The Old Folks Home

[ronott1]

I totally agree! Remember things don't have to be fancy to be pretty! Forget knitting. Crocheting is much easier to learn by yourself and your projects can be done in pieces out of scraps of yarn like a granny square blanket or hat (did lots of those for my girl when she was small).
Anything made with love is beautiful, especially to a child.

I hand hem my own pants. I have been doing this since I was a Teenager. It shocks me to see how much it costs to have them hemmed. I can sew on buttons too....How silly easy is that.

 

[Pozees]

For handmade gifts, one year my sister in law sent me this simple little rectangular pillow that said "Home Sweet Home" on it. It' sbeen I tink 10 years since she sent it, the seam on one side has begun to separate and the fabric is extremely well-worn, but it is my favorite pillow to stick behind my neck when I'm sitting in my chair, probably one of the best gifts I have ever received. There can't be but $5 worth of materials in it, but it is a thousand times nicer than anything I could buy for 3 times that, and it was made FOR ME. Can't beat it.

 

[chickadoodles]

Last year I made either table runners,place mats and napkins and hot pads for some and over the door hanging pocket organizers for others. They loved it! And it was fun. It does not take much to make someone happy and I love making homemade gifts for my family.

 

[dsqard]

I get a surprise everytime people say we are "good" for improving the quality of the children's lives, but honestly we are the lucky ones. We have been blessed with two amazing children. I thank them and God every day for allowing us to adopt them.

Oz that is a wonderful story and I am keeping fingers, toes and eyes crossed that you get the wonderful gift you are hoping for Christmas. I would argue that both sides of the equation are blessed and that wonder is to be found in all parts of the story. From birth parent(s) honestly understanding that they do not have the resources to raise a child and allowing that child to go to another family (talk about sacrifice), to the happy children not only knowing that their biological parents loved them enough to let them go but there was a loving set of parents looking for them, and to you and Mrs. Oz wanting to adopt so badly but also holding to your morals to not feed into illicit ways to get children because that encourages more illicit behavior. Whether you believe in God, Karma, or fate, the stars were aligned for all to benefit from such a loving situation. I stumbled across a great saying this year and it has become my mantra...Trust the journey.

I totally agree! Remember things don't have to be fancy to be pretty! Forget knitting. Crocheting is much easier to learn by yourself and your projects can be done in pieces out of scraps of yarn like a granny square blanket or hat (did lots of those for my girl when she was small).
Anything made with love is beautiful, especially to a child.

Chickisoup, I would argue with you on this one a tad. There are gifts children make that are not particularly beautiful. I am not talking of painted macaroni necklaces but a deflated basketball found in the woods as an ashtray is not beautiful. Yes that is the gift I received from my son one year as a birthday present. You know I have never let him forget it either. Any time he asks me what I would like for a gift, I tell him I do not need any more basketball ashtrays.

 

[tnspursfan09]

You can do it if you really want to do it. You just have to put some time and effort into it and not give up if you feel frustrated. I only started sewing last November. Prior to that I couldn't sew on a button or do a hem and didn't want to know how. I ended up ripping the hem off the bottom of one of my work pants legs by accident, and I mailed the pants to my mom with a nice little note asking her to hem it and send it back. She wasn't amused, but she did it. They came to visit about a month later and my mom taught me to sew on a button and do a hem by hand and then bought me a really cheap (80$) basic sewing machine. I was not amused. And she wanted something handmade for Christmas so I couldn't just give up after she left.
I am also very clumsy and non-artistic, but I can concentrate pretty well and sew a straight line (most of the time). I started with really simple things, like those sheets of fabric that you can purchase with a pattern on it, and you just cut it out and sew the seams. I did a couple aprons like that, to get the hang of sewing straight (mostly) and getting the feel for my machine. Then I started branching out - into aprons with my own fabric choices but using the cut out aprons as my "pattern." Simple stuff. It was only when we started talking straitjackets on a hatching thread did I get it in my head to sew one, and that's when I really started going all out and learning to sew. And that's when I started enjoying it. I have to say that if it wasn't for straitjackets, I probably wouldn't be sewing, now (thanks, Dsqard). I have sewn my fingers multiple times (although not recently, thankfully I've learned) and messed up in some pretty hilarious ways, but it's been a good journey. I am also quite literal, so when a pattern told me to sew with "right sides together" I had an existential crisis because THERE IS ONLY ONE RIGHT SIDE (apparently the "right side" is the pretty colored side of the fabric). I also just started taking a beginner sewing class once a week, and that has helped, too. The sewing school does a kids class (or a mom and daughter class) a few times a month - you may want to see if something like that is available down where you are. We have a great time in my class and laugh at everyone's mistakes. And 8 weeks later I'm still in the beginner 4 week course.

I made BF's mom a throw pillow for Christmas. I gave it to her this past weekend. She had it about 2 hours and then texted me that she wanted another one. To me, that is the highest praise of my sewing work - that people enjoy what I make them... even if they're not perfect (and they're not).



Sorry for the continued sewing posts, but I really want people to try it if they want to. Don't be put off - if I can do it, anyone can.

that pillow is so cute.

 

[tnspursfan09]

We do have a sewing machine. I used to belong to DH's Grandmother. When it's not open it looks like an end table and I keep the printer on it.
I would like to try some curtains. Those shoule be fairly easy, right? We just have blinds on the windows and I would love some nice curtains.

Oz...you and the Mrs. Oz are great parents and I will be praying you get the Christmas presnts you deserve and it gets made official. But we must have more pics of those adorable little ones. Funny thing, every time I see the Corona commercial where the palm tree lights up with Christmas lights I think of you guys.

 

[insanity]

We do have a sewing machine. I used to belong to DH's Grandmother. When it's not open it looks like an end table and I keep the printer on it.
I would like to try some curtains. Those shoule be fairly easy, right? We just have blinds on the windows and I would love some nice curtains.

You can do it. I learn alot of crafting from YouTube videos.

 

[tnspursfan09]

My cat, Princess Buttercup, needed my help to get onto her platform to eat today. Seeing her struggle and realizing how old she is getting to be makes me sad. She's almost 17 now. She's never been a mouser, the only thing she ever chased were the stray dogs who wandered into our yard over the years, but she is a champion snuggler. Poor old girl. Nazereth was the hunter. He was a huge black cat that my son rescued from a field he and his friends were skateboarding next to. Just a teeny, scraggly kitten - no bigger than a mite. We lost him 2 years ago to cancers.

We do love our animals, don't we?

 

[ronott1]

My cat, Princess Buttercup, needed my help to get onto her platform to eat today. Seeing her struggle and realizing how old she is getting to be makes me sad. She's almost 17 now. She's never been a mouser, the only thing she ever chased were the stray dogs who wandered into our yard over the years, but she is a champion snuggler. Poor old girl. Nazereth was the hunter. He was a huge black cat that my son rescued from a field he and his friends were skateboarding next to. Just a teeny, scraggly kitten - no bigger than a mite. We lost him 2 years ago to cancers.

We do love our animals, don't we?

You only have one cat?

I think you need at least one more.

 

[Bunnylady]

Ron's right. You can't just have one (right now, we have 8)!

It's funny. We took in a stray that swiftly gifted us with a litter of kittens. The idea has always been to re-home them, but several months later, they are all still here. Yesterday, Hubby saw a Craigslist ad where someone was looking for kittens/young cats, and he called them. He said, "After about a 5 minute conversation, I hung up on them. It was absolute pandemonium in the background. I was thinking, "no way am I going to subject these sweet little guys to that!" All that young feline energy goes rough on our nerves (and house) sometimes, but it seems there's a coyote pack that are decimating the local cat population right now, so sending them outside to burn off that energy isn't a popular option, either.