Tag: everyday chores

Handmade

HANDMADE :: Kitchen Linens with Charles Dickens Quotes

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

I was raised in a home where Charles Dickens was quoted often — not the beautiful literary passages, but the little phrases uttered by quirky characters. These lines have been woven into our family throughout the years and pop up at the most hilarious times. So when I wanted to embroider some tea towels for my mom recently, I knew I had to start with a quote from Mr. Smallweed in Bleak House.

Smallweed Quote from Bleak House -Shake me up, Judy- Embroidered onto Striped Linen Kitchen Towels via Oaxacaborn
Charles Dickens Quotes Embroidered onto Striped Linen Kitchen Towels via Oaxacaborn
Joe Gargery Quote from Great Expectations -What Larks- Embroidered onto Striped Linen Kitchen Towels via Oaxacaborn
Quotes from Books Embroidered onto Striped Linen Kitchen Towels via Oaxacaborn

I’d love to make more of these. There’s no end to phrases from great books I could envision stitched out like this. And couldn’t we all use a little beauty infused into everyday chores?

What sort of words would you like to see on a linen towel?

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Life in Photos, Poetry & Words, Theology

What my mother taught me about making a house a home

Gina @ Oaxacaborn

What my mother taught me about linens, onions, and making a house a home via Oaxacaborn
What my mother taught me about linens, onions, and making a house a home via Oaxacaborn
What my mother taught me about linens, onions, and making a house a home via Oaxacaborn
What my mother taught me about linens, onions, and making a house a home via Oaxacaborn

It was my mom’s birthday yesterday.

She taught me — continues to teach me — countless things, among them the simple little fact that everyday chores can be infused with beauty.

She has a incredible touch which makes every little corner so pretty. No one can transform a space so quickly from generic to home like she can — she can make a hotel room feel like you’ve lived there your whole life, and you’re coming home.

She teaches me a cloth napkin folded in half underneath the French press can upgrade that morning cuppa from a routine to an experience.

She teaches me ragged, torn, stained towels belong in the rag box, not in the kitchen.  

She teaches me to stop mid-morning or mid-afternoon and savor something, like a tall glass of iced tea.

She teaches me no matter how little one has, it can be made beautiful through a combination of cleaning and contentment.

And most importantly, she’s taught me to start cooking an onion if Josiah’s on his way home and I haven’t yet started dinner.