Are you buried beneath a mountain of family photographs? Is your kitchen bookshelf teeming with recipe books inherited from grandmothers, great aunts and other long-dead ancestors? Do your children beg for bedtime stories detailing Uncle Manny's adventures as a crop duster pilot or Great Grandma Sylvia's days as a suffragette?
Genealogical research and scrapbooking are tremendously popular pastimes. Combining the two creates a lasting, archival record of the past to which every member of the family may contribute and enjoy for generations.
When my husband and I first married, the only furniture we had was three assemble-it-yourself TV stands, a desk, two dressers and a small bookshelf. Coming straight out of college with no funds to buy 'real' furniture, and yet wanting to set up a household that didn't look like a dorm room, I had to use my creativity to make do with what little we owned.
When my second son was in a hurry to start reading, we made a book. He was very proud of his first book, and would read it to anyone who would listen. It encouraged him to work on his reading skills and to continue writing stories. Making a book with your child is a pleasure and a learning opportunity.
For many centuries, herbs have been used in craft and decoration. Not only are herbs versatile, they are almost all very easy to grow in your own garden no matter how small or large. The majority of the herbs you will use in your crafts and decorations will be dried.
Today, Wednesday, is Knitting Circle Day, one of the highlights of our week. Many of our friends come over. The moms work on projects and the children play. Our circle is a little community, without which our lives would be a lot less full.
We help each other out with projects, problems, life and its inconsistencies, and boss each others' kids around to the point that we all got invited to the eldest boy's bar mitzvah last year because he couldn't imagine the Knitting Circle Ladies not being there.
I love KoolAid. Good grief, not to drink! To dye stuff with!
KoolAid is a ready-made acid dye, suitable for any protein fiber. That means silk, soy silk and wool, fiber fans. Usually I dye wool with it, or its close relative, Easter egg dye.
If you like the look of aged copper but can only afford cast aluminum--or even plastic--then you can fool everyone into THINKING you could afford the real thing. All it takes is paint. Don't worry if you're not artistic; you don't need to be. It even helps if you're naturally messy. But the results are impressive.
When we were planning our new backyard several years ago, the designer said, "So I hear you want lavender. How many plants?" I told her, when you think you have too many, add five more and you'll have made a good start.
Fall is a wonderful time of crisp air and beautiful colors. It is my favorite time of year and when I feel my most productive. I have some great craft ideas for your kids that I think they will enjoy.
