My Longest Year

for the bride

I love giving gifts with a story...whether it be the recipient's story or even my own.  In this case, I wanted to give a token gift to a bride.  Coffee and cookies...not typical, I guess.  But the thought behind it is sweet, I think. 

When James and I first married, we moved from Tennessee to upstate New York just two days later.  No honeymoon (unless you count the half hour staring at water at Niagara Falls).  And when I say "upstate" I'm not talking about Buffalo; I'm talking four hours NORTH of that.  Snowtown, USA.

We rented a very drafty upstairs apartment (with a remove-able wall...don't get me started) and had only two months together before James was to deploy the first time.  We spent our Saturday and Sunday mornings in the breakfast nook over our version of espresso and homemade biscotti.  At the time I was a bit lonely...far from my huge network of friends, co-workers, and alumni in Nashville, and suddenly thrust into military life in the coldest corner of the country.  Those mornings with James were sweet and dear to me.  When he deployed a few weeks later, I would make batches of this biscotti in care packages to him, hopeful they would bring comfort.  I think baking it just helped me pass the time with the only newlywed memories I had at the time.

So when I saw these sweet little espresso cups at Crate and Barrell one day, I knew they'd make a charmed little gift paired with biscotti...I'd pass my little newlywed story on to the happy couple and picture them sipping coffee on Saturday morning.  This gift is for the daughter of a blog friend of mine.  Whether the bride likes coffee or not is beside the point.  I think the story conveys a thought...wishing her many charmed Saturdays as a newlywed...

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A few days before I sent the gift I ran across this little idea in my Green Craft magazine (love that magazine - great, REAL ideas) and thought it was so clever.  Imagine my surprise when I flipped the page and saw that the designer of the project was the bride's mother!

And, yes, that's an office supply tag you see inside my toilet paper pocket.  I've found they make great gift notes.

the duh way to journal your projects

I often save the scraps of my projects, planning to someday glue them to a fancy journal and keep this neat little creative book of sewing memories.  Those scraps have mostly just sat in my fabric stash. 

I found a better way: office supplies.

finally, a crafty thing: walker tote

Can you guess what it is?  I made a thrown-together terry cloth version of this several years ago for my grandpa when he had to use a walker.  Now it's Nana's turn.  She's asked for it several times and I just know she's going to be proud to "wear" it to the cafe at her new assisted living facility.

One side has pockets; the other is one large pocket for magazines and larger items.  It secures over the bar of her walker saddle-style with these two snaps, which are my only disappointment.  I wanted to use vintage buttons.  But I couldn't find the button hole maker and Ash was due to wake up any minute.

 

The ties on the side are kinda cute - but they're meant to be tied to the side bars of the walker to keep the whole thing from flapping annoyingly as she scoots.

Can you believe it?  That I made something, I mean.  It's been so long!  And I have another nursing-home project coming up soon (well, "soon" is relative).  I think we may have a whole new category of crafty-things here!

Things We've Handed Down: Love of Books

Evyn's book: "How to Get Married" was an impulse purchase at the bookstore.  I mean, how do you turn down a book about being a bride that's meant just for a five year old who keeps asking me how she'll know "who the boy is?"  Ashlyn's reading a clever book I found at a Usborne/homeschool booth in Washington.  "There's a Mouse About the House!" is a fun and interactive almost-game that's great for little hands and minds who love surprises.  It's a living room staple, as even the girls' friends love to sit and play with it.