A Washington Post article you might be interested in:
The new domesticity: fun, empowering, or a step back for American women?
I found it interesting since I did exactly what this article talks about - gave up a career in government and politics to stay home with my kids. Now I'm homeschooling, I'm learning to sew and knit, Adam and I started canning this past summer, we grew our first container garden this past spring and it's still producing tomatoes and various herbs, we bake all of our own bread, we have the stuff to make our own laundry detergent (just need to actually do it - haven't had time) ... wow. I hadn't put all that in a list in this context before. Operation Domestic Goddess - while not finished by any means - is well underway and so far pretty successful. Yay!
Actually, I'm kind of stunned.
25 November 2011
11 November 2011
still nesting?
The baby is a month old today so I'm not sure if this is some sort of postpartum nesting thing (does that even happen?) or the weather changing or what. But I want to clean clean clean. I want to sew. And I really want to bake something warm and sweet and yummy. Adam is on his way to the grocery store in a few minutes and I'm cleaning the fridge while he's gone. Then we'll see what happens with the rest of the weekend.
10 November 2011
trick or treat bags
Sorry I'm late getting these up as an idea. Maybe for next year? Anyway ...
I've been stockpiling felt and a friend was commenting in early October about wanting a particular shade of green to make Frankenstein face trick-or-treat bags for her little boys. I had the right shade so I gave her what I had and some black ... and she gave me the idea. So I sat down with my girls and let them choose what color they wanted for the background of their bags, and gave them options for the shapes on the bags. I did all of this free-hand.
1. I had 2 9x12 sheets of felt (I think that's the size - whatever you get in the little sheets at craft stores) to be the bag. I cut about 1 1/2 inches off one end of each to be the handles.
2. Before I put the bag together, I cut out and sewed on the character shape things. Not sure what to call them. I sewed all the way around the face cut-outs on the jack-o-lanterns. At first I didn't but it looked funny so I went back and fixed it. The stitching looks awful. Do not examine these bags too closely.
3. I sewed the handle on each side of the bag.
4. I put the bag wrong-side out to sew all way around the edge, leaving the top open of course, and then flipped it right-side out.
They're fairly small bags but I have small children (the oldest is 5) and really - how much candy does one kid need anyway. They filled the bags twice - once at a church party, and once going around our neighborhood complex.
I'm really getting into this sewing thing. I like the idea of creating stuff, and I like the little rush I get when I finish something because I can say, "I made that!" Wait until I can get some of my Christmas gift projects up here. I'm making most things this year and that makes me a little giddy. (And a little stressed because hello - Christmas is in less than 2 months.) I just came up with some ideas so they're not started yet, and other things are mid-stream.
I've been stockpiling felt and a friend was commenting in early October about wanting a particular shade of green to make Frankenstein face trick-or-treat bags for her little boys. I had the right shade so I gave her what I had and some black ... and she gave me the idea. So I sat down with my girls and let them choose what color they wanted for the background of their bags, and gave them options for the shapes on the bags. I did all of this free-hand.
1. I had 2 9x12 sheets of felt (I think that's the size - whatever you get in the little sheets at craft stores) to be the bag. I cut about 1 1/2 inches off one end of each to be the handles.
2. Before I put the bag together, I cut out and sewed on the character shape things. Not sure what to call them. I sewed all the way around the face cut-outs on the jack-o-lanterns. At first I didn't but it looked funny so I went back and fixed it. The stitching looks awful. Do not examine these bags too closely.
3. I sewed the handle on each side of the bag.
4. I put the bag wrong-side out to sew all way around the edge, leaving the top open of course, and then flipped it right-side out.
They're fairly small bags but I have small children (the oldest is 5) and really - how much candy does one kid need anyway. They filled the bags twice - once at a church party, and once going around our neighborhood complex.
I'm really getting into this sewing thing. I like the idea of creating stuff, and I like the little rush I get when I finish something because I can say, "I made that!" Wait until I can get some of my Christmas gift projects up here. I'm making most things this year and that makes me a little giddy. (And a little stressed because hello - Christmas is in less than 2 months.) I just came up with some ideas so they're not started yet, and other things are mid-stream.
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