Kind Words Are Like Honey to the Soul

Friends, over the past few days I have been overwhelmed with the kindness of the women around me. Several friends have sent me a note or a text (nothing big) with an encouraging word about Greener Grass. They only took a moment to send, but those words have made a huge difference in my heart. I was feeling very lackluster about work, a little discouraged, and unmotivated this week. Their words were just what I needed to find my enthusiasm and focus! They were such a blessing to me.

Trying to get a creative business off the ground and being a wife and a mommy are hard work. There are high high's and low low's. Nearly everyday we all face discouragement and obstacles. Sometimes just the daily grind is enough to have you wishing you could just climb back under the covers. And in my own life, and perhaps in yours, too, my biggest critic is myself and the loudest discouraging voice is my own. Sometimes it takes someone else to help me see the big picture and remind me of all that the Lord has done for me. 

I am so thankful for kind words this week and I'm glad to be reminded how powerful they are. I hope that this will inspire me to go out of my way to be encouraging to others more often. What a gift it is to be able to spur each other along with something as simple as a kind word! 

Does a little encouragement go a long way with you?

:: quote by Paul Chappell / image via encourage ::

Sewing for Littles Workshop Series {and a SALE!}

Hey friends! I wanted to take a minute to tell you about our "Sewing for Littles" workshop series. I am SO EXCITED about these little outfits for boys and girls and about teaching you how to make them yourself! Clothes for these tiny babes are ex.pen.sive. Sewing for your children is one way that the skill really does save you money. For just over the cost of what either of these outfits would cost you at a children's boutique, you can learn to make them yourself and save so much money AND have custom adorable clothes. Making Ford's clothes is one of my great joys. It's just so sweet to wrap him in something that you put your time and skills in to. 

Our first Little Girls workshop is March 14-15 (Details HERE). This dress is adorable and fairly simple to make . This is an intermediate class, so you just need to know how to work your sewing machine and have some very basic knowledge of sewing to be prepared for this workshop. 

My favorite thing about this pattern is that it is so versatile! Think of all the fabric combinations or how lovely a solid color would be. You could also layer the dress with tights and a shirt and it would be perfect for fall. Also, this pattern is digital with great pictures and instructions. You can use it over and over again for sizes 3m to a girls 8! 

In this workshop you'll learn to make button holes, gather a skirt, finish seams, and tips on sewing garments for durable wear and wash

The cost includes small class instruction, the pattern, and some supplies. You'll just need to bring your fabric and sewing machine (but you can use one of mine if you like).

 We have scheduled another Sewing for Little Boys workshop for March 20th and 21st (Thursday and Friday evening- More details HERE!)  This is also an intermediate class, so same prerequisites apply here- know how to work your sewing machine and have some very basic knowledge of sewing.  

 

Can we talk about this jon jon? I love this pattern. It is lined and turns out so professional yet it is quick and easy to make! The pattern can be made long or short and can be used over and over (with a hand tip, I'll show you!) for boys 3m to 24m. 

In this workshop you'll learn how to make button holes, making covered buttons, lining a garment, how to use snap tape, and I'll give a demonstration on how to use your basic sewing machine to add an appliqué to clothes.

The cost of the workshop includes small group setting instruction, a great pattern, some supplies (covered buttons and snap tape) Bring your own fabric and sewing machine (or you can borrow one of mine!)

And the best news I have is that because we are nearing spring, and because these outfits were so fun to make, and because I want YOU to be able to make them too, we are knocking 20 dollars off the price!

To take advantage of the sale and to purchase your ticket CLICK HERE and enter the code
SPRINGFORWARD at checkout.

Hope that you can make one of these workshops!
mel

Greener Grass Relaunch: Creativity + Community

A few years ago I started this blog, and it was such source of joy for me. I love writing and telling stories. I loved documenting what David and I were doing and I loved connecting with people through the internet in a much more personal way than I really thought was possible.

When we found out that Ford was on his way, I had a bit of a crisis of self. I was feeling weird and sick and just not at all sure about being a mommy and what new shape our life was going to take. We were also in the middle of some big life changes that were a bit stressful and so slowly I quit blogging. It wasn't a conscious decision, but posts became more and more rare until they finally dried up all together.

I also slowly quit teaching my sewing classes (Ford was born the week after a Sewing 101 course finished up…Yikes!) And then, of course, after he was born I got swept away in the frantic sea of motherhood. I'm going to be honest with you- I didn't adjust gracefully. It was very hard early on for me to be a mommy and to feel like my true self.

I felt a little lost and confused, but also very much in love with my baby and getting to spend my days with him. Motherhood is all consuming. It's so easy to lose your sense of self- the things that make you feel like YOU! Or that's what I've found to be true for me.

Along and along I started to realize what made me feel most myself; I needed to be making things and I needed to spend more time with friends. Simple as that. I feel best when I'm social and when I have a project going. I think this is what people mean when they say, "Ugh. I just feel awful when I don't exercise." I think. I can't be positive because I have never felt that way about exercise in my life.

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I've learned that creativity and community are my driving forces. I need to be making things and I need to be in community with other people. I think a lot of other women want that, too, but maybe it's a little hard to put your finger on.

As I was coming to this realization, my friend Jessica approached me and encouraged me to be brave and really dive back in to Greener Grass as a blog and a serious business. She took me seriously and it made me take myself more seriously. She has now become my amazing business manager and constantly wows me with her spreadsheets, calendars, percentages, and overall general business savvy.

(By the way, most Greener Grass emails and billing are done by Jessica. Don't be confused if you see her name on something! She's nice. You'll love her. And you'll appreciate that she will email you right back, whereas I would probably accidentally delete your message!)

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We have relaunched Greener Grass not just as a sewing business or as a blog, but with the purpose of building richer lives through creativity and community.  We provide, classes, workshops, and information that teach skills to help make the grass greener right where you are. Classes are small, personal, and fun to help build relationships between women. We want to help self proclaimed "non-creative" people find their most creative selves. We want to equip people with experience, skills, and knowledge to create beautiful things all while cultivating encouraging relationships.

I'm a maker and a teacher and I'm so grateful that Greener Grass gives me the chance to do both of those things. I'm grateful for people like Jessica and David and my parents who push me to be brave and follow my dreams. And I'm grateful that the business helps to support my little family so I can spend my days with little Fordzilla as a stay at home mommy.

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I just wanted to give you a little behind the scenes look at what's going on with us. I'm so happy to be connecting with so many people again through Greener Grass. I hope that you'll take a class or schedule a craft party. I would love to hang out with you!

I think that sometimes when you feel like you're at the end of your rope, you may actually need to add one more thing to your plate. You may need to do something for yourself- not in a selfish way, but something that makes you feel like you. You'll be better for it and you'll have more energy for all the other things that need to be taken care of.

Love you. Mean it.
mel

Our Valentines for Friends, Family, and Baby Buddies

As we prepare for Snowpocalyse 2.0 here in Middle Georgia, Ford and I have managed to sneak in a little bit more Valentine's Day crafting. Here are a few ideas for Valentines for family, friends, and the little people in your life. 

For family valentines, this year we kept it simple. Ford *loves* to color and so I gave him only red, pink, and purple crayons to color on blank card stock and let him go to town. Later, I traced and cut out hearts using the most "artistic" portions of his color sheets.  

I glued those cards onto some kraft paper stationary that I picked up at Micheal's and wrote a message inside. Easy as pie. These valentines are so simple, but I love that they reflect something about Ford and his age right now. 

Speaking of Fordycakes, right now he is OBSESSED with the itsy bitsy spider. He loves to sing the song and do the dance (in fact, he tries to commandeer mommy and me music class and just have us sing about the itsy bitsy spider) When we color, he wants us to draw spiders. He has a magna doodle and he constantly brings it to David and myself demanding "pider! pider!!" I don't want to brag, but we have gotten pretty good at our spider doodling skills. 

So, of course, we needed to have "pider" Valentines for our little baby buddies. 

I used these free printables from dandee and added bugs that we found at the dollar store. 

I think they are about as cute as bug Valentines could be, ya know.  

For my friends, I found a very easy, very cute tutorial at The Purl Bee for making these tiny valentine pins. The tutorial uses beautiful wool felt, but I just used what I had laying around which was this red felt left over from stocking making many Christmases ago. Anyway, I stitched them up at night while we watched Netflix and attached them to little slips of paper with a stamped message. 

"You are awesome!" My friends ARE awesome. And I think that funky handmade pins are rad. I hope they do, too. 

Friends, I hope that you have the happiest of Valentines. Maybe you can use some of these ideas for some last minute gifts- they are all so easy! For more Valentine's Day ideas you can check out my "Be Mine, Valentine" Pinterest Board.

xoxo,

mel

Quick and Easy Valentine's Day Decorations

Friends, isn't Valentine's Day so fun? I mean once you get past those high pressure high school situations where you're stressed out as to whether or not you're going to get a balloon, or a carnation, or whatever item student council was selling before the day is over. ("Four for you Glen Coco, You GO Glen Coco! ....And none for Gretchen Weiners.") Valentine's Day is just fun and sweet and a great time to spread a little happy around.

I put up a few quick little decorations around the house to make things more festive for the holiday. They are easy and inexpensive so I thought I'd share them with you today...just in case you're in to that kind of thing.

I'm going to go ahead and give a little disclaimer for the photographers among us. The color in these photos is weird. That is all. Thank you.

The first little project I made was the tiny doily banner. I keep a little stash of small doilies to use for packaging and random projects. I love them because they are so dainty and sweet, so naturally they make perfect Valentine's Day decorations.

All you need are doilies and some twine or ribbon. I folded the doilies in half over my piece of twine and secured both sides together with a little piece of rolled up scotch tape. You could also use glue or a staple.

Make it as long or as short as you want. Easy peasy.

The second project was to add a little Valentine's Day love to my twinkle lights. Ford loves lights and like to point at them and talk about them, so it's fun to turn them into decorations for other holidays besides just Christmas.

I used a short string of white lights and a small book of Valentine's Day-themed scrapbook paper that I bought last year at Michael's, I think.

I made a heart template and traced it on to several different paper patterns and cut the hearts out. Mine are about 3 inches tall.

Next, I used a standard sized hold punch to cut a hole near the middle/top area of the heart.

Then, it's hard to see, but I took my scissors and cut 4 little small slits around the hole. That just gives a little bit of room for the light to slide through, but still remain snug.

Then just stick them on your lights! I put a heart on every third or fourth light.

That's all there is to it!



I think these would be sweet strung up in a child's room above their bed, too. Twinkle lights make everything look magical.

So there you have it...quick and easy Valentine's Day decorations that are sweet and simple.

I wish you all the carnations your heart desires this Valentine's day!

mel