MARKET MADNESS

I have been accepted as a vendor at my first Farmer's Market ! I have been thinking about doing this since last fall. It started after I had a garage sale and sold a ton of my garden art.  There are about 10 different Farmer's Markets in King County.  There are multiple ones on Saturday, but also you can find them every day of the week but Monday. 

I am starting with the market at Crossroads Mall here in Bellevue on Tuesday afternoons. It runs the end of May through September.  This was a good pick for my first venture because I already had a Bellevue business license, so there was no additional expense.  Plus it is close to home, has only been in existence a few years, thus not horribly crowded so I won't be overwhelmed as I try to figure out what I am doing.

The markets are all "juried", meaning you have to submit pictures of your product, and in some cases bring in samples to be evaluated by a jury to determine if it meets their standards.

When I made up my mind last fall to jump into this new venture I was hoping to hit some of the fall craft shows, so I went out a bought a really nice 10'X10' canopy that has the canvas walls that Velcro on in case of inclement weather.  However, the fairs were too soon and I didn't have enough material to sell to warrant the entry fees.  So my canopy never made it out of the box last year.

I have been making things all winter to build up my supply looking towards a summer start date, however, Becca and I went to Costco last Saturday and noticed that the farmer's market at the Pickering Barn across the street was already up and running, Yikes! Time to get serious!!

I have spent this week putting my booth together.  Getting the canopy out of the box and learning how to put it up and take it down all by myself (it is HEAVY), getting some display tables, table cloths, making pots to display my totems that go on stakes, filling sand bags to weight each corner of the canopy (required by the markets) so that a gust of wind can't blow your booth around and cause damage to other vendors.

A lot of my garden totems go on stakes in the ground so I needed to figure out a way to display them.  I had some large plastic pots I wanted to fill with sand and put the stakes in- but the pots were chipping and ugly.  First I tried to paint the pots, which I did last fall, but unfortunately the paint just chipped off as well.  So I came up with the idea to cover them in fabric.  The pots needed to be heavy enough to support the totems without tipping over, but not so heavy I couldn't lift it in and out of the van.  My compromise was 6 inches of sand in the bottom, then I filled the rest up with that expanding window insulation foam.  After it dried I covered the top with moss.

I also needed to figure out some table decorations to go with my garden theme, so I made this topiary, it's a little crooked, but doesn't look too bad from a distance.

I wanted to set out all my product to see if I had enough to fill up my tables and decide how to arrange everything.  Chuck thought I was nuts to drag box after box of glassware out of storage, up the stairs and outside, knowing I would just have to pack up everything and put it away in an hour or so. But I am a visual person, and I had to see my booth all put together to feel ready. It will save me time in set up at the market to already know which table to place things and how to arrange it.  I don't want to get there and have decisions to make. Once I set up everything my tables were full and attractive.  Just knowing that gives me confidence I am good to go.

Once I was all set up Jared and his girlfriend Ujong came home and perused my wares.

I am looking forward to this new adventure!

TEE SHIRT RUG TUTORIAL

I posted a picture of the rug I made for my granddaughter Evelyn a few days ago.  If this is something anyone else might want to do I will explain how.

Let me preface this by saying I am not an expert at crochet. The rug itself could be crocheted, knit or even braided. Mainly I was excited by learning how to turn discarded Tee shirts into "yarn" that can used to make something attractive and useful.

It all starts with a tee shirt-

 actually 20 of them.  That is how many it took me to make a rug about 3 feet across. But I wanted a substantial rug with some heft to it, so I used double strands. So, potentially the rug could have been made with only 10 shirts.

The first step is to cut the shirt from arm hole to arm hole.

The lower portion of the shirt is what we are going to use.  The top portion of the shirt with the sleeves can be discarded, unless you can come up with another use for it (if you do- let me know.  I hate to just throw things away!).

 Also cut off the hem band on the bottom of the shirt and discard.

 

 Next, fold the material in half with the sides of the shirt together, leaving the raw open edges on the top and bottom.

Turn the fabric so the fold is at the top and start cutting strips from bottom, stopping an inch from the top.  The width of the strips is up to your discretion. The wider the strip, or the heavier the fabric (not all tee shirts use the same weight jersey) the thicker your yarn will be, but the less yarn you will end up with.

 Now unfold the fabric and it should look like this...

Sorry this is out of focus, but you get the idea.

Now we are going to cut the strips apart, one thickness at a time, because we will be doing different things with each layer.

The top layer we will cut the strips straight across.

The bottom layer the strip will be cut on a diagonal to create one continuous strip.

 

Sorry, I think that is my stomach protruding into the picture!!

 

 

 

 

 

Once you cut the last strip, you are left with a pile that looks a little like intestines.

 

 

Now the strip needs to be stretched to lengthen it and make it curl into the useable yarn.

 

 

 

Now use the yarn any way you want, like a rug perhaps?

 

 

SHHHH!! IT'S A SECRET !!

Once I had written my title, I realized I needed to put a few more spaces between the SH and the  IT'S or people would be doing a double take.

To move on, I wanted to share with you what I made Evelyn for her birthday coming up in July.  since she can't yet read, I feel safe sharing it with you.

I am really disappointed at this photograph, it is ten times cuter in person. I saw these crocheted rugs on Pintrest, and thought I would make one in the colors of Evelyn's room to put on the floor next to her bed.  It is made from Tee shirts.  In fact all the white in the rug came directly from Chuck's closet.  When he heard I was making it for Evelyn, he wanted me to incorporate his shirts so that the gift could come from both of us. He is hoping that it will become a family "heirloom".

29 YEARS AND COUNTING !!

Today is our 29th wedding anniversary.  Where has the time gone?  I still remember that April day in 1985 standing in front of the Los Angeles Temple trying to keep my veil from being blown off my head by the wind while having wedding pictures taken.  Chuck has his hand behind my back holding down my veil in every picture.

The years have flown by, but one thing remains constant- Chuck just feels like "home" to me. I know that I have his support and encouragement for anything I want to try or who I want to become.  The kids come and go, even our own 3 biological ones, but Chuck and I are a team. We are our own nucleus, which others, at times, wish to orbit for a few months, a few years, or a lot of years, but we are the steady center upon which everyone else can lean.

Why are we that solid foundation?  Because our home is Christ-centered, which gives us purpose and structure and most of all love.  Love for ourselves as we transform ourselves through the atonement of Christ, love for each other as we learn repentance and forgiveness through His gospel.

Our daughter Rachel once remarked in her blog that she never knew two people who were more different than Chuck and I. It is true- we are polar opposites, but that doesn't mean we're not compatible. President Henry B. Eyring said that married couples can use their similarities to understand each other and their differences to complement each other. Chuck and I have done our fair share of complementing over the years. We have come to appreciate, embrace and actually be thankful for our differences.

There is no one else I would rather spend the next 29 years with.

CHAIR CHANGE #2

This is a chair change of a slightly different ilk.  That's your word for the day- ilk. Now that I see it in print, it is a weird word, but the one that I want.

Frequently I post pictures of my "garden art" chairs.  These are old chairs that I find at thrift stores or garage sales that I remake into garden planters.  I tend to show off by posting every time the seasons change and I replant.

These chairs are different- they are inside chairs.  Chuck and I have had these two wooden oak counter stools for nearly 29 years.  In fact they were our very first furniture purchase after we bought this house.  Well, 29 years later, 3 kids and 30+ foster kids they have been trashed. They wobble, they creak, and they made me nervous to sit on because I thought the chair portion was going to snap right off the legs when I sat down on them. 

Long story short- I dumped 'em.  I found another set of counter swivel stools at the Goodwill for $15.00 for the pair. Unfortunately, the upholstery on the seats was a little worn. I recovered the seats and now I have counter stools that should last another 29 years.

Chuck thought the upholstery fabric I picked was old-fashioned, but I intended for my kitchen to be decorated in a "Tuscan" theme, so I thought the tapestry look fit right in.  You decide....

APRIL CRUSH

Our family seems to be organized into multiple events.  October is a busy month for us with both Jared's (4th) and Rachel's (31st) birthday, made even more fun because Rachel's birthday always falls on a holiday- Halloween.

April has Chuck's birthday (11th), Becca's birthday (20th), Chuck's and my wedding anniversary (27th), Easter, and the NBA Playoffs, which in our family is a big deal. Frequently, as happened this year, Easter lands on either Chuck's or Becca's birthday.

I was odd man out with a birthday in July (19th). It was feeling pretty lonely until Evelyn came along and joined me on July 12. And Grandma June on the 14th.  Now July is just as cozy!

Becca likes traditions and celebrating her birthday has become an example. She always wants to spend the day at Pike's Place market in Seattle, to be followed by dinner at her favorite vegetarian Thai food restaurant "Jhanjays" in Wallingford, then a short stroll down 45th brings us to "Molly Moons" ice cream shop for dessert, where she gets her favorite honey lavender ice cream in a waffle cone. This year, her special day was ended by going to the Village Theater in Issaquah to see a musical called "The Tutor".  Chuck had given her tickets as a birthday present.

Our trip to Seattle started with brunch at a bistro called "Baccos" which had Nutella hot chocolate.

Then the obligatory stroll through Pikes Place to enjoy the profusion of tulips available this time of year.

Since tulips are my favorite flower,  Becca has to convince me that we have enough pictures of them, then she can drag me along to discover other treasures. The market's fruit and vegetable stalls always have new delights:

Like rainbow carrots-

 

I really wished I had gotten a picture of whatever Little Green Balls of Death were........

 

 

Then there were Rambutans! Read the instructions!! You must spit the seed to the person on your right (????)

 

 

And scampi larger than my hand...

 

Once we passed the produce area, we browsed the arts and crafts booths where we happened across these adorable Bernese Mountain Dog (sniff) pins...

 

From the open stalls we meandered deeper into the market into the crush of little stores. One of our favorites that always merits a visit is the tea and spice store.......

 

From this tea store, we moseyed across the street and down Post Alley to the "Perennial Tea Shop" for a chance to sit down, rest our feet and have a cup of tea.  There we tried a new spring offering called "Caramelized Pear Tea" which was actually an herbal rooibos and was delightful. I ended up buying 4 ounces of it to bring home, and Man, is it Good!!

 

The marvelous thing about Pikes Place Market, is that it is always the same, but at the same time, ever changing. Every single time we go we discover new shops buried in the labyrinth underground, like the Afghani shop where Becca purchased a silk scarf, and the Indian shop where I saw silk yarn recycled from silk Saris. Even shops that we are familiar with produce things we have never noticed before.  I mean, really, where else can one go to find an 8oz package of rendered duck fat?

CHAIR CHANGE

Time to refresh my outdoor décor for spring. My Valentine's Day and St. Patty's Day decorations were a FAIL because of freezing temps. All my plants either froze or just went dormant.  Now that temperatures are warmer I decided to give it another try.

My Easter decorations came out of the closet as well.

And when you put them all together they kinda look like this....