The Idiot's Guide to Homemaking

For some reason the whole pregnancy nesting thing hit me about 5 months late. I don't know what's wrong with me, but recently I've been keeping myself awake at night dreaming about all of the cool things I could do to my home, or a dress I could make for Pen, or a cool craft I could make as a gift for friends. I've been begging my husband for a sewing machine to make our curtains and bedding and clothing and on and on. The possibilities are endless! The problem is I don't really sew.

I've also considered planting some flower & cute little trees in our little 6x8 area by the entrance to our condo. The problem is I don't have a green thumb. Horticulturally speaking, I don't even have thumbs. I have however managed to keep an orchid alive since December but all I did was throw on a couple of ice cubes every few days. I recently decided to repot (is that what you would call it?) because I just had the strongest desire to get dirt on my hands and it immediately died. If I had been listening close enough, I probably could have heard it crying.

I started playing around in the kitchen a little bit, but all that happened was we started putting on some serious poundage. So I tried cooking healthier and that just tasted gross and was completely unsatisfying. Now we're on stupid diets which mean we hardly eat anymore so that was pretty pointless.

In all fairness, I can clean a toilet and do a mean load of laundry. Occasionally my house is clean and my child is fed and changed but when it comes to the "extras", I haven't quite gotten anything else down.

I don't mean to come across discontent, but I would love to fill my days with sewing and crafting. I would love to be creative enough to start my own little business making some kinda of jewelry or sewing projects but so far, all I've really been able to make is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a scarf. I guess I made a kid too, but I'm not really looking to sell :)

Here are some people that can do what I'm talking about...

My friend Dana MAKES these! Isn't that the cutest little clutch that you've ever seen?! She didn't ask me to give a commercial for her but I'm gonna anyway. She started an Etsy account and they featured her products on their front page and she had tons of orders come in over night. I keep demanding that she teach me something. Sooner or later I'm gonna kidnap her and make her show me how to sew a button on. :)

I just love her stuff!!

I also have a friend Keri who makes EVERYTHING. She even makes her own laundry detergent! She also made this and this. I would love to just come up with this kinda stuff.

This woman, Mrs. MK has become my hero. She is such a precious, godly woman that I would LOVE to meet some day. Look at some of the things she came up with...

Then, of course, there's one of my best friends, Lisa. I could write all of the things that she can do but it would be significantly quicker to write the things she can't do. I'm pretty sure she's never swam with dolphins and I don't think she knows how to build an airplane, but I could be wrong. She's also never learned how to make window treatments out of tree branches or lead an Alaskan dog sled team. Oh never mind, she has done those last two things. See what I mean? Totally annoying. These are some of her GORGEOUS flower arrangements...

Okay, so you've learned I know some pretty talented people :) Even my mom and mother-in-law can crochet some of the most beautiful things. I guess that's just not where my giftedness is. Now I've come to the end of this post and I'm not even sure why I wrote it. :)

I think its just that for the first time in my life I've realized where my calling is, my home. I'm gonna spend the rest of my life finding ways to love and serve Jonathan & Penny (and hopefully a few more kids) and to make my home a place that is inviting and warm. I'm just not sure how to do it besides the cleaning and cooking thing. I don't even know where to start but I'm so excited to learn! Do any of you creative people have any ideas?