First, some housekeeping.
(Not actual housekeeping, although I did plenty of that today. I think Magpie is ready to stop napping. I thought I'd be mourning this day, but I can actually get a lot done when I'm not always trying to be so dang quiet.)
Housekeeping, as in, allow me to wrap up some bloggy loose ends.
If you haven't visited my book sling tutorial lately, please check it out. I've cleaned up some of the wording in the instructions and added photos I've found of book slings made by readers. Nothing warms my heart more than seeing someone follow one of my projects and proudly post it on their blog. The latest popped up just today on Ohdeedoh. Take a look at those beauties.
Second, did anyone else see this article about mommy blogs in the New York Times yesterday? It was great--in a really embarrassing, cringe-inducing way. The graphic that ran with it in the actual newspaper was hilarious and horrifying (drawings of moms pushing strollers, playing with their kids, etc., while obsessively checking their phones and computers for blog stats and new comments). The headline also nicely summarized the story: "Honey, Don't Bother Mommy. I'm Too Busy Building My Brand."
Ouch.
The hook for the article was a blog boot camp attended by a bunch of women back east (some traveled from as far as Canada and California) to learn how to improve their blogs, draw more comments, make money, etc.
And while most of the article made me feel a little embarrassed about investing as much time into my blog as I do (and, relatively speaking, I don't invest much. Sorry. I would love to and if I had more time, I would. But I don't), the last paragraph makes a good point in defense of bloggers:
"(Blogging is) a way for mothers to flex their dormant professional muscles, make some money and, says Amy Lupold Bair, who runs resourcefulmommy.com and was a speaker at the Boot Camp, still 'take their kids to the bus stop in the morning and be there when they get off in the afternoon.'"
First and foremost, I don't make money off Penny Carnival. Of course it would be nice if I did and of course I have googled the phrase "how many hits on blog before you can sell ads?" But for now, I don't and I don't have ants in my pants to start. I enjoy writing and crafting and writing about crafting, and that's how this blog got started almost two years ago.
So what does that mean for Penny Carnival? Am I being left in the dust by other blogs? (Um, yes.) Should I care? There are so many beautiful blogs out there, that sometimes I wonder why I continue. Mine is so simple compared to others, and I could spend the rest of my life following other people's projects instead of coming up with my own.
But I would miss it. I would miss those stocking feet dancing around the wooden cupcakes up there. I would miss my little record of our family's creative explorations, even if no one was reading.
If I could shiny up Penny Carnival in one way, it would be by somehow inspiring people to leave more comments. I adore comments. I am like the women in the New York Times graphic who get all giddy and distracted when there's a new comment in the inbox. Thank you, thank you, to those of you who write.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Just thought it was an interesting article and a chance to reflect a bit.
Speaking of keeping things simple, we've been on a homemade play dough kick lately.
Raw ...
Baked ... and painted ...
(That's an elephant.)
Raw play dough is especially helpful at restaurants. While dinner cooks, the girls have been cooking up their own foodie creations (ice cream cones, hamburgers, pancakes, etc.)
I always use the recipe linked to here.
Let's see ... what else? It's almost time for the annual Farm Chicks show (OK, still a couple months away, but we get excited early). I think I'm going to try to snag some quilts this year so I can create this scene in my backyard all summer:
That's from a wedding featured on Ruffled, a lovely wedding blog that I would have been addicted to had it been in existence eight years ago.
Also from the same wedding:
Mmm ... mismatched vintage dinnerware. The shabby chic in me surfaces yet again. J and I planned to ask people to give us mismatched china as wedding gifts. I loved the thought of spending the rest of our lives eating off of plates with all that history, but it never panned out. We do have a few pieces from folks we told early on. Maybe it's time to revisit that idea.
Thanks, Emily, for sharing that link.
Lastly, here are a few of my newest articles on the About.com Kids' Parties site, for your party pleasure:
-What to put in an Easter basket besides candy (my ideas here and a roundup of ideas from other About.com guides here).
-I don't know how many of you have high school age kids, but here's an idea for a graduation party theme. I applied my love of vintage schoolhouse style to a party and threw out some ideas, which you could very much use for a younger kid's party or a spouse. I'll be adding photos to it later.
-And did I say yet that I have a Facebook site now for the Kids' Parties site? A few times a day, I post links to pretty parties I spot on the Web. Become a fan and follow along.
Nighty night.