Monthly Archives: December 2009

last call for 2009

Starting this blog was one of my favorite parts of 2009. I’ve so enjoyed reading your comments and finding out what’s of interest to you. I have a lot of tutorials and free patterns on deck for 2010 and would love to hear about which topics you’d like me to write about.

For all you bloggers [...]

making girls’ pants with a mission

Back several years ago when I was a contributor to Whipup, I wrote a post about how frustrating it was as a mom that clothing manufacturers don’t make pants for girls that are as warm as those they make for boys. Many retailers and manufacturers offer flannel-lined pants for boys but you’ll have a hard [...]

5-minute family gift bags step-by-step

My least favorite part of Christmas morning is the trash bag next to the Christmas tree. Gift wrap that can be recycled is bad enough but metallic paper and plastic ribbon that’s going straight to the landfill is a downer to me. I hate the waste. I also dislike buying gift wrap. I don’t want [...]

making beauty from grief

My dear friend Tina Lillig died unexpectedly just after midnight Sunday morning. Tina had been a giant, shining presence in my life for the past 10 years and reminded me, every time I saw her, of who I want to be.
She was the National Director of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, which is a Montessori-based [...]

lickety split legwarmers

When you live in a cold climate it’s all about layering. Until last winter I had thought that legwarmers, however, needed to remain in dance studios or revivals of the movie Flashdance. It was our daughter’s second grade classroom that changed my mind. For some reason her classroom was unbearably hot in the winter, which [...]