It's a Wonderful Life (Truly It Is!)

What a beautiful time of year this is!  I love it so much.

Last week, we went to some of our grandkids' Christmas concerts; one night, it was our 3rd grade grandson G-Man's show at his Catholic school; the next night, we got to watch five of our grandchildren performing together: two of G-Man's younger sisters, who are in 2nd grade and kindergarten, and our triplet grandchildren (also in kindergarten, two siblings in one class together and the other with his cousin); and finally, the next day, we watched two of our granddaughters, younger siblings of the aforementioned kids (4-year-old cousins who are BFF's and classmates), perform in their pre-K concert at their Christian preschool.  It was a busy week!  It is so special that these cousins are schoolmates/classmates.  It is a joy to their Papa and me to see them experiencing all of this together.

My husband and I also squeezed in a movie date over the weekend and went to see The Shift, a new film out by Angel Studios (they also did The Sound of Freedom).  It is just SO GOOD, we highly recommend it!  The theater that was showing the movie was in danger of closing not too long ago (thanks to all that Covid business, ugh!); but they didn't. I'm so grateful, because every now and then, it's a huge treat to go out and watch a movie on the big screen.  And they have a giant, glorious Christmas tree outside this multiplex, so we snapped a date night selfie in front of it.

 

 

On Sunday, son #4 and his kids (the triplets plus one, who calls herself an "honorary triplet") came over for brunch after Mass.   And the 6-year-old girl triplet couldn't stop looking at the "quilted" ornaments on our tree.  For some reason, she was fascinated by them, especially when her Papa told her that I had made them.  I learned this simple and rewarding craft more than 40 years ago, when I was a young Navy wife who wasn't even a mom yet.  I used mostly traditional red and green Christmas fabric scraps from other projects for the first ones I made.  Since then, I have used materials that have special meaning to "quilt" the balls.

I made NY State Lottery ornaments for my mom, my siblings, and myself
after my dad died, using scraps from his old T-shirts.

I used some old baby garments that my boys wore to make the blue and yellow
one.  (The smaller one on the bottom right is one of the originals from 1981.)

The maroon, grey, and white one was made out of bits and pieces of
my boys' old Catholic grade school uniforms.

Yesterday, I made this one for the granddaughter who was so intrigued
by them, and I plan to give it to her tomorrow for her family's tree.

(I shared the step-by-step process of making these ornaments here at the blog a while back, if you're interested.)

Not much else is new.  We're just trying to get all of our must-watch Christmas movies in before the 25th, if possible. Last night we watched my favorite, It's a Wonderful Life.  

This morning before daily Mass, I sat in my living room, reading a new book by a lovely Catholic author with whom I became online friends back when I was writing Finding Grace and Erin's Ring.  (Her latest novel, The Charter Class, just came out.  It's a work of historical fiction about the very first class of students at the College of Our Lady of the Elms, an all-girls school in Massachusetts that opened in 1928.)   I was enjoying the book's uplifting story; the tree lights were sparkling; and for the first time ever, I was drinking my coffee out of one of the Santa mugs my husband gave me for Christmas last year.  It all felt a little too good to be true.

And I thought to myself, "Yes, it truly is a wonderful life."

God bless you, dear readers, at Christmas and always!

A Homemade Christmas: St. Nicks for Everyone!

This year, my husband and I joined forces in Santa's workshop to create large wooden St. Nicholas figurines—five of them, one for each of our sons and their wives—for Christmas.  We had made one for us a few years ago and the kids said they'd like to have similar ones for their own houses.  

The first year we had ours, it towered over our little grandson Simba.

Nothing could make me happier than having a project like this to work on!  I absolutely love making gifts; to me, it's so much more fun than shopping for them.

My favorite carpenter bought some pine boards, 1-inch thick and 10-inches wide.  I sketched the basic shape for him and he cut out five of them with his table saw and sanded them for me.

I changed my mind and had my husband ignore the feet, for simplicity's sake, 
and just have the gown/coat go to the ground.

Then I set out to paint them. 

As I was working on them throughout November, I realized that totally by accident, the first two faces I finished sort of resembled two of our sons.  (I mean, not exactly; but sort of.) So then I set out to make each son's St. Nick look a little bit like he does.  I made the coats and other details slightly different, depending on each son's personality and interests, so that they would be five be one-of-a-kind St. Nicks. I also added pearl accents and glued a couple of coins on the bases (you know, because St. Nick is supposed to bring coins and leave them in the shoes).  I tried to find coins that were stamped with years—or in some cases, foreign countries—that are significant in our boys' lives.

My hubby's carpenter skills were key; he is the one who got the St. Nicks securely screwed onto their bases, and then made triangular braces to go behind them, so that they would stand safely upright.  (So often, not just when he's woodworking, he reminds me of St. Joseph!)

By Thanksgiving, I was ALMOST done with this project, because I wanted to give son #5 his St. Nick while he was visiting us.  But he and his wife decided that since they're currently living in a small apartment, they will wait to take theirs home with them until they have a more permanent living situation and more room. 

I finally finished them all up in time to give them out to the four oldest boys who live nearby during this last week of Advent.  Here they are, all lined up (in order, from oldest to youngest son, L to R):

The ones we made for our kids are shorter and narrower than the one we made for ourselves, for two reasons: we forgot to measure ours before we went to Lowe's to buy the wood and didn't think the board we'd used was as wide as it was (12-inches); and actually, the wider boards were a good bit more expensive anyway.  Plus, I thought the new model, which is about three feet high, was a good size: big enough to make a statement, but not TOO big. 

Okay, looking at that last photo makes me realize that ours is kind of huge.  Yikes, I hadn't really appreciated how big it was until we put it next to the others!  As one of our granddaughters said, it's like our St. Nick is the daddy and those are his five sons.  I love that.  That's how I'm going to think of ours from now on.

Our boys and their families appear to be pleased with these homemade Christmas gifts.  Here are son #2's four little guys giving their St. Nick some love.

May we all have the pure and innocent joy of small children in our hearts this Christmas!  And St. Nicholas, pray for us!

Sewing with Grammy (4 and 5)

I never got around to blogging about sewing lesson number 4 last week!  I find it hard to blog these days, and I truly don't know where the time goes; but I definitely want to try to keep up with this little sewing series.  I want my granddaughters to have these memories of our time together to look back on whenever they feel like it.  So today you get a two-fer.

Last Monday, the twins (10) started out with more sewing machine practice on paper, following straight, curvy, and zig-zagged lines.  The curves and zigs and zags proved to be challenging, but they did remarkably well. 

After they'd demonstrated what masters of straight line sewing they've become, I had the twins practice doing straight lines on fabric by having them hem casings for the elasticized waists on four simple skirts for their American Girl dolls--one each for the seamstresses, and one each for their two younger sisters, 8 and 6. (By the way, if you want to make one of these, all you need is one regular 8 and 1/2 x 11" sheet of computer paper.  Place the shorter side on the fold of the fabric to cut one large rectangle.  Then you just fold down the top to sew a casing for the 10 and 1/2 " long piece of 1/4" elastic, hem the bottom, and sew up one back seam.  Voila!  Easy peasy.) 

Once they'd finished on the machine, I had the younger girls pull the elastic through the casings guided by safety pins, because I wanted them to feel like they have a hand in the creation of these doll fashions.  (Each girl got to pick out the fabric she wanted to use for her garment, but I wanted all of them to feel fully involved in the project.)

Yesterday, I was going to have the twins hem the skirts and sew the back seams so they could take them home and start using them on their dolls; but first, I had a hand-sewing project for all the girls to do together.  And that ended up being so much fun, and taking up so much time, that we never got to the skirts and decided to finish them off when we have our next lesson.

For hand-sewing, felt is always a good idea, in my book; it's so forgiving.  And Christmas-themed crafts are also always a good idea.  I think so, anyway.  So felt Christmas tree-shaped ornaments were the project du jour for my budding seamstresses.

To use as a model, I decorated the front of one of the felt trees I’d cut out before they arrived.  (Mine went home with their little brother, who doesn't like to be left out of things--so I added a car, an airplane, and a football button especially for him.) 

The girls had a great time rummaging through my button box, and they were very creative.  Each ornament was a one-of-a-kind creation.  They sewed backs on the decorated fronts and stuffed them, and then we added loops for hanging them on the tree.

It's hard to put into words just how much this little weekly sewing class means to me.  Back when I was raising these girls' daddy and his brothers, if I had tried to look ahead and picture what life as a Grammy to many grandchildren would be like, I never could have imagined anything even remotely as wonderful as it is.  When these girls are my age, I hope they look back on our times together with fondness.  And I hope they keep sewing!  It's such a useful skill!

Sewing with Grammy (3)

If you are one of the few people who does come here often, you might be wondering if this has morphed into a sewing blog now or something.

No, it hasn't; but I am a Grammy blogger (not to be confused with a mommy blogger, which was a popular thing to be back in blogging's heyday).  And sewing with four of my granddaughters--the offspring of our firstborn son--is currently one of my favorite Grammy activities.  So there you go.  (I will blog about something else one of these days; but this is not that day!)

For the past three Monday afternoons, I have been holding a little Sewing 101 course at my kitchen table for four young budding seamstresses. 

Each week, I've tried to plan projects that are fun for them, but as an added bonus also give them something to bring home at the end of the lesson (doll-related items are always a good choice!).

On Monday, I had the two oldest (10-year-old twins) do a review of one of the skills we worked on last week and practice machine sewing straight lines on paper.  They did so well that I had them graduate to sewing straight lines on double-thickness squares of fabric on which I'd drawn a series of lines.

They pretty much aced that task, so then I had them sew up some simple 5x7" American Girl-sized bed pillows I'd cut out for them ahead of time.  They sewed the seams leaving an opening for stuffing, clipped the corners, and turned them inside out.

When they had accomplished this, I called their two younger sisters (8 and 6) up from the basement playroom to stuff the pillows and hand-sew the openings closed.  

When I went online a month or so ago to figure out the best way to go about teaching young kids to sew, one of the bloggers whose site I visited stressed the need to be okay with their efforts being imperfect, in order to let them learn without too much interference.  I knew that with my tendency toward perfectionism I might hamper their learning by itching to take over too much.  So I've been trying really hard to let them do their own work and make their own mistakes.  (Sewing with Grammy will be a good learning experience for me as well!)

These sweet granddaughters are so generous with each other and don't appear to have that need to be in complete control of the outcome that their Grammy struggles with.  The older girls were perfectly happy to have the younger girls do the finish work on the pillows, and they did a bang-up job.  So it was truly a wonderful team effort.  I am so proud of this little sewing circle of mine!

Yes, someday, I shall write about something other than sewing lessons...but here's the problem these days, you see:

and I do mean HOURS!!

Sewing with Grammy (2)

Our oldest son's four homeschooled daughters came to our house for their second weekly sewing lesson on Monday afternoon.  I had an easy hand-sewing project for all of them to work on: adding buttons and flower embellishments to simple felt vests I’d made for them ahead of time (sized to fit their American Girl and/or baby dolls).

I love to see the joy that working on such projects produces in these sweet young ladies!  And I am determined to make sure that they have something fun to bring home with them after each sewing lesson.

Once the dolls were looking spiffy in their new vests, it was time to get down to brass tacks: teaching the older girls the basics of using a sewing machine. So the two younger girls went down to the basement playroom to play with their little brother, and the twins (aged 10) began their lesson for the day: sewing straight lines on paper.  (Thank you, Internet, for both the genius idea and the free printable pages to practice on!)

It did this Grammy's heart so much good to see these girls, my two oldest grandchildren (who are maturing into poised young women at an alarming rate!), growing in confidence each time they sat down at the machine.  They were somewhat intimidated at first, but quickly got the hang of it.  The younger of the twins (by a few minutes!), Cutie Pie, was heard to exclaim, "I love this.  I feel like I was born to do this!"

Born to sew!  If that's the case, I'm so glad that I have the unique opportunity to help these girls learn a useful new skill (one that has served me well over the years)--you know, so that they can do what they were born to do.

Sewing with Grammy

Our oldest son's wife asked me this summer if I'd be interested in having a weekly sewing class this school year for her four homeschooled daughters (aged 10, 10, 8, and 6).  While the girls have done a bit of hand-embroidery and hand-sewing, she hoped that I could give them a basic course in how to use a sewing machine.

Would I be interested?!?!  Of course I would!

As I was largely self-taught (and learned through years of trial and error--I tell you, the seam ripper and I got to know each other very well!), I went online and typed in "teaching kids how to sew," and I got lots of great pointers on how to proceed: YouTube videos and blog posts, some of which offered printable pages--not just patterns, but also sheets of dotted lines on which to practice machine sewing.  There were sheets of straight lines, and curved ones, and geometric patterns that will help them practice how to change direction.  (I never would have thought of having them practice machine stitches on paper; I would undoubtedly have given them material scraps instead.  But for true beginners, this appears to be a great way to get them comfortable with the way the machine works before they graduate on to sewing on fabric.)

Aside from how-to advice, I was tickled to find some free printable beginner's patterns.  The first one I will have them use, after they become adept enough at working the machine, is for a very simple sleeveless dress that will fit their beloved American Girls.  (I made one up and it's being modeled by one of my 18" porcelain dolls, and I will keep it on display during our classes as an incentive for them to keep learning.)

We had our first class on Monday, and we started with a couple of introductory projects for all four girls. They hand-sewed some buttons onto fabric scraps, on which I'd made pictures using fabric paint, and then they slip-stitched the opening of a small stuffed puppy dog closed.  In future weeks, the 10-year-old twins will be working with the sewing machine while the younger girls do more hand-sewing projects.  I did let the twins try doing a few lines of straight stitches on the machine, but otherwise decided to keep the first day fairly easygoing.

We had an impromptu tea party after the lesson, with peach tea and shortbread cookies.  And then they all got to go home with little stuffed puppies (pets for their American Girl dolls?) and fabric painted pictures they'd finished off by sewing on the buttons.  

The only thing I forgot to think of was making a little fabric square picture for their 3-year-old brother, who played in the basement while the girls were having their sewing lesson.  We did have a stuffed dog for him, though, and promised that there would be a car with button wheels in his future.

I think day one would have to be considered a success! And I am so excited to see these girls grow in confidence as they learn new skills each week.

This opportunity to do a weekly sewing class with my granddaughters is something that never would have happened if we hadn't left our longtime home in NH and made the move to VA in 2017. I can hardly count the blessings that have flowed from that decision!

Look for updates on my little seamstresses' progress in the coming months.

Creative Pursuits (Including Some ABC Book Updates)

Before I get started, I wanted to thank all of you sweet readers who have left comments here at String of Pearls in the last month or so.  My husband and I have been so busy lately, between road trips out to Notre Dame (we are going to every Fighting Irish home game this season, five so far with one more to go in November!) and helping out our kids, who are currently in the crazy season of raising toddlers and babies and need a helping hand every now and then, that I don't spend much time blogging or checking my blog's combox.  I just saw some lovely comments readers left on a recent post about our dining room, and I finally responded to them today.  I really do love hearing from you, and please forgive me for taking so long to let you know how much I appreciate it when you take the time to comment.

I do miss keeping up with the blog; writing is one of those "blue flame" activities that keeps me balanced and content.  (I know I probably don't need to elaborate on where that term comes from, but just suffice it to say that if you haven't read Jennifer Fulwiler's One Beautiful Dream, you should.)

Actually, when I do anything creative, that is when my blue flame burns the brightest.  Just yesterday morning, I was puttering around in my basement, looking through my big plastic bins filled with fabric and sewing stuff to see what I had.  One of the bins is filled with all kinds of antique goodies gifted to me over the years, along with some linen-and-lace pillow shams that belonged to my mother-in-law (and from which I have made christening dresses for my grandchildren in years past).  I found one piece in particular that intrigued me--I'd forgotten I even had it, so it was a bit like Christmas morning when I rediscovered it yesterday.

It appears to be a circular tablecloth, with a wreath-shaped Battenberg lace insert hand-sewn into the middle.  It's obviously very old and there are lots of small holes in the linen; but I saw all sorts of possibilities for that insert, so I carefully removed it from the surrounding fabric.

I am trying to figure out what I can make with this.  I might frame it with green velvet behind it and add a red satin bow, and then use it as a Christmas decoration.  What would you do with it?  I am open to ideas!

Another activity that feeds my soul (lights my blue flame, tickles my fancy, revs my engine...you get the drift) is working on the ABC Book that I hope to finish for my grandchildren by Christmas.  (Fingers crossed!)

The other day, I decided to tweak the cover a little.  It's a minor change, but I like it much better.  It used to be orange.

Now it looks like this.

 I guess I like my book covers to be green...

Not too long ago, I shared the Q pages in a post here at the blog.  But I've added a small update to them.  Here's how they look now.

I've also finished the I pages.

What a shocker that I included a page about Ireland in this book, right?

Not only do I like book covers that are Emerald-Isle green, but I also love Irish characters--so it's no surprise that they populate my two novels.

Well, that's about it from my neck of the woods.  I hope that wherever you are, you're tending to your own blue flame.  Our hearts all burn for different things and they're all good, as long as we're using the gifts and talents the Good Lord gave us in a way that brings honor to Him.  Amen?

I'll be back soon (hopefully!) with more ABC Book pages.