Mommy, I want THAT!

Our favorite customers are kids. They get so excited when they come into our booth to hug owls or try on bunny hats. Occasionally we remember to stop cooing over them and take some pictures! Maybe it's because I'm a drama teacher, but I'm a sucker for imaginative kids. When they buy an owl or a kitty, I ask them, "And what's your owl's name?" Without skipping a beat, they've got a name picked out, know which side of the bed he's sleeping on and make an unsolicited promise to take good care of him. These are two of our favorite munchkins who visited us at the Indie Mart.

Checking out the ears in the mirror

My, what big ears you have!

Carefully picking out just the right owl

And we have a winner

Once she had him in her arms, she didn't want to let him go. 

We convinced her to put him in a bag "like a purse" and because it was see-thru,
her owl could still enjoy the view. 

This not-so-little guy spotted a baby owl on his first pass. We watched him working hard to
get his distracted dad back over to the booth.  He stood there for quite awhile convincing his dad why he "needed" this owl. Something clearly captured his imagination.

Once he'd won his case, he proudly walked over to us with the cash.
He wanted to do the sale himself.
He refused a bag and carried off his new baby owl tucked under his arm, like a football. 

Let them eat cake this summer

We have a lot of parties at my mom's house...birthdays, big holidays like Fourth of July, Easter, Halloween, really any reason to stuff our face with food. When you host a lot of parties, you have to keep up-ing your game. Regular cupcakes and cakes won't cut it. But let me be clear...I am not a cake decorator. I'm crafty, but I'm also lazy. I look for designs online that are easy to replicate, use boxed cake mix and hope for the best. I do usually make my own buttercream frosting, though, and that seems to amp up the wow factor. If it's hot outside, I keep the cupcakes in the fridge and pull them out right before serving. It's extra refreshing to bite into a moist, cold cupcake. Here are some of my summer treats. I hope they inspire you to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new.

"Hamburger and fries"

Yellow cupcakes, brownie "burger", food color frosting condiments

This is pound cake cut into strips. Serve with red frosting "ketchup" on the side for dipping

I love that his eye is a marshmallow and chocolate M&M

Decorated sugar cookies on cupcakes: 2 for 1 dessert

Corn on the cob cupcakes

The pat of "butter" is a yellow Starburst candy

Cooper likes music

Spencer likes the ocean

Renegade Craft fair 2011

We got lots of cute loot at Renegade this year. Part of it had to due with the fact that vendors took credit cards. In previous visits, we would stop by the ATM beforehand, pull out some cash and then whatever you had in hand was what you were able to spend. You're a much more frugal shopper that way. However, this time all three of us spend tons more than ever before. Vendors used the "Square" card reader and here's how it worked:

Vendors plug in the free Square card reader into the audio jack of their iphones or ipads and swipe your card through it. They can even take a picture of the purchase so they know exactly what was in the sale. Then they ask for your signature...that's right, on their IPHONE! You use your finger to draw your name on their screen pad. Then they hit send to authorize over the wireless internet. A few seconds later, they ask if you want your receipt emailed or texted to you. I chose the email option, and I typed it in for her. Done. Ciao! Now, the best part is yet to come... When you do your next purchase (and you know you will at kick-ass Renegade,) the system remembers your email and you don't have to type it in every time. Just a signature. And when you get home, your receipts are waiting for you in your email. Cool, huh?

Junior modeling her expensive new necklace after coming home from the gym.

I could not resist these from "Knicker Rocker"

And these...

Here's the free Square card reader

Bird Blankets

I guess if you're going to have a business with the word "birdie" in the title, you need some frickin' birds on your products! Well, that's not too hard. There are so many cute prints with birds out there, and our birdie blankets are our top sellers. I guess we're not the only ones who like birds. Side note: our old roommate Olivia loves bird stuff but hates actual birds, which I find hilarious. She also hated when you said the word "panties," so now I've removed that word from my vocabulary out of respect.

Enjoy, bird-lovers!

Olivia bought this one.

Print reminds me of the late 70's. I must've had a dress made of a print similar to this.

This one went to Chip and Vicki's new little girl. They already have a girl, and I thought the birds looked like little sisters. Though now I realize they're supposed to be birdie lovers!

I've made THREE of these

We called this one the "cocker spaniel" blanket, because the lining
felt like, well, a fluffy cocker spaniel.

This one looked like it had those craft googly eyes that moved around

This is one of our best sellers and one of the very first prints I ever bought.

Summer Fruit

The produce in the Central Valley, where I grew up, is top notch. I always compare any fruit/veggies in the grocery store to what I could get in the valley. We have a great little Farmer's Market on Sundays in the Inner Sunset in San Francisco, which surprised me at first. How could this produce possibly be as good as in the valley? Well, it totally is. We get peaches, cherries, blueberries, zucchini, tomatoes, whatever is in season. Plus, there's fresh bread, hummus, flowers and even homemade raviolis. There's a gal who makes her own pop tarts and oreo cookies, which is brilliant for the nostalgia factor. Junior and I grab our reusable bags, walk the few blocks to the market, pick up some coffee and leisurely peruse the freshest of the fresh food. It's heaven.

So, I guess it's no surprise that I like making blankets with fruit prints.

Boy, oh boy!

I think we have a lot of blanket prints that could be great for either a baby boy or girl. As a gal myself, it's hard not to be drawn to all things pink. My friends with little boys always complain about how there's never enough cute stuff out there for boys, so I try really hard to remedy that. Look no further, moms with little boys! I've got you covered.

Kitty Cats!

I was SO drawn to this fabric and I couldn't figure out why, until... I realized it reminded me of Shirley's "Boo-Boo Kitty" from Laverne & Shirley. Plus, it sorta looks like the printss from the late 1970's and that's totally when I was developing my style--my fashionable little girl style (lots of calico, flowers and ric-rac.) I've lost count of how many I've made in these two prints. I had one lady who bought both the blue and the pink because she couldn't decide! These prints are also the inspiration for our new line of kitty pillows. In fact, the back of the kitties are made from left-over backing from these blankets.

There's Boo Boo Kitty! I have no idea what Laverne is holding.
It looks like a cow-donkey...a conkey?