Tuesday Tell-all: Handmade Part 1

This week we're supposed to talk about the things in our homes that were made by hand... and honestly I feel very blessed because we have quite a few. I won't be posting anything I've made, partly because they often are posted in the moment I finish the project because I'm so excited about it, so they're already here. I don't really make a lot anyway... but I do have a few things in my posession made by others that I love.

First, some blankets. The pink one in the first picture was my baby blanket, and I want to say my mom made it for me. She gave it to me when Isabel was born, and both Izzie and Audrey have used it on their blessing days, too. The cream-colored on was made for my by a sister on my mission in Paraguay. It filled up a lot of space in my suitcase, but how do you leave a gift like that? The quilts were made by Justin's grandma Gardiner. I never knew her, but I think she made a quilt for each grandchild. The blue one was Justin's. The brown one we were fortunate to inherit because we tended their home for his grandpa when we were first married. By then his grandmother had passed away and his grandpa was living in an assisted-living center in Orem, s

o part of our job living there was to clean and prep the house to be sold. It was a tender time in our marriage and in his family's life, and will always be dear to my heart. Another handmade blanket we love is the blue and red one in our park pictures - a gift from Linda Hales for our wedding. We use it all the time!

The painting was done by my girls - we clothespinned the paper to the fence out back and let them at it the other day. Izzie was particularly proud of the shells she painted, and the cleanup was rather simple, too! We're all looking forward to warmer weather. :-) The handprints happened after they tired of the brushes.

The birdhouse was Justin and Erick's project while the girls worked on their masterpiece. It was a little kit from toys 'r us, but it required just about the right attention span for a 5-year-old. After putting it together, the painting was all Erick. Don't you think he did a great job? He even remembered to paint the bottom. Those are going to be some lucky birds!

The leather items also came with me from Paraguay - the temple was done by a ward member and I purchased the scripture covers while there. I love them both, but the scriptures covers are my favorite because when I open them to read I they smell musty to me and remind me of the smell of the hot, humid country. I only have them on my spanish set, and I admit I keep them closed more often than I should because I'm afraid I'll lose the smell if they're opened too much. But every so often I still like to

read them, and the cases keep them out within easy reach for me - rather than having them stacked on a shelf somewhere they've become somewhat of a room adornment.

This page is one of my FAVORITE handmade items I have. It's a quilt block made by my great-great grandmother and namesake, Laura Andreah Sackett, and given to me by my own grandmother who passed away just about a year ago. I've mentioned Grandma Sackett's story raising her children alone after polygamy was outlawed, and the block is a symbol of thrift and creativity as you can see many of the tiny squares comprising this one block were sewn together, just to make an inch of whole fabric. I think it's amazing and will someday have it framed in my home.

I wore this dress when I first attended the temple, and for years after that (until my pregnancies caused me to go up a few sizes), but it was made by my mother. Not originally for me, it was her temple dress years ago. Even though I can't wear it anymore, I've been hesitant to give it up and hope it will still see some use in the future. My mom also made my temple apron, and I've never seen another more beautiful.

Last but certainly not least, our baby crib and our kids' bunkbeds were handmade by my talented husband. He made the crib when we were expecting Erick, and the bunkbeds just before we left Saint Louis. Actually, I should clarify that even further. He started the bunkbeds, making the bottom bed, years before we ever met. I think he was in junior high, and made it with his dad. Adding the bed on top just completed the set, and

although you get a good shot of my kids' messy room, I had to show the beds off a little. He's very meticulous and made them all our of solid oak, so they should be around for a long time to come.