Rainy Day Woman

If you haven't had a chance to see Jean Shin's work before, you are in for a treat. With an eye for making lovely what many of us simply toss away, Shin creates absolute magic. From stitching together abandoned umbrellas in NYC after storms (pictured above), to creating a house of cards from discarded lottery cards, your eyes will be just a little more wide open as you go to throw out a prescription bottle, hemmed pant leg, or take out chopsticks.

A listing of upcoming shows can be found at her website. 

peek-a-boo, sourdoo

peek-a-boo, originally uploaded by skipthechips.

Did you know that to make sourdough bread, you need a starter? And did you know that this starter takes time to cultivate, and you keep adding to it, using it, adding more...It's good to date the starter, so you know its birthday. There are starters dating back to the civil war, passed down generations. Ethan started ours sometime in January, 2009, and we've had 4 loaves of it so far. I hope he can pass it down to our girls when they get start their own families. This idea is so sweet, it makes my heart hurt.

Trial and error: my first sewing project

My first sewing machine project, originally uploaded by skipthechips.

As promised, here is a photo of the first dress I sewed on the machine using the men's-shirt-to-girls-dress tutorial. I learned a lot during this project. The straps from the tutorial didn't work for me. They were way too short for 5 year old shoulders. So I took the collar from the shirt scraps pile, cut it exactly in half and voila! I also reused the pocket that I had to seamrip from the shirt and stuck it on the front of the dress because a girl needs a place for stowing treasures.

scarf hat

scarf hat, originally uploaded by skipthechips.

Each week, many pieces of paper come home from kindergarden. This one is my favorite of the bunch I unstuffed from underneath the snowpants in the backpack this week. I would very much like this hat.

change chores

change chores, originally uploaded by skipthechips.

On the weekends we do change chores. I write up a few things that need doing on some paper, fold them up and put them in a dish (or bowl, if things are really out of hand) and we all draw one. If you are five years old, once you are finished, you get all the change that mama and daddy have kicking around.

thrifty finds

thrifty finds, originally uploaded by skipthechips.

Yesterday's thrift finds included this gwonky copy of Raggedy Ann, an origami-a-day calendar, and a $2 bag stuffed with lace, ric rac and embroidery hoops. Also, I love this list that my daughter made and it goes so nicely with all these valentiny things.

Cupid strikes again

Be a sneaky valentine with Tamara Shopsin's "The Best." And then buy this for yourself, as a reward for your sneakiness:

This five year diary designed by Tamara Shopsin was my favorite Christmas gift. Start any day of the year you like and write a sentence or two. Repeat. At the end of five years, each page is a day of your life over five years. You don't have to be too literal on the diary front -- paste a picture that inspires you, the song that's stuck your head, a sentence from something you read, or something else equally sweet. 

See more of Tamara's work at her website, or Shopsin's General Store, or poke around the New York Times.