Day of the Wed 2006

My husband and I decided to bow to tradition (kind of) and get married in October 2006. Before doing so, we'd each moved across the country for the other, had maintained a relationship across continents, and had, in fact, actually met as Peace Corps Volunteers in Mongolia. We'd also bought a house, supported each other through some pretty tough experiences, and acquired two cats together. So six-plus years into the relationship, it didn't really feel necessary to stand on ceremony when it came to getting married. Actually, I guess we wouldn't have done the traditional thing even if we got married six days after meeting... it's just not our style. And I have strong opinions about the wedding industry, and the implications of being inundated with marketing about being a princess for a day. It frustrates me to no end that rampant capitalist forces have convinced many women that love is synonymous with spending $50,000 for a party.

So our wedding was, in part, a commentary on that, while also being a really fun party where we got to make a formal commitment to each other in front of family and friends. Because my husband: (1) loves Halloween and horror movies; and (2) is of Mexican heritage; and because I: (1) love crafting; and (2) also love the spirit of both Halloween and El Dia de los Muertos; we decided to throw a wedding in October that would draw upon the color and spirit of El Dia de los Muertos (honoring the spirit of the dead) and the fun of Halloween (Costumes! Everyone in costumes!) One of the many craft items I/we (we being my family, including my mother, sister, sisters-in-law, and anyone else we could rope into participating) made for the event were sugar skulls. At the end of the night, people who wanted them could take a skull home. The photo above is one of about a dozen that we had scattered around the venue. I got the sugar skull mold from Mexican Sugar Skull, an online vendor with tons of great supplies. We decorated the skulls with fondant and I think they added a lot to the day.

I'll post more about other wedding/muertos crafts in the future.

Baby Stuff!

I'm a big fan of garage sales. Apart from the political implications of reusing rather than purchasing new (which is super important to me), I also just really, really enjoy finding good crafting supplies. Like a bag full of wool yarn that someone's brought back from a trip to Ireland, has never found the time to utilize, and is now selling for $3. But lots and lots of garage sales are filled to overflowing with baby stuff.



Stuff that makes my head spin and makes me ruminate on who, what, and where we are as a culture. In my vocabulary, "baby stuff" has become synonymous with "a garage sale that has nothing I will purchase." So, for example, when we pass a garage sale and are deciding whether or not to stop in, if I say "baby stuff" to my mom, sister, husband, father or uncle (whomever has tagged/been dragged along for the morning), it's code for "Just keep walking, I don't want to stop at this one."

But when referring to recently handcrafted items for new babies, BABY STUFF takes on another, much more innocuous, meaning. It just means fun items I've made for babies that are on the way. So here is a photo of the kind of baby stuff I think is worthing stopping for-- a knitted sweater I recently made for a dear friend who is going to be a kick-ass momma:



I also sewed a fleece blanket and matching hat for the little critter. Notice the spiral design-- I did not intend to evoke Uzumaki, though I guess I may have!