Tag: #babyboomers

C19 Quarantine Hobbies #5 Vintage Style Tree Skirt by Sheri LeClair Banitt

So I have been making many things during the last 7 months that we have been quarantining at home. Other than a few family occasions and some outdoor activities, I spend most of my time at home. It has been fun to work on some old hobbies as well as trying a few new things. In true boomer fashion, the new things I’ve tried have been based on past memories. I have been making beaded ornaments reminiscent of my childhood.

So Shiny and Bright!

There are now so many that I decided they need their very own, old fashioned, tinsel tree. So I bought one online.

Well, everyone knows if you have a tinsel tree and beaded ornaments, you’re going to need a tree skirt. I thought about one that one of my Grandmas made for our tree when I was kid. I wanted to replicate it with some sequins and beads. So I bought some felt and stuff and got started.

I used a skirt I already have to get the round shape and got to work pinning and sewing the rick rack.

Next up was planning the felt appliques. I decided on green trees, red stockings and silver bells.

It was easier than I thought it would be. But as I was sewing on the shapes I thought about the time it was taking. The tree skirt and felt stockings we had as kids were sewn by hand which would have taken much more time. I am thankful for the luxury of the sewing machine and my comfortable craft room to sew it in. Only thing left to do was to embellish the appliques with sequins and beads.

  • My little helpers.
  • All the pretty things.
  • From Grandma Dorothy’s sewing basket-over 50 years old!

I sewed on the sequins, beads and bells by hand in the evenings while watching television. I always had one or more little helper sitting with me in my recliner while I worked. Pictured are my shih-tzu, Ping and my kitty, Remi.

Ta Da! All finished. Watch in December to see this under the tinsel tree decked out in ornaments!

The Spam is Ridiculous by Sheri LeClair Banitt

I have been avoiding the blog because I am overwhelmed with the impossible Presidential election that is looming, the direct and indirect consequences of the Corona virus, and the unseasonable snowstorm that landed over 8 inches of powder before the colored, autumn leaves have even blown off our trees. It is hard to think of something meaningful, even motivating to share with an audience when I am feeling all kinds of mixed up emotions. Tonight, I decided I would face my apathy and push it aside with a new post. A great post. A post that would outshine many others. Because that’s what bloggers do.

Alas, the blog was bombarded with SPAM! The kind that gets through the spam filter and disguises as comments waiting the author’s approval. Let’s be clear; I do not approve. I do not like this spam. I am slightly amused, and highly annoyed with the kind of spam that the millennialboomer is attracting.

Am I to believe that what interests Boomers the most are drugs for erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence? And that Millennials are most interested in buying a paper online? Well, I don’t. I don’t believe it and I don’t allow it. You may not push drugs on my blog and you may not steal my writing to sell to others.

I think what Boomers and Millennials want the most is the same thing that people want at all ages: connection, comfort, community and love. Where’s the Spam for that stuff?

I guess I’ll have to put it out there myself. But it won’t be spam, it will be old fashioned blogging with recipes designed to fill the mind and soul with goodness and love.