What We’ve Found in the Back Yard So Far

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Marbles
Our marble count is now up to 59.  We find them almost every time we dig around in the back yard.  Chris is almost done raking and sifting the soil to prepare for sod this spring.  The bulbs we planted in the fall are unfurling little leaves and all of the plants except one peony seem to have made it through the winter.  (For the record I think the Hurricane Sandy delay at the post office killed the peony in the fall).  Spring Hill Nurseries sent a replacement peony at no charge and this one is looking much happier.  We ordered most of our plants for the back yard from Spring Hill Nurseries and they were wonderful to work with.  We just ordered a cherry tree from the Arbor Day Foundation and are anxiously awaiting the delivery of our first family tree.  The cherry’s sweet-smelling light pink flowers will be beautiful next spring.  (And Ada approved of the color).  The Arbor Day Foundation has incredibly inexpensive trees and they are even cheaper if you become a member.  We ordered this Japanese Flowering Cherry and it was under $20 with shipping.  Amazing!  We are also carving out a space for our bees (!) in the back yard.  Our spare room is full of pine boxes and frames and gear for them.  I cannot wait for the ladies to arrive in May!  I took a beekeeping class in January with two wonderful teachers: Grai St. Clair Rice and Chris Harp from HoneybeeLives.  I have been spending every free moment on these winter days reading about beekeeping.  We are so excited about our new back yard.  It finally feels like we are making this house our own and we can’t wait to watch our garden and our children grow here.  I do have to admit though, that I will miss finding the marbles while we clean the soil.

Pinning

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A New Project.  I love the beginnings of a new sewing project: ironing the wrinkles from the fabric, laying out tissue pattern pieces, smoothing and fitting and pinning.  I like having all of the pieces ready and then starting out with something new.  There is always such potential at the beginning stages.  No mistakes yet, no starting over or ripping out…just thoughts of what is to come and a path to set out on.

Winter Zoo

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We had a fun long weekend with cousins in town.  The weather was relatively warm and we drove out to the Bronx Zoo for one of the days.  The zoo in the winter has fewer animals on display, but also far fewer visitors.  We had a lot of the paths to ourselves and the kids got to get up close to most of the indoor exhibits.  The giraffe house was everyone’s favorite, despite the strong smell of giraffes…Josie sat in her stroller mesmerized by the giant slow-motion creatures.  I don’t think she realized that giraffes were actually alive or in any way as large and amazing as they are.  The little kids loved the Bug Carousel.  We are regular visitors at Jane’s Carousel in Dumbo, but the one at the zoo features giant insects that the kids can ride.  The flowers along the walking paths at the zoo are about to burst into bloom.  We saw the first of the Snowdrops opening, but if you are planning a visit there will be thousands of Daffodils open in about two weeks.

Inspiration

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Instagrams From the Week:

*Sisters at Breakfast, Bedford Hills

*Ada’s Illustration of How to Do One Braid Instead of Two

*Shrinking Balloon

*Water Glass

*Monster in the Bed

*Happy Plants and Yard Progress

*Have a great weekend!

Ikea Easter Gift

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My family goes a little crazy with the Easter gifts.  So Chris and I don’t usually get much for the girls’ Easter baskets.  I had a rather unsuccessful trip to Ikea the other day when my search for a lampshade and trash can turned up nothing.  But I did find a little Easter gift for the girls for under $20.  This Duktig Coffee and Tea Set is my favorite for the kids’ play kitchen.  Ada has broken a lot of the pieces over the years, so a replacement set will come in handy.  The tray is the perfect small size and paper coasters are always useful for a place setting of wooden food.

*Duktig Coffee/Tea $9.99

*Barbar Tray $5.99

*Skitsel Coasters $.99/10

It hardly seems like spring is on its way today, with snow showers in the air.  But these bright colors are making me dream of green grass and Easter egg hunts.

DIY Inspiration Books

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I love Pinterest.  It is a guilty pleasure of mine that I admittedly don’t have enough time for.  (Here are my sparse Pinterest boards).  As much as I love the online version, I cannot let go of good old-fashioned magazine tears.  I love the tactile quality of ripping out pages and I love cutting out and collaging the images together.  I collect photos from the pages of Martha Stewart Living, Country Living, Anthropologie catalogs, Domino, Blue Print, Martha Stewart Weddings, etc. etc and paste them into large blank sketch journals.   I think my idea for these books came from the amazingly obsessive collections made by my great-grandmother.  (I will post on Gram’s books soon).  I have used the images from my books as inspiration boards when I worked in fashion, as reminders of how I want our home to look when going out to a flea market,  and as idea pages for styling work.  But most of the time I just enjoy flipping through the pictures and getting inspired.

*Sorry for my lack of image credits above.  Unlike with Pinterest, I don’t keep my sources credited in my books.  I will be happy to credit any images if you drop me an email!*

Happy collecting!

DIY Child’s Smock Dress

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This smock dress is a variation on a vintage McCall’s pattern, #3470 from 1972.  I have had this dog print fabric for years and finally made it into a dress for Josie’s birthday last week.  (The dress was immediately trumped by Daddy’s gift of green pjs from Baby Gap).  Josie is at the age when a dog spotted on the sidewalk is extremely exciting, so I am hoping she will like the dress more as she grows into it.  The pattern is fairly easy and includes variations with pants and a jumper top with short ruffle sleeves.  (See our version of the ruffle sleeve dress here).  I love the short smock dress because it can be worn as a dress and then a top as the girls grow.  You can find your own pattern #3470 here, or search Etsy for other vintage patterns.

Happy Birthday Josie!

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It is hard to believe our little Josie is already two!  It seems like just the other day when Chris and I were planning our last weekend alone and my water broke two weeks early.  Josie has been sweet and kind and funny ever since her unexpected arrival.  Thank you for always making us smile Ms. Josie.  We had a little party this weekend and celebrated the actual day yesterday with cupcakes and berries and a pair of footie pjs from Daddy.

* Party Decorations.  Balloons from Bargain Balloons and silver and white lanterns from Tail of the Yak.  Heart Garland How-To Here.

*Coconut Cake from Ina Garten’s yummy recipe.  Beeswax number candle from Clothes  Pony/ Dandelion Toys in Fort Collins, CO – The Best Toy Store!  The Jadeite was an amazing Craigslist score.

*Bathroom hyacinth in a favorite Swanky Swig.

*Josie’s yearly Birthday Crown.  Cape by Wovenplay.

*Gift Bag Contents.  (I used to be anti-giftbag.  We never had these when I little, but kids love them and Ada insisted on making these).  Straws from Shop Sweet Lulu, mini fans and spirals from Pearl River Trading ,tape from Target.

*Cherry Vanilla Birthday Ice Cream.

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

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CherryIceCreamJosie turns two tomorrow (!) and we came up with this Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe for her party.  I was dreaming of cherry ice cream this year, even though we are months from seasonal cherries.  We ended up using frozen cherries and changing up Ina Garten’s Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.  We added almond extract and concentrated black cherry juice to make the flavor more intense and the results were pretty yummy,  if I do say so myself.  Josie just saw the ice cream photo on my screen and begged for more ice cream for breakfast.  Success.  To make your own Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream you will need:

*Ice Cream Maker

*3 Cups of Good Quality Heavy Cream (The quality makes all the difference!)

*2/3 Cups + 1 Tablespoon Sugar

*1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

*3/4 Teaspoon Almond Extract

*One Vanilla Bean

*Two 12 Oz Packs of Unsweetened Frozen Cherries

*4-5 Tablespoons Black Cherry Juice Concentrate (We used this from Dynamic Health.  You could also cook down unsweetened cherry juice)

1. Heat cream, sugar, vanilla, scraped seeds from vanilla bean and empty seed pod in saucepan until sugar dissolves.  Place mixture in refrigerator to cool.

2. Pour the frozen cherries into a deep sauté pan and cook down over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring often.  The cherries will release a lot of liquid at first and then begin to look more gel-like.  When liquid seems to be thickening, add cherry concentrate, almond extract and tablespoon of sugar.  Cook a few more minutes until mixture resembles loose jam.

3. Place mixture in refrigerator to cool.

4. After an hour add cream and cherry mixture together, put into ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s directions.

5. Allow ice cream to chill in freezer when complete and soften slightly before serving.

Enjoy!

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Flea Market Finds: Wall Sconce

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We have been searching for a sconce for our downstairs hallway for a while.  The fixture that came with the house was so awful it landed in the trash before I could get a ‘before’ picture.  (It involved some orange cubes that looked like Legos badly hot-glued around a bulb).  We found this wall sconce a couple of weekends ago at this shop in Saugerties, NY.  We usually hold out for a major bargain when we shop for house things, since we have so many things on our list.  This light was less expensive than city prices, but not as cheap as we usually go for.  We decided to buy it anyway and Chris hung it up as soon as we got home.  It turned out to be perfect for the spot and I am so happy we found it.  We are trying a new method around here: Instead of keeping our finds boxed up in a closet until our house is perfect, we have begun hanging up lights on our less-than-perfect ceilings.  It is nice to enjoy things now even if the plaster isn’t what we want it to be.   Some day our renovations will match the fixtures, but for now we are mixing perfect with not-so-perfect and getting on with living in an old house.

You can find your own vintage and antique wall sconces here on Etsy and here on Ebay.