May The Force Be With Her

The other day Leena, Aaron's mum, brought out a bunch of old Star Wars figurines that Aaron and his sister used to play with as kids. Leena lovingly explained to Ruby who all the characters (that she could remember) were and what Star Wars is all about. What you see above is Ruby's portrait of Princess Leia. This is just about the greatest thing I've seen since Ruby's inauguration day portrait of President Obama. I love the buns. Oh, the buns.

This brings up another point: do any of you feel like you're inadvertently forcing your kids to live in a time warp? Ruby has no idea that the original Star Wars is a dinosaur of a movie and would be laughed at by today's standards because there's no computer graphics. She has no idea of who Hannah Montana is (thank God), but loves T-Rex. She freaked out the other day when I told her John Lennon was dead -- she though he died that day. Her favourite toys are Care Bears and My Little Pony and Barbies, who are dressed in thrift store clothes from the '70s. I guess it's natural that I would transfer my own tastes to her and try to relive a little bit of my own childhood, but am I doing a disservice to her? Is it wrong that my kid thinks it's 1982... or 1978 or whatever?

Weekend Thrift: Vacation Edition

Whenever I go on a road trip I have grand visions of hitting every flea market, garage sale, thrift store and antique shop on the highway. Of course, since Aaron is usually (read: always) driving, this never happens. This year he tried to be somewhat sympathetic to my cause, but since Henry was not having a great time in the car, stopping was not an option. But, I did acquire a few things on the road and I'm ready to play show and tell.

Above, a blue mountain pottery owl! This doesn't actually fall into the "thrift" category, since I got it at an antique store in Seattle and it cost $35. But it was the last day, I had some American cash burning a hole in my pocket, and I really wanted it. And did I mention the next day was my birthday?


Speaking of owls, I first passed on this cookie jar because I didn't want to haul it around for the rest of the trip, but it haunted me, so I went back to the Salt Spring Island thrift store to get it. A steal of a deal at $3.50.


Pyrex! I got this Pyrex space saver and a Fire King Peach Luster square casserole for $3 at a Sally Ann in Victoria, B.C.


And, this isn't technically from my vacation -- it's from Leena's! She picked this adorable boat cookie jar up for me while on her own summer travels. What a mother-in-law! Thanks Leena!

Book Review: Linen, Wool, Cotton

I'm really attracted to a certain style of Japanese sewing books, as often showcased on blogs such as Super Eggplant. I was excited to see this little beauty, Linen, Wool, Cotton, which came out in the spring as part of the Make Good: Crafts + Life Japanese Craft Style series. It's pretty awesome and has that special style that I was after.

This particular book focuses on items made from natural fibres, obviously linen, wool and cotton. There are lots of projects for the home, plus some cool clothing items, all keeping with a very simple and natural aesthetic. Obviously you could use any fabric you'd like for these projects, but author Akiko Mano sticks to natural colours. It all could get a bit dull, but the book is gorgeous and almost makes me want to change my entire style to fit into this simple, natural world.

That said, I actually doubt that I'll make any of these projects. I'm just too busy these days to make my own pillow cases, napkins, or duvet covers. The one project that jumped out to me, the Mary Jane Slippers require suede soles, and I'm not up for that. Still, the book is very inspirational, and I have already bought some linen to add some of Mano's style to a project from a different book. Not everything has to be candy coloured and this book is a gentle and beautiful reminder of that.

Back In Action... With a New Skirt!

We're back from a very long and very exciting road trip -- more in the coming days. Everyone in the house is sick, and I need time to process. But, here's a remainder from before we left -- I made a new skirt!

These pictures are terrible, I know, but I think you get the idea. It's my version of the Angry Chicken 5-Minute Skirt, which is a year-old tutorial, but always timely. I kind of remember wanting to make one of these back when it came out, but not having any Fold-Over Elastic (FOE). Now I have a small stash of FOE and really wanted an extra skirt for my vacation, so I went for it.

Now, this skirt is very wonky because I think I have some serious body issues, because I measured my waist about six inches bigger than needed. So, my pattern was a bit off and I kept having to take the seams in. As a result, the hemline is very asymmetrical, but I purposely left it that way to mimic an old American Apparel skirt that I love. The result is a swingy and very forgiving a-line skirt. It's cut on the bias and has an elastic waist, so it essentially feels like p.j.s I would like to make another of these before summer is over, but I don't have any fabric on hand and by the time I take care of that, summer will be nearly over. Plus, I'm planning to hit the gym hard come fall, so hopefully anything I make this summer won't fit by next, if you know what I mean.


In other clothing news, check out Ruby's adorable shirt. I ordered this through Worn Free, which is an awesome vintage rock T company. It's really soft and comfy and holds a ton of cred. Henry has a replica of the Working Class Hero shirt that John Lennon wore in the '70s, but he has to grow into it. So awesome. I really want one for myself, but the adult shirts are quite pricey, so I'm sticking to kids stuff for now.

Proud

Okay, this is a week late, but I'm proud that I live in a country where people are free to choose who they wish to marry. I'm proud to see the RCMP marching amongst drag queens and transgendered punk rockers. I'm proud that my daughter walked with her beloved aunt, beaming with pride that her auntie is so in love with another auntie. And I'm proud of my little son, smiling here, surrounded by friends.

Still on vacation, but with internet access. Anyone have any tips on fun things to do in Seattle. With kids?