Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Some Christmas Tidings...

I thought since this will probably be my last post before Christmas I would spread a little festive tidings from my home. My friend Leah at www.manyslices.typepad.com had mentioned one day how she loved to put up all of her pretty decorations but sometimes little hands came along and un-prettied the arrangements. This is sooo my house! So the pictures that you will see are all of the Christmas tree...

For whatever reason (thank goodness) the girls, dog, and cats, have all left the tree alone. Other than sitting on the couch admiring it, not one ornament has fallen off the tree! Of course now that I have said that - the cats will probably be climbing the tree tomorrow...

The reality, however, is not all of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the holidays, but being grateful for the Blessings that we have and celebrating the coming of the Savior...

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas - I hope your season is filled with love, joy, gratefulness and many, many, Blessings...




One more embroidered Christmas Gift...

My sister's in-laws, Jean and Don, are really wonderful people. They treat my girls as if they were their own grandchildren and I feel blessed to know them. Jean loves to go to garage sales and all I need to do is tell her what I'm looking for and she finds it, buttons, embroidery thread, old books, you name it and she tracks it down. I embroidered this picture of my niece Giada for them...

I plan to mat the picture with a coordinating fabric. They bought a small summer cottage on the river in Tiffin Ohio and they plan to call the place "the river house". I think this will go well with a lot of Jean's country wicker furnishings.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Coffee Cozies for Teachers...

A good snowy weekend and a snow day today were just what I needed to get moving on the girls teacher's gifts! I have always made teacher gifts; usually a long with a gift card to the local independent coffee shop and a gift card to the teacher store in Sandusky. This year I decided to make them festive coffee cozies...

Not only do these celebrate the season, but they are eco friendly as well; the wool came from a 40 year old air force blanket. My father was in the air force and my parents have several of these. This one happend to get recycled because the last time I washed it the blanket came out of the dryer in two pieces! It's a wonderful worn cream color that goes very well with the season's reds and greens...

I love making Christmas gifts. I wish I had the time to make more than I do. There is something to be said about taking the time to make something for someone. I don't receive too many hand made gifts anymore. When my Aunt Tracy was younger, she would make gifts all of the time. I still have a beautiful blue and white patchwork throw that she made for my bed when I went off to college. I will never part with it. The same goes for the crocheted blanket from my Aunt Diane...

This is just a simple coffee cozy but heart felt just the same. Being a teacher takes an incredible amount of dedication and patience, and their gift should reflect my gratitude as a parent.

When I was growing up my mother did ceramics and she always made my teachers their Christmas presents. Being that I went to a Catholic school, she usually made something spiritual and faith inspired. I like to think that some of my teachers still have what my mother made them. On a side note: my mother did ceramics for years and was an absolute master at fine details like doll eyelashes and finger nail polish. It always amazed me that she was so uncoordinated when it came to things like riding a bicycle but put a paint brush in her hand and she was genious with it. I hope that if you are making hand made gifts this season, you get plenty of time to make them:)




Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Simpler Times...

Why is it that as I get older life seems to get faster? Or should I say as the world in general gets older life seems to get faster? When I think back to my grandmother's time (I won't say my mother's time because she worked full time outside the home, as did most of my friend's moms.), when most women stayed at home full time, things seemed so much simpler. ( I know that "the grass is always greener" rule applies here, I realize that if I were to ask my grandmother, or some of her friends, that life wasn't all that simple then either.)...

There are days that I feel like I move at the speed of light from the time I wake up (at 5:30am) to the time I go to bed (usually 11:30pm) I don't stop, sit, or even take the proper time to breath right. And it's not that I'm not managing my time, it's just that there is literally not enough of it! Between school and work, and house work, and homework, and playing taxi service, and vet visits, and helping out with aging parents, to managing my husband's schedule. I haven't even mentioned the fact that I need to squeeze some creative time in there. How do we do it? I don't mean to complain - that is not what this post is about, but really? Is it me, or as the world has progressed into the 21st century our duties as wife, mother, etc just keep piling up?

When my grandmother was home (although she actually did work outside the home for a doctor), the era of the GI bill and affordable track housing, you stayed at home and took care of two things; the house, and the family. Even when I was growing up, my mother worked, but I wasn't involved in a lot of activities until junior high school and even then, all of the parents took turns taking us to and from. And before junior high I ran around the neighborhood and played with my friends for hours. I really don't remember my mother running around like a chicken with her head cut off all the time (and trust me, if she was, the whole family would have definately heard about it). I sometimes feel like I am responsible for everything; the house, the job, the kids, the pets, the calenders (and that is plural because there is always more than one, there is the husband's work calender, the kid's activities calender, there is the school work calender etc etc), the bills, all the way down to "mom have you seen my favorite shoes?" How do we, as women, make sure we get it all done, give ourselves some time to just be, and not feel guilty about just being? Let me know your thoughts please!

I really shouldn't be complaining - this is a photo of my great, great, Aunt Jen (my Nonnie's Aunt). This photo was taken about 1909, don't know who the little boy is but the St. Bernard was hers. During this time period women did it all as well, and there was no microwave, no food network, and no blogging to vent to the world their frustrations!! I hope everyone has a restful week as we continue to prepare for Christmas this Advent season.



Wednesday, December 1, 2010

An Embellished Photo For Christmas...

I want to give both my mother and my mother-n-law a picture of the girls this year for Christmas. But I didn't want to just wrap up a picture in a frame, I wanted to do something a little different...

Way back in July I had created a collage about fairies and used an embroidered picture of the girls. I loved the way it turned out, and I loved the combination of something as old as handwork combined with something as new as digital photography, and the ability to print those pictures on just about anything...

So I took this photo of the girls and printed it on an ink jet fabric sheet (made by June Tailor, Inc.). Once it was printed, and I had set the ink, I dyed it in a cup of tea for an aged look. I ironed it onto a piece of fusable interfacing for some added strength.

I had thought of collaging this piece but I think both my mother and mother-n-law would like their pictures just nicely framed. I'm still not sure what kind of matting or framing I'm going to do yet - but I will keep you posted. Now on to make another one! Have a Blessed week:)