in honour of love

grow

A lot of peeps in Blogland have been choosing a 'word of the year' for themselves. I've enjoyed and been inspired by reading about these words and the reasons behind the choices. One blogger even asked her readers what their word would be. That got me thinking.

And thinking.

And thinking.

We've put a couple of very intense years behind us. A new job. A new baby (very recently preceded by two other new babies). Two international moves with these three babies. Two new schools and two children starting school. Another new job. And finally, a new home.

I did at first think my word should be something like 'settle' or 'calm'. Because those are two things I'd certainly like to see embodied in my life this year. But I've never been one to sit quietly.

Looking out the window across our lovely little (but biggest by far) new garden towards the fields beyond, it came to me.

Grow.

Now that we are in a position to put down roots again we can begin to think about the act of growing:

• our children growing out of the baby stage and into still little but bigger people
• growing food and flowers in our garden
• personal growth, particularly in the areas of patience, gratitude and intentional living
• growing confidence and skill in hobbies such as woodworking and camping
• growing and cultivating friendships with our new neighbours
• hopefully watching our savings account sprout again, and with any luck grow past the single digits!

I am looking forward to reaching towards the sun this year. Expanding upwards and at the same time, strengthening our root system.

The children in Eva's and Imogen's kindergarten are distinguished into three groups according to their stage of development - the seeds (the youngest), the leaves (the middlings) and the buds (the eldest). Right now, as a family, we are probably still seeds, in the earliest stage of developing. I am truly excited to see where we grow as a family in the coming year.

handmade christmas roundup (finally!)

I've had new-year-procrastinitis. Every day that passes makes it harder to get back on the blogging wagon. And...we had a sad month. Our big family Christmas gift was a Labrador puppy. One that we've known since he was in his mum's tum, who we've visited since he was two weeks old. We brought him home the second week of January, and three days later found out he was very sick with a congenital heart defect. We made the awful decision to return him to his breeder for further investigation, but sadly, he died two days later. It has been a heartbreaking experience, and we don't feel ready to look for another puppy.

The rest of our holiday was joyful, though, and full of handmade goodness.

Lacy baktus for my mom (details on Ravelry)

peppermint bark (using the recipe shared by Soule Mama)

Christmas cookies - we made what seemed like hundreds and gave little parcels of cookies to friends and neighbours in lieu of Christmas cards

Christmas Eve pj bottoms - using Folksy Flannel and Burda 9747

mama-made flopsy doll made with hand-dyed organic bamboo velour

beeswaxed play blocks Daddy made from sawn douglas fir and birch branches

sailboat made by Daddy

rockerboard made by a man from a Waldorf community in New York (thank you Waldorf Mama for sharing his details last Christmas)

playstand made by my friend's incredibly talented 15-year-old son - perfect for building dens

this moment: saying goodbye

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week a couple of weeks ago. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

inspired by amanda soule

happy holidays

Hope your holidays have been as joyful as ours! We're continuing our celebrations by traveling to see family tomorrow, but I'll be back in the new year to share our little handmade Christmas with you. And to introduce you to the newest member of our family. A baby, yes. But one of the four-legged variety. Until then, wishing you a peaceful and joyful New Year!

just eight straight lines

About four months ago, I bought some very inexpensive green and red gingham fabric, with the idea of using it to make reusable Christmas gift bags. We have hardly used any wrapping paper in our present-giving throughout this year (except for gifts outside of our family, and that is almost exclusively recycled wrapping nowadays), and though I adore the look of a beautifully-wrapped present, I hate how long it takes to do it. Today, with the deadline for getting my presents wrapped looming, I started making cloth gift bags. Not that I'm prone to procrastination or anything.

I've made a variety of sizes - some with gussets, some with ribbon already attached - and I thought I'd share the how-to bit with you (not that it's at all difficult, but I know by the time we get this close to Christmas, my brain's ability to work anything out for itself is waning quickly, so a photo-tutorial can save a bit of head-scratching). I used French seams on my bags for neatness - you could do without them to save time, but in all honesty they only add about two and a half minutes to each bag.

 Cut your fabric a little more that twice the size you want your finished bag to be. I didn't do any measuring - just made a selection of sizes. If you use a fabric such as gingham, you can just cut along the lines - super speedy!

 Working with one of the short edges, fold over twice, press and pin. Do the same with the other short edge.

 Sew a straight line along the folded edge, ensuring you catch the folded-under bit of fabric. My hems were about 3/8 inch - you could make them as wide or narrow as you please. I didn't bother backstitching at either end - the ends will be caught in the side seams anyway.

 Fold your hemmed fabric in half, hemmed edges together, wrong sides facing. Press along the folded edge.

 If attaching ribbons, tuck 1" of the ribbon in between the layers about 2" down from the hemmed edges. Pin all three layers together. Do the same on the other side. Sew straight lines down each edge, using a 1/4" seam allowance. When you've sewed both sides, you will have a bag that looks as though you've sewed it wrong side out as the raw edges will be on the outside. Your long pieces of ribbons should be on the outside of the bag.

 Now turn your bag inside out. It should look like the above photo, with 1" of ribbon sticking out of the neat edges. Press the sides of your bag so they're nice and flat.

 Sew down each side again with a 3/8" seam allowance - this should ensure that your raw edges are now encased inside the new seams. As you approach the ribbon, check that the long tail is laying flat inside your bag.

 Fold the short tail of ribbon over the fabric, so that as you continue your seam you sew down the tail. This keeps the inside of your bag nice and tidy and should stop the ribbon from fraying.

 Do the same for the other side. This is what the inside of the bag will now look like.

 If you want to add a gusset to the bottom of your bag so that it will stand up, pinch the corners of the bottom of the bag (whilst it's still inside out) and pull out so that you get a point.

 Sew a straight line so that you have a triangle. Use your judgement as to how large your triangle should be - mine were about 1 1/2" wide.

 This is what the bag looks like now, inside out.

 Here's a close-up of the gusset corners.

 Turn your bag right side out and admire your clever handiwork!

 Pop a gift inside, wrap the ribbons round the top edge and tie. Beautiful!

I managed to make eight bags in an hour, using about 1 1/2 yards of fabric. I didn't actually do any measuring or pinning - just pressed my seams and hems. I used bits of ribbon from my stash...you could easily make the bags without ribbons and tie them up as you wrap your gifts. Amanda has instructions for a slightly different way of constructing her bags and attaching the ribbons - her bags certainly look more elegant than mine! I love her red and white theme. And if you like the idea of using cloth to wrap your gifts, but don't have a sewing machine or the time to make bags, have a go at the Japanese art of Furoshiki, as demonstrated by the Lazy Seamstress.

it's been a while

...but we are beginning to feel settled in our new home. And not a moment too soon! With the holidays looming (in the nicest possible way, of course) and a new little one (more on that later) joining our family in the new year, we've hardly stopped for breath. The house is still full of unopened packing boxes, but I've managed to create a little calm in one half of the living room. The Christmas tree is twinkling, there is snow on the ground, and my sewing machine is seeing more action than the vacuum...so all is good in our little house.