Adventure Fashion

Poor little monkeys. As soon as I get well then they get poorly. We've been taking turns for nearly a month now! I finished the elaborate birthday headbands and attempted to cheer the kiddos up with an early unveiling, but as you can see they are pale and distant- even in the warm sunshine. Is there anything more heartbreaking than a sick child? Maybe just the image of a young mommy on her hands and knees cleaning up vomit first thing in the morning... ;)

Looks like I'll have to administer another hefty dose of vitamins, soup, movies and snuggling to these little warriors.

*original headband inspiration here, which she got from here.

Joey Hood and handmade chapstick

It's chapstick day!














I originally made up a recipe to use for handmade Christmas gifts but it was such a hit I kept making more batches of the yummy stuff.

Meet Joey, sensitive, southern, the best actor in Texas and an old and dear friend. He is also an avid lip health crusader. I made him come over for dinner and taught him how to make the best all natural lip balm this side of the Mississippi.

Gather ingredients:
honey (natural preservative), beeswax, essential oils in your favorite flavors, small glass or ceramic jars, carrier oils (I like coconut and sweet almond, but olive works too) Vitamin E oil (healing) friends, coffee, cute assistants, microwave.

Mix approximately equal amounts of wax shavings, carrier oils and honey in container. (It will take a few experiments to find the right wax to oil ratio) Melt in microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring to keep from boiling. Add your flavored oils and pour very carefully into your tubes bought on the interweb or any cute container you can find. Let cool. Create your own labels (I designed one and got a rubber stamp made $7) and rake in all your popularity points and very kissable friends.

We made a nouveux "boy" flavor using sweet birch, peppermint, lavender and tea tree, with green wax shavings for a dash of color. I've been plotting a new girl flavor for my ladies in Houston but alas! we ran out of tubes. Soon ladies, don't let those pretty puckers get all parched now.

We were having so much fun on the trampoline and eating green eggs and making the house smell like magic that I forgot to take pictures, so here are some previous ones of Joey eating pizza. Theatrically.

Craft 'Til You Puke

Okay I guess I have a crafting problem. I'll tell you what it is, I used to be an artist and now I'm a Mommy. Of course these things aren't mutually exclusive but try spreading out a project on the kitchen table and leaving it out for more than five minutes with a 3 year old loose. You will have immediate rainbow chaos. It also gets frustrating to only be able to work on something for a few minutes each day, or begin working at 11pm after baby bedtime and dishes. Hence crafting. Something that Ruby and I can do together while Jesse naps which is just creative enough to keep me happy and just short enough to keep her interested. I also try to get out some of my creative energy in cooking experiments and fashion experiments. I am sorrowfully behind on my one real art project illustrating a children's book.

Pet rocks! No, paper weights? The perfect gift for all your myriad of gentleman business friends with very windy offices and a penchant for cute owls. Of course at our house they will probably end up as adorable weaponry.

We collected these smooth stones on one of our wagon walks. OKAY. We stole them from the apartment complex down the street. But! I would do much worse in the name of craft. It's not stealing unless you do it at night. With a flashlight. And knitted head wear.

Wash stones. Apply bright acrylic paint in amusing 70s shapes. Outline in sharpie and coat in acrylic gloss. Carry around in gay basket. Never do it again because it took way longer than you planned (3 days). I will let you guess which ones Ruby helped with...

Tangeline and Goldilou

Today we had a scorching wagon ride around the neighborhood and dragged our damp selves back home for some sweet sweet crafternoon action.

Ruby spotted some finger puppets in one of my vintage craft books and begged me to make them and I couldn't refuse. Ours look quite a bit fancier than the book, what with their luxurious hair and shiny embellishments, but I couldn't help myself. No sewing required, just hot glue, bits of felt and ribbon, and cardboard tubes cut with scissors. We dubbed them Tangeline and Goldilou, but apparently while playing in the yard Goldilou must've charmed some handsome royalty because when she came in Ruby had changed her name to Princess Flower Dumpling.



p.s. the photo of me was taken by miss Ruby herself

Habitat of a Feral White Ruby

So many pictures. It was fun though. I was inspired to do a room tour of Ruby's world by another mommy blogger, but also because it happens to be clean today, a phenomenon which occurs very seldom around these parts. The pictures of the other little girl's room can be found here. Miss James is a seasoned blogger, incorporating fashion, vintage and mommying with breathtaking photography (my favorite things!). My friends have been telling me for awhile that I should start a blog, but it wasn't until I stumbled upon Bleubirdvintage and also my sister in law, Jennifer's "documenting adventures abroad" that I really got the bug. I highly recommend reading both.

• black monster (Pancho) by shayla
• sock elephant (Gwalfo) by shayla
• Owly friend by shayla
• twin collages by shayla
• photo baby ruby and daddo storms
  
• hand painted tea set (inside cupboard) by shayla
• crepe poppies by shayla
• Koko bunny by shayla
  
• mermaid doll (Emerald) by jennifer
  
• vintage sock monkey by evan's grandma
• framed cross stitch by my grammy
• dolly ribboned quilt by grambie
• vintage pooh lamp from my childhood
• all other vintage thrifted