Monday Fun Find #5

I've never actually met the maker of this Monday Fun Find, but I've slept in her bed. What? (For the story, read on.)

Custom Hand Stamped Necklace

PamelaSusan, a jewelry maker extraordinaire, makes these unique necklaces from sterling silver discs and a fabulous oval ball sterling silver chain. She hand-stamps the name of your choice (most often the names of your children, or the children of your gift recipient). If you have more than one child, she offers additional hand-stamped discs for $6/each.

Pamela is not only a jewelry maker, but a busy mother of two girls, and a generous hostess. She is a friend of one of my dear friends, and offered her house to us last April when we came down to Medford to run in the Pear Blossom 10 mile race, even though she and her family were out of town. She has a beautiful house filled with handmade pottery and we were grateful for her hospitality.

Happy Monday!

Mystery Vines

To prepare the soil for our garden this year we rented a roto-tiller and tilled in the compost that had been metabolizing all winter long under a black sheet.

The compost mostly ended up in the back section of the garden and three weeks after the tilling took place, it began to sprout. At first glance I thought it was just a pile of weeds, but as they grew a bit bigger, I realized some of them looked very much like plants I had seen before. There are several small sprouts that, when pulled, smell exactly like tomato plants (do you know that smell?). I left a few of them in, just to see if they really do end up growing big enough to produce fruit.
The other sprouts look like they could be pumpkins, squash, or melons, as these vines all look similar when they start out as baby plants. I left about 3 of those sprouts in the ground and cannot wait to see what they will produce. I'll keep y'all posted (ha, ha, blog joke--posted. get it?)

Just add this to the list of amazing things that happen in a compost pile.

Oh, and here is my lettuce--this is definitely the easiest thing I've ever found to grow. Just buy a pack of seeds, throw them in the ground and they will grow. I mean, you do have to water them, but that isn't difficult. The best part of growing leaf lettuce is that if you leave the stem in the ground and just cut off the leaf , it grows back in a few days. So one row of lettuce can last you literally a month or more.

If you've never had fresh-cut lettuce in a salad, it doesn't even compare to the store bought stuff. But I guess that can be said about all homegrown produce.

Monday Fun Find #4

This Monday Fun Find would make a unique gift for a child.

Personalized Crayon Set

MyKangaroo has a fun shop full of great kid items. This crayon set will come in the name you request up to nine letters, and is a great deal for under $9 including shipping. Her shop also includes other crayon sets in all shapes--trains, flowers, stars and rockets, and more.

Happy Monday!

The Winged Weeder

Have you heard of this tool yet? If you have any weeds in your life that need pulling, read on.

My dad bought one of these nifty tools for me last year when he was visiting and saw my weed infested flower beds and garden. It was perfect timing, as I was just starting to feel completely overwhelmed by the weeds and about to just give up on any sort of hope for a green thumb. Spending hours on my hands and knees just didn't seem worth it and I knew that the weeds would always come back.

Enter the Winged Weeder.

It has a long handle to allow for weed removal without bending over.

It really pulls out the whole weed, including the roots (which is more than I can say for my weak hands).

It is lightweight, Made in the USA, and invented by a farmer in Idaho.

If your excuse for not growing a garden was that you didn't want to fight the weeds, now you have no excuse. Go for it! Plant something edible and reap the rewards.

Reduce what you use: Picnic lunches with no plastic baggies

Summer is here. Picnic season is upon us.

I don't know about you, but during the summer months, we end up eating a lot of lunches and dinners on blankets at parks. I love to eat on the go, but I hate all the waste that comes with packing a picnic.

Here's a fun solution:

• For the kids, these awesome partitioned containers that I found at Wal-Mart for 97 cents (in the kids section, by the sippy cups).

• (All food seems to be more appealing when it is served in these individual sections. Seriously, they love it every time.)

• For me and the hubby, any kind of plastic container that will hold food that isn't a ziploc baggie. Packing this way does make more work later (since you have to take home and wash all the containers), but it is cheaper in the long run and better for the environment.

Even if you just do this at one picnic this summer, think of all the baggies that won't end up in the trash. Now, I'm not anti-plastic baggie. Sometimes they are a wonderful option. I'm just suggesting we consider reducing the amount we use.

Gotta sew, gotta sew, gotta sew, gotta sew right now

With Jeff gone in Washington D.C. for 6 days, I find myself in charge of parenting two boys alone. It's a daunting task. Finding myself in this situation reminded me of this great post by Ilene, who often faces this daunting task. Even though I do stay home all day with my two boys, it's slightly overwhelming to think that for six whole days my relief pitcher will never be giving me a break in the 7th inning (a.k.a. 5:00 pm-- the bewitching hour for all stay-at-home moms).

We'll survive. In fact, we'll do more than survive. We'll have a lot of fun--by day we'll take advantage of the spring weather that has FINALLY arrived in Oregon and visit parks, ride bikes and eat kid-friendly, no-cooking-required food for every meal.

But by night I will put the boys to bed early (they will be exhausted from all the fun), and have the whole evening to. . .SEW!! I can't wait. It really is exciting to think of all the projects that have been in my head for months might actually come to fruition. Well, not all of them, but a few. I am always craving uninterrupted sewing time, and here it is! I won't complain about him being gone for one more minute (but I do miss you, honey).

Here are some of the things I plan to get done:

Attaching handles to canvas bags

Hemming tops of produce bags

Delving into my stacks of fabric to fashion new bags--

perhaps this cute little shoulder bag, which comes with a fun tutorial.

If you need me, I'll be sewing.

Monday Fun Find #3

All Natural Vegan Laundry Soap

I have a personal love for this Monday Fun Find, because I bought it several months ago from LoteTree and it has made me enjoy folding laundry again. The reason? The scent is a mixture of lavender and patchouli and it just leaves the clothes with a hint of that scent. I have a secret love for patchouli (as my family will attest) and this one is earthy without being overpowering.

I originally bought this detergent to wash my cloth diapers, as traditional detergent doesn't treat diapers very well. I have since abandoned the bottle of Tide in my cupboard meant for other clothes and use this on everything.

If you're not a patchouli lover, they also have two other scents available--Needleleaf, which is an evergreen scent, or Citrus Bliss (which isn't listed in their shop right now, but perhaps would be available if you contacted them).

The price is right on this item, as it sells for a little more than $20 including shipping and lasts FOREVER. When you use the cute little wooden scoop they send with the soap, you can wash 100 loads of laundry. If you're doing the math, this figures out to be around 20 cents per wash.

Happy Monday!