DIY Family Time Capsule

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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We found so many things buried in our back yard when we were renovating.  The broken pottery, bone buttons, metal and marbles were all hints from the past.  We also found wild violets and strawberries and bulbs planted by previous tenants.  These things inspired us to make our own time capsule to bury under the grass and soil.  We decided to make two identical capsules: one to be opened when Ada is 18 and one to be left under the ground until we are gone and another family digs it up.  Here is what we included in our time capsules:

*A vintage juice glass from the collection we use daily.

*3 marbles that we dug up from the dirt.

*A silver spoon the girls used as babies.

*A family portrait that Ada drew in 2012 which was transferred on to ceramic (see that post here).

*Package from borage seeds we planted in the garden.

*Business card with our email and contact info.  (But who knows if email and phones will be around in the future?)

*An expired driver’s license.

*Ticket from Jane’s Carousel in Dumbo.  (The girls spend a lot of time here).

*A drawing of our house by Ada.

*A note from Ada about our family now.

*A note from me, about what I hope for our children in the future.

*A letter to us and people in the future – detailing who we are, our plans for the house and garden, and a little bit about the neighborhood.  We wrote this on archival paper with pencil, in hopes that it will be legible when it is dug up.  The letter also explains the contents of the capsule.

*We used these Anchor-Hocking jars to pack the contents, and placed a few layers of plastic between the screw top and glass.  Our hope is that the aluminum tops will not rust and will keep out some of the moisture from the ground.

*Chris cut pieces of wood to fit around the glass jars, so that a shovel will not break the jar when they are dug up.

We look forward to digging up our time capsule and remembering how we were in 2013.  Hopefully the jar we leave behind will give the next occupants of our house a little taste of the history that came before.

Flea Market Finds: Linens

22 Monday Apr 2013

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One of my usual searches at flea markets is for vintage linens in good condition.  I get especially excited when I find unused vintage Irish linen napkins with the original label still attached.  Linen lasts forever and washes beautifully in the machine.  For tough stains I pre-treat with Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap.  We use the cloth napkins at mealtimes and the dish towels for drying the dishes afterward.  I find that if we have paper towels and napkins at our house that we use a ton of them.  The linens save paper and make dinner seem a little fancier.  I found these napkins and Ireland dish towel at the Brooklyn Flea this weekend.  The booth owner even washed, pressed and tied the napkins with twill tape.  All 11 napkins and the towel came to $20.  Bargain!  Ebay has some pretty vintage napkins here and dish towels here.

Inspiration

19 Friday Apr 2013

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It has been a few weeks since I posted our Instagrams.  We have had two weeks full of house projects, kindergarten tours and lawn preparations.  I am quite happy it is friday and we are all looking forward to a slow and unscheduled weekend.  Here are some Instagrams from the last few weeks:

*Ada’s Wikki Stix Flower

*Josie and Yard Toys

*Our New Sod!

*Josie’s Nesting Dolls Which She Lined Up Behind the Office Door (Thanks Aunt Anna!)

*The Aftermath of the Apple Surprise Balls

*Sleepy Josie

Have a wonderful weekend!

Spring Cleaning: Dusting

18 Thursday Apr 2013

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Our house has tall crown moldings that we rarely notice accept to bemoan their need of repairs.  I have never dusted up there and I am quite sure the previous owners did not. (It took a team of four people nine hours to clean the house before we moved in).  The cleaning team also ignored the crown moldings, so it has been at least five years since they got a good dusting.  I found this Sla-Dust this week and decided it was time to tackle the dusting job.  The Slack Dust Mop Company has been hand-making wool mops for over 100 years in Vermont.  The company is still owned by the same family and they  pride themselves on making sustainable, non-disposable quality products.  My Wool Hand Duster did a great job on the moldings and ceiling fans and also worked to grab dust out of the crevices in our radiators.  The wool head attaches with Velcro and can be hand washed in soap and water for cleanup.  I finished the whole job in under half an hour.  So satisfying!

Found Flowers

16 Tuesday Apr 2013

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This is what Ada and Josie found at Home Depot.  I hate going to Home Depot.  I immediately turn into a zombie under the warehouse lights and can never find what I came in for in a timely manner.  We went only to the outdoor garden section this weekend to find some seeds and plants for our ‘window box’ (aka air conditioner guard).  The girls ran around gathering fallen flower heads from under the displays.  Ada cannot come home from Home Depot without pockets full of stray nails, screws, pieces of wire.  Her trash treasure collecting annoys me most of the time – especially after I wash her jacket and realize that it contained piles of dry leaves.  When we got home she and Josie handed over the pile of flowers they had collected and asked that I put them in a bowl.  It looks lovely on the table, this magpies’ pile…I should remember that this love of found things is in their blood.

Charcoal Water Purifier

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by in Likes, Organizing, Vintage

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I have been trying to escape our habit of keeping a Brita pitcher on the counter.  It makes our water taste better, but the unattractive plastic container hurts my eyes.  I came across this Kishu Binchotan Charcoal at Dry Goods in Brooklyn last weekend.  (See my post about my new favorite store Dry Goods here).  This charcoal is actually just a piece of ceramic-like burned wood, charred at super high temperatures.  The charcoal absorbs impurities in the water and makes it taste much better.  The Brita and many other filters use the same charcoal technology.  But these Binchotan sticks look better and don’t come ground up and housed in disposable plastic.  (Technically NYC water is safe to drink without a filter, and we had ours tested to be sure there is no lead in our old pipes.  But I grew up with well water and I like ours to have that similar taste).  I boiled the Binchotan Charcoal for ten minutes per the directions, dropped it into my vintage ice tea pitcher and let it sit for a couple of hours.  I was thrilled to find that the taste is as clean, and even better than water from the Brita.  This glass pitcher is a welcome addition to our countertop.  Ebay has a great number of inexpensive vintage glass pitchers here if you want one of your own.  Cheers!

Flea Market Finds: Ironstone Pitchers

11 Thursday Apr 2013

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Pitchers
The city is working on some water mains down our block and has shut off our water during “working hours” for the next week.  The working hours seem not to fit the schedule of those of us who work at our houses, but oh well.  It feels a bit like pre-indoor plumbing days around here and we have pressed some of our large ironstone pitchers into service to hold water reserves for the day.  We have been using them to water plants, flush toilets, and wash hands.  Every household used to have at least one set of a similar large pitcher and basin for washing hands and faces before faucets spouted instant water.  I have always been drawn to the smooth white shapes of these vessels at flea markets.  (These two happen to be from the attic of Chris’ grandparents).  Sets of ironstone pitchers and basins can be found for relatively low prices these days. We tend to separate the two pieces and use our basins for toy and napkin storage, as well as for hand-washing linens.  The pitchers make perfect large vases and are especially lovely filled with peonies.  You can find your own ironstone pitchers here on Ebay and Etsy.  (Hopefully you will have water from your own sink to fill them with).

Back Yard Progress: Blooms

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

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We have flowers!  The first of our fall plantings started to bloom this week.  It seems the squirrels left the bulbs alone over the winter and the spring flowers have all started to show themselves.  Our Hyacinths were the first to open, quickly followed by a couple varieties of Fritillaria.  (These seem to be overshadowing our Hellebores in the back, so we will keep an eye on placement this first year).  The Lilac, Lilies, Peony, and Viburnum are sending out green leaves.  The only casualty seems to be one Hydrangea that we transplanted in the late fall.  An abundance of wild violets has returned to the newly-cleaned-out lawn space.  Ada and I have been transplanting them to the designated garden space before our sod arrives in a couple of weeks.  Our three-foot Japanese cherry tree arrived via post office from the Arbor Day Foundation last week.  It was a bargain at under $18 with shipping!  We planted it as our first tree as a family and it has already shot out bright green buds.  This is all quite a learning process, as neither Chris nor I have had a real garden of our own before… This post shows some of the before photos from the previously terrifying back yard – (I found a dead rat back there on our first walk-through of the property).  Our backyard bees are arriving in May and will take up residence in the far corner of the yard.  Chris found these German beer garden table and benches yesterday, which we are considering for use on cement patio.  We can hardly wait for the girls to have a real yard to play in!  We are slowly making progress and looking forward to perhaps even relaxing amongst all the projects outside this summer.

Dry Goods

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

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I got to spend a sunny Saturday wandering around Atlantic Avenue with friends this weekend.  (Thank you to the Dads for kid-watching!)  We stumbled into a sweet shop named Dry Goods and ended up spending an hour in the tiny, well-stocked space.  I have a weakness for useful and beautiful housewares in pretty packages and Dry Goods is stocked full of just these.  The owner Carla travels, stockpiles and curates the collection and offered a wealth of information about some unfamiliar products: Charcoal Toothbrushes!  Swedish Sea Salt Soap! Hair Powder!  Here are some of my favorite finds:

*Kishu Binchotan Charcoal Water Filters – These simple charcoal sticks purify tap water, are reusable and look much nicer than the plastic Brita on our counter.

*Couto Toothpaste – Created by a Portugese pharmacist in 1932, super-minty, and all-natural.

*Sea Salt Soap – This Swedish soap has the best packaging ever and people swear by its sea salt formula.  A customer came in and bought a case while we were in the store.

*Binchotan Charcoal Toothbrush – The bristles of this brush contain actual charcoal to help clean and prevent the growth of bacteria.

*Lu Lu Organics Hair Powder – Magically cleans hair without a shower.  Great for travel and smells lovely.

*Herbacin Kamille Glycerine Hand Cream – This German cream has a smell that is light and reminds me of my childhood somehow.  It leaves hands soft.

*Paine’s Balsam Fir Incense – These all-natural incense logs smell like an entire balsam fir forest.

Spring Cleaning: Wooden Cutting Boards

03 Wednesday Apr 2013

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It is that time of year.  Time to tackle all of the little projects that show themselves in spring’s light: Window Washing, Quilt Airing, a good Floor Cleaning…I like to give our wooden cutting boards a good scrub with lemon and salt.  The lemon removes odors and the salt helps scrub away stains.  To clean your own wooden cutting boards you will need:

*Salt

*Lemon

*Baking Soda (For tough odors)

1. Cut lemon in half.

2. Sprinkle salt on lemon.

3. Scrub and squeeze lemon on board to make a paste.  Add more salt as needed to cover the board and rub in a circular motion.

4. Allow salt and lemon to dry in the sun.

5. Wash and repeat if odors still linger.

6. For really tough stains or smells, add baking soda to the salt mix and scrub.

7. When boards are clean, allow to dry in a sunny window.

Now on to the windows…

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