14 Wednesday Nov 2012
Tags
abstract painting, birthday painting, Collage, happy birthday, mixed media, Monita Boesewetter, secret subway station, Semester at Sea
Happy Birthday to my beautiful, brave, friendly, inquisitive, funny, crazy friend Lily. Thanks for the adventures- from traveling the world to chasing Monita around Manhattan to searching for secret subway tunnels with the double stroller…We are so happy you are in our lives! XOXO
13 Tuesday Nov 2012
Posted in Likes, Organizing, Projects, Vintage
Tags
Anchor Hocking storage jar, Brooklyn kid resale, children's clothes, children's consignment, Clementine Consignment, clothing, Lulu's Then and Now, Manhattan kid resale, vintage buttons, vintage trim
Some of my favorite clothes for the girls are vintage finds from thrift and resale shops. Clementine Consignment in Manhattan and LuLu’s Then and Now in Brooklyn are frequent stops for us. These resale shops also buy gently used clothing and will donate items they can’t resell, so they are a great resource for moving your kids’ outgrown items. We got this sweater at LuLu’s for under $10, changed out boring buttons for pretty vintage ones and added black lace over the pockets. Flea markets, Ebay and Etsy always have great stashes of vintage trims and buttons. We keep ours in these big glass storage jars. Our little white sweater is now as Josie would say: “fancy”.
13 Tuesday Nov 2012
Tags
Brooklyn General Store, cashmere yarn, Etsy, heirloom knit, hoodie pattern, knit hat, knit hoodie, knit pattern, knitting for kids, Lyalya Hoodie ABC
Despite the 65 degree day we had here yesterday, cooler weather is on its way. This is one of my favorite knit hats for kids. It is from the Lyalya Hoodie ABC Pattern, available from her Etsy store here. (The pattern provides directions for adult, baby and child sizes- hence the ABC). The hoodie is simple to make up and keeps little necks warm in the wind. We used this amazing yarn from my favorite yarn and craft shop Brooklyn General to make ours. The cashmere is soft and warm and lightweight and this hat will get passed down from big to little sister.
09 Friday Nov 2012
Tags
antique doll, back yard archeology, Beachcomber Museum, childrens toys, doll, Frozen Charlotte, Outer Banks NC, turn of the century toys
Chris dug this out of the back yard last week. I knew immediately what it was because I’d been hoping to find one since August. Chris missed her at first, thinking the tiny head was just a white shard of pottery. He stacked it on a log out back with some broken salt shakers and a red jug handle – (We are becoming quite the archeologists around here). I learned about Frozen Charlottes at this amazing museum in North Carolina this summer. Charlotte dolls were popular children’s toys at the turn of the century. I wonder who used to play with this one in our back yard, and what became of her as she grew. What other secrets are hidden out there? What secrets will my girls leave?
06 Tuesday Nov 2012
Tags
cloth diaper, Debbie Bliss, diy knitting, Essential Baby, heirloom knits, knit for baby, knit gifts, knitted bloomers, knitting patterns, Romper Panties
This is one of my favorite knitting patterns. These bloomers are roomy enough for wearing over big cloth diaper butts, and they are good for layering with tights or leggings as the weather gets colder. Ada wore her pairs of knitted bloomers for a couple of years and now they have been passed on to Josie. This new red pair is for cousin Emeline. The pattern is adapted slightly from Debbie Bliss’s Romper Panties Pattern from Essential Baby. (Most of the knitted keepsakes at our house are from Essential Baby patterns). The elastic waistband is added after knitting and I used this tutorial by Knit In Your Pants. This method of elastic attachment keeps the waistband stretchy, but flat and comfortable. Hooray for knitting weather!
**You may also like these knitting projects:
05 Monday Nov 2012
Tags
blanket stitch, child costume, craft for kids, diy, felt, felt and ebroidery thread, felt fish necklace, felt play food, sewing for kids, Wool Felt Central
We originally made these fish necklaces for part of our Halloween costumes. Josie has since claimed them so I decided to post about how to make them. We also made some individual fish for use with the play kitchen and Josie has been cooking them up all morning. To make your own felt fish necklace you will need:
*Various Colors of Felt (We use wool felt from Wool Felt Central)
*Embroidery Thread in Contrasting Colors
*Embroidery Needle
*Stuffing
*Scissors
*Card Stock to Make Pattern
*Pencil
1. Draw fish shape on card stock and cut out.
2. Stack two sheets of the same color felt, hold fish pattern on top and carefully cut out fish shape.
3. Place a bit of stuffing inside of two fish and use blanket stitch to sew together with embroidery thread. Older kids could do this part themselves.
4. After stitching the perimeter of the fish, put the needle up through the head and sew an X through both sides to make an eye.
5. Pass the needle and thread down to the center of the fish’s tail and leave hanging until all fish are sewn.
6. To make a necklace, use the hanging threads to sew fish head to tail. To make individual fish, just cut the thread.
*These would make a cute garland, or the long string could be tied to a dowel to make a toy fishing pole.
**You may also like some of these earlier felt projects**
02 Friday Nov 2012
Posted in Inspiration
Tags
Brooklyn, Halloween, Hurricane Sandy, Inspiration, Instagrams, mermaid costume, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Costume
Instagrams from the week:
*Mermaid on Cousins’ Porch
*Huge Tree Down in Brooklyn
*Josie in Aunt Sandy’s Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing Costume
*Too Many Days Spent Inside
02 Friday Nov 2012
Posted in Projects
Tags
back yard, cedar fence, gardening, gardening with kids, home improvement, living with kids, Northern White Cedar, spring bulbs, Spring Hill Nurseries, White Flower Farms
We finally have a fence! We have been working on plans for the back yard since we moved into our house in August 2011 and we now have some progress. We still have a lot of work to do out there, but it feels good to get something solid done. Some days living in a house full of projects seems overwhelming – Especially when Chris and I have pretty full lives and a learning curve for each project that comes our way…Here are some before and after photos so far:
*The Back Yard Before We Moved In (I was too chicken to walk back there)
*And Now
*View From Above, (With Metal Awning)
Chris did a lot of research and decided on Northern White Cedar for the fence. A1 Fence is not in our area, but they have a good description of cedar use for fences here. Our contractor ended up getting our wood from Minnesota. We like the non-chemical and low-maintenance aspects of the cedar. It smells lovely and weathers well without painting – and withstood the hurricane winds quite nicely. Chris also devised a crazy contraption to sift the debris out of the soil. (A post on that will come). We hadn’t realized how much trash was out there when we moved in – What the heck were people doing out there?
*Some Debris From the Back
When all of the trash is out of the soil we plan to lay out sod in the spring and eventually Chris will build a play house for the girls using the scraps of fence and bricks from a previous project. The girls and I planted bulbs and bushes right before the storm hit last week. The plants seem to have weathered it quite well and we cannot wait to see green back there come spring! We ordered from Spring Hill Nurseries and White Flower Farms and all of our plants came at the right planting times per our zone requirements. We are gardening virgins here, but we are dreaming of these blooms next year: Hyacinth, Tulip, Iris, Lilac, Peony, Helleborus, Narcissus, Fritillaria, and Lilies. Hooray for future plans!
31 Wednesday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
costumes, family, first trick-or-treat, Halloween, home, hurricane, old house, Sandy, storm, thankful
Happy Halloween!
It has been a dramatic and scary week for many of us here on the East Coast. We are thankful our family and friends are safe and that our home weathered the storm, and our hearts go out to those who were not so lucky. We spent a night upstairs Sunday sleeping away from tree the branches creaking and bending outside the windows. Chris and I were up late listening to the wind and hoping for the best during our first real storm in this old house. Ada and Josie jumped ecstatically on the feather bed we’d put down for them as we adults tried to look brave. This week also had our family waiting out a frightening but ultimately successful medical scare. We are so thankful that all is going well with our sweet cousin and niece. Both the storm and the surgery are now becoming the past and healing is starting. The last week makes me want to hug my girls and remember how lucky we are, and what a luxury it is to be able to take that for granted. Chris just left with the girls in their costumes for a Halloween party. They are off on adventure of first trick-or-treating and have quite forgotten about the scares of the past few days. I am happy to be here alone for the moment, in an empty and now quiet house, feeling thankful.
26 Friday Oct 2012
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
Blaze, butterfly forest, Ebay, fall leaves, Guesellino, H Mart, Italian kids shoes, shopping, Studio Bimbi, style
Instagrams from the week:
*Colored Leaves from Our Walk Home
*Beautiful Packages at H Mart
*Josie Sleeping in Boots She Refused to Take Off (Studio Bimbi boots were an Ebay find when Ada was her size. I cry every time I dig out the hand-me-down shoes that Josie has grown into.)
*Josie, Sleeping in Her Shoes (These Gusellino shoes were another Ebay bargain. The Italians make the best kids shoes!)
*Rain on the Screen
*Dinosaur Pumpkins at Blaze (This was our first visit and the kids had a great time spotting all of the spooky and beautiful animals. Ada especially loved the butterfly forest.)
**We are off to celebrate Halloween early. What our your upcoming Halloween plans? Have a wonderful weekend!
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