Every morning this week, Kate and I have been hanging out together while Jane is at drama camp. Originally, Kate was supposed to be at camp, too, but because of a scheduling snafu, it didn't happen. In an effort to make her week fun, we came up with a list of some projects and activities that the two of us could do together. After reading Elizabeth's post which was part of Amanda's Soulful Mothering series (such a lovely group of posts, don't you think?), we decided to make our own hula hoops yesterday morning.

It was just as easy as it looks in the video. Seriously. The only downfall was that we weren't able to buy the pipe by the foot, so I now have enough pipe to make hula hoops for the entire neighborhood. Ok, that may be a slight exaggeration, but I did have to buy a 100' coil of 3/4" poly pipe which will make 10 hula hoops. Suffice it to say that we will be making these for birthday party gifts for the next year. If you can find a local hardware store that will cut the pipe by the foot, it really is a low-cost project. We used a combo of duct tape and electrical tape to decorate the hoops, a lot of which we had on hand.

The finished hoop is great. It's heavier than the ones you buy at the toy store making it easy for even this 40 year old to do. Seriously. I really thought that I had lost my hooping mojo as I cannot get the cheap plastic ones to stay up. Not the case! It was all the hoop, not me. Very reassuring, I tell you. So naturally, I'm going to need my very own, especially since it's a great ab workout. Or maybe because I want to use that super sparkly silver tape. Or maybe both.

We are all home from various places, settling in to our days. It's been a sea of laundry and home cooked meals. A little hand stitching and plans for bigger projects are simmering, too. For now, I am just dipping my toes back in the blog waters and it feels pretty good. I am almost ready to jump back in. Soon.

Fatty and I are back from a little vay-cay. It was so nice to step away for a week, spend time with my husband and my parents, eat great food, see great sights, and sleep in. I needed that.  Right before I left, I made this skirt. And when I say right before, I mean the day prior to leaving when I should have been packing my suitcase and cleaning my house. So not the time to start a sewing project, but, hey, that's how I roll. Besides, the packing and the cleaning got done in time so it was a win-win, you know?

Anyhow, back to the skirt. It's Anna Maria Horner's Flirting the Issue Skirt and I highly recommend making yourself one or three, if you are in need of skirts. And maybe you should still make one even if you don't need skirts because it's that fantastic. The construction is simple and you can probably whip one of these out in an afternoon. The most time consuming portion was threading the elastic through the channels for the waistband. After first fit, it was too big (which I am pretty sure was a measuring issue) so I just shortened the elastic. It was a super simple fix because I hadn't sewn the channel openings closed. So if I have one suggestion, it'd be to try it on for fit before you hand sew those four little openings shut. And actually, I have a second suggestion. Have someone else take your measurements so as not to have a fit problem in the first place. I should have done that.

As a few people noticed on my last clothing post, I have a dress form. Sweet, huh? Fatty and the girls gifted it to me for my birthday. Although I haven't really had time to really use it properly, it sure makes photographing finished garments super easy. Silly, but true.

Now back to the blog hiatus - see you here again sometime soon.

Before school ended a few weeks ago, I made these tote bags for Kate's teachers. I love bags like these. They are perfect for just about any use - books, groceries, pool, projects. I made them out of canvas from my stash and left them unlined so they really came together quickly. I took photos as I made them so I am happy to share the pattern with a tutorial. Yippee! The Teacher Tote Tutorial can be found on the Tutorials & Patterns page or go ahead and click this link to download it now.  If you make one or more, please post a photo of it on the House on Hill Road flickr page so I can admire your good work.

A few notes: If you wanted to make this out of quilter's cotton, you should probably line it. It won't be sturdy enough if you don't. I didn't go into details of how to do this, but it's basically the same as constructing the exterior of the bag.  Cut your lining pieces 2 inches shorter in length than the exterior pieces (so 17" wide by 18" long), sew the lining like the exterior and then place it in the bag BEFORE you hem the top edge. Line up the side seams and fold the exterior of the bag over the lining. When you topstitch the top hem, it'll catch the lining and keep it in place. Easy peasy.

Additionally, you'll see on the tutorial that you can make and sell as many of these as you like. It's a basic tote, not original to me by any stretch. Just please, PLEASE, don't use my photos or content without asking me first. I don't think that is too much to ask, do you?

I'm going to take a little blog hiatus. Back here in a couple of weeks, if not sooner.

At some point every May, I take mental stock of what we have going on in the coming weeks so I can find the day, most likely on a weekend, when I can make the strawberry jam.  This pondering normally begins when I see my first pint of local strawberries, my tell-tale sign that it is summer, or close to it. And because of all that mental work, I knew that if it was going to happen at all this year, it would have to be this past weekend.

But, at the same time, I wasn't convinced that I needed to make it happen. The strawberry crop was hit with a bunch of rain in April and the beginning of May, making the fruit slow to start. My favorite u-pick farm closed their fields to pickers. Big bummer and no fun. And I am pretty sure we have *just* enough in the freezer to get through the year, although I was really too lazy to actually take inventory. I was willing to gamble. And then on a whim, we went to the farmers market on Saturday. Yeah, you guessed it. Eight quarts of strawberries purchased. I made the jam.

It's a yearly ritual at this point and why I thought I wouldn't do it is really beyond me. It's kind of like planting bulbs in the fall, or in my case, the good intent to plant said bulbs. Every spring, I swear I am going to plants hundreds of daffodils. By October, I am so. over. gardening. that. I. cannot. bear. to. plant. anything. at. all. Come spring, I curse myself and swear I'll do it this year. Cross my heart. But then it's rinse and repeat, doesn't happen. It's the same, but opposite with the jam. Every year, I think I am going to take a break and live on my reserves and Bonne Maman. But no. I do it. I get the strawberries. And the sugar and the pectin. Or Fatty does, as it happened this year. Regardless, I make the jam. I always do.

Strawberry freezer jam is a taste that takes me right back to my childhood. It's just as much a part of me as, say, red hair and freckles. Really. I think the only time in my life when it wasn't in my refrigerator was when I was in college, living far from home and the chest freezer full of jam. And, by now, you'd think that I'd realize that I can't not have it around and just go on planning to make it. But I think the making of the jam is kind of like strawberry season - it comes fast, hits hard and is gone before you know it. It appears to be that way for me - I made five batches in record time this year.

The sweet, sticky mess was made lickety split and, just as fast, was all cleaned up. The only thing I have to remind me is the 14 pint jars of glorious, sweet, red jam sitting in my freezer. Jam that will bring the taste of summer to my mouth some blustery autumn afternoon or snowy winter day. And when the spring rains start coming, and I am eating jam, I'll realize that May is just around the corner. The thinking will begin. The strawberries will call and I will make jam.

For more information on how I make the jam, refer to this post from 2009. I also wrote about strawberry freezer jam in 2008 and 2010. Like I said, it's an annual thing.

Hey there! Today, I'm over at Cindy's blog, Skip to my Lou, with a tutorial on how to make glycerin soap. The girls and I love to do this, especially for gifts. They've been making soap for a long time and now can pretty much do the whole thing on their own. Younger kids may need a little help from an adult as the soap is hot. Otherwise, it's one of my very favorite kid crafts because it's a cinch to make and clean up. Please pop over and take a look. Cindy also has a stellar line up of Craft Camp for the month of June, just like she did last year. (You can see my post from last year on kids' embroidery here). You'll definitely want to check it out!