shoemaker extraordinaire

Not quite, but I finally did it! I took the plunge and fabricated a pair of fabric boots for the five-year-old! I kept fondly remembering the cheery red boots that the three-year-old outgrew and decided to try my hand at making some.

Almost a year ago, I tried dismantling some shoes to learn a bit more about their construction, but never followed the project through to completion. This weekend I finally got tired of my daughter's sad collection of half-shredded shoes, and ripped one of them apart. Apparently I thought spending the entire day trying to make a boot would be a more efficient use of my time than going to the store to buy some.

I used the existing sole of one of her thrashed pair of shoes, ripped out the shoe uppers, then used them as a pattern for the new boots.

 

 

After some failures, rethinking my design, and a bit of hair pulling, success was finally mine!

 

 

 

 Perhaps most valuable, I made it past my own fear that I couldn't do it. I'll definitely be doing this again.

growing a Juniper

Today was the last day of school for my kindergartener, soon to be first grader. Time passed with imperceptible growth - until I remember back to just nine months ago when she began the school year. Kids continue to grow, no matter where they are, but I'm acutely thankful that she had a kind and loving teacher who made the process a positive one.

Last year I gave the girls' teachers botanical paintings - a fitting symbol of the growth they had nurtured in Juniper and Olive during the year. Juniper and I collaborated on this year's painting together. Now that's a clear marker of growth in my budding artist (and her mother, who successfully relinquished a bit of control on an art project).