Category: Parenting

Teaching kids to pack their lunch

Posted on October 9, 2019 by

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Teaching kids to pack their lunch + FREE PRINTABLE {Heather's Handmade Life}

I decided our kids were surely old enough to pack their own lunch, so I printed out a list of guidelines and stuck it to the side of the fridge.

Category: Our Daughter, Our Son, Parenting, School, The Mom Scene

Have wheels, will Heely

Posted on October 1, 2019 by

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Have wheels, will Heely {Heather's Handmade Life}

Our son and our daughter had been obsessed with the idea of getting these shoes called Heelys. Sneakers with wheels in the bottom? Sure, what could go wrong?

Category: Our Daughter, Our Son, Parenting, The Mom Scene

Stuck in the ‘in-between’

Posted on September 24, 2019 by

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The last bit of golden sunlight glows on his cheeks as he climbs the funhouse stairs and makes his way across the rope bridge. I tell myself to memorize the way he looks right now, the pure happiness shining on his face.

Category: Milestones, Our Son, Parenting, 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
Weird confession: I love DIY and decorating, but I HATE “tablescapes” and table decorating of any kind. It just seems annoying and pointless to me. IDK. I’d just rather a nice plain wood table with plates and cutlery? 🙊 . . . Hosting a small Thanksgiving today and here’s my best effort. I ironed a plain white tablecloth. I stuck two fall-like pillow covers in the middle like a fake runner. I stuck my favourite fake plant in the middle of the pillow covers. Whatever. Lol. 🤷🏻‍♀️ . . . #thanksgiving #tablescape #notreally I took these photos this afternoon, five minutes apart, for #worldmentalhealthday. . . . On the left, I had just completely melted down worrying about how I'm going to handle everything today (including dragging my children along to three different places I need to go, since my husband will be working). Life felt overwhelming. My calendar felt disastrous. I was angry and sad and defeated. I was sitting on the basement stairs (go-to mope spot) and wondering if going off my antidepressants last week was actually the worst idea I'd ever had. I could almost feel a tinge of tears, and I haven't had the ability to cry in years thanks to the meds. . . . On the right, the plan was to show how happy I *could* look and remind you that not everybody SHOWS their dark moments and a smile doesn't mean someone is actually happy. I was going to write something about how you never know how a person really feels, and some people hide their pain. But after messing around with Instagram filters for a few minutes, I actually *was* feeling a little better. Not a lot, but a smidgen. Enough that I was able to pick myself off the stairs, shake out the wobbly foot that had gone to sleep while I moped, and return to my desk to get stuff done. . . . It's still a bad day. . It's still a crummy schedule. . I still have #anxiety. . I still have #depression. . I still wish I could fast-forward to tomorrow. . But I'm trying. Slogging. Pushing through. . I'm always, always fighting. #sicknotweak . . #worldmentalhealthday The prettiest sewing kit ever!🧵✂️ . This is actually a @betseyjohnson LUNCH BAG, but when I saw it at @winners I knew I had to have it. The sparkles! The jewels! The gold! The sequins! The cupcake shape! 🧁 . Since I work from home and have NO use for a lunch bag, I had to come up with a reason to buy it. Hmm. Makeup bag? Nail polish storage? SEWING KIT! . I loaded it up with thread, needles, scissors, and a current hand-sewing project, and suddenly an hour in a loud taekwando gym didn’t seem so bad. (It comes with a detachable shoulder strap that I wound up using around my neck so the bag didn’t slip off my lap. Worked perfectly!) . #sewing #sewinglife #betseyjohnson #betseyjohnsonbag #multipurpose #sewonthego #handsewing #cupcakes #sparkles #sequins Today on the blog: how we taught our kids to pack their own school lunches (!!!) using a handy printable for the fridge. . Grab three FREE printables at the bottom of the post so you can customize one for your own fam. . GAME 🙌 CHANGER 🙌 . #linkinbio #parenting #kids #school #schoollunch #printable #freeprintable #momlife #dadlife #elementaryschool I LOVE the look of an impasto painting — the texture of the swirls, brush strokes, and thick dabs of paint gets me every time. 😍 . While I’m still working on my painting skillz and hope to create a “real” impasto painting soon, I’ve discovered a trick that amateur painters can use to make FAUX IMPASTO paintings using a medium that’s unexpected, cheap, and available just about everywhere. . Full details today on the blog! . #painting #impasto #impastopainting #handmade #create #creativelife #makesomething #paint #minipainting #paintingtips #linkinbio My stepmom was visiting this week which meant our tiny-but-efficient guest room was actually looking cute ... instead of heaped with tax papers and half-finished projects as is often the case. 🙈 . This is the Anne of Green Gables quilt I made for the double bed we built. I love the colours + the abundance of FLORALS (florals are everything for this flower-name lady, despite a terrible allergy to actual flowers). . Full tutorial for the quilt is on the blog and gets a LOT of love on the regular from my fellow kindred spirits. Just hit the #linkinbio and search “Anne” to find it. . #quilting #handmade #quilt #patchwork #quilts #anneofgreengables #annewithane #kindredspirits #sewing #guestroom
@HFXHeather on Twitter
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