angry chicken

easter thoughts

                                                    _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

In thinking about Easter/Spring baskets for the girls I found myself on Etsy and was struck by the simple loveliness of the items for sale over at Dream Child Studio.

                                                    _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

                                                  _{photo by Dream Child Studio}

I'm really digging the use of wood here in this photo. And of course the crown is just perfect. These would be so sweet in their baskets. I also plan to sew up some bunnies (cute insanity!) from this Wee Wonderful's pattern and print some Shiny Happy Printables from The Small Object as well. A little homemade and a little purchased—that's my speed right now. Add some unpainted wooden eggs and paint for them to decorate and we are done. Oh, and chocolate lambs and chocolate nests, can't forget those. And bonnets. Okay, the list is getting longer now.

occultus in a libri

Revisiting my old bookbinding interests, I have become preoccupied with making these hollowed-out books. After I made this one I did a quick search online and found that these are all over etsy. I especially like these French vintage ones made from childrens books here. Not quite a hollowed-out book, more like a book-box. Very cool, and the prices seem crazy low. (Um, okay, everything in this etsy shop, lilimandrill is pretty outstanding. Please take a moment to look at all her items. A hand-carved eraser of Amy Winehouse's, head? come on!)

I also found some handy how-tos for making hollowed-out books here and here. It would have been helpful to read before I started this one, but it was pretty easy nonetheless. 

So, that freaky baby in there is porcelain. Her name is Porcelie and she is very very important in the house. She has been repaired with glue 4 times now—the last being for a fatal head injury that has left her with a hole in the back of her crown. If its small, creepy, and old, you know my middle child will be obsessed with it, which is what has happened, even though it was the eldest who insisted on bringing her home with us months ago from the antique mall. Now she is tucked away in this book, on our bookshelf, probably to be forgotten about for a few weeks. Losing her and then finding her again is the most fun, right?

painted boxes for stuff

 

We needed a winter-time rainy day craft project a bit back, so I got out my supplies which always seem to involved unpainted wood. I had these boxes in the craft room (unpainted cigar boxes from Michael's. Actually, everything was from Michael's) and gathered up some unpainted wood shapes and letters (I had these on hand too. I have a craft supply problem, obviously.) and acrylic paint. The girls then added the jewels with Elmer's glue after the boxes had dried.

This was a great project for a few reasons. I actually suggested they stick with only one color per wood item. I normally steer away from giving any direction at all, but with Sadie 6.5 and Delia 4.5—they actually get bummed now when they have a vision of how something should look, but the finished product is not so great. So we talked about it first. We discussed what color they wanted their boxes, what color the letters and the shapes should be, what it would look like inside, that kind of thing. Then it was easy to just have them mix the colors and work in stages. They painted everything and I let them have at it with the glue and the jewels—they figured out right away how little glue was needed. They glued the jewels on for about a hour. It was awesome.

We also made these over 3 days, which was nice. I think it's great for all of us not to be pressured to start and finish projects in one session. They are great at stopping and coming back to it a day later and it stresses me out less when baby does something weird (like eating cat food) knowing we can just stop for the day. Plus, you can only go so far with wet paint, which is good for them to experience.

 

I suggested lining the boxes with patterned paper and then adding photos. The favorites were chosen, of course. Hello Kitty and Cinderella.

The hair accessories/jewelry/rubber bands go in.

They are really proud if these boxes, it's very cool. They show them off and tell everyone about how they were made. I really like the idea of taking time to make projects to keep. So many craft projects for kids are meant to be disposable. I think it's a balance. I try to keep supplies inexpensive, but to also show that care and time can be used to make something special. Something to keep. Don't get me wrong—I'm all about the quick and dirty projects too, but try to not buy supplies for that kind of thing, instead using stuff from around the house.

I think this would be a great project for boys too, with different colors maybe and possibly not jewels, but other items glued on top. I would love to make more of these with the girls—maybe more map/geological and less bling-y, but I try not to steer too much.

The girls have started geocaching (my crazy generous brother gave me a GPS for Christmas!) and I can imagine some compasses, notebooks, pens, and other items tucked into a custom painted geocaching box, maybe with a handle, too. Have you all gone geocaching? It's crazy fun.

portable artwork gallery

A special friend had a birthday last week and the girls were very excited to make her something extra wonderful. They have both received such amazing handmade gifts from her. This is a box of their artwork— ready to be taken to any room and displayed, and changed, at a moment's notice.

There are 6 drawings enclosed which are reduced down from the girls' originals. They are mounted on 4-ply museum board with the titles and their names on the back. The titles kill me—very funny.

I had a happy crafting moment when I found a little plastic easel that fit perfectly in the box. I love it when that happens. I was thinking a small wood easel would be cute, but this works great too.

The glass-lidded green box was one I had saved. It used to have labels in it and was waiting to be used for something. Perfect. The girls were so proud putting this together. They took a lot of time explaining each drawing to Emily and she and I could barely keep a straight face during the lengthy detailed descriptions which involved a crazy naked party (!), a ballet performance, and cookies. What more does one need?

I love these kinds of gifts because other than the plastic easel, everything came from around the house.

homemade ornaments

During the Arctic Blast 2008 we made some ornaments to give away as gifts. They were super easy and fun. Nothing better than shrinking plastic in the oven.

We actually made these in a crazy way. I didn't have sand paper (which I needed for the matte finish) and the girls wanted to use media other than colored pencil on the sheets (which is what works best to my knowledge) so I had them draw/paint/pastel draw on regular paper, scanned that, and then printed it onto the shrink film for ink jet printers which is what I had on hand in the first place-no sanding required. How's that for taking the long road? But they look great.

Here's an update on the CPSC testing handmade toys issue. Looks like there are some tentatively approved exemptions, which is awesome.

she made this.

Sadie has been drawing these figures in profile for about a week now. She is really good at copying my drawing style, which is so sweet, but when she does drawings like these, completely from her own brain, it rocks my world. The one-eye profile, thing (or is she a cyclops, thing?) is too good.

After seeing the blank books over at soulemama, I needed to make some hardback ones as well. I have an insane amount of supplies on hand, especially of the paper/board variety because of mailorder, so I used backing board and cram cream tape I already had. Then, I just used 6 sheets of printer paper and sewed down the middle with the sewing machine, through the tape and all. You know what I mean? Super easy.

She loves soft crayons and pastels. She's all about the full saturation of color.

Okay, the gingham aprons for Tie One On are outstanding! I am sick as a dog. Runny nose, cough, and just feeling horrible, so I will get to the gallery when I can, but it might be later this week. Thank you all so much! Seeing all the chicken scratch was so sweet, I almost got weepy. I think I am tired. Either that or I am the type of person that can get weepy about embroidered aprons. Off to sit on the couch at Grammie's and watch Madman. I heart tivo.

happy toys (on sale)

I am in love with these simple wooden puzzle toys. I got some last year and I now need them all.


I realize they are a bit freaky/acid trippy, but in the best way. They are bigger than you would imagine. We have two and I play with them all the time. I don't think the girls have ever noticed them.

Sadie needs this. Like we need more toys in this house.  So, I am freaking because these toys along with everything in the shop is 20% off at Willow Tree Toys through Wednesday the 18th  Thursday the 19th only. (Enter this code WTT88, the sale was just extended an extra day!) I actually wrote them and asked if I could blog about this because the e-mail said it was a secret sale. They said yes, so I guess it's not so secret anymore! Liddy might get a few extra b-day gifts. click. click.

paper projects

I have been chillin' out with some paper, an X-acto, and music/podcasts in the evenings. I have a stack of these little paper scenes printed out on card stock—ready to be cut and glued together when I get a second. I just use a glue stick. These are so pleasing, I can feel my blood pressure dropping even time I make one.

I listened to This American Life while cutting this one and learned the average American person watches 29 hours of TV a week. Insane! I am so excited about starting a toy theater. I got a great link for a free one here. (Thank you so much Josie! I can't get your blog to link.) Now I just need that clone.

These remind me of my favorite Chris Ware paper projects in the back of his comics. These are vintage and come from Agence Eureka's paper craft set. There are many so I could be busy a long time. Sadie can cut these out too, they would be a wonderful gifts for kids (maybe for ages 5 and up?) printed out and tied up all pretty. Maybe with a little glue stick and little scissors—how sweet would that be? Tons of paper projects for boys and girls here. And adults, obviously, since I am obsessed.

It absolutely blows my mind how many free projects and ideas are out there like this. I panic and think I will forget about them next time someone has a birthday. I need to start a list.

amazing paper type items

I had a fit of craziness Thursday which resulted in terribly bad posture at the computer (Involving nursing, while standing, and typing with one hand, good lord.) and this all resulted in my back going out. So, that has been horrible. This is what caused my poor judgement. This is a small theater. I am now obsessed with the idea of making a miniature theater.

There rich history of miniature theaters out there, I have discovered. Much to research and explore. This vintage paper toy version is from Agence Eureka's photo set. You can see the whole group here. Amazing.

Every single photo of hers is amazing. Like this one. I almost cried digging through all her vintage (mostly French) ephemera and the like. I have only scratched the surface of what she has and I'm hoping my back can take it. Obviously, I need to get a chair.

Mermaids, & more importantly, the Merbaby.

I know this is a little weird. Especially maybe for people without kids, or people without girl kids, or non-doll people, or non-mermaid people, but for anyone who is into these things, either by natural proclivity or by default because of your offspring, you can see the importance of these removable mermaid tails.

They fit all the major dolls in the house and are interchangeable and even fit the baby dolls, creating the main player of all underwater play here— the Merbaby.

I made the first tail before Christmas but never finished the second one and the holidays got a little out of hand anyway. I sort of remembered them around Easter, but again, couldn't finish them and then about 2 weeks ago finally finished them after I had to make the shell-shaped bras, which I discovered are almost as important as the Merbaby herself. There was a lot of pantomiming here, "The shell-shaped bra, Mom, you know??" Yes, I know. So, both girls got the tails and the shell-shaped bra. They do know the real Little Mermaid story, where she turns into seafoam (minus some details) not hanging with prince Eric on some crazy boat or whatever.  And there is no Merbaby. I am thrilled these have been well received considering how close they are to a major licensed character, and yet are not that licensed character. The only issue is they don't go into the bathtub, but that seems to be okay. The middle child told me her Merbaby takes her tail off to pee. Ha!

Here's how to make the tail suitable for Mermaids or Merbabies-

Supplies:

1/8" elastic for the waist
velcro for the shell bra
wool felt and cotton velour (I got mine from Wier Dolls and Crafts)

*quantities depend on your doll size, but 1/4" yard of cotton velour is ample. I used one piece of 8 x 10 felt for the tail (folded in half) and another sheet for the bra.

1. Measure your doll, or if you need the tail to fit several dolls, measure the biggest one, or at least hold the fabric up to the doll and eyeball it. Measure the waist as well. You'll want the tail a bit longer and barely wider then the doll.

2. To avoid swearing, draw the tail shape on the wrong side of the velour, stitch on the line to another piece of velour (right sides together) and then trim. No shifting fabric that way. Now turn right side out.

3. Fold a piece of felt in half and draw the fin shape with a fabric pen/pencil, or something you can spritz out with water. Top stitch the lines through both layers and then cut out, leaving a scant 1/8" edge. The top will be on the fold, so carefully cut that open.

4. Stuff the tail in the fin opening, pleating it if needed, and top stitch through all layers, be sure to check the back. Put this on your doll to test the length and waist, if it's all good, fold down a bit of the top hem and zig-zag narrow elastic to the inside stretching the elastic (not the fabric) while you sew.

4.5 Make the shell bra by cutting out the shape in felt on the fold—this length is longer that you think to make it in all one piece, you might have to make the bra and straps separately.

5. Sew velcro on the back and cover your naked mermaid immediately.

living in a sea of crayons and glue sticks

Things are nutty around here. That baby is 10 months old now and into everything. The girls had to move their entire paper doll stash from the floor, to the small table, to the big table all in about 10 minutes yesterday after the baby doggy was tearing them to shreds. We moved onto other activities, this one being a favorite—it's called Shopping List.

Here's the 3.5 year old version. It involves the morning newspaper paper, glue sticks, scissors and paper. What's awesome is they take these with us when we go grocery shopping. I had all these big plans this week to try some projects from this lovely new book you surely are all familiar with—

The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, by Amanda Blake Soule, but life got the better of us. But, I have been able to put Amanda's wonderful ideas into good use around here in the form of making it easier for all of us to make a mess. This means changing around tables, making it easier for the girls to get out their own supplies and facilitating a quicker clean-up, which is the real clincher. We live in a small house and there is a lot of bumping and tripping on chairs, crayons, and papers, and it can make me crazy. My parenting style is following the path of least resistance, so if it's hard for me to set up the girls to get crafty—things need to be organized differently. If I'm thinking "if I trip over that flippin chair one more time, I'm gonna chuck it outside"—yeah, that's a clue it's time to rearrange the furniture.

Amanda has this brilliant setup in her book with this huge table next to an armoire with all her family's craft supplies tucked inside, and it has doors. Thank god for doors. Two of the projects/ideas I want to try first in her book are the henna tattoos and providing photo albums for the girls and letting them have at it with the camera. I can't believe they don't have their very own photo albums yet, I think this is such a great idea. This book is full of ideas like these— very, very cool.

In my constant attempt to keep the girls involved in decisions about their creative areas, I did have them help me rearrange the coloring station and put their names on boxes so there are fewer coloring book infringements (middle child running amok) and because they helped with it, they seem more interested in taking care of the area. They also insisted that the boxes have not only their names, but princess stickers adoring them, of the Disney variety. Not my first choice on the lovely unfinished wood Ikea boxes, but hey, whatever works, man.

Congrats Amanda! I wish I could bring you a cake. No, make that pie!! Your book is wonderful.

primitve dolls wearing shawls

I got these very sweet primitive painted dolls for the house for Spring/Easter. They are from Bayberry Cove, which is a lovely shop, I always fall in love with something when I look there. These are designed by Stacey Mead and I can't find much about her online, but did find this amazing pig, which I might need as well.

I have only made a painted rag doll once, from a Gail Wilson kit, and I totally loved it. It was so fun making a muslin doll, stuffing it, and then painting it. I really would love to make more. (When?) So, I thought about making something similar to these, but time is limited right now and I wanted to get something up before next week—so I had to buy these. They are wearing shawls and little slippers! You understand.

On the  other shelf next to the dolls are these turned wood people and eggs with watercolor added by the girls. I think Pete added the faces, but I wasn't around for this craft project, so I'm not sure. They have quite a few egg shapes at Casey Wood Products, which is where all this stuff came from.

Unrelated, I plan to get some books from the library about handwriting analysis. Just cause. I have always wanted to know more about it. I distinctly remember what all my friends handwriting looked like in middle school, with the note writing and all. . . do middle schoolers still write notes? Or is it all texting now? That would be so sad, I loved looking at handwriting growing up, now, I love it when it looks familiar, you know? Like, when I really know it, and could spot it right away. I need to handwrite out some blog posts, that would be cool.

Happy 2008!

I thought this photo was fitting for today—a blank slate for the New Year. Or maybe it's just a bit dorky. And hey, I am so glad you guys liked the Holiday Gifts tags! I still yelled random things at people when they were opening gifts, but that's what I do. I can't stop.

Anyway, I put together these chalkboard sets for the girls from Santa and I think they were my favorite homemade gift this year. The chalkboards, erasers (wool felt!) and little rulers I got from Casey Wood Products (thanks again for this amazing resource, Amanda) and it was all insanely cheap. I sewed a little bag to store the chalk, erasers, and rulers in. It closes with a bit of Velcro sewn into the inside. Very pleasing. I tried to get the girls to draw something for this photo, but the fun part is erasing, so leaving a drawing on the boards is not an option. Understandable.

Okay, so 2007. I love making lists and looking back, but my brain is so very soft that what is popping into my head borders on. . . .well, mental. I also realize that all these items are mostly from the last month, which shows my inability to remember anything. I like to call it staying in the moment, but it also could be called early onset of Alzheimer's.

Personal Excitement in 2007 (that sounds naughty!) in no particular order:

-Paper cutting
-successfully making homemade marshmallows (will post this soon)
-having a baby
-getting a new niece
-releasing my book and the awesome booking signing event that you all came out for
-fitting into jeans again (albeit, still 1 size larger than before kids. Ahem.)
-cake in a jar
-all the cool new blogs out there
-going to a movie last week, by myself. I saw Darjeeling Limited, which I really enjoyed.

Super Lame in 2007 (again in no order)

-the demise of Blueprint Magazine
-the demise of MS Kids (yes, that was more than a year ago, but it still upset me this year)
-the assassination of Benazir Bhutto (Horrible that I list such a tragic event in with magazines, but such is my brain.)
-worrying about all the lead/toy recalls. Good god.

Much has been left out. I just got a TON of new music and am so excited to get into it all. So, that should be on this list, but isn't. And I should list books too, but I am not organized enough. Oh well. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's Eve and that your 2008 is crazy phat!

If you got Bend-The-Rules Sewing for Christmas, don't forget to look at the flickr group for amazing photos of completed projects and the awesome discussion section. There are now over 120 topics discussed (and there is a search option) and the book errata is on flickr too. (These have been corrected in the 2nd edition of the book, BTW.)

boxes for smalls

Here's another box for a small friend. This birthday girl turned 6 a few weeks back and this is what I made her. A cigar box, from Michaels, lined with lovely paper and filled with small objects. The envelope in the lid seems to be a favorite, especially when it contains a small blank book. I stuffed in blank paper and other bits so it didn't look this empty when she opened it.

Her name on the cover. . . I realize I love these boxes so much because I want one. I am so happy I bought about 6 of these to have on hand so when the party/birthday/event is here, I can make something up in no time without leaving the house. I never leave the house. Sigh. This is almost true--I went to the grocery store today, so I lie. But, you know what I mean.

So, these last few weeks, starting before thanksgiving really, have gone by so fast. I can't believe that my babe is almost 6 months old. I also can't believe on a daily basis how hard it is to do anything, and yet how much I do eventually get done. I spend hours during the day not being able to do stuff and trying not to feel completely pissy/overwhelmed/sad about that. . . and then, usually that same day, I get a silver lining and can jump on a bunch of ideas and projects. It's hard and fun and busy and impossibly hectic inside of my brain. Or sometimes not. Sometimes I just am making mac and cheese and totally cool with that. I am glad I don't talk to other people for most of the day (older than 5 years old) because my mood changes so much.

So, the 3 kid thing is hard. . . no. . . that's not what is hard actually. . . the 6 month old baby thing. Yeah, the older kids are easy. Liddy pulled my coffee off the table this morning. We are at that stage now. The pull-off-the-tablecloth stage. She is trouble and adorable.

What I haven't gotten to but is still on my list:

-homemade marshmallows (hopefully dipped in chocolate)
-fairy dresses from Santa, (meaning me) for the 2 older girls

We were not beaten by the lights this year, although they gave us a good fight. Last Monday I lost it because the tree lights went out 12 hours after the tree was up and decorated. So, new lights were purchased and all the decorations were taken off and put back on with new lights. Pete's outdoor lights blew a fuse so he spent the good part of last night on a ladder in the east Portland wind. But we are all good now. We have tackled shopping downtown with the 2 smallest girls, Liddy and I went to a cookie party, and Sadie saw her first live musical with Grammie. We are doing the holidays right, I tell ya'.

But, I can tell I am tired. Lately, every time I hear "The Rainbow Connection" I almost start crying. The girls have it on heavy rotation right now.

Oh, the holidays.

heart attack

So, I did end up almost feeling sick about these. Jen Corace does have toys, and not paper dolls, but dang close. Hillary tipped me to these fairy doll vinyl stickers she had blogged about a bit back (me and my ADD) designed by Jen Corace and then I found a few other toys by her. Oh gads. This stationary set. . .

horse vinyl sticker set

This is from the fairy vinyl sticker set. . .

Block puzzle. Yup. Done and done.

I searched and found this code for 15% off from this shop so that covered shipping. (The code is ZZZD and is good for first time orders only, BTW.) Sorry you guys. I know I'm not helping your wallet here.

for some friends-

I made this little wool Waldorf style doll for a new friend. We are so excited to meet him! There are some great groups here and here on flickr for these types of dolls.

And some homemade vapor rub (along with Lincoln Logs) for his big brother. The vapor rub recipe is from this book and the girls really like it and so do I.

happy corner

This is a happy spot in our dinning room. The pink highchair came from Grammie for Sadie's 5th, the amazing Bunny is from Hillary, of course, about 2 years ago. You can make your own with her pattern (it's in her shop, scroll down, put-togther book #1) This one is an original made by her. Gloat. Glaot. Judy (the bunny) has received a lot of love, her apron and hair bow are now elsewhere. The blue cradle was made by my brother for Delia's 3rd. I drew the template for him and he had the tools and bought the wood and busted this out and painted it. What an uncle. We will cherish it and already do. Surely it will go to grandchildren and great grandchildren. I love that.  He made two, one will go to Liddy on her first birthday. The vintage style stickers on the headboard are from my computer (from wrapping paper from the paperzone about 2 years ago) and the Baba doll in there I made was from an old Magic Cabin pattern that I don't think they sell anymore. Grammie made an adorable striped mattress and matching pillow.

This cradle I think was made just with a scroll saw and some wood screws. It's pine and probably cost about $10? He was super excited to make it and it just warms my heart. This seems like such a cool project for people to make who are into working with wood-it's only 5 pieces and the head and foot are the only pieces that actually need to be cut out, the rest you can get cut for you to size at the lumber yard. The top rails were added by him, a nice little detail. Thank you good Uncle!!

-I am freaking on the cuteness of this elf clog pattern over at allsorts. Gads!! I need to print it out and make it up, pronoto

-Hillary has her way cute mr. & mrs. gnome pattern up now, just in time to start for the Christmas decor. We need a set on the sofa.

-Alicia rocked the cuteness this week with her St. Lucia clothespin dollmaking kit for sale. Kits?? Pure genius. I snatched one up. They are now sold out--sorry, but I still had to make you look, cause, dang!!

-Everyday for the month of November, the Sew, Mama, Sew blog is linking to tutorials for handmade gifts to give this season. Prepare to get distracted for a long time--and we are only 1/2 through the month!

-Check this 30% off code (via susan beal, thank you!!)  at chonlicle books. And free shipping. Huh? God, that's good. And dangerous.

-Congrats Melissa!!! I can't wait to meet him!

early shopping. . .

I was cruising Mahar Drygoods yesterday and these are my favorites. This felt gingerbread house it pure genius! So simple and so fun.

And these elf slippers. . .

We special ordered this moose last year for the girls and they loved it and still do--wonderful craftsmanship.

And the shadow puppets!!(We got these too) . . . .just awesome. Nothing is cooler then a Yeti.

Robert's shop is just perfect for the handmade pledge. And he has a top 100 fave books list at Powell's, too, I just found this the other day and has great ideas.

gifty

I put this little gift box together for a special 3 year old a few weeks back. I heart sticker paper. I did this label in Illustrator. The box is from Michaels. (Photos with the old camera, curses!)

Inside it contains small object bootie that anyone would envy. I love putting together these little gift boxes so much. I have quite a few empty and waiting for sewing, map-making, book-making, sticker-making, & beading supplies all to be tucked in, ready to go for our small friends.

Did you see what Hillary is up to ? Posting everyday this month! How inspiring! It takes the edge off, for me anyway, thinking about a once a day post, cause then I can make it quick and dirty. Now, if I actually do it. . . .we shall see. We have a big week ahead of us. The middle child turns 3, a book signing, and a kid party. . . and only one runny nose so far. whoo-hoo!

more halloween stuff

It's pretty much the same Halloween decor here as last year, but I still have to show it. This garland is from mailorder #4, the one with the earflap hat pattern, and I realized while moving around boxes last night that I have about 20 left. It's a great one, with a pumpkin spike cake recipe card and cool paper projects for Halloween. E-mail me if you would like one (they are $12 which includes shipping)

Okay-thank you! They are gone! I am 99% sure that eveyone who has e-mailed me is getting one, you will be hearing from me shortly. . .

I am getting a new camera-see that weird purple?? My girl M gave me the lovely porcelain faux bois vase lurking back there. I love it so much.

These are new. Halloween Sonny Angel Kewpie dolls to add to my collection, from the eggplant of course. So flippin cute and funny, boy parts and all.

I also am now organized enough (new print run) to sell bonnet patterns wholesale, so if you have a brick and mortar shop or an online shop and want to sell some, please send me an e-mail! Thanks!

not made in china.

(image from Willow Tree Toys)

So. . .it's pretty creepy about the whole toy recall thing. I'd love to say our house is filled with only handmade or European/American made toys, but it's not. We have a lot of amazing wood/fabric toys and all. . . but we also have some bad stuff too. And with 80% of all toys made in China (I just read this figure today) how can we not?

I have been thinking about this issue a lot. It was on the front page of our local paper yesterday. Toys and what they mean, where they are made, and all that's tied up with them; consumerism, mass production, cheap labor. . . all that. It's all complicated and depressing. But, in trying to work through this in my head instead of getting stuck in it, I thought about all the great options out there - different options than buying toys from the Big Box stores and other likely places and I'm trying to think positively. I hope all these recalls (with toys and food) will help manufactures and companies think more about not only what they sell, but what conditions must be like in China (and elsewhere) that allows these mass produced items to be so inexpensive - without thought of the health of the user or the maker, just the price point.

I would gladly buy less and spend more on a single item, so many of us would rather do that. Like with so much of the scary stuff regarding kids and health I need to keep it all in check. Making these types of lists for myself and thinking of it as a challenge to creatively come up with solutions, not obsess on the dangers, is where I need my head to be - and then I move on and make cookies. Like chocolate chip with orange zest. Here's some ideas.

Making toys yourself:

I love making toys and I know many crafters love it too-what's not to love? Kids seem to love knowing who made their toys and more importantly, they seem to love knowing toys can be made - not bought. It's hard for me to hide toys while making them because I just don't have much alone time (ever) so sometimes part of the gift for me is making the toys with the girls. Then I just wrap them up later and give them, and the girls love them just as much without the surprise component. Here are some posts I have about making toys at home. Most of these don't have tutorials - they are just finished items, but I think they could be reproduced pretty easily. A toy is the sum of it's parts, and it's fun working with good materials, so I try to use the best supplies I can afford, thrift or find. Making a handmade toy with icky raw materials that are made in China would defeat the purpose of all this.

(This might be an incomplete list of all the toys I have made, but my categories are a mess.)

-paper doll wooden box

-super simple doll house

-clothes pin dolls, and a clothes pin apron

-fairy wings

-musical wands

-painted Russian dolls

-travel finger puppet theater

-aunt sarah dolls

-personalized kid bags

-magic wand

-embellished onesies

freezer paper stencils for kids t-shirts

***other ideas

-Make your own toys from patterns, like from Wee Wonderfuls. Also there are lots of doll kits available online, with supplies and directions included. I have used kits from Magic Cabin and learned a ton. There are doll kits here too.

-Search for tutorials online for toy making.

-Check out all the amazing toy ideas on the mini-swap flickr group that Mommy Coddle set up for her mini-swaps. There are some lovely ideas there.

-Swap labor to get handmade toys from others. My brother is making a wooden doll cradle for Delia. I drew the plan for him and he got all the wood and has the wood tools to make it. Asking a friend or family member to make a toy for your child is wonderful. They will be flattered and you will get a cherished handmade family heirloom.

-Look at blogs with a new perspective. It's amazing what I miss-and then notice later. If you look around craft blogs specifically looking for ideas for toys, you will be astounded. There is so much out there - just grab a pencil and paper, take notes, and start surfing.

Rethinking what a toy is:

My fondest memories of growing up are of doing things with my parents. Not of the toys I had. Baking cookies that were in the shape of Richard Scary characters with my Mom is one of my favorite all time memories. So was any craft project I did with her. Giving kids kits, raw materials, and then the promise of a project is a great gift. Like fabric and thread with a pattern. Wood scraps and a miter box, with real tools. Pots and soil and some seeds. Tickets to a play or concert. Wrapping up cupcake mix layered in a jar with a recipe - that type of thing. I think this works better for kids older than toddlers, but toddlers need very few toys. I could go on and on here because I love thinking about the toy/learning connection with everyday objects. I post ideas about using everyday items as toys ala Montessori-style here.

Buying handmade toys from someone you know (or can e-mail):

One of the nicest toys we bought last year for the girls was a wooden moose marionette puppet handcrafted by an artist through Robert Mahar Drygoods. We special ordered it and knew exactly where it came from and who made it - and it is magical. You can buy handmade toys locally at most craft bazaars and 24-hours a day online. I love supporting my friends by buying their creations for gifts, especially when I am burnt out on making my own.

-Etsy has an entire toy/doll category and all the items are handmade. They had over 8000 items listed in the Toys section when I looked just now. I shop there a lot and love knowing I am supporting a craftperson.

-Robert Mahar Drygoods sells handmade toys by craftspeople and artists, and has a crazy cool section of items.

-Look for toys by artists directly. Like the rubber stamps from the Small Object. Or a print from an artist on flickr - artwork framed up would be a lovely gift for a child (just avoid the potentially nightmare producing, I have been told by other children that we have some scary art in the house. uh-oh.)

Buying mass produced toys:

Here are some places to buy mass produced toys that aren't made in China

Rosie Hippo:
I just talked to them on the phone about this and they are so cool. We have ordered from them quite a bit. They have over 1000 products and only 10 are made in China. These are clearly marked on the website.

Willow Tree Toys:
I just exchanged e-mails with them. They have a ton of lovely items and this link here will take you directly to the country of manufacturing - so you can search within that criteria.

The Wooden Wagon:
I haven't talked to them - but the "about" page makes it pretty clear they are a European focused toy seller. I cruise this site often, they have lovely holiday folk art - not just toys.

Oompa toys: This natural toy shop has a great wish list function. (Perfect for the grandparents!) They also have a blog and have set up a "made in Europe" category. Their very helpful blog provides is a lot of information about where European toy parts are sourced, and gives a toystore owner's perspective, who is also a mother. It's a great place to get some information like safty reports.

Magic Cabin:
I haven't talked to them, but in the catalog almost all the toys list a country of origin, and most are not made in China.

**I'm sure there are a gazillion other natural toy sites out there, these are just some I have ordered from before, or feel comfortable with.

Gently swaying family and friends to stop giving junky creepy toys to your kids:
This is a hard one. We have been so lucky in that all the girls best gifts have come from family and friends, they all love the old timey/euro wooden toys as much as we do, but many of my friends have horror stories of freaky toys that would make anyone crazy and also possibly deaf. Not to mention the risk of lead poisoning. . . I have gleaned some tips from some Waldorf sites on trying to somewhat control the types of toys received as gifts:

-Give catalogs/online site links that have safe toys to family members.

-Suggest money for a college fund instead (this might get a mixed reaction, but you never know.)

-Suggest a special activity in lieu of a gift.

-Recommend books and/or music as gifts.

-Suggest that they get that one "special most-wanted toy"  for your child and then make sure it's one you are comfortable with.

-Return the toys that freak you out. Especially if the kids are young. The kids won't notice.

-Mention the made in China situation to family members now, before the holidays, and let them know it concerns you and that you are researching alternatives - so it's not a new thing to them.

I'm almost done with this post:

In an e-mail I exchanged with Willow Tree Toys, they point out that although a toy is made, let's say in Germany, you can't be sure that the raw materials that German company used were not from China - so this can all make you a bit crazy if you dig deep. This goes for so many of our everyday type items. Even if you make your own toys - where do your raw goods come from? Where are your kids books printed? I know I can't be all crazy about this, it could go on and on forever. There aren't easy answers here, but I do think we can make reasonable choices and then move on. They write:

As you probably are aware, the vast majority of toys are made in China. Even most toys made in the U.S. and Europe have Chinese parts or components in them. While we do carry toys from China, we insist that the factories are owned and controlled fully by the U.S. or European manufacturer. We carry Melissa and Doug toys made in China and they own the factory and employ U.S. personnel in the factory to ensure that their high safety are met. We carry Haba products, some of which are now manufactured in China, and again, they own the factories and control every step of the process.

We are a family owned company and are committed to the safety of children. We have two young children ourselves and would never sell a toy that we would not be willing to give to them. We insist on safety assurances from every toy manufacturer and will not sell any toy without that complete assurance. We turn down products that cannot provide us with the safety information we demand.

That having been said, we do sell a number of wooden toys that do not contain any Chinese parts with the exception of a screw (when applicable). It is possible that the screw or wheel of the toy was made in China. You can view our U.S and European made toys here.

It is virtually impossible to find toys today that do not include some Chinese component. With the cost of labor today, it is unlikely that manufacturing will be removed from China. However all of the recent bad press will certainly bring attention to the safety issues and will likely result in better inspections and safer toys. Since it would be extremely difficult/impossible to avoid all Chinese products, my suggestion is to keep doing the research and make sure that you are buying from reputable companies. The company's safety reputation will help insure your child's safety more than the origin of manufacture. Insist that companies you do business with use Chinese factories that are owned by U.S. or European citizens and are overseen by zealous safety representatives.

Okay, whew! I hope this helps. I feel better, anyway.

looks fun to me.

Whenever I get this Montessori supply catalog in the mail, I remember all the stuff I have in the house I need to get out for the girls. It's such a great resource and just looking at the images gives me so many ideas about play. (I'm sure there are a billion other similar companies out there and I don't know that much about this company and all that.) Okay, water, water pitchers, and thick glass cups. How fun is that? Simple. I already have it around the house (or can find it super cheap) and can put it on a tray. Even better. They serve each other water outside and if they spill, good for them.

Cleaning supplies. They love to clean. A lot. Like it's really fun and kind of weird. So, we have been doing that for awhile now. A small  bucket, rags, little sponges - they have a bunch of small cleaning tools from their grandparents and they love them. Outside they get to clean with water, and that is even better. I heart spray bottles.

Maybe this is just me, but polishing a mirror (the polish makes a little film easy to wipe off) and then making it clean? This would have kept me entertained for hours. It still would. This kit has a ton of stuff, but the "polish" is all we really need, and maybe a little glass eye dropper. . . this is my new obsession, trying to assemble this kit with stuff around the house. Finding a box, lining it, getting out the aprons, etc.

Peelers, egg slicers, small whisks, grinders, apple cutters - all that. I try to find tools that really work and that are made of real materials. You know, sharp and breakable. Not dangerous really, just not for pretend. This is surely not new to many parents out there, especially ones familiar with Montessori programs. My girls are home all day so I am always looking for ideas and piecing together my favorite bits of activities from a wide range of resources, so catalogs and ideas like this are a wonderful way for us to fill up the day. Seeing the girls slice their own banana before they eat it (with a banana slicer!) is the coolest thing ever. I know there are tons of theories about the whys of all this, but I just like the catalogs. . . and I remember peeling carrots (I used sticks) was my favorite thing to do when I was 5. Seriously.

I am always tempted to give this kind of stuff as gifts, like a little homemade kit of little cleaning supplies, etc, or a pencil sharpener kit with a few really nice colored pencils and a nice sharpener and a little brush all tucked in a little box... I think it would be really cool. I need to do that.

I changed by banner for (early) summer-hit refresh and bring on the sun!

who needs pupils, anyway?

Annie has come to our house for an extended stay. I thought it would be fun to play the soundtrack for Sadie, borrowed the original Broadway soundtrack from our neighbor, and played it for her. Big hit. Big. A little too big, actually. When it wouldn't burn and she realized that the neighbor's copy was borrowed, a panic attack started, which then turned into a 4 1/2 year old freak out, which was so sad, because it was about Annie songs! It broke my heart.

So, off we all went, at 8:00pm, to get the CD and I also insisted we get the 1980s soundtrack, the one I grew up with, which after to listening to side-by-side, is way less yell-y and much nicer on the ears, but Sadie prefers the original. Purist. All the lyrics are here. I love the internet.

She hasn't seen any images from Annie, just the CD cover, so I can down play the whole sad orphan thing, but I think that is a big part of the drama for her. That and the girls singing. Nothing like hearing "it's a hard knock life" first thing in the morning. Wow. It's really loud, you know? And then Pete reminded me of that awesome prison scene in Austin Powers (Goldmember?) when Dr. Evil raps with that song. Pure genius.

When looking for Annie images I found this cool site-a history of Annie on the radio and her secret club with decoder badges. I must research this throughly. I sure wish they still had stuff like this on the radio.

paperdoll spiral

I got these paper dolls for the girls for Valentine's Day. They opened them, and then I hid them when they weren't looking. Obviously I have issues. So, I scanned them. I need to pick up another set very badly. These are die-cut on cardstock, so nicely made and so affordable, why I didn't get 2 sets? I just don't know. I want to frame a set. I think it would look so sweet. But I realize that would be some sick sort of torture if the girls see them framed and don't have a set to play with. And do you see that?  She's holding a fricken hood-wearing puppet there. I am dying that is so weird. More photos here.

The spiral started when I tried to find these on-line. I didn't find them but they are made by this great company, B. Shackman that has a slew of reproduction old timey goodness of the best kind. So there went the first 45 minutes or so of the evening. Please note this site actually has a section just for flip-books. Good God.

So, I learned that these are by the quite famous paper doll artist Queen Holden. I love the internet. And I'd say they are From the late 40s early 1950s. Don't you think? Maybe just the 40s.

Then I found Paperdoll Review, that sells paper dolls and has its own magazine and reviews of the paper dolls and all that. There went another 45min. You know what this means if you have kids, this is a huge chunk of time to be surfing. I actually am really picky about paper dolls. I swear I am. But these are just perfect. Perfect. Cute but not too cute and the details on the clothes are so wonderful. . .oh I need to stop. I could look at these all day.

paper dolls need a home, too.

Hey, thanks for all the mailorder love! And extra thanks to Melissa and Mariko for coming by and last night to stuff the red envelopes with me. Good times.

Sadie is now officially into paper dolls, (Delia is still a bit rippy) and they sure are a bad combo of the messy/fragile. Don't get me wrong, I love them too, but get a bit buggy when the tabs get hung up on each other. So, the unpainted cigar box came to the rescue. The big label was made on the computer with an image from the super swell paper doll group on flickr (This is a private group, you can ask the admins, or me, or other members you know in the group for an invite if you are on flickr.)

We have a variety of species in there, faeries, humans, etc. This box was about $5 from the craft store and the Dover paper doll books are really cheap, I think about $5 as well. I was thinking this would be a great gift. They have boy paper doll stuff too, right? I need to research this. A book, along with a box with a label (just card stock from the printer, glued on, and then sealed, which I would not do again, because it made the image blurry) and maybe even the child's name on the label too? I was also thinking it would be super nice to cut the dolls out, a gift for the parents really (my Dover books don't have the dolls pre-punched.)  but wow, um-no, that would take forever. I spent an hour cutting out 2 pages for Sadie this week.

On a unrelated note, a special someone has a birthday tomorrow. . .just thought you all would like to know. Hee-hee.

kits n' stuff

More kids b-day parties coming up and then more in January and so I am still working on ideas. I was thinking of giving a kit for something like this. This funky house (love shack?) is an unpainted wooden CD holder from a chain craft store (don't even know which one) and was $5. Everything else we had on hand to make it look like this. Trims, paint decorative paper, etc.

Sadie and I painted the outside during 2 nap-times of Miss Delia's and then we got smart and used paper for the inside. Much more forgiving. Sadie was really big on making rugs out of small pieces of paper. The ball fringe, pom-pom balls, and little mirrors were added later under Grammie's supervision, who is the ultimate craft guru, obviously.

Sadie is so into this house. We finished it months ago and she still talks about making it. She really got to paint it, you know? We just did one color, and then the trim later, and she really went for it. She is really comfortable with the glue sticks and white glue, glue in general. It's all about the glue. I really like this kind of thing that actually involves parents or grandparents, etc. and it was great for Grammie during babysitting. It would be a great gift for Grandparents come to think of it. You could cover the outside of the house with paper too, if the paint thing is a turn-off.

So, as a gift, I am thinking the unpainted house (cd holder) and then maybe a clear baggy of trims, paper, fabrics, doo-dads, and possibly 3 paints in primary colors and brushes, maybe some stickers. and glue stick. Easily all for under 10 bucks (well, maybe if I don't include paint) and this would lighten my craftroom stash too. I think it's a winner as a gift. I don't know if little boys will dig it, but why not, huh? It could be a fire station house, right? You could put a hole in the floor between levels and add a pole to slide down. Sweet.

Hey, thanks for the sales too! Now I can buy a bunch of handmade stuff from everyone else to give as gifts. Love that paypal account and handmade is where it's at, right? Yup. 

party season

We know a lot of kids with birthdays between now and Christmas and I am always trying to come up with a homemade gift that is easy to do in mass quantities, that the girls can help with, and is fast and easy. . .

These girls are sleep in a pouch and come tied to a book.. They are a gang, but a non-violent one. That doesn't mean you should mess with them, however, you shouldn't.

I need to get more clothes pins. Sadie and I make these often, usually while Delia is napping, so we are running low. And how much am I diggin' that flower stitch on the Bernina? A whole lot.

upside down, boy you turn me.

I got this topsy turvy doll for the girls a few weeks back and can't stop playing with it. I loved them so much when I was little and the girls are really getting into it too, but I had one of those icky "I should have made one for them" feelings when I bought it. I think this is so dumb because really, I will go crazy if I do that to myself, but after making raggedy I have been thinking even more about topsy turvy dolls and then I rediscovered this site, cloth doll supply,  that sells copies of vintage patterns-which is what all these images are from.

Can you do this? Just copy vintage patterns and sell them? Well, I guess so after a certain number of years, huh? And I am really happy because these are cheap and wonderful and I can't wait to get some and try them out.

And while digging about for these I found out the American history of topsy turvy dolls were that they  usually were made by salves, either for their own children, or for the white children the women slaves took care of, and they always had a white doll and a black doll-more info in this link.

closed market

Awhile back my brother was telling me about a friend of his who spends his full time job combing e-bay for "lots" of items, and then breaks them up into small groups, re-photographs them, and resells them. Like make-up, and jewelery-you name it. The thing is, then he the turns around and spends the profits on another "lot" and starts again, so all the money just stays in the small pool. I realized for the last year, this is what my paypal account has become, for the most part. I sell stuff and then buy stuff-all from this magical bank in space. . .and this needle felted Eugene, pulling his ducky, had to come live with me because he seemed too distraught to stay where he was. I adore him. By the talented Jenn Docherty, who I believe is having a baby any second now. . .I think she is having another sale before then, busy girl. . .

And the these lovely Decole items from a favorite Decole haunt of mine, Loloko. Always a dangerous place for me to visit and I just love her graphics on her main page, so very simple and cool.

So, I do realize I am a bit like this friend of my brother's, but I think actually buying stuff from craftspeople and artists is wonderful. I love swaps and trades and all that for sure, but there's nothing like cash to make you feel like your efforts are worth it. . .and I do realize the basis of this theory also allows me to continue shopping guilt free. . .

fairy items (1 of 3)

Yesterday's assignment:. I had to make a pair of fairy wings for Delia. (who is not wearing them in this photo, by the way, they seem to be made of poison in her opinion.) Sadie has a pair that were a lovely gift and Delia needed a pair too, right? So Sadie said because sharing that type of thing is hard. I don't think I would share my fairy wings. Actually, I know I would not. Swap occasionally? Sure. But share one pair? No way. I also don't feel as gross about acquiring two of the same toy when I can make it. And it's not like anyone needs to twist my arm to make toys for the girls. The skirt I made from the woodland elf costume 2 Halloweens ago and is a favorite. But again, we only have one.

Okay, these wings had to be made from items I had around the house and I had to do it with the girls around so it was a very fun challenge and am so happy with how they turned out. I think that making a few pairs all at the same time (3-4?) would be the best way to go-for gifts, etc.

Two wire coat hangers are locked together here and then taped (no duct tape in the house!) to secure. Then I stretched the nylons over the hangers, one wing in each leg-the extra I wrapped around the tape in the middle and then taped again. (I actually had nylons from the last wedding I was in-amazing.)

Then out came the spray paint, glue gun, fabric pens, felt, and ribbon. I got a wicked blister on my finger from the glue gun and the wings are kind of heavy, but overall it worked out just fine. I threaded thin elastic through the middle for sliding the arms into and used pipe cleaners to edge the wings (more photos here) and there is a good homemade version with directions here that I found after I was done (duh!) I forgot glitter!!

raggedy!

I had this sickness for the last 48 hours. The new craft project sickness. I was daydreaming and obsessing on this raggedy ann dolly in the worst way. I had forgotten how much I love raggedy ann until just recently (this seems to be happening so much! I thought I remembered every toy from my childhood.) Pete kept trying to talk to me while I was daydreaming of the best way to do the bloomers or the shoes, and the worst thing is, I would them tell him about the best way to make the bloomers or the shoes. Poor guy.

This raggedy ann is for Delia, Sadie would like raggedy andy, so he is in cut out pieces now. I had no idea what a huge thing raggedy ann is out there in the world, and it is huge! The amount of folk artists doing interpretations of this rag doll is staggering. I had to stop looking because it was just too much. .

Her she is all dressed up. She has bloomers, a dress and a pinafore. You can see more clothes photos and her whole body (naked!) here-

I need to make more of these. Sadie and Delia really love rag dolls. Floppy dolls, not firm, but loose and shakeable. And they do shake them a lot, it's sort of weird. I had so much fun making all the her and it was gratifying to give her to Delia who snatched her up, rolled around with her on the floor and said "raggedy mine." That's my girl. Sadie is being very patient waiting for Andy.

So, this is my first "designed by amy" type of dolly. I have made one or two from kits, which have taught me tons, but this was my first paper drafting-to- actual dolly experience. I think doing the dolly clothing patterns is the most fun for me (need to find dolly sized wooden hangers!) and if you all like her and are interested,let me know because I think raggedy ann and andy dolls would be a fun mailorder sewing project (maybe the dolls in one issue and the clothes in another?)

gettin' all sticky

I can't remember when I didn't have these sticks in all sizes lying around. I think maybe even before I had the girls. I never really did anything with them, but in the last few months they have become the focus of a lot of projects around here. The favorite being dumping. The other day we were all playing with them and I remembered that wonderful MS kids issue (July/August 2004) that had all the cool stick projects. We ended up just mostly doing our own thing, but there were some very cool ideas in there. That amazing bird tack is from Hillary, so I have no clue where to get them. It's one of my prized possessions. . .

Here are the stick frames. Sadie hung them here. I didn't notice for hours and I think the placement is brilliant. It's just scotch tape and stickers on these, and you can see these were at the bottom of the crayon tub. I love that crayon patina.

And a boat with a small goat. I used the paperclay to make the stick stand up for the sail. I love the sticks projects, but realize they require a bit of forethought-so we switched to lots of tape, string and this paper clay stuff to make spontaneous connectors when we realized that we just had a bunch of platforms.

On an unrelated note, Tie One On for June has been extended, officially, through July (enjoy the break!!) so the aprons will post August 1st.

do I really need a wood burner?

I am crazy because I keep thinking of new projects to start which require new supplies and time I don't have. And what about all the unstarted projects I already have piled up? I read about these at this shop here (which is also where I bought my blank ones from) and I love them so much it hurts. They are the "original" matryoshka from the late 1800s. There is more history on all this here, (and you can see the wonderful reproduction of this set there too) nesting dolls have been around way longer than than 1890, but,, not as a "Russian craft". I find this all pretty interesting.. . .anyhoo-they are made using a wood burner to trace the designs and then painted with a stain, so the wood grain shows though.

The matryoshka I painted for the girls are wildly popular with them, but please, remind me to never use the 2 same colors again for both-because the pieces don't interchange, so if one doll gets put into another and it won't close right the whole house goes into a tizzy and it's gets pretty dicey around here.

on a unrelated note, albeit it a very crafty one, I interviewed Hillary over here on whip up and I keep reading it and keep laughing, cause I just amuse myself to no end! ha!

And another reason I am crazy is the girls were up until 2:30 am last night. really. And I am not saying that and meaning midnight because I always exaggerate (I do) I mean really until 2:30 am. They both fell asleep in the car at 5 last evening until around 6:30 and we couldn't wake them up. . .then Pete finally put them back in the car at 1:00AM after many failed bed attempts and it only worked with Delia. boy howdy-it's gonna be a long day, so please ignore any typos or weird grammar, this is as good as it gets.

stuff n' stuff

we are back from a long weekend at the beach and I completely turned off my brain while we were gone. But then I stuffed red envelopes all last night with grammie's help and couldn't sleep, so I am officially back. I have crazy brain. I need to make extra some room in my life for two things. more quilts and pies. quilts and pies, quilts and pies. and I got a lovely needlework project at the coast, will show the kit later-very excited about this.

This sweet little bag here was made for my neighbor who made me some earrings to match the dress that I made in this fabric. So, she got a bag out of the scraps. . .it was kismet because she made the earrings to match the dress without even knowing it. green and orange are wonderful.

and I got this in the mail last week from thimble. the button of the month for June-so thrilling!! you know, I don't get mailorder, so I didn't realize how fun it really was to get something in the mail that you sort of forgot you signed up for. . .you know? I love magazine subscriptions too for this very reason. although I get none now (except ms kids and everyday food, both gifts, for which I am very grateful).

okay-my head is all over. need to tie up loose ends for mailorder (some e-mails I need to reply to) and then a quilt is on deck. And then pie! And soon we will have the pdf available for those of you able to crack the secret word. I will give you a hint if it's too hard (Pete said it was, I beg to differ)

inside and outside today

outside.

Our Japanese Cherry tree (I'm pretty sure)  It's not really spring here until it blooms. This variety blooms late and then we have to rake up the blossoms that drift into our neighbors yards for weeks. It's amazing and we love it so much.

inside.

Sadie is obsessed with making the "family." She is no doubt influenced by our art collection (the small object's stick portrait she often studies hangs in our living room. It's from this amazing series here.)

That's pete there on the end with the pink dress, then mama, sadie and delia. She picks out the sticks, which are all nasty and grimy from being at the bottom of her crayon box for months. Then she and delia pick out the fabrics. Then the glue stick comes out and coats, coats, every inch of everything (then they wipe their hands on each other when the other isn't paying attention) then we draw the faces. The arms are chenille pipe cleaners. There have been lots of families made and they get tucked into bed. So there are a lot of sticks in the bed.

This is one of those crafts that I get so into. It just sort of happened-which I know moms with older kids understand, but I just didn't get until sadie turned 3. The girls love the toys they can make themselves and it so pleasing to see. I remember loving the weird bits of yarn and leaves and rocks I put in boxes. I know I had a shoebox of acorns that I kept for years. And I had logs in my room that I named. Not big logs, but I'd say they were logs, certainly bigger than sticks. And I swear I made a diaper for one of them out of Kleenex (Mom, am I dreaming this?? And how exactly did that get wrapped on? I will try to re-create this.) That's a bit away from the stick family. I can only hope that one day soon the girls will find the fun in putting a diaper on a log.

 

the bunny (who is earnest)

The time between dinner and bathtime is mama's special time so I save the best projects for this window (and promise myself I just won't look at flickr, but actually craft.)  This was made from the wee bunny pattern from the genius Hillary, thank you so much. He needs a friend because he is quite distraught, as you can see. There are some more photos here of him still looking sad and confused and slightly stunned. I love my (I mean the girl's) wooded veggies and eggs.

So, I didn't win the bloggies for best craft blog (make won, and congrats to them!) I think being nominated was so cool and honestly, there was no way I was gonna win, you know? But I can say I was a "nominee" ,j ust like Oscars, forever and ever- and how annoying will that get to everyone around me? Milk it, baby!

my friend mandy (meets sadie)

My favorite doll growing up was "My Friend Mandy." I loved her so much (although I always wished she was a brunette, like me) and a big reason why she was so special was because I had a lot of clothes for her and my mom sewed a lot of clothes for her too. I had been waiting for the right time to give her to Sadie, which was really stressing me out-- would she like her? Would she play with her? It was almost too much to bear, so I just had to not make a big deal out of it and give her over. This happened on Friday right after I made this little vest and kerchief for her, so Sadie could dress her in clothes her mama made.

Mandy in a red cape sewn by my mom, circa 1978ish. This is one of those childhood toys were every piece of clothing I touch gives me chills. I remember every detail so well and sewing for Mandy for the first time yesterday, for my daughter was so special. I was weepy all day, in the best way. When I got out all her clothes that I had growing up I was so happy to see the red cape is a perfect match-

This is my favorite outfit I had for Mandy. Her camping outfit. She has sneakers but I lost one, so the clogs are on instead. The plaid shirt and backpack kill me. When you bought Mandy's outfits they had sewing patterns as freebies (like there was a pattern to make the camping sleeping bag and tote, which my mom made) Sadie loves Mandy more than I can write about, thank the lord, I was so worried. (I was trying so hard to play it cool) and she especially loves the clogs just as I did. I need to get some just like Mandy's (who knew you could search by color?) I just got black clogs so Sadie is very aware of clogs right now, which is so funny.

I scored this sewing pattern book on ebay last week and am so thrilled because all the patterns my mom had are missing and I sort of freaked out, but now I have more than I know what to do with. And these patterns are so incredibly 1970s, like the kerchief can also be an ascot. ha! I need to get a "my friend" doll for Delia. maybe Becky or Jenny? Not a blonde (but Delia is blonde-so I will have to think abut this.)

* maprons are due the end of the day Tuesday,the 28th. You still have time to make him look good!
 

my fix.

I got my fix this week in a big way. The items I ordered from loloko came and I couldn't be happier. I ordered within seconds of reading about the shop (thanks to hillary) and dang it, I really wanted every single thing. I'm realizing now that explaining to my 3 year old that these are mama's toys is just plain dumb. If I were 3, I'd think my mama was on the drugs with this logic.

The kitty cell phone holder is so sweet and the attached fish is very popular during long trips at the store with the girls. The snail tape dispenser just makes me ridiculously happy and the mushroom card holder, there is a clip on the top above the bird that you can't see, is also a paper clip holder! Yes, a smaller mushroom (which is magnetic) living inside the big mushroom. Paper clip were included. And thank god, otherwise I would have never been hip to this and would have thought "what the heck?" with the whole smaller mushroom thing.

The mushroom was being used as a splashing toy in a puddle outside about 5 minutes after I unpacked it. Sadie is getting really tall (must find higher tables) and Delia isn't into shoes or socks at all right now. So, when you see the mom at the store with the baby with bare feet in winter and wonder what the heck she is thinking. . .yup, I'm that mom.

dolls of paper

While avoiding the long list of things I should be doing, I stumbled across this site, Printables, that links to printable paper dolls from various collections. These vintage Finnish ones are killin' me. I love them with a passion hard to describe. Please note the heart apron.

I have not tried to print these yet, so I don't know if the images are big enough to not look totally lame, must investigate this. They look so pretty as is, but I am dying to actually cut them out and make them too.

This is from the same Finnish vintage toy site. amazing.

There is a great flickr paper doll group that Liz e-mailed me about and she also mentioned that she prints out paper dolls and their clothes on thin magnetic sheets from the printer-ingenious! The tabs were always a challenge for me when I was little and I hate cutting around them.

I also read a tip about printing the doll onto sticker paper, which makes the colors more saturated, and then sticking that to card stock. Text weight paper works best for the clothes. Also, applying a thin layer of a mod podge on the doll will seal the ink and make it hold up longer.

toys for small friends

I try to make easy and inexpensive toys for our small friends every year for the holidays.Last year it was silk scarves, which I bought in white and dyed (this was so much fun, I need to make make more, it was really easy and very cheap and the kids *loved* them) and this year I made these music/ rattle/wand/hippie things. I am so happy with them. They are straight out of the Renaissance fair.

I bought wood dowels (I like bass better than balsa, if you can find them, it's a bit harder wood, and splits less) drilled tiny holes with this superb hand drill, threaded thin wire through, added the bells and wood beads, and the twisted the wire around and then added the ribbons. This project is in this book,  The Children's Year . What is nice about this book is it has really basic illustrations and not a ton of instruction, more of an idea book really, so you can come up with your own variations/look easily.

I am really getting into the wood dowel toy thing. But, I have to report the bead at the end of the magic wand fell off. I think I need to either drill and screw it in, or skip it. And I wanted to add painted stripes to these guys above, but I know too many beaver children-like my own, who look at a stick of wood and think it's food. (what is up with that?)

russian dolls, done.

I am now done painting delia's dolls. so now both sets are ready to wrap for christmas. I think they might be slightly scary (?) for the girls, maybe not. I know some friends were sort of freaked out by these nesting dolls when they were young and the red faces are maybe not the friendliest. But I am really happy with them and the girls won't be able to tell me that they were scared by them until they are adults anyway, so who knows. more to talk about in therapy, I say! like, I just now found out my brother was freaked out by "the red balloon" that silent French movie from the 1970s with the boy following the red balloon. what? he said it was weird. he told me this last night on the phone. it scared him! I suspect he thinks my blog is dumb and doesn't read it, so we shall see if I get busted writing about this.

here's sadie set (which I have already shown) and speaking of childhood fears, the purple panda on Mister Rodgers freaked me right out. why didn't it talk? I also was not super excited by clowns or any loud games. like Operation. That game was my worst nightmare. I still hate it and that freaky picture of that dude on it, with the red nose? scary!

the aprons are up and sadie is 3

Sadie is 3! we went to the pancake house for breakfast and she got these horses here and is happy as a lark and has a runny nose. The apron gallery is up (whew!) and now we are all gonna play with toys and kick-back until the party tomorrow.

the goodie-bag dilemma

**update-okay, I was starting to reply to everyone for all the great suggestions, and stopped, it's all too much, so I will say it here, thank you! so many wonderful creative ideas!There should be a kids b-day/toys/making crafts resource site, like a blog! don't you think? with great links, craft how-to's, party ideas, and recipies with links to other blogger's kids parties, etc. okay someone, get on that! (I just checked out MSL kids online and all your ideas kick way more bootie.)

I'm sewing the goodie bags themselves right now (and have corrected the spelling of dilemma, yikes! so glad grammie didn't see that-shh)

Miss Sadie is turning 3 on Saturday. (my brother's b-day is the same day, I love this!) We are having a little party for her on Sunday (the theme is "rainbow") and I am having the goodie-bag dilemma. I want to put in cool, nice, hand-made toys, or at least not the crappy garbage toys out of weird plastic. I'd like this amazing goodie bag here, but really should make stuff ( I can't buy 9 of these and have them air-shipped. that's crazy talk.) However, I also have a very unrealistic and long list of things I want to do for this party (sewing a new dress for the b-day girl, making/buying food/ oh, and wrapping gifts, cleaning the house, etc.) and the goodie-bag thing is so killin' me! I am asking for ideas here. I don't really need craft ideas for the party itself-I have access to a ton of kid gear; hoops, big parachute, balls, and crazy obstacle course items. (insurence release perhaps?) but if anyone has some cool ideas as to what to put in the goodies bags, please help. we have about 8-9 kids the oldest is 5 but most hover around 2-3. And I only have 4 days. and I don't want to spend a ton of $$ and have no time. Awesome!

I like this crayons craft project above (from MSL kids) but I would actually have to buy crayons to do this-which I can do, but it seems more cool if you just have a ton that are all used and broken, which we don't really, we only have a few, and Sadie loves them all broken and stubby. I made bean bags as little favors for Sadie's first b-day with her face on one of them (it was a 3-pack) and that was so fun and cool. Maybe that's what I should do, make one cool thing, and have that be the favor, not try to get 3-4 things for a bag. Matchbox cards and mini-slinkies were very popular last year-but can I repeat? I think not.

um, wood dolls again?

Okay, I know I keep posting about wooden dolls. I admit I have a problem. But admitting I have a problem is the first step, right? And this is a wooden doll AND a happy mobile. You see my dilemma? Yes, I know I have already covered wooden doll images, but here is another one, and you know, I just have to show it. I like the little town. and the yellow hood. and the cloud in the first photo (who seems kind of grumpy)

it hurts! cute-off

They all seem like such good friends, don't they? Please notice the "mermaid" and the small handbag in the top right shot. sigh. Again, Sarah makes cuter ones, however anything with a kerchief is right on time in my book. Go babushka!

I'm still a 6 year-old

very exciting news today-over at craftlog, maitreya, (of marthadex fame) has started a new site called crafting japanese, all about japanese craftbooks. amazing! I am so excited to contribute and get my hands on this resource. I am so unhelpful when people ask me about how to buy these books that I post about (I usually say yesasia.com) because I get them here in town and am so lame at this type of research, so thank you-thank you Maitreya for doing this for all of us!
I know so many of you have great japanese books in your collection, please get your hiney on over to the new site and send her your links. This is just the type of thing that makes me so happy about weblogs. The information sharing is so generous.

okay-now on to the immature part of the post (also having to do with japanese goodies) I purposely don't visit many of the links having to do with japanese cuteness (mostly from hillary, katey, myra, and kelly) because I get so grumpy and agitated knowing I can't get this stuff. crazy? perhaps. But I get really jumpy about it and seriously think it's better for me personally to not see this stuff. (grammie will point out my anxiety attack when I was about 6 in my first hello kitty superstore, cried and stayed looking for over 2 hours, I left with nothing, couldn't decide. finally, I decided I shouldn't go back there)

okay-so last night I couldn't sleep and made the mistake of looking at all of the "japanese cute" links at wee wonderfuls that I had been avoiding (why do I do this?) and found these at decole. I know hillary and kelly have written about this company before, but again, I refused to be sucked in. Well, now I am and I am mad and frustrated and spent an embarrassingly long time researching last night to see how I could possibly get my mitts on some of these wooden toys (again, if there was a way, I know I'd be the last one to figure it out) sigh.
so, I have taken the immature response and am showing them close up in all their glory to bring you all down with me. sorry. It's like a bad virus, and I'm spreading it. happy friday! (and yes, kelly, start an import store-I am serious!)

grrrr

my recycled monster for this month of softies from an old t-shirt

he's a kind of mutated monster-that Sadie insists is actually a kitty.

dolls, animals, and business-oh my!

     

I was looking for a kit to do after this week-I'm pretty tired of "designing" right now-King Pod is about a week away from being updated and I'm craving to just do a project where I can follow directions and not be so CREATIVE. I dug in my pattern box and pulled out a kit from Gail Wilson, a mini dress form for doll clothes. (I never seem to make dolls only doll accessories) I was curious to see if she had a website-and boy did she ever! I get a little CRAZY for all the mini doll sewing notions, quilts, pin cushions,ironing boards, etc. I sort of bugged out last night about all the goodies she has. Not to mention the bunny and animals patterns above.

 

These are all available as kits (most supplies included) and I am super impressed with all the information she provides with how to's, supplies, and biographical information on her site. Wow. When you have a bit of time-it's really worth a look-even if this style isn't your cup of tea-tons of great doll/animal making info. Also-very cool business ideas like-

1.she does ONLINE classes, which sound very interesting and beneficial
2.sells finished dolls, patterns, and kits, so she can attract any level of crafter.
3.offers licensing agreements for people who want to make and sell her designs.
4. travels and teaches workshops all around
5. offers "clubs" which are monthly patterns/kits sent out with a good price break

I'm always looking for craft/art business models and this site is full of ideas from someone who seems to have a clear vision, design aesthetic, and general nice vibe. She's also been doing this a long time-and I have a soft spot for catalogs that have all drawings, no photos, like hers and Magic Cabin.

Pete had a good point too, when seeing the site-he said "you always want to buy things from people who are willing to give so much away for free" and he is so right. The generosity of how-to's (like the free download of a sample online class!) and accessibility of the craft-person/artist is so great-a very inspiring site for me to find.

can't stop thinking about them. . .

I saw these pillows by salvor the other day on Design*Sponge and they really got to me- Design*Sponge finds such great stuff and she shows so many images, I had to post these again so I could look at them all day. They are so primitive and yet so modern too. I really have been avoiding things that look too "designy" lately, or things that are too serious, and these are perfect for my design mood right now. I have a decent amount of mid-century modern furniture, textiles and accessories, but I find I'm gravitating to more rustic, crazy things again. These remind me of weird taxidermy or something. I wish there was a pillow with antlers. . .maybe I will do something like that.

too cool for school

This is our favorite shirt of Sadie's. We got this at a great local kids store here in Portland called Grasshopper, where I also sell kingpod bibs. When I did a little research for this post I had a really hard time finding this shirt! It's made by a company called Shrnk (sic)-and as you can see, it is way cool. . . .Grasshopper just got some more in, but only 6-12 months and 12-18 months.503-335-3131