I have been thinking a lot about my sister. She is four and a half years younger than me but in the past couple of years she has become more than just a sibling. She is one of my very best friends. I remember when my parents first brought her home. I was so excited because it was like having my own personal live doll! As the years went by she was my favorite playmate. We played barbies for hours. When I was in elementary school she became my shadow. Everything was "me too!" and I was annoyed because I wanted to be different. I didn't want her to be just like me but looking back I am flattered that she wanted to be just like me. I hope I was an OK role model for her. I have tried to look out for her over the years and I hope she knows that.
I am so proud of the woman that she has become. She is smart and confident in ways that I never was. There have even been times when I admit I have been jealous of her. She has always been popular with boys and she has always had tons of friends, two things which I sometimes struggled with. Now she is in college and studying to be a social worker. I admire her.
Recently, she told me that she hopes that I am living somewhere close to her when I have children because she wants to be able to come and visit me often and she wants to be a great aunt. This really touched me. I feel really lucky to have her. Here's to you little sister! I love you and miss you very much! I can't wait for you to visit!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Cradle Restoration
For those that follow my blog, you may recall that one of the projects that I embarked on when my husband left was the restoration of a cradle that my father had built for me when I was born. Let me reiterate that NO, I am not expecting a baby now or anytime very soon, but my father gave me the cradle since I DO plan to have children sometime in the future and I figured that now was a good time to go about fixing it since a) I have the time and b) I don't need it just yet so there is no pressure to get it done so I can take my time.
Since the cradle was built, twenty-five years ago, I have to admit that it has taken a lot of abuse from my younger sister and I. I don't mean the few months that we each slept in it but rather the years after when we played with it and pounded on it as we played with our dolls and stuffed animals. Still, it is a beautiful piece, in my opinion, and it holds a special place in my heart because my father actually built it. How many people can say that?
When I brought it to my house back in May, it wasn't in terrible shape but it needed some love. It was missing two of the four knobs that once adorned the four corners and had a few cracks in the wood. The mattress is still in great shape. After all my sister and I only slept on it for a couple of months a piece and it looks almost new. I figured all it needed was a bit of time and elbow grease (figuratively speaking) to fix it up.
When Hubby left in June I set about starting the project. It was a project that I was very interested in and it kept my mind off Hubby's absence, at least for couple of hours a day. The first step of the project was to find some replacement knobs for the two that had over the years and several moves (this thing endured not just the abuse of two small children but also seven moves) had somehow disappeared. I feel like the fact that it survived so much says something about my Dad's workmanship. Kudos to you Dad! While showing its age, this is a fairly sturdy piece!.
I wasn't expecting it to be difficult to find replacement knobs. Think again. The hardware stores only carried drawer knobs which were much to small or finials which were all pointy (way dangerous for a baby.) I was slightly discouraged but a kindly employee at one of the hardware stores suggested trying a craft store. I struck out at the first one but hit pay dirt at the second. They didn't have the perfectly round wooden balls that my dad had used but they did have what they were calling "wooden doll heads." These "doll heads" were almost round but had a flat edge on the bottom and already had a hole drilled in for a screw. They also happened to be the right size. OK, so they were not entirely round but after talking to my dad he said that he recommended replacing all four knobs anyway so they would all perfectly match and he said that the flat side would actually make it easier to put them on the cradle. It was a bonus that I would not have to drill a hole into each one. I had found what I thought would be the perfect solution! I bought four and drove home feeling triumphant.
Since my new knobs were "naked" my next step was to find a stain that matched the existing stain that my dad had used on the body of the cradle. For this I enlisted my father's help since he would have a clue as to what wood and color he had originally used. After a brief trip to Lowe's I came back armed with a small can of Minwax stain, a small can of Minwax polyurethane varnish (to seal the stain and give the wood a shine), and a few foam brushes to apply both products, and some sandpaper. My dad was kind enough to give me a metal tool called a "key" to open the cans.
It took me a week to stain and apply polyurethane to the knobs. It was a long process since I had to wait 8-12 hours between coats of stain. I went back to Lowe's and picked up some wood putty (I'll get to this in a minute) and some double ended screws to attach the knobs. I then proceeded to attach each freshly stained knob to a screw.
Unfortunately I could not screw the knobs onto the cradle yet. When my sister and I were little one of the things that we liked to do was to turn the knobs over and over. The result was that the original holes in the cradle had been widened so much that two were the width of a finger. Obviously this was much to big for the new screw. This is where the wood putty came in. I pressed putty into each of the four holes to seal them up so that I could create new tighter holes for the new knobs. This process again took a week or so because I had to wait for the putty to harden and in some cases I had to fill the holes up a second time because the putty shrank as it dried. I also took the opportunity to repair a crack in the wood that I had noticed on one of the side panels. This was a battle scar from one of the moves but after the wood putty it was as good as new.
The next step was to give the body of the cradle a fresh coat of varnish. I sanded the cradle down first and applied a few coats of stain and varnish. Then all I had to do was screw on the new knobs and it looked great!
At this point I could have been finished but I decided that I wanted to get a sheet to cover the mattress. The mattress has cute little pictures on it but I wanted a sheet so that the cradle would be immediately usable whenever the time came. You would think that this would be a simple matter of going to Target or Babies R Us but apparently cradles are no longer popular. Bassinet sheets and crib sheets can be found almost anywhere but try to find a cradle sheet and you are out of luck. Bummer. I did find a few on Amazon but they were a minimum of $20 a piece for one fitted sheet and the fabrics seemed cheap. Fortunately, I am competent with the use of a sewing machine. I decided that I could probably make one. How hard could it be?
I went to Walmart and bought a simple blue cotton twin flat sheet for $4 and some elastic. (I think blue is pretty for a boy or a girl and it matches the blankets I had as a baby which my mom gave me.) This was cheaper than buying fabric from Joann's and the fabric was thicker and well perfect for a sheet since that was what it was for.
At this point, I stopped the project for several weeks. I was a little intimidated by my sheet project and put it off. This week when I embarked on my sewing spree I felt ambitious enough to pick it back up. After reading a few tutorials online (thanks fellow bloggers!) from moms who had made their own crib sheets I felt confident enough to scale down their directions and make my cradle sheet. To make a long story short I was able to make two double thickness fitted cradle sheets from the one twin sheet. I wanted them double thickness so that they would be more absorbent and also so that the pattern on the mattress would not show through the sheet. By following one of the online tutorials I was even able to make french seams on the corners so that the raw edges would never fray and the two sheets fit perfectly! I have to admit, I am a little impressed with how they turned out. In fact, I think they seem better quality than some of the crib sheets that I saw in Target. Not to mention, that I made both sheets for under $6. You can't beat that price! If anyone wants more information on how I made the sheet (if you want to make your own) let me know. I would be happy to give more details but I didn't want to bore anyone!
My cradle restoration is finally done and I am very happy with how it has turned out. The cradle is beautiful and the sheet adds that final finishing touch. My favorite feature of the cradle is the way that it gently rocks side to side. Looking at it I can picture myself laying a baby in it one day and being proud to tell my future child one day that his or her grandfather made the cradle that he or she slept in.
Since the cradle was built, twenty-five years ago, I have to admit that it has taken a lot of abuse from my younger sister and I. I don't mean the few months that we each slept in it but rather the years after when we played with it and pounded on it as we played with our dolls and stuffed animals. Still, it is a beautiful piece, in my opinion, and it holds a special place in my heart because my father actually built it. How many people can say that?
When I brought it to my house back in May, it wasn't in terrible shape but it needed some love. It was missing two of the four knobs that once adorned the four corners and had a few cracks in the wood. The mattress is still in great shape. After all my sister and I only slept on it for a couple of months a piece and it looks almost new. I figured all it needed was a bit of time and elbow grease (figuratively speaking) to fix it up.
When Hubby left in June I set about starting the project. It was a project that I was very interested in and it kept my mind off Hubby's absence, at least for couple of hours a day. The first step of the project was to find some replacement knobs for the two that had over the years and several moves (this thing endured not just the abuse of two small children but also seven moves) had somehow disappeared. I feel like the fact that it survived so much says something about my Dad's workmanship. Kudos to you Dad! While showing its age, this is a fairly sturdy piece!.
I wasn't expecting it to be difficult to find replacement knobs. Think again. The hardware stores only carried drawer knobs which were much to small or finials which were all pointy (way dangerous for a baby.) I was slightly discouraged but a kindly employee at one of the hardware stores suggested trying a craft store. I struck out at the first one but hit pay dirt at the second. They didn't have the perfectly round wooden balls that my dad had used but they did have what they were calling "wooden doll heads." These "doll heads" were almost round but had a flat edge on the bottom and already had a hole drilled in for a screw. They also happened to be the right size. OK, so they were not entirely round but after talking to my dad he said that he recommended replacing all four knobs anyway so they would all perfectly match and he said that the flat side would actually make it easier to put them on the cradle. It was a bonus that I would not have to drill a hole into each one. I had found what I thought would be the perfect solution! I bought four and drove home feeling triumphant.
Since my new knobs were "naked" my next step was to find a stain that matched the existing stain that my dad had used on the body of the cradle. For this I enlisted my father's help since he would have a clue as to what wood and color he had originally used. After a brief trip to Lowe's I came back armed with a small can of Minwax stain, a small can of Minwax polyurethane varnish (to seal the stain and give the wood a shine), and a few foam brushes to apply both products, and some sandpaper. My dad was kind enough to give me a metal tool called a "key" to open the cans.
It took me a week to stain and apply polyurethane to the knobs. It was a long process since I had to wait 8-12 hours between coats of stain. I went back to Lowe's and picked up some wood putty (I'll get to this in a minute) and some double ended screws to attach the knobs. I then proceeded to attach each freshly stained knob to a screw.
Unfortunately I could not screw the knobs onto the cradle yet. When my sister and I were little one of the things that we liked to do was to turn the knobs over and over. The result was that the original holes in the cradle had been widened so much that two were the width of a finger. Obviously this was much to big for the new screw. This is where the wood putty came in. I pressed putty into each of the four holes to seal them up so that I could create new tighter holes for the new knobs. This process again took a week or so because I had to wait for the putty to harden and in some cases I had to fill the holes up a second time because the putty shrank as it dried. I also took the opportunity to repair a crack in the wood that I had noticed on one of the side panels. This was a battle scar from one of the moves but after the wood putty it was as good as new.
The next step was to give the body of the cradle a fresh coat of varnish. I sanded the cradle down first and applied a few coats of stain and varnish. Then all I had to do was screw on the new knobs and it looked great!
At this point I could have been finished but I decided that I wanted to get a sheet to cover the mattress. The mattress has cute little pictures on it but I wanted a sheet so that the cradle would be immediately usable whenever the time came. You would think that this would be a simple matter of going to Target or Babies R Us but apparently cradles are no longer popular. Bassinet sheets and crib sheets can be found almost anywhere but try to find a cradle sheet and you are out of luck. Bummer. I did find a few on Amazon but they were a minimum of $20 a piece for one fitted sheet and the fabrics seemed cheap. Fortunately, I am competent with the use of a sewing machine. I decided that I could probably make one. How hard could it be?
I went to Walmart and bought a simple blue cotton twin flat sheet for $4 and some elastic. (I think blue is pretty for a boy or a girl and it matches the blankets I had as a baby which my mom gave me.) This was cheaper than buying fabric from Joann's and the fabric was thicker and well perfect for a sheet since that was what it was for.
At this point, I stopped the project for several weeks. I was a little intimidated by my sheet project and put it off. This week when I embarked on my sewing spree I felt ambitious enough to pick it back up. After reading a few tutorials online (thanks fellow bloggers!) from moms who had made their own crib sheets I felt confident enough to scale down their directions and make my cradle sheet. To make a long story short I was able to make two double thickness fitted cradle sheets from the one twin sheet. I wanted them double thickness so that they would be more absorbent and also so that the pattern on the mattress would not show through the sheet. By following one of the online tutorials I was even able to make french seams on the corners so that the raw edges would never fray and the two sheets fit perfectly! I have to admit, I am a little impressed with how they turned out. In fact, I think they seem better quality than some of the crib sheets that I saw in Target. Not to mention, that I made both sheets for under $6. You can't beat that price! If anyone wants more information on how I made the sheet (if you want to make your own) let me know. I would be happy to give more details but I didn't want to bore anyone!
My cradle restoration is finally done and I am very happy with how it has turned out. The cradle is beautiful and the sheet adds that final finishing touch. My favorite feature of the cradle is the way that it gently rocks side to side. Looking at it I can picture myself laying a baby in it one day and being proud to tell my future child one day that his or her grandfather made the cradle that he or she slept in.
 |
| Bottom of my cradle sheet |
 |
| Fitted cradle sheet corner |
 |
| Finished Product :) |
Monday, September 26, 2011
Sewing Spree
In the past week I have suddenly been on a sewing kick. For some reason it seems like my desire to be crafty comes and goes in spurts. In any case, inspiration to do some sewing projects hit last week and I went to the closet and dragged out the sewing machine. I wanted to make some aprons. You may think I am nuts but I only had one and I use it all the time. I bake a lot and also like to make meat sauce for spaghetti. Tomato sauce have a tendency to splatter and stain your clothes and being able to wipe my hands on an apron helps me use fewer dishtowels when I am baking. I had looked at Target and Walmart for an apron that I could buy but the ones I found were either hideously ugly or so thin that I felt like they were useless. After searching online I finally found one that looked like it had potential but when I saw the $30 sticker price I thought... yeah right!... $30 for an apron that I could probably make myself? Then it dawned on me. I could make one myself! So I visited Joann's and bought some supplies and set about my projects. I decided to make two aprons. I wanted one full length one and a second one that would be one that just went around my waist. It took me about two days to make each one. Not because they were particularly difficult, but because I didn't spend all day working on them. I have to admit that I am pretty happy with the results. Next time I will probably makes a few adjustments to my pattern but all in all I think they came out well :) Can't wait to try them out!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
September 11th
Ten years ago today the events of 9/11/2001 took place. I was just a sophomore in high school and at the time I never could have imagined how the events that day would shape and change my life, and the lives of everyone in our country, forever.
On that day I never imagined that today I would be married to a soldier. A soldier who has been deployed to Iraq as a direct result of the events that took place on 9/11. A soldier who is now gone again serving our country and whose friends are about to embark on a deployment to Afghanistan.
For me, the impact of 9/11/2001 goes far beyond tightened airport security. I can't help but wonder all of the ways that my life would have been different if 9/11 had never taken place. Hubby still probably would have joined the military but would he have been deployed? Would we have gotten married sooner? Would Americans still believe that we are invincible? Would we have a different president? Would our economy be different? Certainly many lives would have been saved.
However, I would like to believe that something good has come out of all of this. I would like to believe that as Americans we have a renewed appreciation of the place that we live in. I would like to believe that we have positively impacted the lives of many children and innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan, giving them opportunities they never would have had under Taliban control. I would like to believe that the American people appreciate our military for what they give up to protect our nation, whether they agree with the war or not.
Obviously it would be naive of me to believe that everyone believes each of the above sentiments but it is my hope that a few have and that we will become better people growing out of the ashes of tragedy. After all from the ashes arises the Phoenix with a glimmer of hope that can never be extinguished.
On that day I never imagined that today I would be married to a soldier. A soldier who has been deployed to Iraq as a direct result of the events that took place on 9/11. A soldier who is now gone again serving our country and whose friends are about to embark on a deployment to Afghanistan.
For me, the impact of 9/11/2001 goes far beyond tightened airport security. I can't help but wonder all of the ways that my life would have been different if 9/11 had never taken place. Hubby still probably would have joined the military but would he have been deployed? Would we have gotten married sooner? Would Americans still believe that we are invincible? Would we have a different president? Would our economy be different? Certainly many lives would have been saved.
However, I would like to believe that something good has come out of all of this. I would like to believe that as Americans we have a renewed appreciation of the place that we live in. I would like to believe that we have positively impacted the lives of many children and innocent people in Iraq and Afghanistan, giving them opportunities they never would have had under Taliban control. I would like to believe that the American people appreciate our military for what they give up to protect our nation, whether they agree with the war or not.
Obviously it would be naive of me to believe that everyone believes each of the above sentiments but it is my hope that a few have and that we will become better people growing out of the ashes of tragedy. After all from the ashes arises the Phoenix with a glimmer of hope that can never be extinguished.
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