Oooooh, 70's fabrics.

Yesterday was a good day. I found beautiful fabrics from a thrift store not to mention outfits for next week's 70's party.

I am so deeply grateful to someone who in the seventies bought all this fabric (yards and yards of it). Maybe his or her intention was to make curtains. But it never happened and the fabric ended up 30 years later to a thrift store. It was a bargain too, 15 dollars for maybe around 10 yards. I have no idea what to make of it yet! It would be so good for many things, curtains, pillows, bags and so on. Look, here is a close up below.

 

And some other fabric finds.

Eggplants from heaven.

My blog friend who lives in Israel has this amazing eggplant recipe on her blog. I have been planning to make this for ages and finally I had all the ingredients at the same time (well, almost, I didn't read the whole recipe and I didn't have fresh tomatoes so I replaced them with canned diced tomatoes, probably not as good as the real things). This was so good that my husband was speechless. The recipe behind that link above is in Finnish so here it is in American:

Eggplants with yoghurt-tahini sauce

2 eggplants
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup greek plain yoghurt
juice from 1 lemon
3 crushed garlic cloves
salt
pepper
2 tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil

Cook or actually blacken the whole unpeeled eggplants either straight on top of your gas stove in the flame or in the oven under the broil until they are soft inside and black outside.

Mix the sauce. Mix tahini, yoghurt, garlic, lemon, salt and pepper. Grate the tomatoes.

When the eggplants are ready, cut them in half lenghtwise, top with the sauce, tomatoes and olive oil (and some fresh thyme if you have some).

Greener, healthier and cheaper homemade detergents.

I ran out of laundry detergent and decided to try to make my own. Why not? I already make my own dishwasher detergent, deodorant, all-purpose cleaner, body butter, after shave for my husband and so on.

I read recipes online and found this site helpful. My close by stores didn't have washing soda so I used only baking soda and altered the recipes a little bit. I made two to try out different ones.

Laundry detergent 1 (hmmm, original recipe said this would be powdered, but I would call it foam and later liquid)
USE 1/2 cup per full load

1/4 cup Dr. Bronner's liquid soap (original recipe says castile soap)
2 cups baking soda (original recipe says 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup baking soda)
1 cup white vinegar
25 drops lavender essential oil (optional)
10 drops tea tree essential oil (optional)

This was hard to make because vinegar and the baking soda foams (looked at some point a bit like whipped egg whites!). Add vinegar in small batches to the soda and mix well.

Laundry detergent 2 (powdered)
USE 2 tbsp per load

1 cup borax
1 cup baking soda
1 bar castile soap, grated
1/2 cup sea salt
25 drops lavender essential oil (optional)

Not any onf the recipes I have found have salt, but I read it is a great stain remover so I wanted to try it. After trying both detergents once they seem to work fine. I will report further after using them for a longer time.

I make most of my other detergents myself too.


Homemade dishwasher detergent (works when washing by hand or in the machine too)

2 cups liquid castile soap
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
A few drops tea tree oil (sometimes I add other oils too like eucalyptus, lemon or orange)

Homemade window cleaner / all purpose cleaner

Spray bottle
1 cup vinegar
1-2 cups water
a couple of drops of liquid soap

Enjoy parenting.

Today's Daily Groove from EnjoyParenting.com was so good that I have to share it. If you want to get more wonderful thoughts like this to our mailbox 5 times a week, go to www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove. I love to start my day by reading the daily groove.

Sirpa

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: "What's GOOD about that?" ::

If it's raining, you're supposed to call it "bad
weather" and complain.

Complaining makes you feel bad, but you've been led
to believe that the source of your angst is the rain
-- the weather *conditions*. That's conditionality.

UNconditionality means wanting so much to feel good
that you stop using conditions to justify feeling bad.

One way to practice the Art of Unconditionality in
the face of "bad" conditions is to ask yourself,
"What's GOOD about that?"

What's GOOD about the rain? It vitalizes the soil
and plants... It makes the air smell clean... It's
fun to get drenched and then go take a hot bath!

What's GOOD about children "misbehaving"? It means
they're trying to engage, explore, connect, create,
etc... It means you get to practice loving and
feeling good unconditionally, which is the key to
your Authentic Power.

Eventually you'll realize it's neither good nor
bad -- it just IS. Welcome to Reality. :-)

http://www.dailygroove.net/unconditionality

--> Get "The Daily Groove" book!
http://www.enjoyparenting.com/book

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2009 by Scott Noelle
_____________________________________________________

"Inspiration & Coaching for Progressive Parents"
http://www.ScottNoelle.com
http://www.EnjoyParenting.com

First custom made recycled purse ready, customer thrilled to bits.

I finished a custom order purse for my friend Aimee. I have never made a purse before so it took me a while to figure out which part to sew together with which one. But here it is! It is brown, it is lined and reversible, it has pockets inside and out and it has Finnish Marimekko Unikko fabric (Unikko means poppy). The customer chose the reclaimed fabrics plus fabric remnants (Unikko) and the vintage button. According to Facebook, she is "thrilled to bits". I am thrilled too, I have to say.



Oh yes, I forgot that I took a picture of the lining fabric too when it was ready, here it is:



Thanks Aimee!

Sirpa

Oh and the business cards came today too.

 

They look good. Recycled paper, vegetable ink. 25 dollars for 1000 cards plus shipping. I know it is quite a lot but I can use them also as tags for my stuff. I can even print a text and glue it on one side and have the pretty picture on the other side.

New shoes made me happy today.

I was on the sewing lesson tonight in the sewing machine store from where I bought my machine a week or two ago. It was great, I learnt so much! As a sewer, I don't have much actual skills, I just sew. So in 1,5 hours I learnt a great deal, I think it will be very beneficial for me to go there a few times.

I don't buy shoes that often. But I bought now a pair from Gudrun Sjöden, remember I mentioned her in my post earlier? These could be the prettiest shoes I have ever seen. I feel like taking them next to my bed so that I can see them the first thing in the morning when I wake up. But I probably won't and will look at my son's face in the morning instead.



We don't wear shoes inside as it is not a habit in Finland, but I made an exception today!

Sirpa, happily skipping in her turquoise shoes

Oat seeds for booboo birds and therapy wraps.

 

Years ago I bought in Finland a wrap filled with oat seeds. You heat it up in the microwave for a couple of minutes and use on shoulders, your back or where-ever you need heat therapy. I used it even in my labor for pain. The good thing about it is that it has strings so you can tie it on your hips.

I have been making these myself too, see my Etsy shop.



I also tried the oat seeds for booboo pals for children. My son loves his booboo bird. We keep it in the freezer and take it out when he has a booboo, or "pipi" as he calls it in Finnish. It doesn't get too cold but I think the psychological effect is very good.

A path to the magical forest, part 1

Hi!

I wrote in an earlier posting about a magical forest for the children's room. I have been asked about instructions how to make the fantastic hiding place, "Suikalemätäs". In English the translation could be something like "the fabric strip shrub". Mätäs is hard to translate, it is not exactly a shrub, it is more like a big bunch of moss, grass and stuff like that.

The instructions in Finnish are in the book Maja by Mari Savio and Kati Rapia, that I referred to in my previous posting.

Find an old round table cloth and a small table that your children can fit under (round table is probably best, but I used a rectangle shaped and it works fine too). Check that the table cloth covers most of the table.

You can use all your old fabric strips for this! Cut or rip them in strips (I made about 8 inches or 20 cm long and an inch or 2 cm wide). This is fun to do with your child too.

Draw annual rings on the table cloth. Make sure they are less far apart than the fabric strips are long so they will cover each other.

Sew the strips from one end along the annual rings so that they are a little bit on top of each other. You can make a hole for the head in the middle and wear the creation too (or your children can if you don't feel like it).

I cut an opening for a door too and pulled it aside and tied it to a table leg with a couple of the strips.

TTYL,
Sirpa

Pretty bird label.

The labels are ready. They turned out SO cute. They had made them wrong though, with an endfold instead of a centerfold. They are making new ones but I got a few to try. If I iron them under a wet cloth they work ok, but they are a bit tricky because the fold in it is so strong. I am trying to negotiate that I would also buy these ones that went wrong but for a reduced price. It would be a horrible waste to throw them away, not very environmentally friendly.

I made today new produce bags from my old Ikea curtains that don't seem to suit any room in our house. The teal color fabric is so beautiful. I love these bags. Buying vegetables with them must be such a joy. :)

Peace and love,
Sirpa

I love my Brother.

My new Brother machine is great. I am a bit scared of it still, it is so high-tech compared to the older machines I am used to. I am used to the old sewing machines sounding like machine guns when you sew so the quietness of this new high-tech machine of mine is amazing. It is a bit strange and sad too. I will get used to it. Generally I love the smoothness of this new machine.

When I started another blog I am involved in, Living naturally in Louisiana, I started a no poo, shampoo free, experiment. I just realized that I have been now shampoo free for five months. I wash my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar twice a week and my hair and scalp feel so good. I guess it is not an experiment anymore, but it has become a part of my lifestyle. I love it because I don't want the chemicals shampoos contain on my skin and my body.

Free reusable produce bag!

To celebrate my new Etsy store, I decided to give all new customers in March a reusable produce bag for free with any size purchase!

I got the brilliant idea of the produce bag from my friend in Finland who makes them too. I make the produce bags from old sheer curtains. They are lightweight, washable and of course - reusable! Use the bag in the grocery store or Farmers market instead of a plastic bag for your fruit and vegetables. It breaths better than plastic too. And the environment thanks you!

New sewing machine and woolen socks.

I bought a sewing machine! Brother Innov-is 80. I am really bad in making decisions so I just chose one. I know you are supposed to try sewing with them in the store but I couldn't, I was so nervous. I was debating in my mind between a Husqvarna Scandinavia 100 that was in the same price range, because the "Scandinavia" text made me feel like home (even though I am from Finland, not Sweden, I speak some Swedish though). I liked the looks of the Scandinavia machine too. But this Brother machine had so many stiches and buttonholes and you name it that I was scared I might need them at some point. And it had a place for two spools I think which is good when knitting with a twin needle. You can also stich ready letters with it, which is another feature I am not sure if I will even need. At least it had the Scandinavian letters like Ä and Ö. Well, anyway, it is here now and I am a bit scared to try it. It is much fancier than any machine I have used before. I am a bit terrified about all the buttons. I will let you knwo how it goes.

The store I bought it from offers free lessons with purchase so I will go on Monday night to learn to use it.

I just listed on Etsy these woolen socks. They feel so nice but are a bit slippery on hardwood floors!



Don't these socks look like elf socks?

Green business cards and dreaming of a new sewing machine.

I ordered business cards today from Wizard Graphics - on recycled paper and with vegetable ink! They were 25 dollars for a thousand cards. I can't wait for them to arrive. I will let you know then how they look.

Kaiku Lifestyle has started well: Four customers by now, mainly custom orders. So I am busy and happy.

I am looking into buying a new sewing machine because I am returning the one I am using now to my neighbor who was very kind and borrowed hers to me - for two years or so! If you have any tips for buying the machine, let me know. I don't know much about sewing machines.

No more loose knitting needles.

I made a needle roll today. Either for myself or my friend who wants one too. If she likes it, it is for her. If not it is mine, I like it! I am not sure how well this works, it is my first and I didn't have a pattern, or actually even a plan before I started.