LAST MINUTE PRESENTS

  Last winter my son lost all but two pairs of his winter gloves. The same seems to continue this year, and I´m pretty upset about it truth be told. In the fall, when it begun to get cold, I bought him a pair of good quality gloves. He wore them twice, and on the third day he came home without them. He´d lost them already (I do not want to think anyone at school had stolen them...).

  This Christmas I´m happy to give him this gift, self made my mommy:
 

Four pairs of dark blue fleece mittens.

The fleece I use is thick, warm, and keeps the wind and snow out. As opposed to knitted mittens, fleece beats them clearly in wearability. And that´s what counts most in kids´ clothes.

In addition to being extremely great to wear, they´re also ridiculously easy to make. Simply draw the outline of your kid´s hand on paper, add 1/2 inch seam allowance (except to the tip of middle finger), and cut out of fleece. Then sew , right sides together, with a regular straight stitch as close to the edge as you can. Turn right side out and you´re done!

  In the fall and spring, when it´s still muddy and dirty, but chilly already, I like to place these fleece mittens inside the rubbery rain gloves to keep the little hands warm. After coming back inside it is so neat to pull the two gloves apart and they´ll dry easily and won´t stink at all!

SETTING THE MOOD FOR HALLOWEEN

  Even if I did not have kids, I would like the house to be set for Halloween. Change is always welcome, and exaggerating fun is essential, and it lifts up spirits for us all. Here´s what we have in our kitchen:

A little goes a long, and a stylish, way. I don´t like layers on layers, instead keeping it simple and letting the few selected things catch the eye. Sometimes less is more.

The little pumpkin is grown by my sister, and the spider candle holder I originally bought for aroma lamp use. But after I invented aromatherapy earrings a year ago, I have not had the need for aroma lamps anymore.

Somewhat tacky, but fun, jack o´lanterns.

  Also we enjoy listening to Halloween radio to further get into the mood. And it works!

MABON FASHION COLLECTION

  May I present to you, my whole artistic Mabon fashion collection!

"Oliver Twist".

"50´ Cheerleader" (the garments were pulled right out of storage for this picture, that´s why the creases.)

"Scottish Plaids".

"Romania".

"Turning Leaves".

 
 Cool, now I´ll always know what to wear, and I´m all set for the Mabons to come!

MABON FASHION: TURNING LEAVES

  The fifth outfit in my Mabon collection is inspired by the magnificent natural change of color in leaves in the fall. On a sunny day, when sunshine hits the beautiful yellow, orange, and red trees, it is probably the most gorgeous landscape over the course of a year.

This picture is from a couple of weeks back. By now nearly all leaves have fallen off, so it was about time got finished with this last outfit. =)

This color combo hits the nail to the head. Dark, murky green pants coupled with an earth-toned warm yellow shirt repeat the colors of nature around Mabon. I made the pants really wide (could I go any more against the grain of fashion? =) and the top snug to show off the female figure and balance each other.

 Considering that my Mabon begins in the first half of September and lasts through the later half of October, the 3/4 length sleeves are handy. In the beginning it can be still very warm, and in the end, like today, it can be below freezing and first snow flakes dance from the sky. The beads I´m excited about. I´m new to using wire in beading, and love to surprise myself on how each necklace turns out.

The trick of this outfit is actually the connection between the necklace and makeup. I used copper and green in both.

A snug top does not mean skin-tight to me. But it needs to sit well, while still leave some room to move in. This is my all time favorite basic shirt pattern, which I´ve used for nearly a decade (still in the same size too =).

Makeup: light shimmery green on the inner 2/3 of the eyelid, shimmery copper on the outer 1/3, and black mascara on curled lashes. On the cheeks I added medium beige blush (which in reality is actually a bronzer for darker skin tones) and on the lips coppery lipstick. The same colors as in the necklace. The leaf-shaped aromatherapy earrings are like cherry on the cake, unfolding the whole idea behind this outfit.

  

MABON FASHION: ROMANIA

  Once I was able to travel around Romania in fall, and it was breathtakingly beautiful! The tour took me through the capital Bucharest to the countryside, where I visited monasteries and local homes, and of course awed the gorgeous Carpathian Mountains. 
  What struck me the most was that most houses had numerous apple trees in their yards, and the size of the fruit was unbelievable. So large, great in number, and deliciously perfect-looking. They also commonly grew other foods too, like corn, and many houses had a cow and a horse. Horse carriages were a more common sight than cars in the countryside.
  And the people! So confidently stylish in their old-fashioned clothes. I watched them with admiration. The women wore floral dresses and a scarf around their hair, and the men had on straight pants, a collar shirt, and a type of hat, like a mini-stetson. It felt like I had rolled back in time about seventy years. Awesome!

  Romania left such an impression on me, that ever since I have longed for a similar dress to what the women there wore. And now the time has come. Here´s my tribute to Romania:

I made my dress way more streamlined than theirs, but we live in different cultures too. The fabric is rather busy with all the flowers around it, so I kept everything else to a minimum. No collars, buttons, or pockets. Nor big show-off pieces of jewelry.

The pattern is new, and this dress is the first one I´ve ever made with it. The style is more loose than in my earlier patterns, and that´s the reason I wanted to try this. For years now fashion has been exaggeratedly wide on tops, so I figured I´d give this a try for a change. Time will tell how it works, but so far it feels good, and is a nice change to my dresses.

Makeup is natural, only using different shades of brown. While the real Romanian belles might have chosen bright red for their lips, I opted for nude beige lipgloss. But I chose bright red for my earrings. Red roses with white pearls are such a classic over decades, that they complement this traditional look well.

  Thank you, Romania, for inspiration, showing me your beauty, and teaching me your way of life! What an awesome experience.

P.S. The pattern I used to make the dress is from here (number 14).

MABON FASHION: SCOTTISH PLAIDS

  Alike all of my outfits, this one also comes from my imagination. It is an image that has formed in my head over the years as a result of all the things I´ve seen so far.

  Why I associate green plaids with the Scots, I do not know, but this style suits Mabon so well, that I need the look in my collection:

A dark green kilt-like mini-skirt with a tweed top.

I was sooo tempted to make a miniature beret of the skirt fabric, and attach it to a headband or something, but it would have made the look too costume-like. So instead I opted for a regular woolen dark brown beret, which repeats the color of the pants nicely binding the whole together.

The outfit consists of several smallish pieces, the shirt, mini-skirt, and pants, so I added only earrings as accessory. And remotely imitating a kilt, it is also somewhat masculine, so loads of jewelry did not seem appropriate.

Makeup is surprisingly colorful (which once again does not show properly in the pic, but take my word for it =) to balance the muted brown in the tweed-like jersey top. I added bright light green on the inner 2/3 of the moving lid to repeat the green of the skirt. It is of different hue, but green nonetheless. Then the rest of the face is accentuated with different types of brown. Medium brown on the outer 1/3 of the moving lid, beige blush on the cheeks, and beige lipgloss. The earrings are, naturally, my own aromatherapy ones made of coppery metal and white wool.

  This outfit replaces the kilt one I made a couple of years ago. The skirt back then ended up twisting around me as I moved, being a drag to wear. What I´ve done different this time is sewn the skirt straight on to the waist of the pants, so it is impossible for it to twist and move around.

MOVING IT

  As much as I resent exercise, I have stuck with my workout plan. But since the weather got cold again, I did some changes to it. No longer do I only go jogging and walking, I added a trampoline to the schedule too.

  Cold weather makes my lungs hurt when breathing heavily, so jogging outside does not feel good anymore. Instead, I walk briskly (and still jog down the hills to keep the heart rate up) to achieve that same approx. 130 kcal I did when jogging. This I try to do three times a week.

The weather outside these days rather draws energy than gives it to me. Not tempting at all.

   In place of jogging I now jump on my mini trampoline. It really saves me. Now I can still get a good workout, but in warm air, and I don´t even have to get a babysitter to do it!
  What I like to do is get up an hour before my daughter wakes up, jump up and down like crazy for half an hour, take a shower and get the whole biz of exercise out of the way before the day actually begins.

I set up the trampoline in our bathroom along with a laptop and get going. I enjoy watching clips on YouTube, which is something I otherwise never have time for.

  Up and down, up and down! This is more fun than running in the cold, dark rain. I have picked up some moves online to keep the half an hour more interesting.

  Three times a week is what I try to do with this one too. I can mostly get there.

  For someone who has never exercised in her life I consider this a major change in lifestyle. From zero to six times a week, plus Pilates once. Well enough for me!

WILDERNESS FOOD

  It´s all out there, just go grab it - for free. Forests are full of wild, natural, food at this time of year.

Mushrooms for lunch.

And lingonberries for dessert.

  More specific how-to on my column Nelland Living. Check it out and get out there!

SUNDAY OUTFIT FOR A GIRL: A BIT BETTER

  Although we are not a religious family, it is a nice idea to wear something a bit better on Sundays. Therefore I made this outfit for my girl:

Brown is the key color in my Mabon palette, and it applies to kids´ clothes too, but in a lighter shade. I made the leggings in dark blue to give the outfit variety, although I was tempted to use dark brown at first. But this way the whole is a little brighter and makes the dress pop out even more.

I had these crochet flowers in my stash from an earlier project, and they suit this dress perfectly.

The original pattern had the sleeves in short (see here and here), but now the weather is cool already, so I lengthened them. Simply eyeballing did the trick, no measuring needed. =) I left them about 4/5 in length to keep them from getting dirty so easily. Very handy.

The leggings are made of soft and stretchy corduroy-like jersey. They keep my girl warm and cozy.

  Naturally this outfit can, and will, be worn on any day of the week, not only on Sundays. But Sundays were the inspiration, as I like to create variety in her wardrobe too. There is always a thought/idea behind each outfit. Mindfulness is the trend these days. =)

PURE HOME FASHION: COUNTRY DENIM DRESS

  This fall I have begun to listen to country music through online radio stations. That´s practically the only way to hear it over here, and one can not even by accident stumple on anything country overall. It has to be sought after, or created by your own. That´s what I did when designing and making this new home dress for myself:

Basic denim and ruffles combined with browns. Since this outfit is for the real-world use, I did not add layers of white lace or ruffles (which was tempting, but not easy to wear without looking ridiculously over-the-board  =). And since country style is not common in my neighborhood, I wanted to give hints of it rather than go all the way with cowboy hats and boots.

This is an authentic milieu I wear the dress in.

I can even sit on a tree stump without dirt showing too much on the dress. A nicely carefree garment for home wear and with kids.

The necklace has a big silvery sunflower on it as a focal point. It adds the same country feeling as traditionally big belt buckles do, but in a more subtle and feminine way.

 The beads are from a craft store, and were readily assorted to match each other. Making wired jewelry is a new thing to me, and I have completely fallen for it. It creates an airy, light, and modern look to beading.

This is a good apple year, and I have eaten them soooo much. This pair of my aromatherapy earrings suit country style well, and they have been my favorite recently.

Yummy!

  I first ran into country music, and the culture around it, during my exchange year in Kentucky long ago. It felt bizarre and overwhelming to hear only country music, and see folks wear boots and hats and stuff. But I got used to it of course, and now it feels somehow nostalgic and intriguing.
  The movie Country Strong was on tv some time ago, and it inspired me even further. And as a funny coincidence, I learned recently that my sister has also listened to some country lately.

MABON

  What´s Mabon?

  To me paganism is all about wisdom and freedom. It shows wisdom to think outside the box (I mean the religion to which we were born and raised with), and then freedom of choice. We can either choose an already existing religion to follow, or "free fall" creating our own perspective on existence.

  I free fall. I ran into wiccanism fifteen years ago, and immediately adopted the wheel-of-the-year as my guide through times to come.

  To me Mabon marks mid fall, the equinox. There is equally light and dark time in a day, and from then on more dark than light. We are entering the dark half of the year.
  This year the fall equinox is next Tuesday (always September 22nd or 23rd), and it points the highlight of this season. I divide each sabbat into approx. six week periods, starting about two weeks prior to the actual date. I tune in with each sabbat for those full six weeks, and then move on to the next. By doing so my life has turned into a virtually continuous celebration of the wonders of nature. Not bad!

  Mabon is both joyful and sad time. Joyful because the first half of Mabon we still get to enjoy occasional warm summer-like days, and sad because the other half always is cold and ever darker. Leaves fall from trees and all green dies. We see less and less of the sun, and I get tired and want to start hibernating. =) There´s only little energy left.

  That´s the nature of nature, ever changing, ever evolving. And that´s the way it needs to be. No matter how sad I feel letting go of the warmth and light of summer, it would not feel so sweet if there was no cold and dark season in between.

Now it is time to enjoy the last bits of summery days and sunshine. Take it all in before it´s gone for a good amount of months! And to remember that life is always worth celebrating!