale this weekend. There was a sort of a sewing ottoman that opened to reveal a heap of tangled sewing notions, for $25. Too steep for me, and I didn't have room for it. But I dug through and found a few things I wanted. They let me have just my little pile, enough to make me feel I'd walked away with treasure.

The red-white-and-blue elastic begs to be part of Lucy's next 4th of July outfit. The big button will be perfect for a bag someday. The others? We'll see...

Independence Days challenge, week 15

Time again for Sharon's Independence Day's Challenge:

1. Plant something: No.
2. Harvest something: Mystery squash from the compost bin. A few green beans for snacking in the garden. 16 lbs blueberries from Running Fox Farm. Bits of dill, sweet cicely, lemon balm, chocolate mint, thyme, rosemary.
3. Preserve something: Canned 1 1/2 quarts peaches (not much, but it's a start, anyway). 1/2 pt. dried peaches, 1 1/2 qt. dried apricots, 1 pt. dried plums. Dried bits of dill, sweet cicely, lemon balm, chocolate mint, thyme, rosemary. Dried 12 ears corn. Froze 1 1/2 lbs broccoli, 1 1/2 lbs green beans, 15 lbs. blueberries.
4. Waste not: In the past few weeks, we've started getting somewhat more serious about doing EC with Lucy. She's now peeing on the potty regularly, which means far fewer diapers (we use cloth, but still, it's a savings of diaper-service money for us, and a savings of water and energy in the cleaning.)
5. Preparation and storage: Added a bit more water to storage. Wrote an "Emergency Evacuation Plan" as a requirement for re-licensing my family child care, which is something I should have done anyway. It led to a list of things I want to prepare in case of an emergency involving the kids in my program. I've started preparing a "bug-out bag" for them, which should get me going on preparing ours, too. Got a nice wool blanket at a tag sale.
6. Build community food systems: I asked the parents in my program to help collect containers for storing water for emergencies. Will it help them think to do the same at home?
7. Eat the food: Lucy started solid foods this week. She's going local: zucchini, potatoes, green beans.

A Homemade Life

For a while there, it seemed like every other blogger was raving about this book:


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But I have this weird aversion to reading stuff that "everyone" is talking about. Plus, I didn't feel the need for yet another cook book, and didn't think I'd be that into reading about food. Eventually, however, someone must have said the magic words that made me decide to read it, and I requested it from the library.

When it came in, I was in the middle of two other books. As the librarian handed it over to me, though, she said "I LOVED this book!" So when I brought it home, I dove right in. And I couldn't put it down.

In fact, now that I've finished it, I wish I had put it down once in a while to get paper and pen to write down wonderful quotes. Do you do that? Figure you'll be able to find them later and keep reading, only to lose them completely? Oh, it was good. It read like a novel. It was sad enough to make you cry and romantic enough to make you cry again.

And somehow, she made me want to make things I would have never thought would sound good to me. "Carmelized cauliflower with salsa verde?" I have to try it, even though I normally avoid cauliflower. "Red cabbage salad with lemon and black pepper?" I tend to push the cabbage to the side of my salad plate, but in her description of uncooked cabbage ("it's starchy and stiff, like a Styrofoam packing peanut that's been stepped on"), I found a kindred spirit, so if she thinks it's great, I should too, right? In fact, by the time I'd finished reading the short chapter introducing each recipe, I couldn't wait to try it; she even got me excited about salads, which is a very hard thing to do.

I want this book. Nevermind that I've already read it. Nevermind that I don't know where I'd put it. (In the kitchen, where I already have too many cookbooks? In the library, with the memoirs?). I want to find those quotable bits again. I want to try so many of the recipes. And I want to share it with other people. I want you to go read it right now--even if you're in the middle of two other books, even if you don't care about food, even if you don't want to read it because I said you should. Take a peek. See if you can put it down.

In progress: pillows for the couch

A while back, I showed you this before:



I'm working on the after. It's taking a bit longer than I'd like (please excuse the long absence, by the way; it's been crazy around here.) So rather than an "after," here's some "in progress":




I found this great fabric, which went so well with the placemats I'd used to recover the other pillow. There's another fabric to go with it all, too, coming soon.

But the best part of this little project is one you can't see. I had a child in my program one time who hated our couch. He wouldn't sit on it. Even when we were all snuggled up together reading a book, he'd stand by my knees, or maybe, if he let down his guard, perch on the edge. Why? It's those pillows. They're cheap down pillows from Target, and they were cozy for about five minutes. And then the feathers started coming out. They'd poke you, work their way into your clothes to torture you, and pile up in corners making everything a mess all the time. Ugh.

I had this white fabric I'd bought at a tag sale for the children to use for their embroidery. But it had a crazy tight weave; the kids could barely poke even the sharpest needles through. That gave me an idea. Before making the outer covers for the pillows, I sewed an inner cover right over the old (thin, muslin) pillow case. And so far, there are no escapees! Ahh.

Now on to the (embarrassingly stained in the photo) slipcover, the other pillows, and the rug...