Category Archives: Organizing

Found Marbles

25 Thursday Oct 2012

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We have been doing a lot of work in our back yard, in hopes that the girls can get out there next year.  (When we moved in, we mistakenly told them they could play outside before we realized how much trash and glass and creepiness was back there).  About a month ago we replaced the chain link fence with a cedar one, had an overgrown (15 ft!) shrub cut down and ripped out the strange metal carport that someone installed as an awning.  Chris has devised and built an amazing soil-sifting contraption that fits over the wheelbarrow and he has been slowly working through the rich, but trash-filled soil that was the former back yard.  He has come across so many marbles in his sifting!  We found a few marbles poking out of the ground when we first started looking back there, but digging has unearthed so many more.  We are up to 37 now, which we keep in a glass in Ada’s room.  Marble hunting has become a sport at our house.  We wonder where they all came from.  Were they put there to decorate a garden?  Left by kids playing?  I love the mystery of an old house…

Vintage Finds: Globe Banks

23 Tuesday Oct 2012

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We picked up this little pair of vintage globe banks at a Brooklyn antique shop this weekend for $10 each.  These banks are small- about 5″ tall and a good start to an inexpensive collection.  Ebay has quite a few globe banks listed here.  I love that they combine saving money and geography.  Banks used to hand these sort of globes out to kids to promote saving, (presumably in the institution stated once the globe was packed with pennies).  Our girls usually put extra change in our big glass jug by the front door.  Maybe these globe banks will be the start of their savings to travel the world.

Redecorating for Fall

12 Friday Oct 2012

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I like to change the painting in Ada’s room to match the tree outside her window.  I noticed some yellow leaves out there, so it is time for some fall colors.   It is also time to lay the girls’ rug back down on their floor.  The bare wood seems to keep the house cooler in the summer.  A warmer spot to sit and play is needed when the temperature drops.  We turned the heat on last night for the first time, (after a call to the repair men),  and I am getting out the warmer blankets this weekend.  Our (first!) spring-blooming bulbs arrived in the mail yesterday from White Flower Farm.  We are excited to get started on our new garden and will get the plants snuggled in the ground this weekend.  I can’t seem to stop thinking about soup and pie recipes.  This Cheddar Apple Pie from Gourmet is amazing.  What are you doing at home to get ready for fall?

Wooden Blocks

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

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We have a collection of various wooden block sets, but these Uncle Goose numbers are my favorite lately.  We keep them in a big antique yellow ware bowl so they are easy for the kids to get to and clean up.  I love the colors and the carved details and their weight.  This set also has a rocket ship, skyscraper and circus on its sides.  There is something perfect and timeless about a child playing with blocks.  There are theories that block play leads to better understanding of language structure and spatial relations.  But I love to watch the girls imagine worlds and structures without bounds as they stack blocks.

Summer in a Jar

30 Thursday Aug 2012

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Ada’s jar of treasures from vacation.  Contents as follows: bouncy balls won with tickets on Wildwood boardwalk, ticket from Cape May Whale Watch, sea pebbles from Nags Head and Cape May, Captain Joe Napoleon’s trading card from the Cape May-Lewes Ferry, sharks teeth from the hostess at Mako Mikes in Kill Devil Hills, fossils from pit near the gift shop at the Roanoke Island Festival Park.

Cloth Diapers

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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This is one of those photographs that may not be beautiful to anyone but me.  This is a stack of clean cloth diapers on our dresser.  We can see this stack from our bed and it makes me feel happy when the stack is high and neatly folded.  It feels like a full pantry to me, like having supplies on hand.  We have used these for both kids and the routine of washing and drying has become second nature to us.  My sister just had a baby girl and I was reminded of how many questions we had – about diapers and sleep and feeding when Ada was born.  It is strange how stressed out the tiny details can make you at first, and then those details become the daily routine.  And then the routine turns into years and the details are blended into the memories.  I wonder what I will remember about the early days with children when I am an old woman.  I know I will remember the smell of a new baby head, and how Ada looked curled up against Chris as she slept.  I bet I will remember the stack of diapers.

Pop-Up Sponges

31 Tuesday Jul 2012

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I love Trader Joe’s pop-up sponges.  They are completely flat and compact until you add water (Ada’s favorite job).  I like to use a new sponge every few weeks and these are made of plant material, so the old sponge can go right into the compost bin.

Color Jars

30 Wednesday May 2012

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We found these jars at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst Massachusetts.  The Art Studio there had some great interactive projects for the kids and lots of inspiring ideas.  (We had more fun in the library and studio than the actual exhibits).   The gift shop is a wonderful and dangerous place packed with all the best children’s authors.  I love this use of jars to organize craft materials by color.  The blues are all recycled container tops waiting for kids to make into art and the browns are seeds and bark.  Ada is constantly bringing home treasures and this is a great way to organize them.  The jars look so pretty lined up on a shelf.  I love that a simple bit of organization can turn trash into beauty.

Chalkboard Grocery List (Old, Meet New)

23 Wednesday May 2012

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We have been on the hunt for a vintage chalkboard for the kitchen.  We found the perfect one at Brimfield, and then left it for too long and someone else bought it.  (I know, I know totally amateur move.  And I used to be in the antiques business…When you see something you love, get it before someone else does).  Luckily we found a small reproduction slate at Sturbridge Village the next day.  These slates were used by school children to practice lessons before schools had paper to hand out to everyone.  We use the chalkboard to keep a running grocery list and then take a picture of it on the phone before running out to the store.

Angela, Meet Charlie (or How to Clean a Wool Rug)

04 Friday May 2012

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We love our Angela Adams rug.  Her designs are abstracted from nature and her life in Maine and her rugs are made beautifully and responsibly.  We have had this one for about four years and have been really happy with how it has held up to kids and spills.  The wool resists stains better than cotton rugs, but it still needs a good deep clean once in a while.  Charlie’s Soap is my favorite for the job.  (We get our Charlie’s at Green in Brooklyn if you happen to be in the neighborhood).  I didn’t quite understand the hype over this soap until I tried it.  It smells a little funny, but it is amazing.  I dilute the super-concentrate, spray it onto the rug, let it sit for a minute, and then wipe down with a damp towel.  (Be sure to test for color fastness first).  The Charlie’s Soap label says it “Cleans Everything From False Teeth to Diesel Engines”.  I cannot vouch for the teeth or engine part, but rugs it works wonders on.