Twirl your stress away...

with Corinne Baily Rae. I realize this song has been out a couple years but I really needed it today... Hope you enjoy it too.



Love,
Annie

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Marc Speaks, People Listen

I’ve written before about my love of the lecture. This past weekend I had the incredible privilege of attending a lecture given by Marc Elliot, a powerful and dynamic speaker, on the subject of tolerance.

Full disclosure: I knew Marc when he was a little kid. We grew up on the same street and he and my younger brother were childhood playmates. My stepmother (who was one of Marc’s elementary school teachers) had told me of his new career in public speaking, but it wasn’t until a few weeks ago, when I met my middle school drama teacher for wine and reminiscences, that I found out just what an impact he was making on the world. So last week when I read an article that reminded me of Marc, I sent him an email to say hi and wish him well. And when he responded that he would be in town over the weekend for a few engagements and that I was welcome to come hear him speak, I jumped on the opportunity.

My first impulse in writing this is to recount his entire program for you, but I could never relate his stories as engagingly and effectively as he does, and I would run the risk of diminishing the power of his message. So instead I’m going to attempt to give a brief summary of the lecture and encourage you with all possible urgency to check out Marc’s website, MarcSpeaks.com, and YouTube videos and see for yourself.

Marc was born with a rare disease which left him with only four feet of intestines, and at age nine he developed Tourette’s syndrome. These two personal challenges have afforded Marc a unique insight into the way society treats people with disabilities, and have served to increase his compassion towards and acceptance of people’s differences. And though he recognizes that acceptance is the ideal, all Marc asks of his audience is tolerance. He acknowledges that everyone makes assumptions about the people they interact with, but he reminds us that we never truly know the circumstances of anyone’s life. By sharing humorous anecdotes and being unabashedly candid about his own experience, Marc demonstrates for his audience how hurtful such baseless assumptions can be when they are allowed to evolve into actions. He challenges us to recognize the assumptions we make, and to keep from acting on them, to be tolerant of diversity, and to live and let live.

I wish my words had the power to convey the impact of Marc’s speech. I wish I could show you the attentive and awestruck looks on the faces of the teenagers who were his primary audience on Saturday. I wish I could tell you what a joy it is to see the curly-haired little boy with the sunny smile become the charismatic speaker and advocate who’s changing the world. And he is changing the world, one speech at a time, making it a more tolerant and, yes, even a more accepting place. So I urge you once more to visit his website, watch his videos, and if you are in a position to do so, hire him to speak to your company, organization, or congregation. Because when Marc speaks, people listen, and the world is a better place.

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Blogaround

Hello D&L Readers!

Due to an unfortunate running injury (woops!) and a corresponding dip in energy, my adventuring has been a little scant this past week. So today I’m going to follow Kate’s lead and point you to some good reads by other writers, where energy and adventure abound. Enjoy!

Ranty’s Machine Blogger Snarkysmachine relates her dealings with Plato’s Closet as part of her (and nearly all women’s) ongoing struggle with body acceptance.

In the Summer A beautiful prose piece by professional writer/blogger meloukhia.

I Am For Sale, Who Will Buy Me? An anonymous contributor to the Afghan Women’s Writing Project shares her story.

Prop 8 Trial Tracker A team of bloggers covers Perry v. Schwarzenegger as it happens. This is history in the making!

Steals, Deals and Heels GIVEAWAY

Hey Everyone! Steals, Deals and Heels is giving away one of our reusable coffee sleeves. This is not only a good promotion for D&L but a good chance for you to win some free stuff.

Check out StealsDealsandHeels.blogspot.com for more details!

See Kate Conquer: Give-Away Winner

Congrats to commenter Faga-Meyer Family, you are the winner of the first See Kate Conquer give-away! Please email me (Kate!) at kateisfun [at] gmail [dot] com with your mailing address, and your copy of Half the Sky will be on its way.

Thanks to each of you that commented on the power and inspiration of women. I hope that even if you didn't win, you'll be inspired to read Half the Sky. From time to time I write on other issues regarding women over at my own blog, kateisfun, so feel free to check it out!

My little one is prohibiting me from writing a longer post today. So, I will leave you with some other book suggestions, should you find yourself looking for something to pass these cold winter days with:

following on the empowered women theme:
Between Two Worlds
Iran Awakening

For any woman that's pregnant or one day might be:
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

Favorite Kid's Book Ever:
Goodnight Moon

When Planning a European Travel Adventure:
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door (or any country-specific guide by him)

I enjoy fiction, but am not very good at picking it out... got any suggestions for me?

Happy Reading!

Where in the World: Ecola State Park, Oregon

Today's Where in the World submission comes to us from Ecola State Park in Oregon where Michelle is sporting her "Yellow Bird" reusable coffee sleeve. This picture makes me miss living near the coast...Isn't it beautiful? Thanks for sharing Michelle!


Where are you using your reusable coffee sleeves? What does your D&L lampshade look like in your home? We want to see. Please send pictures and descriptions to DotandLineHome@gmail.com. Be sure to write "Submission" in the subject line.

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Winter Runner's Land

It’s winter here in the Midwest – in fact, the winter this year is rather insistent and vehement about its wintry-ness, and it has taken to reminding us of its icy influence with blizzards and lightning storms and runs of single-digit temperature days.

So it may surprise you when I tell you that I’ve taken up running again. I’ve sought sanctuary under the summer skies for years now, but I’ve always believed that the joy of running was seasonally confined to half the calendar. And then Christmas came and went, I was feeling more emotionally energetic and I was antsy. No amount of yoga was going to satisfy my need to move my body. So, I called my older brother.

“Hey, Big Brother! I need advice. What does your girlfriend wear when she goes running in the winter?” My older brother’s partner of three years is a die-hard runner. She runs in the summer, the winter, the rain, snow, sleet, hail…she’s like the Post Office but without those unattractive uniforms. But what is her uniform for winter wanderings? My brother listed the items she wears to face the Michigan cold, and I dutifully purchased those I did not own and set out on December 31st for my first ever winter run.

After donning running tights, two pairs of pants, two pairs of socks, running shoes, sports bra, t-shirt, two long sleeved-shirts, a white hoodie, two pairs of gloves, an insulated head band, a winter hat, and a hood/cowl with a drawstring that closes over my face so that just my eyes peek out, I looked like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, and I felt like the kid from A Christmas Story (“I can’t put my arms down!”). But those layers of cloth and good advice protected me from the bitter cold, and I was able to enjoy a refreshing evening pounding the pavement of my favorite route. And I found, much to my surprise, that there are some uniquely wonderful advantages to running in the winter, which warm-weather excursions cannot provide. So, without further ado, I give you The Ten Best Things About Running In Winter:

10. Fewer Runners: unsurprisingly there are fewer people out on the sidewalks of suburbia when it’s single-syllables outside. This means more leeway for me to make the path my own.

9. Earlier Sunset: I like to run at night, in the darkness, because I love the silence and the anonymity of the shadows. And whereas in June I have to wait til 9:00 before it’s suitable dark, in January I can set out at 6:00.

8. Increased Anonymity: And since being anonymous is one of the advantages of running at night, my cowl/hat/hoodie ensemble only serves to increase the feelings of security I gain from facelessness.

7. Christmas Lights: I know the season for festive decorations has ended and soon my running route will be dim again, but this last week I have really enjoyed seeing all the creative lighting displays around the neighborhood – enough to put them on this list despite their limited longevity.

6. Soup is Satisfying: Whenever I go to the grocery store I prowl the soup aisle and purchase all kinds of delicious concoctions that sound appetizing – but then I get home and it sits in my cupboard because I’m never in the mood for soup. Well, it turns out that after you’ve spent an hour outside in negative wind-chill, soup sounds pretty darn good.

5. No Smoking: I confess, I’m a former full-time smoker turned occasional smoker, and one of those occasions is post-workout. Sometimes I reward myself with a cigarette after exercise, but that’s virtually impossible in the winter. By the time my run is near its end my lighter is frozen and my gloved fingers are too clumsy for matches.

4. No Bugs: Every summer I swallow at least a dozen bugs, and I bat away many more from my face and body while I plod through the humid night. But the bugs don’t venture out in the winter, and even if they did they’d have a hard time finding me under all my clothes.

3. Clothes Weigh a Lot: My eight layers of protective gear actually add up to quite a few extra pounds on my frame. And that extra weight I’m lugging around means my body has to work that much harder to move itself, which means I’m getting an even better workout than I would in the summer.

2. Shorter Walking Breaks: I confess, when I say “run” what I mean is “jog and occasionally walk” but “run” just sounds so much more ambitious, you know? But the thing about winter “running” is that those occasional walking breaks are shorter by necessity. If I slow down too much for too long I’ll freeze, so the cold keeps me moving.

And…the number one advantage to running in the winter is…

1. NO SKUNKS! I cannot tell you how the neighborhood Mephitidae have plagued me over the years. I have mapped route after route trying to find streets or parks not riddled with skunks and it is impossible. They are everywhere at night in the summer, and they are not eager to share their domain. I’ve even had skunks stalk me and chase me down the street! But apparently they go into a period of semi-hibernation during the winter, which means that right now, the streets belong to me! Take that, Pepé Le Pew!

So, if you’ve been feeling listless these past few weeks but had ruled out any outdoor exercising as a cure on account of the cold, I hope this list encourages you to reexamine those conclusions. You may find that the activities you love in the summer are just as enjoyable, or even more so, when the north wind blows.

Free Shipping Extended

Free shipping during the holidays was such a success that we have decided to extend the promotion through January 22, which marks the 1 year anniversary of selling our reusable coffee sleeves on etsy.

We will ship your sleeves via usps parcel post and upgraded FREE PRIORITY SHIPPING ON ORDERS OF 5 SLEEVES OR MORE!!!


Also, don't forget to read Kate's latest post (below) to see how you can win your own copy of "Half the Sky".

See Kate Conquer: Making an Impact (First Official Give-Away!)

Welcome to a new year, a new decade, a NEW YOU!

Well, perhaps that's a bit too ambitious for a Monday, especially before coffee. I'm not really one for resolutions, although I do enjoy a mental turning over of leaves, pursuing new things, and seeing results from concerted efforts. However, I find that sometimes the gung-ho-ness that accompanies a stride towards big change is enough to deter me, putting too much pressure on my delicate streak of gumption. If, however, I allow something to roll itself over in my mind, easing its newness into my consciousness with the slick finesse of a mesmerizing politician or a box of chocolates, I accept the change just a little bit easier, and get more bang for my buck.

Are you still following me?

What I'm trying to say is... over the past several months I've been thinking of how I can be more involved in helping and empowering women, from endeavors like supporting my friends (and myself) in their passions to advocating birth rights for women in America and Sweden, to helping stop the atrocities that women deal with worldwide on a daily basis. It can easily feel overwhelming, as I have much more of a penchant for instant gratification than I do for slow and methodical planning. One thing that I've done recently that actually did help me feel like I was in a position to help women was to read Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.

This book looks at several horrific ways that women and girls are terrorized with around the world, presenting both dramatic research and first-hand accounts. The beautiful thing is that this book also offers a lot of hope to the reader, both in terms of how these victimized women have risen above all circumstances, as well as how we can practically get involved.

I was so inspired by this book that I want to give one of you the opportunity to be moved and inspired as well. Count this as my First Official Give-Away. To enter, leave a comment that briefly describes something you find empowering about being a woman (if you're a man, you can still enter! What's something you find inspiring about women?). I'll pick a winner based on my whims of the moment, and announce the recipient of this great book next week (if you enter, please make sure to check back to see if you've won - I'll need your shipping address!).

One last thing... you may be wondering, why is this lady writing about women's rights on a design blog?! Fair enough. I guess I just assume that the predominant audience of this blog is a group of thoughtful, creative women that look at things differently, and with that perspective there's a lot of opportunity to see and act differently from others. I think that we thoughtful, creative types can move mountains with our visions of grandeur.

Year End Update

Hello blogosphere! Oh how I have missed you blog! As you may have gathered from my absence and the note Val wrote explaining said absence, the holiday season has been a little crazy and I didn't have the insight to organize and prepost for the month of December, leaving me with virtually no time to keep you all updated. This last month of 2009 has been fantastic in terms of sales and keeping up with the demand has led to several late night stints.

Now to bring you up to speed with what my month looked like. I had originally planned on writing a post for each of these updates but given that this is the last day of 2009 I will do my best to give you the smooshed up version.




Before Christmas I hosted a table for our church Christmas tea party in which I used all sustainable, repurposed, or vintage products to decorate my table. I used cloth napkins, vintage snack sets purchased at a local second hand store, repurposed candle holders left over from my wedding, and extra ornaments dumped into a glass urn to decorate my table. And what eco-friendly table would be complete without including a reusable coffee sleeve.











Even earlier than the tea was The Holiday Food and Gift Festival, a local show that turned out to be a delight. My shades and coffee sleeves got some good exposure and while initial sales were a little low, I have made quite a few sales since based on the exposure I received. This was the show that Val was here to help me prepare for.







This year we did our best to give as many handmade gifts as possible for Christmas. I made several aprons for friends and family. The gifts that were not handmade were either slightly used (books) or had some utilitarian function (cooking utensils, etc). This was the first year where we took large strides toward my ultimate goal of taking The Handmade Pledge.

A lot of changes have taken place here at Dot&Line over the last year and I am excited to see what 2010 brings! I hope you will continue to join us in our exploration of purposeful living, creativity and environmental consciousness. Happy New Year!

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Devoted to the Art of the Lecture

I was blessed on Christmas Day this year to be given the gift I needed most, and it came to me in the form of a lecture by Richard Florida on the rise of the “Creative Class”. In recent months I’ve taken to listening to lectures whenever the opportunity presents itself, so if I’m washing dishes, wrapping presents, on a road trip, sitting in an airport, or performing some other necessary but mostly mindless task I typically have my earbuds in and my mp3 player set to Podcasts. So, while I spent a significant number of hours wrapping the gifts my mother was giving to everyone, the presents I had purchased for loved ones were still mostly in their original shopping bags come Christmas morning. Luckily my family was not getting together until the afternoon, so I put on a pot of coffee, dialed up the radiator, and settled myself on the floor with the wrapping paper, ribbon, scissors, and Big Ideas, “the only regularly scheduled program in North America devoted to the art of the lecture.”

It’s difficult for me to put into words how exactly Mr. Florida’s lecture affected me, and frankly some of my revelations are a little too personal for me to feel comfortable posting them publicly, but over the course of the 57 minutes I became more and more excited, more and more elated, and when it was over I laid on the floor of the living room in my little apartment and wept with joy. And then I called Annie.

Mr. Florida’s book is winging its way to me from a warehouse in Utah as I write, and I look forward to diving more deeply into his work, but I am oddly certain that the greatest revelations his book has to offer me have already been imparted by his lecture. It was as though the hyper-distillation of years of study into a one hour talk was specifically designed to hit every button I had and eradicate all the fears I’d been nurturing for months. So while the detailed examination of those now extinct phobias will also be a joyful exercise, it is the lecture I will always remember, and the way it left me lying open and freed and new, alone in my apartment on Christmas morning.

“The Art of the Lecture.” How true. Powerful and dense and precise and bold, this art form has so much to offer and asks so little of its audience. And thanks to TVO you can sample knowledge from a myriad of subjects, tasting wisdom in bite-sized helpings, and perhaps find a lecturer who is an expert in the insight you need most.

While Richard Florida’s lecture has had the greatest impact on me, it is by no means the only lecture that has changed my perspective and informed my life. Other TVO episodes worthy of high praise are Margaret Atwood’s Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, Christopher Hitchens’s The Ten Commandments, and Margaret Visser’s The Gift of Thanks.

And if you’re interested in the origins of morality, many PBS stations have been airing Justice, the lectures of philosopher Michael Sandel as delivered to his Harvard class. The arrogance and willful ignorance of some of his students can be a little grating, but Mr. Sandel takes it all in stride and gracefully delivers lectures that rise above his students’ selfishness without also flying over their heads.

If you have further suggestions of where to find great lectures or thoughts on examples of this art form that have affected you, I’d love to hear them. Happy learning!

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Last Minute Gift Idea

As I’m sure you’re all aware, December is NBABBABAAGITSNB month. Which, of course, stands for National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give it to Somebody Not Black Month. What’s that you say? You weren’t aware? Well, neither was I, until yesterday when I stumbled across the blog “White Readers Meet Black Authors” in which Carleen Brice (an author herself) invites people of all races to read books by black authors. In an introductory post titled, “You’re Invited!” Ms. Brice greets booklovers:

Welcome readers of all races, shapes and sizes. Here is where you'll be safely, carefully introduced to books written by black people. Now, don't be alarmed. The books are written by black people, but like other books, they can be read by anybody. In fact, we WANT you to read our books. Don't let the fact that publishers and booksellers put us in the back in the special section of the store scare you. They do that because they want African American readers to be able to find us easily, which is a good thing. However, it has come to our attention that it also puts some of the rest of you off.

So we are extending an official invitation for you to check out our section of the bookstore.

This blog came into my path at exactly the perfect time. A few minutes previously I had asked my mother, “Did you ever think of anything you want for Christmas?” And she said, “Yeah, actually I’d like to find a new series of books to read. I liked the Harry Potter and Ender’s Game books, so something new along those lines.” And I sat there thinking, “Well, I don’t know of any more magic realism or science fiction series that would suit my mother’s tastes. None that she hasn’t already read, anyway.” And then into my lap fell Ms. Brice’s blog. She even has a post devoted to science fiction/fantasy writers.

So, this Christmas my Mom is getting:

Lilith’s Brood by Octavia E. Butler. This is the full Xenogenesis trilogy in one volume. (All synopses in this post are from Barnes & Noble.com)

The acclaimed trilogy that comprises LILITH'S BROOD is multiple Hugo and Nebula award-winner Octavia E. Butler at her best. Presented for the first time in one volume, with an introduction by Joan Slonczewski, Ph.D., LILITH'S BROOD is a profoundly evocative, sensual — and disturbing — epic of human transformation.Lilith Iyapo is in the Andes, mourning the death of her family, when war destroys Earth. Centuries later, she is resurrected — by miraculously powerful unearthly beings, the Oankali. Driven by an irresistible need to heal others, the Oankali are rescuing our dying planet by merging genetically with mankind. But Lilith and all humanity must now share the world with uncanny, unimaginably alien creatures: their own children. This is their story...

Mom will also be receiving books one and two of a fantasy series by new author Leslie Ann Moore. Book one, Griffin’s Daughter, won the 2008 Ben Franklin Award for Best First Book.

Moore's novel tells of a young, orphaned woman who is scorned by society for her mixed human and elven blood. She discovers that she possesses a mysterious magical power and when she travels to Elven lands in search of answers, she discovers a shocking truth about her identity that will have epic consequences for an entire nation.

And then, because I was on a roll, I found the perfect book for my Dad! He loves suspense novels, especially anything to do with disease and/or religious mythology. So I bought him Blood Colony, by Tananarive Due.

There's a new drug on the street: Glow. Said to heal almost any illness, it is distributed by an Underground Railroad of drug peddlers. But what gives Glow its power? Its main ingredient is blood — the blood of immortals. A small but powerful colony of immortals is distributing the blood, slowly wiping out the AIDS epidemic and other diseases around the world.

And, of course, in the process of shopping for my family, I couldn’t help but be seduced by a book or two myself. So, Merry Christmas, me! I’ll be reading Getting Mother’s Body by Suzan Lori-Parks (I was familiar with her work as a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, but I had no idea she wrote novels as well) and Sugar, by Bernice L. McFadden. I was actually moved to purchase this last book by Ms. McFadden’s plea on her own blog, Naki. Sugar is celebrating its 10th anniversary on January 9th, 2010, and while it was highly praised and very successful upon its release, Sugar, along with countless other books by African American writers, is now disappearing from the shelves of bookstores. Why? Ms. McFadden poses and attempts to answer this question:

I don't rightly know why publishers market fiction written by African-Americans ONLY TO African-Americans - but it has become common practice. And by doing this, they've placed all AA authors in one box forcing them to compete for the attention of ONE audience.

The word that has been coined to describe what is happening to AA writers is: Seg-Book-Gation

Segregation is an abominable practice no matter how you slice it - but when you apply it to art -- it becomes a sin. Art of any medium should transcend color, race, class, religion and ethnicity, but alas, that is not the case in the publishing world.

If there is one truth I believe in unfailingly, it is the transcendent power of art. So, if you have any last minute shopping to do and are looking for the perfect gift idea, why not buy a book by a black author for a person on your Christmas list? Help someone fall in love with a new writer this year, and help tear down the barriers segregating the literary art form.

My Best DIY/Home Improvement Project to Date

Things have been a bit busy in my neck of the Swedish woods this past week, as Project Baby Spice was completed (or, did it just start?) Tuesday, December 16 at 2:20 am. This little big guy - we call him Elijah - weighed in at 9 pounds 4 ounces, and when he can be convinced to stretch out he's about 21 1/4 inches. He was born at home, just a few feet from where he is in this picture (receiving his first sponge bath from his daddy). Our Persian friends shared a proverb with us from their culture, "Children bring life to a home", and I couldn't agree more.

Hope your Holidays are filled with lots of life and joy!

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Wrapping Extravaganza

It’s the most wonderful time of year…present wrapping time!!!

When I was a little girl I used to LOVE to help my mom wrap Christmas presents. I’d put my finger on the ribbon while she tied a knot, hand her pieces of tape when she needed them, and find gift tags that matched the wrapping paper. At some point I was promoted from my apprenticeship and allowed to wrap gifts myself. My first efforts were a little shaky but I improved steadily and it wasn’t long before my mother gave the job of wrapping entirely over to me. As it turns out, she hates wrapping presents. In fact, she used to get panic attacks thinking about all the presents she had to wrap for myself and my two brothers, not to mention the rest of her family. So when she saw that I got giddy at the thought of rolls of crisp, shiny paper, spools of delicate curling ribbon, and endless piles of presents waiting to be made into works of holiday art, Mom joyfully handed over the reins.

I’ve been doing all the family’s Christmas wrapping (for every holiday I’ve been at home) ever since. I love seeing the pile of paper-clad presents sitting prettily under the tree, and watching it grow as I complete each gift. And somewhere around the 23rd or 24th of December a cluster of gift bags joins the collection – these are the presents for me. ;-)

For the past two years I have been blessed with a job at which I am responsible for the annual holiday gifts to customers which means I get to wrap about 100 presents. And I get paid. It’s my favorite time of the whole year. I set up a little “Santa’s Workshop” in the conference room and have an assembly line of tissue paper and bags and foil and ribbon. It’s FANTASTIC! I finished this year’s customer gifts last week and I must say, I am quite proud of the results.

Then, this past weekend I did a little holiday bonding with my mother, and while we drank pumpkin spice coffee and watched our favorite Christmas movies for the 872nd time, I set to work on Mom’s Christmas stash. Ta da!

But this year’s prize for best wrapped present goes to a gift from my mom to her brother-in-law. She bought him a series of seven books, but she had to buy them each separately as they are not sold as a set. I played around with the books for a while, trying to decide what the most interesting way to present them would be, and ultimately went with this:

Isn’t it beautiful? (That’s a rhetorical question. If you don’t think it’s beautiful then bugger off.)

I’ve got a few presents left to wrap and I’m already mourning the end of wrapping season. If anyone in the St. Louis area would like assistance adorning their holiday gifts just let me know!

Business Blessings!

Annie has been inundated with holiday orders for coffee sleeves, so she's currently running on no sleep and sewing frantically to keep up with demand. The increased sales are a boon, but the corresponding bane is less time for the blog. She may be absent 'round these parts til after Christmas, so wish her happy holidays and don't forget that coffee sleeves make great stocking stuffers! (I can do the shameless plug thing because it's not my product.)

-Val

Making the Most of the Space You Have

I bet I'm right in assuming that many of you readers may feel a little low on abundant space in your homes. Maybe it's a student dorm room, or a tiny NYC apartment, or a bedroom in a house filled with roommates. On the other hand, perhaps you are the proud owner of your first home, or living alone for the first time, or have three extra guest rooms in a sprawling colonial. Despite which category you fall into, it seems that we – and our possessions – are capable of growing into whatever accommodations are available, and feeling cramped can happen in any sized environment.

I've mentioned before how acutely we felt this when we moved from our undeservingly-generous-to-us housing situation in Boston to our Swedish cave. And, I've certainly spent a good deal of time explicating on our lack of know-how when it came to making the most of the space we do have. To our minimalist minds, less is more. And, so very often this is the case. But, there is a limit. For example, it doesn't make sense to have no book cases if the result of that will be stacks of books and papers littered on the floor.

Most recently we've encountered this reality as we attempt to get ready for Baby Spice (ten days over the due date as of today, in case you were curious). In general, I am not a fan of homes that succumb to Everything Baby, where there's nary a space that plays coy to the question of whether or not children reside there. In reaction to this, and a desire to not over-clutter our cave, we resisted buying a lot of the standard baby fare. No crib, no room for one. No baby bath tub, it would take up far too much space for the number of times we would use it (although, I must admit to lusting after this nifty number I read about on another blog this week). Our baby items are pretty much limited to clothes, blankets, books (I firmly believe kids are never too young to be read to!), cloth diapers, and the numerous stuffed animals we've been gifted.

However, Keith convinced me that a changing table with drawers would be a wise addition. Yes, this piece of furniture is fairly sizable, but the the benefits to us made it worth it in the end. For the past several months, everything baby-related had been stored neatly away in boxes under our bed. This is a brilliant solution – when you don't need to access a clean outfit every few hours, or need to have clean diapers within arms' reach of where your baby is wriggling. And, of course, there is the obvious benefit of having a surface designated to holding our baby's exposed butt. Fortunately, we have a perfectly-sized nook that wasn't of much use in any other way, and IKEA, yet again, had the perfect solution for us.

This piece cost us around $200 (it's cheaper in USD, so consider yourselves lucky!). It converts into a regular dresser, simply by taking off the full-sized changing table piece to reveal a standard dresser top (or, if you happen to, ahem, forget to put the second box in your cart during your first trip to IKEA, it will also convert from dresser to changing table... just saying). It is solid wood and extremely sturdy. Its two drawers are enough to hold all our baby clothes and several blankets as well; the shelves are big enough to hold all things diaper-related, and are deep enough to act as storage for extra wipes, burp cloths, and other baby-related items.

This is a case where more is actually more. It is far more practical and esthetically pleasing to have these things together and easily accessible than to have them tucked under the bed, or in the closet, or stacked in piles on the ground. While I wasn't sure at first that buying a relatively large piece of furniture – particularly one that I thought would only serve the purpose of changing diapers – was the right move, it turns out it was exactly the right thing for us.

How about you? How have you made the most of the space you have - whether large or small - in your home?

DIY: Cutting Your Own Christmas Tree

I have always been a fan of fresh cut real Christmas trees. In the past picking out a tree has consisted of little more than showing up at a tree lot here in town. This year however, we decided we would purchase a permit and head to the forest to cut down our own tree. While cutting down trees may be controversial, rest assured that we will be planting a tree in the spring to replace it.

If you want to cut down your own tree here are some DIY tips:

1. Wear snow boots. We learned this the hard way.
2. Don't forget rope for tying it to your car and a saw (or hatchet) for chopping down the tree.
3. Use a 4 wheel drive vehicle, especially where there's snow
4. Dress warm!
5. Stick to the rules! Get the proper permits and documentation required to cut your own tree.
6. Pack water, blankets and food...just in case of car trouble.

When we set out to find our tree Peter and I had a dream of beautiful full branches. The tree we found is darling but does not meet this expectation. Our little tree is rivals Charlie Brown's for it's sparse character but we don't care! We will enjoy it all the same.

Here are some pics:

We look forward to transforming it with decorations tonight!

More Holiday fun with Dreidels

The holidays have always been full of simple joys in my family. On any given Christmas morning you could find us all playing with harmonicas, yo-yo's and cazoos! One particularly memorable gift was a Dreidel given to me, my sister and our cousins as children. Not only did this open our eyes to other traditions, it also provided endless hours of fun among the group of us as we gambled the chocolate coins we received in our stockings.

I hope you enjoy these fun handmade dreidels as much as I do!


This wood dreidel from dreidelmaker is lovely!



How about this hand painted dreidel by The Secret of Style:


And these clay dreidels by Victory Blue Designs:



These glass dreidels by Bat Chen Designs are so beautiful!!

Artistic Adventures of an Ardent Amateur: Chocolate Mission

It’s that time of year: ice is on the roads, coats are now required attire, parents are taking their children to the mall to stand in line for 2 hours for the opportunity to sit on a stranger’s lap, and Christmas carols are now socially accepted as valid music options (though personally, I’ve had Straight No Chaser’s holiday albums on a continuous loop since Halloween). And again this year I find myself craving that most glorious of winter beverages, the perfect cup of hot chocolate.

Now, I know that there are thousands of delicious cocoa recipes in the world and that I could spend all year trying them and be continually amazed by the earth’s collective chocolate genius. However, when I look for the perfect cup of hot chocolate my options are actually a little limited due to two immutable restrictions: 1) I have a permanently bare refrigerator, and 2) I’m lazy. And, well, 3) I live alone and there’s rarely such a thing as a single serving recipe for anything, let alone hot chocolate, but 3 is not necessarily permanent so I’ll stick with 1 & 2 as my main reasons for seeking an instant powdered cocoa mix to satisfy my festive desire.

When this year’s cocoa bug first hit I was with Annie – it was Thanksgiving and we had just visited Nessie for the third time and I suggested we stop at Walgreens (being the only store visibly open) and pick up some hot chocolate. Annie being Annie, however, she already had the makings for Mexican hot chocolate at home. It was truly delicious and she told me I’d most likely be able to find it in a grocery store at home, but the problem is there was milk required, and also lots of stirring and standing next to the stove, and so I decided the Mexican chocolate, though delicious, was not for me.

And so while at home the following weekend and laid out with a vicious cold I started experimenting. First, the standard generic brand hot cocoa mix, one package, 6 ounces of water. Too watery, not enough chocolate taste. After cleansing my palette with a cup of tea, I tried 1 ½ packets generic cocoa mix with 6 ounces of water. Ahhh, much better, though still definitely lacking something.

On my way to work the following Monday, still nursing my super-sized cold, I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed a box of Swiss Miss. Then I added 1 ½ packets to 6 ounces of water and (here’s the genius part) a splash of Half & Half from the office fridge! (Note: I do not count Half & Half as a violation of restriction #2 because I usually have it at home. See, I care far more about drinking a decent cup of coffee than I do about eating a decent meal, so while the shelves of my fridge may be desolate there is almost always a pint of cream in the door.) Now this concoction was quite good – the cream gave it just the velvety consistency I was looking for without requiring me to buy a gallon of milk that I’d have no other use for and without necessitating the use of the stove or excessive stirring.

I was willing to settle for my new recipe as this year’s go-to cup when I did a stint of catsitting for my mother. My mother has some kind of unusual lucky streak when it comes to winning crap she doesn’t want, and somehow every year she winds up bringing home a basketful of hot chocolate mix from the office raffle, which then languishes in the recesses of her cupboards until I arrive to liberate it. Another fantastic quirk of my mama’s is that she always has a can of aerosol whipped cream stashed in the fridge, and it’s usually within the expiration date. I have no idea what she uses it for since I’ve never known her to bake and she’s not a frequent purchaser of pies, but somehow Reddi-Whip is ever present in her kitchen. Anyway, while marveling at the wonders of cable television and doing my laundry for free, I created this year’s best cup of instant hot chocolate to date: 1 packet Café Primo chocolate hazelnut (mmmmmm!) mix, ½ packet Swiss Miss standard milk chocolate mix, 8 ounces water, several tablespoons Half & Half, and a giant pillowy helping of whipped cream artfully piled on top, all served in a tall holiday-themed snowman mug. It. Was. Heaven.

I’ll continue to experiment as the season continues. I may even get ambitious at some point and try to duplicate my high school drama teacher’s chocolate miracle which she used to give out at the holidays – it was a dry mix but it was homemade and I suspect it may have contained powered sugar, but she never relented when I begged for the recipe – but for now I’m content to swipe premium mix from my mom’s house and make a one-time investment in Reddi-whip to satisfy my seasonal sweet tooth.

Artist Profile: Rachel Wall of Twilight Visions

It's that gift giving time of year and I can't think of a better handmade gift than a lovely piece of jewelry from Twilight Visions. Here's a little bit about owner and designer, Rachel Wall.



1. Where is your business based out of?

At the moment I’m based out of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. That changes every couple of years with how much I move though!


2. Where are you from originally?

I was born in Napa, California but grew up and spent a large part of my life in Alaska so I consider that home.


3. How long have you been an artist and/or business owner?

I’ve always been an artisan, but didn’t start selling my work until about nine years ago at festivals and galleries. I’m very new to the world of online selling though, and have had a shop on Etsy for about a year.


4. Where do you get your creative inspiration?

I get a lot of my inspiration from ancient tribal arts and crafts, nature, nostalgic styles, bohemian and everywhere else in between. I feel most inspired after going to a museum. Inspiration is everywhere.


5. What does your creative process entail?

This question is always the hardest to answer. My process usually changes with the medium. It usually starts with the color I want to work with or certain piece I want to make something with. I’ll hold it in my hand for a while and envision a design. I then try different combinations of complimenting that original piece until I come up with a basic theme. After that my hands do the rest and there have been many times I end up with something completely different than my original intent.

When it comes to the other mediums I work with it’s usually impulsive. I love photography and working with acrylics and textiles as well.


6. Would you say your environment (where you live, work, play) influences your creative process? If so, how?

Yes I would say my environment influences my work. Since I move a lot I get exposed to different styles and personalities. I have been inspired by people’s personalities which is always fun.


7. Who are your creative mentors?

I would have to say every artist out there. We all mentor and inspire each other!


8. Tell us about the one project you would say you are most proud of.

So hard to pick just one so I’ll have to go with the pieces where I have upcycled. I like the challenge of coming up with a piece that had a prior life. I have made some really great pieces with vintage components. Many times those pieces have components from 4 or 5 different pieces of vintage jewelry. I’m in the middle of one right now that could possibly be one of my favorites. I have collected enough vintage leaf brooches to finally do it!


9. What do you enjoy doing when you're not creating?

I love the outdoors, hiking, traveling, eating good food and spending time with my man, friends and my cats. I’m a bit of a movie buff as well so I love watching obscure movies and discovering new independent filmmakers.


10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

This answer is so not going to be an expected one. In ten years I see myself as a biologist working in conservation. I deeply care about the environment and just went back to school last year to pursue a degree in biology. I was inspired while living in Pittsburgh and working for non-profit environmental lobby group to travel this path and I’m well suited for it. I will always create and am sure I’ll get even more inspiration as a biologist.