Today there was a beautiful sunrise and lots of quiet while the kids played with their grandparents. There was cleaning and knitting and holiday planning and kitchen projects. There was gift making, there was snow to stomp in, there was eggnog. And there was a beautiful sunset too. A day for breathing deep. Just what the doctor ordered.

happy shirts

Having my in laws here is amazing. They insist on cooking our meals, doing our dishes and just generally being an incredible help. When Ari goes down for his nap (which has been a wonderful 2-3 hours lately,) there is nothing whatsoever to do but to head to the craft room. It's like going on a holiday at home.

I had been planning on fancy-ing up some of Ari's shirts (read: cover ugly stains on second hand tops,) but I didn't have a definitive plan until I saw angrychicken's post and then I hopped right into action. And oh, what fun! This bird one is my favorite, the fabric makes me even more giddy now that it is on my little one, and he loves birds these days, so he thinks its pretty sweet himself. The drum comes in close second, with a family full of drummers and Ari's love of drumming on just about any flat surface, it seems appropriate. I'll be making more with the squares of fabric as I got a stack of pre-cut quilt squares from a woman cleaning out her stash, so I don't even have to cut first.

I think I'll make some teeny ones next (maybe on some onsies that are not full of ugly stains) for the upcoming baby boom around here. Maybe with matching linen pants if I'm feeling very brave. I found the softest loveliest linen today and I know it needs to get turned into baby pants, but I'm not sure I trust my sewing ability enough to make them as gifts just yet. I'm having troubles with the seams giving way on the ones I made my boy. Sometimes I feel like there must be some secret society of people who sew that I never got to join where all the great wisdom on how to sew buttonholes and keep the bums of pants from giving way is bestowed upon the fortunate. Maybe my invitation is in the mail. In the meantime I'll happily keep sewing pre-cut fabric squares onto pre-made clothing for every baby in sight.

small town thrifting

Thrifting in a small town is not what it is in the city. I remember the thrill (and exhaustion) of browsing those giant department-store sized thrift shops, pushing a cart and hording my finds. I still make thrift shop visiting top priority on all trips to the city. But small town thrifting is an altogether different world. Our local shop isn't much bigger than my livingroom- certainly no room to push a shopping cart between the crowded rows. And it is not uncommon to browse through every item in the store and not find a single thing that I want to take home. So I live in envy of all the wonderful treasures city-folk manage to drag home with them from their giant stores.

But there are advantages to small town thrifting. The prices are certainly lower. And the stores are less picked over. And when you do find a treasure, the thrill is all the greater for having worked so hard to get it. And there is something comforting about seeing the items you donated the week before sitting nestled on the hangers amongst all the other sweaters and baby hats.

These are some recent thrift store finds. A bunch of fabric- linen and cotton and silk maybe? And a huge bag of buttons, some very lovely (some not), for 1$. Not bad. And I am just waiting for my next city adventure where I can browse the endless isles and hoard my treasures into a shopping cart.

fabric virgin

I just got my first order of fabric in the mail. It was a birthday present to myself (as well as this beautiful yellow scarf I ordered from Soulemama's etsy shop. I almost never buy stuff for myself so this was a special splurge but I am starting to worry that the scarf has gotten lost in the mail. I am praying to the god of small precious handmade treasures that it still makes its way to me.) It has been a rough week with a family member in the hospital and my babe sick with a fever and cough. So my very first fabric splurge arriving is a ray of sunlight. These birds make me a little giddy. I can't get the picture to capture their sweetness, but they are sweet as can be. Now I just have to learn how to sew something.