Flashy Produce Bags

The whole family is really ready for spring this year...the boys are literally jumping off the walls with all their pent up outside energy and like a sad April Fools joke it is snowing outside today. So, rather than enjoy actually spring weather I'm preparing for the growing season and the arrival of our CSA bounty and start of the farmer's market.

Last year I quickly threw together some produce bags so that when the big box of veggies did arrive I was able to quickly throw everything in cotton, breathable bags and get it into the fridge. It made things alot easier on 'box day' but the bags were made from such a flimsy fabric that they fell apart over the course of the harvest season and they didn't always protect the veg. from the harsh refrigerator conditions. So, this year, I took a little more time and made sturdier, thicker bags with pretty labels.
To make the labels I printed (mirror image) text onto iron-on transfer paper and ironed it onto twill tape. The bags are made from old tablecloths that I had long ago cut up and stored in the deep, recessed corner of my fabric stash cabinet. So, I'm very happy to bring them a new and thrilling life in the refrigerator.
In all I made six bags..3 larger ones for greens and smaller bags for herbs and vertical veggies like carrots and beets. I suspect I will need more but I ran out of old tablecloths! Got to do a bit more digging through the fabric weeds multipying in the studio.

Sewing for Pampered Travel

I had the great opportunity to spend a whisper of time with some lovely old friends this past week. I have missed many a birthday and holiday with this crew in the way that you do with too many close friends. So, I decided to take the opportunity to make a little something that could fit in a suitcase and pamper them a little bit on their travels.
So, I designed this easy zipper, beauty pouch and tucked in homemade face cleaner and facial oil from here. To make the pouch I cut one long piece of fabric in both an outside design and a lining fabric and attached the zipper to both ends, which is a little tricky actually but not bad. Then with the zipper half un-zipped I sergered up the sides (outside fabrics facing). Viola! Turned right-side out, it was done. Without a serger the same thing could be done using a french seam.


I can already tell you I'm going to be making more of these, they are so handy and simple...they also are just the right size for that small bit of leftover fabric that you love but don't know what to make with. In fact, I already made the extra striped one for my mom.
One little trick: it worked best if I used an extra long, plastic zipper and sewed through it rather than using the right size zipper and dealing with the weird-ness at the end of the zipper. I don't know if that makes sense.

Beet Lip Balm..Fail

In every aspect of my tinkering undertaking, I try to remind myself that failure is just as important as success. Without it, I wouldn't be learning anything new and just cranking out the same old thing, right? And, tigerlily isn't some kind of handmade factory. It's my place for trying, failing, sometimes succeeding, and sharing it with other people on the same journey. Got to remember that A LOT these days. Got an idea from a friend to try making beet lip balm. I set aside beet juice created when the beets cooked. I knew that water and oil wouldn't mix but thought that the shea butter and cocoa butter in the lip balm would serve as a medium that might solidify it all together.
I was wrong. The beet juice sank to the bottom and fractured into chunks for some reason. I'm going to have to try this again. Any ideas on how to make it work? All I can think of is stirring it a bit while it is cooling?
Also, thanks to an idea from Mama-Pan, I'm adding my homemade face cleaner, face moisturizer, solid perfume, lip balm, bug balm, and deodorant to the Tigerlily Market.

Witches Brew

It's not really witches brew but I'm starting to feel a little witchy with all of the homemade brewing and concocting going on. It is just so addictive to make things myself. They feel more pure and are such high quality but are inexpensive in the long run. Most of the recipes call for use of essential oils and they are definitely the most pricey items but they will last forever, as you only need a few drops most of the time. In fact, I wish they sold them in smaller bottles because I could supply the whole neighborhood with the ounce bottles I've got.
But to keep things on the frugal side, I decided to save old containers for everything I make, which means I spend NOTHING on packaging and save it from the recycling bin. It's amazing what can be reused--like an empty glue stick repurposed as a bug balm stick! So, for my sister's birthday I decided to make her a few things. She is possibly the only person in my world that wouldn't give me a funny look at getting homemade deodorant on her birthday. Bless her.
In addition to deodorant, face oil, and face cleaner I sent lip balm, rose-geranium solid perfume and cucumber perfume (seen below) packaged in an old eye shadow container, which worked like a charm. All sent in a vintage gift bag.


For myself, I also made (using a tutorial from the fantastic notions and threads. thank you!) I made these lavender sachets for throwing in the dryer and making clothes smells nice without the use of chemicals. Then, shazam! I threw in a few toads and flew off on my broom.

Happy Earth Day!

We've been making lots of changes around our house as a result of watching this video, The Story of Stuff. One of these is an easy one--getting rid of unnecessary catalogs. We get a bazillion catalogs (what feels like) every day and even duplicates of some, it is ridiculous. Anyway, a website called Catalog Choice allows you to register and then designate the catalogs you don't want to get. It's so easy and feels really good!

{think of it as saving this tree--the tree in our front yard, one of the oldest in town.}

Treasures

My mother, aunt and grandmother recently visited us for one estrogen-soaked weekend of fussing, cooking, gossiping and grandchildren spoiling. It was fantastic. On one wine filled evening we got to discussing sewing and making of things and my aunt informed me that she had acquired a slew of vintage sewing supplies when her husband's mother passed away and no one in her family wanted them. And, "Oh, how can I forget"...her husband's family used to run a flour mill had she had authentic flour sacks cleaned and stashed away..."would I like them?" I felt so guilty and certain that there would be actual connected family members upset if these precious things were given to ME so I mumbled some response. Well, lo and behold, just a few days after everyone returned home these gifts arrived in a package on my door. An incredible assortment of buttons and two flour sacks from the 40s or 50s. Oh, lucky me!
I cannot believe the windfall of free, vintage, incredible fabric coming my way these days! It is inspiring me to think about some serious garment sewing, something a little intimidating for me. But the fabric is screaming for it. Plus, it seems to precious to lay around doing nothing but 'stash'. You know?

{The buttons are so fantastic that my son said, "Is that candy? Can I eat some of your treats, Mama?" After he recovered from his disappointment upon finding out they were just buttons, he insisted I photograph him holding 'the candy'. But, as you can tell, I had to hold his hand holding the buttons because he COULD NOT keep his own hand still for long enough. Ah, three is a glorious age.}

Found Fabric

Little walk with the baby uncovered some fantastic fabric finds left curbside. I left it all out in the sun for an hour or so then soaked it in a borax-water solution before throwing it in the washer and drying outside. It doesn't have any smell so I think it worked. It previously existed as curtains and ridiculously poofy skirts...got lots of ideas about what it will be next.

Me. And My Stuff.

If you have not watched this video, do it. Now. It is called THE STORY OF STUFF and it is by Annie Leonard, she spent ten years researching stuff and how it goes from being a raw material to another item in the landfill. The response to the video has been tremendous, to such an extent that she wrote it all up in a book. It has really got me thinking, seriously, about how much stuff I have and purchase. Do I need it all? She goes into the marketing and mechanics behind getting us "the public" thinking we need more stuff. Anyway, it is long (20 minutes) but really well done. Do watch it. It's been haunting me enough that I got to talking with the husband and we decided to dedicate ourselves to consuming less stuff. But, it was all a bit overwhelming. I mean, what about gifts? What about buying (gasp) pretty fabric? So, rather than get burnt out on feeling like we have to do it all, we are starting small...with cleaning. We are using this book:

I've had this book for a while and it has great recipes on making your own cleaning products. (Did you know you could clean your bathtub with a lemon cut in half and dipped in borax!) So, as we use up old cleaning products we are cleaning and saving the spray bottles to whip up our own when we need them. I've always used 'green' cleaning products but every time I replace something I buy a new spray bottle or other contraption and that is ridiculous. It might be 'green' inside but not outside! Plastic is plastic. This (along with the new make-at-home self-cleaning) are all being calculated so that we can also feel good about our budgeting.

Our next step is to make a rag bucket that is accessible and filled with cut up t-shirts, towels, etc. so rather than reach for a paper product we reach for a reusable rag. I've also decided that the boys don't need any new summer clothes and will be scouring the local (and very small) thrift store for shorts and summer pajamas. As I'm there I decided to put on my list a few other things like a tarp for the sandbox, etc. that I might otherwise just run out and buy. It doesn't feel like much but I feel like since having kids I've given myself and an excuse to be a little lazy about this stuff saying "I don't have the time" but Annie Leonard convinced me that these are just excuses, it's time to get up and get to it!

The crazy part is how easy it is to fall back into consuming things. I have had a thought cross my mind that is mildly embarassing but I will share anyway..."With all the money we will be saving I could go out and buy myself something nice from Anthropologie as a reward." I nearly slapped myself! That I should buy myself something to reward myself for not consuming things. That's logic for you.

Self-Cleaning from scratch.

I've been getting a little obsessed with the recipes in the latest emailorder from Angry Chicken. So far, I've made my own lip balm, tea, face cleaner, face oil, and baby bottom spray. I'm also working darn hard to re-use old bottles for everything I make rather than succumb to the temptation to buy a new shiny bottle and make it look perfect. I'm taking notes, too, about how much it all costs (meaning the oils, castile soap, essential oils and what not) versus how much I save by not purchasing something from the store. I won't divulge the numbers just yet, as I'm still on the depressing side of the ledger. But, it feels good to know exactly what goes into everything I use.

{This is a quadruple batch of the lip balm in a baby food jar}

the farmer's market bags

Ok, time for some of the top secret holiday gifts to see the light of day. My sister is almost always my favorite person to make gifts for. She is a great giver of handmade gifts as well and so I know that she will enjoy (and maybe even cherish) the 'character' in many of the handmade things I make for her. This year I aimed for making things as sustainable as possible. So, using the top of a yard sale cotton shower curtain and the stamps I had carved myself, I made these farmer's market bags.
They came out a little wonky because I used the grommets on the shower curtain as the loops for ribbon handles.

I should confess to really digging these bags myself, I might have to find another yard sale shower curtain so I can be styling at the farmer's market, too.

trimmings

it is so close, I can taste it. there is something about holiday time that has become really different now that I am a parent. I'm so much more excited and am enjoying the build-up immensely. I'm eager to light the christmas tree each day and read Christmas books. I love seeing our oldest get excited and, at the same time, he isn't aware enough to be fixated on the gifts portion of things. He's really wrapped up in the wonder of it all. It's a great place to be. Helps me to enjoy it in the same way.
Was able to make a few gift bags this year for some gifts and also made stamped tags, using my scraps basket. Made a half dozen or so gifts just a bit more personal (and reusable).
Wishing everyone the best in the next few days!

A Better World Cafe

I'm having one of those moments when I get a little mushy and glowy about my town and how great and special it is. Mind you, never in my imagination would I have dreamt of saying this about a place in New Jersey. But, it is true, I live in one of the better places I have found in all my travels. Of course, much of this is due to the fact that we've settled in here as a family and that has opened us up to different kinds of experiences and worlds. But, another part of it are things like this new cafe.

A Better World Cafe serves local, organic food most of it grown within a 50 mile radius with fair trade coffees and teas. None of the food is served in or on anything disposable and in order to reduce food waste you pick your own portions. The cafe also hopes to bring good, environmentally-friendly, healthy food to as many people as possible by offering a free meal option and the possibility to work for one hour in the cafe in exchange for a meal. As if all of that weren't enough, it is run by a non-profit organization that runs a culinary school and job training program for low-income folks. I know, a million great things at once. It is currently operating, lunch-only, out of the quilt room in our church but the hope is to spin it off to its own location when it builds support. The social justice mission at our church is really strong, we've built housing for foster kids, supported the development of a Ten Thousand Villages store, and have lots of other ideas brewing. It's the kind of stuff that makes someone ambivalent about organized religion (like me) start getting active in a church. Another thing I never dreamt of saying.

The Barter System

...is my new favorite way of doing business. Ok, not really business but crafting. If a friend ask if I will make them something rather than the usual "no you don't have to pay me. I'm happy to do it, you are my friend" rant. I say "Sure. As long as you make me something." I do say it doesn't have to be sewn, it can be anything: cookies, paper art, a mixed cd, it doesn't matter. Just spend a little time thinking of me and creating something. Spread this love that is the handmade.

I have found, so far, that the reaction is usually a mix of feeling a little intimidated and a little excited. The mind starts racing with project ideas and I can see it in their eyes, they have that crafting moment we all love when you just want to get started RIGHT NOW! Even if all you want to get started on is the shopping part. My deadline is always the same...whenever, it doesn't matter. I have a few of these little barters out there. And, recently one came home to roost. This wonderful handmade bag from my wonderful mama friend in Portland. She got it from Handmade Home and while she says she finds sewing daunting, it is impeccable. It has been used to tote groceries--real ones and my son's imaginary ones, bring books back from the library, and shlep bottles to daycare and back. It's a useful new friend. And, look at how lovely it drapes. Bring it on barter!

The Michael Pollan Experiment

You already know that I'm obsessing about the Michael Pollan, aka Mr. Persuasion, article for the NYTimes magazine from a weeks back.  Well, it convinved my husband and I to undertake a little experiment.  This discussion of the decline of home cooking and suggestion that eating only home cooked food could potentially be the best diet out there.  So, with that in mind we decided that for two weeks we would not eat sweets unless they were made at home. 

Now normally, this would not be a big deal for me and I might have just not eaten sweets for two weeks without noticing.  But something odd has happened to my body chemistry.  Perhaps it's all the calories lost while breastfeeding, but I suspect that when my body gave birth to two children with my husband's DNA mixed in there I somehow acquired his incredible sweet tooth. So, after a panic attack when I realized this meant no Oreo cookies for two weeks (oh, the mint ones from Paul Newman, soo good.).  I proceeded to crack open The Bible of cookbooks, The Joy of Cooking.  This book has it all including how to 'donutize' your muffins...we didn't do that but you had better believe I thought about it.

The husband went straight for Nigella Lawson's "How to be a Domestic Goddess."  He started it all by making her cream cheese brownies.  And, I'm glad he didn't listen to me when I was saying 'cooking chocolate is tricky, I don't know honey.' because they were gorgeous.  We also indulged in peach pie, carrot cake cupcakes, angel bars, hazelnut and dark chocolate cookies, and my personal favorite chocolate mousse pie (Oh Yeah!).  It was a nice experiment and near the end of the two weeks the husband was making cream cheese brownies all while holding the baby and he was even playing around adding maple syrup and dried cranberries (delicious!).  He is also convinced that he lost weight, I'm not so sure.  We never actually weigh ourselves so it's all vague impressions.  But, regardless, it was a great experiment and strengthened my confidence about baking good things.  Thanks Michael Pollan, you are both a blessing and a curse. 

Green, Black, Mean and Nice

It's done!! Here is the kitchen and play area part of our house addition:

We absolutely love it and spend almost all of our time there. It's sunny and warm and welcoming and it sure it alot easier to be inspired in the kitchen when you have more than 7 inches of countertop to work with!

It all came together pretty well, too. The day before I went into labor we completed our house addition project, town inspections and all. We were pleased as punch with the timing (awfully nice not to have workmen in the house during the newborn days!) but our timeline pushed us to make some quick decisions and, as a result, we strayed from some of our goals.

The first goal was to be GREEN. With this book tucked under our arm, we hoped to have a green project. In some respects, we were able to do this: 1) we used no-VOC paint, 2) put in a no-glue cork floor, 3) used an old door, original to the house for the powder room door, 4) bought all energy-star appliances including an oven that houses two separate compartments allowing us to heat a small space most of the time rather than heat a whole oven, 5) installed a skylight to minimize the need for turning on lights 6) all windows are two-pane and airtight and 7) we installed a low-flow toilet in the powder room.

The second goal being NICE. I've spent alot of time doing research on worker's rights for my job and was determined that our construction work be ethical as well as support small business as much as possible. Along these lines we 1) bought our main lights from schoolhouse electric, a portland-based small business 2) hired a contactor, who, despite being more costly, had a solid reputation and worked with a solid crew that reassured us he wasn't likely to hire a subcontractor more likely to shirk day laborers (a common practice in the construction trades) and 3) bought our cabinets from a local cabinet-maker (though I don't know where the wood was sourced from).

On the mean and black side: I spent WAY too much time and money at superstores like Lowes, Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators, which are terrible for the small-town hardware stores and craftsman-type companies I grew up with and love. At times, our budget and timeline just didn't allow for other options. Our contractor also didn't sort and recycle our house waste (green options were mostly new to him) and the plumber did not leave enough time to super-insulate the pipes. Also, we ended up going with a granite countertop for the island portion of the kitchen...in part because it is so useful for baking purposes and because it was the less-expensive option compared to silestone/corian, etc. But, it was a reluctant choice as there are serious environmental and ethical issues associated with the mining of granite. Unfortunately, many times the nicer, greener choice was so much more expensive and difficult to find. For example, i was excited to use natural linoleum--a great green product but the only place that sells it in our area charges what it would cost to install a marble floor! We simply couldn't afford it.

All in all, I would give us a grade of B- in the "Green and Nice". While we are unlikely to undertake something like this again, I'm wondering if anyone has any tips. I know we could have done better if we had more time to look into more salvaging options or really work with the contractor about green options. But, as it is, we came in just under the wire. Anyone have any tips for nicer, greener options?

the farmers market bags

Ok, time for some of the top secret holiday gifts to see the light of day. My sister is almost always my favorite person to make gifts for. She is a great giver of handmade gifts as well and so I know that she will enjoy (and maybe even cherish) the 'character' in many of the handmade things I make for her. This year I aimed for making things as sustainable as possible. So, using the top of a yard sale cotton shower curtain and the stamps I had carved myself, I made these farmer's market bags.
They came out a little wonky because I used the grommets on the shower curtain as the loops for ribbon handles.

I should confess to really digging these bags myself, I might have to find another yard sale shower curtain so I can be styling at the farmer's market, too.

Tote bag tutorial

I see quite a few of these tote bags in my future. I stumbled upon the tutorial from Sew Mama Sew!'s Summer Sewing Month (July!) If I can manage an hour away from the kiddos today maybe I'll be able to knock one out. Just yesterday, as I was loading up on 4th of July picnic stuff, I was thinking that I needed more reusable grocery bags and these will be perfect! Now, to resist the temptation of going out and getting a bunch of Amy Butler fabrics to make these...that's a different story.