needle & thREAD (and a recipe and a giveaway)

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Today is back-to-normal day. The tree is still up and will remain so through the weekend, squeezing every last bit of sparkly lights out of the twelve days of Christmas. But the secular world will do as it does and insist on its own way. Local children return to school today. The dance studio is open. Mike commutes in to his office with everyone else who works in our nation's capital. There's grocery shopping to do (and it doesn't involve a list for three giant celebrations in a row;-)..

I'm going to hit the gym first.

And then, as the weather turns sharply colder and we settle in to see how this typical hard-to-predict storm does its thing, I will sew. Today's sewing will be a few hand towels to stack in my foyer bathroom. We had a our fair share of fun witht he the making and giving of embellished towels over Christmas this year. And I made two for us. They look so pretty! To take the sting out packing away all our pretties, I thought some fresh "everyday" towels would be fun. I have some Heather Bailey fabric that will go nicely in there. I'll whip them up this afternoon. All this towel embellishing has certainly allowed me to practice some quilting skills. I've learned a lot about "stitching in the ditch." I plan to get to Mary Beth's quilt next week.

For the rest of this week, there are some flannel pjs begging to be had. I hope I have enough flannel. These girls keep growing! I'm planning on cutting Oliver + S sleepover pajamas tomorrow. I'm very much hoping tomorrow is a snow day and flannel pajama sewing seems so appropriate.

I have several new books going just now. The first is a book of body care recipes. Over the last year, I've become very committed to watching what I put on my body as carefully as I do what I put in my body. I've switched all my makeup to this brand (which I dearly love) and I'm making sure that soaps, shampoos, lotions and such are truly "clean." I enjoy mixing bath and body concoctions and played with several recipes of my own to give as gifts. This book offers me some fresh ideas. Several of you wrote to tell me how much you liked my detox bath recipe last week. Below, I'm sharing a simple one from the book. I chose this one because it requires nothing to special in the ingredients department and very little prep time.

I've gotten the sewing room tidied to a point where it doesn't look like Santa's elves had a drunken party in there. The goal before I sew today is to completely clear the desk. Then, the laptop will go on the desk. My iPhone will go on the desk. And there they will live except for designated writing times (laptop) and voice conversations (phone). There are too many people in my life who require my face-to-face fulltime attention for me to be clicking around much at all. I know there are excellent tools to be had in my computer, iPad, and iPhone and I'm grateful for them. I just don't want to be married to them. I think it was easier to achieve healthy balance when computers were tethered in our homes. I appreciate portability, but by anchoring mine I hope to give myself time to pause and consider my options before engaging.

Along those lines, remember way back when I told you about Rachel Macy Stafford's new book, Hands Free Mama? It's here! I think the subtitle sums it up nicely: A guide to putting down the phone, burning the to-do list, and letting go of perfection to grasp what really matters. Sounds like a maifesto for the new year:-).

I have an extra copy of Hands Free Mama. Leave me a comment and let me know what your sewing resolutions are for the year, or what you're planning to read, or how you're going to live a little more "hands free" (or any combination of those resolutions) and you'll be entered to win the book. Winner announced next week!

What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

Flowers and Spice Stress-Relieving Milky Bath Salts

This is warming, calming, de-stressing bath blend for the high-strung person who has a tendency to feel chilled all the time. It helps relieve muscle aches while simultaneously softening skin. 

1/2 cup Epsom salt

1/2 cup powdered whole or nonfat milk

2 drops each of the follwing essential oils: vanialla, rose otto or geranium, cardamom

Pour the Epsom salt and the powdered milk together directly under running bath water. Add the essential oils immediately before stepping into the tup. Swish the water with your hands to mix.

Relax. Soak for 20 to 30 minutes.

needle & thREAD

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

Sorry to be so late today! Been up since dawn.

There has been some of this:

{Mere Christianity in the dark hours}

And some of this:

{The Perilous Journey while Stephen worked beside me.}

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A whole lot of these:

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and some special ones of these:

Tell me what you're up to!

Needle & thREAD

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

It's been more of the same here this week. I did take on the Snow Queen challenge and spent some very happy time stitching up some magical snow on a tutu. We're all pretty happy with the result. 

 

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Beyond that, it's been gift sewing. Can't show too much of that. Here's just a bit:

I read and re-read Lidia Bastianich's Nonna, Tell Me a Story: Lidia's Christmas Kitchen. I have to admit, she had me at the title. This is a darling story of an Italian grandmother who shares her Christmas traditions with her grandchildren and then spruces those traditions up a bit to make them work in modern America. Just darling!

(I've created a new category here, Nonna's House. New season in the heart of our home.)

So tell us all about your reading and stitching! Do you have Christmas secrets you can share in the combox? 

needle & thREAD (and a bonus recipe)

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Tell me about it in the contents or leave a link to your blog. I'll be happy to come by and visit!

You can get your own needle & thREAD button here in your choice of several happy colors.

Life's been a mixture of Sugar Plum and Maple Cinnamon Butter lately. Sounds like the kitchen, but it's really the sewing room. Well, and maybe a little kitchen, too. Take a little waltz with me through the pretty pictures?

Mary Beth was pretty bummed when she tried on the costume destined to be the Sugar Plum Fairy costume. I snapped a picture of her in it because my mind started spinning pretty much the moment I saw her face. I'd love to show you the whole picture, but she'd be horrified. I promise her face was well worth a thousand words and none of them were lovely. I did send the picture to K. C. of That's Sew K. C. with Mary Beth's permission. K.C. is the tutu queen and two days later, a box of her beautiful lace arrived at our house. We began the tutu transformation in the studio, where Mary Beth's ballet teacher offered both practical and moral support. The girls were rehearsing. Helen and I were stitching. Oh, and then we moved to some other costuming issues and watched Paddy play soccer at the same time. 

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I was on a roll after I left the studio and my mind was whirling with ideas. I had Mary Beth try it on at home and did some pinning. I handstitched late that night (she had her first performance the next day) and awoke early to get back after it. When I read the bodice parts, I felt like the stitching would be better if it were actually being worn while being stitched. Mary Beth was still asleep and I wanted to surprise her anyway. So, Katie volunteered to be my mannequin and Karoline took up the camera. 

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Mary Beth was pretty thrilled when she awoke. (And truly, Katie and Karoline were so excited that their enthusiasm carried me for days.). I don't have any pictures of Mary Beth wearing the newly decorated tutu, but she took this one with her  phone. 

 

Oh, dear. The Snow Queen's costume is looking a bit shopworn next to the Sugar Plum. Whatever shall we do about that;-)?

There is some Christmas crafting underway at last. A dabbled a bit with this tutorial and that. And I've done a whole lot cutting and a wee bit of sewing. I'm pretty tickled with the results and looking forward to doing a whole bunch of these in the very near future. 

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And a little something sweet to go along with the dish towels? Cinnamon Maple Butter! Yes, ma'am.

Cinnamon Maple Butter

yields about 3 half pint jars, with a wee bit left

Ingredients:

3/4 cup REAL maple syrup

2 cups butter, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

 4 half pint canning jars

Cream the butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and cinnamon in an electric mixer with a whisk attachment until it's all smooth. Spoon it into the canning jars and tie with a scrappy bow. The butter needs to be refrigerated and it spreads much better if it sits out a bit before serving. I'm not eating bread or muffins or all those typical things upon which one might spread this heavenly butter. But, oh my heavens!, it takes baked sweet potatoes to a beautiful, beautiful place.

(Note: Like most things in life, this is all the better if you scrape a vanilla bean into the mixture:-) 

As for reading, I'm pretty much enchanted by Amy Welborn's new picture book, Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing. It's the sweet story of a little boy who visits his grandfather in Italy. Amy Welborn does a masterful job of bringing Italy alive as the little boy learns lessons in craftsmanship, forgiveness, and generosity. We learned a bit about the traditions of the presepe and Bambenelli Sunday, enough to want to research more and we all decided that this book went nicely with The Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey (Is it possible that this book is out of print???). And of course, we have to make our own Bambinelli (Sculpey, clay, wood, peg dolls? A little of everything?)

There's a live event today. Join host Judy Zarick and author Amy Welborn as they introduce her new book for children. Just in time for Christmas, Bambinelli Sunday tells a wonderful story about sharing, comfort, generosity, and forgiveness though the lens of a long-standing Italian tradition. 
Join us on December 5th at 3:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. PT).  Log in and ask questions through the chat area.  Amy Welborn will answer them during her presentation. You must register first.

So tell us all about your reading and stitching!

Needle & thREAD

 

 

Good morning! Today, I'm so grateful to have Aimee from Living, Learning, and Loving Simply to share some sewing and good books with you. I'm up to my eyeballs in Nutcraker tutus. Look for the Nutcracker version of needle & thREAD next Friday (since Thursday is Thanksgiving). Many thanks to Aimee for a pretty great Christmas present idea!

I belong to a bi-monthly Food Swap where a group of about 30 of us get together and trade homemade, homegrown, or foraged foods.  In November, our swap included crafts!  As I thought about what I wanted to make, I found a wonderful tutorial for handmade drying mats. Perfect for those dishes that come out of the dishwasher still damp or a pretty place for the hand-washing to dry. When Edie said that these are her "go-to" Christmas gift, I figured that these were worth making!

 

I bought two coordinating fabrics for each mat at JoAnn Fabrics and Hobby Lobby.  The reverse side is white terry cloth.  I had no idea that terry was so expensive!  9.99/yard at JoAnn, but it was Veteran's Day and I found a 60% off coupon! {That is one of the NICE parts of an iPhone...standing in line at a craft store and googling their site for a coupon and VOILA: they scan your phone and you save money!}

 

These were very simple to cut and sew. They are so pretty and nice that I ended up not swapping them, but keeping them to give as Christmas presents.

 

On the reading front, I love to keep a fiction and a non-fiction book going at the same time.  After months of fiction duds, I finally read one that I really enjoyed.  What could be better than a theme of brokenness and redemption, mentions of homeschooling, gardening and also a midwife?!  Stories where Love conquers rejection and pain and isolation are always a winner. I found A Language of Flowers at our library but had to wait a short time on a waiting list to receive it. I devoured it in two days.

 

 

 

For non-fiction, I am slowly savoring A Million Little Ways by Emily P. Freeman.  If you haven't watched the darling trailer for it, you must! After reading the first two chapters, I started texting several local friends to see if they wanted to spend our upcoming January discussing this book together and what it will mean for each of us practically. From the back cover:

 

You were born to make art. You were made to live art. You might not see yourself

as an artist, but you are--in so many unexpected ways. In what you create, whether

poetry or pie, sculpture or sand castle, calligraphy or conversation. It's time to uncover

the shape of your soul, turn down the voice of the inner critic, and move into the world

with the courage to be who you most deeply are.

Creating a life of meaning is not about finding that one great thing you were made

to do, it's about knowing the one great God you were made to glorify--

in a million little ways.

 

 

 

What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

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