penny carnival

Burger tasting

My mom hit the nail on the head the other day when she said, "the only things I crave during the summer are hamburgers, hotdogs and fruit."

Amen, Mama.

J and I are currently obsessed with Bobby Flay's recipe for Cuban burgers. We'd seen him make them on the Food Network time and again, and finally tried it ourselves last week when friends from Seattle visited. To say the least, they were a hit.

A key step in making the Cuban burger involves wrapping it in tin foil and smooshing it with a brick. The marriage between weight and heat result in one juicy, melty, messy little baby.

So J and I got to wondering about what other ingredients we could smoosh together with beef between two buns. 

Feta, mint and roasted red bell pepper? Check! 

Salami, mozarella, pesto and garlic mayonaisse? Check!

Chipotle mustard, pepper jack cheese and carmelized onions? Check!

There were a few other combinations, but those were the best. We dined under the cherry tree this afternoon while the girls napped. Corn on the cob was our palate cleanser, not to mention beer and mojitos. 

Our view:

Now if we could just get our own nap in before the girls wake up.

Eek! An etsy listing

I know that everybody and their brother has an Etsy shop now, but it still makes me nervous to list my stuff. I can handle 100,000 people reading what I wrote in the newspaper, but knowing that a few people might happen to click on my sewing projects there makes me both excited and squirmy.

It's the pricing, no doubt. When I came out of the craft room last night and presented J with this dress ...

... he suggested I charge about half of what I had planned to for it.

It's so hard to walk away from a project after putting time and care into it and think, hmmm, I could make more per hour running a lemonade stand outside my house. That is, if the dress even sells. I hope it does, though. It has a really nice weight to it. Substantial enough that I could tell Bo felt kind of special when she put it on. But not so heavy that a kid wouldn't want to wear it to the 4th of July parade.

I'm excited about it, though. Looky here. It's reversible:

It evolved from the McCalls pattern I followed the other day. But I changed the shape of the bodice, changed the sizing, did the bias tape hem thing again, and took a lot of bulk and length out of the skirt. And made it reversible, which was tricky but fun. 

I'm calling it the "Dena Dress" because it reminds me of Newport, Rhode Island, a classic, nautical American city and the hometown of my dear cousin Dena.

I'm estimating the size you see here to be a 5, since it's a bit big on Bo, who is almost 4 and small for her age.

So ... drumroll please ... $37 is what I'm asking. Yikes. Too much? It's more than what J suggested and a little less than what I thought at first. There are a few spots where the stitching is a bit wobbly, as it usually is for me when I'm tackling something new. I explain that in the Etsy description. It's the kind of stuff I would point out to my friends who would then say they would have never even noticed if I hadn't said something. Once I really get this design down I'll feel comfortable asking a bit more for it. Or, maybe I'll get good enough at it that I won't mind charging less.

And if there are no takers at $37, well, I know one little girl who wants it.

This year's 4th of July dress

UPDATE: I'm getting a lot of hits on this post from Google. Just wanted to let everyone know that if you're looking for a 4th of July dress FOR SALE, visit my Etsy shop. If you want to buy the one you see here or something like it, let me know by leaving a comment below and I'll list it in the shop.

The girls and I recently made a rule that I'm somewhat regretting. We decided that every time we see a U.S. flag we have to sing "She's a Grand Old Flag." Unfortunately, I'm the only one who knows the words, so it's always me doing the singing. And, well, Spokane is a pretty patriotic town. I find myself singing the song A LOT.

Anyhow, with the Fourth of July coming up, I figured it was time to sew some patriotic dresses. Here's my first crack at it, which looks remarkably similar to last year's dress. Hmmm ...

And just like last year, I made it too big. I really should have read my old post before embarking on this one. 

The tiny sheep is there just to illustrate that there are pockets.

Gotta love hemming a dress with bias tape. So easy and crisp.

Bodice is lined, but skirt isn't. No zippers or buttons or anything. Just pull it on over the head. The pattern is McCalls 5370, but like always I only roughly followed it. The fabric is from a line called M'Liss at JoAnn's. I (heart) 40 percent off coupons.

Unlike last year, we won't be in Bristol, Rhode Island, next month for the oldest, biggest, best parade in the nation. I hate to miss July in R.I. Like any year when I'm not there for the Fourth, there will be times when I'll catch a whiff of something that reminds me of back east, making me regret that we didn't go. My sister and I went back there almost every summer as kids, so I think my body is trained to expect certain sensations in July, like the smell of salt water and the taste of clams. The need to tackle some house projects beat out our desire to make the trek this year, but hopefully we'll be back in 2010.

On a separate note, if you live here in Spokane, don't forget about this weekend's Two Women Barn Bazaar. I went last fall and really enjoyed it, especially the bluegrass music. Check out that link for more details or read what I wrote about it on my Spokesman-Review blog. You can also see some photos I took at last fall's show here.

Summer art kick start

I'm late in wishing you all a happy summer solstice and Father's Day. Are there any dads out there? I recall getting comments on here once or twice from some men, but I just don't know if we have any regulars. If you're here, xoxo. I hope your yesterday was full of love and joy. 

I was too busy enjoying Father's Day with my dad and my husband yesterday to pour out my heart here, but my feelings about the two dads in my life haven't changed since last year. Thank you both for ... everything.

As for summer ... what summer? It's a stinkin' 60 degrees here today. Please put a reminder on your calendars for six months from now so you can smack me for complaining about 60 degrees. But c'mon. We want to go swimming! Bo keeps asking when it's going to get "hot, hot, hot." I need to remind myself that last June, it snowed. 

Our family has been in such a lovely rhythm lately. I can't explain what or why. Life is just ... nice. And simple. Hardly any TV. Lots of running, being outside, gardening and arts and crafting. 

One thing I did to make art happen more spontaneously was to move the girls' easel and paints outside. 

The other day I encouraged them to paint objects they saw in nature, and Bo came up with this:

An airplane, in case you can't tell. Our local airport recently started using its backup runway, so the air space above our backyard is getting lots of low-flying action. I'm sure some neighbors aren't thrilled, but I honestly love it. And Magpie definitely knows how to say "a-pane" now. 

Another nice thing about painting outside is that you don't have to worry about this:

Paint away, Baby. I'll blast you with the hose when you're done.

We took part in a parks and rec art class this morning, where Bo created this beach:

Instructions: paint a paper plate blue. Paint an empty toilet-paper tube brown. Brush glue onto one portion of the blue-covered plate (or the whole dang thing, if you're like Bo). Dust the gluey part with sand and seashells. Glue the brown tube down so it stands up like a tree. Add some green leaves to the tree. Viola! Puerta Vallarta on a plate.

They also made butterflies by painting coffee filters with watercolors then cinching them in the middle with short pipe cleaners, leaving the two ends of the pipe cleaners pointing up like antennae (or "antlers," as my niece Em calls them). They're cute. I'll add a photo later. I think our butterflies are trapped in the car right now.

Lastly today, an Etsy product endorsement. The prize money I won from Ohdeedoh a few months back for my book sling has been burning a hole in my PayPal account. I finally chipped away at it by buying a return-address stamp from a shop called RubberStampPress.

Mine looks just like this, but with my name and address--obviously.

It arrived so quickly, I didn't even have a chance to respond to my last e-mail from Kim, the talent behind the stamp. Isn't it great?! It is inspiring me to write some letters. Real letters. And maybe I should buy a bike, too.

Happy summer, everyone. Despite the chill here, my heart is warm and life is aglow with goodness. I hope yours is too.

Latah Creek Variety Market 2009

Another weekend, another funky junky fest in Spokane. This time it's the Latah Creek Variety Market, organized by nurse/restaurateur/creative guru/perpetual ray of light and cheer Celeste Shaw.  

Are these events popping up in your neck of the woods, too? Or is Spokane all of a sudden a hotbed for markets where creative vendors offer up the treasures they find (how? where?) throughout the year? The fun continues next weekend with the Two Women Barn Bazaar and I picked up fliers for future events, like The Mad Hatter Vintage Flea Market Oct. 2 and 3. 

If you first started reading Penny Carnival for a peek at my more modern tendencies, I apologize. Like I've said before, I'm a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n' roll. Really, I believe you can add vintage touches to a modern-style home. I don't think you have to be one or the other. Or so I tell myself.

Here are some shots from today's market, which continues tomorrow (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) if you're a local.

From the Rose Cottage Creations (jartzie@hotmail.com) and Forget Me Not booth:

From Bizi Furniture Etc., a shop owned by the lovely Jamie Anderson (I just met her today. She was a doll and an advocate of livin' green). 

From Mimi's Vintage Goods (mimisvintagegoods@yahool.com):

From Clare's Garden (509) 245-3889:

From a group of stay-at-home moms who sell their products together here:

(those are nursing privacy aprons)

The individual moms included Meaghan Primm (she pronounces her name Meeeegan, like me! Rock on, sister) of PNP Baby, Lauren Bergstedt of Miss Miss Creations and a shop called Joyful Baby.

Then there was a cheerful booth run by the equally cheerful Ariadne Rooney of Buttercuppity Design:

Ari recognized me from this blog, which is the second time that has happened in the last month. It makes me laugh and smile and blush and realize that Penny Carnival has a little community made up of creative, lovely, kind--and real!--people out there. 

From the Junebug booth:

From Nestting: 

(mmm ... tartan on metal ... my new obsession grows ...)

(Wouldn't that last one make a great little wee garden for a kid? Just imagine the fairies and elves who could live in there.)

And from the Sisters, who, when I asked if they had a Web site, replied, "We would if you'd make us one":

Not for sale, but completely coveted by me was this Mei Tai wrap:

I'm pretty sure my babies are too big to ride in one now (anyone know? Magpie is a whopping 29 pounds now), but I must do something with that fabric combination.

Wine totes for teachers

Today was supposed to be Bo's last day of her first year of pre-school, but the poor girl has spent the morning throwing up. That means summer vacation starts now, although we won't be heading to the county pool anytime soon.

I'm sad that she'll miss the school picnic and any sort of last-day-of-school discussion (I have a feeling she's going to ask me every day for weeks whether or not she has school today). And, of course, I hate to see her dealing with the discomfort of being sick. As someone with a weak stomach and two and a half pregnancies plagued with morning sickness, I feel your pain, sweet pea.

There is something about caring for a sick child that really makes you feel like a mom, though. I think I'm going to sew myself a Girl Scouts-like sash and start attaching badges to it for various accomplishments in mommyhood, like "grocery store tantrum," "up-the-back-and-over-the-shoulders diaper blowout," and "inappropriate-but-funny comment made in public." Should I sell them on Etsy? 

Anyhow, what we were supposed to bring Bo's teachers today as end-of-the-year gifts were these wine tote bags I sewed last night. The photos were taken before the barfing commenced.

FYI--yes, that is a half-empty bottle of wine in there. The plan was to stop at the store on the way to school for fresh bottles.

I'd originally planned to make the three teachers each an apron, but these took less time and fabric. Besides, what teacher doesn't need a bottle of wine after nine months with a bunch of preschoolers? 

I followed this fantastic tutorial by Sewing Republic (found via Shabby Chick). The directions were super easy to understand. Next time, I think I'll make the strap a bit more narrow and the tote a bit more snug around the wine. 

 

Neighborly love

I don't care if you live next to Fred Friggin' Rogers, nobody has better neighbors than us. 

We were a little gun shy on the neighbor thing when we first moved to this house two years ago. Without going into detail--because who knows who's reading this blog--we didn't have much luck picking good neighbors in the past. (Picture a cuckoo clock. See the crazy little bird that jumps out every hour on the hour? Now imagine living in the clock next door.)

So when S & G, the retired couple who lives across the street from us now, rolled out the welcome wagon two years ago, we hesitated to get to know them too well. 

Bo, however, did not. Thanks to her effervescent (read: pushy) personality, we had no choice but to become friends with S & G. At age 2, she would stand in our front window and scream S's name when she saw her, waving madly until S came over to say hi. 

And we now thank Bo every day for building that relationship.

S & G have helped us countless times, from snow blowing our driveway to lending us a car when ours didn't work to jump starting our car on more than one occasion to looking after our pooch (rest in peace, sweet Cronkite) while we were away. They call to let us know when we've left our garage door open at night. They bring the girls gifts from the far away places they visit.

One time we pulled up to our house and this sheep, plus two similar friends, were sticking out of the grass greeting us:

S used to own a bed and breakfast, and these were left over from the little shop she ran out of the house.

More than anything, though, they're just fantastic people. We tried once to thank one of their kind gestures with a gift certificate to a nearby restaurant. Instead of using it on themselves, they took us out to brunch with it and insisted on no thank-you gifts from then on.

Except cookies. G isn't afraid to hint that he has a sweet tooth, so if I'm making a batch, I double it whenever possible. 

Today, it was oatmeal M&M cookies. Peanut M&Ms, mind you. Try it. They're way better than when you use plain.

We had a few minutes, so I sewed an elasticized dish cover to go over the cookies. It's one of my favorite projects from the Farm Chicks' cooking and craft book. 

We've been spending more time in our front yard than our backyard lately. Not just because of S & G, although they're part of it. A family with two young boys just moved in next door, adding a lot of life to our street. It's sweet to see the four kids run back and forth between our two yards or cruise on their bikes and trikes around our circular driveway. The boys' mom keeps apologizing for her sons coming over so much, but I am honestly thrilled. The laughter. The shrieks. The conversations that start across the street or across a lawn until one neighbor or the other decides it'll be easier to talk in one driveway instead of from two.

It's how a neighborhood should sound.

Cookin' and bookin'

I'm almost four years into this parenting gig, and I still don't have a clue what I'm doing. Does anyone else feel this way sometimes? 

I guess I thought by now I'd kind of have things figured out. And, yes, there are days when I'm like, "Bring it on! Give me 10 more of these little muffins. I can take it." But a lot of the time I'm second guessing my decisions and thinking of better ways I could have handled a situation. In the meantime, another situation has presented itself, and I'm scrambling to do the right thing.

Don't get me wrong. Life is beautiful and all is well. I just never knew how much time would be dedicated to doing things that I hope will have a positive impact down the road without knowing for sure if they will. Parenting is the ultimate test of delayed gratification, I guess, especially when it comes to teaching values. How do I know if it's sinking in when we talk about kindness or taking care of the earth or each other? One minute, I think Bo is catching on. The next, she's bonking her sister over the head for taking a bite of her Cheerios. As if there aren't more Cheerios in the box. If there's one thing I've got, Kid, it's Cheerios.

At the same time, I'm bombarded with little moments of beauty and gratification all the time: Bo insisting on picking up litter and holding onto it until she finds a trash can (no matter how long that takes). Catching the girls giggling together without them knowing I'm there. The sweet touch of Magpie's hand when she strokes my shoulder from her perch in her backpack throughout an entire 3-mile walk.

One easy little thing we do--with an ulterior motive of instilling respect for nature--is to collect neat little bits from outside and display them on a "nature tray" on our dining room table. We go through phases where I'm more jazzed about doing this than the girls are. And then there are times when Bo is more than happy to rip a bunch of leaves off a tree and bring them inside for further inspection.

Right now, there's a pine cone, two sand dollars, and this in the tray:

What a great find over the weekend, huh? I admit I was a little scared a bee would coming crawling out of one of those hexagons, but it looks like the critters are long gone and now we're left behind with what I think is one of nature's really beautiful art installations. 

I once wrote an article about a man who brought all sorts of things from nature into his home. Mostly skulls, skeletons and big rocks. He had a display of about 15 different skulls of various animals, sitting from smallest (mouse) to biggest (I can't remember. A moose, maybe) in his entryway. In between there were things like raccoons and possums. That must sound really creepy, but believe me--it was lovely. And his four young children were very involved in finding treasures for the house--skulls and all.

FYI--Amanda Soule suggests creating a nature table in her book "The Creative Family." (By the way, can you hardly wait for this?)

Amanda is responsible for another project from our weekend--a photo memory book I made tonight for Bo. 

Bo's school is celebrating all the summer birthdays tomorrow and the parents usually bring in some sort of photo display of the kids' lives. I thought Bo would be excited to read a book about herself, so tomorrow's early birthday celebration was the perfect excuse to make one.

The photos are printed onto special fabric that runs through a regular computer printer. Packets of six sheets cost about $12 at JoAnn's--so use your 40 percent off coupon! I just used Word to arrange the pictures with some text about Bo's life. I wish I'd put more time into it. It truly was slopped together tonight. But I think Bo will like it just the same.

After printing on the special fabric, I cut around the photos and text and sewed them onto 8 x 12 pieces of fabric--all leftovers from dresses I've made Bo over the last four years--using a zigzag stitch. Then I sewed the 8 x 12 pieces to each other with a piece of flannel--taken from some of Bo's old receiving blankets--inside. I'm still trying to figure out how to bind the book since I've created quite a thick stack. For now, I just used three pieces of embroidery floss to connect all the "pages" by threading a needle and pushing the needle through all the thickness by hand, then tying it off. 

Ah! Update! It's 12:45 a.m. and Bo just woke up for a glass of water. She saw the book on the table and giggled her way through it. It's a hit.

Besides those two things, I wanted to share a new blog in my life. In Praise of Leftovers is written by Sarah Murphy-Kangas, a friend of mine from high school. I haven't seen Sarah in almost 20 years, but our moms bumped into each other recently and got to talking about their bloggin' daughters. 

Sarah's is a food blog, but--of course--it's a life blog, too. I think you'll enjoy her beautiful words and photography--not to mention the recipes. Tonight, I followed her instructions for a savory galette and it did not disappoint. What's a galette? Here's Sarah's definition:

A free-form tart. Roll out one disc of this easy dough, dump whatever you want in the middle (sweet or savory), fold the crust up around it, cook it for 30 minutes, be a goddess.

Here's my attempt at deification:

Another Emmeline; another Farm Chicks treasure

I'll spare y'all the soapbox today and just show you a few photos.

One of my favorite finds at the Farm Chicks sale was this rotary phone:

It works! Trouble is the only place we have a phone jack in the house is the storage room in the basement. Hmm ... I'm going to have to work on that. For now, the girls LOVE it. Bo "talks" on it for 30 minutes at a time. That alone makes it worth the $35 I spent for it.

Not according to J, though. When he saw it coming out of my purse his response was, "Please tell me that only cost $4."

I sewed another Emmeline apron, this time for an old college friend.

That side is Amy Butler gothic rose.

The other side, pink-on-pink polka dots, I can't remember who makes it. I don't think it's Amy Butler. Anyone know? 

The pink polka dots are from Anna Maria Horner. Thanks, Valerie.

Magpie wanted to get in on the modeling, too, so she threw on a bonnet I made a couple years ago (Amy Karol, of the Angry Chicken, pattern). She's wearing it backwards, though, so be sure to check out the pattern if you're in the mood for making bonnets. And, really, who isn't in the mood for making bonnets?

Life is beautiful, isn't it?

Forever in peace may she wave

I only had a chance to photograph one of my Farm Chicks treasures today, so the others will have to trickle onto the blog as the week progresses. But to start things off ...

Farm Chicks Find No. 1: A 48-star American flag for $40.

The stars and stripes are sewn on, by the way, not printed. 

Pardon the exposed hardware in the middle there. For now, I just draped the flag on nails already in the wall. And if you live in either Alaska or Hawaii, sorry. Forty-eight stars just looks so much cooler than 50.

I once saw an apartment in Elle Decor or some similar magazine that was completely bedecked in vintage American flags. It was one of the most unique and striking homes I'd ever seen featured in a magazine. The article popped into my head Saturday as I dug through a couple dozen old flags for sale by a vendor at the show.

So, sure, this is supposed to be an "art" statement, I guess. Or a decor statement, anyway. But people are often surprised to find out how patriotic I am. That's right. I usually cry during the National Anthem. 

I think most folks assume all journalists are shady, cynical creatures always on the prowl to uncover some government scandal. I would never define myself as cynical, though. Skeptical, yes. Not cynical. And most journalists I know are in the field because they're dedicated to things like honesty, keeping an accurate record of history, and exposing what's wrong in the world so that ignorance is diminished and solutions might be found. No one I know has ever shouted "gotchya!" after uncovering something damaging about another human being.

I believe that journalism is one of the most patriotic professions one can enter, actually. Without the "fourth estate"--the watchdog that sometimes has to play an unpopular role to expose truths that might make us squirm--there can't be democracy.

Maybe Thomas Jefferson said it best:

"Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Ironically, that quote is carved into a wall at the Seattle Post Intelligencer offices--a newspaper that ceased its print publication a few months ago due to financial problems. Journalism jobs are fading and morphing at an alarming rate. In fact, it's probably more accurate to call myself a writer these days than a reporter since most of my work isn't for the editorial pages of the paper lately.

But I love journalism and I love this country, and I don't for a second think that is a contradiction. 

OK. Pardon me as I step off my soapbox. 

In more crafty news ... I'm still on an apron kick, sewing some up for friends and preschool teachers as time allows. I also have an idea for a new apron design brewing after being inspired by something I saw at the Farm Chicks show. Stay tuned.

Otherwise, please enjoy the brilliance that abounds elsewhere on the Web:

-Amy Karol's greeting cards made from the funny things her kids say. We keep a running list of the goofy observations our girls make, too, so I can't wait to put the hilarity to use like Amy has. For example, Bo said this one day:

"When I was a little girl, my heart got broken. But it got better when sissy hugged me and we got married."

Bo, 3 1/2

-Have I mentioned this little shop yet? I think so, but it's worth repeating for your baking pleasure. Every person must have a stash of red-and-white baker's twine and some brown boxes on hand for packing up treats for friends and neighbors, don't you think?

 

-The illustrations and captions in the vintage health book that Denise Sharp bought for $1 recently. I want to embroider every page! 

-All the great kid-crafty ideas on this Web site I stumbled upon recently, including making ginormous pencils. A lot of the activities will have to wait until they get older, but the girls would get a kick out of making mondo pencils. We did something similar in art class when I was in middle school, but you could pick the object you enlarged. I chose a record album. The Queen is Dead by The Smiths. I was sooo tragic.

-The Parents Journal podcast by Bobbi Conner. You have to get past the cheesy theme music, but the messages are usually very interesting and practical. One topic she likes to address is the benefits of no or very little TV. It's always good to play her program when I'm tempted to drag out the Dora DVDs.

-Photojojo's links to photos you can use for free, as well as ideas on what to do with them.

This image reminds me of my original idea for a theme for Bo's nursery before she was born: "vintage swim."

I'd still love to do that one day, but I doubt the girls would be on board with it yet. And soon enough they'll have their own ideas, anyway. How cool would it be to paint the walls aqua, frame some vintage swimsuits in shadow boxes, and display funky old swim caps, though?

-The Crafty Crow's roundup of ideas for making seed markers with kids, found via Kids Craft Weekly. Monkey Lobster's project is my favorite:

 

-And this poster about how to build community, brought to my attention by my friend Nis.

As I said on my other blog:

I’m pretty good at a lot of those tips, but there are many ideas there that I should be using as guide to life. Some of my favorite suggestions from the list are “fix it even if you didn’t break it,” “bake extra and share,” “sit on your stoop” (my family has been doing this a lot more lately), “know your neighbors,” and “start a tradition.” “Turn off your TV” is easy for me, but if I buy the poster I might have to scratch out the word “TV” and replace it with “Internet” just to really challenge myself.

You can learn where to buy your own copy of the poster here.