Anyone that has even sat down and had one conversation with me could tell you one thing about me:

I love to make things.





I have always loved to make things.

As a child, my parents made a lot.  My mother made almost all of our treats: cookies, brownies, sweet breads, even candies.  My dad made toys with and for us.  With his help I made jewelry boxes, my own wrist wrap bracelets, even wooden para scopes for class projects.  My mom and dad made pinatas for our parties, clothes for our dolls, even back packs and bags to travel with.


There was a running theme my entire life:


Why buy it when you can make it better?

We grew up, and now my brother makes his own beer, wine, and mead.  He makes his own pizza crust and bread.  He is superb at these things.  I cannot even find hand-made for sale to rival his creations.

Now my father makes bread for our entire family.  Saturday mornings he grinds his own fresh, local wheat and bakes.  This is the primary bread for my children, for my mom & dad, and often eaten by my brother and his wife as well.


What a gift.


As a child, I often longed for store bought.  I rarely had things that were bought at a store and all of the store bought items my friends had seemed superior in some way.  They were so perfect - lacking the character brought in by human hands.  The cookies were so round, the carrots were so clean, their clothes so modern.

As an adult, and certainly now as a mother, I see things so differently.

I make many of my toys owned by my children.  I knit; I sew.  I tell them the toys I make them are stuffed with my love. 

I have grown to see that all of the creating my parents did for me was out of love.  They were making things out of love for me.  They were providing for me with their hands, not just their money.


I was so fortunate to marry in to a family that is as artistic as my own.  My husband was raised in a similar way.  Most of his clothes and food were hand-made.  Our children play with a doll that his grandmother made for him.  How special!

With four grand parents that create for them, as well as a mother that does, my children rarely ask me to buy them anything.  Their first question is: "Can you make me this?"

At five years old, I have a son that is designing his own play things - friends he wants to bring in to an imaginary world he has also created.  There is no smile big enough to contain the happiness this brings to my heart.


It seems to me that in our society's quest for perfection, for efficiency, we have lost site of the reality that creating for our families is a way of loving them.

It seems people focus on bigger, better, and more instead of small, special, and unique.

What a deep and devastating loss this is for our culture.

This used to be the way of life.  People created for their families to survive.


It is hard for me to talk about this with many people.  Of course my family discusses it.  It's easy for them as this is the way we have lived for as long as I can remember.  It is not only a tradition for us, but we have many members participating, so many that when you look around our house, it is full of items that have been made with love specifically for us.

It is uncomfortable for me to share the importance of this because I am afraid people will feel judged by it; I am afraid people will feel I am saying their belongings, their lives are not good enough.

That is never my intent.

I have never taken decisions lightly.  I weigh them so heavily that I actually hate making them, but I can say that rarely do I decide something without great reason behind my decision.

My decisions are always personal, not political.  For this reason, few people even know to what extent we are a hand-made family.  Few people know our life-style in general.  They just lightly and jokingly call me a hippie, and I smile because I don't mind, and I love to laugh. 

Still, in my heart, I have such a deep desire for others to know the joy of creating for the people they love.

It doesn't have to be elaborate, or perfect.  People are so intimidated by the concept of creating, but it is such a wonderful adventure.


My best friend recently taught herself to knit, after years of watching me do it.  She wanted to knit something for her son.

She learned.  She made scarves for herself and then for her brother in law.  She then decided to learn to crochet, turned on You Tube and did it.

She had never been a fiber artist, and will say herself that she's not crafty.  But she did it, and has now given hand-made gifts to family and is working on a blanket for her sweet little boy.

How inspiring.


It does not have to be a big deal.  Maybe make chocolate chip cookies with your kids, instead of buying Chips Ahoy, or help them make a card for their grandparents instead of buying one.  If you hate it, don't do it again; but you might be surprised by how fun it is to hand make love for the people closest to your heart.