Giveaway Winner

The winner of my 100th post giveaway is:

I would love to take a chance on the Take a Chance bowl!

Lovely picks!
XO
Iris

Congratulations, Iris! If you don't know Iris be sure to check out her lovely blog, Creative Endeavors in a Busy Life. As soon as I get a mailing address, I'll be sending her this beautiful bowl...

And thank you to everyone for all your support since I started this little blog. Keep coming!

Etsy Giveaway! 100th post & Power Animal of the Month: Pets!

What better way to celebrate my 100th post than with an Etsy giveaway! And can I just tell you that I'm super excited that this very 100th post happens to be a Power Animal of the Month one?

To celebrate I am treating one lucky visitor with the Etsy item of their choice from this PAOTM montage. This collection serves as my July and August Power Animal of the Month and celebrates various pets I had growing up. As I write this, old lady Peaches sits snoring at my hip and I'm reminded of the solace pets provide us in difficult times. And I've selected items from sellers that I really, really love. I hope you do, too.

1.Girl and Bunny Print by theblackapple 2. henny penny upcycled plush by moseyhandmade 3. Wooden Star House Bird Folk - Yellow by urastarhouse 4. Take a Chance bowl by elmstudio 5. 8 Pirate Party Invitations by belleandboo 6. Cat and Dog Love Pillow by Juliapott 7. Airedale Terrier at the Coffee Shop art print by lulunjay 8. Ginger Tabby Print 8 x 10 by johnwgolden 9. Cat Jam by ohmycavalier 10. mermaid with fishes gocco print by katep

To be eligible to win, leave a comment here on this post before midnight, August 20th. Be sure to say which Etsy item you'd like to win. I'll post the winner on August 21st!

Happy Campers

In a couple hours we leave for our first family camping trip. The car is packed, the hobo packs are ready, and I hope I've remembered just about everything. Here's to my girls loving it as much as I did as a kid!

Happy Birthday, V

Today, we're celebrating Miss Kinder's best friend's birthday.

After school there is cake planned, and before school there were popsicles for breakfast. After all, V is six!

DIY Kits I Need

There is no end to the ways to DIY. Every angle of my life now seems focused through this lens, and I have mountains of enthusiasm, good doses of patience and moderate skills in some of the areas. Here is a roundup of what's on my hope-to-do list. Do any of you have experience in any of these? Am I biting off way more than I can chew? Wait, don't answer that last one! 

Don't forget, any of these would make lovely Mother's Day gifts for those crafty mamas we all know and love. Happy weekend, everyone. We're sailing into the 70 degree area here in coastal Maine, with plenty of sunshine to go around.

1. DIY Pettiskirt Kit includes Pattern Fabric Notions, by DreamSpunKids, $24.50 2. Baby Shoes DIY Kit, Torquoise Felt by creakit, $30 3. ATC Kit, Gobs of Goodies for Artist Trading Cards by kitsandcaboodles, $19.50 4. Intro Starter stamp jewelry Kit 1.5mm letters and numbers plus tons more by Romazone, $75 5. Do-It-Yourself Notepad Kit by thesmallobject, $30 6. Design Your Own Nesting Doll Kit (set of 5) by themercshop, $13 7. Petite Party Pack. Create 20 glass and scrabble tile pendants, magnets and rings, by AnnieHowes $28 8. Speedball Deluxe Screen Printing Kit by ShipsInBottles

Celebrate Etsy Day Today

Today is Etsy day! Support a local crafter/artist, or a faraway one who makes something really lovely.

You don't need a reason, but there is always someone's birthday or Mother's Day, or a spring skirt that needs making. If you need more ideas, here's a link to all my Etsy posts. 

Missing camera

When you are having guests, sometimes that dash of cleaning leads to problems. Like how my camera is completely lost. I've issued a reward to all children in the house. Even that has not managed to help the camera surface. So this explains my lack of blog posts. Hopefully it worms its way out from wherever it is and I can post again with abandon. I have lots to share!

Where are you? by labellepomme

Hedgies, take two

Lots of my friendly visitors arrive here on skipthechips via my February Power Animal of the Month post on that wonderful animal that is the hedgehog. I looked back at that post and found it a little lackluster, so here is a proper PAOTM roundup on that snuzzly-but-pokey furball.  

1.  Mr. Hedgie archival quality print by picturebookstudios  2. Good Day Hedgehog Print by MarmeeCraft 3.  Happy Birthday Hoggle Hedgehog Postcard by rhymeswithtwee 4.  what page are you on by tollipop  5.  Rainy Day Hedgehog on Sky Blue by raincloudstudio 6.  Hedgehogs and mushrooms - hand stamped linen tape by craftpudding 7.  The Woodland Pals Rubber Stamp Set by thesmallobject 8.  Hedge Hog Spinning Ring - Dizzy by joykruse 9.  Hedgehog Cereal Bowl by agatka 10.  The Hirsute Hedgehog Print by johnwgolden

Knitting, Sewing and Dusting Off the Blog

Holy cow, what a week! We had two sets of old friends visit, back-to-back, and did a lot of catching up and making meals and drinking wine. One set came all the way from London, and the other from our old stomping grounds, NYC.

While they were here, three of them learned how to knit! It was fun to show them some of the very basic basics, and then make a trip to Belfast's local yarn shop [where all of April the sock yarn is 20% off! This picture is from their website] 

Everyone did some knitting and playing around, and the star pupil cast on 48 stitches, divided them onto three double pointed needles, and did the first inch of a 2x2 rib for a socks. How amazing are you when your first knitted project is a sock?

I also learned about a new-to-me website, ravelry.com, which came up randomly three different times. It is a knitting community site, I gather, and I hear it's addictive. Nothing can be worse than my sock addiction, which at sock number 10 is nearing intervention time. 

I have a yard of Alexander Henry Juicy Lemon fabric and have in mind to have Miss Kinder whip up Angry Chicken's 5-minute skirt. I think it will take slightly longer by her five year old hands, but the end result should be well worth it.

It feels good to be back! I missed you!

Power Animal of the Month: Octopus!

I don't want you to miss a moment of April Octopus Fever so I'll get right to it.  

Some octopus facts:

*  These invertebrates have the incredible ability to hide in plain sight

*  They can also detach an arm if need be, and it will regrow in 6-8 weeks

*  Studies have shown that they have both a short-term and long-term  memory

* A baby octopus is pretty darn small. Newly born ones are the size of a flea

* The octopus has three hearts, which sounds both complicated and romantic.

1. Octopus 8 x 10 print 2. Gocco Print (Alive HotPink/Green) 3. I Thought We Were Friends 4. Takobotos Favorite Season 5. RODOZOO Yum YUM Octopus 6. Madame and Monsieur 7. Two Octopus Pint Glasses 8. Self Portrait Octopet Girl and Octopus

Power Animal of the Month: Hippopotamus

I know, I know, we're half-way through March, but I had completely forgotten about this regular feature of mine: Power Animal of the Month! You might recall that February was alive with my love of hedgies and all things hedgehog. 

I dedicate March to the hippopotamus because they are faster than they look and they can walk underwater. I like that in a power animal.

1. Hippo Queen  2. Henry the Hippo Double Print 3. Animal Print (H for Hippo) 4. Hippa a Lover of Flowers 5. Hippo Mask Print 6. Purple and Pink Hippo Shirt   7. Needle Felted Hippo Pincushion  8. Hippo at the Martini Bar with Cell Phone  9. Make Your Own Pinafore Kit 10. Hippo Love Notes 

10 of my favorite craft supplies for kids

So you've got your origami, card stock, plain paper, construction paper and various lined paper. You're stocked up on scissors, glue sticks, pompoms, pipe cleaners, feathers and beads. You have glitter, if you are insane and enjoy being glittery wherever and whenever the glitter wants. Markers, crayons, colored pencils and paints are on the shelf, if not in the couch cushions. 

But you crave more! Or, they do at least. If you are ready for the craft version of the iTunes Essentials "Deep Cuts" here are some craft supplies that make life enjoyable here with Miss Kinder and the ever fickle two-year-old LEB.

1. mod podge - this is fun and easy to use. kids can make collages on paper, cardboard forts, tins for their treasures and just about anything else there is. I prefer the glossy, but they sell a matte version as well. You can find it in any craft shop.
   
2. tape -  I've talked about this before, so I'll be brief and simply say that you can never have enough tape. Feel free to check out the tape roundup I did, here. 
3. embroidery floss - another easy to find item (any craft or fabric store will carry this) it makes a great first thread for tiny hands. We use it for embroidery work as well as for beading necklaces and bracelets. 
   
4. silver ball chains - these are inexpensive and make great chains for lots of different pendants. 
5. alphabet stamps - we have a few sets of these, and they are great for my new reader & writer. She likes spelling out words with them and embellishing letters and just about any other project.
6. postage stamps  - it's always a good idea to ask at the post office what kinds of pretty stamps they have on hand. That said, I love the idea of buying up older stamps and using them in combination to get the postage just right. 
7. bakers twine  - a simple and pretty way to gift-wrap. Use tissue paper for the gift and then wind around like you would with ribbon and tie a nice bow.
8. wooden doll bodies - kids can paint their own characters and use ribbon, cloth or ricrac to decorate the bodies.
9. stickers - great for letters, affixing to best friends, and for countless other uses your kids will think up. I love these sweet faces from thesmallobject.
10. oil cloth - Use it as a dropcloth on the floor for finger painting or cover a craft table, or countless craft projects. Here's a list to get you thinking.

Etsy finds: Wintery Mix

It's the time of year when winter can start to feel long. It hasn't happened to me yet, but surely it will. I'll wish I were somewhere warm, where every step doesn't need steadying. For now I'm still enjoying winter's grip. Here are some beautiful etsy finds that feel very wintery and very wonderful.

1. Baby Blanket
   
2. Baby Booties
   
3. Beeswax Partridge Candle
   
4. Acorn Rubber Stamp
   
5. Little Chickadee
   
6. We Three Trees Pine Cones
   
7. Hide and Seek Print
   
8. Turquoise and Antique Blue Mug
   

Etsy Finds: The Way Life Should Be

Here are some really pretty handmades, all from Maine. It's great to buy something made by hand, but even better when it comes from one of your neighbors, or one of mine!

I Carry Your Heart - 5 x 7 print

My Sweet Love Baby Hat

Fox Chubbikin

Flower Fun

Wool Felt Paper Doll

Teeny Tiny Heart Studs

Granny Square Headband

Red Seastar Earrings

Rainbow Stacked Felt Pendant

All Things Hedgehog

I'm having a thing lately where the hedgehog keeps finding its way to me. From pictures to jewelry and this most amazing project that Miss Kinder and friend have been working on every morning before school. I'll take photos of that for you soon, but I will tell you it's the most beautiful animal world you've ever seen. In the meantime, have a look at hedgehogs you can arm yourself with. They are my February power animal.

Tiny baby ones, rescued.

Hedgehog art print by boygirlparty

Hedgehog friend print by theblackapple

Silver hedgehog pendant by boygirlparty

Valentines Day: handsome finds for big man and little man

I think Valentine's Day is just about off the radar for most guys, but gifts are so fun to give. It's also fun to tackle the challenge of finding gifts for the allegedly more difficult to shop for gender. 

I can't help it. I'm posting another print from theblackapple. Curious Birdplane Boy would be really nice in the kids room. Or just get it for yourself.

 

My paper crane makes sweet softies. I think this fortune cookie is perfect, especially because it comes with a little fortune, too.

 

I just discovered L.L.Bean's Moonbeam Alarm Clock in a post by the whip-smart angrychicken, and I'm smitten. It glows brighter as the sun rises and then beeps if the glowing isn't enough.

History Shots sells all kinds of information graphics that are beautiful and really interesting to look at. I'm partial to the Genealogy of Pop/Rock, but check out their site for sports, politics, military and more.

moxieandoliver's stainless steel flask with tooled leather is super handsome. I know that the man in this house has wished to have such a vessel, and always appreciates when someone pulls one out on a cold winter night after stacking bonfire wood or marching until your fingers freeze.

Valentines Day: pretty things for big and little girls

Valentines Day may be silly, but giving pretty things to the girls in your life never is. Here are just a few lovely options from Etsy.com. I will do another one of handsome treasures, too. Ladies first!

Like chocolate and peanut butter these two things go together perfectly --  matroyshka doll+  locket by SeaUnicorn.

belleandboo has many lovely things to choose from. But, Eskimo Kisses!!

I have a crush on everything theblackapple makes. The Little Hedgehog Goes Fishing print is really sweet. I really need these shiny story time drop earrings by hottoffee.