One Story at a Time #16: What My Hands Remember

I grew up in a tiny Ohio town with about 100 people. It was the kind of place where the older women taught you useful things, whether you asked to learn or not.

We made chocolate Easter eggs for church fundraisers, worked on quilts that stretched across big tables, and strung beads that caught the light just right. But my favorite was working with plastic canvas and yarn. I could spend hours cutting, threading, and watching colors come together into something cheerful.

Around Christmas, we made ornaments — little snowmen, stockings, or trees — and I loved seeing how a handful of yarn and a few pieces of plastic could turn into something worth keeping.
Those early projects showed me that with a little imagination, your hands can make just about anything.

As the years went by, I tried sewing, Cricut projects, and all sorts of crafts. These days, most of my creating happens on a computer. I design art, spreadsheets, planners, and even a few small apps.

My favorite projects now are still Christmas ornaments — only instead of yarn, I use a heat press and sublimation printer. Last year, I designed and printed personalized ornaments for my grandkids. Seeing their faces light up when they recognized their names reminded me of those church basement days, surrounded by women who taught me that making something by hand is really about love.

The tools are different now, but the joy is the same.
My hands haven’t forgotten how to create. They’ve just learned new ways to do it.