Heather's Handmade Life

Feeling the (internet) love

Posted on April 12, 2015 by Heather Laura Clarke

The internet is good for a lot of things.

Streaming music, editing photos, reading blogs, gawking over celebrities, converting lowercase text into uppercase text immediately without having to retype a thing (yes. this.) and of course the biggies: Netflix and Pinterest.

But one of my favourite things is the linky love and making connections with complete strangers. I feel totally invested in the lives of many of my “blog friends,” and feel really encouraged by ,y regular commenters who’ve stuck around over the years.

That’s why I was SO honoured to be featured over on CraftGossip.com the other day for my board game art/storage post (which happens to be the most popular post on this entire blog, FYI).

Thanks, CraftGossip!

“My hand! My hand is on CraftGossip!” I told Darling Husband proudly as I pointed at the picture. He didn’t understand why I was so excited, but he nodded supportively.

I feel like this little blog is really starting to gain traction in the last few months. Traffic went up after my first Buzzfeed post, and then again after my Huffington Post features (here and here).

Now I’m feeling inspired to try to promote my DIY tutorials a bit more heavily. I round up all of my “Handmade Home” columns under the “DIY projects” tab (and on this Pinterest board) to keep them all in the same place.

I feel like I’m at a strange place with the blog, where it’s not like blogging into a void but it’s also FAR from being a well-known one (like a Young House Love, a Bower Power, a NewlyWoodwards, a Two Twenty One, or a Semi Proper — although I’m friends with Roo so that bumps up my cred, right?)

I go through periods where I spend more time on it, and then periods where freelance work and family life takes over and I neglect the blog. I think I need to start focusing on it more, and trying to make it the best it can be. Before, like, robot bloggers take over and I’m booted from my own site entirely?

Sew your own pet pillows

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Heather Laura Clarke

Missing: My life. Reward offered.

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Heather Laura Clarke

1 Comment

Saturday, March 7, 2015.

That’s what I would choose as my last really “normal” day.

We woke up and had breakfast. I shared my DIY column on making reusable kitchen towels. I darted out to my 9:30 Zumba class.

When I came home, our good friends from next-door had just arrived for a playdate. We hung out in the playroom for the rest of the morning, laughing and talking while the kids ran around.

After they left, we had a quick lunch. The kids went down for quiet time, and I sewed a new dress for C out of a men’s shirt. We had pork tenderloin for supper (Darling Husband made it, but I stuck it in the oven).

We ate dinner together as a family, played for a while, and put the kids to bed. Darling Husband went to work, and I can’t remember what I did — finished the dress, possibly, or started on a new project? I fell asleep, the time changed in the middle of the night, and with it changed my life.

***

The next few days were a blur of pre-op bloodwork and a pregnancy test and calls to confirm my arrival time. On Wednesday, March 11, I went in for a minor procedure and wound up with a hysterectomy.

It’s been a month, tomorrow, and I’m impatient to get my life back. This post is going to be bleak and whiny — just warning you now — because that’s just about all I can muster at the moment.

Over the last four weeks, I’ve had hospital visits to get iron infusions. I haven’t been able to drive the preschool carpool, pick up the kids, or run around the house with my usual command. We’ve had a string of guests helping us out (very grateful, but still — it’s not our “usual”).

Other wrenches thrown into the mix lately:

All of us getting the flu.
D going to the emergency room because of a lung infection (possibly croup?) that was making it hard for him to breathe.
C coming down with a cough, too (stay tuned).
The fact that Darling Husband hit a deer on the highway righttttt before all of this happened, so we had to pay a lovely $500 deductible.

Things have been sucky lately, even though I know I’m supposed to spout out cheerful and grateful sentiments like I’m a gold-lettered inspiration canvas on Pinterest. I have positive days and dark days, but mostly just days when I miss my real life desperately.

I’m tired of being stuck at home. I’m tired of someone in this family always being sick and/or injured. I’m tired of not being able to bend down and pick up all of the toys and puzzle pieces that are driving me crazy. I have only put on make-up like four times in the last month, instead of every day, so I know things are really dire.

I wish more than anything that I could wake up tomorrow morning, put on my Zumba clothes, and go spend the morning dancing with my friends. I wish I could drive. I wish I could run out the back door and play with the kids. I wish I had time with my husband that didn’t involve him taking care of one of us (or all of us) or making runs to the drugstore and the grocery store.

Recovery is slow, and it’s draining me of my spark. There’s nothing to do about it, except holding onto the fact that I’m creeping a little closer to normal every day.

Temptations

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Heather Laura Clarke

1 Comment

I want to do something, and I *know* Darling Husband is going to think it’s a bad idea, so I have yet to bring it up …

But Pinterest is on my side, so I’ll tell you about it.

*whispers*

I want to convert our front hall into one of those dreamy mudroom-type spaces!

Source

Aren’t they amazing? You take off the closet doors, build in a bench (although I don’t think I would necessarily do a bench?) and add gorgeous storage solutions so it looks more like a ROOM than a closet.

In case you need a refresher, here’s the current state of our front hall closet.

I painted it, added cube storage for hats, mittens, etc., added wire baskets for the kids’ shoes (which has worked out awesomely well, because they have a specific spot for them), and prettied things up with wicker baskets and labels.

But … I don’t know … It’s fine. It works. The storage solutions have prevented it from turning into the colossal mess it once was.

I just really want ALL OF THE PINTEREST MUDROOMS.

Closet-turned-mudroom PROS:

Pinterest says it would be pretty, and I agree.
I’m tired of hanging up 527 coats every day because the kids can’t master hangers (and won’t for years)
Might improve resale value (at least for people who like Pinterest?)

Closet-turned mudroom CONS:

Taking off the doors is possibly a really bad idea, honestly, because then WHAT IF IT WAS MESSY? HOW WOULD WE HIDE IT?
Darling Husband will probably veto it
Might lower resale value (for people who are fond of doors on their closets?)

The trouble is that all of the examples of beautiful closet-turned-mudrooms on Pinterest do not show real-life closet crap — kids’ coats, rubber boots, sneakers, purses, tote bags, bulky grown-up jackets.

They show one white sweater, one towel (huh?) and maybe a twee umbrella. That is certainly not how we live.

I also don’t want to mess anything up that could affect the house’s resale value. We’re not planning on selling any time soon, but we’re still dreaming of moving to a beautiful old farmhouse.

Hmmmm. I have some thinking to do …