Looking Ahead

Last week Elsie posted about a new blog project.  She’s calling it 4 Simple Goals and I decided to play along too.  The whole idea behind it is to choose a few simple things that will make me happier every day, and then complete them before the end of the year.  The point is to choose things that I can’t/wouldn’t move off of my to-do list without a little push, but not to choose something that is too hard or unreachable.  Which means that cutting sugar out of my diet (again, for the umpteen millionth time) is  not going to make the list.  Here are my four, well, the first four.

Number 1: Finish this room.  I’ve been saying this for a full year.  I need to clean up the piles and stacks of stuff, donate what I’m not going to use/don’t love and clean off my desk so I can work in here every day.  Number one part two: Work in here every day.  Though I can hardly call it “work”… I should say play in here everyday.  (I know this pic looks nice and clean, but you should see what is cropped out!  I’ll post some before pics when this is done.)

Number 2: Sew something for myself.  Something like a jacket, or a dress.  Something that fits well and that I want to wear outside of my closet.  Heck, I want to make something I’ll wear all the time.  I have dozens of patterns I’ve picked up at thrift stores, some new one’s, some vintage.  But I am afraid to try any of them.  Making dresses for Creamie is easy, making quilts is easy.  Putting in zippers and fitting darts to my body is harder.  I have yet to be successful in either area.   But I really want to make something for me to wear.

[ image by Timothy Haugen of Fantastic Toys. ]

Number 3: Handmade Christmas.  I have already accomplished one of my goals from the beginning of the year, because I started thinking about Christmas presents in July.  (Yay, cross that off the list!)  I have already started making some of them.  My plan is to make ALL of them.  Myself.  I have everything planned out, and was able to find most of my supplies in my stash or from the thrift store.  Now it’s just a matter of building/making/sewing/finishing them all.  I’m going to be busy.  Well, busier.  I also want all of the gifts to be done by Thanksgiving so I can focus on other Christmasy things in December.

[ The Cranberry Cherry Galette I made (and consumed) at the beginning of August. ]

Number 4: Make really good pie.  I’ve made four pies in the past month.  I love making pie.  It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s impressive and it makes me happy.  My mother is an expert pie maker and I want to be like her.  By the end of the year I want to have mastered every aspect of pie making.  I’ve got the eating part down pretty good.  Which is why I can’t stay off sugar, but that is another post.

My list is in order of what I want to accomplish first.  As soon as I finish one of these projects I’ll post about it, and then add another to the list. I want to finish cleaning up and organizing my room in the next few weeks.  (Also, I need a better name for it.  It’s not really a “studio”, I don’t like the term “crafty area”… It’s just a room of my own.)  And then I’ll make myself a jacket, or a dress or something.  I won’t be able to post all of my Christmasy things until after the big day, but there will be a lot of behind-the-blog work going on until then.  For number four I’ll post some of the pies I make.  Probably not all of them, this isn’t going to turn into a foodie/pie blog.  But I will occasionally post pies that turn out better than I expected, or are consumed faster than anticipated.  I am excited to get started!  I’m going to spend today’s naptime digging through old supplies and cleaning things out in my room.  And then maybe I’ll make a pie.