Creative Crush: Crocheting with A Village Life

Each Friday, a special blogger friend shares her current Creative Crush - whatever is cause for inspiration at this very moment. Today I'm happy to welcome Megan from A Village Life. Megan is a friend from way, way back. We're talking pre-driver's license years. I could wax on about her for ages but what is most important to mention today is that her beautiful family welcomed a third baby girl to the mix on Wednesday. Tui Ann finally arrived (she was nearly two weeks late!) and she is vision of cute. No doubt baby Tui will have her own mama-crocheted beanie in no time.

After Estelle and I triumphed in our ripple afghan projects (here and here, I took a wee break from crocheting in order to regain my enthusiasm for the craft. Now I am back into it with full vigour.

First off I had a bit of a beanie binge. This included beanies for each of my family members and a few more for friends who were welcoming new babies into their families. I was inspired by the different yarns I encountered in Twinset and Pearls, our local knitting and sewing shop here in Warkworth. Rita’s (bottom left) beanie is made from a hand dyed, hand spun local wool. Gigi’s (top left) was made from a soft as can be, synthetic yarn and the final design reminds me of something Charlie Brown might have worn.

I was quite pleased with how this blue and cream one turned out once I added the frilly feminine pink ribbon to the design.

With beanies out of my system, I have moved on to home crafts. I am currently having a go at a striped door mat using up my leftover yarn but I seemed to have overlooked the dimensions of the mat which is now more like a rug or a child’s blanket!

Next on my list is a pouf similar to these from La Casa de Coto’s etsy shop. I am eagerly awaiting the super bulky yarn my mom is bringing from the States so I can start on the pouf. It will be a super quick project, my favourite type, due to the huge hook and bulky yarn. If you are interested in learning how to crochet these bulky projects are great because they are easily completed in no time at all. Instant gratification projects!

P.S. Megan's recommended crochet blogs are a must. Check them out here and here.

Pretty Clean: Sunscreen picks at Practically Green

Sunscreen weather has finally arrived. Although, my family bathes in the stuff year-round (we are a fair bunch) I realize many only break out the protection in the warmer and sunnier of months. I'm guesting over at Practically Green today with a mini round up of my go-to sunscreens. Check it out and let me know if you have found any other safe and clean alternatives. Remember, we're trying to rid our daily intake of parabens, nano-toxins, synthetic fragrances and generally any yucky additives.

Also, I highly recommend spending 10 minutes to take the Practically Green quiz. By the time you are finished you'll have a comprehensive list of the green actions you have already taken to clean up your lifestyle and you'll be left with a list of really "do-able" actions to tackle in the future.

Baby steps, friends. We're talking about things like committing to using re-usable bags at the grocery store and replacing burned out light bulbs for energy efficient versions and switching to all-natural sunscreens. I know that the only way I'm going to make lasting changes in my lifestyle is to take it one step at a time. Practically Green can help you organize and prioritize each step.

A few things

Parenting is hard.

I had cookies for breakfast.

My three year-old screams a lot. It hurts my ears.

Yellow #5 + sodium benzoate = increased risk for childhood cancers. Shit. I wish Emerson didn't love Peeps.

I watched the final scene from Knocked Up yesterday for the sole purpose of having a good cry. Thank you, E! Channel. You get me everytime.

P.S. I'm lacking a little sparkle in my step these days. Feel free to spam me with photos of glitter, unicorns or rainbows.  

Pretty Clean: hair care and a winner

First off: I loved hearing from each of you about the products that plague you most. It sounds like many of us our in the same boat. We're looking for affordable, safe and effective personal care products. From toothpaste to nail polish. I'm with you and I've got a little bit of feedback on my shampoo and conditioner experiment.

But before we jump in - Faith of Leaves and Feathers won the book giveaway. She's a gem of a blogging friend and a truly inspired working artist. I'm so happy to send this book to Brooklyn.

O.k. onward. Full disclosure here. I've thrown lots of money at the makers of Kerastase products. It's probably my most expensive personal care product I use regularly but I swear that nothing feels better than a day when I shampoo and condition with their products. It's straight luxury. As a bonus I can usually go two to three days without a follow up cleaning. Which is nice because I am lazy.

Their products rank between a five and a six on the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep database. (A great place to start investigating the safety of your products). That's a moderate score. Not great but not too bad. Probably considered something use in moderation if I'm not willing to let it go. For now, I'm willing to save it for special occasions (date night, a wedding, etc.) until it runs out. But I'd like to find a reliable, less expensive and overall less harmful alternative.

Next I tried Alba Botanica shampoo and conditioner (found at Whole Foods). Affordable price, nice lathering without the use of sodium laurel sulfites and a creamy conditioner without parabens. Basically a win. But it too ranks moderately on Skin Deep with fours across the board. Although, Alba products are EU Cosmetics Directive Compliant which is a good thing as the EU has much stricter standards for regulating nasty chemicals. Other draw back is that my hair was pretty gross by the end of day two.

Now I've thrown John Masters Organics into the mix. The folks at NuboNau sent me a generous sampling of the products they sell and it included shampoo and conditioner from John Masters (also found at Whole Foods). This is decidedly more of a luxury brand but not nearly as pricey as my Kerastase addiction. I've been using the Evening Primrose shampoo for dry hair and lavender and avocado intensive conditioner. I like it. And it's ranking on Skin Deep is a two. Overall, an improvement for my daily exposure to yucky stuff.

I'm working on toothpaste and sunscreen. But secretly I want to tackle a mineral make up. I'm a slave to tinted moisturizer and I'm pretty sure it's not the best thing to be slathering on my face each morning. As usual, I'd love to hear your progress. Have you replaced any of your daily use products yet?

Party files: circus fest

Emerson turned three is grand fashion and the circus-themed party went down without much of a hiccup. If you don't count the epic meltdown over the cutting of the cake. I didn't see that coming. We took tons of Polaroid-style photos (thanks to Fuji for carrying on the instamatic tradition) in the smile booth, little ones jumped in a bounce house and had various pictures painted on their chubby cheeks and arms. And grown ups feasted on mimosas and chocolate croissants. It was my kind of party. But, it flew by and didn't take nearly enough photos of the set up. i.e. the little details that I labored over for weeks went virtually undocumented. Ah well.

Hope you had a good week. I'm working on getting back to tip top blogging form. Cheers, friends.

Blogging on spring break

The party was a smashing success. I have loads to share. Many photos and some funny stories, but for now I have to sign off for the week. It's unplanned but I've hit a wall of exhaustion like no other and Emerson is on spring break. I already miss you guys. Be back next week with a refreshed state of mind. Have a happy week, friends.

P.S. I'm keeping the book giveaway going until Sunday and will announce the winner Monday.

Pretty Clean: What makes up your make up and a giveaway

Since delving in the issue of questioning ingredients in my cosmetics I've come across several informative books. The publishers of Healthy Beauty: Your guide to ingredients to avoid and products you can trust by Samuel Epstein sent me a book to share with my readers and I'm happy to announce that giveaway today. I've been pouring through my own copy for several weeks as I try to better understand what goes into my personal care products.

I've pledged to trade out all 13 of my daily use products for non-toxic versions over the coming year. So far, I've found a safe body lotion and I'm currently trying out two different shampoos and conditioners. More on that next week. The process is a tedious one and Epstein's book has been helpful in breaking down the biggest offenders found in "beauty" products and explaining how to avoid them when you are shopping.

Leave a comment by Midnight, Monday, April 11 and let me know what one personal care product you will pledge to replace this year. I believe in baby steps and starting with a small goal is better than none at all. So I'd really love to hear where you want to start. I'll pick a winner at random on Tuesday morning.

Party files: again with the rainbows

Genius rainbow installation at an engagement party. Photo via O Chickadee.

Every time I think I've blogged the very last time about rainbows, somebody goes and does something mindblowing like hanging handmade garland and crepe paper from the ceiling. Have you grown tired of my rainbow obsession? I'm sorry. Sort of. I wish I could say I'm prepared to cool off on the trend, but I officially have no idea how I'm going to shake this.

Gardening for earth month at Practically Green

I'm helping my friends at Practically Green celebrate Earth Month with a guest post on container gardening. By no means am I an expert on the subject but speaking from experience I'd say starting small with herbs and fail-safe carrot and radish seeds are a great place to jump into backyard gardening. I'd love to know if you have planted anything for spring. Please do share your adventures in gardening...

Check back with Practically Green each day in April. They will have some great daily tips on making realistic green improvements in your life.

Creative Crush: Oddities and curiosities with Studio Surface

Each Friday, a special blogger friend shares her current Creative Crush - whatever is cause for inspiration at this very moment. Today I'm happy to welcome Michelle from Studio Surface. Michelle is a super talented interior designer and an all around creative, funny and charming lady. Did you catch the completely inspired redesign she came up with for my office? I'm sort of dying to meet her in real life. And I've actually threatened to make the southern California trek for a cocktail with her... one day I'll make good on that. For now, I'm loving that she's got me pining for my great grandmother's collection of ceramic woodland animals. Bring on the oddities and curiosities.

I have always been intrigued by the slightly weird and off kilter.  Maybe it’s the unique shapes and animated quality of things that appeal to me so.  Growing up in the Midwest at auctions, weekend yard sales and crawling through old barns exposed me to all sorts of unusual treasures.  Exploring my mother’s and grandmother’s curio cabinets stockpiled with strange objects was also a particular favorite pleasure of mine.  As I have gotten older, I have truly come to appreciate objects with a past and patina.  My crush on the odd and curious has been rekindled and I find myself still drawn to them as I was a while ago, such that I have started my own collection and “curio cabinet” of sorts.  Looking at my vintage oil cans and porcelain glove molds and all their weird friends gives me comfort and a bit of a stirring…

Images clockwise from top:

Glove molds, boxing bucks, parlane jar, eye, gentleman cloche, scale