Tea towel gift wrap

I picked up this sweet Christmas tree tea towel at my local thrift shop for 15c and realized it would make cute gift wrap. I'll have to look out for more throughout the year for next Christmas.

Wish list

Loving this Chester Wallace Tote from Canoe. Made from vintage canvas, it's a clever design, working both as a smaller shoulder bag and a huge tote if you need it.

You got your wish - it's *still* raining

You reminded me of an episode of Living With Ed where he buys a rain barrel and his wife hates how it looks. I actually kind of like the way it looks, but then you know how I feel about orange. I consulted his book to see if I could find a resource for you but alas there wasn't one. It does say it costs $90 which seems steep. He also writes you shouldn't water your vegetables with water collected from your roof, just your ornamentals, which I wouldn't have thought of.

Can you believe this weather? - I bet we could have filled up a couple of barrels over the past couple of days.

I do like the grey one below. If we lived in the city of LA we could get a free barrel as part of the LA Rainwater Harvesting Program. LA Times article here.

Update: I think I just found Ed's rain barrel here.

Rain Rain Don't Go Away

I am loving the wet stuff. We don't get enough of it over here - compared with you. Crazy how you can live in the same city and have completely different weather.

So I am thinking to maximize we should invest in a rain barrel.

I like these - but wonder if they are too "traditional" for our mcm home?

$149-$219 at Gardener's Supply Co.

Maybe this grey one instead. (Supposedly designed after an English "dollie"??)

$149 at Gardener's Supply Co.

What do you think? I am hoping they go on sale in the new year.

Or we could just go the "do it yourself" route. Instructions here. Will watch Craig's List for free barrels.

Stay wet! xo

Welcome To Our Cabin

You need this...



From the stick man

Good morning

Interesting link via Simple Lovely to a TIME mag article on overparenting...

Something on my mind...

Bits and Bobs

Those crewel kits you have in the shop are tempting me...

I am becoming obsessed with vintage (60s-70s) crewel work.


(This one I found finished at the Goodwill.)


(And this one I LOVE. It is hanging on the wall of a friend's home. I want to try and make a copy of it.)

I also found a bunch of vintage brochures at the Goodwill for crewel kits.

It all took me to the Permin of Copenhagen website. There is quite a bit I am not into here (viking needlepoint anyone?) but I am enjoying their monthly free graph download. This month - a sweet little Santa needlepoint by the fire. Also giving me ideas about designing my own crewelwork advent calendar. Hmmmmmm...

Did you guys get to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Oh. My! I am sorry we didn't get to go together. It really was Fantastic.

Happy December!

Anorak

I ordered a copy of Anorak, the self described happy mag for kids, from Little Bean the other week and I wasn't disappointed. It's beautifully illustrated and put together. It reminded me a little of the insert Martha Stewart Kids magazine used to publish. My six-year-old saw it lying on the kitchen table and was immediately drawn to it. However, even more of a hit with him, was the Anorak Mag app I downloaded onto my iPhone. Lots of fun, especially the cycling and whack-an -anorak games. You can read about it here.

Cardboard Leaf Wreath

I'm loving this wreath made from 100% recycled cardboard.
$32 from Branch Home.

David's Dymo

I remember having a Dymo as a kid. It was royal blue. I didn't have the strength to squeeze the handle hard enough so the letters never came out properly. I always ended up frustrated and having to ask my dad.

I found David's Dymo at the Salvation Army. I've ordered some tape from ebay - let's see if the muscles in my hand are any stronger these days.







David had wood grain tape - no fair!

Of course there is a Dymo Love group on Flickr

Did I miss something?

Just stumbled across Clothkits via an email from Pallant House about their upcoming Henry Moore textile show. And I'm in love! (So good I am thinking I must be late to the party.)

I think they have quite a history (founded in 1968) in the UK - am I right Sam? They are great.

I'm thinking about sewing up one of these.


Cloth Kitty Ragdoll Kit

Do you think my girls would freak if I got them one of these instead of the American Girl dolls they are begging for? The clothes! ack!

I am also thinking of these corduroy smocks for the girls.


Babycord Funky Chicken Shift Dress Kit

The kit comes with "printed fabric, lining fabric (plain or ::sigh:: Liberty), beautiful shell buttons, top quality sewing thread and simple, illustrated instructions. All beautifully bound with a satin polka dot ribbon."

Oh my order trigger finger is itchy!

(Coincidentally I had stumbled upon Jane Foster and her fabulous house about a week ago. And here she is a designer for Clothkits! Do you know her blog Sam? It is right up your alley.)

Sunset

Have I told you this before?

I *LOVE* Sunset Books from the 1960s & 1970s, especially ones with a photo of the Sunset test kitchen at Menlo Park on the back.

Some recent acquisitions....







For more see the Flickr Pool Sunset Books from the 1960s & 1970s

Felt Coasters

Hey Tracy, here are the felt coasters I was telling you about from Anthropologie. I love the packaging as much as the coasters.

Making Adjustments

Oh! Time to make her the Poppy Doll. Could we find it if we look together? I'd like to make things for the girls this year. But oh that search for time. I need to make adjusments.

Speaking of adjustments and, your Better Homes & Gardens peek, I was reminded of this on my shelf.



The timing was right as I have returned to a Built By Wendy top I cut out at least a year ago. Maybe two. It is out of a corduroy I bought with you at the Cotton Shop. I sewed it up. And it doesn't fit. It is the first thing I have made for myself since high school. Needless to say I was disappointed. I've been pouring through books on adjusting fit.



Do you have a go-to for this subject. The Wendy books are actually pretty good on this. But I am thinking of ordering this too.

In the meantime, BH&G is entertaining me.




p.s. Love BFG. and let's talk about sewing for the holidays when we (gasp!) see each other Sunday!

Christmas Ideas

So Tracy, having been through it a couple of times, what do you get a two-year-old girl for Christmas?

I impulsively bought this because *I* loved it so much but I think I might have to put it away for a couple of years.





I recently spotted this Eco House which is fabulous and tempting but again may be a little old for her.



I fantasize I will have time to make her the Poppy Doll from Hop Skip and Jump and I even bought the pattern but I definitely need a back-up plan.

So much inspiration....

...so little time

Better Homes and Garden Sewing for Your Home, 1974



Tracy - you should try this with your butterfly chairs!



More photos here.

New Book Blog

Hey Tracy, thanks for all the book ideas. I found another resource you might like. There was a story on NPR about Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The boy LOVES these books and while they are not my favorite, I figure anything that gets him reading is okay.

It talks about parent's ambivalence towards the books a little bit in the story and interviews Tanya Turek, a mother of three who works in the children's department of a Barnes and Noble. She has a blog called books4yourkids.com. It's a great read.

By the way we finished Matilda and have decided to move on to The BFG.

Fox-y

So I abandoned the papier mache idea for a Halloween mask and went with something I knew better:



I sewed this up using a wool felt base and layers of scrap. (For D I fashioned a hounddog mask in the same way!)

Hope you guys had a wonderful and safe Halloween! xo

Post-Matilda Post

Oh Sam I love the images you've pulled together. Did you know I was thinking about being a fox for Halloween? I have these grand notions of a papier-mache mask. If I get my act together... Do you have a good papier-mache receipe? I'll have to find one.

Yes, a fieldtrip to see Mr. Fox is an excellent idea.



And testament to just how in sync we are, we are reading Matilda! K has taken to counting the "naughty" words as we go along. Seven in last night's chapter. We watched the movie over the weekend.

Other books we are into right now:

Fanny & Annabelle by Holly Hobbie

As a child of the 70s, I have a soft-spot for anything Holly Hobbie. This is a hit with the 5 yr old, and is a follow-up to her beloved Fanny. (I think Fanny is the better of the two. Such a good book!) Oh, but this one made David cry!

George and Martha by James Marshall

Heavy rotation again with the 5 yr old. Good stuff.

Annie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Stage Fright

The 8 year old likes this series, and this one is the latest. She is going through a book every day and half now! I think I'll to put her onto Enid Blyton - I loved the Famous Five when I was 8.

Beyond the Bakesale: The Essential Guide to Family School Partnerships

Guess who is reading this one? Ha! I have to say, though it is written for Public School Administrators and Teachers, I am finding it very inspirational, and thought-provoking.

Lighting Their Fires by Rafe Esquith

And this too. He is my go-to when I am feeling discouraged about our Public School system. Is there a theme here?!

The Grand Central Baking Book

Counteracting my Beyond the Bakesale reading. I LOVE this book. Molasses cookies on the schedule today.

How To Be Free by Tom Hodgkinson

Ok, thought I should include what is on David's nightstand. I bought this for him, reading about it somewhere - can't remember now.

Mr. Fox

Tracy, are you taking the bugs to see Fantastic Mr. Fox? Maybe we should get a field trip together. I've just finished reading the book to the boy and it was indeed fantastic. We are now moving on to Matilda...



1. IMG_2579, 2. Roald Dahl: Fantastic Mr Fox, 3. Fox, 4. il sogno, 5. Matte Stephens, 6. Freddy, 7. Fantastic Mr Fox, 8. Fantastic Mr Fox_6, 9. Fantastic Foxes, 10. redhood, 11. The Fantastic Mr. Fox, 12. ron2-10-09 084a, 13. Untitled, 14. "The Thrill of the Hunt" detail 1, 15. Untitled, 16. Fabric Farmers

A love letter, of sorts

Dear Two Green Chickens,

I know we don't post to you as often as we should or add items to the shop as much as we would like. But we've been busy of late. We have other coops to run, chicks to feed and fuss over, farms to commute to everyday. But it doesn't mean we are not thinking about you. We talk (text) about you often, have dreams and hopes for you, and look forward to the time when we can spend more time with you.



Please accept this new banner (designed by the very talented and fantastic Mr. Britt, more on him later) as a token of our love.

With love and affection,
Tracy and Samantha

Above is some artwork sent to us by S. Britt while working with him on the new banner.

Speed Thrifting

Between work and kids there is not much time to even thrift anymore. I'm resorting to 30 minutes on a Friday night after work - thank you Salvation Army for staying open late. Friday nights are more forgiving, no homework, no getting to bed on time, not even a bath! Well, the baby usually needs a bath but the boy can get away with it.

So in I go, after work. I look down the crockery aisle first then round the corner to the "other" aisle and this is usually where I find some great vintage paper goods. See below for a fantastic box of envelopes I recently found. Over to the bedding and fabric corner - why is there never any good fabric yardage at my SA? A zoom through the kid's clothes and a walk down the adult skirt and dress aisle in search a fabric. This tactic can sometimes unearth some wonderful and inexpensive yardage finds like the William Morris and Marimekko skirts below. I'm imagining making the baby some sweet skirts or tops from this. Imagining because I don't have time to sew anymore either...

How do you shop at the thrift store?

Get off the couch!

New to me, Kids Off the Couch, is a free weekly e-newsletter "that offers parents fresh ideas for using movies to connect their kids to culture".

You can sign up at www.kidsoffthecouch.com and check out their archives for kid-tested pairings of great family films and cool adventures in Los Angeles, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, apple picking at Riley's Farm and making apple prints with the kids.

saracarr

I think these will be my go to gift this holiday for the 8 and under crowd...

I love everything in sara's shop. The egg cozies would be a great stocking stuffer too!

(found via bloesem kids)

wiki-d

My favourite native plant nursery - Theodore Payne, in Sunland - has a new Native Plant Wiki chock full of useful information for the native plant gardener.


encelia californica

Listen up!

On a tip from Blair today, I picked up a ::free:: episode of Boomerang. Get it here. If you don't know Boomerang, their tagline is "it's like Public Radio for kids".

Check it out!

cool tool

Whole Foods has introduced an iphone app to "put healthy and convenient recipes in your pocket." Thank you very much!

Read about it here.
Download it on iTunes.

what's for lunch?

today:
nitrite-free oven-roasted turkey on whole grain bread with mayo and mustard
organic dill pickle
carrot sticks (chopped myself)
organic grapes and strawberries
organic whole grain pretzels
H2O

packed in:
lead and bpa free lunchbags from hanna anderson
bento boxes picked up at comic con by a friend
kids konserve stainless steel containers
klean kanteens

I find making lunches one of the biggest challenges of the school year. What are you packing?

vintage reads

in the shop