Grandma's Button Jar

My grandma had a button jar, on rainy days I would empty it on the parlour floor

Most of the buttons it contained were brown or black and very plain
But some of those buttons were bright to behold, crystal and silver, glass and gold.
They came from shirts and coats all worn, Sunday dresses now tattered and torn.
Now those buttons belong to me, precious and sparkling and fancy free.
One day when she has grown my daughter may have daughters of her own.
Waiting for them up on a shelf will be a button jar they can empty themselves.
A life time of buttons belonging to me, my life in a jar for them to see.
To empty out and hold in their hands, buttons of mine, plain and grand.

Pizza Time

Kids making pizza,
what could be more fun?


Kids eating pizza!

Spring Roses!

Nellie's new flowers. The bracelet is the same pattern as the Blue Roses bracelet. (posted on 2/8/10) Nellie thinks watching these roses take shape is like magic, she wants to learn to make them too, so pretty soon our house (or at least our wardrobes) will look like spring.

More Winter Roses

Today's plan for school vacation week was to go hiking in one of the state management areas. It's still hunting season so we had to wear orange, no reason a girl can't be stylish in screaming bright orange. Honestly, I'm a little addicted to making these roses and any excuse will do. I made Nellie and I matching kerchiefs, the boys, plain scarves. We had a beautiful day, the weather couldn't have been more perfect, low 40's with nice bright sun and the sound of melting snow everywhere. It was nice to spend the day outside without needing coats and gloves and all the usual winter layers.

Aprons

Aprons made from curtains and dinner napkins.

I kept these curtains after I moved several years ago. They were too pretty to get rid of and very sturdy. Last year I made aprons for my mom and my daughter from them, using matching dinner napkins for pockets. I'm finally getting around to making one for myself, I'll post the how-to as soon as I've finished.

One year later my mom's and my daughters have held up very well, through all kinds of baking, painting, even Easter Egg dying....

Lazy Lasagna

Lazy Lasagna, or lasagna my 6 year old can make

One pound (fresh not frozen) Cheese Ravioli (do not pre-cook)
One 8oz jar of Pasta Sauce
Fresh Spinach
One pound Provolone Cheese

wash and strain spinach,
cover bottom of 13"x13" casserole dish with a single layer of spinach
add half of the ravioli and half of the sauce in a single layer
cover with a single layer of sliced provolone
repeat with a second layer, adding another layer of spinach before the cheese
make sure the top layer of cheese covers the edges of the pan

bake a 350 degrees for 40 minutes
the water from the spinach will cook the ravioli as it bakes

my kids love to help make this, they can do everything but the oven part, easy and delicious...

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing says I love you like a heart shaped cake that is pink inside and out.

Old Man Winter

In my backyard, at the edge of the grass and the woods, is a stream. Once in awhile something truly magical happens there, like old man winter making an appearance in the ice.

Winter Rose Mitts - how to

fingerless mitts that I made from a repurposed cashmere sweater and scraps of silk velvet. I like how they turned out but silk and cashmere are hard to hang onto while handsewing…still sooo soft and very warm. Here’s how

1. cut around mitten pattern (I have one that I made - I made samples out of fleece scraps until I got it right, but any sewing mitten pattern will do) instead of pinning the pattern to the fabric try holding it down with soup cans and using a rotary cutter - gives a nice clean edge on knit fabrics.

2.wrong sides together sew outside seam with a straight stitch then ”fell” the seam. Hold the seam allowance down flat and sew it with a straight stitch.

3.Lay flat to embellish - the rose pattern is one I found on a blog called Country Girl Couture. It’s a spider wick (or web) rose. The leaves are scraps of green knit cotton.

4.turn wrong sides together and sew up side seam on the thumb side felling this seam as well

5.sew trim around finger opening

6.wrong sides together sew seam between thumb and fingers - once with straight stitch then again with blanket stitch to reinforce.

The Alabama Stitch Book is my favorite handsewing book. That’s where I got the soup can idea. It’s full of helpful info, very clear, and full of beautiful projects. I machine sew mittens too but this was relaxing and fun and only took a few hours.

First Time Sewing

In one of childhoods great mishaps a little rough and tumble play resulted in Nellie's bear almost losing a leg. Instead of asking me to fix it, she asked me to teach her to fix it. I think she is very proud of her handiwork.

Blue Roses

Blue Roses - a tattered and torn ode to one of my favorite plays
''The Glass Menagerie'' by Tennessee Williams

The directions are all here, just in reverse order...as seperate posts.

blue roses 3

add gromets or snaps to ends of bracelet

thread scraps of fabric through gromets to make ties

blue roses 2

once the top two layers for the the bracelet are stitched together

make five 1'' stitches in a circle, somewhat evenly spaced. Tack down end of fabric strip (about 1/2'' x 36'') weave in and out of stitches. tuck in the last stitch and tack down (This is called a spider wick rose and there are some wonderful tutorials on youtube)

pin top layers of fabric to the bottom

layer then handstitch around the edge. fold over the extra length on the bottom layer and stitch down.

Blue Roses 1

Beginnings of fabric bracelet

green fabric is 2''x6''

red fabric is one half in wider and longer.

both are scraps from old t-shirts.

The plaid fabric underneath will be the bottom layer of the bracelet and the fabric flower.

I Am Wishing for More Snow

''button button whose got a button?''

One of my favorite things growing up was my grandmother's button collection. There where plain buttons and fancy buttons, new and used, from fondly remembered dresses, and from garments that had been completely forgotten. To this day I love buttons, I buy them by the jar at thrift shops and antique stores, and brand new. I buy buttons, then plan a project around them. I have designed sweaters just to make use of a favorite button. They are little treasures to me, each with a story to tell.