Blog Crush: Mini Eco

I am in utterly in love with Mini-Eco.  I think I have seen of the tutorials before kicking around on other blogs, but I never really went over for a visit until now--and I am so glad I did .  

There is much color and light and creativity that emanate from this blog--all the things I love.  And her commitment to inspiring her children with what can be made simply...well, love that.

You have to go see it for yourself because there are so many inspiring and simple tutorials--things I would like to make right now (nevermind that it is 1:00am and I am in a hotel room en route to my in-laws for the holidays).  Like this holiday-inspired scented playdough that I will be making as soon as I get back home...

...or these paper beads (because Beeper was just searching for some beads to make necklaces from the other day)...

...or these Halloween-y shadow puppets that will suit Beeper fine any old time of year given his adoration of monsters...

And there is more there--plenty more.  Really, I just want to make it all with Beeper.  At least I know now what we will be doing over holiday break.  Thanks, Kate.

Go have a look for yourself--here.

Note: All photos are courtesy of Mini-Eco and belong to Kate and her wonderful blog.

Eat This: Grandma Neuman's Cookies

You might be wondering who the heck Grandma Neuman is and what does she have to do with these cookies.  Well, I have tell you I do not even know who the heck Grandma Neuman is other than that these cookies are made from her recipe.  You see, back in the seventies, my brother was a paper boy in a small Minnesota town and one of his customers was this old lady, whom was only known to him as "Grandma Neuman" (small towns, gotta love 'em).  One Christmas, Grandma Neuman gave my brother a small box of these cookies as a thank you  (again, small towns--wish my world in the city was more like this...but I am pretty sure that if we gave our paper boy a box of cookies he would scowl at us)...the cookies came home, we all dug into them, and my mom then declared we must have the recipe and sent my brother back to request the recipe the next time her delivered her paper...and here we are today, still eating Grandma Neuman's cookies every single Christmas.

And these cookies are one my holiday faves--both because of how the recipe came to us, but also because they are simple to mix up, fun to cut out, and are a wonderful simple cookie that falls somewhere in flavor between a sugar cookie and gingerbread.   I guess they are a spice cookie.  And you can see above, the dough is Beeper approved.

This was Beeper's first year that he really dug into the whole cookie making process from start to finish--and you can see the colorful (did I hear someone say gaudy?), and richly festooned (did someone say looks like rainbow vomit?) fruits of his labors.  

But you can also make these with simple white sanding sugar and they are lovely--like these little gingerbread men (that are technically not gingerbread men, I know...) that just got a light sprinkle of sugar and 3 red hot buttons and were piereced before and after baking with a skewer so they could be threaded with baking twine and hung on the tree.  Or, you can just eat them too--because you will want to and they are just plain good in the way something can only be when it comes from an old lady known only as Grandma Neuman to her town.  

You can download the recipe here:

DOWNLOAD COOKIE RECIPE

For You: 2011 Beeper Bebe Calendar

First off, I know my blogging has really been sporadic at best the past few months--which I have probably hated more than you--but there was this perfect storm of opportunity that descended upon me back in August--I was asked to be in a magazine, then I was asked to guest blog on Whip Up, then I was asked by three different people with three different publishers to contribute to books--and then I was accepted as a vendor to the No Coast Craft O'Rama.  Damn!  It has been a busy three months--an avalanche of activity I am grateful for, but I have missed the rhythm of contributing to this blog and meeting up with all of you.

But now I am here.  Perhaps not quite rested yet given the holiday crafting mania that besets me annually like an illness for which there is no cure (homemade ornaments!  cookies!  handmade gifts! yes, yes, YES!), but here I am, nevertheless.  Sipping some tea, happy because I have managed to come up with a little gift for all of you--call it a thank you for continuing to stop by, for continuing to leave a little comment or two, for continuing to check in despite the fact that I may not have been home at all.

You see, I always make calendars every year for Mr Beeper, and my mum, but it got me thinking--why not a calendar for you? Because everyone needs a little calendar to hang over their desk--something than can both be useful and lovely to look at.  So I have gathered photos from all my favorite projects I made this past year and put them into this calendar...and maybe it will even inspire you to make some of them since over half of the photos are from projects you can download instructions and templates for right here.

Anyway--thank you.  Yes, you.  For being my friend in all of this crafty craziness, for lending support when called upon, for just stopping in.  It's nice to not be alone and to have someone who will enable all my crafting mania.  Now, go get your 2011 Beeper Bebe calendar (um, it is kind of a big file, so patience please) and I'll be seeing you around here a little bit more now...

DOWNLOAD CALENDAR

Still More in my Shop: Kiddie Cones

I love vintage dime store toys so I got a little crazy and made up these kiddie cones that contain an assortment of vintage dime store toys and a few classic candies.  Each cone is made from fabric and fully lined with a contrasting fabric and has a ribbon handle for easy hanging from some lucky child's door knob or something like that.  And when emptied, the cone can be upended and worn as a hat--clever, eh?  They were a hot seller at the No Coast sale.

Anyway, you can find 6 different assorted kiddie cones in my shop--each with its own sweet trove vintage fun.  Find them all here.

Also, I am so done with posts about shop updates...now I am onto Christmas gift creation and some tutorials for all of you...

In My Shop: More Toys & Stuff Than You Can Shake a Stick at...

It is all photo mosaics, all the time around here lately.  But I just wanted you to know about all the stuff that has landed in my shop--this really was the biggest shop update I have ever done and my shop overfloweth with all manner of stuff....this is what happens when you craft 24-7 for about a month, in case you were wondering what that looked like.  Seriously, I am ridiculously sleep deprived at this point and am surviving on an intraveinous green tea drip and triple chocolate coated almonds--on the upside, Craig Ferguson and I have become real tight and meet up nightly around 11:30pm.  

 I am looking forward to being back around the blog again more regularly, with some new tutorials and fewer photo mosaics...And, if you are interested or are still needing to finish up some shopping for some kiddos, you might want to stop in and check out my shop--find it here.

No Coast Craft O'Rama: Come Say Hey

Hey you.  You may not realize it, but you should--it is the weekend of the No Coast Craft O'Rama here in Minneapolis.  And if you are from this area, you should stop everything so you can come on over and do some shopping and stop in at my booth and say "hey".  I love meeting you in person.  

The sale is from 9-5 today at the Midtown Global Market on Chicago and Lake Streets.   You can read more about the No Coast here and all of its uber-cool crafty vendors.

And yes, all those photos above are of the things I am selling today (new things like the fabric cones filled with vintage dimestore toys and candies, organic cotton sleepy bear, the monster i-pod cozies, the elepharoos, the smiling dotty hippos...)--in addition to matchbox monsters, beddy bye beasts, bitty bow wows, cute as a button hairpins, counting bean bags, batbaby hats, onesies, bibs, and more that I am sure I am forgetting because I really need to be finishing this post and getting over to the sale so I can set up now....

Oh--and I really did make A BUTTLOAD this year so I am sure there will be stuff I will not sell so if there is anything you see here that you really would like for yourself, please leave a comment stating what it is and your email address--or just send me a separate email with said info--and I would be pleased as punch to put up a reserve listing for you in my Etsy shop (my standard shipping charges will apply--but I am happy to ship priority mail at no extra cost to you so it can reach you in two shakes of a lamb's tail.)

And happy Saturday to everyone.  Hope there is some handmade on everyone's holiday shopping list.

Etsy Handmade Toy Guide

Since it's black Friday and all, I just thought I would drop in with my own personal list of handmade favorites, all found in crazy labyrinth of shops Etsy has become.  Tell me, does it not warm your heart though, just a little bit, to know that there is so much good handmade stuff for kids out there?  It makes me all giddy just to look at this collage.  Options for kids on Etsy have definitely improved over the last few years and what can be found goes far beyond plushies and custom outfits for Blythe dolls.   Some of these shops were new to me, but many are also tried and true favorites of mine--like The Small Object (and yes, I will be buying the I Like to Draw pencils and drawing set for Beeper's stocking). 

Some of my very favorites are the activity book from Belle and Boo (bought it some time ago and it is worth every one of its 9 dollars--so lovely and full of the sweetest variety of activities and crafts), the mohair bunny with all its adorable outfits and teeny weeny pastries from Man o' Mine, those simple wands with the colorful knitted handle from Green Mountain Wee Woolies, that funny little wool plushie from Sara Carr, and while this is not handmade--well, I had to slip in a vintage Fisher Price set in there (we already own this pop-up trailer and truck set--so brilliant the way it pops up, the little motorcycle that sits on the trailer, and the little boat on the top of the SUV).  Oh, and that new cat design from Cotton Monster is killing me I love it so much and really just want it for myself.

So, go ahead, do a little browsing, click away and get a closer look at some of the items and support all the great artists and crafters out there making so much fantastic stuff. (the list runs from left to right, starting at the top--just in case you happen to follow the photos from right to left from the bottom or some other wonky way)

1.    Multi-colored Natural Wooden Blocks from Imagination Kids $16 

2.    French Alphabet Cards $58 From Bibitty 

3.    Hand Turned Wooden Top from Urban Turn $4  

4.    Hellobaby Munchkin from Viola Studio $19 

5.    Little Tooth Teething Toy from Little Sapling Toys $12 

6.    Pogo Handstitched Woodland Friend  from Pogo $44 

7.    Aada Bunny from Man O Mine $200 

8.    Bubbles Before Bed Book from Belle and Boo $10.75 

9.    The Little Lion Hat from SweetPeaToadTots $55 

10. Tree Branch wands $5 rom Green Mountain Wee Woolies 

11. Set of semi Trailers from Nin Design $38 

12. Rainbow Alien Invasion Finger Puppet Set from Babus Toys $45 

13. Letterpress Fortune Teller from Sycamore Street Press $8  

14. Vintage Fisher Price Pop Up Camper $44 from Toys of the Past 

15. Ultimate Mustache Crayon Set $10.95 from Gaddy Nipper Crayons 

16. Lina Von Katz Kitten from Cotton Monster $58 

17. Paper Doll Set from Sarah Jane Studios $9 

18. Indoor Teepee Tent from Moozle $195 

19. Linen Doll Tallulah from Leilalou $26 

20. Ninjas with Intelligence from Goose Grease $30 

21. Green Digger from Elsie Marley $55 

22. Bear, Bunny, Bird Pocket Notebook Three Pack $12 from The Black Apple  

23. I am Here - Your neighborhood custom map play mat from Board Stiff $28.50  

24. Wooden Car Stacker from Just Hatched $18 

25. I Like to Draw Pencil Pack from The Small Object

26. Unique Linen Pencil Clutch $23.09 from Pilli Pilli 

27. Edie Plush from Sara Carr $39 

28. Silver Bubble Wand from Nina Gibson Designs $38 

29. Coco Doll from Beeb $43.50 

30. Mushroom Bowling $28 from Muddy Feet 

31. Yellow and Blue Wooden Toy Boats from Friendly Fairies $58 

32. Design Your Own Starter Home $18 from The Merc Shop 

33. Shooting Marbles Set from Marble Maam  $9 

34. Tim from Raplapla $56 

35. Walking Blocks from Asher Jasper $40 

36. Pull Raven from Sleeping Forest $28