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Harvest Colors by Jess of broodbaby

This time of year I am as busy in the kitchen as I am the studio.  The bounty of the summer garden becomes a harvest that needs to be processed, packaged, and stored so that it can continue to nurture us through the long winter months here in New England.  Tomatoes are simmered into sauce, cucumbers are pickled, and fruits of all kind are frozen.  The bounty of goodies requires that I spend quite a bit of time chopping and slicing, but the rewards are many.  Not only will we have a taste of summer available to us in the dead of winter, but I’m finding I’m inspired by the colors around me in the kitchen.  The rich reds of the tomatoes and coral lusciousness of the peaches: suddenly I know what to do with the brightly toned stash of cashmere sweaters that I wasn’t quite sure how I’d repurpose yet.  A creative appetite has been satiated, as well now, as I envision a neighborhood of little playful houses growing on my studio shelves.

My Little House Cashmere Pillows have been a delightfully fun community to build.  Each seems to have its own personality, and all have a secret.  The front door to each one is a pocket!  Use it as a tooth pillow or tuck away messages or a favorite charm.  Perhaps a small little snack for later so that the house that was inspired by my kitchen work can repay its creation with afternoon fortifications.

jessCollage

Easy Frozen Peaches:

10 peaches
the juice of 1 lemon
1/8 cup of sugar

Combine the sugar and the lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.
Slice each peach into eighths.
Toss in the lemon and sugar mixture in two or three batches.
Lay the slices out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once frozen, bag or pack them in containers of your choosing for storage.

Listing link:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/160427285/little-house-cashmere-tooth-pillows?ref=shop_home_active
Shop link:  www.broodbaby.etsy.com <http://www.broodbaby.etsy.com>

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Doll Fashion

I believe a great deal of wonderful articles have already been written on the topic of Waldorf doll-making and, seeing that my own dolls follow closely in the steps of tradition in terms of their anatomy, with the same tightly-rolled wool for the head and similar stylized arms and legs, all made from natural materials, I have decided, instead, to write on doll fashion.
It is the making of a doll’s wardrobe which allows me to fully pursue my creative fancies and develop my own ideas. After perusing many fashion catalogs and blogs, I strive to create garments which would reflect my love of the simple and yet elegant, of beautiful warm color combinations, and of small intricate details. I make doll dresses with the same careful attention and love with which I clothed my own daughters when they were younger. Sometimes, I may be inspired by a simple combination of colors, such as a pattern of complementary bright orange and blue which I used in creating Solène. Placed side-by-side, they seem to invigorate each other and endow the doll with a unique personality of its own, bright and sunny as her name implies.

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Other times, my eye may be caught by a work of art in a museum, such as a masterpiece by Amedeo Modigliani, in which I, again, may fall in love with the color scheme. One of my earlier dolls, another redhead, reveals this love of mine for working with soft yellows and browns.


Although I prefer working with contemporary styles, sometimes, especially after visiting an exhibition featuring historical fashion, I may get inspired to re-introduce a style from the past. The blue lace dress I recently made, for example, was inspired by a 19th-century French ball gown, and, in making it, I used the finest silk, lace, and delicate little pearls I could find to create the most authentic experience possible for the doll which had decided to grace a ballroom with her presence.

2 in one
Sometimes, a character from a story may strike my imagination, such as in the case of Sarah from A Little Princess by Frances Burnett. In her white silk, pleated, low-waist dress, soft linen coat, and small hat, she envelops herself in elegance and grace so appropriate for a little princess.

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Finally, I love finishing off monochromatic outfits with a bright dab of color. With her bright red beret to set off her black-and-white couture dress, this doll seems ready to join the casual strollers in the boulevards of Paris.

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As a thank you to all of you, wonderful doll-makers and doll-lovers, I would like to offer a give-away of one of my tutorials/patterns to dress your doll. The winner will have the option of choosing between a Dress or a Hooded-coat pattern found in NobbyOrganics etsy shop, which will be sent via email as a pdf file. Both patterns are for a 18-20” doll and are easy to follow.

To enter, visit the shop, then come back here and leave a comment saying which of the two patterns is your favorite, along with a way for me to contact you if you win. The giveaway will run until 9:00 pm EST June 10, 2013. The winning comment will be selected using a random number generator, and announced here on Tuesday, June 11.

If you would like to learn more about my work please visit Petit Gosset Blog and FB Page! Thank you!

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My New Favorite Herb—Chives

Do you ever find yourself in a food rut? I used to all the time. I’d grab the same thing for breakfast every day and limited myself to a small list of options for lunch and dinner. I eat a paleo diet, and while most think that to be quite limiting, it’s honestly not. I was limiting. I did it out of boredom and convenience, plain and simple. When you are chasing after three kids, homeschooling and running your own business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of wanting to make things easy.

I’ve was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, a thyroid auto-immune disease, two and a half years ago and with it brought a whole host of issues including a leaky gut (really that came first, I just didn’t know it) and food intolerances. And guess what causes food intolerances? Yup, you guessed it, limiting your diet.

Eating the same thing often is not only boring, it’s not healthy! For the past two months I’ve been doing an elimination rotation diet. What that means is I don’t eat anything that I had become intolerant to—through testing I discovered I have intolerances to gluten, eggs, dairy, all nuts and sweet potatoes—and I don’t eat anything twice in a four day time frame. No more eating the same breakfast every day or the same lunch just because it’s easy and convenient.

I was eating super healthy, just not with enough variety. I have found the best way to add variety to my diet is through the flavor palate. It’s easy to rotate through a different protein and couple of veggies every meal, but I began to crave new flavor combinations as well.

Chives are an herb that I have grown in the past, but never really enjoyed. Suddenly I love them!

Chives

I’m an avid albeit fairly novice gardener, so first off, the crop I planted of them last year winterized so it was like a gardening bonus this spring. Booyah! Turns out that they are a perennial bulb like others in the onion and garlic family. Duh, I should have thought of that when I first planted them, but the bulb is so small it’s easy to miss. I love a plant that will winterize since here in NY that can be tough.

Second, the flower is equally yummy as the typical leaf that you normally see. It’s big and purple much like a standard Allium, just not quite that large. It’s a beautiful herb and a nice visual addition to the garden.

Third, they are super easy to grow organically. Literally plant and water. They don’t need a heavy dose of fertilizer, they need very little  maintenance and pests leave them alone. Cut them about 1-2″ above the ground when you harvest (only cut what you need at that time and you can continue to have some all season) and once they flower you can cut the plant way down in preparation for next year, or do what I do and just continue to harvest until you put the garden to bed for the winter. They can be thinned at any time, and should be every 2-3 years, so they are easy to thin and share with other herb gardeners.

The flavor is milder than green onions in my opinion and excellent in stir fry dishes, on veggies, eggs, chicken, beef or pork, soups of all kinds,  and they make a great addition to pretty much any salad. I use my kitchen sheers, cut the long leaves up and shred the flower for my salads, along with some thai basil, cilantro and dill. Yum.

Chives have been around for about 5,000 years originating in China. Adding them to your foods can lower blood pressure and aid in digestion. They can be frozen or freeze dried, but they don’t dehydrate well. Bummer too since I love to use my dehydrator on my herbs.

So I highly recommend this herb as both a tasty and beautiful addition to your garden this year. And please leave a comment and let me know what herbs you are loving right now, I’m always on the hunt for more to add to our repertoire!


Chives

Chives

 

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Fun In The Sun Natty Kids Style

Check out what the Natty Kids were up to this weekend. What fun things did you and your own natural kids do? We’d love to hear about it!

Whether it be tending the garden

Or admiring the year’s crop.

Bubbles are always a favorite, as is a healthy snack (just not at the same time!)

How about a quiet walk in the woods to spy some fairies?

No fun in the sun is complete without water of course.

Braving something new,

Some sensory play,

Or just the thrill of cooling off.

Fun in the sun is calling, what will you do?

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What’s new, and, well, natural from the Naturalkids Team on Etsy

Welcome! I continue my trek backwards through the alphabet to bring to you the most wonderful and imaginative treasures. They are all handmade with natural materials from…yes! the NaturalKids Team on Etsy! This week, we feature wonderful variety of artists who work in either wood or wool, bug and love working with sustainable, natural materials.

Friendly Skunk Toy

Woodmouse‘s Amber creates Eco-friendly wooden toys handmade from sustainably harvested USA poplar. All the wooden toys and figures in the shop are designed, cut, woodburned and sanded by her.  Her water-based paints have been independently third-party tested for safety. They are AP Certified non-toxic and bear the ACMI non-toxic label. Amber seals with organic jojoba oil and beeswax from a local beekeeper. Here is her Friendly Skunk Toy.

Wood Phone Toy

 The Wood Toy Shop  is run by Mark, a stay at home dad, who just installed new solar electric panels to power the workshop! His toys are built to last from hard woods and are finished with non-toxic mineral oil. Most of the wood he uses are mill ends and scrap from cabinet shops. Here is his Wood Phone Toy.

Sea Horse Wool Diaper Cover

Angela, of Wild Child Woolies  is a  stay at home/work at home/homeschooling (I guess she’s HOME a lot!) mom of 5 awesome kids. In her shop you’ll find unique, top quality, handmade wool interlock diaper covers for cloth diapered infants and toddlers. Here is her Seahorse Wool Interlock Pull Up Diaper Cover/Soaker.

Wet Felted Pocket Mirror

Kim of  Viltalakim crafts all of her household decor items, wearables and and other treasures, by the wet felting technique with super soft merino wool. She does this all by hand, without sewing/ knitting first. No washing machine, just her own hands… Here is her Wet Felted Pocket Mirror

From imaginative wood toys for storytelling and play to natural baby necessities to wet felted wool treasures, these are just a few of the natural creations you will find from our shops hailing from all over the world.

Thanks for joining us this week! Please do return again next Monday as we continue to feature all the wonderful members of the NaturalKids team on Etsy. Until then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.

Warmly,
Rebecca aka Nushkie
Nushkie on Facebook
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Nature Table, Keeping it Organized

In the post yesterday I did a craft with kids on how to make these great Seasonal Organizing Storage Boxes

Here are some other great ways that you can store your Handmade items:

Cotton, Knitted Wool, and Organza Bags
Fun Theme Fabric Bags

Today we took some time to organize our Nature Table items. It is important to inspect your handmade items at this time to see if they may need to be repaired or cleaned. Check out this post about how to care for your handmade toys.

Sorting and cleaning felted wool toys.

Cleaning and re-waxing if needed to the wooden toys.

We ended up with some unwelcome guest who thought the fairy could use some company! It is hard to get the kids to focus on our task and they often try to wander away but the dog is harder to get him to work, :).

Not a good helper!

Finally we organized by season! We collected the toys and lined the bottom of the box with that seasons playsilk. Some items were added by themselves, while others we placed in cotton or organza bags.

Autumn

Summer

Labeling was our final step before putting them in their new home under the Nature Table!

Article by Beccijo, The Enchanted Cupboard

Do you have a great tip for organizing your Nature Table toys? Feel free to share with us your ideas and comments!

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Natural Kids Giveaway! Happy Earth Day!

From the Natural Kids Team! Fabulous array of gifts to be won – in honor of Earth Day, and because we use all natural materials to create.

Simply go here:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4db068be92738eef9319079a/win-this-naturalkids-team-earth-day

And leave a comment to be entered to win. Winner will be chosen April 25th. If you’re not a registered Etsy user, you’ll need to register, which just takes a few seconds, really!

Good Luck, and Happy Earth Day!