Welcome to Australia!  When the kids chose Australia as our first place to visit, I was a little unsure of where to start, since I hadn’t really thought through the “lesson plan” of the project.

Aborigine-inspired Dot Painting

I decided the easiest thing to do would be give the kids a basic overview of the country and see what interested them most.  We could take it from there.   Since I decided that we would not be using the internet as our sole source of info, we hopped in the car and headed over to the library.  This, in itself, was actually a great educational experience since it was the first time we actually had to use the dewey decimal system to find specific books. (usually, we just browse the shelves for kid’s stories).  We found a great book on Australia which highlighted all the basics like geography, resources, industry, population, etc.  As it turned out, they were most interested in aborigine lifestyle, local animals, and food.  I guess imports/exports, industry and geography just don’t cut it with the preschool set these days.

Honestly, they were fascinated by anything to do with the aborigines’ culture.  We checked out kids’ crafts for an Aboriginal Mask and Aboriginal Snake Painting, but in the end, we decided to do an art project inspired by the aboriginal dot paintings.  This ended up being one of the coolest projects we’ve done, and I’ve outlined the instructions below.  We talked about how the paintings represented something in nature or told a story in lieu of written books.  I like Deirdre painting the best — she said it is a mother snake with eggs and newly hatched baby snakes.  Jonah make Tuck the Turtle from the Wonderpets (basically, everything he does these days involved Tuck or Diego).

Then we listened to some didgeridoo music, and they managed to find some pretty funky Didgeridoo Trance/Beatbox which, although not traditional, was totally fun.  We tried making cardboard tube didgeridoos, but then Jon made some out of PVC pipe which sounded a hell of a lot better!

As for the wildlife, we read a book on marsupials, another book on snakes, and watched some you-tube video of sharks.  As luck would have it, I found a movie on-demand about a boy who rescued a joey, which fit in perfectly with our theme.

Yummy Meat Pie!

On Thursday we decided to cook an Australian inspired meal. (no, we did NOT go to Outback Steakhouse).  Jon found a website with recipes from around the world, and we decided to make Australian meat pie and apple/carrot salad.  We topped of the meal with cookies shaped like kangaroos (once again, not traditional, but the kids thought up the idea by themselves).

All and all, a good start!  Next…Bangladesh.

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Directions for Dot Paintings

Materials

1. Cardboard or wood
2. Acrylic paint
3. Q-tips (at least one for each color)

The Artists Hard At Work

Process

• decide what you would like to paint, such as a scene from nature, abstract design, or story image
• dip Q-tip in a darker color and outline the image you would like to paint.  Use a straight up and down motion to get a round dot
• dip Q-tip in a different color and fill in your object with dots
• use your dots to create different designs in the background
• when the paint has dried, you can go back with a different color and add features (eyes, mouth) to your images or more details to your abstract designs

Where Shall We Visit?

Maybe I was a little bit inspired by Julie and Julia, or, perhaps, its just the adrenalin rush preceding the first day back to school next week, but we are embarking on an “Around the World in 52 Weeks” project.   The concept is that we will “virtually visit” 52 countries in alphabetical order (looping through twice).  I figured we could learn a little about the culture and history, try out some recipes, do a few traditional crafts, listen to a little music, and (for Jon’s sake) drink a local beer.  I decided to let the kids pick what countries we focus on, the only caveat being that we will cover counties of our families’ heritage.  Of course, that means our country list will be somewhat Northern European-centric the first time through.  So, I proposed the project to the kids.  They thought it was a great idea.  In fact, they said they wanted to start with Maine, and could they please ride the horses when we get there.  Ummm… this was followed by a quick explanation of states vs. country, the concept of alpha order, and that, no, we would not actually be visiting all these places (as appealing as that would be…).  After running through a list of countries that started with the letter “A”, the kids unanimously chose Australia for our first visit.  And, for some reason, Deirdre has requested that we learn about funerary rites practiced by each culture (or, as she said, “what they do with dead people after they die”).    So, check back in next week to learn about our adventures in Australia!

Orange Tabby Kitten

Amigurumi are cute little critters crocheted in the round and then stuffed. The name comes from the Japanese words for “crochet/knit” and “stuffed doll”, and they seem to be popping up everywhere these days.   Toys, though they are, they seem to appeal even more to adults than to kids.  I started making these guys over the winter in preparation for a craft fair and just can’t seem to stop.  They are downright adorable, work up quickly, and make great gifts.  Although amigurumi can come in all sizes (I even made an 18″ Ponyo doll for my daughter), most of them tend to be pretty small, so they are a great way to use up odd stashes of yarn.  Also, they are primarily done in a single crochet, so they are easy for beginners.  Etsy has a myriad of reasonably priced patterns ranging from dolls and animals to fruits and veggies.

If you are just getting started and want to give it a try, here are links to a few of my favorite free patterns.  I have a tendency to tweak patterns as I make things, so my pictures aren’t exactly identical to the original, but should give you a pretty good idea.

Baby Triceratops

This baby triceratops was made with 100% wool yarn, and I used snap on safety eyes.  Although the pattern called for making the body and tail as two separate pieces, I crocheted them as one to reduce the number of seams.  I found the pattern through Crochet Pattern Central.

Fiona and Freda Fish

These sweet little fish were based on a cat toy pattern from Lion Brand.  I elongated the body, modified the tail by sewing it on vertically rather than horizontally, and added bows.

Winston and William the Whales

I love this little whale pattern from Bittersweet!  It is such a simple pattern, but so adorable.  I modified it slightly by crocheting fins for these guys.  Also, I embroidered eyes, rather than using safety snap on eyes.

Three Kitties Hanging Out

Last, but certainly not least, are my trio of kitties. This pattern was generously made available though By Hook, By Hand.  This pattern was the most complicated of all, and I did run into trouble figuring out the legs on the first kitty.  Also, I felted my kitties which was not part of the original pattern.  If you decide to felt them, use 100% wool yarn and stuff them before you put them in the washer.  (Be sure not to overstuff them or the stuffing will be visible between stitches.)

Many thanks to all the websites that made these patterns available!

I can’t believe that we’re already sweltering away into the middle of July!   As I sit inside, enjoying the AC, I thought I’d give a quick update on our Garden’s progress.

That's Me Hiding Behind The Tomato Tree

Let me start by saying that if crabgrass were a cash crop, I’d be rolling in green right now (pun quite intended).  Seriously — some parts of the garden, the crabgrass is so thick, I can’t even remember what I’ve planted.  It seems like the hotter it gets, the faster it grows.  And, of course, the hotter it gets, the less likely I am to stand outside weeding.   Anyway, on a more positive note, the runaway hit of the season is our tomato tree.  This was a little seedling that we got as a freebie at the Roger Williams Park Zoo on Earth Day, back in April.  My daughter carried it all day and managed to break almost every branch.  Even though we were instructed to wait until Memorial Day to plant it, I figured its only hope was to go into the garden early.  So, in it went the first week in May.  By July 4th, it was bigger than me!  I’m pretty sure some of the tomatoes will be ripe by next week.  Yum!  The tomatoes that we started from seeds didn’t fare so well.  I think their biggest hurdle was that they never got watered regularly when they were tender seedlings in our sun room.  … Something to do with a disagreement my husband and I had over who was responsible for watering them…  But, we got lucky, because a whole slew of ‘volunteer’s popped up all over the garden.  They must have been seeds from all the tomatoes that dropped of the vines last year.

We are also having good luck with our squashes, which is wonderful after last year’s disappointment (the rainy summer of 2009 caused all over our squash to get fungus and die back early).   Here is a picture of our first zucchini of the season!

First Zucchini Of 2010!

Happy Zucchini Plant

And, I can’t wait until the pumpkins start coming it!  As usual, the greens are a big success.  If you are new to gardening, I definitely recommend growing greens of any kind.  They are soooo easy to grow, its almost like instant gratification.  Between the early spinach, kale, arugula and other mixed greens, I haven’t had to buy salad greens in two months.  In fact, I’m actually getting sick of kale, but it just keeps on growing.

Unstoppable Kale

Here is a picture of a yummy salad using only stuff we grew — kale, zucchini, chives, and spring onions.

Yummy Salad

I’m also pretty happy with my herb garden.   So far, we have tarragon, chives, rosemary, thyme, mint, basil, oregano, flat parsley and cilantro.  Of course, it would be more visually appealing if I managed to get rid of all that crabgrass.  I just bought some lemon balm,  curly parsley, and stevia  plants to add.

The ‘volunteers’ sprouting up from our compost bin were also a pleasant surprise.  We have a few enormous squash vines (I have no idea what type of squash, but hope to find out soon!) and a veritable shrubbery of tomato plants.

Look What Grew In The Compost

Our ‘experimental’ corn and okra seem to be doing OK, too.  I call them ‘experimental’ since I’ve never grown either of them before and really have no idea how to grow them.  The corn was definitely ‘thigh high by the 4th of July’ and is sporting tassels, so I think we might end up with a few ears.  The okra had a rough start dealing with bugs but seem to have caught its stride.  The jury is still out on whether it will bear fruit…  Speaking of fruit, did I mention I almost killed my blueberry plants and apple trees?  Yeah, I went crazy spraying them with soapy water because I read it would kill bugs (they were infested with little green worm).  Well, it killed the worms, but all the leaves fell off!  The leaves eventually grew back, but no fruit on any of the bushes or trees.  Lesson learned — use VERY diluted soap/water solution.

When I moved to suburban Rhode Island from Brooklyn two years ago, I didn’t expect to see the wide array of wild animals that I’ve encountered in my own backyard.

Wild Turkey Hen Struts Across Our Lawn

I suppose the destruction of their natural habitats has resulted in many of these cute critters becoming our neighbors.  In addition to the ever-present squirrels and chipmunks,  I’ve seen foxes, possums, rabbits and deer.  I’ve even heard very creditable reports of coyotes and fishercats in the area (unfortunately, the ‘missing pet’ signs attest to their presence, as well).  However, my favorite wild visitors are the wild turkey.  Every time I see one of these amazing birds, I dig out my camera and try to snap a few photos.  Of course, my photos always look like crap and never do the birds any justice, but I wanted to post a few anyways.  Last week, we had a hen with eight poults visit our birdfeeder and spend over an hour traipsing through our yard, pecking at anything that looked tasty.  They are so cool!  It actually made me glad that our backyard has more weeds than grass!  This morning, my kids ran to the window yelling that the turkeys were back.  This time, there were two hens with the eight poults.  I’m pretty sure it was the same family that visited a few weeks ago, and I was really relieved to see that all eight babies were still there.

The Babies Nibble By the Birdfeeder

When immigrants from Europe began settling North America in the 1600’s, wild turkeys were plentiful and became an important food source.  By the early 1900’s the population had dwindled due to habitat destruction and over-hunting.  However, conservation efforts have returned wild turkeys to sustainable levels.  According to the North American Wild Turkey Management Plan  “the comeback of wild turkeys in North America is arguably the greatest conservation success story in history.” Unfortunately, the number of wild turkeys surviving to adulthood in Rhode Island seems to be dwindling, possibly due to factors including predators and poor weather conditions.   (The Providence Journal has more details.)  The RI Department of Environmental Management has asked that wild turkey sitings be reported to help track local populations.  I already reported ‘my’ brood to be added to the turkey census!

Mama Turkey Looking In My Window While I Take Pictures

Three Baby Turkeys Look for a Snack

One Little Turkey Walking Down Our Lavender Path

If you could be an animal, which animal would that be?  After giving it considerable thought, I, without doubt, would be a house cat.

Catnip Kitties

Just think about it — fresh food and water always on hand, the ability to roam about in the ‘wilderness’ (or suburban neighborhood) at will, an entire house full of couches, pillows, and beds at your disposal, chase squirrels when you feel a bit feral, and then come inside for a good scratch behind the ears…  I guess I wouldn’t want to be just ANY cat; I’d want to be one of MY cats.  I know, there is a certain level of cache and adventure to being a wild animal, but do you really want to have to hunt for your food every freaking day?  Not to mention, who wants to be dodging predators when you could be napping in the sun?

Box of Catnip Kitty Toys

Anyway, in honor of being a cat, I wanted to share one of our recent craft ideas.  Using a similar technique to my wild things felt dolls, my kids and I made catnip toys for our kitties (Bacco, Max, and Petunia) and some of our other kitty friends.  These little toys were fun and easy to whip up in an afternoon.

Materials:
1. Craft Felt
2. Scissors
3. Permanent Markers
4. Fiberfill or Cotton Batting
5. Catnip
6. Sewing machine or needle and thread

Step 1 (for the kids) – using the permanent marker, draw a cat face on one of the pieces of felt.  Draw eyes in a contrasting color
Step 2 (for a grown up) – cut out the cat face and eyes.  leave about 1/4 – 1/2 for seam allowance. trace the cat face onto another piece of  felt and cut it out so that you have to matching pieces (a front and a back)
Step 3 (for a grown up) – sew the eyes onto the face
Step 4 (for a grown up) – place wrong sides together of cat face front and back; sew together leaving 1 – 2″ opening at the bottom
Step 5 (for the kids) – stuff the toy with fiberfill and catnip
Step 6 (for a grown up) – sew the bottom shut
Step 7 (for the kids) – toss the cat nip toy to a kitty and see what happens!

Our cats love wrestling around with their catnip kitties!

Look What We Made!

Completely off-topic, my daughter made this creepily realistic pair of legs out of our leftover fiberfill and a pair of her tights.  I just had to post the photo.

Funky Tights - Preschool Artistic Expression!

One of My Displays – Kitties, Bags, and Hair Clips

I did it!  I survived my first large-scale craft fair this past weekend (a joint venture with my mom and cousin).

It was the Prospect Park Craft Fair in Brooklyn, and, I have to admit, it was pretty fun! I sold more than I expected, and I met so many great people — both sellers and customers.   Aside from a very small church fair that my mom and I participated in a couple of years ago, this was my first real craft fair experience as a seller.  Since I didn’t know what to expect, I reached out to some of my fellow etsians to seek their advice on what I should do to prepare.  I’m happy to say, I got loads of great info.  That said, there were lot’s of lessons I learned along the way.  Here are just a few things I’d like to pass along:

1. Beware of the Weather – since we were expecting a rainy day, we packed out canopy to keep our stuff dry.  As it turns out, the rain blew in sideways, at an angle, and totally defeated the canopy.  Now, water won’t hurt most of my things, so I wasn’t that upset.  That is, until I found out the hard way that the ink on my tags runs when wet.  (I printed them with my color laser printer at home).  There was a moment of frenzy as I ran around ripping tags of my carefully priced items to prevent the ink from staining my crocheted pieces.  Nothing was ruined, but I did end up with a number of items without price tags.   Then, once the rain ended, we had to deal with gale force winds which blew over canopies, blew over displays, and covered everything with dust and pollen (yuck!!!).  Honestly, the wind did more damage the rain ever could have.

Some More From My Stash

2.  Kids Count – One of my fellow etsians gave me a heads up to include some children’s items in my inventory.  Based on her advice, I whipped up a bunch of really cute amigurumi animals.  These ended up being really big sellers, and next time, I will be sure to have even more on hand.  What I didn’t expect was that kids would have such an impact on their parent’s purchase.  Whenever a child came over to my shop, I treated him/her just like an adult customer.  I chatted with them, told them about my items, and asked them to pick things up and touch them.  Most importantly, it’s just nice to make them feel welcome, but I realized the adults seemed to linger more if they didn’t feel like their kids were in the way.  And, the kids were definitely very vocal about making purchase recommendations to their parents.  As an example, I ended up sale a very ‘grown up’ looking celtic purse to a 7 year old girl, because she convince  her mom she really loved it.

3.  Hagglers are Not a Necessary Evil – At the small church fair my mom and I did a couple years ago, everyone haggled over our prices (which weren’t that high to begin with).  I had braced myself to face more of the same last weekend.  I was so pleasantly surprised that not one person haggled over our prices.   Its nice to know that given the right venue and right crowd, people actually appreciate the effort that goes into handmade goods.  I know there were a few people that walked away empty handed because they didn’t want to pay that much, but it was done in a very respectful manner without questioning the value of our items.

4. Get to Know You Fellow Sellers – Like I said, we met some great people.  I wanted to give a shout out to some of the other crafters we met along the way.  Please check out the 2010 Park Craft website for some pictures of the day (the little felted kittens were mine!).  Also, here are a few highlights:

Wooly Cat – this is my mom’s shop where you can find some amazing felted bags, hats and ballerina dolls.

Lyrical – this shop was our next door ‘neighbor’ at the fair.  I really admired her beautiful jewelry made with lovely, sparkling gemstones.

Born In Brooklyn - this shop was our other ‘neighbor’ at the fair.  She makes amazing handmade ceramic pendants.  I used to do pottery/ceramics myself, so I know the amount of effort that went into these gorgeous pieces.

AngelRox – this shop sells the coolest wrap around convertible tops/dresses/skirts/shawls.  I can’t even do them justice by trying to explain them — check out the site.  My sister-in-law bought one and spent the rest of the weekend giving us a fashion show with a new look every 15 minutes!

Regina and Rebecca (me) At Out Booth

Some More icebluberries Jewelry, Clips, and Cozies

When I first started this blog, I wanted to make sure I gave plenty of ‘air time’ to some of those people out there doing some really creative and fun things (and there are so many of you!).

Ballerinas In A Line

This post features the work of Regina Hamilton a.k.a Woolycat Designs. For those of you don’t know me personally, Regina is my mom, so I grew up with her creativity. She even showed me how to make my first mini doll quilt when I was 5 years old. In fact, I think she recently found it when my daughter was playing over at her house.

Poseable Ballerina Doll

In addition to her beautiful quilts and felted knit handbags, Regina has recently begun making a line of the sweetest little ballerina dolls. These are original designs and each doll is a little bit different. Some have flowers on their toes, others have flower necklaces, some have bangs, some have poseable arms and legs, but they are all charming!

When asked why she decided to try her hand at doll-making, Regina said that she always enjoyed playing with dolls as a child, and by making them, she can continue to enjoy them as an adult. Her favorite parts of the creative process are matching fabrics, trying to decide on hairdos, and embroidering different expressions for faces. For her, its like playing, and she loves that, every doll comes out a little different.

Pretty In Pink

She also enjoys making things for her 3 grandchildren. “It is most rewarding when I make something for one of my grandchildren, because no matter how it comes out they always love it, and it is always made with love.”

I also couldn’t resist including this lovely little doll family in my article. Take a look at the dolls and then look at the family below. (yep, my family!). My mom even used some of our old clothes to make their outfits. Talk about cool customization!

If you like these dolls, check out Regina’s other items at her shop, WoolyCatDesigns on Etsy. Her dolls aren’t yet listed for sale, but if you like them, please convo her!

"The Stockdills" Doll Family

"The Stockdills" The Real Thing

I have to admit, when I first saw the article about Polyvore in the New Yorker a few weeks ago, I thought “Are you kidding me?  Grown ups really spend their time doing this?”  But, as I read I on, I became more and more curious about this website.  Now, I’m totally hooked!

Homage to Betsey Johnson by iceblueberries featuring Betsey Johnson

Polyvore is a site for anyone who loves clothes, accessories and anything to do with fashion.  Here is the gist of it — you get to ’shop’ from an amazingly huge selection of fashion items by a myriad of designers (dresses, skirts, pants, shoes, jewelry, bags, etc) and add them to your on-line closet.  You can then arrange your favorite items into outfits, or ’sets’ and publish them to the site.  Once published, anyone else can look at your creation and comment on it.  Not only can you clip items that are already stored at the site, you can browse fashion sites on the web and use the clipper tool to drag in other items.  (It doesn’t work for all sites — sorry, you can’t clip things from Etsy).  Although, I’ve found that you can clip photos from the patterns at LionBrand.   If you’ve ever looked at a fashion magazine, and said “I would never have paired those boots with that skirt!” then, this is your chance to get it right.  It kind of reminds of “Fashion Plates” for grown-ups.  Remember when you were a kid, you loved those plastic clothing-shaped plates that you arranged over different textures, put a piece of paper on top, and then rubbed with a crayon to create an outfit?  This is like that, but with so many more possibilities.

Not only is it fun to create your own set, but its really cool to check out what everyone else has done.  The creations run the gamut from traditional fashion to completely surreal (think mix and match body party with wild accessories).  People can add custom background, photos of actual people, and fun text.  I’ve noticed that while working on sets, I tend to focus on items of clothing that I would either wear if I could actually afford it, like the Betsey Johnson ensemble, or items I would love to wear if I dared, like the can-can skirt.  It had definitely made me think twice about what I put on when I wake up in the morning.  Goodbye, sweats! (or as Jon calls them — daytime pajamas!).

Here are a few sets that I’ve put together, just for fun!

Can-Can by iceblueberries featuring Bird by Juicy Couture tops

Mad Style by

Usually, when I start a project, I have every intention to finish it.   That doesn’t mean that I don’t have a whole slew of partially finished project stashed away on the shelves.

Princess Petunia Attacks The Gown

I totally intend to finish them — someday.   However, once in a great while, I just hit a brick wall and say “no more!”.    That happened to me today.  By way of background, my family and I will be attending a charity event in memory of my cousin Karyn next week.  (check out this wonderful article about Karyn in the Billerica Green Newspaper). The theme of the event is “Prom Night”.  When I found out that all attendees were encouraged to wear real prom attire, I got really excited.  My brain was racing with great ideas — maybe an early Madonna-inspired dress with lots of tulle and long lace gloves; or perhaps something in the vein of “Pretty in Pink”.  I finally decided that I was going to make matching purple taffeta dresses for my daughter and me, and matching bow ties for my husband and son.  Who can deny the kitsch appeal?  C’mon, it would be the ultimate in prom cheese!

Spreading Out The Fabric

Well, here we are – less than a week before the event, and I realized I have committed myself to make 2 gowns and 2 bow ties in 4 days.  Not to mention, I am trying to get my act together for a craft fair for which I am totally unprepared, unpacking from an impromptu trip to NYC, and dealing with 2 very cranky, over-tired kids.  But, I was determined to give it my best shot.  I managed to get the bodice out and stitched together.  (My daughter took a photo of me laying out a burgundy dress to use as a pattern for the bodice of my purple gown).

Measuring the Gown

No sooner did I start sewing the bodice, the kids took the rest of the fabric and decided to make a tent out of it.  During the tent venture, my son managed to close the top to the storage ottoman on my daughter arm.  While dealing with arm-in-the-ottoman incident the cats decided to get into a fight in the middle of my fabric.  For the icing on the cake, my gathering thread broke on the skirt, and I was faced with starting the gathering process again.  Then, the light came on.  “Do I really need to do this?  Am I really this crazy?”  And, the answer was, no, I didn’t need to do this!  We will have just as much fun wearing something out of our closets.  So, I balled up the fabric, half-finished dress and all, put away the sewing machine, and called it a day.  It was cheap taffeta anyway, and I can always use it for a kid’s project.

It made me think a bit about how much of our day to day stress is really necessary and how much is self-induced.  Sometimes it feels really good to just say “no”.  And guess what I’ll be wearing to the event?  Yep, the same burgundy dress in the photo that I was using for a pattern.  Go figure!

Princess Petunia Sleeps on My Half-Finished Gown