Apron Thrift Girl

Top 25 Eco-Friendly Moms

It's kind of silly but I'm having one of those days where I need to get my mind off of everything. If you feel so inclined let's see if we can get thrifting as a contender for the top 25 Eco-Friendly Moms. I personally can't think of much that is eco-friendlier than teaching our children how to thrift, negotiate and sell. If you click on the button I should be listed somewhere on the list and you can vote for me. I won't ask again but it would be lovely to have Thrifting up there in the top 10 of Eco-Friendly Moms.

Keiran bought a game on Sunday morning for $2.00 at a yard sale and went on and on about how it should have been 50¢. The seller told him that she paid $10 but he still wasn't pleased on the price. While it could be construed as a little greedy, I was so proud of him. He's getting the concept of the value of the thrifted dollar. He arrived home with game in hand only to tell his father the story. Bless him. Luckily we'll get hours of fun out of the game which is why I decided to pay the $2 although I think Keiran was ready to walk away.

Cerys's class had their play this week and one of their traditions is to wear their pajamas the day after, bring pillows, a plushie and food to share. Cerys wanted new pajamas because she felt that her pajamas were too childlike. I understood her dilemma so we headed to (in my opinion) one of the worst places; the Mall. We went to Macy's, Sears, Crazy 8, Gymboree, Gap, (some horrible store called Justice which gave us all stimulation overload) and The Childrens Place. She couldn't find anything. Either the clothes were slathered in tv characters, sprayed with flame resistant chemicals or just plain hideous. Cerys was pretty annoyed as we walked out of the last store. Being in the mall reminded me on so many levels why we enjoy buying a majority of our clothing from yard sales and thrift stores. Just last Saturday Cerys and I walked to a yard sale the next block over and Cerys bought 4 shirts and a pair of shorts for 16¢ each. She kept going on and on about how much money we saved. In the end Cerys found a pair of PJ's in her drawer that she felt would be suitable. Money spent? $0.

As we head toward her becoming a teenager it will be interesting to see whether she'll want to shop in thrift stores or consignment stores or demand (in her very strong willful way) to buy new.

Keiran was crying the other day telling me that he wished that we were rich so that he could buy his clothing at Old Navy. I had to smile at that. Of course for me, the idea of buying a shirt from Anthropolgie at a thrift store for $5 when someone originally paid over $80 is my idea of being rich. That $75 that we saved can go toward their school, our savings account or to buy organic food.

I truly love the lessons that we are teaching our children about money, especially at a time when prices are going up. When you live frugally and you raise thrifty kids, you don't feel the recession the same as families who rely on buying retail. I see ad after ad in Craigslist of people selling year old furniture that they claim they paid "$800" or "$1500" for and now they are selling it for so much less. I can't quite wrap my head around buying a $1500 couch and then not wanting it a year later. I can relate to buying a $50 couch and not wanting it five years later because it was replaced with a better and more fabulous thrifted couch or two. I plan to sell the $50 couch to even pay for both couches if I do my math correctly.

It will be fascinating to see what all of our children do with the thrift skills that we are teaching them now. Wouldn't you all love to get together in 25 years and see what our children have become? I can't think of a more eco-friendly skill to teach them.

What is Beauty?

 
What is beauty?

A friend recently posted the well known Dove Evolution video on her facebook page which brought up the discussion of beauty and young girls. While I had seen this video before it didn't really impact me the way it did that day when I thought about my 10 1/2 year old daughter.

I have had to deal with comments from family and friends about the fact that Cerys doesn't watch any tv. I've been told that she'll have no idea of pop-culture and that I'm harming her by not showing her trendy and popular tv shows and movies. Or that she is just plum missing out.

What I didn't realize until this Dove Evolution discussion came about is that my daughter has a completely different idea of what beauty is. She has very limited exposure to typical beauty magazines because my house is filled with Martha, ReadyMade and Modernism. She's probably wondering why Martha never ages and in fact looks younger with each magazine though. Oh wait, no, that's what I keep thinking, not Cerys. She doesn't follow music trends as her favorite CD is the Mama Mia soundtrack which she tries to play on her cello from time to time. She knows of Hanna Montana but only because this girls face is on every shoe, backpack and t-shirt sold everywhere. Cerys thinks it's silly that her face is plastered on everything and doesn't quite get it.

Yesterday I did a marketing survey where they wanted my daughter's opinion about toys. We had to answer questions about American Girls, Barbie and Hanna Montana. One of the questions for Barbie and Hanna where whether they were girls my daughter wanted to be herself or to be friends with. Both times Cerys laughed aloud, shook her head and said firmly "no."

I asked her this morning on our drive to school, "what are three things that mean beauty to you?" She took her time answering but eventually "Trees, Rocks and Wolves" were her answers.

I've written before about raising a Thrifted kid but I can even go deeper by what it's like to raise a media free & thrifted kid. Her perception of the world is one that she has created by what she sees. She hasn't been influenced by marketing companies (well a little bit of American Girl but it was the stories that she first fell in love with) or by the trends of her school friends.

The only thing that I've ever seen her become interested in because of school are SillyBandz. And as someone who coveted those bracelets worn by Madonna in the 80's I can only support this enthusiastically. Cerys doesn't really collect anything normal. Her room is filled with vintage furs, bones, books and antlers.

The beauty a media free child sees are the people around her. Or the kindness that one shows to them.  Last weekend I was being silly and quacked like a duck startling the woman in front of us. She turned around wondering what it was. I laughed and told her I was just making a duck sound. When she looked at Cerys in her hat and braids and her mix matched clothing of plaids, polka dots and leg warmers, she told her that she looked beautiful. Then she thanked me for making a sound that would cause her to turn around to notice my daughter. Which of course warmed both Cerys and I to the core.

I'm not trying to preach and tell everyone to stop watching tv or to take away those little hand held video game thingies. I want to share with you that there are real positive sides to being media free that I didn't even realize until last week. We go media free because our school supports this and encourages it. Because I want my children's imagination to be as incredible as it can on it's own accord. Because I want the children to get lost in books and hopefully have a better attention span than I did. Or because I don't want them to see violent act after violent act as even a simple cartoon can portray. I just didn't realize that they would view the world so differently.

My daughter has no sense of dress style. She dresses as a 5th grader to play, to do flips, to do the splits and to climb trees. I beg her to cut her bangs and she says no, that she is proud of being a tomboy with messy hair. Yet even in her strange combinations of clothing, she has confidence and pride. There is no certain way to dress. There are no trends to really follow in a Waldorf school except to be dressed to play and to play hard.

The biggest reason that I send my daughter to a Waldorf school is exactly all of that.

By 5th grade I was an outcast in my school. I felt ugly and it only got worse. One of my saddest and most heartfelt post was this one where I titled it Growing Up Ugly. My heart swells to think of my daughter so at peace in her world. She feels beautiful because she doesn't know any different. In her world beauty is the trees that she can climb, the rocks that she can admire (and probably throw) and the wolves that she one day dreams of riding. (she wants to be a wolf rider when she grows up)

I'll add that it's been tough raising media free kids. It's all around us and the pressure is enormous. We have to be conscious of it in restaurants, stores, airports and at friend's homes. We have to be strong when it would be so easy to just turn on the tv just to get the kids to be quiet for 20 minutes.  We have to watch other kids with their heads in their phones, gaming machine (I really should know what these things are called-I think Nintendo makes them) and other electronics when we are out. Or observing the family of four sitting at restaurant being there together but all lost in their machines. Which reminds me a bit of this video. It's not easy to go against the flow of our culture. But I'll tell you personally it has been worth it.

I'd love to hear what your idea of beauty is?

to the county fair

We went to the county fair yesterday. Even though we've seen the fair every year that we came down to California for our house exchange, it was our first time actually going to the fair in Sonoma County.

I found an app on my phone called moreLomo and I must tell you I'm in love with this iphone feature. I look to find even more excuses to take pictures. And as a blogger that is not a difficult thing to do. Even my daughter will bring me things and suggest that I take a photo for ATG.

With every photo you have the option of saving it in Lomo or Original or both. I'm surprised at how clear the photos are. I didn't even take my Nikon D60 to the fair yesterday. My iphone was enough to capture everything.

The children opted not to go on any rides and instead chose a quick run through the fun house and to play some $1 games. Perfect in my frugal book.

Keiran amazed at the idea of going upside down on a ride.

The fun house with a scary jester in front. You'd think by now they would realize the high number of scary clown dreams that children and adults have and that they wouldn't bring jesters into the mix.

I fell back into my childhood when I spotted this game. My parents used to drive us over to Reno in our 58 GMC Carryall. We'd scrounge together enough money to stay at Circus Circus and my brothers and I would spend hours in the game area while my parents dropped nickles in the slots. And being the frugal parents that they were, they always kept track of what they put into the game and kept track of what they won in order to find out their percentage of winnings. Their goal of course was to beat the casino.

Whac a Mole was by far my game of choice. I was very small for my age and I could beat the tallest, strongest man at this game. I still remember the shock of some of those adults looking over at this scrawny kid who just beat them out of a pink stuffed dog.

I think in some ways I love the idea of the county fair more than I like the fair itself. In my memories certain flavors and smells highlight over the things that I've forgotten. Yet in a way, when we take the children to the fair it is to enjoy the moment but it's also to give their childhood the memory of the yearly traditional county fair. They'll forget the people that constantly blocked their path rudely, the expensive price of bland food, the chill in the air as the temperature shifted from warm to cool with the coming of the marine layer and for Cerys the frustration of not winning any of the games. What they will remember is being there as a family, of eating their treat of Hawaiian Ice, the warm sun, spinning the prize wheels in the exhibition hall and running through the maze of mirrors in the fun house. In a years time I will only remember the good things too and of course take everyone back to the fair once again.

What is your fondest memory of your childhood fair?

Making a Summer Schedule Part 1

Summer arrived with a bang yesterday and my neat and organized typical Tuesday became a mess of figuring out how to proceed with summer. I had 10 orders to ship, a blog post to write fail, a summer schedule to prepare and a summer outdoor space to create. Not to mention unpack from our trip and tidy up the not so tidy house we left behind.

Let's go back to 2006 where I had a similar problem. This year though the new challenge that I have is the need to make a lot of money. Thankfully our renter is still in our house on Bainbridge although for much less than our mortgage. It's up to me to make up the difference.

Usually in the summer I can take it a little easier with bookselling and I tend to not sell on eBay at all. This summer it's different. I'm going to have to work a lot more hours. Therefore a schedule is needed this year more than any year previous. This post is going to be in two parts. This part is the planning stage for our Summer Schedule. I began to brainstorm things that I want to do this summer on our drive home on Monday from Sacramento.

Fun things to do with the children:

• Join the Summer Library Program
• Craft Time
• Berry Picking (to freeze or make jam)
• Bicycle Trips - Howarth Park, Santa Rosa to Sebastpol
• Reading Time
• Freezer Paper Stencil T-Shirts
• Carve and prepare Walking Sticks
• Dying Wool
• Listening to Audio Books
• Beach Days
• Farmer's Market (every Wednesday afternoon)
• Pen Pal Letters
• Hiking
• Make a Hiking Kit
• Summer Journal
• Swimming (pool, Russian River, Beach, State Park)
• Thrift Store Shopping (hopefully a weekly visit to the Goodwill Outlet)
• Geocaching

Summer Chores

• Laundry (I avoid it at all cost but plan to tackle it this month)
• Pack winter clothes away
• Grocery Shopping
• Clean Out Garage
• Create Summer Space on Covered Patio
• Children's chores: room tidy up, weed garden, tidy up toys outside
• Tidy up Office every week
• Organize Craft Area in Office

Summer Work

• Weekly eBay auctions (goal of $300 in sales every week)
• List Books on Amazon (goal of $300 in sales every week)
• Write 5 blog posts a week for ATG
• Write 3 blog posts a week for food blog

Without a clear schedule, I think the summer would fly by in a mess. Dave and I are going to sit down this evening with our calendars and plan our vacation days, his travel dates for work, our goals for the summer and this list above. Together we will create a Summer Schedule that will create a rhythm in our lives. We all need rhythm, even in the summertime when we are looking to relax and enjoy the warm sun and long days. 

What are you planning?

raising a thrifted kid

How do you balance raising children who have good money sense when you are a thrifter?

Our thrifted children (raised not purchased) truly have a different concept of money than the rest of our society. We rarely shop retail, our spending dollar goes much further than it would in a regular store and weekends can be like Christmas to them.

a much younger Keiran after hitting the garage sales.

Every Saturday after I return home from the sales I am bombarded with the question, "did you get me anything?". Sometimes they don't even bother asking me and simply run by me and start looking in the back of the van. Overall they are correct. I do have something for them. I may find them a pair of jeans for $2.00 or a pair of antlers (for my Elfquest loving daughter) for .50 cents.I do bring them home something nearly every weekend.

While they do have weekly instant gratification, what I bring home is always a surprise. It kind of takes us back to the hunter gatherer days where you really never know what you will bring home. Thankfully we don't have to survive on what I thrift. On the rare occasion I do come home empty handed.

In September Keiran started asking me for a Battleship game. He wanted me to buy one from Target when we were there. I told him that I see these games all the time and I'd pick up a thrifted one. Uh well that was months ago. And I didn't see a single game. I looked at yard sales, thrift stores and asked friends if they had any games that I could buy for Keiran. Nothing. Keiran would continue to ask me if I found one and I'd have to tell that sweet, pouty face no. I didn't give in to retail pressure even though it would have been easy to buy one either at a local toy store or from Amazon.com.

Two weeks ago it was a cloudy day in Sebastopol. It was Sunday and very quiet. I pulled up to a small sale and there on the sidewalk in a bin of other games was Battleship. Attempting to keep my thrift cool I didn't run up to it and exclaim "I must have this". Instead I wandered around the sale asking prices about various items. When I finally asked her the price of the game she told me $3.00. Between you and me I really wanted to pay $2.00 for it even though it is this edition and sold for $38 retail. Can you believe after 4 months of searching I mentally stumbled and couldn't decide if I had wanted to pay $3.00 for the game? I told myself to be quiet, pulled three "ones" from my wallet and took the game home to my boy.

He was delighted and that Sunday afternoon was spent playing game after game after game.

I know my children will grow up having a different outlook on money. I'm aware that in some ways I spoil them each time I bring them something from a yard sale. But I feel that I help repair this routine when we are at a retail store and I say "no, I don't want to buy that here. I don't think it is good value for money." I try to explain that their $12 item in their hands might cost just $1.00 in thrift dollars.

I do try to bring the children with me and let them experience thrifting in the field, especially the bartering part. I want them to find the nerve to walk up to the seller and ask if they would take .50 cents for an item instead of a dollar. It does kind of backfire when Cerys wants Wholefoods to sell her a cupcake for $1 instead of $1.99. At least she is getting the lesson.

It's not easy raising thrifted kids in our culture where cool, shiny new things seems to be everywhere whether you shop at Walmart, or Target or the Dollar store. They all seem enticing and leave the children feeling vulnerable with their desire. Like everything in my life, I try to do things in moderation. I won't be the girl who buys 100% second hand items because I like to buy things new occasionally. I prefer discounted items but I have been known to buy new and I'm okay with that. Why am I thrifty? So that I can have choices on where to spend my money. Frugality is all about having choices and those choices will be different for every one of us.

What financial lessons do you thrifters teach your children?

Pulling Teeth with Legos

Last night during our favorite Saturday night (just dh & I) gorge of food; Marmite and crackers, aged cheese, olives, blue cheese (for dh only I can't stand the stuff), Juice Squeeze and artichoke hearts, Cerys arrived downstairs with her upper tooth sitting in her hand. She grinned a smile of blood and I gave her a quick hug and found a wet rag for her to suck on. She then explained that she used a lego to pull her tooth out. It was wiggly but not ready to fall out wiggly. I guess she was a bit impatient. I'm glad she didn't get that from me (grin).

Here she is today with her new smile.

When I mentioned I had wanted to take a picture to send to family she suggested to stand in front of a tree. Then she took it a step further by climbing in the tree.

I swear I didn't ask her to pose in the tree. Although it turned out great of course in my mother biased eyes. She is such a little spitfire of energy. Some days she just drives me crazy and then turns around and is a little angel. Currently she is in angel mode and I hope it lasts for the next few weeks. Dh is going to China on Thursday for a week. She tends to get upset when he is gone but luckily my parents are coming to help me so that may sooth her.

Thriftwise I had a good day yard sailing on Saturday. I woke up early and had just cooked my breakfast when my father came into the kitchen from the basement. (they stay in an apartment connected to the house although attached by the basement but not in the basement) My parents stay with us while my mother visits Seattle for chemo. My father asked me if he could come yard sailing with me since my mother was sleeping in. I said yes and and gave him my breakfast and then made myself some. We quickly ate it and grabbed some organic coffee, the paper and headed out. It was so fun to go with him. He and I used to do a lot of things together when I was young. In 8th grade he homeschooled me and we traveled to different historical places in California which I loved. He taught history so he had really interesting facts to share not just dull ones. When he was putting together a Model T I would go to car swap meets with him at the crack of dawn. When he was an E.M.T. I would ride to school with him in an ambulance. He's a lot of fun and we are kind of goofy together. We bought one of those singing fish plaques for the basement workshop. We thought it was so funny. My mother and Dave didn't find it as funny. The kids loved it of course.

My find of the morning was a vintage hook rug. I paid $10.00 for it. I would have paid probably $20-$25 for it but I really thrilled about the price. It is rare to find a long narrow hook rug. We have a downstairs hallway that had a modern stained carpet so we removed it only to reveal mustard yellow linoleum. Dave is slowly taking it up and underneath lies a beautiful fir floor. It is a WIP at the moment with bits that still have linoleum while other parts have rough wood. After we take up the rest of the yellow we will sand the wood, oil it with a natural oil and then place this hook rug on it.

At the same sale the woman also sold me this for $2.00.

And this for $1.00.

Let's just say that this sale was totally fitting to everything me. I chatted non-stop back to the house about what a great sale it was. It was one of those thrifty buzzes that had me floating a few feet above the ground.

She can swim.....

Today was a day to remember for our family. Cerys has learned to swim. Since arriving at the house exchange a week and a half ago we have swam at least twice a day. It has really made our holiday. Well today my 6 year old girl has learned to swim. Yesterday she could do a few strokes but today she just was able to swim across the pool. She is so proud as are we. It was like something clicked in her today and she was able to just do it. It is such an amazing step for her to swim on her own.

The house we are staying at has an Intex pool and we are seriously considering one for our own home. The thing we are nervous about is whether our Pacific Northwest climate can warm the water enough. But it is tempting. I always had a pool growing up and loved the water. Dh who didn't grow up with a swimming pool was very impressed to see both the whirlpool and the tidal wave in action.

Here is dh throwing Keiran in the air.

Another beautiful moment of summer is Cerys's desire to sew. I love the fact that Waldorf kindergarten curriculum includes handy-work. One of the projects every child does before entering 1st grade is to make a Waldorf doll, including the boys. I'm looking forward to my son learning how to sew and knit as my daughter will learn to work with wood. I found this lovely book this week for Cerys.

When I gave it to Cerys she started to carry it around with her anywhere she went. She looked at it constantly and couldn't wait to start crafting from it.

   

Cerys has already started on her pair of mittens. I'm not sure if they'll protect her from the cold at all but her excitement is so sweet.

Cerys traced outside her hand on paper, cut it out and then cut the felt out. As you can see her cuts are a bit rough but I think it will still work well.

Yesterday Cerys and I had an outing to the first dedicated Craft Thrift store I have ever been to. We purchased an entire grocery bag full of felt, thread, wool yarn, fabric and iron on patterns for only $6.75.

The fabric on the right feels very vintage and is my favorite. I think it would make a lovely apron.

These were in the free box at the thrift store. There must be over 100 iron on patterns.

Last but not least are these post cards that I purchased from the most beautiful toy store that I have ever been in. I found two postcards that I hope to use as inspiration for an embroidery project.

 

The bottom post card is an image that comes from a book called "The Princess in the Forest" and it is one of Cerys's favorite stories. I hope to embroider this and frame it for her bedroom. And just to share another tidbit about Cerys, her name is actually pronounced Care-iss and means love in Welsh. Her middle name is Feyth which means the love of fairies. I call her my Welsh fairy girl.

Finding Peace in Chaos

Today was one of those days where the sound of my children's voices were like a thousand fingernails on the chalk board. It wasn't so much of what they were saying it was the decibels at which they were speaking. And this was constant from dawn to dusk. It didn't help that David is gone this evening to a meeting and I had the children most of the day for company. My head just hurts from their endless chatter and arguing. I really am delighted that school is out and we do not have to face any schedules but I just wish that mute button worked a few times a day. I've been busy working on my musical inspired apron from Tie One On and yet I find it so challenging to try to sew, read instructions on my pattern aloud (yep I'm still at the pattern stage) only to have my four year old asking me what "seam edge" is. Here I'm trying to figure my way through instructions and he needs to understand not only how the sewing machine works but how to use a pattern. With all of that moaning done and said, here is an article I wrote for a really neat website that a friend of mine started a few years ago. She has closed the site but it can still be accessed: Sanity Spot.

Finding Some Balance in a Day of Chaos

Here is a list I have made for trying to find a bit of balance in a chaotic day. My life is pretty centered around kids so they pretty much fill this list, so if you are child-free be imaginative and change it to fit your life:

1) Upon waking, take a deep breath and realize it is nearly 12 hours to bedtime       

2) Try to create a daily, weekly and seasonal rhythm in your home (purge old Martha Stewart Magazines for idea if you struggle with this one)

3) Although a huge struggle sometimes, look after yourself first       

4) Drink herbal tea with raw honey, need a bit more zing go for organic dark chocolate

5) Make weekly menus for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks - Believe me this will save you tons of stress and fewer last minute sprints to the store for a roast chicken or tofu salad       

6) Make sure you and your partner have at least a 10 minute conversation during the day. I know that with a day of young children I need an adult conversation to feel sane again

7) Take at least one day a week dedicated to your business or hobbies. This may have stops and starts but it will help you feel focused       

8) Take a warm bath with essential oil at least once a week. Lavender is top choice for me

9) Exercise ~ even if it is only walking around the block or even up and down the stairs for five minutes       

10) Find your supportive group of women in your community

11) Spend at least 20 minutes a day reading to your children ~ they will love it and it will assure you of at least a 20 minute break by sitting down with them       

12) Write a few words about your day in a journal or on your calendar

13) Create a cleaning schedule-it doesn’t matter how short or long it is, just one that you can reasonably follow-make if fun and print it out on whacky paper to cheer you up       

14) Cook at least one meal from scratch each week. Pick out a favorite recipe and be Rachel Ray for a Day

15) Wash the dinner dishes with your partner while your children play upstairs or in a family room. You can check off #6 at the same time.       

16) Play a favorite CD whether it is music to unwind to or a very loud and obnoxious track that wakes you up mid-afternoon when your eyes are watching the clock slowly heading towards 6 pm.

17) Let your children have age appropriate chores to do to help share the task of the home as best they can. Yep, start delving out the work to those young ones       

18) Take at least one night out a week for yourself. I tend to go to the movies, go to a local pub with my girlfriends for margaritas or just to the library to read in silence, a rare thing in our household

19) Join a book club ~ There is nothing like getting together with a bunch of women to trash or rave about a book. Not to mention the great spread of food and wine that shows up at these monthly gatherings       

20) Take another deep breath at the end of the day. You made it, you survived and ahead of you is hopefully eight hours of peaceful sleep before it all starts again.

How can two children be so spirited and yet look so sweet?