persephone

she came back. she must have heard the music… jazz, i believe it was jazz.

Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice Friends
May You Find Warmth and Hope in the Returning Sun

Oak logs will warm you well.

That are old and dry;
Logs of pine will sweetly smell
But sparks will fly.Birch-logs will burn too fast,
Chestnuts scarce at all;
Hawthorne-logs are good to last
Cut them in the fall.
Holly-logs will burn like wax,
You may burn them green
Elm-logs like to smouldering flax,
No flame to be seen.
Beech-logs for winter time,
Yew logs as well,
Green elder logs are a crime
for any man to sell.
Pear-logs and apple-logs,
They will scent your room,
Cherry-Logs across the dogs
Smell like flower of broom.
Ash-logs, smooth and gray,
Burn them green and old,
Buy up all that come your way
Their worth their weight in gold.
-E. M. Hull’s "Poem Book of the Gael"

:::a year of handmade:::

or more then a  year... i've been saying i will post about this for so long, thank you for waiting and enjoy!

i thought it started with birthday #3 (5/11). and a "babies" skirt.

but i realized it actually all starts a few weeks before

with two crowns i made for sibling friends turning 3 and 5. 

 there was an "s" one for another special little lady also turning 3 but i forgot to take a photo.

(all crowns i've made are from the pattern in the creative family.)

from the year before; this one for my niece,

and this one for a 1st birthday of a super baby boy.

and then i realized it started even before that with a recreation to help act out a favorite story: "the 500 hats of bartholomew cubbins" by dr. suess.

i couldn't make more appear magically underneath but he was ok with that after i explained i just don't possess that kind of magic yet; but i'm working on it.

now back to the birthday #3 handmade:

its' a lazy day's skirt by oliver + S, a free pattern. i love this pattern, it's super simple, i've made a few. 

here's one i made for my other niece, r, for her birthday, a few years ago (6/09). 

it was my first, it was a joint effort by me and my boy, it took days of nap time.

they're good even to be not lazy in, like when you climb to the top of a lighthouse.

(she did the climb herself!)

i made two matching doll sized ones for her "babies".

here it is with the "babies" shirt i embroidered for birthday #2.

and flying with googles. 

sorry i just couldn't resist, i love when she wears it, (and googles) 

i have a ton of pictures of her in it, i could go on and on...

like here. 

ok i'll stop, and get on with it!

little turtle bags, two. one big one little.
she opened them and gave the big one to her brother.

she keeps fairies in the little one.

shark appliqué t-shirt for birthday #6. (11/11)

playing golf in it.

and a sailboat one too.

this is how you wear your birthday crown outside, in november, to eat cupcakes by your birthday bonfire.

not from this year, but you remember these, here it is being loved and used!

a crown for the kindergarten crush;
or betrothed, depending who you ask.

celebrating spring, the solstice and easter with another lazy day's skirt and a lion appliqué t-shirt; which was also the wrapping for "the invention of hugo cabaret", great book! 

collecting eggs with one of the turtle bags (right).

(i didn't make the sailboat bag, my mom got that at a store that sells local handmade.)

the lion shirt 

(at the children's zoo in central park, playing in the turtle eggs).

lazy day's skirt

a nice close up. i love the ribbon hem, it makes it so easy.

ok last one... i love paisley with polka dots.

there was some embroidery

this one you've seen.

there were pot holders galore, i must say i was ecstatic and nostalgic at the same time with these. especially after this first one when he said, "let's make one with a pattern" oh boy, yes! please, let's!

which brings us to birthday #4 (5/12). 

i made bean bags for the balance beam we got her.

(banner from the creative family). 

and a pink, sparkly, tulle lazy day's skirt.

one of two exceptions to the green birthday that was desired.

a green ukulele. 

i didn't make that, but if we're catching up i should tell you, it was a super green birthday.

with a new green bed.

the sibling crowns still being loved one year later for 4 and 6. 

and the other exception to the super green birthday; a sparkly red dress. (i didn't make that either, that was from a grandma)

then there was tie dye.

aaaand i think that brings us up to date. i think. it's been busy and fun. i hope you enjoyed. as always thank you to soule mama for her inspiration and books, and to you, for wanting to see what came of it.

happy handmaking!

this moment

{this moment} - Joining Soulemama's Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

happy happy merry merry

to you and yours,

enjoy. love. live in this moment of joy and beauty. peace to you all.

love,

tara