I actually was quite crafty today

I just don't have the photos to prove it.

I made a crown for a 2-year-old birthday boy, but we rushed out of the house so quickly I forgot to take a picture. Then, when it came time to open it, little Bjorn squirmed and squiggled out of his dad's arms. He couldn't get away from that crown fast enough.
Funny. It was kind of like what Bo did when I made her her crown last winter. Of course, when she saw me making the one for her buddy today, she begged me to make her one too. You have one upstairs, silly, buried under a pile of other rejected toys in your trunk.
("Pile of toys" is a relative term. If you're new here, you can read about my feelings on toys here.)

The crown pattern is really quite lovely, despite what the children in my life say. It's from Amanda Soule's book The Creative Family. You can see photos of other people's Creative Family projects (crowns and more) in Amanda's Flickr pool. Just make sure you grab a cup of coffee and allow yourself some time to linger.

I'm also halfway through another sewing project, but I want to make it a tutorial and I ran out of daylight to take photos. Stay tuned tomorrow.

I did take pictures of our outing this morning to Chaps, a truly original Spokane restaurant. We used to frequent it every Saturday morning, until we wised up and decided it'd be better to go for runs and hit the gym than load up on pancakes and baked oatmeal. To die for, by the way.
So, it's our "sometimes" Saturday morning tradition now. One of the best things about Chaps is its wee little play area for kids (see top two pictures). They stock it with vintage toys that fit the restaurant's western theme, like miniature horses and cowboy hats.

Today, a festival organized by Chaps' owner Celeste Shaw (part trauma nurse, part restaurateur, part interior decorator, part volunteer with children, part wonder woman) took place outside the restaurant. It was like a smaller version of the Farm Chicks sale from a couple of weeks ago. Very down home and folksy, complete with a cake walk. (I really wanted to remove the plastic wrap from the front cake in the bottom picture below because whoever decorated it did such a cute job. Bo wanted to remove some plastic wrap too, though, so I had to shoot photos quickly.)

Anyhow, the festival was lots of fun and it will be held once a month through the summer.

Comments

[Tine]

YUM! Look at those cakes!!

[Megan]

Aren't they cute? So simple and sweet.

[celeste shaw]

you are so precious, just read this and what a sweet and special way for me to end 2008! you know i adore you and the girls. love the chapsgirl. oh ps i think i have a bowl of oatmeal screaming your name!