Category: Dance

The highs and lows of your child’s first big commitment

Posted on December 10, 2019 by

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Even with the mood swings, being part of the cast of The Nutcracker has taught our daughter so much about hard work and commitment.

Category: Activities, Dance, Our Daughter, Parenting, The Mom Scene

Bodysuits are back (and easy to sew)

Posted on February 27, 2019 by

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Bodysuits are back (and easy to sew) How to sew kids' bodysuits for dance, gymnastics, or fashion {Heather's Handmade Life}

Fellow 30-somethings, remember the bodysuits of the ’90s with snap crotches?! And if you stretched or arched your back or breathed wrong, you’d pop one of the snaps open? And if they all came unsnapped, your bodysuit would start to hitch upwards until you…

Category: Dance, Our Daughter, Sewing

Checking out Chuck E. Cheese’s

Posted on July 24, 2018 by

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Checking out Chuck E. Cheese's {Heather's Handmade Life}

Our son turned eight earlier this summer and his birthday fell during our family’s vacation to Ontario to see my dad and stepmother. We’d toyed with the idea of taking the kids to Canada’s Wonderland for the day but it felt too expensive —…

Category: Activities, Birthday, Dance, Kiddos, The Mom Scene

I’m Heather Laura Clarke. I’m journalist and blogger in beautiful Nova Scotia, I have an 9-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter, I married my high school sweetheart, and this is the story of my handmade life.

I have depression and anxiety, and I fight like hell every day to keep it from taking over my life. Making things isn’t just a hobby — it’s part of what keeps me alive.

Whether I’m decorating a room, busting out my power tools to build furniture, getting muddy in the pottery studio, sewing clothes for my kids, or cross-stitching a swear word, I’m all about using my creativity to craft a life I love.

@HFXHeather on Instagram
I made this sign two years ago with a scrap of wood and a Sharpie. It’s been hangin’ on ever since. It’s a fighter, like me. . ☀️☀️☀️ . #backdeck #pergola #outdoorart #diy #spring
The kids and I have been #stayingtheblazeshome since Friday, March 13 — the last day of school — but this brave guy continues to work in and around airplanes in order to get people home safely. . He’s exposed to a lot (including people fresh from stranded cruise ships!) and sometimes that makes me panicky, but he’s being careful — and he still loves his job as much as ever. (Seriously, the number of grinning selfies he texts me from work is adorable.) . He can’t #staytheblazeshome but he’s doing important work, and we’re proud of him for it. . #aircanada #essentialworkers #ramplife #groundhandler #leadstationattendant #brave #thankyou #hescutetoo
Used my go-to bread recipe to make soft pretzels with the kids this morning. 🥨 . It made up for when I accidentally made one of them cry when I was teaching them two-digit multiplication 🤷🏻‍♀️
This is my view every morning. The kids wake up at their usual time (6:30) because they still go to bed at the same time (7:30) as Before (otherwise known as Before The Virus). . They’re allowed on screens first thing, just like they were Before. So when I come downstairs to make my cup of tea, it’s silent. They’re both wearing headphones, engrossed in their computers. . I sip my tea. I watch them from my perch at the counter. For those few quiet minutes, it feels like Before. . Except then ... there is no school bus to hurry off to catch. There is no school. There’s just an endless amount of minutes waiting to be filled with home-schooling and activities and questions and chatter. . The first part of the morning is quiet. It’s like Before. It’s everything after that that feels like After. . ⚪️⚪️⚪️
I’ve started doing daily art lessons with the kids, as we all follow along with YouTube videos. Yesterday was chalk pastel sunsets and today was oil pastel apples. I think it’s been helping me even more than it’s helping them.
I got laid off today, along with 40% of the company. . I’m sad and scared, but it was what had to be done. I’m a writer/editor — I’m not an essential service. I don’t even write hard news — I write nice, light, happy “good news” custom content features. . If businesses can’t keep their doors open, they certainly can’t afford for our team to write (awesome, effective) custom content articles and (beautiful glossy) custom magazine. I get it. I’m just disappointed. I will miss telling their stories. . I hope this is temporary. I hope I get to go back when this is all over. I really love the work, and we were doing SO WELL (like record-breaking well) just last month. Just two weeks ago, actually. Everything changed shockingly fast. . I work with a team of wonderful people (most of whom have also been laid off) and we’re all gutted about this. But we understand. No one saw this coming, and lots of industries have been hit hard. . PLEASE support the SaltWire papers that continue to be published. The Chronicle Herald. The Cape Breton Post. The Guardian/Journal Pioneer. The Telegram. Subscriptions are discounted — buy one? Click on articles. Share them. . Show your support for local news, so there are jobs for me and my friends when this is over. We all just want to go back. . . —30—
@HFXHeather on Twitter
My Top Posts
DIY dog crate cover
DIY monkey bars
Easy DIY sofa tables
How to make a backyard water blob
How to re-cover patio furniture cushions
DIY hanging bars
How to sew a cozy nap mat
Quilts from baby clothes
Build your own slide-out pantry
Can you paint fabric storage cubes?
PREGNANCY blog posts
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© Heather Laura Clarke and Heather’s Handmade Life, 2009-2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heather Laura Clarke and Heather’s Handmade Life with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.