We come at last to the fourteenth and last chapter of Edith Schaeffer’s Hidden Art of Homemaking, posting chapter by chapter with Cindy’s book club at Ordo Amoris. This chapter ties all the preceding topics back to the original concept of Hidden Art being a development and expression of oneself. In the beginning chapters, Edith…
At first I was a bit disappointed about the directions this chapter could have gone, but didn’t, but as I spent time pondering after putting the book down, I realized just how varied the application of her thoughts could be. Clothes are a personal expression. They are not a perilous moral burden, not a meaningless…
In chapter 11 of Hidden Art of Homemaking, Edith Schaeffer writes about “Creative Recreation,” meaning first restorative recreation out of doors, but also the creative expression used in planning and in crafting. She writes, recreation [out-of-doors] produces creative results, which stimulates creativity, which refreshes one’s ideas and stirs one up to produce. Creative Restoration: Nature…
The tenth chapter of Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer is titled “Drama,” and I admit I was concerned. I rather share Fanny Price’s skepticism about amateur drama beyond the Shakespeare speech or poem recitation. Turns out, my trepidation was needless, because that was particularly the sort of dramatic expression Mrs. Schaeffer is encouraging,…
This week’s chapter for the Hidden Art of Homemaking book club is on writing. Well, here, my efforts in this vein are not very hidden at all. I love to write because I love to play with words. I love to be able to express myself articulately, and writing is the only way that happens….
I’m a week late and going to try to double post today to catch up with the book club at Ordo Amoris. Chapter 8 of Edith Schaeffer’s Hidden Art of Homemaking is about food, and there are so many ways to take this hidden art that I haven’t been able to find traction in any…
This post is part of Cindy’s Hidden Art of Homemaking Book Club for chapter 7 on flower arranging. This chapter is surprisingly varied and passionate for what one might expect to be a brief, boring chapter. I do hope others in the book club take up some of the topics covered, and I encourage you…
This post is part of Cindy’s Hidden Art of Homemaking Book Club for chapter 6 on gardening. Gardening is a hobby that I enjoy but am not very good at. Moreover, I don’t spend near the time required to become very good. I love vegetable and berry gardening, and I would love to have a…
Express yourself not only in selecting things to buy, not only in your choice from many things displayed in a store, but aso in what you can produce yourself, with some degree of originality, craftsmanship or artistic creativity. So the other day I developed this thought about expressing personality in unconventional decorating from chapter 5…
This post is part of Cindy’s Hidden Art of Homemaking Book Club for chapter 5 on interior decorating. In this chapter Edith not only admonishes us to take the time to personalize and decorate our living areas, whether they be a home, a tent, a hotel room, or anything else, but also shows how making…