angry chicken

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. . .