The Enchanted Baby Clothes

The project came together, and it had that magic of the finished project was much better than what it looked like as a pile of materials. The project had canvases, paint, frames, and baby clothes. Anya started by choosing the perfect color to show off the baby outfit, and painted the canvases. It took about 3 coats to get a really smooth and even surface. Even though the canvas would be mostly covered, it was still important to get it right. Then after they sat for a day, she used safety pins to attach the baby clothes so they were just right. They needed to be at just the right angle, with sleeves crossed over, and buttons snapped up. They were real clothes of her kids, so there were some stains. Then each got a frame that complemented the colors in the outfit, and they were ready for hanging. She even got them done in early October, when they would be given to the kids in December. That meant they could hang in her ‘witchy room’ for a few months. Okay witchy room was an exaggeration, it was just the room with some crystals, incense, candles and her meditation cushion. Not like her friends with full altars, tapestries, tarot decks, and crystals they actually knew the names of. She just collected what looked fun, arranged it however she wanted, and played around. When she looked at each framed baby's clothes on the wall, she chose a crystal to set on the frame for each one. It just seemed right. 

In the morning Anya got her tea and went to her meditation cushion. She stepped on a crystal, and noticed it had fallen off the frame of one of the baby clothes frames. She didn’t have a pet, and the frame looked crooked on the wall now. Well, things like that happen, but it still captured her attention the whole meditation. The energy was just different in the room. 

That evening a few friends came over for dinner. They had a lovely pasta with salmon and broccoli, and then took chocolate cupcakes into the meditation room with their tea. Sasha immediately noticed the framed baby outfits, 

“Wow are those real outfits from your kids? I think I remember that one.” Sasha said.  “Your kids started out so tiny.”

Anya looked at the frame, which now seemed crooked like the other one that morning. “Yes, she was only 6 ½ lbs at birth. Tiny people,” They settled with tea and cupcakes, but Anya kept looking at that frame. It almost seemed that one of the shoulders was loose.

Over the next few days the frames were crooked, crystals knocked down and the baby outfits were just looking weird. There was one day she was sure that the knees of one outfit were dirty, which would be fine except the baby hadn’t been big enough to crawl in that outfit. When she thought she would lose her mind she called Sasha.

“Hi Sasha, I just have to ask if I may be going crazy?” she started, this was not the first conversation that started like that. 

“Okay your normal crazy or actually walking with everything you own in a shopping cart on Colfax?” Sasha asked, and Anya could hear the suppressed giggle.

“Well somewhere in the middle I think, I haven’t got a shopping cart and I am not going to yell at random strangers. However I need you to come check out my meditation room. There is something weird here.”

“Okay so look at electrical or bring the crystal ball?” Sasha was an electrician by trade, but also read some tarot cards. She actually knew what her crystals were. 

“More crystal ball, but maybe the house is falling apart as well.” Anya wondered out loud. 

“Okay I don’t have any jobs in the morning, can you go to work later? I will bring the GOOD chai, the spicy kind.”

“Yes, I don’t have meetings until 11 so I can work from home until then.” Anya was super excited that Sasha could come so quickly. 

         “Here are the spicy chai,” Sasha said as soon as Anya opened the door. 

         “OH good, I haven't been in the room yet. It makes me nervous,” she took the chai, smelled it, and took a sip. “Burns the tongue, just like it should.”

        “Let's see what is going on, “ Sasha had her bag of special equipment of the spooky variety.  They walked down the hall, and opened the door of the meditation room.

“Oh no,” Anya said when she looked in the room. The frames were on the floor, and the clothes looked a little dirtier than they had been. “Well I guess I am not crazy.”

“Ooh the energy is a little strange, how old is this house?” Sasha asked.

“Very old, I know the original owners were from scandinavia. I have found little gnomes buried in the garden, even a tiny house.” Anya said.

“That makes some sense, I know my ancestors had some creatures in their gardens too. You are scandinavian also,” 

“Yes, an old viking apparently.” 

“It feels like the energy is very playful, having fun with you and the art.” Sasha got out some incense, lit it and started swirling it in a counter clockwise circle. “Let’s see if they will show themselves or just go back to the garden.” She cocked her head as if listening carefully.

“Yes they are great in the garden, but maybe not messing with my art.”

“They are playful, they really wanted to wear the clothes and pretend they were your kids. Really they want attention.” Sasha said. “Tell me more about your art process.”

“First I sat down and held each outfit, I really tried to connect to each kid before I started. Then I painted the background, and added some decorations. I had some of their favorite music on as well.” Anya said. 

“So you really called in that child spirit,” Sasha said.

“Oh yes, oh I see. Well how can we ask the energies to leave the art alone?” Anya asked.

“I think we can make them something outside, they just got lonely. I will put a little salt around the art, but tell them they will have a nice space in the garden.”

“Oh yes, I already have some ideas. Hey spirit folks do we have a deal,”

The wind chimes outside gave lovely sounds, and the singing bowl made a soft ring.

“Sounds like a yes! Now off to the store after work.” Sasha said. Anya was already sketching out her ideas.