Max and Ellie

So Long

2012-01-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

Well, readers, I have news for you: after nearly 3 years of blogging here on Max & Ellie, we are officially signing off. :( But we're not fading into the ether; we're just moving! I (Melissa) started another blog, Lulu the Baker, before I ever started blogging here, and keeping up two blogs is just too much, and has been for a while. Which basically explains why posts on Max & Ellie have been few and far between lately.

Our Etsy shop will still be open and we'll still be blogging all of the same things--crafts, projects, etc. We just won't be posting it here. So please come visit us at Lulu the Baker for all of the posts you love plus MORE--like a Max & Ellie Little Chef Apron Give-Away! Go now!

Last-Minute Christmas Gift: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

2011-12-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

1 hour of making cookie dough

1 hour of packaging

6 bags chocolate chips

8 lbs butter

red baker's twine

easy and cute gifts for friends

and neighbors

Click HERE for all the details.

Peppermint Oreo Pops

2011-12-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

Follow our elf Pinocchio to Lulu the Baker and find out how to make the cutest holiday food on a stick!

Apron Give-Away!

2011-12-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

In addition to all of the cute things we listed in the shop last week, we've added some flirty, ruffled aprons. And we're giving one away this week on Lulu the Baker (my food blog). In September, I posted a recipe for one of my family's favorite dinners, Cheesy Chowder, and it has been cookin' up a storm on Pinterest ever since! To celebrate it's success, we're giving away one of our brand new aprons! You can find the give-away HERE, and the recipe HERE (I promise, you'll love it!).

New in the Shop

2011-11-28T12:58:00.000-08:00

Max & Ellie are ready for the holidays with a shop full of cute new items and more of your good ol' favorites!

bobbi pin trios: a set of 3 coordinating silver-toned bobbi pins, all carefully matched, made by hand, and attached to a sweet, scalloped card; 1 large resin blossom, 1 fabric-covered button, and 1 stitched felt flower

$12

appliqued baby one-pieces and toddler tees: sweet designs hand-drawn and hand-cut on the cutest designer fabrics, stitched onto cotton baby and toddler gear

one-pieces: $15 each or 2 for $25

tees: $17.50 each or 2 for $30

little chef aprons: oh, how we love these little beauties! Perfectly sized for 3- to 6-year-olds, completely reversible, with elastic necks and velcro waist bands so they can put them on by themselves; perfect for playtime or helping in the kitchen. And did we mention they're adorable?

$20

tiny charm earrings: hand-stamped on sterling silver or 14K gold-fill, these little 1/2" beauties are made to order and oh so sweet; choose from 4 cute designs or your initials!

$18

tiny charms: just like our tiny charm earrings, but attached to a super-sturdy jump ring and ready to string on a chain or charm bracelet

boo boo kits: fully stocked with band-aids and alcohol wipes, but also the perfect size for credit cards, gift cards, business cards, etc

blossom earrings: sweet, resin blossoms in a variety of bright and happy colors, all with sterling silver posts and backs

$13

celebration bunting totes: grocery shopping and taking books to the library have never looked so good! A canvas tote with two lines of hand-painted triangle bunting, plus one appliqued felt flag and one appliqued fabric flag

$20

Happy Thanksgiving--Do You Want Pies With That?

2011-11-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

click HERE to see some of our family favorites:
caramel apple cheesecake pie
sawdust pie
apple slab pie
lemon blueberry buttermilk pie
sour cherry pie with pistachio crumble
pumpkin chiffon pie
&
coconut custard pie

A Body Birthday Party

2011-11-16T15:42:00.000-08:00

Sometimes it's really funny (and bittersweet) to look back to this exact time one year ago. I see my kids all day every day, so I don't notice how much they're changing. But when I look at pictures of them from last Halloween or from last year's birthday party, it strikes me how much they've grown up. Case in point: it feels like our six-year-old has been a major, hard-core tomboy forever, so it amuses me to think that for her birthday last year she wanted a Sleeping Beauty party! This year, in fine tomboy form, she wanted a body birthday party (she wants to be a "tummy doctor" when she grows up). Since her birthday is less than a week after Halloween, we were careful not to make her party Halloween-y at all: no bloody body parts, no gory limbs, etc.

When the party-goers first arrived, we traced their outline on a big piece of butcher paper and gave them crayons to do a life-sized self portrait.

We hung all of the self-portraits in the hallway and took pictures of each kid with their artwork!

We had some unexpected down-time between activities and lunch (because I completely forgot about one of the activities we had ready to go), so I put some Yoga for Kids on the TV. And they LOVED it! Seriously, those children were positively spellbound!

We tried to keep lunch easy and relatively healthy, so we had pizza delivered, and carrot and celery sticks, red and green grapes, and juice on the side.

After a failed attempt at a homemade pinata (it cracked), we bought a white baseball pinata from the party store, picked off the red detailing, and taped on some construction paper to make it into an eyeball. That seemed way less weird than buying a person pinata and having the kids bash it, which just seems creepy and inappropriate!

The birthday cake was actually really easy. A homemade chocolate cake with homemade chocolate frosting, and then a skeleton torso made from white store-bought fondant. It was just like play-dough. (idea from Country Living magazine)

Our party favors were inspired by the Scooby Snacks we had at a friend's Pink Puppy Party over the summer. They're shaped like bones and taste like cinnamon grahams. We just dipped them in white almond bark and made them into "Bone Cookies." I ate a ton of these! Luckily, I saved enough to give away as party favors.

The other party favor each child got to take home was this cute, very scientific book full of facts about skeletons. I spotted it in one of the Halloween book orders that came home from kindergarten.

Raise your hand if you like funny guys and mexican food

2011-10-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

I may be biased, but I think my brother is pretty entertaining. He and his friends have this project going on right now called 88 Night of Cinco de Mayo. They live near a mexican restaurant with 88 items on the menu, and they decided to try everything on the menu in order, film their meals, and edit them into short movies. Some episodes are funny, some are thought-provoking. They're currently on episode 21, but since the episodes are only 1-2 minutes each, you can catch up pretty quickly. Take a look at my favorite episode so far, "If You Had to Guess...":

And if you live in the LA area--or are willing to travel there (at your own expense, naturally)--they are having a funny little contest called the "Making Dreams Come True" contest. Details HERE.

Find 88 Nights of Cinco de Mayo

on the interwebs

in the youTubes

on facebook

on twitter

Event Sponsors Wanted

2011-09-13T13:12:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers. I help organize Bliss Handmade, a semi-annual shopping event featuring handmade items from local crafters and artists. We have our 2011 Holiday Boutique coming up on November 12th and are looking for sponsors. We need items donated for our door prize drawings during the event as well as small items donated for goodie bags that we are giving away to the first dozen shoppers. If you are a crafter or artist and would like to donate items, you can click HERE for all of the details. In exchange for your generous donations, we offer lots of free advertising and exposure (online, in print, and in person), which is great for anybody trying to get the name of their shop or business out there. Check out the Bliss Handmade website for all of the important info. Thanks!!

New Projects

2011-09-02T14:18:00.000-07:00

We have been busy busy busy this summer with projects. I'd like to share them all with you. Here's the biggest project we worked on this summer:

Welcome James!

Literary Inspiration: Shades of Grey

2011-07-06T11:25:00.000-07:00

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

I have loved everything I've read from Jasper Fforde, and I've read everything he's written. His work is witty, hilarious, smart, and fast-paced, and Shades of Grey is no exception. As with the Thursday Next series and the Nursery Crimes series, Shades of Grey takes place in a sort of alternate reality; the world is ours, but the society is not, and we never really find out what happened to our society other than it is gone. This new society is all based on color: people are born being able to see varying levels of only one natural color--or sometimes no color at all, in the case of the Greys--and how much of their color they can see gives them social standing, decides who they can marry and what jobs they can hold, etc. On the surface it all seems like a pleasant place to live, but of course, all is not as it seems, and both intrigue and hijinks ensue.

All of the images below are inspired by parts of Shades of Grey. Because the whole book is about color, there was a ton of visual inspiration; it was really hard to choose just a few things!

{top row from left: Pantone Mugs, available from Pop Deluxe; Round Color Stickers from SilvermintSupplies on Etsy; Lapis Lazuli necklace from PoleStar on Etsy; Baby Giraffe No. 3 by Sharon Montrose, available from The Animal Print Shop; Risk by Parker Brothers Games}

{top row from left: Superior Servers from Ladies & Gentlemen; The Milkmaid by Jan Vermeer; Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, BC; cute rabbit; Elderflower Cordial}

Literary Inspiration: The Elegance of the Hedgehog

2011-06-23T15:04:00.001-07:00

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry

*This post is the first in what I hope to be an ongoing series: Literary Inspiration. We'll have to see how long I can remember to keep this up!*

One of my favorite pastimes is reading. I love getting lost in a good book, and my list of books to read is miles long. After a one-year stint on the list, The Elegance of the Hedgehog finally made it into my shopping cart at Target and then onto my nightstand. It is the story of two lonely souls, Renee Michel, the unappreciated but highly intelligent concierge at a posh Paris apartment building, and Paloma, a 12-year-old resident of the building who is searching for true beauty in hopes that her faith in humanity will be restored. It is a touching read that is both laugh-out-loud funny and grab-your-hanky bittersweet. Full of references to food, gardening, literature, art, music, and cinema, it made for a very interesting read!

top row: 1) florentines, photo and recipe at foodnetwork.com; 2) Still-Life with Oysters by Pieter Claesz; 3) leather-bound journals from Kate's Paperie

bottom row: 1) variegated camellia by Kristina Simms via flickr; 2) Paris courtyard; 3) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

For Jozen {Oh Hello Friend's Collection Trade}

2011-06-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

Several, several months ago I signed up for a Collection Trade sponsored by Danni of Oh Hello Friend. My sweet partner Jozen and I seemed tailor-made for each other, from our love of baker's twine and cute packaging supplies to our tendency to procrastinate and our complete disregard for the swap deadlines! Luckily, months later, Jozen has finally received her package from me, and my package from her is on its way (although possibly stuck in Canada due to the Canadian postal strike).

Here's what I sent to Jozen:

baker's twine; striped straws; pink polka dot balloons; white circle labels; tiny kraft bags; colored tags; toothpick flags (not pictured are a yellow teacup, a tiny wooden scoop, and some sweet vintagey notecards)

everything got these cute white paper lace and kraft paper tags (and I do mean everything)

these notecards were too cute to resist--not to mention they were the right color--so they got a tag too

it was all packed into the little wooden cigar box; somehow, everything fit (except the teacup, which was lovingly wrapped in lots of not-cute bubble wrap)

Teacher Appreciation Gift--Last Minute (Is there any other kind?)

2011-05-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

We were at Costco this afternoon for what has strangely become a new family tradition--Monday lunch at the Costco snack bar. We ran into lots of people we knew, and one friend mentioned that she had just come from dropping off a teacher appreciation gift at preschool. And that is where I smacked myself on the forehead because I once again forgot teacher appreciation day! I do this every year. Luckily, we had a couple of packs of those oh-so-delicious Costco muffins in the cart, and about as quickly as I smacked myself for forgetting, I forgave myself because I came up with a plan for an easy, last-minute-but-sure-to-please gift for our preschool teacher and teacher's aide.

Here are the directions: 1) After buying the muffins, go to Starbucks on your way home from Costco and buy a $5 gift card for each teacher. 2) Place a Costco muffin--any flavor--in a small bag and tie bag shut with ribbon, baker's twine, etc. 3) Make sure the gift card is taped into the totally not secure Starbucks gift card envelope, then close up the envelope and punch a hole in one corner. 4) Tie the envelope to the muffin bag with the aforementioned ribbon or twine.

So this entire gift, which I happen to think is pretty darn good, took about 10 minutes of effort total. And who doesn't like Costco double chocolate muffins?!

Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls from Picky Palate

2011-04-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Back in January, right around Super Bowl time, Jenny from Picky Palate started posting finger foods and appetizers in anticipation of the big football game. One of her new creations was these amazing little baked bread bowls filled with homemade spinach dip. They looked delicious, so I made a mental note to make them sometime. And then I never made them! But I kept thinking about them a lot, pretty much every time an occasion came up that would at all call for party foods. I considered making them this week for bookclub, then decided to make something else. And then two days before our get-together, they popped up on Oh Joy!, and I took it as a sign from the culinary gods that I was not supposed to ignore these babies any longer!

They are super simple to make, and taste heavenly. I think I probably ate a fourth of them myself! They are delicious as an appetizer or finger food, but if you served them with a salad and some fruit, they would also be great for brunch. Instead of making full-sized muffins, I followed Joy's lead and made mini muffins. I followed all of the directions from the original recipe, but cut each piece of dough into three smaller pieces before pressing them into the muffin cups and obviously used a smaller scoop to add the filling. I'm getting hungry just thinking about them; if only I hadn't eaten all the leftovers when I got home!

Visit Picky Palate to get the recipe!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

2011-03-17T13:55:00.001-07:00

So far, we've feasted on Lucky Charms for breakfast, and kiwi, green applesauce, pickles, and sandwiches for lunch. The kids and I are wearing our brightest green shirts and a few green plastic bowler hats, we delivered potted shamrocks to our friends, and we have plans to watch Darby O'Gill and the Little People this evening (as soon as it arrives from Amazon). And we can't wait for our traditional St. Patty's Day dinner, an Irish Fry (fried eggs, home fries, toasted english muffins with butter, breakfast sausage, and baked beans), accompanied by watergate salad (simply because it's green) and a delicious--if not entirely healthy--green punch concoction. What are your St. Patrick's Day traditions?

Birthday Cake Boxes

2011-02-08T13:00:00.000-08:00

I turned another year older a few weeks ago, and to celebrate, I delivered slices of birthday cake to a few of my friends. Last year, my friend Marcelle took slices of her favorite cake, flourless chocolate cake, in chinese take-out boxes to some of her friends. Such a fun idea to give friends a little bit of celebration on your big day (especially when you are a grown-up and no one is throwing you a huge birthday bash every year)! And last Fall, I spotted adorable DIY slice-of-pie boxes on Stephmodo that I knew I had to do something with. At some point it occurred to me to combine both ideas, and voila! Birthday Cake boxes!

I came up with a quick template (well, it should have been quick, but I'm a dunce when it comes to Illustrator, so it took a while!), printed a bunch out on my kraft cardstock, cut, and taped. I made a really good, vanilla buttermilk cake with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles, boxed up the slices, and delivered them! It was so much fun! Happy Birthday to me!

Click HERE to download the template. The assembled boxes will fit cake slices from a 1- or 2-layer 8" round cake that has been cut into at least 12 pieces. And click HERE if you'd like the recipe for the Vanilla Buttermilk Cake!

Print out as many boxes as you'll need on cardstock.

Cut on the solid lines.

Fold on the dotted lines. A bone folder would work nicely here, but I can never find mine when I need it, so I just used my fingernails.

Use double-sided tape to attach the overlapping flaps to the sides of the box.

Do this one first, then wait until you've slid the piece of cake into position to do the other two. Just trust me on that one. ;)

All done!

Cool Things I Got For Christmas

2011-01-05T11:54:00.000-08:00

I need to point out before you read any further that all of these gifts were given to me. I had absolutely nothing to do with buying them--I didn't even make a Christmas list this year--so I can't take any credit for how cool these gifts are. I just had a lucky Holiday season and generous family members!

1. Jewelry Kit from French General--from my sister Holly

I hadn't even heard of French General before receiving this jewelry kit, but I've since checked them out online and made a very long mental list of all the goodies I want to buy! Their jewelry kits are beautiful and include everything you need to make the piece of jewelry shown except pliers, glue, and wire cutters. But their offerings don't stop with gorgeous jewelry kits! They also have beautiful fabric, amazing trims, paper goods, aprons, etc.

2. Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin--from my brother Chaz

One of the things I've been wanting to learn to do (I've made it an actual resolution this year) is screen printing. I've had a lot of fun over the past few years making things with freezer paper stencils, but they can be a little limiting. My brother took a class in LA on silk-screening, and I've been bugging him to come up and visit me, help me build a silk-screen set-up, and teach me how to use it (you know, just a quick trip, haha). In the meantime, he bought me this fantastic book chock-full of inspiring techniques and projects. It has ideas from custom rubber stamping to screen printing, and the whole book is beautifully styled and gorgeous to look at.

3. Plaid Cowlneck Shirt from Banana Republic--from my husband, who always buys me cute clothes (good job, Love!)

So, I have to admit that I had to look the shirt up online to figure the neck out, but every time I wear it I get loads of compliments. I wear it tunic style over skinny jeans, but I'd love to get my hands on a cute skinny belt and try it as shown above.

4. The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook by John Barricelli--from Santa

I love baking, and I love anyone who has anything at all to do with Martha Stewart, so this gorgeous cookbook from Everyday Baking guy John Barricelli is perfect in every way. Although there aren't a ton of pictures, every recipe sounds mouth-watering and fairly easy. I think the first thing I'm going to make is the Cornmeal Bread. Or the Strawberry Thumbprint Corn Muffins. Or the Tart Tropezienne. Or the Apple Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting....

5. A Macbook--from my husband, who always spends way more on me than I do on him

This one was a true stunner. My husband has been having fun with woodworking this year, and he made my mom and one of my sisters beautiful wooden cutting boards for Christmas. He wrapped my Macbook similarly and had us open them at the same time. So imagine my shock when I opened up a laptop instead of a cutting board! Good job, you. In all honesty, the Macbook freaks me out a bit, but I'm learning to deal with it.

6. The Selby is in Your Place--from Santa

A very, very cool book. Todd Selby has photographed a whole bunch of creative people in their homes, and it is so fun to look at each picture and see how their personal spaces are a reflection of them. It makes me feel like I need to rethink my whole house!

**Dear Family Members: If I didn't include your gift in this list, rest assured that I loved it anyway. There were a few things I couldn't find on the internet, plus I got tired and wanted to take a nap!**

Christmas Cookie Plate

2010-12-15T12:30:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for our giveaway, scroll down to the next post, or click HERE.

I think there is no Christmas sweet quite as iconic as the Christmas cookie. When we were little, we always made cookies for our friends and neighbors and delivered them on Christmas Eve. Over the years, we've added a few new stars to the line-up, but our favorites remain unchanged. Click HERE to see a few of our favorite Christmas cookies, the recipes we return to year

after year.

You can also see a list of our favorite holiday treats to share and a list of our favorite savory snacks!

December Giveaway Day!

2010-12-12T12:43:00.000-08:00

Comments are now closed. Congratulations jhitomi! We'll be contacting you shortly. Thanks everyone for entering our giveaway, and Happy Holidays!!

We at Max and Ellie have been participating in Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Days for a few years now, and we are thrilled to once again offer up a fun prize from our store. If you're new to Giveaway Day, here's a quick synopsis: hundreds of bloggers, some associated with generous online shops, some just associated with their own generous selves, all do fantastic giveaways on the same day. The sponsor, Sew Mama Sew, has link lists of all of the participating blogs, and you can spend literally hours checking out new blogs and shops, leaving a comment, and entering to win fabulous prizes. Click HERE to go to Sew Mama Sew's master lists.

Now, onto our prize! We have tons of lovely, new items in our shop, and we'd love to send one of them to one of you! The winner of our giveaway can choose one of the following from our shop:

an itty bitty boo-boo kit in their choice of color (we have lots of new colors not yet listed in the shop, like orange and lavender; just ask!)

a bobbi pin trio in their choice of color

a set of blossom earrings in their choice of color

a set of cute-as-a-button earrings in their choice of color (not currently listed in the shop, but you can see them in the picture below, and if that's the prize you choose, we can send you lots more pictures!)

All you have to do to enter is visit our shop, pick a favorite item (or 2 or 3!), and leave us a comment on this post telling us what it is! Be sure to include your email address in your comment so that we can get in touch with you if you win. The giveaway will end sometime on Friday, December 17th, at which time we'll announce and contact the winner and ship out their prize. We'll actually be out of town while that last part is going on, but we have a sweet, helpful husband who will be dealing with packaging and shipping the prize. But because of that, we are only opening this contest to US residents.

Happy Holidays and Good Luck!

love, Max and Ellie

Holiday Treats to Share

2010-12-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

Giving homemade treats to friends and neighbors during the Holidays is one of my favorite things about this time of year. It's easier on the wallet than store-bought gifts, and the time and effort that go into making a gift for someone show a level of caring that is far greater. Growing up, we always gave cookie plates (tune in next week for some of our favorite Holiday cookie recipes), but in the past few years, we've tried to be extra creative with our homemade treats. Click HERE to see what we've given, gotten, and gobbled up!

Winter Woolens Advent Calendar

2010-12-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

First off, I have to admit that none of these socks and mittens are made from wool. I'm pretty sure they contain no wool whatsoever. But "winter woolens" is such a cute phrase! I first read it on SouleMama a few years ago and it has stayed with me ever since. And you are certainly welcome to use wool socks and wool mittens if you make a similar advent calendar.

I've been looking for an advent calendar for about 5 years now, ever since our oldest celebrated her first Christmas. We have a cute poster of a house with numbered rooms and a Santa sticker we move from room to room, but I wanted something that I could stuff candy and little notes into. After seeing lots of beautiful but expensive store-bought calendars, and many, many beautiful but time-consuming handmade calendars, I finally spotted this one using baby socks on Martha Stewart and decided I could easily crank it out in about an hour (shopping time not included)! Here's how I did it (slightly differently than dear Martha):

Materials:

24 or 25 holiday baby socks, toddler socks, gloves, and mittens
1 or 2 sheets white card stock
various circle punches (I used a 2" scalloped circle, a 1 1/4" plain circle, and a 1 3/8" plain circle)
black stamp pad
various number and letter stamps
clothes pins (I used standard ones, but those little tiny ones would be awfully cute too)
elmer's glue or other craft glue
about 3 yards of jute, twine, ribbon, yarn, or rope (basically, something to hang these little darlings from)

How-To:

Punch 24 or 25 circles out of card stock using the various circle punches. I did 25, but I've noticed lots of count-down calendars only go to 24; it's your choice!
Lay the circles out on your work surface in the order you'd like them to go in, then start stamping each circle with a number. I did a mixture of numerals and written-out letters.
Place a single dot of elmer's glue on each clothes pin, then gently stick on the numbered circles. Set them aside to dry.
Put your twine (or whatever you'll be hanging your socks on) up where you want it and make sure it is securely attached. I put some of those 3M sticky hooks on the wall in our entry way, spaced them about 100 inches apart, and tied each end of my twine to a hook.
When the clothes pins are dry, use them to hang up the socks in number order. You can fill the socks with Christmas candy, love notes, small ornaments, holiday activity ideas, etc.

I'm so excited to have this sweet advent calendar in our house this year to help us count down the days until Christmas. And if we get tired of the socks and gloves, or if we need them in the future, we can use the numbered clothes pins for a new advent calendar!

Happy December 1st! and Savory Holiday Snacks

2010-12-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

When I was little, my mom threw us a little party on the first of December every year. We divvied up the Christmas decorations, ate festive snacks, did little holiday projects, and were officially allowed to start singing Christmas songs. It is a tradition I have continued with my own children, and one that I look forward to every year. Today, we have plans to bake Molasses Crinkles (one of the best holiday cookies ever--promise), decorate little foam gingerbread houses, make an advent calendar AND a red and green paper chain, and possibly watch a Christmas movie or two!

Now that the holidays are in full swing, I thought it would be fun to share some of our favorite holiday recipes each week throughout the month. This week, we'll focus on

I have a major sweet tooth, but I also love me some salt. Click HERE to see just a few of my most favorite savory holiday snacks.

Photos from Bliss Handmade Boutique

2010-11-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

After months of planning and creating, our third trip to the Bliss Handmade Boutique is finally and successfully over. We are tired and happy. In case you didn't make it, here's some of what you missed:

Blossom Earrings--we're sold out of black, but still have hot pink, red, cream, coral, and aqua

adorable full and half aprons

colorful bobbi pin trios--1 resin flower, 1 fabric-covered button, and 1 hand-cut, hand-stitched felt bloom with a little green leaf

an amazing turn-out! this picture was NOT taken at the busiest time; there was a time when it was completely packed and you had a hard time getting around to all of the tables!

We are participating in another holiday show in two weeks, Treasured Home in Springfield, OR, December 3rd and 4th from 10am-6pm. Fabric, bags, wall art, bath and body goodies, jewelry, clothes, quilts, holiday decor, and more, plus all of the Max and Ellie stuff you know and love! We'd love to see familiar faces there, so plan on stopping by!

Little Winter=Happiness

2010-11-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

Is it odd that a shopping event made me feel happy inside for a few days? I've been excited for Little Winter for a while now, especially when it became apparent that I could finagle a few things in our hectic family life and actually attend. I was practically giddy just thinking about it all day Saturday, and beside myself on the way there Sunday afternoon. And Little Winter most definitely did not disappoint! It was very, very hard to narrow down my purchases; I wanted to buy so many beautiful things. But out of all of the lovelies, here's what I came away with:

Mossiere's 2011 silkscreened calendar--I had a hard time choosing which lovely print to get, but this Pacific Northwest Flora and Fauna calendar can be trimmed to fit a 12.5x12.5" frame when the year is over. Score! And it reaffirmed my desire to learn how to do calligraphy AND silkscreening.

A yummy cake print from Paul Ferney--I agonized over which cake print to choose for about 5 minutes; they're all so cute.

A God Jul card from Owls Go Hoot for Garment House for my Norwegian grandparents--I only wish I had gone ahead and bought the matching gift tags. :(

Everything about Little Winter was wonderful: the fresh, clean styling; the fantastic location; the window displays; the gift-wrapping. It was just beautiful, and I can't wait for more!

Bliss Handmade Holiday 2010 Boutique

2010-10-27T17:08:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to once again be participating in the Bliss Handmade Boutique! This year's Holiday show will be on Thursday, November 18th, from 6 to 9 pm, in Crescent Village. If you're in Eugene, stop by for some early holiday shopping, hob-knobbing, cupcake-eating, and general good time-having! Max and Ellie will be one of over a dozen local artisans selling handmade items; there will be items for everyone from baby to baby-boomer, knick-knacks for the home, bath and body stuff, etc. etc! For more info AND daily give-aways between now and the 18th, visit the official Bliss Handmade website by clicking HERE. And come say hi on Nov. 18th!

Annie's French Baby Shower

2010-10-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

So Annie--of birthday party fame--is just a little pregnant, and as a result, a baby shower was in order. Neither Annie nor I has any real connection to France; neither of us has ever been there, neither of us speaks the language. But who doesn't want to throw a French-themed party?!

lots of black and white striped ribbon

It was a huge hit! From the invitations to the decor, from the food to the favors, Annie's French Baby Shower was une bonne fete!

tarragon chicken salad with almonds served on baguettes; mini quiche; crudites

caramel apple napoleons; mini chocolate pots de creme; mini chocolate croissants

raspberry-almond french macarons

pear-walnut-goat cheese salad

sparkling pink lemonade

handmade dotted-swiss sachets filled with lavender buds; ignore the backyard--I realized after the baby shower that I had forgotten to clean up the yard!

In addition to eating and opening presents, we played a fun--although challenging--game where the lyrics of popular lullabies and children's songs were written in French, and we had to guess the song titles. Our only French speaker got 17 out of 18 right, and our best non-French-speaking score was 13 out of 18. Not too bad!

Argyle Pumpkins: Long Time Comin'

2010-10-15T09:06:00.000-07:00

At about this time last year, we went to visit my sister and her family in the town my husband and I went to college in. While shopping one evening (because that is pretty much what we spend our time doing when we're together) I saw some adorable faux pumpkins painted with argyle patterns. I wanted to buy them, but they were expensive and very large, too large to fit in a little suitcase. So as soon as I got home, I went to the craft store and bought supplies to make my own argyle pumpkins. And Halloween came and went without any argyle pumpkins, so I packed all of my supplies away with our decorations and resolved to make them this year. When October 1st rolled around this year, I finally did it! And then I didn't get the post up for two weeks, but here they are, 1 year+ in the making!

Argyle Pumpkins

supplies:
pumpkins, real or fake, depending on how long you want them to last
blue painter's tape, the most useful craft tool ever
pencil
flexible measuring tape
craft paint (I used black, orange, and white)
paint brushes (I used a sponge brush for the diamonds and a really fine-tipped paintbrush for the dotted lines)
clear acrylic spray

how to:

Using the measuring tape, measure the circumference of the pumpkin (Figure out how tall your pumpkin is--minus the stem--and find the middle). Lightly trace it with a pencil.
Figure out how many diamonds you want on your pumpkin. It needs to be an even number so that the colors alternate all the way around. Trust me on that one! Take the circumference measurement, divide it by the number of diamonds you want, and you'll get the width of each diamond. For example, if my pumpkin is 30 inches around and I want 6 diamonds, I divide 30 inches by 6 to get 5 inches. Each diamond will be 5 inches wide.
With your measuring tape, start marking off the left and right points of the diamonds. Pick a starting point on that line you drew around the middle and, using the pencil, make a dot that is big enough that you'll be able to find it again. Now make another dot to mark the end of your first diamond and the beginning of your second. Continue doing this all the way around your pumpkin. Since my diamonds will be 5 inches wide, I pick a starting point, mark it, and then make another dot every 5 inches until I reach my first dot again.
Next, make a mark where the middle of each diamond will be. I marked the outside edges of my diamonds with a dot and the middle with a short, vertical line so that I didn't get mixed up. Divide your diamond width by 2 to figure out where the middle of each diamond is. Or eyeball it! Since my diamonds are 5 inches wide, the middle mark goes at 2.5 inches.
Now, decide how tall you want your diamonds to be. I think it looks best if the diamonds are taller than they are wide. Take your measuring tape, line it up with that mark you made in the center of your diamond, and make marks where you want the top and bottom of the diamond to be. I want my diamonds to be 7 inches tall, so half of that height needs to be below the center line and half needs to be above. I line my measuring tape up with my center mark and put a pencil dot 3.5 inches below and one 3.5 inches above.
Next, tape off every other diamond with blue painter's tape. You'll need 4 pieces of tape for each diamond: one piece connecting the left dot with the top dot, one piece connecting the top dot with the right dot, one piece connecting the right dot with the bottom dot, and one piece connecting the bottom dot with the left dot. Make sure you follow the surface of the pumpkin with the tape and make a nice, tight seal.
Paint your first set of diamonds with one color. Mine took 3 coats of paint, and I used a 1 inch-wide sponge brush. Let the paint completely dry and then remove the tape.
Using the same technique, tape off and paint the other diamonds using your second color.
Using a fine-tipped paint brush and the opposite color, paint a large, dotted X through the middle of each diamond. Let it dry.
Spray everything with a clear acrylic sealer.

Share the Love Week with The Anderson Crew

2010-10-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

I won't get into too many details, because you can read them all HERE. I'll just tell you that Emily, her husband, and their 4 beautiful children are raising money to bring a new member of their family, sweet Elisabeth, home from Ethiopia. 46 shops--including Max and Ellie!--donated items, and starting Tuesday you can bid on them. All of the donated items have been divided into themed bundles, with each bundle having a value of over $300! Why are you still reading? Go! Go! Go!!

Apple Season!

2010-09-28T10:55:00.000-07:00

At our house, it is officially apple season, one of my favorite times of the year. We don't have a big backyard, but my amateur farmer husband has crammed a tiny orchard and several raised beds into the spare corners. Our orchard consists of some fairly unproductive cherry trees, a peach that is half-dead, an apricot and italian plum that look beautiful but don't give any fruit, and one 4-way dwarf apple that makes up for its lazy friends by producing bushel after bushel of delicious apples. In honor of our small-but-mighty apple tree, here are some apple favorites!

BOOKS

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington
One of our favorite Fall books, and one that we keep reading all year long.

Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo. Lesieg
Very funny.

Apples To Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson
Lovely illustrations and a cute story, especially for those of us in the Pacific Northwest.

BAKING

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Aunt Shelley's Butterscotch Apple Dip

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Cake

Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble

Banana Apple Bread

Chunky Applesauce

Caramel Apple Turnovers with Sweet Ricotta Filling

Annie's Big 3-0: the food

2010-09-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

Food is always my favorite part of any celebration! And, despite the fact that I'm not a seafood lover, the food was definitely a highlight of Annie's party.

The Menu

Sparkling Meyer Lemon and Fuji Apple Juices
Bergenost, Brie, and Herbed Boursin Cheeses with an assortment of Crackers
Grapes
Sweet Potato Fries with Crushed Rosemary and Kosher Salt
Field Greens, Dried Cranberries, Sugared Almonds, and Feta dressed with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Buttered Rolls
Seafood Boil with New Potatoes, Corn on the Cob, Smoked Sausage, Crab Legs, and Shrimp
Individual Tart Cherry Crumb Cakes with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

The food was a mixture of ready-made, prepared the night before, and cooked on the spot. The juices came from World Market, and were both beautifully bottled and delicious. The cheeses, crackers, and grapes all came from Costco and needed minimal preparation, as did the buttered rolls and salad. The Cherry Crumb Cakes were quite a bit of work, but they were made the night before, cooled, and wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. They only needed to plated, drizzled with glaze, and topped with ice cream at the party. The sweet potato fries and seafood boil were the only things we really had to make right then and there while guests were mingling and munching on appetizers.

After experimenting a little with homemade sweet potato fries and getting disappointing results, we finally decided to buy Alexia Foods' frozen Sweet Potato Fries from Costco instead. We gave them a quick fry on a propane camp stove, tossed them with crushed, dried rosemary and kosher salt, and devoured them. They were an amazing combination of sweet, savory, and salty, and infinitely better than the ones I tried to make at home!

My husband decided to start frying our turkeys for Thanksgiving a few years ago, so we have a huge propane burner and enormous stock pot with a strainer, all of which came in very handy for the seafood boil. We seasoned the water with McCormick's Shrimp Boil seasoning, a few quartered onions and some lemon slices, added new potatoes, and brought it to a boil. Then we added Hillshire Farms Beef Smoked Sausage that had been cut into 2" pieces and a few pounds of crab legs. That's about all we could fit for the first round of cooking. **An aside: from the start, Annie had her heart set on a seafood boil, but wanted the party to be a little fancier than cooked seafood poured directly onto the table, so we decided to put the seafood into trays to serve it. The trays had to be large enough to fit quite a bit of seafood, yet small enough to fit on the table without having to clear off plates and centerpieces, and low enough that they wouldn't prevent conversation. While researching the possibility of metal garbage can lids at Home Depot, we discovered galvanized metal trays that are 16" wide and only 4" deep. Lined with a few sheets of white freezer paper, they made perfect seafood boil servers.** When the first batch of food was done, we divided the potatoes, sausage, and crab legs among the four metal serving trays and set them aside while cooking the second batch of food. Since it was just shrimp and corn on the cob, we knew it would only take a few minutes to cook and that everything would stay hot. Once all the food was cooked and divided among the serving trays, we sprinkled a little Slap Yo Mama Cajun Seasoning on top and set them out. We strategically placed a few small dishes containing lemon slices, spicy mustard, salt and pepper, and Old Bay seasoning around the table and let people go for it. And did they ever! The crab legs were a last minute addition, so we didn't have any claw crackers or whatever you use to eat crab legs. People just whacked at them with their spoons and sent bits of shell everywhere. It was pretty entertaining!

Annie's Big 3-0: the decor

2010-09-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

Annie and I planned a lot of her party while we were sitting in a movie theater late one night waiting for the first showing of Eclipse to start; I took notes on the back of an old shopping list I dug out of my purse. The first thing Annie thought of was something she'd seen growing up back East: half of a lemon with a peppermint straw stuck in it. The entire party was basically planned around that one idea! Bob's Peppermint Sticks are really easy to find during the Holidays (we've given them as Christmas gifts to our neighbors), but not so much during the summer. You can buy them online for just a few dollars, but the shipping is ridiculously huge in comparison to the price. The other option is to buy them at Cracker Barrell, which I love to a bizarre degree. We don't have any Cracker Barrells here. Luckily, Annie was visiting her in-laws out of state and swung by one of their locations just to pick up the peppermint sticks. To get the lemons to stand up straight, I just cut a thin slice off the bottom. They looked really cute. Actually getting sweet, minty lemon juice out of them was another story, but we discovered that biting both ends off the peppermint straws and gently squeezing the lemon while sucking really hard on the peppermints sticks did the trick...for most of us.

The day before the party, Annie, my little ones, and I went to a nearby u-pick flower patch and picked all of the flowers for the arrangements. Well, Annie, my oldest, and I picked flowers; my youngest played in the mud. I was wondering why she was being so good. The flowers were about $20 total, which I think is pretty amazing. We arranged them in clean #10 cans, and I have to say, they looked pretty darn cute. When I did the arrangements the night before the party, the white snapdragon spikes were gracefully drooping down, but I couldn't fool mother nature for long and by the next morning they were standing straight up in the air, and I couldn't even twist them around without destroying everything. Still, the lovely mix of white, yellow, red, and pink looked absolutely beautiful together.

Somehow, we didn't have to rent much for the party, just the chairs. We borrowed the banquet tables and white table cloths from church, and used my in-laws' folding tables covered in freezer paper for food prep. Annie and I both have plain white dishes, natural woven wicker chargers, and silverware. We used 8 of her sets, 8 of mine, and alternated them. I think I actually liked it better than if every place setting had matched perfectly. The table runner was just a long strip of burlap from JoAnn's. I bought 3 yards for $2.99/yard, cut the whole thing in half, and overlapped the two strips right in the middle of the table under the center flower arrangement. A few white tea-lights in mismatched mason jars, striped name tags hanging from striped ribbon, and red striped paper straws from Hey Yo Yo completed the rustic, country effect.

Annie did the favors herself: a scoop of sanded lemon drops in a brown kraft box, sealed with a red and white striped label.

Annie's Big 3-0: the location

2010-09-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

The key to this whole party was the location. Annie has always dreamed of having a party in the middle of a big field. Luckily, my husband and I just bought a big, 2-acre field a few months ago! Yes, we will build a house on it someday, but in the mean time, it is perfect for a middle-of-a-field party.

The field has a beautiful view of the hills to the north, and a gorgeous antique barn--which we dream of buying someday--to the south, so it was almost perfect to begin with. Still, there were a few large hurdles to jump over before we could be sure the party would work there, namely power and plumbing. After considering asking our neighbors (who we don't really know) if we could borrow a bathroom and an electrical outlet, and deciding against it, we came up with the idea to pull a trailer onto the property. Since we live in the RV capital of the world, we figured someone we know would have something we could use. We hit pay dirt when the front desk at my husband's office and her husband loaned us their enormous 5th-wheel for the night. They were more than happy to set it up, show us how to turn on the generator and the lights, and let us have free reign for the entire evening. I love nice people! In addition to a bathroom and a generator, the trailer provided us with a large, shady area where we set up our make-shift kitchen and serving station.

So, big field--check. Lights strung over the tables--easy. We bought six 8-foot long 2x2's for $1.26 each at Home Depot, cut the ends into points, and drove them into the dirt with a sledge hammer to make a 12x24' rectangle. We had many, many strands of white globe lights left over from our wedding reception all those years ago. They've just been sitting in my parents' garage waiting to be used again. It only took four strands to go around the entire rectangle. The lights looked lovely while the sun was still up, and amazing once the sun set and we turned on the generator.

Annie's Big 3-0!

2010-09-06T11:43:00.000-07:00

I have a good excuse for my lack of posts in the past few weeks: a fabulous 30th birthday party that needed to be planned and executed. A few months ago, my friend Annie mentioned that she wanted to throw herself a big bash for her upcoming 30th birthday. Of course I couldn't let her do all the work--and have all the fun--herself, so I volunteered to help.

The party sounded great on paper: white globe lights strung over long tables in the middle of a field; fresh-picked flowers and candles dotting the table runner; fresh seafood, bubbly drinks, and homemade dessert. But it didn't come together until literally 30 minutes before the guests arrived, so it was one of those times when I wasn't sure if it was going to be spectacular or a giant flop! And then, magically, it was beyond gorgeous. Friends arrived, we all chatted, feasted, and most of all, wished a very happy birthday to our very special friend.

The birthday girl, her belly, and some sweet potato fries

I meant to get pictures of each couple, but this is the only one I actually took!

Guests admiring the lovely setting

Even better after dark, under the globe lights and stars, of which we could see millions!

Everyone playing an Annie Trivia game

Jake serenading his wife with a sweet, acoustic love song surprise

For more details, tune in throughout the week!!

Embroidery Hoop Wall Art: Stenciled Letters

2010-08-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

Before I talk about the last of the embroidery hoop projects: I read this article today, and it just about broke my heart! Does anyone else feel the same way?

So, stenciled letters. I've done lots of projects using freezer paper stencils, and I have to say, it is the gift that just keeps on giving. Maybe I'll tire of them at some point (like if/when I ever get around to taking a silk screening class), but I've been doing various freezer paper stencil projects for over a year now, and they still excite me! And if you are patient and have teeny-tiny scissors, you can make really complicated designs really easily.

Materials:

1 embroidery hoop (for this project, I used a 5x9" oval)
1 piece of cotton fabric, cut about 3" larger on each side than your hoop
1 piece of freezer paper (by the aluminum foil at the grocery store)
flat fabric paint (as opposed to puffy paint)
a paint brush
an iron and ironing board
a pen or pencil

Instructions:

Before you do anything else, you need to find a letter to trace. For this particular project, I used the Palace font and modified it slightly to fit my hoop. I played with the size of the font until it was big enough to fill the hoop while leaving a little open space. When you have found your letter (or shape or clipart) and gotten it to the right size, print it out on a plain old piece of computer paper.
Tape your letter to a sunny window. Tape your freezer paper over it, centering the letter. Using a pen or pencil, trace the letter. Make sure you get all of it, inside, outside, and in between. Remove the freezer paper from the window.
Using a small, sharp pair of scissors (like hair-cutting scissors or embroidery scissors), cut out the letter. Keep in mind that you are creating a stencil, which means you want to keep the big piece of freezer paper intact. It doesn't matter if you have to cut the letters into pieces to get them out because the letter is actually the part you will throw away. If your letter has any inner pieces (A's, D's, O's, etc.) carefully cut those out and keep them. Keep chanting the mantra, "I'm making a stencil. I'm making a stencil."
Place your fabric on the ironing board. Put your freezer paper stencil on top, making sure the letter is centered on the fabric. Carefully iron the freezer paper stencil onto the fabric. Make sure the fabric and stencil are both smooth while you do this. When you have the main stencil firmly adhered to the fabric, you can add any little pieces that complete your letter (like those insides you cut out and saved). Iron them on as well, and allow the whole thing to cool.
Put an old pillowcase, dish towel, or scrap of cloth under your fabric (or inside if you are painting something like a t-shirt or tote bag).
Using your fabric paint and brush, fill in the stencil on your fabric. Try not to glop the paint on; you want your finished product to be nice and smooth. Feel free to add another coat of paint if your paint color and fabric warrant it; some of my projects have only needed one coat, some have needed two.
Allow your design to dry completely--overnight if possible.
Take the old pillowcase, dish towel, or cloth that you put under you fabric, put it on top of your dry design, and go over the whole thing with an iron. This will set the paint.
When everything is cool, carefully peel off your freezer paper stencil.
Frame, trim, and glue the painted fabric according to Monday's instructions.

Emroidery Hoop Wall Art: Button Letters

2010-08-17T10:12:00.001-07:00

The second set of letters I worked on in my Embroidery Hoop project was the button letters. These were quick and easy to make, and they turned out so cute!

Materials

1 embroidery hoop (for this part, I used 5" circles)
1 square of cotton cloth, cut about 3 inches bigger than your hoop on all sides
pencil
assorted buttons
thread
needle

Instructions

Before doing anything, figure out what you want your letter to look like. Because I was using different styles and colors of buttons, I kept the style of the letter simple.
Put your fabric into the embroidery hoop, making sure it is centered and stretched nice and tight.
Using a pencil, lightly sketch your letter onto the fabric. If you make a mistake, it is possible to get the pencil markings out, but that would require washing the fabric, so try to get it right the first time!
Lay your buttons on top of the pencil sketch. Play around with different arrangements until you get one you like. If you have a digital camera or a camera on your cell phone, take a picture of the button arrangement. Otherwise, transfer them to a counter, tabletop, etc, being sure to keep them in the right order.
Thread your needle and start sewing your buttons onto the fabric.
When your letter is complete, trim and glue the excess fabric in the same manner as the giant cross-stitched letters.

Tomorrow: Stenciled Letters

Emrboidery Hoop Wall Art: Giant Cross-stitch

2010-08-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Another project I can cross off my list of unfinished projects!! Actually, it's the first project, not "another" project, but let's not argue semantics, okay?

After seeing a giant cross-stitched monogram in an equally giant embroidery hoop on Frolic! last spring, I decided to do a trio of framed monograms for each of our daughters' bedroom walls. As usual, I bought all of the materials immediately and then did nothing for almost 18 months! I don't know what came over me in July, but I up and finished all six hoops in two days!

The first--and arguably sweetest--project tackled was the giant cross-stitch. Each one took about an hour, but that's an hour that includes DVR watching, so if you concentrated you could probably get it done much faster!

Materials:

1 embroidery hoop per letter (mine were 9" circles)
1 square of cotton fabric, cut about 3" bigger on each side than your hoop (I used 1 30x30" flour sack towel for all 6 hoops!)
1 thingy of embroidery floss
1 embroidery needle
graph paper
pencil
black marker
water-based fabric marker
tape
clear-drying glue (Elmer's, Tacky Glue, etc.)

Instructions:

Lay your hoop over your graph paper and lightly trace the inside edge of the hoop with a pencil. This will help you stay centered and within your hoop's boundaries when sketching your letter.
Using the circle you just traced on your graph paper as a guide, sketch your letter using large X's. If you don't like how it looks, by all means, adjust it. That's why you're using pencil! My "E" was a no-brainer, but I had to finagle my "A" a bit to make it look right.
When your letter looks the way you want it to, use a thick, black marker to make a big dot on each corner of each X (not the center of each X, but rather the points where the X's meet each other).
Tape your graph paper to a sunny window. Center your fabric over your graph paper and tape that up as well, gently pulling the fabric so that it is taut, not slack.
Using a water-based fabric marker, trace the big black dots from your graph paper onto your fabric. You don't have to make big dots on your fabric; you just need a point big enough to see.
Remove your fabric from the window and transfer it to your embroidery hoop, centering the letter and pulling the fabric taut.
Thread your needle with embroidery floss. I didn't want my thread doubled over, but feel free to double it if you want extra heavy X's. Knot the end of the floss, and start cross-stitching! You might want to come up with a game plan for cross-stitching your letter before you actually start embroidering. You want to make your X's with as few starts and stops as possible; you don't want to have to knot your floss and start all over on a new section if you can help it. If you've never cross-stitched before, here's a great tutorial to help you get started.
When you are finished cross-stitching your letter, remove your fabric from the embroidery hoop and soak it in cold water until the fabric marker has completely faded. Let your fabric air dry; iron it if needed after drying.
Pop your fabric back into your embroidery hoop. This is the last time you'll put it in, so make sure that the letter is centered, that the screw on the hoop is where you want it, that the fabric is smooth, etc. Trim the excess fabric so that is extends about 1/2" beyond the hoop. Put a thin line of glue all the way around the inside of the embroidery hoop, and gently tuck the fabric little by little until it is all tucked in and glued to the inside of the hoop.

Tomorrow: Button Letters

What Do We Do With All This Zucchini???

2010-08-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is actually the first year we've had that particular problem. For the past three summers, we've only managed to get one or two zucchini's from our pathetic zucchini plants. This summer, we are having the age-old problem of discovering monster zucchinis that were mere sprouts yesterday. And we welcome the problem with open arms and grumbling tummies! Here are a few delicious zucchini recipes to get you through the end of the growing season; just click on the name of the recipe to see the recipe in full.

Italian-Style Pasta Salad

Zucchini Bread, v1.0

Individual Zucchini and Cheddar Frittatas

Minestrone

Italian-Style Stuffed Zucchini

Zucchini Bread, v2.0 and Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Ratatouille

My Smart Spice Give-Away is still going on! You can win 16 different organic spices; just click HERE!

Smart-Spice Review and Give-Away!!

2010-08-02T10:33:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to introduce everyone to a great product today: Smart Spice. Smart Spice offers 16 different organic spices in pre-measured, individually sealed 1-teaspoon packets. You can use what you need, and the rest of your spices stay protected from light, air, and moisture, the enemies of freshness. The spices have a wonderful, stone-ground texture, and lovely aromas and flavors. And the makers of Smart Spice are generously giving away one entire set of 16 spices! If you're the oh-so-lucky winner, you'll receive a box containing four 1-teaspoon packets of each of 16 commonly-used spices, everything from Basil to Thyme. To read my full product review, get recipes, and most of all, TO ENTER THE GIVE-AWAY, click HERE!

Kitchen Linens: A Quick Tutorial

2010-07-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a family that had big, wonderful family dinners every Sunday evening. We always used the nice dishes and put a lovely table cloth on the dining room table. If whoever set the table was feeling particulary fancy, we even had candles. We ate a lot of roast (my mom and Nana make the world's best roast), sometimes chicken or pork chops, and all of the usual sides like potatoes, carrots, salads, etc. And, of course, no Sunday dinner was ever complete without some type of delicious bread product. Soft, pillowy dinner rolls; sweet, wholesome muffins; hearty, golden corn bread--all served in a bread basket lined with a clean kitchen towel.

I don't have lots of room for storing kitchen linens, so my collection of table cloths, place mats, and cloth napkins is fairly limited. And, between mopping up spills and drying little hands, my kitchen towels get quite the work-out. So I decided that I needed some new kitchen linens, small enough to fit in a bread basket, but big enough to fold over warm, fresh-from-the-oven bread until dinner is ready. Making them was quick and satisfying; here's how:

Buy two fat quarters of the same fabric. Or buy half a yard of fabric and cut it in half to make two fat quarters (18x22"). Wash, dry, and iron your fabric.
With the right sides touching, lay your pieces one on top of the other, line up the edges, and pin. I used 3 or 4 pins per side.
Using a 1/4" seam, sew your two pieces of fabric together, going almost all the way around the outside. Leave a 4" gap.
Trim the corners, turn right side-out, and iron flat.
Top stitch around the whole thing, getting as close to the edge as you feel comfortable (for these kitchen linens, I stayed about 1/8" from the edge). Make sure you close up the opening you left for turning.

In addition to lining a bread basket, these kitchen linens are the perfect size to be sweet placemats, go under a centerpiece, or wrap up cookies for the neighbors.

Craft Camp: Hand-Stitched Lavender Sachets and Mason Jar Sewing Kits

2010-07-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

For our last day of craft camp, I decided to give the girls a little sewing lesson. After making sweet little sewing kits in mason jars, we hand-sewed pouches out of linen and filled them with lavender buds and dried chamomile flowers. Sadly, the sachets were the only project of the entire week that not everyone finished. We had lots of embroidery needles coming off of the floss (we're talking two hours solid of re-threading) and a few tangles that were so bad even I couldn't get the knots out. But those sachets that did make it to the finish line were very sweet, both in appearance and in fragrance.

Here's how we did it:

Cut two 6-inch squares of linen and line them up. If you want to pin them together in a few places, feel free, but I despise pinning!
Thread an embroidery needle with embroidery floss and start sewing the two squares together about 1/2" from the edge. Smaller stitches mean less likelihood that anything will fall out once the sachet is done. You don't have to tie a knot in your floss at this point, but you do need to pull about 3 feet of floss through the fabric.
Continue stitching around the edge of the sachet until you have about 3 inches left. Through the opening, carefully add dried lavender buds and chamomile flowers until the sachet is full. You should still be able to pinch the opening shut. If you've added too many flowers, just pour some out.
Stitch the opening on your sachet shut. Make sure your last stitch ends right next to where your first stitch began and that the two loose ends of your floss are on the same side of the sachet. Trim both loose ends to about 6 inches. Tie in a double knot and trim again.
If desired, trim the edges with pinking shears.

I put my sachet in my t-shirt drawer and have been enjoying beautifully perfumed tees and tanks for a few weeks now.

The mason jar sewing kits were very easy and very fun to make. We followed the directions from this tutorial from Martha Stewart. Inside the jar, the girls put several different sizes and types of needles, some sewing pins, and a measuring tape, in addition to the extra embroidery floss from their sachets.

And that brings us to the end of the first annual Crafty Girl's Summer Camp. Despite the frustrations of the last day, it was a fantastic experience overall, one that I would do again, and one that I would definitely encourage anyone toying with the idea to do. With careful planning and organization, it can run extremely smoothly and be loads of fun for you and the girls who attend.

Craft Camp: Felt Flower Headbands and Vintage Felt Brooches

2010-07-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long absence; our computer has been sick for many, many months and we finally just had to wipe it clean and start afresh. And that takes so much longer than it should!

So, back to craft camp. On our fourth day, we had lots of fun with felt. The first project involved these adorable felt flower headbands.

They couldn't have been easier to make, and regardless of how wonky some of the girls' flowers looked, all of the headbands were just precious. The idea and instructions came from a fantastic, relatively new craft blog, eighteen25. You can find photos and step-by-step instructions HERE.

Our second project--also involving felt--was these cute felt brooches with vintage buttons. I provided the girls with lots of wool-blend felt, hot glue, buttons, bar pins, and a few cardboard templates, and they went to town. Here are some of my favorites:

Sensational Succulents and our Giveaway Winner!

2010-07-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Sinful Southern Sweets, winner of our $60 CSNStores.com gift ceritificate giveaway!

Maybe it's the fact that I grew up in the dessert: I simply love succulents. Don't get me wrong, I adore lush landscapes, but there's just something about the silvery greenery of these drought-hardy little charmers that makes my heart go pitter-pat. I love their colors. I love their teeny-tiny size. I love how architectural and geometric they are. Just try to resist them!

One of many amazing vertical gardens from floral designer Flora Grubb
{photo from Flora Grubb Gardens}

Make your own vertical garden with this how-to from Sunset Magazine!
{photo from Sunset Magazine online}

The silvery greens of the foliage and the steely greys of the pots and stones make Martha Stewart's very own patio look like a restful bit of summer heaven.
{photos from Martha Stewart Living online}

Tiny potted succulents act as a minimalist centerpiece for a dinner party by Sunday Suppers.
{photo from Sunday Suppers}

Make your own potted succulent favors with this quick tutorial from Martha Stewart.
{photos from Martha Stewart Living online}

Make a living wreath with succulents using this online tutorial from Martha Stewart...
{photo from Martha Stewart Living online}

or using this kit from Succulent Gardens...
{photo from Succulent Gardens}

Or buy a ready-made wreath from VivaTerra, Topiary Art Works on Amazon, Simply Succulents, or Succulent Gardens.

Craft Camp: Make a Customized Cork Board, a Memory Wire Bracelet, Lip Gloss, and Bath Fizzies (but not all at once!)

2010-06-23T15:29:00.001-07:00

**We are having major computer issues at our house this week, so we'll have to catch up on posting next week. But keep entering the giveaway!**

**Don't forget to enter our fantastic giveaway from CSNstores.com! They've generously donated a $60 gift certificate that can be used on everything from Adirondack Chairs to Water Slides. Click HERE to enter!**

Day 2 of craft camp was lots of fun. Our two crafts were supposed to go together, but they didn't really in the end. Oh well! We started by making framed jewelry displays (a.k.a. customized cork boards), and finished with some super swell memory wire bracelets.

The girls had tons of fun customizing their cork boards. Here's how we did it:

We started by painting 4x6" wooden picture frames (so versatile and so cheap--only $1!). Just as they did with the tote bags from Day 1, the girls went crazy with the paints; their personalities really came through in their work! After the frames were painted, we set them aside to dry while we worked on the bracelets (see below for the bracelet How To).

I bought a 4-pack of 12" square cork mats from the craft store and cut two of them into six 4x6" rectangles each.
I also bought a bunch of cute fabric fat quarters from the fabric store. No need to wash them, but ironing is a good idea.
Using a 6x8" piece of cardboard as a template, the girls traced and cut out a rectangle of fabric.

We placed the fabric face down on the table and centered the cork board over it. We folded the excess fabric up and over the edges of the cork board and stapled them in place.
When the frames were dry, we put the fabric covered cork boards into the picture frames. We added a few bright, pearly sewing pins and that's it! Here's the part where the bad planning came into play. We used glass beads on our bracelets, so by the time the bracelets were done, they were quite heavy. If you tired to hang them from the cute pins on your cute jewelry board, they would just fall off and take the pins with them. But necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets that are fairly light-weight will work fine.

Memory wire bracelets are a cinch to make. They require only 3 things: memory wire, beads, and a set of needle-nose pliers. I cut 3 turns of wire for each girl and, using the pliers, looped one end over on itself. No clasps, no knots. How easy is that?! After the girls beaded up their wire, I just looped the other end over on itself as well. Truly one of the easiest projects ever, and the bracelets looked amazing!

*****

Day 3 was super crazy, super messy, and probably the most fun yet! Today was bath and body day. We made lip gloss and bath fizzies, both ideas from Miss Martha Stewart. Instead of doing our crafts in the living room, we worked in the kitchen today. The table, counter, and floor were caked with bath stuff when we finished, so it was definitely a good idea to move our operations into a more mess-friendly environment. Click HERE for directions on how to make the lip gloss, and click HERE to find out how to make bath fizzies.

I was afraid these two projects wouldn't span the entire two-hour camp session, so we also used ribbon, scrapbooking paper, markers, etc. to decorate jars to put our bath fizzies in once they are dry.

As I mentioned in yesterday's craft camp post, if you'd like to know where I got any of my materials (like citric acid and essential oils, for example), just drop me a line at maxandellie at gmail dot com.

Giveaway Time (again!)

2010-06-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering!

Do you need a new vanity for that bathroom remodel you've been tackling? How about some patio furniture and a fire pit for these long summer nights? What about a yoga DVD or a treadmill to help you stay in shape for swimsuit season? CSNstores.com has all of these items and more! Baby gear, cookware, telescopes, shoes, luggage, beds, desks, flooring....the list goes on and on! CSN Stores is offering one lucky reader a $60 gift certificate that can be used at any one of their 200+ online shops!

To enter, simply visit CSNstores.com, look around, and then come back here and leave a comment on this post telling us what you'd put your $60 toward if you won. Don't worry; you can change your mind. If you're anything like us, you'll have a hard time narrowing down all of the amazing choices! This contest will be open for one week. We'll choose a winner on Tuesday, June 29th. Best of luck everyone!!

How To: Survive a Craft Camp With Twelve 8-11 Year-Old Girls While Maintaining Your Sanity and Living Room Carpets

2010-06-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

The moment I've been waiting for all year (quite literally for one entire year!) finally arrived this morning: craft camp! When I first posted about it a few months ago, a few of you mentioned that you'd like to do something similar in your area. Well now that I've done it, I feel like I can give you some great tips:

Be prepared for a lot of fun! I had so much fun picking out the crafts and buying the materials. Buying craft supplies is always fun, but it was especially joyous this time because the tuition for each girl included the cost of supplies, so I was basically buying great stuff for free! Hot dog!
Shop around. After choosing the crafts, I made a list of all materials for each craft. I did this months ago, and then spent a few minutes during shopping trips for other things to price the materials we would need. Then I bought them where ever they were cheapest. And I used coupons. Coupons, coupons, coupons!
Find enough space. Or make enough space. I used my dining room table plus a folding table that I set up in my living room. I divided the girls in half, sat 6 at one table and 6 at the other. If I didn't have enough space in my living room, I would use my garage.
Be organized. That is pretty good advice for life in general, but in this case, it is a must! Once I had all of my supplies gathered, I bagged or boxed them up by day and put aside the ones I didn't need for this morning. Then I laid out all of today's supplies on the tables.
Have back-up plans. As in snacks, a backyard, and a pet rabbit. We are doing two crafts each day, but for some reason, they zipped through the second craft and we finished 30 minutes early. Luckily, I had dozens of juice boxes, Ritz crackers, and cheese on hand just in case. The girls cleaned up their crafts and then ate snacks in the backyard (and scared the bunny half to death) until their moms came to get them.
Let it go. When I make a monogrammed tote bag, I want it to look chic and polished. But my 8-year-old friends don't. They want to use every color of paint available. They want to paint the entire surface of the bag with zebra stripes and polka dots. And you know what? That's OK.

So what we're today's crafts?? Monogrammed tote bags and personalized stationery. I've posted about the tote bags before. Here's how we did the stationery: small wooden letters from the craft store (about 1-2" tall) + 2" sections of a wooden dowel + blank cards and envelopes + craft paint. Easy peesy. We hot glued the letters to the dowels, brushed on craft paint, and stamped away on our stationery! Some girls stuck to one or two colors. Others put multiple letters on each card and each letter was a different color. They just washed their make-shift stamps off in the sink between colors.

I'll be sure to write up all of the crafts we do this week, and if at any point you'd like to know where I got any materials, just drop me an email at maxandellie at gmail dot com. I'd love to share my secrets with you!

Easy Father's Day Ideas, and a Giveaway Winner!

2010-06-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who entered our Sweet Eventid e Giveaway! The winner of Jess's gorgeous Dahlias photo is.....Annie, who happens to be one of my favorite people in the world (but she won fair and square, I promise)!

*****

Father's Day is sneaking up on us again! I'm pretty sure I had some ideas for great Father's Day gifts at some point, but I made the mistake of not writing them down, and they are long gone! So now we're on the hunt for some quick and easy gifts. If you're in the same boat, here are a few idea's we've successfully used in the past:

Father's Day Candy Bars--We made these last year, and they were a huge hit! Click HERE to see our original post with the pdf included.

Hero Supplies--Such a cute idea! From Jordan Ferney of Oh Happy Day! for Alpha Mom. Click HERE to see the entire post and the templates.

photo used with permission

Root Beer Sampler--Santa brought my husband one of these for Christmas last year, and I'm pretty sure he thought it was the best present ever! You can buy individual bottles of rare and vintage sodas online at BevMo.com and they'll ship them to you. If you want to do this for Father's Day this year, however, you could always just buy a bunch of nice root beers and sodas at the grocery store and make a nice little mix. If your husband is anything like mine, he won't mind that you have a bunch of leftovers. From Erin Jang of Indigo Bunting. Click HERE to see Erin's fun post.

photo used with permission

Shop Spotlight and Giveaway: Sweet Eventide

2010-06-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

All photos in this post are the property of Sweet Eventide

Way back when (definitely 2010, but no clue what month!), I happened to sign up to participate in sfgirlbybay's Blog It Forward event. Hundreds of bloggers participated, and we all jumped around every day for weeks and weeks checking out each other's blogs, interests, eye candy, and inspirations. Blog It Forward introduced me to tons of new, gorgeous blogs, but the number of participants was so overwhelming that I don't remember a lot of them now. There is one notable exception: Sweet Eventide by Jessica Nichols. Jess's day to post came before mine. I commented on her post (it was very inspirational, after all), she responded, she commented on mine when the day came, I responded, bada-boom, bada-bing, now we're friends!

Sweet Eventide showcases Jess's dreamy photography, which is available for purchase through her Etsy shop, also named Sweet Eventide. Here's a little introduction to Jess, her blog, and her shop. And be sure to read all the way to the bottom for an chance to win one of her gorgeous pictures!

*****

M & E: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Jess: I have a hard time with the bio bit so I'm going to steal from my Flickr profile and my blog's About Jess page: "I'm a writer and photographer. I'm a Virgo who doesn't make lists. I share art, photography and other beautiful, inspiring thing on my blog Sweet Eventide. I'm a mama to one 7-year-old boy that I call The Noodle and I'm happily married to Jeff. I'm a four-time survivor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and eventide is my favorite time of day. I love all of the following things: bokeh, polaroids, lisa mitchell, surf art and culture, even though I am not a surfer, sustainable food, cities, making stuff by hand, pretty papers, lanterns and twinkle lights, red wine, all things Italy, the french language, and guitars.

M & E: How long have you been taking pictures?
Jess: I first started taking pictures at 15 in my high school's only photography class. I have always had a camera but I began taking pictures in earnest again once I became a mother seven years ago. When I began blogging in 2006, my interest in photography grew more and more intense.

M & E: Do you have any formal photography training or are you self-taught?
Jess: I am a self-taught photographer, minus the one class in high school. My father (deceased) was an avid photographer with a darkroom at times during my childhood so I think there is a genetic component to it.

M & E: Are you strictly a digital girl or do you use film too?
Jess: I am not strictly a digital girl. I fell in love with Polaroids again through blogging and my husband surprised me with an SX-70 last September. When I can get my hands on film for it, I am in camera heaven. I have a small collection of vintage film cameras but so far, I haven't gotten my hands on the right film to try them out.

M & E: When did you decide to start an Etsy shop? And how's that going? For us, we seem to have months of inactivity broken up with little spurts of orders. Funny how that happens! Jess: I had an Etsy shop a couple of years ago because I liked to make cards and invitations. I really didn't make it a priority so I let it go. When I relaunched my blog in the spring of 2009, with a new name and look, I decided to venture back into Etsy and focus solely on my photography. I still really believe that it's possible to get out of Etsy what you put into it, even though it has grown so large and overwhelming since I first discovered it. When I am actively listing items, promoting them and advertising the shop, I definitely see an increase in views and sales. I really dream of my shop providing a steady, part-time income for me.

M & E: Do you have a favorite place to take pictures?
Jess: Yes, my favorite place to take pictures is someplace new to me. Nothing inspires me more than a change of scenery. I am especially drawn to cities. I get to San Francisco and Portland mostly, but boy do I daydream about New York and Europe from behind my lens(es). I also love to be in wide, open spaces in nature with my camera.

M & E: What is your favorite type of thing to photograph? Flowers? Machinery?

Jess: My favorite type of thing to photograph is that thing that most other people don't notice: doorknobs, small objects on a desk, collections of things. I do swoon over spring blossoms so I find my camera pointing that way constantly. I also have a fondness for photographing children's toys after they've been played with and are left strewn about.

M & E: Being a cancer survivor probably affects every aspect of your life. Do you think it affects you as an artist, and how so?
Jess: Definitely. I've been known to say that cancer is the window through which I view the world now. It's not always an intense awareness but it is always there. Survivorship affects me as an artist because while I was always detail-oriented, it is more heightened because cancer has taught me over and over again that life is precious and it is the small moments and the small things that make up a happy, good life for me.

*****

Jess is generously offering to giveaway one of her gorgeous Dahlia prints in a 4x6 size!

To enter, swing by her shop, Sweet Eventide on Etsy, then leave a comment on this post telling us what your favorite photos are. I'll get you guys started, just in case you can't narrow it down: I love the Satsumas print, and I own the Old Singer print. It hangs just above my desk!

You can get extra entries by becoming a follower of Jess's blog, Sweet Eventide, or by making a purchase from her shop before the giveaway ends. Just leave comments on this post telling us what you've done. The contest will end next Monday, June 14th. Thanks Jess, and Good Luck readers!

New in the Store: Earrings and Aprons and Blankies, Oh My!

2010-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

As mentioned a few weeks ago, we've been very busy lately. One of us had a baby (not me), and the other sewed up a storm in anticipation of our biannual craft boutique. Now that the boutique is behind us, we have lots of cute, new items in the shop. Our brand, spankin' new items are

Cute as a Button Earrings & Hand-rolled Fabric Flower Bib Necklaces

And we have some updated Oldies-but-Goodies in all new colors and fabrics: Button Bobbies, Itty Bitty Boo-Boo Kits, Little Baby Blankies, Little Artist Crayon Kits, Little Chef Aprons, and Infant Carseat Covers.

Adorable Cake Plates (if I do say so myself)

2010-05-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

I love to bake, so it will come as no surprise that I also love anything having to do with baked good presentation. Little boxes, tiny doilies, baker's twine, ribbon, labels, serving platters, fancy toothpicks; I love them all. So when a friend threw a baby shower for Max's mommy and had dozens of cupcakes displayed on brightly colored, many-tiered dessert stands, I had to ask her where she got them. And the shocking answer was that she made them with stuff she bought at the D.I. (For anyone not in the know, the D.I. is just like the Goodwill.) Plates and candlesticks that didn't even match or look cute to begin with were magically transformed into the most adorable cake plates with a little glue and some spray paint. Of course I had to make some too, but I couldn't limit myself, oh no, so I made 6. And I only spent $39 total, including 4 different colors of spray-paint! Here's how you can make some adorable cake plates too:

Go to any second-hand store and look for plates. They don't have to be very cute, but if they have a nice, raised design or a scalloped edges or something interesting going on along the edge, it'll turn out really cute. Also look for candlesticks. Make sure they have a nice, fat bottom and a flat top. I didn't pay attention to the tops when I bought mine, and one of my trays is wonky because the top of the candlestick wasn't flat to begin with. None of your pieces have to match at all!

If you don't already have spray paint, go buy some in the color of your choosing. I bought a bunch of Krylon for $3.27 a can at Walmart.

Remove the price tags and all of that nasty adhesive with Goo Gone, then wash all of your plates and candlesticks in hot, soapy water. Let them dry.

I skipped this step, but it probably would have been helpful, which is why I'm including it: using a measuring tape or ruler, find the center of the bottom of your plate and mark it. I'm a notorious eyeballer. I never measure anything if I don't have to. And pinning when I sew? Let's just say I've had to pick out many a crooked seam. Ahem.
Get some really tough glue. I LOVE E6000. Seriously, I use it all the time. Crafts, home repairs, you name it. Anyway, carefully squeeze a thin line of glue all the way around the top of your candlestick. With your plate face-down, place your candlestick (glue-side-down) on the plate. Let it all sit, untouched, for the amount of time prescribed by the glue bottle. If you want to make a tiered cake plate, make several individual cake plates and glue them together after the initial application is dry.

Take your cake plate into the backyard, put it on something like an old cardboard box that you don't mind covering with paint, and spray away. Continue adding coats of paint until you like how your cake plate looks. Let the paint dry completely before touching.

If you want to put food directly onto your plate, you need to seal it with something, but I didn't have any luck with that, so I can't help you there! The clear acrylic I put on my lovely turquoise stand made the paint blister. My plan is to use my stands for things like cupcakes where the food doesn't directly touch the cake plate, or to put a cardboard cake circle or a doily or something between the cake stand and the food.

Thanks for Stopping By!

2010-05-20T16:07:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone who stopped by on Giveaway Day. So much fun! I know we look forward to it every time!

Max became a big brother on Giveaway Day. Welcome baby Owen! In his honor, we decided to give away an extra prize. Our winners are dearmrsreese and Genevieve P! You'll be hearing from us soon!

PS--You really do need to include an email!! We had to throw out a few winners because we had no way of contacting them!

May 2010 Giveaway Day!

2010-05-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Ok! Now the comments are closed! Thanks for visiting.

It is here again: Sew, Mama, Sew's May Giveaway Day! If you're coming over from their blog, you have many more places to visit before the day is over, so we'll keep this post short and sweet. Max and Ellie is giving away any item valued at $10 or less from our shop. We have Itty Bitty Boo-Boo Kits, Fabric-Covered Button Bobbies, and Cute as a Button Earrings (get them before we list them in the shop!!), all for under $10*. To enter, simply visit our shop, then come back to this post and leave a comment telling us what items you love! Be sure to include your email address too. We'll close the comments and randomly choose a winner on Thursday, May 20th at around 9:00 AM Pacific Time. This contest will only be open to US residents. Best of Luck!!

*We have lots of items that aren't listed in the shop yet that you can choose from if you win. We'll just send you pictures of everything and you can choose the item you want!

I'm Not Ignoring You, I Promise

2010-05-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

So, it isn't that I haven't been busy Max and Ellie-ing. Quite the opposite, actually. I've been working my little tail off (although, not literally; that would be too wonderful, wouldn't it!) getting things ready for a craft boutique. Last Holiday season, a few friends and I threw together a little craft boutique. Much to our surprise and delight, it was pretty well-attended, so much so, that we decided to make it a biannual event. Our first ever spring boutique is coming up next Friday, and I've been cutting and sewing and gluing like a mad woman making this's and that's. To date, I have made:

6 Little Artist Crayon Kits

12 Little Chef Aprons

5 Infant Carseat Covers
(with more to come because Max's mommy is overdue with baby #2 and I told her to just send me her fabric)

20-something Itty Bitty Boo-Boo Kits

18 pairs of adorable earrings and 2 lovely necklaces (with hopefully 5 more to follow)

6 Little Baby Blankies

plus business cards, displays, stickers, etc.

If you're in the Eugene area next Friday, I'd love to see you! Click HERE for the details. And check back next Monday for a fun give-away as part of Sew, Mama, Sew's May Giveaway Day!

Works In Progress and Easter Dresses

2010-04-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

I think I might be the worst person in the world at finishing projects. People who know me are probably shocked by that statement, but that's because I keep my unfinished projects tightly under wraps, and I never talk about them. They're like my shameful secret. Here's the life cycle of most of my projects: I get an idea, either straight from the ol' noggin or inspired by something (a photo, some fabric, etc.); I immediately go out and buy all of the materials for the project; I hang the shopping bag full of materials on the back of the chair at my desk. That's it. That's where it ends.

I've been thinking that if I put a list of my works in progress out into the universe, it might make me a little more accountable as far as project completion goes. So here's my list, which I will be updating regularly--hopefully.

master bedroom quilt--started in January, 2009
embroidery hoop wall art--materials bought in Fall, 2009/COMPLETED Summer, 2010!
pocket bag--no clue on this one; maybe 2008???
fabric butterfly mobiles for the girls' bedrooms--started in January, 2010
pink monster t-shirts for a birthday party that happened 6 months ago!
baby's 1st year keepsake cards--started in Summer, 2009

Now, just to show you that I'm starting off on the right foot, here are some pictures of the Easter dresses I made for our girls. They turned out beautifully, better than I even imagined them. The fabrics are Martini in Mustard and Optic Blossom in Linen, both from the Midwest Modern line from Amy Butler. The fabrics were a joy to work with. Sewing is such a pleasure when the fabric you are staring at is gorgeous.

I used the Gracie dress pattern from Portabellopixie by Sandi Henderson. It was mostly easy, but there were a few major problems. First, when you are sewing the yoke onto the bodice, it tells you to sew it backwards. Instead of sewing the inside of the yoke to the top of the bodice, you should be sewing the outside of the yoke to the top of the bodice. Just trust me on that one. Next, I could tell they weren't going to be long enough, so I sewed an extra tier onto the skirt before attaching it to the bodice. I didn't trust myself enough to wing it, so I used the pattern piecs for the top tier of the skirt, piece number 6 (which you aren't supposed to use if you are attaching the skirt to a bodice). Lastly, and most importantly, you are supposed to finish off the yoke with bias tape. After literally days of trying to make it work, I took all of my carefully made bias tape off, stuffed it in a bag, and just finished off the inside of the yoke without it. I folded the two raw edges inside and topstitched around the whole yoke, which is what I wanted to do in the first place. All's well that ends well!

Happy Birthday Beverly Cleary!

2010-04-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today is a fun day. Today, Monday, April 12th, is National Drop Everything And Read day, and it is also Beverly Cleary's birthday! My oldest is in preschool, so I think this "holiday" might have gone unnoticed in our household if it weren't for Ramona Quimby. A few months ago, I spotted a box set of the first four Ramona books at T.J. Maxx for mere pennies. I figured they were probably going to have to wait a few years to be read, but I went ahead and bought them because I love Ramona so much. But one night, I decided that my daughter would probably get a kick out of Ramona (she is very much a Ramona type), and so we started reading. And now we're on the fourth book, Ramona and Her Father, and my daughter won't let a night go by without reading a few pages about Ramona!

If you'd like to celebrate today, here are a few links:

--D.E.A.R homepage
--D.E.A.R. resources
--The World of Beverly Cleary--a bright, fun website with lots of info and GAMES!
--Ramona and Beezus, the movie trailer

--Ramona on YouTube--No one will ever match Sarah Polley as Ramona. She was perfect! If I ever find this series for sale, I'm buying every copy!
--Bake a Ramona Cake--Bake any cake, and stick a doll pick (the kind you use to make a Barbie cake) in after baking. That was our favorite part of Beezus and Ramona: when Ramona stuck her rubber doll, Bendix, in Beezus' birthday cake while it baked.
--Make Paprika Chicken for dinner--Another classic Ramona move from Ramona Quimby, Age 8: trying to make paprika chicken for dinner, and completely flubbing it, as only Ramona can. Make sure you serve it with applesauce, made memorable by several chapters of Beezus and Ramona.

*****

And now, for the winner of our beautiful blocks give-away: comment #30, Jaime! Jamie, I will email you shortly about how to collect your prize. A huge thank you to csnstores.com for donating our fabulous prize, and thanks to everyone who entered!

Beautiful Blocks Give-Away!

2010-04-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

The give-away is now closed. Thanks for participating!!

I love to shop, and I love to get packages in the mail. So combine the two, and I'm practically in heaven! Online shopping really is terrific. It makes a world of items (literally) available to everyone, regardless of the size of town they live in. I recently discovered a most amazing online shopping spot: csnstores.com. CSN Stores has over 200 different online stores that stock everything from kids beds to handpainted canvas art to le creuset cookware to pool tables. All of the items at CSN Stores are offered at low prices, and lots of them offer free shipping!

CSN Stores is generously sponsoring our give-away today! One lucky winner will receive this beautiful wood block set from notNeutral. The blocks feature the alphabet in a mix of vintage and contemporary fonts, as well as numbers and graphics, all printed in black and red on a natural wood background. And they come cutely stacked in a little wood tray. These are pretty much the chicest blocks we've ever seen! And they can be yours! To enter the give-away, simply leave a comment on this post that includes your email address. You can enter the give-away a second time by blogging about our little give-away, then leaving a comment with a link to your post. The give-away is open to US and Canadian readers only. Next Monday, April 12th, we'll choose a winner! Good Luck!

Jewelry Board

2010-03-23T09:26:00.000-07:00

If you heard the stories my husband could tell from our courtship, you would laugh and I would turn red. I'm lucky he's so patient; I really put him through the wringer. Not only is he patient, but he's very generous, AND he has good taste in jewelry. When we were dating, my husband gave me a gorgeous cameo for my birthday, sapphire earrings and a necklace for Valentine's day, and a really, really amazing engagement ring--all of which he picked out himself without help. On our honeymoon, he bought me a pearl necklace. On our first annivesary, he bought me some pearl earrings. Another birthday brought me a pair of emerald earrings set in white gold filigree, and another brought me a pair of smoky quartz. My favorite piece of jewelry from my husband is a Lisa Leonard necklace with the names of our children stamped in slender silver rectangles that he gave me two days before our second daughter was born.

But enough bragging! As you can imagine, I have a lot of jewelry, and only one small, over-burdened jewelry box in which to keep it. After the holidays, I decided that one of my first projects of the new year would be a framed piece of pegboard on which I could hang necklaces, bracelets, and dangley earring. It has taken a few months of trial and error, but it is finally done! My Valentine's Day gift this year was a lovely, distressed gold 22x22" picture frame. It was absolutely perfect when I got it, so it didn't need any modifications. The pegboard was another story. I didn't want the bare particle board, but I tried painting it white and that looked awful too. I ended up spraying the rough side with a turquoise spray paint, and then whitewashing it after it dried. I just took some old, white interior paint, watered it down a lot, applied it with a cheap sponge brush, and then gently rubbed it off with a rag. All of the earrings on wires go directly in the holes, and the necklaces and bracelets will go on pretty hooks (if and when I find them). For now, the necklaces are hanging off of wooden pegs that I painted "Metallic Champagne." Now my jewelry box can breathe again, and I finally have something hanging on that wall!

Fabric Flowers, 3 Ways

2010-03-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or are fabric flowers all the rage right now? From bunting to jewelry to embellished sweaters and tees, fabric flowers are the decoration du jour. If you are the crafty type--or if you, like me, are on a budget this year--why not try your hand at making some.

**FYI--I made all of these flowers while watching TV. Probably CSI: Miami, but I can't be positive.

Type 1: The Rolled Rosette

I made these quick and easy blossoms following THIS great tutorial from Made By The Mama Monster. Here are my thoughts:
--cute and whimsical
--very easy, very quick
--requires almost no skill and no sewing whatsoever
--held together with hot glue
--the hot glue is really hard to hide (or maybe I just need to practice more!)

Type 2: The Frayed Flower

This was my first foray into fabric flower creation. I followed THIS tutorial from Maize in Montana. Thoughts:
--very pretty and pretty easy
--requires hand sewing, but the hand sewing is easy
--no hot glue at all, so your flower won't fall apart on a hot day!

Type 3: The Hand-Cut, Hand-Stitched Petals

This third type of flower takes the most time, but they are soooooo pretty. Really, really pretty. Kind of the Grande Dame of fabric flowers. I followed THIS tutorial by Michonne for 100 Layer Cake.
--obviously, absolutely beautiful results
--lots of hand sewing, with a little hot glue just at the very end
--each petal is hand-cut and hand-stitched, but there isn't anything particularly hard about making these
--unlike the other two types, these can look vastly different from each other

So there's my little review in a nutshell! Go buy some fabric, find a good show on TV, and make a few lovely accessories for yourself! I'd love to see your results!

Blog It Forward: What inspires me?

2010-03-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

Finally, the long-awaited day has arrived! I'm so excited that it is finally my turn to participate in the Blog It Forward Mash-Up. Welcome to those of you who hopped over from Making It Lovely--who posted yesterday--or from one of my fellow 3/12/2010 posters: Beauty Designed, Once Upon a Chai Tea Latte, Coeur de La, Red Bird Style, Every Little Wonder, Sparker!, JetKat Design, The Penny Has Dropped, and Whitney English.

I originally had this great idea to show you pictures of things that had inspired me to make something or do something specific, and the end results of those projects, kind of an "Inspiration: Start to Finish" kind of thing. But I haven't finished any of the projects! Woe is me!

So instead, I will do as those before me have done. Here are a few things that inspire me (in no particular order):

COLOR

{I don't know where I got this! If you do, let me know!}

{from lovely little handmades}

{from the August 2009 issue of Teen Vogue}

{collage courtesy of Smitten--the blog; click here to see individual photo credits}

BOOKS

notably absent--either because I don't own a copy or because my copy is loaned out:
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (I read it when I was in junior high and will love it forever)
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (worlds better than Atlas Shrugged)
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (one of the few books I've read more than once)
Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara

FAMILY
I don't often put pictures of family up here because I like to keep things private. But they inspire me in countless ways. If you're reading this Family, I love you!

{this was supposed to be our Christmas card picture}

FOOD

{mississippi mud cake}

{red velvet cupcakes}

{lemon yogurt cake}

{cinnamon buns}

{caprese salad; the only one of these recipes I didn't make, but it was so lovely I had to include it}

{lemon blueberry cheesecake with cornmeal crumble crust}

{double dark chocolate cherry cookies}

{pina colada cake}

{honey beescotti}

{candied orange peel}

{sticky buns}

{chocolate cupcakes}

{tamales}
{all photos are my own unless otherwise noted}

Thanks again for stopping by, and please visit Megan Charland's amazing art blog tomorrow to see what inspires her. Goooooooooo Megan!

**And if you want to know what any of the recipes are for those foods, just click on the name!**

The Crafty Girl's Summer Camp

2010-03-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

So I shamelessly stole this idea from someone else. But not someone in my town, so I feel like it is OK. And I'm beyond excited about it--and have been for over 6 months now! Drum roll please...............

What: The Crafty Girl's Summer Camp--a 1 week day camp full of fun and crafts
Who: 12 girls ages 8 to 11
When: Monday, June 21st through Friday, June 25th; from 10:00 AM to noon each day
Where: my house
How much: $45; this covers all supplies
How do we sign up: Leave a comment at the end of this post with your daughter's first name, your first name, and your email address. I'm pretty sure no strangers are going to be signing their children up, so I'll know who you are. I will email you specifics after that. If you are interested in signing up, but there are already 12 girls before you, go ahead and leave a comment anyway; you never know when someone is going to cancel. Money will be due June 1st.

Day 1: Monogram Madness!
-monogrammed canvas tote bag
-monogrammed stationery set

Day 2: Sew Sweet!
-mason jar sewing kit
-embroidered lavender sachet

{photo from marthastewart.com}

Day 3: Bath & Body Bliss!
-handcrafted soaps
-lip gloss

{photo from marthastewart.com}

Day 4: Amazing Accessories!
-flower hair clip/headband
-bangle bag

Day 5: I've Been Framed!
-framed jewelry board
-beaded bracelet

I honestly have no idea how sign-ups are going to go. If way more people want to do it than I can handle at one time, I might schedule another session in July or August.

Read Across America and Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

2010-03-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Did you know that today is Read Across America Day? March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' birthday, and the National Education Association celebrates it every year with its Read Across America program. To celebrate their celebration, here's a list of some of our favorite childrens' books!

If I Ran the Circus by Dr. Seuss

The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt

Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Numeroff

Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

George and Martha by James Marshall

Thank You Bear by Greg Foley

Jamberry by Bruce Degen

How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers

I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis

What are some of your favorites?

oh, hello friend's lovely package exchange

2010-03-01T12:16:00.000-08:00

Last year, I started to see these pictures on people's blogs of absolutely amazing packages they had sent and received as part of some exchange. I was both enamored and sad. Enamored because I love getting packages in the mail and I love beautiful packaging. And sad because I missed out on it. So, for the past 6 months or so, I've been faithfully reading every post on oh, hello friend so that I wouldn't miss the next exchange. And this morning, my patience was finally rewarded!! I signed up for oh, hello friend's latest lovely package exchange this morning, and there are still spots left! Danni is accepting 350 participants, and when I last checked, there were about 125 signed up. If you're interested, click on the logo below to see the details!

Handmade Soaps

2010-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

My mother is an avid bather. She loves to sit in a nice hot bath every morning and read books (she's very careful with them!) or magazines. She's already an easy person to shop for, but if you're ever at a loss as to what to get her for any gift-giving occasion, anything highly scented and bath-related will most certainly be a hit. Sadly, I did not inherit my mother's love of the bath, but rather my father's love of the shower. But my mom did manage to pass on her love of soap. I love how beautiful soap looks, smells, and feels. A good bar of soap can make tub and shower time quite the sensory experience!

grapefruit oil with grapefruit zest and dried organic peppermint; poured into a 1-quart milk carton

About a year and a half ago, I decided to try making my own soap. After reading lots of books about it, I finally gathered all of the supplies and jumped in. And you know what? It was fun and surprisingly easy! To date, I have made four batches of soap. I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up to about 36 bars, and you can only use a bar of soap up so quickly! I know a lot of people think it sounds scary, but as long as you use common sense and proper safety precautions, making your own soap is amazing!

poppy seed and sweet orange oil with chopped clementine peel; poured into a small loaf pan

Now that I'm a seasoned soap-maker (har har), here are some of my tips:

Read, read, read up on making soap before you try it. You can probably find recipes on the internet, but I prefer books for stuff like that (you know, dangerous stuff and what-not). Two books I highly recommend are The Soapmaker's Companion by Susan Miller Cavitch and The Everything Soapmaking Book by Alicia Grosso. There are a lot of others, but these are two that are particularly helpful if you're just getting started.
The books will tell you and I will too: keep a journal! You don't have to get philosophical or anything, just write down the date, what base recipe you used, what additives you threw in and how much of each, what kind of container you poured your soap into, how many bars it yielded, etc. Because you will not remember it on your own, and it helps to know what you liked and what you didn't.
Have everything in place before you start, and maybe even do a dry run to double check. When you are making soap, timing is everything, and the last thing you need is to realize you left a key piece of equipment in the garage when you're in the middle of a step.
Be safe: wear the dorky lab goggles; wear serious rubber gloves; wear old clothes that don't matter too much; wear close-toed shoes; pull your hair back.
Keep your kids and pets and husbands safe. I have kids, and you know what? I don't make soap when they're around. I either do it when they are sleeping or when my husband has taken them out for a few hours. And we all survive.
Don't buy an expensive, hand-carved soap mold on ebay, especially before you've even made your first batch of soap (does it sound like I'm speaking from experience here, because I am). They are very pretty, it is true, but a shoe box works just as well and doesn't cost anything.
Just do it! It really isn't scary, and it really isn't hard. After I made my first batch, I said to my husband, "That wasn't any harder than making a batch of cookies." And it really isn't.

oatmeal, milk, and honey bar; poured into a mailing tube

All of the soaps pictured in this post started with the same base recipe from The Everything Soapmaking Book. It uses coconut oil, olive oil, and palm kernel oil, with castor oil for superfatting. I love it and definitely recommend it!

Organic vs. Conventional (and how is anyone supposed to remember?)

2010-02-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

I don't consider us a very "organic" family. Sure, we eat Annie's Mac and Cheese made with mostly organic pasta, and I used to buy to little boxes of Horizon Organic Chocolate Milk when they had it at Costco (cuz that stuff was goooooood), but other than that, we don't do much. The thing is, I want to do more, I really do. Part of the problem is that I just can't buy all organic all the time. It can get really expensive, and our closest grocery store has the world's tiniest organic section. But I can start small. According to the Environmental Working Group (or EWG), you can reduce your exposure to nasty pesticides a lot (we're talking 80%!) by going organic on just a few fruits and vegetables. The rest of your produce can still be conventional.

I am happy to do this. My problem is that I don't have the world's greatest memory anymore, and I can't remember which fruits and veggies are on the naughty list and which are on the nice list. For those of you lucky-ducks with an iPhone, EWG offers an iPhone app with a list of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15. They also offer a little card that you can download and print out in case you don't have an iPhone. I didn't think it was that cute (sorry EWG), so I made up my own. It is about the size of a credit card and fits in my wallet, and it is kind of cute!

If you'd like a card too, just click on the picture below. Print it, crop it along the crop marks, and fold. You can even laminate it for extra durability! Happy Wednesday, or as I like to call it, Happy Organic Produce Shopping Day!

I Cannot Tell a Lie...I Love Sour Cherry Pie (with Pistachio Crumble)

2010-02-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

I love holidays for many reasons, not the least of which is food. I'll take any excuse to bake and/or cook something a little more special than the average weeknight fare. This Sour Cherry Pie with Pistachio Crumble from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book would be the perfect ending to any Presidents' Day feast. I'm not a cherry pie fan, and I think it is superb! Eat some; I'm sure George would approve.

Last Minute Lovelies and Excitement on the Horizon!

2010-02-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

Love is in the air,

Everywhere I look around.
Love is in the air,
Every sight and every sound.

Does anyone out there love Strictly Ballroom as much as I do? Just wondering. With Valentine's Day coming up in less than a week, hearts and cards and candy are certainly on the brain.

We have one preschool Valentine's Day party to go to this week, and we found the absolute perfect preschool valentines on The Long Thread. They call for card stock, a printer, and crayons, and they were super fun to make. And, just in case these aren't as perfect for you as they were for us, Ellen at The Long Thread has a huge list of printable valentines.

{photo used with permission from The Long Thread}

In our household, it isn't a holiday without taking treats to friends. We plan on making Sweetie Pies using the directions from Serena at Farm Chicks. We'll probably have to make lots and lots, because I plan on eating several dozen all by myself!

{photo used with permission from The Farm Chicks}

I've been in love with everything at EmersonMade for a while now. I check the blog constantly to see what new lovelies they have stitched up (if only my husband would let me pin little fabric flower boutonnieres or tie tacks on him). Yet somehow, no pretty handcrafted flowers have made their way into my hands. Boo. However, as a Valentine's treat to myself, I plan on making a budget-friendly, time-friendly rendition using this fantastic tutorial from 100 Layer Cake. Will it looks as good as the original? It is probably safe to say "No", but if I squint my eyes and stand back from the mirror, I might even fool myself!

{photo used with permission from 100 Layer Cake}

Call me crazy, but I like to have eyes on my kids at pretty much all times. If they're playing in the backyard--which, luckily, is the size of a postage stamp--I keep the door open and check on them constantly. If I am downstairs, I expect them to play downstairs. If they want to play upstairs, I usually try to find something to do upstairs too. There's not much for a mom to do upstairs. Sometimes I straighten up, sometimes I drag the ironing board upstairs and iron (I'm a wild woman!), sometimes I sit in the rocking chair and knit or read. Last week, I decided to grab a piece of paper and a pen and doodle, a pastime to which I could devote hours upon hours. My theme was love. Here's what I came up with; feel free to borrow them if you want to. Just let me know.

:::::::::::

And in completely different yet wildly exciting news, Max and Ellie is lucky enough to be involved in the "blog it forward" mashup organized by Victoria of sfgirlbybay, an awesomely inspiring design blog. Usually, we find out about cool things after they happen. Every once in a while, however, fate gives us a break, and we get to be involved in something cool. The blog it forward mashup is basically a bunch of amazing blogs that will all be doing a post on what inspires them, and then linking to each other. Everybody gets assigned a day to post their little essay, and everybody gets linked up. That's a pretty poor explanation of the whole process, but it promises to be fun. And, as alphabetical luck would have it, we follow Nicole of Making It Lovely, a fabulous blog that is so amazing it was involved in Altitude Design Summit last month. I tell you, the stars are lining up for us this year! We've been considering a blog remodel for a while now, and what better time to give this place a face-lift than when lots and lots of people (that's the hope) will be stopping by?! So expect a few changes over the next few weeks (our assigned blog it forward date isn't until March), and if there are growing pains, bear with us!

Give-Away Winner and New in the Store

2010-02-05T08:38:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to the winner of Let's Make Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aranzo: Beth! Beth, you can expect an email from me shortly to get your address. Thanks to everyone for playing!

We have more lovely, new items in the Max and Ellie shop. Our cute button bobby pins feature a 7/8" handmade, fabric-covered button on a 2" silver bobby pin. Stripes, fruit, flowers, polka dots...there's a set to please any little princess or hot mama. And at only $5 a set, they'd make the perfect little Valentine's Day treat. Click HERE to go to the store!

Birthday Give-Away!

2010-01-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

Today is my birthday! Happy Birthday to me! In honor of this hallowed day, we at Max and Ellie are giving away a copy of Let's Make Cute Stuff by Aranzi Aronzo to one lucky reader. Cute Stuff is full of fun patterns for softies, bags, felt things, applique, embroidery, key rings, coin purses, etc. To win this fun-filled book, simply leave a comment below. And if you mention our give-away on your blog, you can have an extra entry; just leave a separate comment letting us know you blogged about it. Make sure you include your email address in your comments so that we can contact you if you're the winner. We'll leave the comments open for exactly one week, and will randomly choose a winner next Friday morning. Best of Luck!!

Puppet Show Curtain

2010-01-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

I saw a puppet show curtain how-to online at some point in the past and thought it was cute, maybe a "Someday" kind of thing. I added it to my ever-growing list of bookmarks and forgot about it. Then, last summer, when the sun wasn't setting until 10 PM and my children were going to bed while it was still light outside, we switched the curtains in their bedroom to blackout curtains. This gave us four nice-looking curtain panels in really good condition to find uses for, and I immediately knew I wanted to make the puppet show curtain with one of them. Here's how I did it (almost a full year later!):

I used this tutorial from Country Living as my inspiration, but did a few things differently.
I cut a 14x18"rectangle out of the middle of the curtain. I cut it way lower than I should have because I sometimes don't think things through all the way before acting. You know that old saying, "Measure twice, cut once," well my version is, "Don't measure at all, cut, then say 'Shoot!'"
Using this amazing tutorial from Dollee, I attached bias tape all around the inside of the opening instead of the ribbon the CL tutorial called for. I don't like raw edges!
I hemmed the edges of my stage curtains with a double, 1/4" hem.
I used the leftover bias tape to make the stage curtain ties instead of ribbon.
I bought a $2.00 tension rod from Target and put the curtain up in a narrow hallway. It could also work in any doorway, and is completely portable. The CL tutorial wanted you to attach ribbon loops to the top corners and put nails in your doorframe--which I would never do! Besides, then what was the point of starting with a curtain??
We enjoyed a delightful puppet show that very night.

The whole process took all day for me, but only because I did it in bits and pieces. It really only added up to about 2 hours of work, and only cost as much as a tension rod.

Emily's Brown Paper Package

2010-01-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

I'm the Max half of Max and Ellie (the lazy one that has never posted before), but I'm FINALLY posting pictures of my brown paper package. My partner Tara sent me some sweet treats!

I love this aromatherapy eye pillow, made with lavendar and red rose petals. I have a BUSY toddler and #2 on the way, so this comes in handy during my daily naps (I'm serious)!

I also recieved some Silk Road Pillow Spray...again, totally comes in handy during nap time!

My edible treat was this chocolate cherry brioche from Whole Foods...yum!

Thanks, Tara! Check out her aromatherapy eye pillows, pillow spray and more at her etsy shop elanvitalanthology.etsy.com, or visit her blog elanvitalanthology.blogspot.com!

OK, now I can leave the Max and Ellie blogging to my sister again! Until next year...

Melissa's Brown Paper Package

2010-01-18T09:55:00.000-08:00

I feel like a crumb-bum for not posting these pictures sooner! I decided to host the Brown Paper Package Exchange last year because, well, I like to get packages in the mail (don't we all!). My partner, Chantelle, sent me the sweetest, most thoughtful package.

Such beautiful wrapping! This is what I had in mind for the gifts I sent. If I showed you a picture, you would see just how far off the mark my wrapping was! Seriously, it bore no resemblance to the gorgeous wrapping on the gifts from Chantelle!

Gorgeous wrapping that doubles as a headband!

I haven't figured out yet which outfit to wear this with for maximum impact, but I'm on the look-out.

A jar of Chantelle's grandma's homemade apple butter. I love apple butter. It is one of my favorite condiments. I actually got a spoon out and took a big bite of this as soon as I opened it!

A beautiful necklace that I put on immediately and have worn many times since. It says, "Find the joy in the unexpected." Chantelle sells these and other lovely, handmade pieces of jewelry in her Etsy shop, Chantelle Nicole Designs.

A coordinating set of red and green glittery scrolled paper ornaments. I can only guess they were handmade!

Probably the most thoughtful gift of all--a book about Norwegian Christmas traditions and how they have changed since coming to America.

Thanks Chantelle!

Relief for Haiti

2010-01-14T16:03:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note from a full heart--

At this point, we've all heard about the disastrous earthquake in Haiti. If you, like me, want to help but feel a little helpless in light of the magnitude of the tragedy there, here are just a few ways to make a difference.

Jen at Indie Fixx is having an auction, with all proceeds being donated to the Red Cross International Response Fund. The items being auctioned are beautiful and handmade, and Jen is even footing the bill for Paypal fees.

Text "HAITI" to "90999" and $10 will be donated to the Red Cross on your behalf. The donation will be charged to your wireless bill. It's legit!
Make an online donation through Doctors Without Borders, the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Fund, and so many others!

We sometimes think--or at least I do--that what we can give is so small it won't make a difference, it'll just be a drop in the bucket. But when we all give a little, those tiny drops add up and can change lives!

--Melissa

Shop Spotlight & Give-Away: True Love Found

2010-01-11T11:25:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to be paired up with Amy, the brains behind True Love Found, for the Shop Swap & Blog event I signed up for last September. Amy is a stay-at-home mom to two adorable kids: big sister Buggie, and brandy new baby brother, Jellybean. Amy's Etsy shop, True Love Found, is stocked full of the most adorable handmade felt crowns I've ever seen. When we started emailing each other, I told her I'd love a birthday crown for each of my two daughters, but gave her very little info besides one's favorite color (red) and the other's nickname (the little Hedgehog). I let her have complete creative power, and within an hour Amy had emailed me pictures of the finished crowns. And they are just perfect! Amy also sells adorable magic wands, and felt and fabric flower hair clips. And she loves to do custom orders. Amy also blogs at Buggie and Jellybean, where she has lots of great posts and fun give-aways.

Amy is generously sponsoring our give-away today. The winner of the give-away will receive a $25 store credit at Amy's fabulous store, True Love Found. That's enough to buy a crown, a wand, and a hair clip! Thanks Amy! To enter this amazing give-away, visit Amy's store, True Love Found, and leave a comment on this post with your favorite item. You can get 5 additional entries by buying a bit of cute, felty goodness from Amy's store (just leave 5 separate comments on this post). The give-away is open until next Monday, January 18th. We'll close comments at 9 AM pacific time and announce a winner! Comments are now closed. Congratulations Carole; we'll be contacting you shortly!

New Items for a New Year!

2010-01-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

We've reopened the Etsy shop and stocked it full of cute new things! Up first are the Little Baby Blankies. A certain Max and Ellie seamstress--I won't say who, but it's not me!--still sleeps with the blankie she's had since birth. What stories that blankie could tell! Every baby deserves a soft, snuggly blankie to cuddle up with at nap time, bed time, or any time. Our blankies are made from quilter's weight cotton in beautiful designer prints, and are backed with super soft minky dots in white or pink. Measuring at 16x19", they are the perfect size for snuggling at home or on the go. They fit in purses, backpacks, diaper bags, and suitcases, so they can go anywhere your baby goes.

Little Baby Blankies--sweet designer fabric backed with soft, white or pink minky dots

Happy New Year and an easy Paper Garland

2010-01-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

I was inspired by this project at the Purl Bee and this project from Martha Stewart to create these festive, whimsical paper garlands for our New Year's Eve party. When I was little, we spent quite a bit of time on New Year's Eve cutting confetti out of construction paper. It didn't bother us that we put so much work into something whose sole purpose was to be thrown into the air and then immediately vacuumed up by my mom. These days, however, I just don't have that kind of time! These garlands took less time to make, stayed in the air longer, and can be used again! And don't they just look so cute!

The beauty of paper garland is its versatility. By changing the colors of paper you use, you can make paper garland for just about any holiday or occasion; I think they'd look particularly sweet in pastels for a baby shower, or spring greens for Easter. And you can make them as long or as short as you like!

Materials:

colored construction paper in your choice of colors
thread to match (I used white)
scissors
a sewing machine

Instructions:

Cut circles out of paper. Use whatever colors you want and make the circles all different sizes.
Sew the circles together in a big long chain using your sewing machine.
Display!

Holiday Baking (aka, Why did I do this to myself??)

2009-12-21T23:04:00.000-08:00

I have another blog, one that is all about cooking. It was my first blog and I love it. A few days before Thanksgiving this year, I thought it would be neat to do 25 days of holiday baking posts. From scratch. Without any preparation. Like zero.

I have felt at times like I was in way over my head, but now I have a bunch of holiday recipes in one place. Some are old family favorites, while others are brand new, never-before-tried recipes that begged to be made. I hope you enjoy them! Happy Holidays!

Click HERE to browse my 25 Days of Holiday Delights project!

Brown Paper Package Exchange Update

2009-12-21T09:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas is only a few days away! I've heard from lots of the participants of the BPPE. Many packages have been shipped, a few have been received, and lots of fun has been had. To those of you that haven't sent your packages yet, please get a move on! Although I think most people had Christmas in mind, don't forget the old saying, "A New Year's package is better than no package."

My sweet mom doesn't have a blog, so I told her I'd post pictures of her package for her. I think she was the first to receive her package out of all the participants (go Sheila!), and all of my sisters and I were home for Thanksgiving when she opened it! Here's what my mom writes about her gifts:

The week before Thanksgiving, a knock at the door got the dog barking and the birds chirping! My box from the Brown Paper Package Exchange had arrived, to great fanfare! All of my daughters were already home for the holiday, and we gathered with great excitement to open my treasure box! We were impressed with how quickly Sheila sent it- and her promptness set a good example for us and inspired us to do likewise! Opening the lovingly prepared gifts was a thrill, and I was overwhelmed at the wonderful assortment of treats!

Sheila sent me an assortment of lovely, self indulgent treats: A deliciously scented ginger candle, a pair of beautifully fashioned beeswax tapers, an earthenware teacup painted with a delightful little bird, some decadent "dark chocolate" hand and body lotion, and a huge and hugely fragrant bar of handmade vanilla soap!

More fun surprises! Sheila also included in her fantastic gift box: Several notebooks she made just for me! A pack of festive holiday recipe cards with gift labels, a set of adorable vintage postcards she made, and a LARGE bar of gourmet chocolate!

But... in all this loveliness, one gift stood out, and made me happiest of all!
Sheila's little grandson, 6 year old Brock, was visiting the day she put my gift box together. Sheila wrote that Brock "wanted to send you his own gift"- which he did! He wrote my name on an envelope in his sweet six year old handwriting, and carefully placed some money "from his money box" in the envelope! If that isn't the purest example of the Christmas Spirit, I don't know what is! Sheila, thank you for all of my lovely gifts, but especially for sharing your dear little grandson with me!

Flower Fairy Button Ornaments

2009-12-18T12:28:00.000-08:00

We decided to sign up for The Crafty Crow's Kids' Ornament Swap this year. It sounded easy: you and your kids make a few ornaments in keeping with the year's theme, then send them to your swap partners, who in turn send you ornaments they've made with their kids. Our theme this year is Fairy Tales, and for some reason, I got this idea in my head immediately that we should make handprint butterfly ornaments on shrinky dink plastic.

We ran into several problems. First, I couldn't find the clear shrink plastic; they were out of it and only had bright white. But I didn't want to procrastinate, so we went ahead with gosh-awful white plastic. Then, even though I knew they would end up small and cute, the handprint butterflies had to start out pretty big, and my kids pooped out with the coloring about halfway through the first of 5! Last but not least, they simply weren't that cute in the end. So we completely scrapped that idea and found new inspiration in the form of button ornaments from Martha Stewart!

These were so easy and turned out so cute! Martha originally made Santas, snowmen, and reindeer, and we made what we dubbed "Flower Fairies." You can pretty much make whatever you want as long as you can find buttons in the right colors! I want to do a Nutcracker set, complete with Nutcracker, Clara, and Mouse King. Junior Society even posted a project using the same idea to make a button menorah! I think our entire tree might end up being button ornaments!

And as of yesterday, we have received all of our ornaments from the Swap. Sometimes in swapping I feel like I get the short end of the stick (am I the only one who feels that way?). I put so much love and thought into my packages, and sometimes what I get in return has that thrown-together-with-no-thought feel. With this year's Kids' Ornament Swap, I feel like we struck swapping gold! The ornaments we received are just beautiful, and I for one can't wait to put them up for years to come!

Craft Boutique Tonight!!

2009-12-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

We've been hard at work getting things ready for our first Craft Boutique! If you're in the Eugene area, come say hi and pick up a few Christmas gifts!

The Johnston Residence
5561 Excaliber
6-9 PM

Here's a sampling of what we'll have there:

Sushi Apron--our last apron in stock!

Onesies and Tees

Felted Earrings

Magnet Sets

Baby Blankies

Bobbi Pin Sets

Itty Bitty Boo-Boo Kits

Infant Car Seat Covers

AND MORE!!