Nasturtiums

I love nasturtiums. They're bee friendly, their foliage looks like landlubbing lilypads, and they remind me of my great grandmother who often put them in her salads. But this year, after my brash decision to garden in the least fertile section of my parents' yard, I now also love nasturtiums for their ability to thrive in the worst of soils. Mine are gorgeous and wild and otherwise my garden would be a sad, spindly thing.This big old nasturtium love fest has inspired me. After all, I love nasturtiums as design elements too. And with an internet full of marvelous vintage seed packet images, like the one above, and the few actual vintage packets I've picked up at antique stores, it's easy to let my imagination run wild. Jewelry? Pillows? Posters? Yes, please. And then some.

The State of Affairs

I was working on a little paper project this morning, and thought I'd take a snapshot of the chaos I'd created on the dining room table. I hope no one was planning on eating today.

Modern Victorian? Victorian Modern? Oxy Moron?

Way back before we moved I knew I wanted red, ivory and gray in the living room. I'd been scheming a graphic birds and floral theme. Lots of cut paper etc. But when the time came I wanted this room to reflect the whole family, our bent toward the vintage, our love of machinery and, of course, the overwhelming boy factor. I'm outnumbered 3 to 1, so my birds made way for mustaches and penny farthings.It pretty much all started with these wonderful reproduction Tadcaster Museum masks that we had from Beckett's birthday party. I can't find them online, but they were about $5 at our local costume store. The frames were from Michael's, also about $5. The proportions on that wall aren't quite right, I know. Too much negative space, but I love the start. Now I just need throw pillows, lamps, more wall art, shelves, a fireplace cover... you get the idea... its a work in progress.Fixing up our apartment has moved at a snail's pace. Maybe even slower than my sewing, if you can believe it. I've spent the beginnings of Summer getting these boys out for adventures, zoo trips and park trips, ferry boat rides, days at the beach and playdates. It's been great for all of us, as long as I ignore the accumulating layer of dust on my sewing machine, and the half-assed state of our home. Every time frustration and self loathing set in, I pack up and run for the nearest children's museum! Ha!

Sir Beckett the Brave

What a crazy start to Summer I've had. But I finally managed to carve out a little time for myself. I read a book, an actual adult book, started a second and I made knightly costumes for our family. We joined Beckett's preschool and participated in the local summer festival parade which had a Renaissance Faire theme.He wanted to be a knight, and of course he wanted a fox to be his coat of arms. The tunic is made from corduroy, trimmed with gold bias tape (did you know they sell gold pre-packaged bias tape? I didn't.) The fox is felt and the moon and stars are gold pleather. Never in my life did I think I'd have occasion to buy gold pleather. Ha!The costume shop had no good knight's helmets, but they had silver construction hard hats. I bought 2 of them, cut the front half of the brim off of one, and used the other to cut out the visor. It's attached with brads, so B can flip it up and down. The feather was an afterthought, and an 11th hour errand, but it was just what the helmet needed to take away that last bit of hard-hat-ness.At almost 2am, the night (morning) before the parade, I had a sudden impulse to make him a noble steed. I attacked a box with some scissors, pulled out my felt stash and burned through many sticks of hot glue. Turns out, "Mony the Pony" (as he's now called) was the biggest hit. B loves this guy, lots of other kids looked at him enviously and a few parents asked which booth we had bought him from.
I made us parents simple costumes too, and even the baby had a little tunic, but I didn't get many pictures of them. Besides, ours were cobbled together with hot glue and not enough time, while Beckett's was legitimately sewn and finished. Either way we had a great time squiring for our noble knight.

Happy Fourth!

Happy Independence Day! Nothing feels quite as American to me as a good old fashioned Iron Horse. So even though we technically took this historic train ride yesterday, on July 3rd, it still felt like an all American way to celebrate. Today we enjoyed our local community parade and heritage festival. Sack races and butter churns, a brass ensemble band and loads of red, white and blue. It was absolutely charming and very old fashioned. Here's hoping your Fourth is fun and bright and charming too!

BTW I was the only adult on the train in an engineer's cap. Let alone overalls and neckerchief. I'm becoming my dad, and my kids couldn't be happier. For now. We'll see how they feel when I show up to their middle school events in costume. HA!

Calder's First Birthday!

Somehow, and without asking my permission (the nerve!) my baby turned 1 on Saturday. We had a family party for him, complete with balloons, balls and robots. I had a lot of help from a certain 4 year old co-host, which made the party that much sweeter, boyish and more lively. He even made custom original robot cups and tablecloths.We spent the bulk of the weekend playing and snuggling and celebrating our little Calder. So, basically it was like every other weekend, but with cupcakes and a heaping dose of nostalgia!It's been a busy few (or many) weeks. Crazy busy. I feel like we've been flying at warp speed since our Oregon trip. And it's not slowing down yet. My husband is in Philadelphia this week so the boys and I are flying solo at warp speed. But life is good. My boys are best friends, and great company for me. There isn't much "me" time, if any, but I'm trying to enjoy this incredible time. I doubt very much that on Calder's 18th birthday I'll be wishing I'd spent less time with him when he was young!

The Fairy Garden

The fairy garden or miniature garden is complete! It's installed in a defunct seedling box over at my parents' house. It's so sweet, a whole world I could happily get lost in for a few hours.

I'm so glad I took the time to make all the little mushroom picks and little birds. They add so much whimsy to the landscape, which is planted with lobelia and marigolds and sweet peas. I can't wait to watch how it matures over the Summer.

I also added a moss "lawn" and moss around the potting bench and gazebo and cobblestone pathways connecting them all. They add a nice contrast to the natural wildness of the plants. It makes it seem like some tiny person has landscaped this garden - not just like some grown woman put a bunch of doll furniture in a planter box. Ha!

Mostly, for me, it's all about the details. I loved painting and arranging all of the tiny flower pots. I loved adding the wee bundt cake under the bell jar - like some miniature tea party is imminent. I love having the scale gardening tools strewn about, like they've been recently used. It'll be so fun to tend to this world, and see how the plants grow and how the other bits are weathered. Maybe I'll even add to it if I find the right things. I do think a pond would be lovely!

Fairy Garden Potting Bench

We had a gray, wet morning here, the kids were mellow and we had nowhere to be, so I hung out in my pajamas and did some indoor work on the fairy garden.Michael's Crafts had miniature flowerpots ($2), a simple gazebo ($3) (intended as a birdfeeder?) and a miniature cabinet ($1), all in unfinished wood. They've been painted and varnished and the pots have been glued in place. I also found miniature chalkboards at Michael's. I used colored pencils to write on it, then used spray varnish to hopefully protect it a bit from the weather. No guarantees on this one, but I'll let you know if it works or is a stunning failure. Either way it's cute in the short term, and the colored pencils look just like chalk, but with more control for such a small scale.I got these great gardening tools, miniature bell jars and the white patio set from the last post from this charming garden shop in Burbank. Maybe your local nursery gift shop has something similar? And certainly etsy is a treasure trove for things like this.Lastly, this morning I pulled out some white polymer clay. I made some toadstools for the landscape, then a few birds, and finally an owl for a sort of finial or weathervane or something to top the gazebo. The gazebo needs help, but I'm a little stumped. Does it need shingles on the roof? Flooring? Any ideas would be much appreciated!At any rate, this project has been so fun. I love losing myself in miniature worlds. But who doesn't, right?

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

We're home from Burbank and I've been spending every spare moment digging in the dirt.
I've been tasked with dressing up the oh so unsightly back fence area at my parents' house for an upcoming event.
Not a small challenge, but a welcome one. I miss my rooftop garden desperately as you can imagine. I've mixed in some containers with the flower beds. Plus windows and birdhouses and other bits and baubles.
This is just a little taste, I'll post again when there's less dirt showing. But you get the idea.
And here's a sneak peek of my extra little project. A miniature garden or fairy garden!

Hello from California!

Hi all! We're spending the week in Southern California with my sister and her family. We're enjoying the sun and succulents after our endless Seattle winter. And spending lovely time with the brand new baby in the family!

I don't think I'll post again until I get home, so have a great week and I'll catch you soon!


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