Back To Basics ~ Homemade Happiness

I sewed my first... ANYTHING!

I finally decided to learn how to use my sewing machine. 

After some fussing, some fighting, and some fixing, I got it working right.

Sew... I made an awesome skirt for Bunny out of a yard sale shirt!

This is how I did it:

Step 1~ Find an awesome shirt at the yardsale.



Step 2~ Cut off the top.



Step 3~ Flip inside out and turn down waistband
(leave enough room for elastic).



 Step 4~ Learn how to use sewing machine, sew waistband, insert elastic,

and forget to take pictures (smack self in head).



Step 5~ Inspect work.




Step 6~ Add some extras.




Step 7~ Find a shirt in the closet to make a cute outfit.



Will add a picture of Bunny in her new skirt ASAP!

?

I am planning to do a Q and A post in the near future (I saw it on another blog and it looked fun). If you have a question for me, put it in the comments and I will do my best to answer it. I already have a few, but need more to make a whole post out of it. Thanks you for your help!

Daydream Believer

When I was young, my sisters and I would play princesses. They would all go to the ball, dance with princes and live in castles with servants and riches beyond imagination. I however, would steal away from the ball in some act of rebellion (never against the parents, usually some evil uncle out to overthrow the king), ride all night with my best friend (who was always a blacksmith of some sort) to alert the neighboring kingdom of some imminent danger and save the day. I would then marry the blacksmith boy (I've always had a thing for hard working guys), giving up my crown in the process (marrying commoners was forbidden), and live in a cottage on the outskirts of town. Working hard to build a life together. That was my happily ever after. Turns out, dreams do come true. I did marry my best friend and we have been on many incredible adventures together.

I may be a dreamer, but I dream of simple things. I don't need a new car, or the latest phone. I don't want a huge house, or designer clothes. When I pick up something I like, I try to ask myself how it would improve my life. Many many times, I put it back down. If I can think of a way it makes my life better, I then ask myself how much I would pay for it. THEN I look at the price tag. If it is over my decided price, I walk away. This system seems to work well for me.

Just this Saturday, I saw a beautiful hand blacksmithed leaf necklace. The price was double what I wanted to pay for it, so I did not buy it. But when we left, I kept thinking of how lovely it was. I mentioned it to The Hubs and told him that I really liked it but there was no way I was going  to pay that kind of money for it. We made our other stops, picking up a few things we needed, then traveled home. We ate lunch and Bunny went down for her nap, I started cleaning up the kitchen and The Hubs went outside to start on some welding he was doing for work. A little while later he came inside handed me a small peice of metal. It was a leaf! My blacksmith boy made me a leaf! We strung it with some leather and tied it off. It is beautiful. Perfect. Even better because he made it for me. He is amazing like that.

My awesome new necklace.

One happy wifey (with straightened hair).

 My new necklace only cost about $2.00 and 15 minutes to make. The one I saw in the store was $19.99.  Dreams do come true!  You just have to work for them.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual inspired by SouleMama. A single photo capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. 

Joy

So... I should really cancel these email reminders of how many weeks pregnant I am... 12 weeks it says... 12 weeks... I was seven weeks when I first saw that tinge of pink that made me wonder if somthing was wrong... Seven weeks when I came down with the virus that would eventually end her little life... Eight weeks when I bled black... The color of death itself... Eight weeks when I labored for hours... When I delivered her tiny body into my hands... When I sat on the toilet and stared at my bloody feet while Mama checked everything to make sure it was all there... Eight weeks when I laid in bed moaning from the afterpains with no newborn baby to ease my heartache... Eight weeks... Tomorrow it will say 13 weeks... I really should cancel these reminders... But I won't... Not yet, anyway... Because even though It is hard sometimes... She is Joy... I love my little baby... I loved being pregnant for her... I loved being able to give birth to her at home... I love that I got to hold her... She (in my heart she is a she) will never have to feel pain or sadness... She is Joy... Pure Joy... Thank You God for giving her to me... Even if it was only for a short time... I love my life!

Chalk

What do you do with this?

  

Do you eat it?

  

Oh, I get it...

 

This is fun!

 

Hey guys, did you see this stuff?



Ha ha!



Clean up, Clean up...

 

I love chalk!

 

Revised Rhythm

Summers are always the craziest times at our Enchanted Childhood Playschool. We generally have more children. Sadly, Mama and I have found that our greatest skills really lie from ages two through four (Yes, I realize that does not include Bunny who is only 16 1/2 months. My own don't count).

Babies are getting harder and harder to fit into our rhythm. The issue is that if we are going to do something, we want to do it right. Babies need and deserve a lot of attention and we simply cannot give them what we want to give them and continue to teach Playschool the way we want. It is bitter sweet since we love babies, But we have decided that we will not be accepting any more babies (other than my own, of course) to our little group. They will have to be at least 15 months old and on one nap a day before they join us.

Older children, while still welcomed and loved here, just seem to fade more and more into the real world. Some start attending other pre-schools part time or kindergartens and only come to us on holidays. I have never once been happy to see a child go (except for a little boy whose mama decided stay at home with him). A piece of my heart goes with them as they trudge off into the haze of the big world. No child has ever come back the same way they left. They may seem the same from the outside, but their hearts change. The enchantment of childhood is replaced by the allure of big kid/grown up things. It gets harder and harder for them to see the magic. I guess this is called this growing up, but I don't like to see it happening to children so young.

With the end of summer, comes the longing to get back to where we belong. To take what we have learned and apply it to the rhythm of our day. We made new, revised, playschool sunny day and rainy day schedules.

Front

Mama's amazing artwork in the corners haha!

Back

In addition to the new rhythm, we have added various new things to our playschool. We now have stump stools at several places along our walking paths to encourage stopping to play and explore. We also just added (today in fact) an old boat to the shore of our little creek. I can't wait to see what adventure the children dream up for that. A ship wreck? A fishing trip? Who knows! Pics to come!

I am so excited to see what this new season brings. Anything is possible!