penny carnival

Home organization when you have young children

I hope you didn't read that title expecting me to have some answers here. 

We keep our house relatively clean, but picking up toys, shoes and princess costumes is an ongoing battle. 

Magpie used to be our tidy child. Not anymore. Tonight, as she helped me make tortilla pie, she got all Julie McCoy on me, tearing up the corn tortillas and throwing them in the air like confetti. 

I've always intended to start a system where, at the end of the day, whatever is left out gets put away or donated. (I hate associating something negative with donation, though, so I don't think I'd ever do that.)

Ohdeedoh featured a brilliant and hilarious idea for this last week. Meet Gunny, the toy-eating sack. 

It's the brainchild of Cheri Heaton, of I am Momma Hear Me Roar.

Gunny's mouth opens up and he eats toys that get left out. 

I explained the concept to Bo today and told her I was going to make one (except a goat instead of a person since goats eat anything and since we have a garbage-eating goat in Spokane).

At first she thought it was funny, but as she started to think about it she decided she didn't like the Gunny Goat. 

She said, "Don't make it tomorrow." I said, "OK, I'll give you a few days to prepare (i.e., tidy the frig up!!!)." 

Then, after I put her to bed tonight she came out of her room to tell me she didn't want me to make one at all. I promised her I wouldn't as long as she put her toys away. If things get messy, I said, I'm sewing me a goat. (Only I used proper English. She has enough problems with pronouns, past tense, overuse of the word "poopy," etc.)

So, you see, I haven't even threaded my needle and that thing is already working. Thanks, Cheri!

Next project: a chores chart.

I have a couple different designs in my head. Stay tuned. That could be a tutorial soon.

I'm still trying to figure out the allowance thing, too. I don't want to tie it to chores. In other words, I don't want to give the kids a dime every time they do something they should be doing anyway.

But what happens if they don't do their chores? Do they still get their allowance? If I don't write my articles I don't get paid, right?

And how much do you give a 4 year old? A friend said half her age in dollars per week (so $2 per week). According to J, it should be more like 25 cents. I think he figures that if we did that, by the time she saved up for the Barbie doll she's always wanted, she will have outgrown Barbies altogether.

Considering she has decided that this year's birthday theme is "Barbie Goes Camping," I think we're kind of screwed on the whole keep-the-Barbies-out-of-the-house thing anyway.

Unrelated ... check out this beautiful greenhouse made from salvaged windows.

It was at the Red Barn Lavender Farm, which I visited while part of a culinary/agritourism trip last week. 

Sigh. I want. I hate wanting.

The tour took place in and around my hometown of Bellingham, Wash. I'm planning on writing a visitor's guide to Bellingham here soon, as well as one for Spokane (you know, just in case you ever stop by). More details then.

Also coming soon ... How to make birthday badges:

And sleep. Sleep is coming soon, too.

A party hat tutorial and treasure hunting

First of all, thank you thank you thank you to Ohdeedoh for featuring my little blog this week. I got all sweaty and panicky when I saw the interview go up, hoping like the dickens I didn't say anything stupid. So far no one has pointed out any major blunders--and if you see any, keep it to yourself, will ya? I love the way Alex from the Ohdeedoh team put the photos together. Makes me feel like this is a real blog or something.

Anyhow, welcome, welcome to those of you who are visiting Penny Carnival for the first time. Make yourselves at home.

Now for a new, old tutorial.

I'd made fabric-covered party hats for Bo's rainbow birthday two years ago and written up a quick tutorial then, but my directions were kind of lame and not illustrated with photos.

So, here you go, a new and shiny tutorial for making party hats over on my Kids' Parties site to replace the old one.

Those hats are for my dad's 70th birthday, which we'll be celebrating next weekend. The fabric (purchased at Jo-Ann's) reminded me of the neckties he used to wear to work in the '80s.

I keep forgetting to mention that last weekend, the girls and I attended the Funky Junk Antique Show, one of several wonderful vintage-goods sales in the Spokane area. You can see a few shots of the event here. It felt like the kickoff to our treasure-hunting season, and what better way to get the scavenging rolling than with this beauty:

Do you like how, out of habit, I'm treating it like a laptop there?

I am old enough to remember typing up homework on a typewriter. I'm pretty sure ours was electric, though. I remember having to use the eraser tape a lot, to correct all my goofs. 

This baby is fully operational. And for this price, how could I have walked away?

 

This was the view out my living room window tonight as I tested out the typewriter:

Happy weekend. 
   

Update: I swear that within the last few days someone either e-mailed me or left a comment looking for something from the blog's archives but now I can't find that message. I can't for the life of me remember who it was or what they were looking for. If that was you, please either leave a comment or send another e-mail. I'm happy to help.

Play dough, kids parties stuff and thoughts on blogging

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.

More Valentine's Day crafts for you and the kidlets

Just a quick note to say I've been cooking up more Valentine's crafts for my kids' parties Web site. Here are the latest:

Heart badges ...

 

Did anyone else notice the heart badges Julia Child (er, Meryl Streep) and her friends wore in Julie and Julia during the Valentine's dinner? I loved that scene. I loved all the scenes that showed the romance between the Childs. Anyhow, that's what inspired these felt-covered badges ...

 

A photo tutorial awaits you here. 

And here is a quick idea for Valentines cupcake toppers.

 

Can you believe my job entails me whipping up a batch of cupcakes while the girls are in preschool and then hiding all the evidence 10 minutes before I go pick them up so they don't suspect that being home with Mommy might be more fun than school? The cupcakes are waiting in the freezer for when they least suspect it ...

I'm updating to add one more tutorial:

Cupcake wrappers ...

And here you can find my other articles on the kids' parties site about different Valentines party themes, printable cards, recipes, etc. 

12 Days of Crafting, Day 5: Repurposing vintage Christmas cards

OK, so I'm 23 hours, 45 minutes into day 5, but it's still day 5 so take it or leave it.

Today's tutorial for my 12 Days of Crafting series over at Dwell Well is not so much a tutorial but a list of ways you can give new life to vintage Christmas cards.

You can find the cards in an antique store or just search through Flickr. 

I have more details over at Dwell Well, but here are some pictures of the things I made ...

Cupcake toppers (or cookie toppers if you didn't have time to make a batch of cupcakes):

 

Might be cute to cut these with a scalloped-edge scissor or pinking shears.

Garland:

 Place cards for the dinner table:

 

Napkin rings:

 

And gift tags:

Any other ideas? 

 

 

 
 

Repurposing a quilt top, this little piggy, and my sweet Bo

It has taken me 10 minutes to start typing this post because my hands are busy feeding my mouth a big hunk of bread that just came out of the oven. I would like to tell you that it's some earthy, nutty, whole wheaty bread, but it's not. It's white sandwich bread, made with overly processed flour. There's butter melting on top of it. And I'm in heaven.

First, congratulations to my friends Carolyn and Scott and their daughter Joey, who welcomed baby Julian into the world today. I always get weepy when that much-anticipated e-mail comes (or Facebook update, I should say. E-mail seems so old fashioned now, doesn't it?). Good work, Mama. Now cuddle up with your little bundle and get some rest.

I have a partial update from Saturday's trash-to-treasure presentation. As a reminder, the newspaper gave me $25 to buy some junk at the big indoor yard sale they host, and then I had 24 hours to come up with a plan to repurpose it. Then, in front of a (very small) audience, I transformed it.

One of the items I bought--for $5--was a quilt top. I don't think I'm going to win any points for creativity here, but I basically just used it like I'd use any fabric and turned it into an Emmeline apron:

This was the last project I did at the show because I knew it would take a while, so I sent the audience off to do more shopping while I sewed it up. They came back at the end (well, some of them did) to see the result.

Thanks again for everyone's encouragement before the show. It went fine. Later this week, I'll show you what I did with wooden alphabet blocks, an old picture frame, and a soda-bottle crate.

Now, shifting gears ... to poverty.

There have been a couple of pivotal moments in our 4-year-old daughter Bo's life. One was when she saw the Broadway production of "Annie" last winter. It's probably not P.C., but she still likes to don the Annie dress I made her and scrub the floors "like an orphan." Hmm ...

A second pivotal moment was when her beloved preschool teacher Miss Kathleen quit her job at the school to go back to social work, helping homeless women and children find permanent housing. Ever since then, Bo has been on the lookout for homeless people. She also sometimes asks me if Miss Kathleen has found a home for Annie yet. (After which I fruitlessly try to explain the difference between fiction and reality and then give up and assure her that Annie is with Daddy Warbucks now.)

Anyhow, on a more serious note, Bo's concerns about poverty--especially children without enough food to eat or without a place to live--has been growing. I asked her last week if she'd like to do something to help, and she said yes.

Together, we came up with a plan: she's going to make crafts that she'll sell at a local farmers' market and then donate the money to a crisis nursery here in town. So between now and Oct. 10, the date of her sale, we'll be stocking up on crafty-kid inventory.

She got started tonight with a project I've eyed for months now.

Presenting Bo's very first papier mache pig puppet:

 

(Turns out an empty thread spool makes a great snout.)

The little pig is drying now, and tomorrow he'll get a coat of paint and something to wear.

I'm sure we've all read articles about kids doing good things for charity, like donating their birthday gifts to a cause. I love seeing that, but I have to admit I've always been skeptical about how much the parents are pushing it rather than it coming from the kid. Not that it'd be a bad thing that they're pushing them to do. On the contrary. It's just the pushing I don't like--or the assumption of pushing, since it's just the cynic in me that questions the kids' motivation.

But I can tell you this crafting project of Bo's is coming straight from her heart. It's the first thing she talks about in the morning and the last thing she says at night ("are we going to help the people tomorrow?"). I'll never question those feel-good articles again.

It's enough to warm a mama's heart. 

Bread warms up other parts of me. One more slice before bedtime ...

From trash ...

... to treasure. Soon.

I'm on my way to a big indoor yard sale, where I'll be demonstrating how to turn castaway items into something better. The good folks at the local newspaper gave me $25 to spend at the sale yesterday. With Magpie at my side (and oftentimes very far away from my side--going junking with a toddler is challenging, to say the least), I spent the money on these items:

There were a lot of quilt tops to choose from, but this one for $5 caught my eye:

The cookie cookbook, well, it's full of cookie recipes. What can I say? For $3, I had to have it. The plan is to use it to decoupage, though, so I'd better pull out my favorite recipes now.

And am I the only one with a crush on these vintage metal trays? Mint and red. 'Nuff said.

Wish me luck! I'm going to be on a stage, which makes me a bit nervous. You would laugh at me if you saw how little the stage is, though. It's really no big deal. It's just that I'm used to crafting in my basement while wearing pajamas, not while wearing platform shoes with people who've actually taken sewing lessons in the audience. Eek!

I survived a make-and-take craft booth

As I just wrote on my other blog, I need a T-shirt that says that.

I'm back from 5 fun-filled hours teaching eager crafters (most of whom were darling little kids) how to make stuff out of secondhand materials at the North Idaho Fair. 

Take a look at some of their creations:

The one this kindergarten teacher made was one of my favorites:

How cute is this little monkey?

He sewed a pillow instead of a flower. And charmed my socks off in the meantime.

This is how the booth looked:

I displayed some of my crafty stuff to show folks how they could repurpose old objects.

And, yes, that's Amanda Soule's new book Handmade Home sitting in that wire basket. I bought it two days ago but haven't had a second to look inside yet.  

You can see more crafty photos from the booth here.

My only regret about the fair is that it fell on the night before the first day of preschool and I feel like I haven't properly ritualized the whole going-back-to-school thing with Bo. I think we'll have to get up extra early and go out for some pancakes to make up for it.

There's so much I could say right now about how inspired I was by the crafty kiddos at the fair, many of whom had never used a needle and thread before, and their ability to turn old sheets into beautiful objects.

Instead, though, I'm going to bed. G'night.