My wool and cashmere hats, teething toys and flower hair clips are included in a gorgeous Natural Kid’s spring gift guide chock full of all sorts of beautiful things for children made from wool, wood, cotton and other natural materials. If that’s not awesome enough, they’re all handmade by fantastic artists committed to creating beautiful, quality gifts- artists who are part of the Natural Kids Etsy Team.
I especially love these items and want to snatch them up for my girls.
This Fern Elf House made by Willodel has amazing detail!
This basket full of gnomes by FeeVertalaine would be perfect for Easter.
This Waldorf doll by NobbyOrganics has the sweetest face and I love her bobbed haircut.
I can picture my kids coloring with these all-natural woodland bunny crayons made by Earth Grown Crayons.
Take a look at the Natural Kid’s Gift Guide and I think you’ll be impressed. I’m honored to be included with such beautiful things!
Tags: etsy, natural kids, natural toys
Posted in Green Living, Natural Toys | 3 Comments »
My baby turned 1 on November 16 and we threw her a ‘Very Hungry Caterpillar’ themed party because she’s a girl who loves to eat. I love birthdays and planning cute parties for my girls is really fun. I’ve shared a few of Sairshe’s birthday parties here and here. Now it’s time to share the Carys Áine’s first party!
We invited some of our closest friends using these cute invites modeled after the styling of Eric Carle’s classic book.
I don’t love balloons as I try to produce as little waste as possible and there’s nothing to do with a used balloon except toss it in the trash, but I couldn’t resist making this fun caterpillar to hang from the ceiling. Sairshe helped cut out the eyes and antennae and we taped them on with some double-sided tape. I tied thread to the ends of the balloons and tacked them to the ceiling. I used some double-sided tape to attach the balloons to the wall as well because otherwise they blew around a little and the caterpillar shape didn’t stay intact.
Since that party wasn’t at a mealtime we just had some snacks, chosen because of their inclusion in the book. I made little signs with pictures and text from the book to go with the food. Some of the fruit (strawberries and plums) aren’t in season so I omitted those. I also left out all the Saturday foods because that day the caterpillar ate a lot of sweets and I was going for healthier choices. We had kale chips for the green leaf the caterpillar eats- so delicious!
I made a coloring book to give the older kids something to do and it doubled as a party favor they could take home and finish. The inside pages have coloring pictures based on the book and several pages of printable Hungry Caterpillar activities.
The piece de resistance was the caterpillar cake! It’s made up of cupcakes and one larger 6 inch cake for the head. I made the eyes and mouth from paper and stuck them to the frosting. I also made antennae and several little feet, taped toothpicks to the backs and stuck them into the cake.
Here’s the birthday girl enjoying her birthday cupcake!
Happy first birthday my sweet Carys Áine Moss!!
Tags: birthday party, first birthday, very hungry caterpillar
Posted in Birthday, Celebrate, Children, Family | No Comments »
My Dad’s birthday was last weekend so I was able to give the first knitted gift of the season. He lives in southern California so he doesn’t need super warm gear but he also lives right by the beach and he’s often outside in the evenings. I whipped up these fingerless gloves for him in just a couple of days.
They’re my own pattern and I added some garter stitch Vs on the hand portion to liven them up a little. The yarn is Dream in Color’s Classy in a pretty semisolid black/grey. My dad is fun to knit for because he really appreciates handmade gifts and these were a big hit.
If you’re in Portland, stop by the Downtown Holiday Artisan’s Fair tomorrow from 10-6. It’s at the plaza of the World Trade Center and they’re be loads of awesome things to buy as well as free coffee and pastries! Also, a percentage of proceeds benefits p:ear mentoring. I’ll be there all day so stop by and say hi!
Tags: FOs 2009, knitting, mittens
Posted in knitting, Mittens | No Comments »
What’s not to love? The cool weather, pumpkin pie and leaves changing color are all wonderful but what I also love are all the sweaters! Everywhere I go I see fabulous knitwear that makes my closet seem boring. Okay, my closet’s not too boring but I can’t stop coveting other people’s sweaters, hats and scarves. I sit in church and focus my attention on the backs of people’s sweaters. I have been known to follow shoppers a little too closely at the supermarket because I was trying to burn a stitch pattern into my eyeballs so I’d remember when I got home. It never works, by the way. I only remember that there was something that I loved. So far I’ve never been bold enough to snap a picture but one of these days I may just have to do that.
This is the season that causes my knitting 
mojo to come out of hibernation and so here it is- my first finished project of the season. It’s the Essential Tank Top from the book Lace Style. A knitted tank top, you say? True, a tank top is not the most common item of clothing this time of year, but it’s an awesome layering piece and here you can see it in action on a cold, rainy, blustery Portland day. The merino/silk blend of the Knitpicks Gloss lace yarn is really pretty and warm, even in lace tank top form. This was my first time knitting a lace garment where size mattered and it was a little nerve-wracking. I didn’t really know if it would fit until it was all done and then I was convinced it was too big until I seamed it all up. Ahh, perfect. I love it and will wear it all season and I’ll keep wearing it when the weather gets warm.
I carried my camera around all day and went some pretty places but the wind and rain canceled any hope of a pretty photo shoot. Mike snapped these pics as we were grocery shopping when we were tired and windblown but hey, it wasn’t raining! I’m loading up more canning jars in the car. I have a whole basement of canned goods now and these are the latest addition to my food stockpile- A whole lot of quince products. I got quince practically free from a nice lady on Craig’s List and they just may be my new favorite fruit.
Tags: autumn, canning, fall, FOs 2009, knitting, lace, tank top
Posted in Autumn, Create, knitting, Seasons | No Comments »
Is that what you’re wondering? Why did I change my business name this summer and how did I settle on Sesame Seed Designs?
When I first started selling things on Etsy, nearly 2 years ago, I was focusing on selling hats for babies. My hats are still a big part of what I sell but I’ve added new items such as the water bottle covers, coin purses and french press cozies. Suddenly having Mama in my business name didn’t fit my entire line of products.
I realized something was wrong when I became hesitant to tell people my business name because I felt it gave the wrong impression about my products. I didn’t want to be 
identified by just being someone’s mama and I didn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea that I only made things for kids.
I thought about my name for several months before I made a decision and found myself being gradually more uncomfortable with my name. I had already made hundreds of sales and had a fairly established following both on etsy and locally but I finally made the decision to change my name and, in a way, start over.
So why Sesame Seed Designs?
Practically:
- It’s not product specific and allows me to grow my product lines without moving outside the scope of my name.
- When I imagine it on tags on my products, I can imagine it on items for men, women and children and it works on them all.
Personally:
- If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you know that I refer to my daughter as Sesame (the story is here) so it’s a bit of an homage to her. Like the story behind her Sesame nickname, the name Sesame Seed Designs is a reminder that big things all start small. I had no expectations when I first listed a few items on etsy but wholesale requests started coming in after only a few weeks and my sales have steadily increased in the last 2 years.
It wasn’t as hard as I’d imagined to get buyers to find me at my new site and I’m really excited and happy to have a name that I love and that can grow with me! I had some fabulous people help me out- Erin from EdUB Graphic Designs created my fantastic new logo. She listened to what I wanted and quickly came up with a logo that I love! Mark and Jennie from Angelic Touch Designs did the work of converting my old website to this new easy-to-use, WordPress one. They did really fantastic work and were super pleasant to work with.
Changing my name to something that really fits me feels really good and I only wish I had done it sooner! I don’t push my etsy products on you lovely blog readers very often so I’ll get back to my crafty ways next time.
Tags: etsy, Sesame Seed Designs
Posted in Create, Felted Sweaters | 1 Comment »
