Walmart may be the best source of local produce?

Really? Potentially better than Whole Foods? Really? Hate them or love them, WalMart may be single handedly bringing back small farms. Really?

Interesting article from the Atlantic, where chef prepares side by side comparisons for discerning pallets with surprising results.

Listening to life

I started a new book tonight in the quiet moments when my husband was giving my kids a bath. I love it when that happens! I would like to become a more contemplative person and I'm hoping the book "Let Your Life Speak" by Parker Palmer will help.

I wanted to share the opening poem with you because I think it is beautiful:

Some time when the river is ice ask me

mistakes I have made. Ask me whether

what I have done is my life. Others

have come in their slow way into

my thought, and some have tried to help

or to hurt: ask me what difference

their strongest love or hate has made.

I will listen to what you say. 

You and I can turn and look

at the silent river and wait. We know 

the current is there, hidden; and there

are comings and goings from miles away

that hold the stillness exactly before us.

What the river says, that is what I say.

  - William Stafford, "Ask Me"

Tell me a story

I promised that I would publish the instructions for a craft I led recently at our MOPS group. This post is terribly tardy. And I apologize for those mama's waiting for this information. God bless you!

I first ran across story dice on Amy's blog and promptly ordered a few from etsy and this great artist. When they arrived I squealed with delight. The packaging was beautiful and it feels good to buy things that are made individually by such talented people. I think I was more excited than the kids were. Aren't they cute?

But then I discovered this great tutorial for making them and asked the author to post the illustrations she used. And she did! So now you can make them too. They are super easy and you can find the blocks at JoAnns or Michaels depending on what size you want. I've used 3/4 inch to 1 1/2 inch blocks with success.

These are pictures of the dice that we made for our craft. We put them in cute little purple bags. I think the moms really liked them!

I originally ordered these dice as a cure for our witching hour between 4-6 in the afternoon when I am trying to make dinner and am spent from the day. I think it was after I read the Creative Family book and they talked about drawing together as a family and just making supplies available to the kids to create when they want. The good stuff too. And it does help. I think my kids will be even more into this as they get older, but just creating the little booklets was really fun and they are filling them up with pictures and 'stories'. Now that they can write letters this will be a fun activity to re-introduce.

This is our little story center. It is setup in our dining room so the kids can access it anytime.

Have fun!

My quest for a fashionable camera bag

...has not been easy, let me just tell you. My goal is to find a bag that is cute that can hold my dSLR, an extra lens and flash and the battery charger in one place. Ideally it'll have some padding to keep everything safe. And it should be beautiful - not boxy and black. I'm not a professional photographer.

Here's what I've found so far:

I love that this bag is quilted and roomy.

This bag is beautiful! And according to this blog, is roomy enough for what a girl needs.

This is cool because it has dividers and was intended for photography.

I like this one too - again designed for a DSLR. Small too, a bonus.

But the one I tried first (in part because it was cheap!) was this cute bowling bag from Amazon.com:

I think it is going to work, though the hubby isn't thrilled with the design. I think he was hoping for a bag that he could lug to sporting events. This is not that bag. But really, when are we apart for said events?  It fits my Canon and an extra lens, but not much else. You might be able to shove the battery charger in there - it is a bit of a tight squeeze.  The bag has a little padding, and will keep everything nice and clean when not in use (a concern for households with curious kiddos). It is small enough that I can throw it in a larger bag or purse too if I go on a trip.

Will keep you posted. Anything else I should be considering?

If you really want to know me...

You should look at what I'm reading. Anyone who knows me knows that I read a lot. And as I was cleaning up I was noticing all the places I'm tucking away books because I don't have shelves up.

In my kitchen, I've placed my go to cookbooks by the oven so they are handy. I love these books. They are the ones I use over and over and over.

And these are the books on the table by my chair. Notice the books stacked up on the piano? My husband did that after he got sick of the tower of books on the table that kept falling over.

What can you tell about me from my books? I like to cook and bake, I have kids and am trying to figure out this parenting thing, I'm crafty, and I am our family's memory keeper. You already knew this? Look closer. These books tell you even more about the type of parent I want to be, the kind of life I'm carving out for my family, the kind of art that excites me, and the adventures I want to take.

I'm curious, what are you reading?

More projects for valentines

I ran across a couple more ideas that I think you are going to like!

How about a personalized flip-book from Color Me Katie? Super simple and won't cost you a thing.

You can find lots of creative gifts that are hand stamped and personalized at my buddy Carissa's etsy shop here. (I found a super cute gift for my sweetie but don't want to spoil it before the holiday!)

Lots of great ideas here too.

And over 30 printable valentines are listed here for you to use.

On a related note, I finished making my heart garlands and they turned out so cute! I brought them to our local parent fair to decorate our MOPS booth and they looked great. I also made simple pendants that were super cute too. What do you think?

My friend Kelli dropped of a Vera Bradley catalog with lots of pinks and reds in it and I used a heart punch and some invisible thread to pull this together pretty quickly. 

And for these I just cut a 12x12 piece of scrapbooking paper in half and then folded those in half, identified the center of the open end and used my paper cutter to cut out a triangle. I threaded some cute red twine through the center and secured with double sided tape. I cut out the letters on my Cricut using Sure Cuts A Lot software and Gill Sans font.

Hoping you are inspired!

Sabrina, the ballerina

Lookout America's Funniest Home Videos!

And she recovers with a strong finish...

My first little dress

It is official. I feel like I've graduated to a new level of craftiness. It is one thing to sew squares for pillows or quilts. It is another thing entirely to fashion something you can wear and make it look good. I am one that cuts corners. Not someone that relishes in the little details that make a project look really professional. But I have to say that I am quite happy with this little dress:

She liked it so much she started dancing!

It was made from one of Jason's old shirts. I love re-purposing old clothes! It makes me feel good and it costs no money! And if I hate it when I finish - no big deal.

Anyways, I know you want to go into your husband's closet and start cutting apart one of his shirts. Go for it! I found a detailed tutorial here. Follow it to the letter. Do not deviate. I found the belt part a little confusing because I didn't understand that the elastic for the waist does not go inside the tube that you create, it goes between the tube and the dress. When I make another dress (and I will), I won't make the neck as scoopy or deep. And I broke a button sewing up the collar because I wasn't paying attention - so make sure you have enough fabric to create the casings before you cut the neckline/hemline. But everything else turned out great. And I already have the pattern set to go for another one.

I really thought that this would be something I could do in an hour or two. Not sure why I thought so... Cut off the collar and sleeves. Shape the dress and sew up the sides, throw in a little elastic and you are done. And that may have worked (seems like a couple ladies did that with good results). But the tutorial has lots of finishing work that helps it look super! What do you think? Here are some pictures of the project in progress.

And this is what was happening all around me when I basically took most of the day to make this dress:

Some more dresses to inspire you:

Valentine Goodness

I don't like to make a big deal over Valentines day, but it is nice to focus on your sweetie and tell them you love them. And the kids love holidays. It is crazy how much they anticipate each holiday. We started a tradition last year of having a fondue dinner together on Valentines and it was very fun. I made some chicken, asparagus, sweet potato fries, and pita triangles to dip in a cheesy gravy I made. And we cut up strawberries, bananas, apples, and brownies for a chocolate sauce that I made. It wasn't fancy, but it was very delicious and silly.

Sabrina liked it!

For those of you looking for a cheap and easy valentine for your kiddos check out this free printable valentine and little bookmarks. These would be so cute with candy hearts in celophane bags for class or teacher gifts. I love the owl theme!

More cute printable vintage valentines for you:

Or if you wanted to get fancy, you could whip up these a-maze-ing valentines:

Feeling crafty? How about making some tea towels?

Or maybe a beautiful wreath made out of fabric roses?

Or this adorable garland made from magazines.

 

Or leave your sweetie a simple note with heart shaped paper clips?

Have fun!

Make something cool: breezy easy dress

 

Take an old men's shirt and use it to make one of these beautiful dresses. Sounds fairly simple and I'm definitely going to try it. Tutorial with limited instructions here. And some more ideas for repurposing mens shirts for more advanced sewers here.

Free birthday calendar

For those of you looking for a little organizational help this year: Download a free printable calendar that keeps track of birthdays each year.

Repurposing sweaters

I ran across a couple of ideas this week for using sweaters in a creative new way. I think you'll like them.

Cereal is for suckers

Ok. That was harsh. Sorry. But it is how I feel this week. I told my husband yesterday that I felt guilty eating breakfast lately because it is so *dang* good and it made me feel sorry for the masses that consume cold cereal daily. But I've never been a big fan of breakfast, so that may be a contributing factor.

I'm in love with oatmeal. Yep. You heard me. Oatmeal. But not your instant quaker oats, just-add-hot-water-and-stir oatmeal. I've officially become an adoring fan of steel cut oats. Cooked slowly on my stovetop until they are creamy and perfectly chewy and yummy.

It all started with this recipe Jason sent me, encouraging my healthful eating kick I've been on lately. It was so good, I even made some for breakfast on christmas morning. It was that good. And good for you. Stick to your ribs. Feel great all morning. Good. You should make it. I highly recommend that combo of dried fruit in the recipe, but might I suggest a couple of alternatives that will knock your socks off? Dried pineapple. Solo. Don't add anything else. Tastes like Hawaii to me. Then try some with dried figs and cranberries. A.W.E.S.O.M.E. I'm just saying - I don't think you can go wrong here. Even plain with 1/2 mashed banana and some cinnamon are quite tasty.

It is a commitment. You will need to spend 30 minutes making oatmeal. But it isn't hard. You can do other things. And I make a double batch and store it in the fridge and eat it all week. Slow down folks! It doesn't take that long to warm it up in the morning and you will thank me. You will.

You are welcome.

Top 100 craft tutorials of 2009

The Long Thread posted some great tutorials here. Hoping you find some great inspiration here!

Garlands

I'm obsessed with garlands and I don't know why. I have to make one soon. (I have no idea where I am going to put it with 25 foot ceilings, but that is besides the point people!) I've already purchased what we need and this tutorial is really very simple. Seems easier than the holiday one I was going to do. I was thinking about doing one in fall colors the shapes of leaves, using little cookie cutters as a pattern. Seems like a good project to do with the kids - tracing, cutting, and then sewing them in a line. Something we could do in an afternoon together. I'll let you know how it goes.

Take a fancy picture of your tree

For those of you with fancy cameras, you should try taking a picture like this. Full instructions are here.