Folk Art and Forestry: Happy 5th Birthday Miss Belle!

Happy 5th birthday to my goofy Miss Belle! She has been counting down the "sleeps" until today. Such a cute kid! To celebrate this special occassion I took the kids on a picnic hike earlier today. And we managed to get some pictures of her new birthday dress during our adventure.

Vintage-Style Sweater Clip

This weekend we're going to visit my husband's family. And that means family pictures. We've started a new tradition where each family group chooses a color and this year our family is going with purple. So I've been trying to piece together purple shirts for all of us and I think I've got almost everybody figured out. Which is good because we're leaving in less than 48 hours. I decided to put Miss Belle in this purple polo dress and sweater but I didn't like the way the sweater was hanging on her. Then I remembered those sweater clips that little old ladies wear to keep their cardigans in place and wondered if I could find materials around the house to make a simple sweater clip. Coincidentally, while I was in the living room pondering Miss Belle and Little Boy Blue were playing in the coat closet and trying on old winter coats. I noticed a pair of mitten clips (without mittens attached. Ironic.) hanging from the size 2T coat Miss Belle was trying to squeeze into. Aha!!!

Batgirl!

One of my favorite things about this job is collaborating with customers to come up with new designs. The Firestar Supercape Set was originally made at the request of a customer and is now one of our biggest hits!

Passover Pageantry

It's my favorite holiday of the year- Passover! I love all of it: matzoh ball soup, searching for the afikomen, my mom's mouthwatering brisket, a table full of family and almost-family (30 this year!). In our house we've been busily preparing for the Seder. Toffee matzoh, flourless cookies, and charoset are all freshly made and waiting to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. And then, of course, there are the clothes.

Saltstone Zoo

Yesterday was a dark, stormy, rainy day. April Showers, for sure. Miss Bloom was at school and the little ones and I thought we should do an art project. Miss Belle has a book of art ideas that she and Grandpa checked out from the library. She wanted to paint animals on pebbles. Unfortunately, we didn't have any pebbles lying around and the weather was not pebble-finding friendly. So we decided to make our own! Stones made from salt dough.

The Superhero Blanket

Recently, a customer approached me about a special project. She wanted a superhero cape, but one that was warm, soft and big enough to snuggle up in. Thus, the Superhero Blanket was born. It buttons at the neck like a regular superhero cape.

A visit from Flora Soleil and the Fairy Button Ring

It's been five long months since Miss Bloom lost her first baby tooth. The tooth next to it was wiggly (it became wiggly the day after the first tooth fell out, if you ask her) but, as much as she played with it, that little guy wouldn't come out. On Monday Miss Bloom and her friend Kat paid a visit to the school's resident tooth puller. Kat's tooth came out but Miss Bloom's wasn't quite ready. Finally (finally!) Miss Bloom came home from school yesterday with that precious envelope from Madame Lorena.