Friday Find: MiniBlissCakes T-Shirts

In a search to find non-stereotypical boy’s t-shirts for Lautaro, I discovered this adorable double decker bus stencil t-shirt made by MiniBlissCakes on Etsy. Since visiting London was Lautaro’s first trip abroad I had to buy it. Sarah, the creator behind MiniBlissCakes didn’t have Lautaro’s size listed, but she was able to quickly make me a custom shirt in his size. She also made a custom sparkly seahorse for Malena.



Sarah, a stay-at-home-mom to twin boys started stenciling two years ago. She learned to stencil from a friend and immediately thought of the cute stencils she could make for her son’s clothing. Sarah and I share the same problem of a lack of cute boy clothing! She is also a breast cancer survivor (three years and counting- YAY!!) and stenciled pink ribbons onto her family’s Race for the Cure tees. Friends saw her shirts and started demanding shirts for their kids and her business was born.

Yeah, you read right – Sarah is a mom to twin boys. They turn four this summer. As a mother of one boy, I don’t know how she does it! Lucky for us (and her) she is able to work on her cute shirts during her boy’s naptime and her Mothers Morning Out twice a week.



Sarah’s boys are the source of her design inspiration. “There really aren't enough cute-but-not-babyish things for toddler/preschooler boys out there, so I'm always thinking - what would my boys like to wear to school today?”



Sarah is a transplanted Yankee and diehard Red Sox fan that is happily living in the very Southern and artsy town of Oxford, Mississippi.

"I wish more parents-to-be wouldn't find out - it's one of life's best surprises!" - Jennifer

Visit her Etsy shop and blog to find out more about her business. And if you have any idea of a stenciled shirt, let her know. I am sure she could create it for you!

Easter Felted Goodies

On Sunday, the kids had an Easter Egg hunt and found some felted eggs with surprises inside from the Spring fairies. Last week, the kids and I felted the eggs. During one of our walks, they collected smooth “egg-shaped” rocks. We wrapped wool roving around the rocks, and then I secured the wool by putting the rock inside an old stocking. They then wet-felted the rocks with hot water and soap. The stockings helped keep the wool in place and made it easier for them to felt the eggs.

Once the eggs were done, the fairies took the eggs in the middle of the night and cut the sides to remove the rocks. In place of the rocks, they placed felted chicks (a baby and a mama), hair clippies and a felted dog.




 


 

Welcome Spring!

Well, if has felt like Spring around here for the past couple weeks, but now it is official! Here are a few pictures of what Spring looks like in the California foothills where we live. Recently, the wildflowers have really started blooming. Everyday, the children and I go on a morning walk to pick flowers and listen to the birds. It is amazing to notice the growth, changes and new appearances of the wildflowers each day. The oak trees are sprouting new leaves and the hillsides are a beautiful green.



During the weekends, we have been spending a lot of time working to reduce our pallets of landscape materials. Last Sunday, Diego built this beautiful shade and privacy structure outside our bedroom window. We planted some jasmine in the planter that he also built. I can’t wait for the jasmine to climb, bloom and fill our room with its beautiful fragrance.



Diego also built another planter for tall grassy plants to hide the underneath of the deck. We have two more planters to fill with dirt and plants– one near a deck corner. The other is underneath the laundry room next to our stone patio, which Diego also built with my Dad’s help. Diego will also build another jasmine shade structure for the planter underneath the laundry room. I never would have imagined when I married Diego that I would use his name and the word “built” so many times in one paragraph!

Friday Find: Soft Star Shoes

Do you remember the Five Finger Vibram shoe Friday Find when I mentioned a great flexible shoe for children? Well, here it is – Soft Star Shoes (and they aren’t just for children anymore)! Be sure to read the Soft Star article about their design that promotes the healthy development of growing feet.



Both Malena and Lautaro love their Soft Stars. I will be ordering new shoes for spring/summer. I think I will order a custom designed Mary Jane with distressed leather for Malena and a playtime shoe for Lautaro.



Soft Star shoes come in a wide variety of models: suede moccasins, leather moccasins, mary janes, boots, playtime, sandal, saddle, classic and the new rambler. They even make moccasins for adults (from size 5 to 15!). They offer in-stock versions of their shoes or custom design shoes. With 22 different leather colors, 19 suede colors, and seven motif patterns the possibilities are endless! Soft Star offers some vegan models using micro-suede and a non-leather material.


 
Soft Star moccasins are truly different than other similar baby soft-soled shoes. They have a cushy sheepskin inner sole that wicks away moisture and also protects baby from sharp objects. Soft Star has been making soft-soled shoes for over 20 years. The shoes are handcrafted in the US with all leathers coming from US-based tanneries. There are no formaldehyde or heavy metals used in the tanning of Soft Star leathers.

 Tim, Founder Soft Star Elf

The Soft Star Elf workshop is in Corvallis, Oregon (another reason I love this company). They support Kids for Kids, in which an inspiring seven-year-old girl Cassidy Lynn and her friends create cat toys, "Playful Pancakes," from scrap leather and donate the profits to helping kids in Sudan. Buy one of her Playful Pancakes and someone receives one goat in Sudan. Soft Star also supports Waldorf and Montessori schools and La Leche League chapters across the country.

You can order your own Soft Star shoes on their website. I have seen Soft Stars at baby boutiques, but couldn’t find a list of retailers. Custom design shoes usually take 3-5 days ship. And don’t worry about ordering shoes over the web – their sizing charts are the most detailed I have ever seen on a website.



PS – for you crafty mamas, they also sell leather scraps and a fun star craft kit.

Friday Find: Chocolate and Steel Jewelry Design

My husband and I love mid-century modern furniture. So much so that on our last trip from Argentina, we returned with an Eames lounge chair that has been in his family since original production. When I found this necklace on Etsy, I couldn’t resist hinting to Diego that I found my perfect gift.

Chocolate and Steel designer Christine Street created this sweet little bird pendant from the Eames House Bird. She even designed a necklace inspired by the Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW) that is next on my list (the chair too).



Chocolate and Steel’s collection of necklaces, rings and bracelets currently focuses on five categories: Carved and Sculpted, Bold and Colorful, Cut and Paste, Branding and Set in Stone. I find her work so appealing because it is understated and simple with a clever twist.



“I wear jewelry because it makes me feel present,” said Christine. “I hear the *clink* of my ring against the table or the faint *ding* from my necklace pendant sliding down the chain. I make jewelry for myself and for the pure enjoyment I get from making it and wearing it.”


Her jewelry is made using precious metal clay that is shaped and designed before being fired in a kiln at 1650 degrees Fahrenheit! The piece then undergoes an oxidization process and a final brushing and polishing treatment. It is quite a labor-intensive process in which Christine works her magic!

Chocolate and Steel is based in Los Angeles. You can find her jewelry in her Etsy shop, Dawanda, Home Grown Market and Boutique Coquette. She even does amazing custom work. Check out her blog post on a custom pendant she did based on a client’s picture of a helicopter!

Friday Find: Five Finger Shoes

My husband, Diego, insisted that I use his new shoes as this week’s Friday Find. He saws these shoes in a store window on Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale a couple weeks ago and he had to have them. When he returned, he was so excited about these “shoes with spaces for each toe” that he quickly ordered a pair over the Internet.


Diego's Shoe Model

Vibram creates “Five Fingers” for “barefooting” to give you the “joy of going barefoot without leaving yourself exposed.” Vibram traditionally makes high quality soles for shoes and has now taken their sole technology and created a breakthrough minimalist shoe. The sole of “Five Fingers” is a thin rubber sole designed to protect your foot. The unique “Five Fingers” design with spaces for each individual toe allow your foot to be in its natural state therefore giving you more grip over terrain.



You can use these shoes to go “barefooting” just about everywhere – in your backyard, hiking, running (check out ChiRunning – another recent book purchase of ours) and watersports. The shoes are perfect for protecting your feet when you really want to be barefoot – like walking on a rocky beach.

According to Vibram, wearing “Five Fingers” shoes “deepens your connection to the earth and your natural environment.” The shoes help improve your balance and agility by making you more aware of your body. Wearing “Five Fingers” gives you the health benefits of walking barefoot while protecting your feet. Doctors tell new parents that it is important for children to be barefoot as much as possible. Children should wear flexible shoes to allow their foot to be close to a natural state. (Look for an upcoming Friday Find on a great shoe that does just that!) If “barefooting” is recommended for children, why shouldn’t adults?

Diego loves to be barefoot and would be barefoot all day if he could. “Five Fingers” are a perfect shoe for him. Cheers to “barefooting!”

From an Acorn

While gardening with the children today, we discovered these wonderful acorns sprouting into a tree! Malena was so excited to find this beauty of nature. In the foothills, we live surrounded by oak trees. I am slowly starting to learn about these amazing trees.

Oak trees can start producing acorns when they are twenty years old. (I wish people who want to cut down oaks to improve their view knew this!) The trees produce acorns in the fall, although not the same amount of production each year. Heavy acorn production may only occur every four to ten years. I heard that this year seemed to be a heavy acorn production. I believe it. The ground below all the oak trees around our house is completely covered in acorns. I have also heard that few very acorns actually become trees. I wish I could find the statistic somewhere, because it is pretty amazing. Probably hungry rodents and deer eat a lot of the acorns and seedlings.

Friday Find: H.O. Foose Tinsmithing

In the birthday goody bags, I included dog or bone cookie cutter that I bought from Foose Tinsmithing Cookie Cutters. When I found their site, it was hard to resist buying more cookie cutters – they have an amazing selection! If I had a bigger kitchen with more storage space, I am sure I could have justified the purchase of a few more Foose cookie cutters.

Since the 1970s, making cookies by hand has been a family business. Foose now employs twenty people, including family members and local retirees. The cookie cutters are very well made and carefully packaged for shipping. The pride they take in their product is evident. They even added a cute miniature squirrel cookie cutter as a little freebie. (I need to find where my daughter has hidden it!) All of the cookie cutters are tin and made in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania.

Given my husband’s industry, I think I should order the wine bottle cookie cutter. And couldn’t you just see Martha baking cookies with the beehive and honey bee cookie cutters? For my politically active friends, I will be buying the peace symbol and the awareness ribbon cookie cutters. Foose has a wide selection of fun miniature cookie cutters perfect for playdough play or your child’s kitchen set.


And for the hard core DIY gal, you can now make you own cookie cutters with Foose’s cookie cutter crafting kit.

Lautaro's Second Birthday

 

Lautaro turned two this past Saturday! We hosted a small gathering of family and close friends at our house. Luckily, the weather cooperated giving us a beautiful, sunny day. We held the party on our back deck. To keep it simple, I made chili and served hot dogs. I apologize to everyone for not making the chili spicier. I shouldn’t have tried a new recipe for a party! When we had leftovers later that evening, I add some salt and spices and it made a world of difference. I hope people are willing to try my chili in the future – it will be much better, I promise!

For the kiddies, I made pigs in a blanket from another Martha recipe. They were yummy and I should have made more – let’s be honest… who doesn’t love pigs in a blanket! When I have more time, I’d like to make my own puff pastry dough. I was working at the last minute, so I opted for the plan B store bought puff pastry dough in the fridge.

I think the cake turned out well. Except for the fondant crack that appeared in the middle of the cake. The bottom layer of the cake was a chocolate chip yellow cake. The top layer was a rich buttermilk chocolate cake. I used homemade vanilla buttercream frosting around the cake and for the filling.

The children had a great time cooking and catering their own birthday party. I wish our yard were fenced though! It was a little hard to relax and chat when all us Moms had to watch for kids sneaking around the side of the house to pick flowers and other “vegetables” for their party spread.



The night before the party, I stayed up until 5 AM cleaning, baking and stitching the final stuffed felt doggies. Of course, I forgot to give the children their goody bags upon departure! I also included a bone or dog cookie cutter in the bags. Check out this week’s Friday Find for more details on the cookie cutters! I will soon post a picture of the goody bag contents.