• 02.06.2008 Not For Joni To Read
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    One of my best friends from college is having a baby boy next month. It will be her first. She is a musician, a writer, a comfort-food cook, encourager in Christ, and a loyal girlfriend. Naturally, I’m subjecting her to one of my homemade maternity gifts. The homemade part was mandatory, though she had a choice between a breastfeeding cover-up or a diaper bag. She chose the latter. As you know, a woman’s purse or handbag is not just an accessory; it heralds one’s interpretation of utility and visuality…it is a significant piece. You can imagine, therefore, what lengths I went to to secure the perfect fabrics for this special occasion. Yet, my choices may have proven to be more hassle than fashionable. I used a chocolate decorator fabric with pale blue flocked flowers. Flocking is messy. For the lining I found a silvery-blue ribbed chenille-like fabric. Translation: stretchy, slippery, […]

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  • 12.26.2007 Revealed
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    Christmas always turns out to be a bigger blessing than expected. Our family was showered with needs and wants and much love. Among our favorite gifts this year were: a new vacuum cleaner, espresso machine, wooden pretend kitchen for number two, LEGOS, and this DVD set. It’s unbelieveable how blessed we were by each of our loved ones! This year, many of my family received handmade gifts, most of which were purses, aprons, or tea cozies. The kids received blankets and some colored-pencil rolls . I think (and hope!) they were well received and loved. Much love was stitched into each piece. In fact, on my last project I managed to run the needle through my index finger for the first time. Blood, sweat, and a few tears. Note to self: Next time, don’t yank your finger out when you’ve run it into the sewing machine. Ouch. For my sister-in-law, […]

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  • 12.21.2007 Sewing and Thinking.
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    I’ve been sewing….a lot. Sewing, ripping seams out, fixing broken needles, ripping more seams out, messing with the tension…and, ripping more seams out. For the amateur, self-taught seamstress, this often-times tedious pastime is a labor of love and not necessarily that of leisure (especially if there is no such thing as “free time” in one’s career as mom and wife.) Nonetheless, this year’s Christmas handiwork of choice is sewing. Lofty goals for gifts on a very basic, very dated sewing machine. Despite my efforts to adjust the machine properly, I found myself fighting continuously with inconsisitency and erratic stitching. Homemade should not be junky, but it should look homemade right? Well it’s gonna have to be this year as my propensity towards perfectionism is being buffered by an uncooperative mechanical elf. I rest on the hope that each of my loved ones knows my love for him or her apart […]

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  • 12.08.2007 Curious George
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    It was an eventful day today. Most of the day was spent building a Curious George birthday cake for our friends’ little boy, who turned three yesterday. His mommy and daddy were planning a Curious George birthday party but were devastated last week with the loss of their little girl at 30 weeks in the womb. Our friends from church hosted the party today for them instead. It is a blessing to share in the lives of friends–in both easy times and the difficult. George is made of rice krispy treats, and the big yellow hat is a lemon cake filled with lemon curd and whipped cream. Despite many reconstructive surgeries, George still ended up looking like a hunchback… I stitched a colored pencil “roll” with a little blank journal for the birthday boy. It folds up neatly with velcro, and is the perfect size for a little boy on […]

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  • 12.01.2007 Gingerbread Lane
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    To get our minds off the sadness of the events of the week, the kids and I took pleasure in our yearly Christmas tradition of building gingerbread houses. The process of erecting an architectural structure out of icing and gingerbread graham crackers is a bit much for little fingers, so Mama usually ends up completing the project. This year’s gingerbread neighborhood ended up looking much like the street we live on. The flat-roof adobe in the middle is my favorite, inspired by local architecture in these parts. Wish there was a clever way to make luminarias…

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  • 11.21.2007 Thanksgiving Tree
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    There’s nothing like hosting Thanksgiving dinner to whip your house into shape. I took a break from indoor cleaning yesterday to do some pruning in the front yard. The desert willow, in particular, had grown especially unruly and threatened to poke the eye out of anyone strolling past our house. A snip here, a snip there, and what resulted was (I believe) a lovely centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner. My husband said it looked a bit like a tumbleweed…he’ll come around. It takes vision to create no-cost decor! The best part of this centerpiece is that it serves a purpose: it is a “thanksgiving tree.” I cut leaves out of construction paper and ran a tiny thread through a punched hole in each leaf. Each of my guests tomorrow will be encouraged to write what he or she is thankful for on a leaf and hang it from one of the […]

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  • 09.26.2007 Picks for Educating Preschoolers
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    Toddlers are real people. They’re just really small. As a parent, sometimes it may feel as though your not-yet-speaking-tantrum-throwing-picky-eater-toddler is but a little creature (or monster at times!) Yet, you need only stop and think of the last time he mimicked your grimacing frown or repeated your very words to realize he is a rapidly growing, exploring, learning child. This may be when you feel the conviction to turn off the television, get off the phone, and teach your child. We are often daunted by the idea of “teaching” our children, deigning ourselves untrained educators, when there is really no one better than a parent to train up a child in the way he should go. If you are in the preschool stage, here are a few resources that you might find helpful in your journey in teaching and training in the home. I have included the links so that […]

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  • 09.20.2007 Tea Cozies
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    A hot pot of tea, a couple of girlfriends, a few platefuls of decadent morsels, a bunch of lilacs, 2-3 uninterrupted hours, and a cheery disposition–a perfect recipe for an afternoon tea. Teatimes are about details…the food, the decor, the conversation. One simple way to make your tea extra special is to unveil your fragrant pot of tea with a pretty tea cozy. What I love about tea is not really the lacey gloves, frilly hats, or the sense of being a socialite, but rather the more accessible version of honoring and indulging my guests (who may be everyday moms) with a beautiful portrait of graciousness through feeling celebrated. Cute and pretty over fussy and elitist. Despite the current popularity of taking tea, it’s surprisingly difficult to find simply elegant but contemporary tea cozies that are functional insulators as well. I’ve recently tried my hand at designing and sewing my […]

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