Welcome Home

Welcome.  Home.  The two words are simple.  But when combined together, their meaning is powerful, Welcome Home. 

The words might not mean much to you, but to me, the two words are what you look forward to saying for months.  They could be two of the sweetest words you could ever hear.  ‘Welcome Home.’

Those two words can also bring on lots of emotion.  I associate the words with deployment.  When I hear ‘Welcome Home,’ I often get goose bumps thinking about a soldier who is about to be reunited with his or her loved ones after a lengthy separation.  And by lengthy, I mean months.  And lots of them. 

Much preparation goes into ‘welcome home’ when welcoming home a loved one from a war zone.  You count down the days.  You think about what you will say, what you will wear, and what it will be like to finally be reunited. 

The reunion.  What you look forward to from the moment they walk away from your family, and almost every moment they are gone, until the day they return.

As a military spouse, I’ve been honored to attend several Welcome Home ceremonies – for both my soldier and several for friends returning from the war zone. 

I’m honored that HankOrange has been asked to create special ‘welcome home’ shirts for both boys and girls.  I get goose bumps every time thinking about a little one getting to see his or her Daddy (or Mommy) very soon!  What an honor it is!

Thank you to those who have trusted HankOrange.  And a much bigger Thank You to those who have severed and continue to serve our country.   

Welcome Home heros!

 

Monster Pillow!

I bought a large pillow a few months back thinking it would be fun for the little man to have his own big pillow - for his room or for laying on the floor while watching TV or just for fun.  

I thought I’d put a big ‘H’ on it to coordinate with his room décor.  He could care less about his room décor.  He wanted a ‘monster pillow.’  I was a bit hesitant – hence the months that passed before making it – since he begged for a ‘monster shirt’ and then refused to wear it.  Twice.

I had a little extra time this week so I figured I might as well knock out a few projects I’d been putting off.   The pillow was at the top of my to-do list.  I was actually looking forward to the project.  I asked little man various things like what color monster should be and what shape.  He told me how many teeth the monster should have and what color.  He chose purple for the teeth.  Last week he said the only color he didn’t like was purple.  Geez.  Guess the kid inherited my indecisiveness!  ;)

During his nap time the monster pillow was finished. Amazingly enough, little man was thrilled to see it finished.  

Monster on one side, ‘H’ on the other.  

Happy kid, happy Mom. Big 'monster' pillow.

Where O' Where Have I been?

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything to the ol’ blog.  Much has been going on here at HankOrange headquarters (‘headquarters’- trying to make it sound so official- ha!).   I had great aspirations of getting so many things done this summer and putting up new posts regularly, and sewing up a storm, and… the list goes on and on.   And, now it is August and I haven’t quite lived up to those high aspirations I had.

I have been quite busy around here, but mostly ‘behind the scenes’ things.  I’ve been trying to keep up with various Etsy orders and special custom orders.   In June I started a six-week class on pattern design and alteration, which I really enjoyed!  Through the class I also ended up getting myself a job (aka: ‘intern’) with a local clothing designer.  We’ve also had family visiting off and on as well, so, of course I’ve spent much of my free time enjoying the time with family. 

Now that the last of the summer visitors have flown home, I’m trying to get back into a routine.   I have lots of great ideas for new products for HankOrange and lots of things to post on the blog.  Now I just need to get myself organized to do it all! 

I’m going to try to do a much better job of posting to the blog.   With the new things I have going on, I’m hoping I’ll have some fun new things to share!

Thanks for sticking with me!  Now, time to get to work!