At the Festival.

The time that I've been away from here has not been all bonbons and pedis for me. I've been hard at work. This past weekend was the local Apple Butter festival and my dear friend Kerri and I shared a booth there. It's the first time I've tried to sell my mama-mades. It's also the first time I've made so many of the same thing. I decided to make Mommy and Me aprons. When I loaded the car at 1 am on Friday night/Saturday morning I had 22 aprons for littles and 8 for Mamas. I also had 12 linen tote bags that I had stenciled. It was my first time stenciling too! Wow, lots of firsts for this mama.

(some of the girls all lined up the night before. You can't get great pics at 1am)

We arrived at our booth bundled up in warm clothes carrying hours and hours of work. We only decided 8 weeks ago that we were going to give it a try. Each time someone came and looked and touched I felt like they were judging me personally. It was something I hadn't planned on. And with each sale I sent them home with a piece of myself. As I was wrapping the first sold apron,  I was struck by the memory of what was going on in my crazy house when I made it.  I was not at all interested in bringing them home with me, but it was strange to see them go. I remember what the kids had for lunch on the day I made the pink floral apron (because I had to wipe it up from the kitchen table to make room to work) and I remember that it was close to midnight when I cut the pockets for the vintage apple aprons. It's really made me respect buying handmade. I always appreciated folks who sold their handmade wares, but this really increased that so much. It's like I sent a piece of my home and family in each bag of goodies. I think whenever I possibly can, I will buy handmade.

(one of my favorite mama aprons.)

Overall, it was a great experience. I enjoy knowing that there are 16 littles running around the kitchens of their homes in aprons that were made in the kitchen of my home. I do believe that I will do it again. Whenever I possibly can, my littles will wear clothes and play with toys made by me because we can all use a little more love in our lives and while I may not make perfectly sewn pieces, I can guarantee that everything with the LouLeeLou tag sewn in was made with love.