Winter Show-And-Tell

Here are just a few of the things that made their way into our holidays.

For Christmas I gave Daddie a big jar of the rosemary soap that I made over the summer. Somehow the ratio of oils was incorrect in my recipe, so most of the soap became crumbly and dry. To remedy the situation, I took a few cups of the crumbled soap, added baking soda, water, and a bit of fragrance, and boiled it into a liquid handsoap. This is extremely helpful for hardworking hands-- it removes pine pitch, motor oil, paint, and all sorts of other icky things. If unscented, it can also be used for dishes and cleaning the house. But be careful if you plan to add it to mop water-- it works so well on linoleum floors that it makes them extremely slippery!

Next we have the candles that I made for Momma for Christmas. We tend to go through quite a few candles each month, so I collect the leftover wax from tapers and votives until I have enough to melt down for a new candle. This year, I had nearly two shoeboxes full of old candles, so I had plenty of choices! To make upcycled candles, there are a number of steps.

-First I group like colors together and put them in a stainless steel bowl over a pot of simmering water.
-Stir the wax as it melts and remove any old wicks with a wooden dowel.
-Prepare new candle moulds with fresh wick-- braided 100% cotton twine is best and burns cleanest.
-To add some nice scent to my candles, I use the wax wafers produced by
Yankee Candle for "wax potpourri".These melt right along with the old candles and give the wax a more consistent color.
-When all the wax has melted, pour into the prepared moulds.

The candles that I made this year were gingerbread, lavender vanilla, and vanilla scented.

Project Wishlist

Recently I've found myself paging through knitting patterns, inspirational sewing sites, and books that I've been collecting thinking, "I could make that!". I've amassed quite a collection of bookmarks in my mind of things that I'm sure I'll get around to someday. But in the meantime, I'll have to content myself with a good old-fashioned to-do list.

Knitting:

• Mug cozies-- Scandinavian pattern for Lily
• Fingerless mittens for Ethan
• Mittens for Daddie
• Cabled headbands
• Baby sweater with locally farmed, dyed, and spun wool
• Socks!
• Fair Isle sweater
• Sweater with Scandinavian pattern
• Tablerunner for Momma
  

Sewing:

• New potholders-- quilted
• Quilt for Claire
• T-shirt quilt for myself
  
• New swing dress for Spring semester
• Undergarments! for swing dancing, etc.
• More farmer's market bags for Barb, Emily
• Aprons for myself
• Altering of old dresses
• Denim skirt
• Dog bed for Chessie
  

Other:

• Rag rug
• Hooked rug from scraps
• Tin lanterns
• Cross-stitch finished!
• Seal and label seed packets from last year
• Start seedlings for the Spring & Summer-- egg cartons
  
• Frame drawings
• Make more candles-- tapers, columns, and votives
• Homemade shampoo
• New batch of handsoap

I just know that as soon as I post this, I'll have another flood of things that I forgot to mention. But until then, I've got a good list to start from.

A Blessed Christmas to All

So I've found it very difficult to keep up with this blog in the past few months. I suppose that it has something to do with the fact that I am in my last year of college, but I think there may be more to it than the usual excuse of academic obligations. In any case, I want to share a few thoughts about Christmas before I go into blog hibernation once again.

Throughout middle school and high school, I struggled to enjoy Christmas the way that everyone around me seemed to. After a few consecutive Christmases working to buy just the right gift for everyone, baking every cookie I could manage, and trying to attend every party, I realized that nothing I was doing was helping to make the holiday itself special and meaningful to me. I began to reflect on what always made Christmastime special to me. Surprisingly, I found that it had nothing to do with the gifts I received, the decorations that I used, the food I ate, or the parties I attended. What makes Christmas special to me is the time that I spend with my family and the closeness I feel to God when I devote myself to a holiday of love and compassion.

A year ago, I made the conscious decision to forgo the commercialism of Christmas. I no longer give gifts outside of my immediate family, and the few gifts that I give are homemade. Although the rest of my family and my friends buy their cards and gifts, I feel that I give more of myself when the gift I give is handmade. This may seem too simple and somewhat shallow, but it is amazing how it has changed my outlook on Christmas.

Think of how much time can be devoted to family and reflection on the meaning of the holiday when one is not spending hours and hours in the crowded mall! While it is sometimes nice to go out in the evening, especially to see stores decorated for the season, too much stimulation can be distracting & often destructive. Seeing all the lovely things in stores can be tempting, and when we concentrate on our own desires we forget the needs of others. We put too much emphasis on the giving and receiving of gifts in this society, and it would do us good to remember that the true gift in our lives is that of the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, Emmanuel.

Without expectations of gifts, with extra time for reflection and prayer, and without all the extra "trimmings" of a secular Christmas, it becomes a simple and beautiful holiday to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior.

One of my favorite inspirational websites is Beliefnet.com, which gives quite a few other ideas on how to keep "Christ" in "Christmas". http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Christmas/21-Ways-to-Keep-Christ-in-Christmas.aspx

I hope that Christmas is a blessed holiday for all!

Thanksgiving

For so many, Thanksgiving is just an excuse to watch football and consume copious amounts of fattening food. Even those who know their God and talk with Him daily often forget to truly give thanks for all that He has blessed them with. I know I forget. So here are things that I am thankful for:

1. Family
2. Friends
3. Pets
4. Food
5. Clean water
6. A place to live
7. Fresh air to breath
8. Access to medical care
9. The opportunity to have an education
10. The opportunity to have a college degree
11. The opportunity to pursue a career
12. The right to vote
13. Clothing
14. Shoes
15. Music
16. The Bible
17. Access to technology
18. Electricity
19. A car
20. A bike
21. Medicine
22. Disposable income
23. A bed
24. Pillows and blankets
25. A sewing machine
26. The skills to make it through every day
27. Exposure to culture
28. Literacy
29. The opportunity to work for minimum wage
30. Having been born in America
31. My ancestors who came before me
32. Those who sacrificed their lives for my right to live as I do now
33. Living under a democratic government
34. Having the choice to make my life what it is
35. The opportunity to worship as I please
36. My faith
37. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
38. The gift of song that God has given me
39. My health
40. Access to the news
41. Good people in power in my local and national government
42. People who care about me
43. My work experience
44. Relationships from the past
45. My relationships now
46. Mentors who have guided me through my life
47. My loving boyfriend
48. The power of prayer
49. Leisure time
50. The ability to move and be active on my own

These blessings are just a few of the many that make up my life, but even though the others are not listed, I am no less thankful for them. I pray that you will also think of the blessings in your life and thank God for what He has done for you, just as those present at the first Thanksgiving must have done.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

A Quick Check-in

Wow. Life seems to be going a mile a minute this year, and I've hardly had time to finish assignments, sleep, or keep up with friends and family let alone have time for my projects and blogging!

Thankfully my life has been well-documented in the past two months, so I'll show the pictures and you can guess what I've actually been up to!

On This Historic Day...

10 years ago on this day, I was in grade school. I think it was a Tuesday. During the day, we kids were oblivious to the news until we were putting up our chairs around 2:00pm. I remember that the lights were turned out, and we were waiting for Mrs. B. to dismiss us. Suddenly she appeared in the doorway. Our teacher --usually a cheerful and vibrant woman-- addressed the class with tears in her eyes.

"Today something terrible happened. We are safe, but your parents will explain more to you when you get home."

As I walked through the neighborhood, I wondered what had happened. When I arrived home, both my parents' cars were in the driveway. They had come home from work early-- a sign that something was not right. I walked straight into the living room where both my mother and father sat watching, shocked, as the footage rolled on the television. The images were surreal and terrible. It took hours for me to piece together the story, but I was concerned for my family. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, friends-- they all lived and working around the city, but they were fine. But my mother had cried saying,

"If they went for the Empire State Building next, or the Statue of Liberty, I wouldn't be able to stand it."

Ten years have passed, but the shock has not worn away. The dull pain of great loss and anger at the violation of our homeland has turned from patriotic acts to aggressive retaliation. It sickens me to think that in the eyes of the world, Americans are more apt to racial profiling and "tightening security" than promoting healing for our broken country. As a nation under God, I pray that those who represent the American people would remember that the United States was founded upon heretofore unheard of principles, and that without His grace and constant guidance it would not be the glorious nation it is today. Let us not forget that our words and actions of today affect posterity for all time. Therefore, let our citizens and leaders treat each other with respect and integrity so that our children will know a civil and morally upstanding world.

Fashions of Summer