Summertime....and the Livin' is Easy.......

The picture is one I found of downtown Boise; I love our downtown, it always reminds me of Main Street in Disneyland; it's clean and relatively safe; great for strolling around looking at shops or just enjoying the great weather. I had a rare opportunity to do that yesterday; after I dropped off my boys at the zoo with my mom; I found a nail salon and treated myself to a great spa pedi; which is a completely frivolous treat, that I don't get very often. Then, since I had my car safely, and non-parallel parked in a garage; I walked around for a while downtown; strolling the fabulous weather; all by myself. It felt odd not to be holding hands and attempting to keep children from running into the street; and while I wished that James had the same opportunity for "me" time; I truly enjoyed. it.
 
I've been so enjoying having my boys home from school! I didn't realize how much time was being taken up with school drop-off and pickup; It was almost 2 hours a day! Now; when I am working late at night, I don't have to worry about being up; dressed, makeuped and out the door with 5 boys by 8:45; I can wake up with my boys and have a relaxing morning. Often we don't get dressed until 10 am; or later. Even now; at 8:40; I'm sitting here at my computer with my giant cup of coffee; and my boys; still in jammies, are playing or watching TV.

Another thing that has helped on the soap front; is that James purchased two sets of industrial shelving units and spent Sunday cleaning and rearranging the garage. Before; my supplies were spread out between the living room, the kitchen, and the garage for my non-child safe equipment; lye, and oils; and empty bottles and jars; and it was really hard to find anything. Now I even have a little workbench that allows me to measure and weigh my oils and ingredients; without having to lug 35 pound bottles of oil into the house; along with all my equipment. I still need my kitchen for my CPOP soap; but I can actually make my hot process soap on my workbench, since I have an electrical outlet for my crockpot. Here's how it looks:

 It's been really nice to finally have a separate spot; I can only store my finished soaps out there for part of the year; I don't want them to either freeze or melt; but right now the temperature is perfect, so it's really like having an extension of my too-tiny house; and has freed me up a lot. James has even noticed that the house is looking nicer when he comes home; because I have more time and also more space.

I'm looking forward to the next few months as being a bit of a breather for me; although I'm still staying busy with my etsy shop and my in-person sales; having my boys at home has really changed my focus; and  now I'm not so consumed by my business. I hope that something that I can keep up even when school starts again.

I hope you are all having a great, sunshiny summer!

Cinder Blocks are a Girl's Best Friend.....

I usually don't blab on about my business....or I try not to; but I have to share with you the experience I had going solo (with my bestie) at the Farmers' Market on Saturday!

The weather this spring has been bad. Simply terrible; but I was very excited because it was supposed to be nice and warm on Saturday. Warm.....and windy! I woke up to a few droplets of rain on my drive to the market...no biggie; it looked like it was breaking up; and the forecast was still for warm weather.

We arrived; and foolishly and bumblingly put up the tent; with a tremendous amount of help from our neighbors at the Market; in fact; it was like the blind leading the blind until he stepped in! We set up my display; which I have to say; looked paltry compared to the full booth I normally enjoy with the other ladies' work! And off we went. We were having a great time; giggling and chatting....my friend taking frequent and speedy shopping excursions...that girl can shop! When......

THE WIND started. Not just any wind; the first gust I was painfully aware of lifted the tent and blew it sideways about a foot; until I reflexively reached up to grab the center support and bring it down to earth! This tent was weighted in the usual way; but it was like those weights did not exist when the wind caught hold! As I frantically tried to avoid an unfortunate kite-flying accident; and thought of Mary Poppins; our lovely neighbor came to the rescue again; retying the weights in better locations; and providing us with a rope; to tie to the center support. We hung on to that rope for dear life; at one point, I somehow managed to cash out a customer one handed while holding the tent earth-bound with another!

I kept watching the other vendors; the second any one of them took down their tent; ours was going to be next! But although many were holding onto their tents; like me; I didn't see a single person give up....naturally; I was not going to be the fraidy-cat! I don't think I breathed at all until the market was over and the tent safely stowed in the case! Again with the help of our neighbor; who I paid in lotion!

Despite all the wind; my friend and I; who have known each other almost a long as we can remember; had a really good time; met some interesting and fabulous people; and just generally had a fun girls' time!

But I am looking forward to having the ladies back next Saturday!

I'm looking forward to a busy Thursday; and probably will have a link from my blog post I wrote as a guest on another etsian's blog!

Have a great one!

Ain't She Sweet......Now I ask you very confidentially; ain't she nice.....

My "best comment" award from Stephanie Evers' blog!

 

 

Friday already? Where does the time go? I have been meaning to update my blog for a few days; but Blogger has had continual problems; every time I thought of sitting down to blog; it seems like!

I was very pleased a few days ago to find out that I had received the "best comment" award from a fellow blogger Stephanie Evers; who liked my embarrassing comment about why I read frivolous novels and not grand literature.....ah, well; I knew that would bring good things to me in some fashion!

I was also very honored to have my soap featured on the blog of a great customer and fellow etsian Jean May Originals......Awww; it's great to have such great blogging friends!

Whew.....more blogging news! I wrote a guest post for my Idaho Etsy Team Blog; all about the experience selling at the Farmers' Market.

In other news; I have to tell you, blog friends; I'm really struggling. Struggling to keep up with all the things I'm doing right now; I rush around all day long and feel like I have very little to show for it. I know that feeling is common to stay-at-home-moms, regardless of whether they are working from home as well; and I guess it should be no surprise that adding working from home into the mix would cause some adjustment. I have a tendency to take on things; thinking that I can handle it all; I have trouble admitting that I'm only one person and there's only so many things one can do in a 24 hour period; sleep notwithstanding. James keeps reminding me that any undertaking like this is going to have some hiccups; setbacks; and growing pains....but I just wish growing pains weren't so.....painful!

Sometimes I just can't see my way through this; on the one hand I'm really enjoying myself and doing something that I know will pay off in the long run....on the other hand; I'm tired; cranky; and some days feel like going back to bed (or to bed) and pulling the covers over my head. I keep thinking of the illustration of a wife in the Bible, that talks about her not eating "the bread of laziness" and actually talks about her managing and owning property. I would imagine the ideal wife would be a lot less anxious about her tasks than I am; and most likely would not be printing off Paypal shipping labels at 3 am; but the principle holds.

I keep thinking to myself "I'm no quitter, I'm no quitter"; and I know someday I'll look back on this and I'll be glad I persevered. At least, I sure hope so!


This is so funny; while I was writing this, I took a Facebook quiz; which I kinda think are true.....here are the results: 

People Are Drawn to Your Energy

You have a real zest for life. You approach each day with optimism.
You believe it's important to keep going no matter what. You're always ready to tackle a new challenge.

You naturally boost the energy levels of those around you. You have a lot of enthusiasm and stamina.
You know how to get people moving in the right direction. You are a natural coach.

Well this is good to know! I hope I can live up to my Facebook quiz!

I have another busy weekend ahead; the weather is supposed to be great; I hope you all have a great one as well!

Happy Friday!

Farmers and Brides

Ahhh....such awful cell-phone pics of the bride! I promise that as soon as the real pictures are back I will post them! The first picture is taken with a camera, at least; as I was finishing the dress; you can see it's a beautiful shade of pale yellow; and I hope you can see enough to know that my mother made a lovely bride for her wedding last Saturday. After the wedding, which was at her home; she opened up her pool and the boys went swimming and ate Hawaiian food, which they had never had, but loved!

Saturday was also my first day selling at at Farmer's Market. I was so nervous and had so much to do, I couldn't sleep! Once we were there getting everything set up, I felt more comfortable, but it takes some getting used to to have people look at your items, ask you questions, and then walk away without buying. I know that happens hundreds of times a day to my online site, but it feels more personal when the customer is standing there! After I loosened up a bit, and got a couple sales, I started to enjoy chatting with customers and only felt a twinge of disappointment when they would walk away. The weather was as good as could be expected for fickle Idaho springtime; and I can't wait for the weather to improve further, so I don't have to freeze every Saturday! I learned of a lot of things I need to change and get better at, but all in all I think it was a success!

This picture is my display; I wasn't totally happy with it, I felt like a big dork with hardly any items, but I do plan to expand on this for next week; and I hope to be better prepared and less stressed that way.


Sunday was our 12th anniversary! I had a great day, I slept in thanks to James; which was amazing, since I've been so sleep-deprived lately! He made us a great breakfast, and then we had a relaxing morning. My little sis Rachel, who is so great with our boys, came over in the afternoon to babysit; so James and I had a great date afternoon. I treated myself to a real haircut at a salon, and even had my eyebrows shaped; Jean Harlow's got nothing on me! James got a haircut and a shave, then we drove out to Ste. Chapelle, our local winery, and had lots of fun deciding on our wine order. We are members of the "wine club", which gives us a discount on the wine we buy; it actually turns out to be an economical, and fun, option. We decided on 12 bottles; which will probably last us three months or more; and it seems so decadent to so many lovely bottles to choose from.

I feel like I've been so busy lately I don't know which end is up! I'm trying desperately to catch up, and to find my joy again; it's been really hard lately, because I feel like I'm doing so many things all at once; and none of them well!

One of the many things I've been neglecting is my blog; I hope I will have more interesting and less whiny posts soon!

Happy May!

Cowboy, Take Me Away......

<Sigh> Whenever I'm tired and stressed I start to think about how nice it would be to ride off into the sunset....where there would be no worries of course! I think it's normal to need an escape when things are tough, for whatever reason.

It's no secret to anyone, I'm sure; that I've been overworking myself lately; I feel like I have no choice at the moment; it's just something I have to power through...but it's been tough! A few nights I have been so exhausted I didn't know where I would find the energy to package orders or work on my sewing; but I did!

I hesitate to post pictures; because I always find dresses on hangers aren't nearly as lovely as the dress on a body or a dress form.....and I still have "loose ends" so to speak, yes the bodice facing in flapping in the breeze (undone because I still have alterations to do); and I can see 14,000 loose threads in that picture; but all that will be taken care of in due course. Oh, and working with the silk makes it terribly wrinkly; when finished I will steam the wrinkles out....so keep an open mind......<eeek>

When worn, the neckline on this slinky bias-cut dress drapes loosely

This is the material which will become the detachable train, it has a heather pattern and tiny beads and rhinestones

The daring low back plunges to the waistband....and yes, there's that bodice facing!

My mother came over to try on the dress for fit today; I'm happy to say that it just needs a little nip in the side seams; and she looks like Jean Harlow in it! The cut fits her petite frame perfectly, and reminds me of an old-time movie star! Next I have to do multitudes of hand sewing, which I have trouble with and dislike immensely! And the hem; which shouldn't be too hard; the only challenge is getting the shape right, since the back flares outward to form a small train. Another fitting on Thursday...hopefully, the last!

Gracious, I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open; but I have to make 3 batches of soap tonight, and hopefully at least press the hem for the dress....I may have to take a tiny nap!

I'm hoping to get back into the groove of regular posting as my schedule slows down; so many things falling through the cracks at the moment; I'm really hoping to change that!

Thank you to all my loyal followers, and I'm stunned to learn that I've gained new followers in light of my recent neglect! Thank you!

Have a great week!

You Should be Kissed Often and by Someone Who Knows How

Ahh, Gone with the Wind! I absolutely believe in that sentiment! It's important in a marriage to not forget the "little things". I've seen the saying "Always kiss me Goodnight", which is a nice thought, but honestly; half the time James and I don't even go to bed at the same time, or else we both collapse on the couch; so there's not a lot of Good night's going on in our house! I say; kiss when you can! Somebody should put that on a coffee mug!

I've got marriage and weddings on the brain right now because my anniversary is coming up, and yesterday I realized that my mother's wedding is in nine days, so I really need to finish her dress this weekend. I'm coming right along with it, the skirt is bias cut and has five pieces, so getting those contoured seams perfect is crucial to the flow of the dress. The skirt is put together, and the bodice and facing are done, I just have to put the lining together and do the zipper and the hem. And the train...and the waistband....And the straps....EEK! I must work faster! I don't have any pics yet, because...well, it doesn't look like a whole lot yet, so I'll wait until it's at least recognizable!

There's no point in saying I'm busy; or tired; so I won't! I'll just say that I'm feeling very hopeful about the way things are going business-wise; and I'm trying to not sweat the small stuff. I heard that song on the radio today, the one by Tim McGraw called "Live like you were dying"; which basically is about living your life to the fullest, as if each day were your last. Certainly if everyone followed that to the "T"; there would not be a lot of bills being paid or laundry done; but I appreciate the message. Truly, getting my darn laundry put away doesn't help anyone (much); but having a (relatively) calm mother helps my boys tremendously. My final hang-up about the "letting it go" method is because of ingrained habits and attitudes, and the (unfounded) fear that if I don't keep up appearances; so to speak; James will not see the value in what I do. He's told me a million times that he would rather have a happy wife than a clean house, so I suppose it's really all just me. I have a tendency to be pretty hard on myself, and others; and it's hard not to have the cleanest house and the best cooking and be the happiest, busiest Mama in the whole world! I guess it's just admitting I'm human, and fallible, and recognizing that I don't have to be perfect to be a pretty good person.

Must sew tonight! As soon as the dress looks like a dress, I will be sure to post pictures of it, and I really hope my mom's not reading this; because she'll think I won't have her dress ready in time! (It's ok, Mom; I'll get it done, no matter what!).

Tomorrow's Friday; have a great one!

How Lucky Can One Girl Be?

Elvis encountering grass for the first time!

I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

Spring is here! I woke up this morning and felt that surely nothing bad can happen when spring is new and the sun is shining. I've been thinking a lot about gratitude lately; I think because lately I've felt so fortunate; especially when we were able to spend 10 uninterrupted days of family time while on vacation. It is so rare that we are really able to enjoy each other's company, without worrying about schedules and work and school. 

It is so easy (and I'm often guilty of this) to focus on the little problems and annoyances in life; where the mere fact that we are alive and able to have annoyances should be enough! A year ago in January, while I was 4 months pregnant with Elvis; James had a life threatening reaction to penicillin, and went into anaphylactic shock. He went to the doctor with hives and body aches, and before we knew what was happening, was hospitalized; with an abnormally elevated heart rate and blood pressure, and chest pain. I sat by his side all night, while he was barely conscious, and the doctors were trying to figure out what was going on, since it was a very bad reaction, worse than they had ever seen. His poor heart was going at almost 200 beats per minute, even while he was sleeping, and his kidneys were not happy. I finally left the hospital at 4 am; after being given the not terribly reassuring "he's stable right now; go home and rest" from the doctor. I had to consider the possibility of losing my husband while pregnant with our fifth child. It was so odd; James has always been my rock during times where I was weak; beginning with my bout with a terrible flu and tonsillitis while we were dating, up to the miscarriage I had eight years ago, and even the happier times when I was more vulnerable than usual, like during my pregnancies and births. He is one of those people that is rarely sick; and I had never seen him in that role, being vulnerable physically, and needing my help. It's funny because I never brought our boys to visit him in the hospital, and he never asked to see them. It was only afterwards that we discussed it and found that we both had the same thought; we didn't want our boys to see their big strong daddy in such a state. We both expressed feeling that we wanted our boys to see him as strong and capable; and thought that seeing him sick would scare them and stick with them. For the day and half when his health was up in the air; I've never felt so alone. I also was trying to stay upbeat and take care of myself and the baby. I brought some crocheting with me to keep me occupied and cheerful at his bedside; in fact; it was the blanket you see in the picture above. I crocheted, dreamed of baby, and tried to stay positive. That blanket has special meaning for me now; it is Elvis' BLANKET; the one he sleeps with and goes with us in the car, and every time I see it; it's bittersweet and special. After Elvis was born at the birth center, I couldn't wait to have that moment I dreamed of while crocheting it, joyfully wrapping my baby in it; saying "We made it!". The midwives were very sensitive to my wishes, and wrapped Elvis in it right away as I asked, even though it was July!

I don't think I can ever look at things the same after that experience; I find myself most often very joyful; although my life is far from perfect and have daily worries and struggles like everyone. Sometimes I even feel guilty for being so joyful; how can it be that I am so lucky as to wake up in the morning, under a quilt that I adore, and although getting five children ready and out the door is not easy, and at times makes me grumpy; I know how fortunate I am. I don't have to look ahead to a day at a job I don't want to do; I get to make my own schedule and be with my children. If I decide (as I did last week) to take them all out for Cherry Cokes after school, get home later and throw a simple dinner together before Daddy gets home; I can! Right now in fact, I'm trying to decide whether to work on my mom's reception dress or make more soap; not a bad choice, is it?

I'm grateful that as I get older, I have the maturity and experiences under my belt that make me able to focus on the "good stuff". I'm not always perfect at this, but for the days when I feel "cheerful for no reason"; I am grateful!

Happy Tuesday!

Big Girls Don't Cry.....

I just realized today that we have exactly two weeks before we go on vacation. Where did the time go? And me with a half-finished swimsuit and not a wrap skirt to bless myself with! And my etsy shop is really picking up, which makes me worry about putting it on vacation mode; I'm still leaning towards "not"; just putting up a notice that says that shipping will be delayed until I return; which I think effectively dissuades a lot of people, but you can't have it all!

Up high on the list of the things I can't have right now, is the tan, toned body, I envisioned myself in on the beach...I considered getting a spray tan for about half a second; then decided to be true to my paleness. I'm not fooling anybody with the fake tan, and I actually like being an oddity in a sea of the perfectly tanned. Sure, I'd like to look great; but having an orange-y glow is not my idea of beauty. So I'll just go out with my fair skin, flashing like a beacon for the world to see! And the toned part it not necessarily happening; I've been rather neglectful of my gym membership lately, because I've been so, so, busy; and having five 9 and 10 pound babies is not conducive to a bikini bod! Cleansing breath! The only thing that matters, really; is having a great time with my family; I don't care if I look like a beached whale and everyone is blinded by the glare coming off my snow-white thunder thighs! I remember last time we visited San Diego; although I had lived there for three years and only been back in Idaho for three; I couldn't believe the contrast in the culture! Where in Idaho, I'm a fairly stylish and put-together person, I confess I felt like a country bumpkin! I remember my husband, a native San Diegan,  remarking while on the freeway with cars whizzing by us, "why is everyone in such a hurry?". Quite a culture shock, even for the initiated.

So, big girls don't cry, right?! I will not cry, no matter how many things I have left to do; my sleep deprivation, my dwindling soap stock, my white legs, or my Idaho style!

I'm going to wake up every morning, put on my new perfume and lipstick, and slog through my miles of housework and the ever-present laundry. I need to start putting less pressure on myself; no one except me expects me to have an immaculate house,  five children, and and etsy shop, but I do find it discouraging when I work so hard all day and seem to never make a dent. But, as my husband always says, my real job, my only job, is to take care of our boys, and any day that ends in them being happy, safe, and healthy is a success. 


On a much more fun note; I'm due for new summer shoes, and have been looking around for something to go with my vintage summer wear. I also have a wide foot, so finding something in a wide width is difficult; but here is what I found:

I think these are pretty, and since I'm accustomed to walking in higher wedges than these, I think these will be comfortable enough for at least one day at Disneyland. I love the white, I remember when white shoes were "in" and then most horribly out; so the white is fresh and eye-catching. I love to wear white shoes for some reason! I think I'll go and try these to make sure they're truly "wide", and then buy them!

Have a great Friday, everyone! 

Can I?

Wow, what a week! A week in which all my plans have gone awry in some way or another, a week in which I had all sorts of plans to stay up as late as necessary...and instead ended up crashing immediately after the boys went to bed! I now have the daunting prospect of a huge vacation to plan for, and I'm in the horrible stage where it's too soon to do some serious packing, but I have terrible packing anxiety because I'm afraid that once it comes time to pack; I'll suddenly realize it can't be done. Yes, that's my fear; that is actually can't be done; I mean; whoever said it was possible to take five children several states away, in a car that seats the amount of people we have, for a week. A week. I'm now wondering how few things I can get away with bringing. They have clothes and baby food and diapers and shoes and toys in California, right? I can just imagine myself, though; in some seedy laundromat in Southern California, frantically doing laundry before I get mugged. However, I believe they do have laundry facility at both hotels we're staying at; including the rather posh Disneyland hotel. My other fear involves the rash plans I made to make my clothes for the trip. Will I ever learn? Probably not. I have my bathing suit about halfway done; and I've made the decision to only do the "must have" items, like the bathing suit and a wrap skirt, which should be quick (no, I'll never learn). The rest will just have to go into the ether until later in the year. I have lots of soap projects that I'm behind in; which leads me to my other concern: putting my shop in vacation mode or not? It's not as though I'm getting daily orders, so I think I'll just take my laptop and do such work as I can in the evenings; (here I go again!); and just tell any customers that I may (or may not) have that all shipping will be done once I get back.

I'm hoping (as always) to get plenty of work done tonight, and to really buckle down; including going through the dreaded bins of boys' clothing, and consigning all the items I have saved up to consign. I probably will need to buy quite a few summery items for all the boys and for James; and most likely will need to fill in deficiencies in my wardrobe as well.

Can you tell I'm worried and stressed? I feel rather ramble-y tonight; I'll just keep repeating to myself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think...."

Flour Frenzy

This picture is a quick snapshot, of me, in my kitchen in all my red apron-ed glory....I wish! Ah, for those yellow dishes! I love yellow dishes! Unfortunately my kitchen is not as darling by half. Today is Thursday, which means that tomorrow my Andrew will be selling homemade bread for the mock economy in his classroom. My bread is in high demand there; probably because it is bought with mock money; so I try to make at least 6-8 loaves for him to sell. And that's on top of the bread I'm supposed...I mean am making for everyday use. I also am extremely backed up in the soap department, so today's tasks include one batch of Patchouli soap...which is done; and I have three loaves baking in the oven as we speak.

And it shows. I have developed a system for making the most of my tiny kitchen and limited mixing and oven space. I make one batch of bread which makes 3 loaves, using the recipe I posted earlier, let it rise in the mixing bowl for about an hour; then when it's risen, I take it out and immediately start another batch of bread in the mixer, then form the first batch into loaves, repeat until exhausted and covered in flour. If I do this properly, I should have one batch rising in the bowl, one batch rising on the baking sheet, and one batch in the oven.  Unfortunately I am terribly behind today, and at this rate will not be able to fill my kitchen from floor to ceiling with bread; although I am exhausted and covered in flour....

Off to bake more bread!

Happy Thursday!

The shoemaker's wife is barefoot...and my husband has no soap!

I love the old Ivory Soap ads...not that I am old enough to remember this particular ad; but I remember the 80's ads for Ivory; they always had the most beautiful pictures, and the cutest babies! Maybe I was always meant to make soap; I've always loved to get a new bar of soap, unwrap it, and display in my bathroom. I remember wanting to keep soap in a pristine condition by not using it; I always loved the designs stamped into the bars, and the "feel" of a brand-new bar of soap....ahhh, but I digress!

The reason for the title of the post is that ever since I've started selling my soap, I have been terribly reluctant to actually use my soap myself! I've gotten such kind compliments from people, and I truly enjoy making something that people enjoy. Meanwhile, I'm looking wistfully at bar after bar of my soap in my drying closet; still working my way through my early attempts, scratch and dents, and slivers of my soap! Although I do always test each batch for gentleness by washing my hands with the trimmings, I must confess there are several varieties I have not used! So tonight, in the spirit of taking care of myself so that I can be the best wife and mother; I took a deep breath; opened my drying closet, and picked out a soap! I have to admit; it was an imperfect soap, one that I was saving for free samples, but I felt like a kid in a candy store! I also used a shampoo bar, and gave my poor husband a pristine, saleable bar of the soap I made with him in mind! Poor thing, he's been using a tiny of sliver of soap for who knows how long; he confessed he was afraid to ask me for soap! I feel terrible! The reason I started making soap in the first place was provide high-quality soap for my family; it seems that I may have lost sight of that a little; I hope to keep balanced in my endeavors and make sure that I'm taking care of my family above all; the rest will take care of itself. I must admit, I feel quite refreshed, after lathering myself up with soap I was pleased with, then slathering myself with mounds of shea butter lotion. I made it after all; I shouldn't be going around with dry skin! What kind of example does that set?  

On a side note; I got so much sewing accomplished last night. I was feeling tired and headachy and grumbling about getting my sewing stuff set up. As soon as I got into the project; I immediately felt energized and wonderful; I truly must remember my love of sewing, and that no matter how tired I may feel, a good project aways gets my creative juices flowing, and it's so worth the effort! I hope to do more sewing after I finish this post; hope all of you have a great evening!

Vintage Success....one down, LOTS to go!

I posted a few weeks ago about a vintage sun suit I was making for Baby E, along with lots, and lots, and lots, of projects I intend to finish before our much-anticipated vacation at the end of March. I've been trying, and trying to find time for my sewing, but lately it has been difficult to fit it in to my ever-busy schedule. Tonight James had a late soccer game, so I was able to do some of my other chores, like making more Crunchy Mama soap for my etsy shop while he napped. I was so close to being finished with the sun suit, I only needed to do the dreaded buttonholes, and of course the normal hand-sewing and trimming thread duty that I despise. So here, at long last, is the finished 1955 sun suit; with shaky atrocious buttonholes! Fortunately, I found adorable buttons with anchors on them to lend a nautical air, and to hopefully disguise my usual wretched buttonholeing when the suit is worn this summer! I loved this pattern, straightforward, simple instructions, and a new twist, a technique I've never encountered before; flat-fell seams, where instead of sewing the side seams with right sides together, which makes a seam allowance on the inside; you sew the side seams wrong sides together, then on the right side, trim one of the seam allowances, then lap the other allowance over it, making a clean line, then top-stiching over all. I love to learn new (old) techniques, that's what makes vintage sewing so interesting, you never know what kind of instructions you may find, and it challenges your skills as a seamstress.

Also, I am at this moment, defying my self-imposed curfew, but since James is out playing a soccer game, and it is a weekend, I decided that it was allowable! No pumpkin-ing for me! I hope to be productive while I have this little opportunity, and perhaps even sleep in just a bit in the morning!

Desperate Housewife

No, I'm not talking about the TV show, which I do not watch, but about little ol' me! It seems that this whole having-five-children-and-an-etsy-shop-and-attempting-to-make-a-new-wardrobe thing got a lot harder all at once! I don't know where the time goes! I wish I could be like this woman in the pictures, blissfully and serenely making her house beautiful calmly, all while wearing a plethora of colorful aprons, but the reality is, I am often frazzled, harried, annoyed, panicked, and most of the time wearing a layer of baby food, flour, or something worse over the outfit I choose hopefully in the morning. There are a few things I insist upon, one of them being that I get fully, fairly nicely dressed every day before taking my boys to school. I just feel so much better about life when I can at least put on some lipstick and go out into the world. I know lots of mothers who bring their children to school in pajamas, and think nothing of it; I don't judge them, in fact I admire their ability to "roll with the punches" and adapt to whatever is going on that morning, but for myself, I just can't mentally go there. The other thing that is important to me is to have my house looking as clean and inviting by dinnertime as I can make it. Now, I'm not married to a tyrannical, oppressive husband, and I know James would never fault me if he came home to a topsy-turvy house, but I feel as a homemaker, this is my foremost job, and I just wouldn't feel like I accomplished anything if I hadn't made significant progress on the home front by the time James got home. The sad truth is that the house often starts out looking great in the morning, and becomes progressively worse as the day wears on, despite my frenzied efforts to the contrary, and this bothers me. It seems like I should be getting somewhere for my efforts, and I guess staying ahead of the mess five children can make is a difficult task, but really? As I said in an earlier post, it is often close to midnight before I feel my job is done for the day, which gives me exactly seven and a half hours in which to sleep, sew, and make soap. Hardly enough. I need to either get on a better routine, or clone myself! I think I will start by allowing myself the breaks and the rest I need, because I think I will be much more effective if I start getting more rest. That brings to mind an old saying, which I recall from 'Mary Poppins', but I'm sure is much older than that, "Well begun is half done". I can hardly begin things well if I am not getting enough rest, so I vow to go to sleep no later than midnight from now on! EEK! That will be a hard one to stick to!  

The greatest thing since...

I've recently been trying to find ways to stretch my grocery budget even further. I've always been very thrifty, but because of the state of the economy in the last few years, I've had a need to keep my grocery budget the same, while at the same time joyfully expanding our family...twice! It was this need to keep costs down that led me to learn the art of soap making; and we all know how that turned out! I also cloth diaper and use cloth wipes, make my own soap (obviously) as well as laundry detergent, buy in bulk, make everything from scratch, and pretty much do everything humanly possible to get the most out of my grocery budget while still providing my family with hearty and (I hope) yummy meals day in and day out. Recently, Elvis began to eat solids, and this has put additional strain on my poor little budget, especially since he absolutely refuses to eat the homemade baby food that I intended  to be his only food, and I'm still working on getting him to eat "regular" food, since I don't believe in giving children purees for any longer than necessary. Because at the moment I am spending something like, eeek! 10 to 20 dollars a week on baby food, I decided to start making all the bread we eat with my own little hands! I've always been an avid baker, making bread to have with dinner several times a week, but I've never felt equal to the task of providing the bread for toast and sandwiches, not to mention the bagels, hamburger buns and hot dog buns that our family uses every week. We can easily go through a loaf of sliced bread a day, and although I shop at a bread "thrift" store, at an extremely reduced cost, it is still triple the cost of homemade bread, and of course, not nearly as delicious. My favorite recipe only uses one pound of flour, and a nominal amount of yeast and salt; costing only 25 cents per loaf, a far cry from the price of bread in stores. It will take some getting used to, since we are all used to eating sandwiches on uniformly sliced, abnormally soft-crusted commercial bread, which as a bonus is filled with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, dough conditioners and preservatives, and a huge amount of sodium compared to homemade. Before they "invented" pre-sliced bread, people were used to eating toast or a sandwich on a thick, rugged slice of bread, and thought nothing of it. I hope that in my family at least, we can go back to blithely eating a hunk of bread without complaint!

Buttonholes and Buttermilk....

I've had such little time to work on my sewing lately, but finally on Sunday afternoon, I was able to at last sit down at my machine. I did have one little boy sitting beside me tracing the revolutions of the needle carriage wheel with his finger, and another little boy underneath the table pushing my foot down on the pedal, but it was still great to get going on my little trusty Singer! I'm still laboriously working on a dress that would be a simple project, if I were able to work on it for more than 20 minutes at a time, but; alas! The life of a mama! This pattern (the one I have pictured in an earlier post atop the vintage black and white check fabric) has a hidden button placket, which is perfect for me; since I have a rather embarrassing secret....I am the worst buttonhole maker in the world! It is silly, I know, for a person who has done as much sewing as I have, to produce such terrible, shaky, crooked buttonholes, and the fact that my machine has a semi-auto buttonhole setting makes it even more embarrassing. I don't know what it is about the thought of making presentable buttonholes that makes me go all to pieces; but there it is! I have also given up on marking dark fabrics with the typical white or silver dressmaking pencil, and so my other embarrassing secret is that I use Crayola colored pencils....not professional, I know, although the markings are either covered or they are fairly easily removed. After my usual trial buttonholes, my first was still fairly shaky, although I was able to cover up the deficiencies by reinforcing it; then just when I was about to succumb to buttonhole despair; I produced a quite presentable, straight buttonhole! I'm so proud of it, I may post a picture! I hope I am able to finish this particular dress in the next few days, since I'm so excited to begin my swimsuit pattern, and I've promised myself I will do all my projects in order, start to finish, for once! You may be wondering where my buttermilk reference comes from; I had a rather strange soap making experience involving adding buttermilk to lye; it changed to the strangest reddish-brown; I had heard of a similar reaction, but never had I seen it before, normally when I use buttermilk for soap it turns a orange-y color, but never this! And when the search box in your google search has the words "buttermilk in lye; reddish brown color", you know it's going to be an interesting day!

Where does the time go?

I have been so, so, busy these last few days! Getting my boys back on a school schedule has been a little challenging (and for me too!). I have been dying to cut into my first vintage pattern, and over the last day or two I have been slowly cutting out the pattern. It's almost my size, but I need a couple extra inches in the bust line and my five-babies waistline. I found a great article on resizing patterns, and although I found that I had virtually none of the needed supplies, I figured I was an experienced enough seamstress to draw out the re sized bodice directly on the fabric. Even I would not have attempted this except that the pattern was very nearly the right size...it would not have worked at all on a pattern that was a few sizes too small. I think I did all right, I guess I'll see once it starts going together, I went on the premise that you can always make something smaller, so I added ample room, thinking I could take it in easily. The skirt then had to be re sized along the side seams, which is a no-brainer, but this skirt pattern has soft pleats along the waistband, and I had a mental block where I couldn't figure out whether I needed to move the pleats or enlarge the pleats to the measurement I added to the bodice. Eventually I moved the markings, but I may just have to redistribute them once I get started on the skirt; I've found that often pleats have to be moved, anyway, even if the pattern is the right size. Also, tonight, I remedied my sad lack of dessert making by making oatmeal chocolate-and-vanilla-chip cookies, my boys will be thrilled, since they've been bereft of "treats" lately! On the agenda tonight, lots of laundry, fabric cutting, soapmaking (Briny Depths Sea Kelp Soap), and a glass of Riesling wine (my fave!).

Another day; another lesson learned

Well, I was quite proud of myself and feeling very smug today when I posted last; all about homemade ricotta, soap, lotion, etc. So, I made ricotta; not very sucessfully, I think I got overconfident and need to take a look at the recipe again. The lotion making went better, I was afraid to try, I mean, who makes their own lotion; and isn't this why they can charge so much for a bottle of lotion? It was absurdly easy. The only drawback is that the average person is not likely to have emulsifying wax and a block of shea butter on hand, nor an immersion blender they're willing to devote entirely to the task; whereas, since I am a soapmaker, such things are easily obtained. So that was the major success of my day. The low point? Realizing I had failed to use tags for my lovely, thoughtful, last post (at least I thought it was). Oh well, live and learn. And I spent entirely too long today immersed in looking at vintage patterns on etsy; dreaming of seeing myself in one of those creations. I might as well just go ahead and add sewing back into my list of "crazes"; why not? I did learn, to my relief; that indeed, women who wore my size not only existed in the 1960's, they appeared to be hale and hearty and wearing pretty dresses just the same as the women with 24-inch waistlines. What a relief!