our handmade/secondhand/vintage holiday...

was a complete success.

here are some of the things that we gave (what we got coming in a separate post).

vintage cast iron pan and cast iron doorstop for my sister-in-law...

thrifted diner-style napkin holder (99 cents!). i filled it with a set of 20 cloth napkins....

pants & matching diaper for hudson's best friend (fabric is from an upcycled sheet). his sister (who happens to be lucy's best bud) got a garage sale skateboard and some handmade-by-me skater pants--but alas, i never got a photo.
antique thread holder for my mother-in-law...
metal bucket for my brother--great for camping, i thought. on christmas day it was called to my attention that the bucket probably should have had a lid. hey--secondhand isn't always perfect, right? he also got a secondhand american apparel track jacket.

antique metal container for my friend who was in search of a lidded compost bucket for her kitchen. i sewed up a bag from a thrifted pillowcase to use as wrapping.
vintage beer glass for my dad. he's not especially into cars, but does enjoy interesting pint glasses. how could i resist something with "hudson" on it? that's right, i couldn't!

handmade initial necklaces for my friends and future sister-in-law...
the necklaces, wrapped and ready-to-go in small bags crafted from thrifted sheets...

vintage alphabet book for lucy i scored at a consignment sale over the summer....

she also got a like-new robe (pink flamingos!) and hooded towel, secondhand finger puppets, and a plethora of crocheted food...

what goes better with play food than a kiddie kitchen set? i also scored this at a consignment sale...

a few other odds & ends for lucy, plus some secondhand shoes and a wool shirt for jeremy, and i pretty much called it a day on the gift giving. christmas felt simple and truly genuine this year. i had an excellent time shopping consignment, thrift and antique stores in the area. i learned of a few great shops that i hadn't known about before, along with a few terrible ones that i'll know not to go back to. it was very exciting to find each gift along the way--searching high & low certainly put the intent back in gifting. which is really the whole point behind giving gifts, right?

part two of my new year 50...

14. hardcover book--donation box.

15. 3 bungee cords--gifted to my brother, who wanted them.

16. really cute insulated picnic tote & matching wine bottle case--donated. this pained me b/c i want to be the type of person who picnics (with wine, no less) but we've had this bag at least 2 years and have never used it. so off it goes.

17. decorative pillow that wasn't meant for outdoor use and got left outdoors for a looooong time--trash.

18-31. went through my maternity clothes--donation box. if i didn't wear it through my pregnancy with hudson, i figure i surely won't wear it next time. (assuming there's a next time, and all).

32. a pair of slippers--donation box.

33. a pink puff vest (seriously?)--donation box. will be much better suited to a teenybopper than a near 30-year old, that's for sure.

next up, the other side of my closet and the bathroom sink cabinet. i'm sure we'll find some true gems lurking in the corners. :)

part one of my new year 50...

1. pair of knee high socks with hole in the toe--upcycled into babylegs for hudson

2. fireplace screen & tool set--given to my parents (we got rid of our fireplace during our ongoing kitchen/living room remodel--have i mentioned i am living in a construction zone???)

3-4. 2 pint glasses--given to my brother (he asked for them)

5. purse with tags still on it--in a box designated for an upcoming clothing swap i am participating in

6-9. 4 pairs of flip flops in well-loved, but still usable condition--donation box

10. cute sachet set (with very little smell left)--donation box

11. clutch with broken clasp--donation box

12. ill-fitting baseball cap--donation box

13. sunglasses with scratched lens--donation box

that's it for today. writing everything out like this kind of has me wondering if donating less-than-perfect items (like the broken clutch and scratched sunglasses) is okay. i mean, they're still usable, but definitely not in great shape. should i be tossing instead? i so hate throwing things in the garbage. what do you think?

and feel free to post your lists in the comments section if you are playing along!

it's too late for christmas....

but hot chocolate on a stick is still a very fun project. and it yields truly yummy & thick homemade hot cocoa which is loads better than your average store-bought mix. i won't say the recipe is entirely easy--out of 5 batches i made, 3 had to be scrapped. steam from my double-boiler setup kept getting water into the chocolate, which causes it to seize. and once the chocolate/sugar mixture is ready for piping, you've got to work quickly. "working quickly" and "cooking with a toddler" are two phrases that don't really fit well together, in my experience. but we sure had fun. a word of warning: sugar highs = a downright guarantee!

"no mommy, my hand is NOT in the sugar jar. look away!"

did i mention the stick part is great practice in fine motor skills? and that the stick actually doubles as a really great spoon? :)

finally!

remember these guys? it's been a long while waiting, but our new friends are finally paying us back for their room & board. jeremy found a teeny white egg when he went to go close up our chicken coop last night. we're betting that it's from our white hen named foghorn.

we've never had a chicken that lays white eggs before, and since we only buy brown eggs it was funny to see a white egg in our kitchen! lucy much enjoyed her "eggy" breakfast this morning. let's just hope our feathered friend keeps on giving!

the new year 50.. wanna play along?

last year, jeremy and i both took part in "the new year 50," a little idea i found in the pages of real simple magazine. basically, you get rid of 50 things in your home between christmas and january 01. items can be donated or otherwise passed on, recycled, re-purposed, or tossed (as a last resort). we try to be good with clutter around here, but "things" do have a way of sneaking in as the months pass by. i'll be posting my list here--cleaning starts tomorrow!

:)

merry christmas...

from our funky family, to yours.

and the rocky mountain diaper giveaway winners are....

Meghan who said...

the monkey diapers are too cute! most of our stash is filled with one size diapers. i would love some that fit from the time the new little one is well, little!

Christine who said...

Those are so cute! I would LOVE to try them out. And what's not to love about chocolate covered diapers? :)

to you lucky gals, look for an email from me tonight.

thanks to all who else who entered. look for another giveaway soon!

diaper review & giveaway!

ever hear of rocky mountain one-size diapers? i hadn't, until i received a free one as part of a black friday promotion through banana peels diapers, my local cloth diapering store. i wasn't expecting much from a free diaper, but i have to admit, i'm kinda in love. i'm a real fan of one-size diapers since they don't need to be replaced as baby grows. i don't generally adore the look of the extra snaps that make one-size diapers so adjustable, but hey, sometimes functionality has to trump cuteness, right?

not as far as the rocky mountain one-size pocket is concerned. instead of having all those extra snaps on the front, the leg elastic is adjustable. the people over at rocky mountain refer to this as the "internal adjustment system," and it's the exact same concept as those adjustable waistbands on nice toddler jeans (and some maternity pants). basically, the leg elastic has 4 snap settings that adjust the diaper from extra small to large. you pull the elastic to the setting you want and snap it in place. then you leave it that way until baby grows enough to need a bigger setting.

the result is a CUTE one-size pocket that really fits well, even on small babies. hudson's got some pretty skinny legs, and this diaper works very, very well on him. a common complaint of one-size diapers is that they don't fit well on babies until about 12 pounds. i agree that it can be hard to get a good fit on those bitty legs. if i'm not veeeeeery careful with how i put on our bum genius, hudson ends up with damp clothes or jammies. with our rocky mountain diaper, this isn't an issue. check out the fit...

elastic so snug, lucy's dolly could wear this diaper...

the inner of this diaper is made of nice, soft microsuede. it keeps hudson's little bum dry, which is nice because it's seems he's prone to rashes from exposure to dampness against his skin. all those fitteds i so lovingly made for him? yeah, we can't really use them too much at this point. gotta keep that little guy super dry or this mama is breaking out the butt balm.

i wrote to the people over at rocky mountain to let them know how much i was loving my diaper, and they offered up TWO for me to give away here on the blog. i wish i could keep them, but i don't think that's what they intended. so here goes a giveaway for you!

to enter, visit the rocky mountain site, peek around, come back and leave a cute comment here on the blog. don't forget to leave an email so i can get a hold of you if you're one of the two lucky winners! deadline for entry is sunday at 8 p.m. pst. winners will be picked by a random number generator and posted shortly after. good luck! and if you don't win, i still urge you to check out these diapers, especially if you're building a newborn stash and looking for a pocket that will fit your bitty baby.

cute last-minute gift idea...

when i saw this tutorial for a cloth memory game, i knew i had to make it. thankfully, i had a really good reason--i just can't say who. (you know those internet-savvy kiddos these days...always reading the crafty blogs.).

take a peek:

though SUPER cute, i opted not to use the printed backing provided by the original tutorial. i didn't have printable fabric and didn't really want to make the trip to joann's to get some. instead, i used vintage ticking fabric that i had on hand from a trip to the antique fair as a backing. i also whipped up a cute little bag to store the pieces in. lucy loves the set--though she's a bit young for the actual "memory" part, she kept herself entertained finding "same match." too cute.

i hope the recipient enjoys the gift just as much!

hey cloth-diapering mamas...

see the "ditching disposables" button on my sidebar? click it--there's a great blog giveaway happening this month. the blogger at confessions of a first time mom has paired up with a bunch of cloth diapering companies and is giving away 1 diaper or diaper related item per day. i have trouble remembering to enter daily (plus i suffer from reluctance to join facebook/twitter), but for those of you that are die-hard giveaway people, good luck!

also, be on the lookout for an upcoming diaper giveaway this week from none other than me, your loyal blogger. that's right, i have something you'll love. so stay tuned.

check out this giveaway...

have you thought about how you're wrapping all those presents this year? myself, i plan to make resusable gift wrap again. you know, in all my spare time. wait, i'm having a hard time finding spare time. which is why i just entered this giveaway and am crossing my fingers to win one of the 10 resuable gift bags being given away by the green bag lady.

why have i never heard of the green bag lady until now? she's made and given away nearly 8,000 reusuable bags to people who promise to stop using paper & plastic. all bags are made from donated & repurposed fabric. she even turns her scrap fabric into dog beds for an animal shelter--these beds use literally all of her scrap so that nothing goes to waste. genius.

kudos to the green bag lady. she's also been kind enough to share her gift bag pattern for those of us not lucky enough to win. but i totally plan on winning, don't you?

guess what? hudson is one month old!

well, he's actually 5 weeks, but everything takes longer with two kiddos. this includes photoshoots. anyhow, on to the pictures...

talents include:

~holding up his head for brief spans of time

~sleeping

~sneezing

~working hard on getting his fist into his mouth

~making baby acne look cute. well almost, anyway.

~taking lucy's not-always-gentle advances in stride

~expressing himself. the whole neighborhood knows that hudson's not a fan of diaper changes.

it's incredible, but we already feel like hudson has been around these parts forever. gotta love a guy who's only real desire in life is to be cuddled, you know?

cheers!

organic extra virgin olive oil...

is now carried by costco. this makes me a happy camper (cooker?), since i believe that anything we consume in mass quantities should be organic. and we go through a lot of olive oil. i think it's around $10 for a 1.5 liter bottle. so a little cheaper than trader joe's, for those of us that are watching our budgets!

doing it differently this year...

i'm excited for christmas this year. well, don't let me fool you--i'm excited for christmas every year. but this year my family and i are switching things up a bit. instead of everybody buying for everybody, we picked names from a hat and will only buy a big gift for the person we drew. for everyone else, we'll buy a small gift that is either used or handmade. we're doing the same thing for jeremy's family.

overall, this switch means a lot less shopping and crafting. i'm feeling loads less stressed right now than in years past. i hit up the antique fair last weekend and got over half my shopping done. i'm dying to share photos but don't want to ruin any surprises for christmas morning.

now, on to the crafting. i'm having LOTS of trouble trying to find time to work on the small amount of crafting that i have to get done. i GUESS i have two very good excuses, but i am dying to get out to my studio and sew. we'll see--hudson has been sleeping better at night so i find i can get away without taking a nap when the kiddos are sleeping during the day. of course, now that i said that, he'll be back to his every-2-hour-self soon, i'm sure. :)

hope you're knee-deep in the holiday fun & enjoying every moment of it!

the potty post...

several of you fabulous readers have asked me to share how i got lucy potty-trained at a fairly early age. well, i don't really have too many secrets--i think a lot of it had to do with the fact that lucy showed interest in using the potty early. i think another reason might be that she was determined to spend as much of the summer running around with little to no clothes on--and you know this mama has proof:

ah, yes. our little lucy no-pants. the brilliant thing about not wearing a diaper or pants is that whenever lucy started to pee, she was fully aware of what was going on. we made a big deal about it (even though she was peeing on our floor--this would not have been the case if we had carpet, but our entire house is hardwood & tile) congratulating her on her success. success of peeing on our floor, that is.

it didn't take too long before she able to pee on her diaper after i had just taken it off of her. i'd say something like "show mama how you can do a pee-pee," and more often than not, she would go. this showed me she had some sense of bladder control--which meant she was ready for a potty. we bought her a vintage chair from a local antique fair and found a bowl to fit it properly. started sitting her on it throughout the day. there would be successful tries and non-successful tries. i cleaned up literally 100 accidents over the course of the summer. and during that time, i made it a point to never get angry or frustrated with lucy (okay, i might have gotten frustrated here and there, but you get the main idea). it helped that i was pregnant and using the bathroom often--whenever i went, i just took lucy with me (every 30 minutes or so). we didn't have a mini-seat for the big toilet--i just hold her up there while she's going. if lucy said "no" to trying, then she didn't have too. even if it made for an accident later. in my experience as a nanny, battles over the potty are usually won by the toddler side--after all, they're ultimately in control.

what's the scoop on the poop? i honestly think we're lucky there. lucy's potty problems have always been with pee--she's fabulously reliable for doing #2 on the pot. thank goodness--cleaning toddler poo out of underwear is no fun at all, from the small bit that i have experienced.

we're fans of the gerber training pants. i was able to find a bunch of them at a consignment sale for really cheap. over the panties we use a wool cover. that's right mamas, save your outgrown wool. it will fit great when you're not layering it over a huge diaper, and it saves the child's pants from getting soaked if they do have a pee accident. we also had great success with using an unstuffed pocket diaper in place of underwear if we were going out. i liked the side snapping varieties (left loosely snapped) because i could pull them up & down like underwear. so we said goodbye to our prefolds and fitteds (sigh--potty training for a cloth diaper addict is certainly bittersweet).

that's really all i can think of as far as my potty-training expertise is concerned. now if you'll excuse me, i have to go fold hudson's diapers. thank goodness i had another baby to fuel my diaper addiction!

lucy is 19 months!

my, what a difference a month makes. was it really only a month ago that our little family was taking pictures at the pumpkin patch, and still wondering if hudson was going to turn out a he or a she? over the course of the month, little lucy has gone from the baby of the family to big sister--a huge transition that she's taken pretty much in stride, minus a few hairy-scary days in the very beginning. this mama is certainly proud.

anyhow, over the course of the month, lucy has decided that she really doesn't like to have her photo taken. the paparazzi (that'd be me) is feeling quite unwelcome. the monthly photo shoot was a no-go. so i give to you the many faces of lucy, over breakfast:

new talents include:

~reciting parts of her favorite songs (itsy bitsy spider, mister rabbit, slippery fish)

~being completely out of diapers during the day (including naps!)

~taking good care of her baby dolls (changing diapers & bundling them up in a blanket)

~telling daddy to "fix it" (we're in the midst of a kitchen remodel)

~holding simple conversations with mommy--listing out people she knows and telling mommy if they drive a car or a truck. strange, i know.

~lavishing hudson with kisses & hugs. if mommy's lucky, she gets a little love too.

cheers!