Little Girl's Purse

Here's an interesting little bit of information about my wife. For the six years that we've been married, I've watched her take on creative projects, sometimes intentionally initiating a pre-meditated project, and sometimes carrying them out on a whim. She has learned how to do so many new things. She's gone out of her comfort zone. She's failed a few times here and there, but she is constantly producing wonderfully creative things to make life more practical or just plain more enjoyable. 

However, every once in awhile I hear her reflect out loud about how she wishes she were more creative, or generally more competent at things she is already great at, like being a mother. With all of this goodness coming out of one person, I don't understand how she can feel this way. Therefore, I started this blog. Behind her back. :)

I know most normal people feel similarly at times, but I hope to show this blog to her someday and help soften the occasional feelings of inadequacy that seem to afflict us all now and then. 

Anyway...

I must admit that I don't get especially excited about some of the girly stuff my wife creates, but I can genuinely say that I am still impressed enough to take the time to post about it. My three-year old daughter didn't waste any time becoming a girly-girl. She loves to use Mom's shoes, headbands, lip gloss, cell phone, and especially...her purse.

My wife was already experimenting with a pattern for a purse she had found for herself when she decided she would make a mini-version for our daughter. 

What I didn't think to do when I was secretly taking this picture (in our bathroom upstairs while my wife was cooking dinner) was to include an object in the picture that would give you an indication of the size of this purse. Since I don't want to risk getting caught taking another picture with my phone, imagine that it's just big enough to fit a DVD inside. 

Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about the pattern she used or where she got it, but I'm sure you could Google a good pattern in minutes.

Here's a view of the inside from the top:

She used a different, floral-patterned fabric for the inside of the purse, and if you didn't notice at first glance, she even included a tiny little pocket on the inside that is the perfect size for one of my wife's old cell phone's. Now that's going the extra mile! :)

Babysitter Information Sheet

I realize I have the most uninventive and dull titles when I post on this blog, but the reason is that I want people to be able to find some of these things when they do a typical search in their browser. Forgive my practicality and venture on into the actual content for the inventiveness.

Sometimes I don't even realize my wife has made some cool stuff, and then it comes out of nowhere! For example, a few weeks ago we were about to leave the house for our weekly date night (well, almost weekly...let's be honest; it's hard to get out weekly). After I needlessly explained to the 14-year old babysitter how to use the TV, my wife whipped out this masterpiece:

When my wife turned her back to show the sitter the upstairs, I took out my phone and took a picture of this bad boy. One sheet of paper that has everything you need a babysitter to know. Complete with our plans, contact information, emergency contact information, do's and don'ts, etc. In case you didn't deduce the blacked out content at the top of the two columns, that's where the children's names are, and their age is what's in parenthesis. 

I've always been perfectly content writing a few important notes down on a post-it note when the babysitter comes, but I leave it to my wife to make things easier, safer, and a little cooler.