The Homesteady

Here & there

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I went to a bachelorette weekend in Newport in July and had so much fun with a wonderful group of women. We wine-tasted, napped, and danced. And I got to test (and then cross) my nearly-two-years-postpartum drinking limit. Whoops! All was well, though. I thought on the drive home about how I felt I'd learned something important from each other member of the wedding party, and how glad I am to know them now. 

Anyway, I also made dinner for us all on our first night – this risotto and this garlic bread, which everyone requested the recipe for. Plus gluten-free sugar cookies for dessert – what a delicious recipe that was!

Sort of a last hurrah though – I've been doing keto for almost a week now. A few other random things: I ordered new blue-light filtering glasses [affiliate link] after my old pair broke (read my review here – those pictures were taken on the very hardest day of Miles's sleep regression, btw. We started sleep training that week!). The new pair is very cute in sort of a dorky way.

I'm back at work after two weeks off to hang with my son while daycare was closed; it was SO FUN! I had been a little wary – maternity leave was kind of a lot, but this was (obviously) a very different experience that I think we all loved, and included some travel too down to see Kristie's family in Virginia. (Miles saw a ton of cows, bonded with his cousin, and experienced his first trampoline park. He was also a champ on the plane!)

My birthday is coming up! I'm trying to decide how I want to celebrate turning 32. I'm considering a day of thrifting, a day of crafting, or a little trip to go whale-watching. (I'm leaning toward the whales...but this month is so busy, we'll have to see if Kristie and I can sneak away to the Cape for a night or two in October.)

A new wedding video is up, and I'm shooting another tomorrow – and next weekend too! Also hoping to go for a hike with Miles on Sunday morning – this is my favorite time of year for hiking (and everything.)

 

Links for your Friday

"A friend who’d recently became a mother looked at my son playing on the floor by our feet one day, her new daughter nestled in her arms. 'Does it get easier?' she asked me, and I thought for a minute. 'No,' I said, smiling, 'but it gets so much more fun.'" (PS – I wrote that essay!)

Serena Williams unretouched on the cover of Harper's Bazaar

I like this opinion piece about how Americans are legally compelled to use cars

Finland's heavy metal knitting championship

The best time to go to national parks

The hat Miles has on in that pic and has basically been wearing non-stop all summer [affiliate link]

Very much into this Twitter thread

Why Billie Eilish wears baggy clothes

I'm renting this dress for a wedding late this month [affiliate link]

10 tiny feminists (a new cross stitch pattern set)

Affiliate links are used in this post.

I'm so proud to share this with you: A set of 10 cross stitch patterns inspired by activists, mathematicians, artists, pilots, and more icons from women's history. 

In mid-2017, I was contacted by a publisher looking for someone to write a book of feminist cross stitch patterns. I was so excited and flattered – and also expecting a baby one month before the date they wanted all the content. I nervously submitted a proposal, but ultimately they went with another designer (to my eventual relief as the newborn weeks ended up being much more challenging than I'd anticipated). 

The book I'd proposed to write included original patterns along with an overview of the feminist history of needlework and handicrafts, and one day I'd still like to try to bring that to life. In the meantime, I decided to expand on my Frida Kahlo and Ruth Bader Ginsburg cross stitch patterns, and draft eight more to join them. In the set, you'll find patterns inspired by...

• Frida Kahlo
• RBG
• Rosa Parks
• Lucille Ball
• Yoko Ono
• Malala Yousafzai
• Katherine Johnson
• Ada Lovelace
• Amelia Earhart
• Billie Holiday

The set is $10, and I'll be donating $1 of each sale to the Refugee & Immigrant Center for Education & Legal Services (RAICES).

(Each of the patterns is also available for individual purchase for $1.50.)

I'd love to know your thoughts – and please tell me or tag me if you try the patterns out!

4 favorites (v.10)

It's been way too long since my last four favorites post.

Clementine swaddle
DIY palo santo holder
Bee ring [affiliate link]
Ceramic smartphone amplifier [affiliate link]

Images belong to the websites with which they are associated.

What inspired us to make our first-ever family safety plan (with help from First Alert)

Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. Plan, practice, and repeat your escape plan with First Alert!

Six years ago, in February, it snowed. 

It snowed so terribly much that our home in western Massachusetts lost power. We had no electricity and no heat, and couldn't cook. The heavy snowfall had incapacitated cell towers and wifi, so we couldn't communicate with any of our family or friends, including my parents, who live in CT and who'd no doubt been hit hard, too.

On day three, Kristie and I packed our shivering dog into the car and drove south. Even though the roads had been cleared, much of our region was still without power. It was the most eerie feeling in the world to drive along a highway unlit by street lamps as the sun set. Radio DJs listed over and over the locations of places that did have power, or at least heat, where people could go to warm up.

We kept driving, and ended up pulling into my parents' driveway after dark. Their windows were all dark as well, except for a flicker in the living room. Not having been able to communicate beforehand, we had no idea if they were faring better than we, and they didn't know to expect us.

Needless to say, we were all happy to see one another. As it happened, they were in the same boat, having lost power and heat. My childhood home has a fireplace in the living room, however, where my father had stoked a fire and my mother had hung sheets over the doorways to keep the heat in. We stayed in there under blankets most of the night, cooking toast over the fire. The next day our neighbor texted to say that the heat and power was back at our home, as was cell service, so we drove back (and happily were able to extend the same hospitality to my parents since their electricity hadn't yet returned). 

It was the biggest storm I can remember – or at least the one that made the biggest impact on our lives. Since then, Kristie and I have been thinking more about the importance of planning for emergencies, especially now that we have Miles. And of course not just snowy emergencies, although that particular memory looms large. 

Before that storm, we didn't have a snow emergency plan. And I feel embarrassed to say that before now, we didn't have a fire emergency plan. But I'm so glad that we didn't have to experience it first this time before sitting down to review the layout of each room, plot escape routes, and decide on a meeting place a safe distance from the house. 

Thanks to First Alert, we were able to make our home safer and actually make an escape plan. We installed a new smoke detector, set up a smoke/carbon monoxide detector, placed a new fire extinguisher in the kitchen, practiced using an escape ladder, sketched the layout of our home, and even practiced getting the dog and baby together and walking to our safe meeting spot. 

You can download the escape planning sheet for free if you want to create a plan, too. The most important thing is to create your plan and practice it again and again, especially involving any children who live with you. (43% of homeowners have an emergency escape plan, and only 33% have discussed fire safety with their children.) That's the message First Alert shares: Plan. Practice. Repeat.

It's important to have an emergency escape plan, of course, but there are protections you can install ahead of time that can alert you and your family if something is amiss. The National Fire Protection Association recommends installing smoke alarms on every level of your home, including the basement, and inside and outside each sleeping area. Carbon monoxide alarms should be on every level, including the basement and near each sleeping area. Test your alarms regularly, keep a fire extinguisher on each level of your home, and get an emergency escape ladder if you have more than one story. 

It feels so good to have this plan in place to protect our family. The next time it snows hard, we'll know what to do. And if there's ever a fire or carbon monoxide emergency in our home, we'll know what to do (though hopefully we'll never need to!).

How to make a touch book for baby

One made for Miles and one for his friend Eleanor whose birthday we just celebrated, these touch books were fun and fairly simple to put together.

I scrounged through our craft room and basement for interesting textures, and came up with: window screen, pink bubble wrap (cut from leftover Glossier packaging), embroidered gift wrap, felt, sherpa fabric, reversible sequins (left over from this project), sandpaper, and clear plastic (used in the quiet book and this project, too). It's really a good way to use up scraps -- and to use up a lot of hot glue.

I bought the white cardstock and the binder rings [affiliate links], then set to work. More tools that might be helpful (and more affiliate links): X-acto knife, ruler, hot glue gun, hole punch. 

Start with determining how many pages you'll have, including cover and back. Cut that many 6"x6" squares of your cardstock. (I had 8 textures, so cut out 10 squares.) In all but two (saving those for the cover and back), measure and cut a 4"x4" square from the middle.

Punch two holes in one side of every square, trying to make sure they all more or less line up with each other.

Cut out your textures large enough so that they fill the 4" window you cut, but small enough that they don't overlap the edges of the cardstock or the punched holes. Hot glue in place.  

Some, like the bubble wrap, screen, and plastic, were see-through, so I strategically paired two of them with the book's cover and back page, and used a 4" square that had been cut out as backing so that the bubble wrap page would have a solid background. 

Hot glue the cover and a texture page back-to-back, and do the same for the back cover.

Hot glue two texture pages back-to-back to make the internal pages, being sure to keep your punched holes lined up.

"Bind" the pages with the rings, and write a title on the front in Sharpie. 

Scroll to see all the pages, and a video of Miles's book in action.

Gender (stereotype)-free toddler clothes, v.2

Striped tee, Etsy / Harem pants, North of West
Leopard PJs, Cotton On / Turquoise shorts, Cotton On 
"Kindness Makes the World Go Round" tee, Old Navy / Henley set, H&M

All links are affiliate links except North of West.

Here & there

More on Instagram

I've been keeping a secret Pinterest board where I store what's next on my personal projects list -- some of which I end up sharing here, and some of which I don't. It feels like a delicious thing created just for me, and is in keeping with an intention I set at the beginning of the year -- to make more for us. Not for clicks or mentions or sponsorship opportunities, but for the simple reason that right now, Miles likes horses (DIY hobby horse inspired by this tutorial). That feels good.

 

Links for your Thursday

Jonathan Van Ness comes out as non-binary

Ice cream cone cupcakes

A study compares smelling a newborn's head to taking drugs

An LA hair salon just for LGBTQ kids

Perhaps the only recording of Frida Kahlo's voice

England has banned gender stereotypes from advertising

Photos from 1970s-era Pride celebrations

Ravelry bans support of Trump (hooray! bravery! beauty!)

The trailer for Disney's Mulan remake gave me goosebumps

Most people who find a lost wallet will return it

I love these videos of vintage Tonka trucks getting restored (We are buying Miles a tablet in anticipation of a few long car trips and flights this summer, and I'd like to load those videos on there before we leave.)

Dictionary. com is updating the definition of Black

This Scotland Airbnb is also a bookstore you get to run while you stay there

Watch a video of a live giant squid

Boston Public Schools will provide free menstrual products to students

I've been getting happily lost in this Pinterest board lately

DIY reusable plastic baggies

I got tired of washing out used Ziploc baggies (and very tired of buying and throwing them away) so I decided to make four of my own. Food-grade plastic, cut without measuring, folded in a fluster, and sewn on each side. Added: sticky velcro tabs leftover from Miles's family quiet book. Easily washed and toted around. 

Since buying the supplies, I read something about how there's no good plastic, but reusable must at least be better than single use. Right? Well. My next baggies will be fabric, I promise. 

Knit Copenhagen Baby Blanket

It’s done, it’s done!

Holy cow. I’m so proud of this crib blanket, made for one of my oldest friends who is expecting a sweet squishy new baby this summer. She studied abroad in Copenhagen in college and I visited her for a week while she was there so when I spotted this pattern by Jake Henzler on his Instagram account last year (inspired by the beautiful buildings in the city’s Nyhavn area) I saved it. And I’m so glad I did.

My first time knitting from a chart AND doing colorwork, I actually loved this pattern — especially thanks to the support from drop-in hours at Webs, which is luckily in our backyard! (Also where I got all the yarn for this project.) I knitted 12 buildings, blocking and then piecing them together in three rows of four. I then sewed a cotton flannel back and border to make it as cozy and functional as possible. The best part is that every element is machine washable and dryable!

So now that this big project is done, I have to figure out what to do with all my free time. (Just kidding, I’ve already started like three new projects.)

Find Jake's pattern on Ravelry, and find photos from my trip to Copenhagen and said lovely buildings below. A few more notes about it here. 

Miles liked it, too.

And now, back to 2008...

Kids' Pride

Happy Pride Month!

Northampton celebrates early, our march held the first weekend of May so that the many college students who attend school in the valley are still here and can participate. Kristie and Miles and I marched with a group of students and staff from the community college where I work. It was Miles's first Pride (we were all out of town for a wedding last year), and I think he really liked it. Kristie gave him a small rainbow flag to hold while we were marching down Main Street, and he waved it furiously at the cheering bystanders. 

Personally, I've never made it through a Pride parade without crying, and this year was no different -- especially because we were experiencing it as a family for the first time. Northampton is a very special place. To borrow from a post I wrote a few years ago: "I cry because I'm happy, and safe, and part of such an amazing community."

So while our local Pride has come and gone, June is still Pride Month around the world. Here are a few projects and products to help you celebrate Pride with your kids.

Cool Like My Moms tee [affiliate link] / Rainbow: A First Book of Pride [affiliate link]
Tie-Dye Rainbow Shoes / Rainbow Cookies
Rainbow cardigan (free knitting pattern) / Rainbow sweatshirt [affiliate link]
Dope Like My Dads tee [affiliate link] / Rainbow waffles

Also check out 6 Pride DIYs, plus a Polaroid Kristie and I at our first Pride together way back in 2007. 

*Images in this post belong to the websites with which they are associated.