bits of sunshine

about a chair

a few years ago, my neighbor gave me the pieces of a wood-framed arm chair and two random couch cushions covered in tan fabric with blue pineapple print.  

all of the pieces got stashed in my basement.  i was planning to put the chair together and reshape and recover the cushions . . . and then we were packing up to move . . . and we used the cushions to protect other furniture in the u-haul and left the wooden frame pieces in the basement.  

this summer, ben and i took a trip back to the old place to pick up our piano (which we had not moved in january in the -30 F weather we were experiencing), and i decided to bring the pieces of the chair with if we had room in the truck.  there was room!

 a few weeks ago, ben and isaac put the chair together for me!  ben and i bought a few random bits, ben cut a few pieces of wood, we stained a couple pieces to match, ben ripped out the old spring bottom and replaced it with plywood, we removed the chipped wooden castors and replaced them with self-leveling chair feet, isaac helped screw some pieces together, and ben ground off the screw that was too long . . . 

once we brought the chair inside, i cut the cushions to fit. 

two days ago, i invited my friend ashley to come help me start cushion covers.  i knew that if i had someone to talk to while i cut the fabric and got started that i would stick with it and finish.  so, on tuesday afternoon, we started the cutting.  we also laughed about a shared history of working on sewing projects late into the night.  this project didn't seem like it would take more than an hour or two, so i was certain that i would have it done by late afternoon. 

after ashley left, it was so nice outside, that i decided to take a walk.  then i ended up running my kids here and there and making supper and resetting the guest room.  at some point in there, i finished the cutting and tidied away the excess.  i set up my sewing machine and in the evening and miracle of miracles, i had left it threaded!  even better, the thread never broke, the tension stayed consistent, everything went smoothly, and by midnight, i had the covers on the cushions and the cushions on the chair. 

and now, i have a cozy little spot to sit and read or chat or drink coffee.  i do know one thing - i'll be on the lookout for a little footstool to go with my chair.  (preferably one i don't have to recover . . . )

  

one word: kindness

kindness - lately, this word sticks with me - comes to mind - over and over again

kindness

be kind

if everyone were kind, this world would be so much different - cliche, i know, but true

i've seen the idea of choosing a word for the year over the past few years, and have never chosen a word for myself.  this year, the word chose me. 

it keeps coming to me when i think about relationships

it keeps coming to me when i teach my kids

it keeps coming as the answer to most any situation

kindness

really, what else is there? 

if i am kind, i am not selfish or angry or cross or arrogant . . .

if i am kind i am loving and giving and respectful . . .

if i treat others with kindness, aren't they more apt to treat me with kindness? 

and answering my own question - not always - but if i am kind, i know that i have done right

if i am kind, my heart can rest

kindness dwells with peace and joy

in maddie-language, kindness, peace and joy are BFFs

and always, always, what goes around, comes around

i would like more kindess to be going around, to be coming around

i'll give kindness a place to start, in my heart, in my home, in my words, in my actions

i'll give kindness a chance to usher in peace and joy

right now, my one word is

kindness

i hexagon you, or hexagons through the years

once upon a time, a long time ago, about four years ago, actually, i started making hexagons.

i used all sorts of fabric from my stash.  shirts and fat quarters and sheets, vintage fabrics and brand new, fabrics that have been across the ocean and back, fabrics that have probably never been anywhere out of the ordinary.  all fabrics that make me smile.

i cut and stitched and cut and stitched and cut and stitched.

i got ideas from this book.

i put one quilt together in time for christmas of 2011, for two very dear friends.

the other one stuck with me for years.  it went on road trips, it went to swim practice, it went to my mom's house, it spent time in our log home, it spent time on the road, it spent time at a girls' craft night.  it accompanied coffee and brownies and cookies and chocolate cake.  it listened to kiddos read and oversaw school-work.  it warmed my legs and made me smile.  i stitched and stitched and stitched.  every bit of it by hand.

the stem and leaf pattern was ben's idea.

zoe kept me company while i basted the binding.

and when i finished it, i kept it hanging around for a while.  i just wanted to look at it some more.

it just covers the top of a full-sized bed.  it's perfect for a nap or as a throw on the couch.

the back is a happy sheet that i found at goodwill.  the batting is a warm blanket from goodwill as well.

the *G is who it lives with now.  i sent it way across the sea.  the '13 is when i was hoping to have it finished.  it snuck over into '14 - but that's the way it is. 

here it is, all folded up with the quilt i received from *G as a house-warming present, three and a half years ago.  is it really only that long ago?  it feels like forever, not just three and a half years.  this quilt is so very loved.  if you scroll back through my blog, you'll see it here and there and everywhere.  i hope the one i sent off to far, far away will bring as much comfort and happiness to G as her dear quilt has brought to me. 

love and hugs and hexagons to you, G!

ten random things

1. my favorite smell is freshly ground coffee
2. i am obsessed with jackets, my mid-weight down and my soft-shell - i'm refusing to be too cold, even in this lovely warming-up springtime weather
3. i am researching a lay-out artist and ISBN purchase and publishing options . . .
4. did you know that there is a lot of vitamin d in pork fat?  that's good, because i love bacon and i save the drippings - which i use when i cook chicken and stirfry and veggies
5. i have a happy little lime green backpack that ben bought for me - i love using it way more than i would like using a purse
6. i never liked to run - now that i am really feeling good, i am running and enjoying it
7. i don't have all the answers . . . in fact, sometimes, there are so many questions that i have to remember to just take them one at a time . . .
8. i remember so many things that my brother and i used to do together - we had so much fun when we were kids - just like maddie and isaac - sometimes, i miss those days . . .
9. i am so looking forward to this summer, the kiddos and i are going to spend a lot of time on our bicycles and in the water and out in the fresh air
10. i love listening to random music with ben and with maddie and isaac on youtube (if you have any favorites, let me know in the comments!)

ready for the show!

after this post, i kept working away, and finished up my 101st pair of earrings last night! everything is packed up and ready for today.  if you live nearby, i will be at invision eye care from 10:30 am till 6:00 pm today with all of these earrings!  the store is having their spring frame show (some good deals there, too!) and my eye doctor invited me to bring my earrings and sell at the show. 

i also realized that mother's day is on sunday - so if you are wishing for new earrings, put a bug in your husband's ear.  or come pick out a pair for your mom. 

this weekend, i will be listing some earrings in my etsy shop for my far-away friends to take a look at. 

and i'll keep making, because i have just loved combining all these beatiful beads and wires!

.: beautiful, one-of-a-kind, bead and wire earrings :.

.: i do comission pieces to match a special outfit or sets for party favors or bridal parties :.

.: i think you'll love the wearing or the gifting as much as i love the making :.

so- i'm off to finish getting ready for the day.  maybe i'll see some of you on this sunny, spring day!

i stitched and stiched and stitched (or, maybe it's a blessing that my sewing machine is on the fritz)

some of you have noticed this over the past few months

this fabric and thread has been all over the place with me since january. 

the fabric is a piece of a sheet - ever since i bought the sheets, i wanted to stitch on them . . . so when the bottom sheet wore thin, i decided it was time to give the top sheet new life . . .

and lots of color . . .

and since my sewing machine broke at christmas time and hasn't made it in to the shop to get looked at yet, i haven't been distracted by other sewing projects.

i finished the binding on the morning of may 3, and wrapped it up.  it's now living on the bed of this lovely friend

along with this tiny girl pillow that maddie drew and i stitched for her for her birthday last year

i loved every bit of stitching that i did on the quilt.  i love it enough to keep it - and that makes it the best kind of gift - does it not?

i've been kneeling by the guest bed, making earrings.  ben asked me if i was wearing kneepads.  :)  nope.  well, you should be, he said.  so, i put a pillow on the floor.  and that feels a lot better.

so many ideas.  so many beads.  27 days.

i was invited to sell my earring creations at the spring frame show at the place where i got my glasses.  so i've been making and making and making. 

would you like to give a few suggestions?  what are your favorite color combinations for spring?  do you like your earrings small and dainty or longer and more obvious?  i'm working toward having a good variety.  and i'm having fun.  :)  it's so nice to be able to leave it all out and keep working away, a little bit every day.  how many pairs do you think i should have available? 

it's friday afternoon!  happy weekend, friends!

good enough to eat :: whipped body butter

this is whipped cocnut oil body butter. 

coconut oil.  now that's something we could talk about for a long time!  the short version - after doing some research (both reading on-line and hands on experiments including putting extra-virgin, expeller-pressed, unrefined coconut oil on my kiddos dry cheeks after washing away the chlorine from the pool - which worked really well to remoisturize them!), i decided to gather some things and just give this a whirl.

i put about 2 cups of room temperature coconut oil (yep, it's pretty hard) in a mixing bowl.  then i added 2 tsp grapeseed oil and 2 tsp honey.  i whipped this up with hand mixer until the coconut oil resembled soft butter.  i used to have a body cleanser that had a cyprus lime scent, and i loved it, so i added 16 drops of cyprus essential oil and 5 drops of lime essential oil.  then i whipped some more.  i decided there wasn't quite enough scent, so i added 10 more drops of cyprus oil and about 10 drops of almond extract.  and whipped some more.

i upcycled an empty jar (scrubbed it inside and out) and spooned in my finished body butter. 

it smells so good!  and this scent combination isn't too girly, so you could share with the guys in your life.  in fact, the day i made it, isaac had an abrasion on his foot that was really bothering him (he had wrapped his ankle with athletic tape, unbeknownst to me, slept with it, and then removed a layer of skin with the tape in the morning).  i asked him if i could try putting my new lotion on a tiny part of his sore.  he let me, and it didn't sting!  so, he let me rub it all over his tape marks (they remind me of rug burns).  by evening, there was marked healing!

i used my lavender cyprus salt scrub in the shower and slathered this all over after i dried off.  it didn't seem to take long to be absorbed into my skin.  and oh man, does my skin feel and smell nice.

what would your favorite scent combination be?

 

good enough to eat :: lavender cyprus salt scrub

i have read about sugar scrubs in the past . . . then, yesterday, i was reading recipes that google brought up for me, and found this salt scrub.  i love lavender and had dried lavender flowers on hand, so i decided to mix this one up . . . with a small variation, of course.

i poured 1/2 cup of coarse sea salt into my jar.  then i added about 1/4 cup of fine salt.  i poured in 1/3 cup grapeseed oil and mixed well.  then i added dried lavender flowers.  about 1/4 cup.  i stirred again.  i didn't have lavender essential oil, so i used 16 drops cyprus essential oil and stirred again.

then, i headed to the shower, where i exfoliated my arms, legs, and torso with this wonderful scrub.  oh, the smell is divine.  and the way it left my skin feeling - so, so nice. 

i read recently that if you exfoliate your upper thighs and buttocks for 5-10 minutes most days, you break up any cellulite that might be formed or starting to form, and also that using a granular scrub is really great for stopping varicose veins (i have some on the backs of my knees) . . . i'm thinking that it can't hurt to try!

i also think that next time i take a bath, i will let some of this scrub dissolve into the tub as i run my hot water . . . the smell would be so relaxing . . .

if you make a scrub, let me know how it works out! 

good enough to eat

so, we've been thinking and reading and doing a lot about food here . . . for a really long time . . .

about 4 years ago, we cut out all high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated anything and MSG - this changed the way we ate quite drastically.   most processed foods have one, or more, of these in them.

then, last april, we cut out gluten.  i have learned so much about cooking and eating since then.  and in the process of learning about how food affects our insides and our mood and our skin - basically everything - i started wondering about what we put on our skin (so many lotions and makeups contain gluten!  not to mention so many other ingredients that are chemicals).  and while researching lotions and soaps, i ran across toothpaste . . . (go ahead, google problems with flouridated toothpaste) . . .

over the past two months, i have thrown out some of my makeup and replaced it with gluten-free alternatives.  i have also thrown out the toothpaste and the lotion and the soap we used to use.

we were gifted some really nice, handmade soaps, for christmas, with ingredients that i can pronounce! and know what they are and don't include gluten.  these have been wonderful!

i started making a toothscrub last month.

and today i made whipped body butter and body scrub. 

over the next few days, i'll share my recipes for the toothscrub, the body butter and the body scrub.

i have come to the conclusion that anything i put on my body should be good enough to eat.  i'm not totally there yet; i wouldn't eat my shampoo or my mascara . . . but i'm getting closer.