Real-Life Handmade

Confession time.

I have an oddly-shaped head.  At least I assume I do.  It would explain my headband issues.  There are two kinds of headbands in this world.  The kind that wiggle off my oddly-shaped head or the ones that hurt like the dickens behind my ears and give me splitting headaches.  Elastic, plastic, metal, doesn't matter.

Until now.

Enter Sunshine and Carousels.

This beautiful, green headband is the most comfy, stay-put, cutest headband I have ever, ever owned, and I've tried a few.  Granted, this photo was taken pre-irrationally-last-minute pixie cut.  But I have a few ideas on styling my new do with this headband.  There's no way I'm letting this total awsomeness go unworn, and I'm wayyyy too selfish to give it to somebody else.

Fortunately, my girls are still a bit too small to start swiping my stuff -- well, my accessories, I think.  Though I keep finding my red crystal flower pin curiously in their possession.  I have no idea how that keeps happening.

Miscreants.

But cute miscreants.  So I'll keep them.

But this post isn't so much about hair accessories as it is about my love of handmade things.  I know.  It's been like five seconds since I mentioned it.  But is there anything better having something that someone has obviously put real care into, someone you can believe truly loves what they do?  I could be reaching, but it makes me feel connected just a little more to real people, and real people with real skill and beautiful minds.

I am a big thrower-outer.  (Yeah.  That's a word.  Would I have typed it if it wasn't?  Okay.  Probably.)  My answer to clutter is to give it away or throw it out.  Ask my kids.  They just lost about half their toys to a recent purge.  Rose thought it was traumatic whereas Leif was helping me fill the bags for the Salvation Army.  But four kids with birthdays and Christmas tend to rack up a lot of stuff that doesn't necessarily get played with.

But things I would never get rid of?  I love the blankets my grandmother lovingly crafted for my kids, gorgeous knitted and quilted ones.  There's the display case my great-grandfather made for my great-grandmother that I'm using to hold my plethora of books.  I have articles of clothing that my mom made/designed that I haven't worn in ages.  She even made my wedding dress, which, though the marriage turned out badly, is a work of art and will be precious to me forever, as will the veil my grandmother stitched with her glorious hands.

Don't even get me started on the funny clothespin people my kids make.

It's not even just things made by family and friends.  It's jewelry and paper things and wooden toys purchased from true craftspeople.  These are the things that will still be here when I've clocked my 100th Goodwill run.

It's why I'm able lately to talk myself out of getting clothes or other make-able from corporate superstores.  I mean, do I really need what I sometimes think I do from there?

(I do realize, however, that we're probably destined to start wearing holes in our outgrown clothing if I can't find more time for the sewing machine soon... or at least more time for the thrift stores... or I'll have to cave.  I did just get the twins some shorts recently from Target.  It's Florida for crying out loud, and they didn't have any.  But I digress.


These arguments with myself can be so tiring, not to mention psychoanalytically scary.)

Because, money aside, it seems, at least for me, to be better to have less that means more in life, to be focused on making and salvaging and saving things that matter, and then to actually have things that matter to save.

I know I'm not who feels this way lately.  There are so many people jumping on this train, and I actually feel like I'm behind.  I follow so many charming and brilliant blogs from the U.S., UK, Australia, Norway, Romania, Ireland, et cetera, lately about people who have these awesome ideas along these handmade lines and who actually share them, passing ideas onto others who come up with their own neat things to do with them and pass those on.

In a brief but lovely conversation I had with Nicky Walsh of Nicky & Max, I think she put it well:

"The world financial crisis is changing everyones mindset…here to. Money is no longer the goal, less material living is. Homegrown, homecooked, enjoyed with friends, family, keep it cheap, support local producers, get a more wholesome hobby, learn a craft, make it yourself, old and secondhand, heritage and vintage, back to basics, experimentation and re learning and got to be cheap."

And that's really it, isn't it?  It is to me.  What do you think?

So I really like my headband, and I can't wait to find more creative people to talk about and, of course, shop from.  Because... well... that's the fun part.