Sweetness February 28, 2009

Last night at the bookstore, my youngest (2) came over and handed me a book, “for mommy shop“.

Of course we got it.

I guess he has accompanied me to a few thrift stores and seen me pick out many vintage books and maybe just maybe he has heard me say once we got home, “Don’t touch that.  It’s for mommy’s shop.” I won’t be saying that again.  He seems to have developed an eye for vintage (okay, this is a reprint but pretty sweet for a 2 year old) and in the future we will look through the books together if wants. I want him to appreciate vintage.  I don’t want to be one of those people who has a living room that ain’t for sittin’!

It’s okay to cry Dan.  Even cowboys get the blues!

I am glad someone is thinking of my shop.  I have ignored it terribly in favor of the Vintage Valentine’s Shop.  Next week I will head back and revamp with new stuff, maybe with the help of my wee one.

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We are on our way out the door to the ICA for their “family playdate”.  The last Saturday of every month is free for families with children under 12.  They have special projects set up for kiddos all over the museum.  We’ve gone once before and had a great time.  I am particularly interested in seeing the work of Shep Fairy.  My first mother’s day present was my favorite Andre print of his. It hangs in the living room, right by the computer.

Will report back, hopefully with photos!

Vintage Photo Friday February 27, 2009

This photos lives on my nightstand.  This is my Aunt(ish) Nancy and it’s a photo of her I never saw until after she died.  It reminds me that people carry a whole host of stories and happenings with them and not to judge or be to quick to “sum” people up.  We all have stories to tell and I should be so lucky to hear them.

Not that I ever wrote her off but I didn’t ask who she was in her heart.  I like to think this might be how she saw herself, right up to the end.

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Here are the folks who are also posting Vintage Photo Friday.

Green Jello

Knot Sew Crafty

Sheep on a Spring

Pineapples & Artichokes

and soon Pamdora

Through the Looking Glass

Handy Crafts

My Own Crafty Wonderland

Let me know if you want to join in or bail out and I will edit accordingly!

&

Our homework this weekend is to ask 1 person to tell us a story about themselves from before we knew them.  Could be a good blog post.

Have a great weekend!

It Should Have Been Called the Mollifier. February 26, 2009

Who doesn’t love the pixelator?

This is my youngest with his patented double pacifier move.  I’ve seen him juggle more, happy as a clam.  We’ve told him that when he turns 3 and has his big “Duckie Party”, it will be time to say goodbye to his pacifiers.  We told him that we will attach them to his birthday balloons and say goodbye.  He and I both dread the day.  Rather, I dread the night after his symbolic pacifier floats up up and away.

It was much easier with his older brother.  Sometime around 2 all his pacifiers were dirty at the same time and then he never asked about them again.  I chalked it up to something right I must have said or done.  My second child is my humbling child (and for that I really do thank the little scamp).  We’ve tried the dirty trick, both on purpose and by happenstance, but no dice.  He practically chained himself to the kitchen gate until we figured out a way to sterilize, STAT!

So do your kids use pacifiers or do they all gnaw on organic Birch wood stumps lovingly hand-carved by your partners at night as you both don’t watch television?  I am not defensive about these little plastic orbs I swore my children would not use, nope, not at all!

If you are like me, and you succumbed, when did your kiddos stop?  How did you help them with the process both before and after?  And what did you use to pacify yourselves?

Play Dough Goodness February 23, 2009

February is the month I volunteered to make play dough for my son’s classroom. We had great success with the first batch, a pink sparklie blob made tons more fun used in conjunction with a brain jello mold (stolen borrowed from a friend).  No photos of the play dough brain but I snapped plenty of round 2.

Pretty Standard Play dough Recipe (as given to me by my son’s teachers)

4 cups flour

1 cup salt

4 cups water

4 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup cream of tartar  (this stuff is a little pricey but I always do what teachers tell me!)

Mix in saucepan and stir until dough is formed and not sticky.

glitter,kool aide, food coloring, curry (will get to this soon) optional

*I believe this is my first recipe I’m sharing on my blog. Dinner at my house for all my friends!

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I won’t admit what time it was last night/this morning when I found myself at the stove mixing up this batch like a mad scientist.  Let me recommend that you not double the recipe.  I decided to so I could make an extra big batch for school and have some left over for my youngest to enjoy.  Man, “stirring” the globby mess for about 30 minutes or so was not enjoyable.  Next time I will mix up the dry ingredients and cook it in 2 separate batches.  Something else I will do differently is leave out the curry powder.   I have used curry and coffee to dye playsilks before with really cool results.  Not so with play dough.  First off, I dumped all my sweet curry from Penzey’s into the play dough, never to be seen but sweet goodness are we SMELLING it!  I’m guessing the teachers are going to politely ask me to make another round tonight.  I ended up using food coloring and made an orange and a yellow.  I rolled them into balls with the yellow on the outside and the red “hidden”inside.  Hope they are enjoyed.  We have had a blast smelling playing with our lot this morning.

I’m typing a plug for the play dough accoutrements to be found in your house (or in thrift stores).  We go on a hunt as part of our playdough prep and this time we came up with an egg slicer, tea bag press, magnifying glass, pencil, straws, tooth picks, sandwich shaping thingie, measuring cups, bottle caps and a building block to use as a roller.

Feel free to share any of your play dough tips and tricks!  Always looking to mix it up. or like they sing on Yo Gabba Gabba, “Go crazy, go crazy!”.  That show is a larger part of my life than a) I would like and b) would like to admit.

Alphabet Sunday :: P February 22, 2009

Lauren (from afar), says P is for Pickle Punk:

Tracey (from her computer chair) says, P is for Pet Show:

Dag Nabbit February 20, 2009

I keep forgetting about Vintage Photo Friday.  It’s me, not you.  Well, probably a little you.

It’s my grandmother, Rousseau, my mother’s mother.  The shot was taken June 1960. It’s a great silly one.

And I think technically it also qualifies for Yellow Week.  Just can’t shake it.  So hello and goodbye to all my Yellow Week friends who found the blog through House on Hill Road you are a quiet bunch but I feel you.

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Pineapples & Artichokes is playing along with VPF!

And Green Jello is thinking on it.

Sheep on a Spring is in!  She posted a lovely shot of her parents.

Knot Sew Crafty will be joining us just as soon as she beats her scanner into submission!

Pamdora has decided to hang with the cool kids, look for her to join VPF in March!

Yellow Day :: Day 5

And I think this wraps up Yellow Week, at least for me.  This week I learned that I like the structure of having a theme but that it also makes me a bit of a lazy blogger.  I also came to find out that I do not really love yellow.  I like yellow-green, yellow-gold, yellow-orange but not really yellow-yellow, public banana eating yellow is not my thing.

And to wrap up my warm fuzzy infused post I share with you my yellowish final entry:

I am counting her necklaces and scarf as having yellow tones.  Right?

This is a doll my father brought back from India for me when I was a little girl.  She has survived (not unscathed) many a move and I treasure her more now than I did as a kid, I am sure.  Just look at her jewelry, her chain, her mendhi, the fabric – she is divine.  I went a little clown shoe crazy today and took many many shots of this doll.  Check out my flickr if you want to ogle this lovely from more angles.

Yellow Week :: Day 4 February 19, 2009

I do like to do drive by (photo) shootings.

I was on my way to meet friends for dinner and leaned out of the car to get this shot of our local second run movie theater.  It has just begun to snow and the light was right.  I love my new 50mm lens.

Yellow Week :: Day 3 February 18, 2009

Ducks for breakfast?

We Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Program… February 17, 2009

Sorry to bust in on “Yellow Week”  but I wanted to share (share, brag, whatever) about a fun meet up I had today with Mimi and Melissa.  Mimi and I met up once before (twice if you count her being kind enough to give me some boxes, which I will put to good use if sales ever pick up again in my shop.) but this was the first time meeting with Melissa.  It wasn’t the first time we planned to meet up but the first time it actually happened!

It was lovely.  Lovely and surreal.  It is strange to meet up with people who you a) already know bits about, some really deep and personal, from reading their blog and b) have so much in common with from the word jump.  As we climbed to the top of the stairs in Mimi’s amazing house on the way to her studio, Melissa squealed, “Just look at this linoleum!”.  I’m used to being the only friend who thinks the vintage wallpaper in the house my friend is planning to knock down and build up something else in it’s place is amazing.  It was easy conversation because we were speaking the same language without any of the awkward getting to know you chit chat, “What’s your favorite color?”.  At times I felt like they were speaking an advanced version of the language as they are both talented working artists but I enjoyed hanging in there and drinking it all in.

It is inspiring to be around people who combine dreaming with doing.

After lunch we took a walk to see an old rusted iron fence Mimi wanted Melissa to see and on the way we popped in to our local fabric store.  It was fun to watch Melissa get some recognition for being one of the Free Spirit (not Fresh Spirit as some may call it) designers and to see her do her thing.  I had to stop myself from yelling, “I’m with her!”  And her!” Next time I go in I will ask if they are carrying Melissa’s line yet.  I will NOT be buying the salmon fabric they are currently pushing.

We continued on our walk to the fence and once there we all three whipped out our cameras and began to DOCUMENT.  Each of us will post our photos and it will be interesting to see our different takes on the same subject.  Here are my non-yellow shots of the aforementioned rusty fence.

I really like this one Mimi took of Melissa and I doing our thing.

So thanks for an enjoyable afternoon.  Being with you both has expanded my dreams and for that I am grateful.  That sounds a little dork-ass-punk (or DAP as my husband says) but it’s a true story.