In the spirit of catching up a bit on the huge gap--initiated by our first visitor, Dale, back in November--I've got a few posts ready for you about holiday crafting and pre-holiday travel. Now you can't blame Dale for showing us such a great and full time that I couldn't even tell you about it, but as we gear up for our next VIP visitors, I think I'd at least better catch up a little and bring us all up to the present.
Ahhh...holiday crafting. This year was interesting in the crafting department as in so many other ways. Since we've come to Japan, since my kids are both in school each day (Miel just in the mornings), and since I'm not working at all for the first time in most of our family life, I have LESS time for the usual things...cooking, making, nature walking. Yes, a paradox I can't really explain, except in terms of time warps and such. But, time management has always been a big one for me, so it's no surprise really.
So, I've let go of a lot of things. (We'll talk about my changing relationship with cooking in another post.) For this reason and a whole bunch of others--overcompensating for the nature deprivation, wanting the kids to fit in, needing more toys as a result of city living--I found myself at Toys R Us 3 times and I really caved on some of my values when choosing what Santa could bring the children. Case in point, Miel received a Disney princess castle on Christmas morning (purchased by me!!). This breaks 2 of my toy "rules": no new plastic and no branding (especially of old traditional fairy tales!). Anyway, I won't get started ranting, but you can probably feel the indignation rising in my chest just reading this.
Fortunately, I found that balancing a few handmade things into the mix helped me feel a bit more grounded into our family values. And that's what I really wanted to share with you today...
Isaiah and I had great fun making this collapsible shopping bag for his teacher. He chose the fabric at the store, sewed pretty much all of it,
and was really proud of his work!
It's from the book, One-Yard Wonders, which is my first sewing book and a perfect beginner one because everything is just one yard. So, even if I mess up, it probably hasn't cost me that much time or money that I can't go back and do it again. Each project teaches me a new skill or two, and I'm really falling in love with sewing. I don't think Isaiah even realizes what a beginner I am and how lucky we were to have had a successful project.
He brought some sweet bookmarks for his classmates to their end-of-year party. Again, he did all the sewing, writing, and decorating and felt really good about the making. He might not have the energy to pick up one sock off the floor, but he's always liked having a serious job.
Miel also made some for her friends, and our little flurry of pre-holiday making got us all in the spirit.
Cole has been dying to use the sewing machine! Thanks for the inspiration - if Isaiah can do it... so can Cole! :)
Posted by: Ami | January 16, 2011 at 11:33 PM