Tidings of comfort and joy

Zydeco and Jazz attended a new school this past year. It was a big change for Zydeco since he'd attended the same school since kindergarten. For the previous few years, however, the math curriculum used by the school just wasn't fitting his kinesthetic learning style. We'd struggled with extra work and various additional exercises before the light bulb of parenting clicked and we decided to find a different environment. We explored various area schools and homeschooling options, then found a wonderful program nearby that fulfilled our needs...and most importantly, his. Jazz moved with him because we felt she would benefit from the school's enhanced writing program and because, honestly, it's just easier for Mama to have her kids in one place.

They had a fabulous first year and we were so relieved. Zydeco's math teacher listened to our concerns in the beginning of the year and worked with him as necessary to build his comprehension and confidence. By the first marking period, she moved him into her accelerated class, assuring us that he completely understood the concepts. He did. There was no more homework stress, which made the whole household want to kiss this fabulous woman. I don't always give an end of the year gift to teachers, but felt it was very appropriate this year.

Anyway, I chose to make eye pillows for the teachers. There are so many tutorials for shaped masks or padded masks, but I opted for simple and streamlined. I made rectangular pouches from muslin and filled them with a rice and lavender mixture. I added several drops of lavender essential oil to "up" the soothing experience.

The children browsed through my fabric stash to find patterns that matched each teacher. I thought it sweet of Zydeco to choose a seaweed patterned batik for his Japanese math teacher - a Sushi lover. I made slipcovers for the muslin inserts and used satin ribbons for the ties.

The blue swirl was Jazz's pick for her teacher - a male. She claimed it looked quite manly. We opted to leave the lavender out, adding cypress and tea tree oils instead. The tags were personalized thank you notes on one side and directions for heating or freezing on the other.

I liked the final product so much, I decided to make one for myself and one for a special sister. I have only one sister, but she's still special :) She suffers from migraines, so I thought the heat or cold would bring welcome relief. She also mentioned possibly starting a new advanced degree course load, so I figured headaches would be in the future. I brazenly dug into my little, dearly guarded stash of Liberty scraps, deciding we were deserving of such luscious goodness. My little stash is a gift from my mother (lucky me).

The blue flowers are mine and the green print is hers.

Amazingly, these little pillows work wonders on ear aches, as well. Following the brutal head cold I suffered with for weeks, my ears continued to ache from residual fluid build-up. Using the heated pillow brought immediate relief.

I think I need to make one for each child to call their own. It would be handy on cold nights to keep fingers warm as they drifted off to sleep. Of course, with the highs in the 100's lately, it's hard to imagine cold nights....