to market, to market

This fall, my kids are participating in something new. Our midweek farmer's market has started a kids market. Kids are encourage to make and sell their creations. It is such a fabulous idea! 

Each week there are a handful of tables selling baked goods, artwork, duct tape creations, sculpty magnets and jewelry, sewn napkins, and more. My kids and their friends have fun thinking up projects to make, learning about marketing, pricing, customer service, and displays. They do all the work, from production to set up. I am there as back up and a resource but have fully handed the responsibility over to them. The motivation of making some cash has brought out their grit and entrepreneurship.

Honestly, it is a bit slow now because it is still so hot. But come cooler weather, I hope they are swimming in customers. 

Does your local farmer's market have something similar? If not, I have a feeling most would be receptive to the idea.

{make} your own currency

Hello - I have been in full on adventure planning mode lately!

We had so much fun with a recent activity, I wanted to share. This would be a great project to tuck away for a day when you need something quick and engrossing.

One of my son's birthday gifts last week was a treasure box with a leather journal, compass necklace, wax letter sealing set, colored rocks and jewels and a money making set. The whole thing was a hit, but I think the money making kit was the best.

A variety of wooden disks from the craft store, some sharpie markers and watercolor paint were all we needed to create funds for a new quest.

We had so much fun coming up with designs, numbers, and even a new name for his

currency (they are all "chings"). He invited his siblings to make chings too - so now he has a wide variety and their adventuring play just got a little more interesting!

mail and children :: ideas and resources

Do your children love getting and sending mail? Mine have had a deep love of the postal system since they were old enough to understand what the mailman was bringing everyday. 

In fact, my daughter even went as a ballerina-mail lady one Halloween, because ballerinas and postal workers were the two coolest jobs she could think of. 

We have been having some mail time fun around here recently, so I thought I would share some of the different ways we have had played with the mail over the years. 

Reading and writing letters is particularly useful for reluctant writers, but more importantly, the open ended and imaginative qualities are spectacular. You can create any world or character with letters and maps. The possibilities are endless. 

Here are 7 ways to have fun with the mail.

{add your own suggestions in the comments!}


1. Participate in a nature exchange
Nature exchanges can be amazingly fun. Basically, you pair with someone from a different geographical region and swap a box full of nature items from your area. Leaves, shells, seed pods, rocks and pressed flowers are among the most popular bits. You can also send a little note, a regional folk tale, photo of your family, and handmade treats. 

I have done several of these and love them. You can sign up different places on line, but I have had the best luck organizing them one-on-one. You might send out a request to some of the Facebook groups you belong to or just email someone you "know" online to ask if they would be interested. 

I am considering running one through Mama Scout this spring, so make sure you are signed up for my newsletter and Facebook page to get the information. 

2. Put a mailbox in the house (and the yard)
One of the best things we ever did was install a real mailbox in our house (the photograph at the top of the page). It is positioned upstairs in the landing between all the bedrooms and receives mail year round. We have also had an outdoor one for  children to leave messages to each other and the bigger outside world. 

These are magic making. And so easy you can do it NOW. 

And of course, be sure to use those mailboxes. I have had long conversations with my children through the mail. Something about writing the letters makes the communication different, more thoughtful and deeper. 

3. Make your own address labels, stamps, supplies and more.
This is so easy and obvious, but you would be surprised at how custom stickers and stamps add to the excitement. I just buy Avery labels in different sizes and make each kid their own return labels with fun fonts and pictures. You can also make stickers that have warnings or funny sayings on them. And of course, just coloring and drawing on the labels and turning them into stickers and stamps is fun too. 

We love making our envelopes from magazine pages. I use this template because it is little and cute. 

4. See what you can mail 
Can you mail a soda bottle? A hula hoop? A ball? A Flip Flop? Try and see! While you are at the post office asking and finagling, set up a tour for you and your friends. This classic field trip is always educational and interesting. 


5. Start a stamp collection 
Maybe it is only natural that our love of mail turned one kid into a budding philatelist. My daughter has a super cool collection handed down from her Great Grandfather. She is interested in the images and where the stamps are from instead of building a complete collection. She recently received this book and loves the creative ways it suggests collecting. 

6. Sign up for Mariposa Forest letter service
There are all sorts of subscription services for kids (magazines, craft kits...) but this is by far my very favorite. 

When you join,  your child receives biweekly letters from the forest creatures of Mariposa Forest. The letters include a gorgeous photograph and maybe a even a map. My kids were instantly smitten when we first tried a few dispatches from the forest and begged to get it year round (which they will for Christmas). 

This is one of the best gifts I can think of this year. It is imaginative, lasts all year and supports creative women (which is huge in my book!)


7. Get a copy of JRR Tolkien's book Letters From Father Christmas (immediately!).
I saw this recommended by Lori at Project-Based Homeschooling and fell in love as soon as it arrived. 

For over 20 years, Tolkien wrote his children a yearly letter Father Christmas. They included delicate drawings, hand-painted stamps, and hilarious tales of all the mischief happening at the North Pole. There are characters and languages you might now have know were up there. I promise, you will love this book. It is pure magic and a testament of the power of letters between parents and children. It might even spark your own creative project with your children. 

10 alternative gift ideas

Gift giving season is upon us! Given that we are in a tight economy and many homes are over run with clutter, I wanted to offer a few ideas for the sort of gifts that you can feel good giving and that put your hard earned money to work for a better world.

For the last few years, we have scaled back our gifting and now give a big bag of goodies to each family on our list. The bag is decorated by our children in a theme they think the recipient family will like and then it is filled with a variety of the following:

Our favorite food finds from the year - We love food and always have new finds we want to share, like a certain chocolate bar or mustard or cool pop, and the best part is these items will not add clutter to a house.

Handmade goodies - We make bath salts, felted soaps, picture frames, dog biscuits, embroidered pillowcases, food items, homemade candy and more. Click here to print out my laundry soup and pit paste recipes. Also, buying homemade gifts from Etsy or local artisans directs money into the pockets of creatives (which is where I like it to go!)

Local artisan items - The local farmer's market is filled with awesome gifts. I try to load up on local honey, specialty spaghetti sauces, homemade jerky, knitted items, cutting boards, and handmade soaps. These not only make great gifts for the recipients but pump money right back into our local economy.

Books - For the readers in my family, I love searching for just the right book that I think they will love. 

Gift certificates to local businesses - I am not always a fan of giving out generic gift certificates, but love giving them out to local restaurants or shops. A GC to an independent comic shop or book store would be great for any young teen. We give out gift certificates to the historic movie theatre each year. 

Gift certificates for events - I love making up gift certificates for events. I recently gave my Dad a day trip to a photography museum and craft brewery. Not only did he like both, we have a great memory of a day spent together. 

Board games - A new board game (with lots of fun treats) will offer many evenings of fun to the recipient family, and maybe they will invite you over to play.

DVD of the year in pictures - My husband makes a DVD with music and photos from the year and we give it to grandparents and relatives who are far away. This is always well received.

KIVA loan gift certificate - This is such a great gift for the business man who is so hard to buy for. I gave one of these to my dad a few years ago and it was fun to hear the updates on his borrower. 

An item we already have that the recipient has been eying - My mom and husband have been gifting each other records from their collections on birthdays and "just becauses". Family heirlooms and special items make awesome gifts, especially if it is something the recipient has expressed an interest in.


Please leave your alternative gift ideas in the comments. I would love to hear them!


I am taking off the rest of the week to play with my chickens, eat, rub my belly and write. I will see you next week. 

You can follow me on twitter here.

I am on Facebook here.

I love Pinterest! You can follow me here. 

And as always, please feel free to email me any questions at amybarbo at gmail dot com.

.

{review + giveaway} A Field Guide to Now

I have a new favorite book this season! It is a field guide to NOW: notes on mindfulness and life in the present tense by Christina Rosalie. 

Christina offers meditations on cultivating attention and mindfulness through essays, beautiful art, and prompts. Her writing is sublime - the kind that is so sweet and clear you can not rush through. It demands to be savored, slowly. I found myself unable to read more than one short chapter at a time because when I was done, I had to just sit there and think. It is that powerful.

My copy is so worn and underlined, it is beyond lending out. Which is okay with me. This is not the kind of book you lend, it is the kind you gift. To everyone of your friends; the ones who have felt the pain and the beauty of life as a creative mother. 

I was so honored and nervous when Christina told me I could interview her for this review. Below are the three questions I limited myself to, and her thoughtful and poignant responses. 

Read through to the end to learn how you can win a really great bit of art!

Amy : Early in the book, you write about writing yourself a raft and oars to keep afloat, sane and maybe even to use for escape. How important is it for mothers to have a practice that not only allows creative expression, but a way out too?

Christina : Writing is both a means of survival, and a way to find grace. It’s a means for paying attention: to what’s around me, and also to what’s within me. And though it can carry me beyond the moment, into beautiful or heart-wrenching or truthful fiction, I don’t think of writing as an escape, so much as I see it as a way to move forwards with intention. When I write, I’m forced to listen to myself, and to take notice of the patterns and choices and inklings and dreams that make up the undercurrent of my life, and beyond my life, the cultural undercurrents of human life at large.

I think all women, but particularly mothers who literally give their bodies and their lives over to the process of birthing and nourishing and sustaining their children, benefit from having a creative practice that forces them to listen to their own wise voice. It’s easy, in the thick of things, to stop paying attention to that voice. It’s easy to move from one day to the next, just responding, and so much of what I explore in A Field Guide To Now is how to lean into those moments.

Amy : Slowing down, looking and taking note are central tenets in the creative lifestyle I lead with my children. Whether we are looking under a leaf for a golden Monarch egg or watching water spread from paint brushes to the cement, we are always hyper focusing. 

You write, "This is what noticing always does: It fills me with wonder, and forces me beyond the ease of being unaffected by the world." 

You have recorded in such detail, the small and ordinary moments of your life; the way a bird's song transports you or the light of afternoon. I am wondering, how important is it to record the evidence of our days? Is it enough to just notice? Or must we write, paint, photograph, sing...?

Christina : This is such an interesting question! I think it is really important to record these moments of noticing in some way—because it’s in the act of recording, choosing words or images, and bringing your own creative attention to bear, that one is transformed by what one observes. To see, and listen, and taste, and smell, and touch are all incredibly important. But to transform these impressions into meaning, that is the work that really alters us—and it’s that work that I live for. To take note, and to be altered by the wonder.

Amy : I especially loved the chapter "Listing" where you write about changing expectations and settling - and your changing notion that settling does not necessarily mean settling for less. 

I was moved by the line "Regret is not my inheritance; choice is." It reminds me how frequently I compare my life to the women who came before me. You suggest that one way to choose is by list making. Writing a list is a way to move forward out of the "listless" state and manifest desires. What things are you personally listing now?

Christina : Right now I’m listing for a more holistic work-life integration; more time to focus on my creative work, and less driving in between. This is the first time I’ve shared this inkling in an outward facing way: but I think we’re ready to move away from our home at the end of a long dirt road, and into town where we can be close to our community and friends and our son’s school. So right now I’m listing for a new home sometime next spring, with an arbor and a beautiful fenced back yard within walking distance to town and to the lake.

I know that seems like a rather detailed thing to be listing for, but I take this process very earnestly actually. It’s like summoning the muses. The universe listens when we listen to ourselves.  

Thank you Christina for your time, your thoughtful answers and your amazing book. So much of what you write about is similar to what I feel, but have a hard time naming and clearly writing about. You have offered a powerful gift to women who are looking for ways to connect back to who they are and who they dream to be. 

You can win a gift of 12 gorgeous postcards featuring original artwork from Christina Rosalie’s book, A Field Guide To Now, delivered to you with a handwritten note from the author.  Postcards are printed with archival inks on premium paper by Moo.com!

All you have to do is:

like A Field Guide to Now on Facebook here and Mama Scout here 

and leave me a comment with what sounds you can hear around you right now. 

I can not wait to see who wins. I will choose a winner on November 14th. Good luck!

buy your kids a blender!

If you have a making, hacking, exploring type of kid, you might want to consider getting them a blender. 


My son asked for his own after we attended a paper making co op. 


So, we scrounged one up and he went to town making lots and lots of homemade paper. (we actually scrounged up two and took one apart to look at the motor).


And then the projects kept coming.


With a blender my kids have ground up nearly every type of leaf and flower in the yard making potions that went right back in to the yard. 


My son also made monster repellant with lots of garlic. 


And many, many batches of fruit sorbets have been whipped up for treats.  


Of course, you need to feel confident that your children can use a blender safely before you set them loose, or you can supervise them when they feel the need to blend. 


It is one of the most open ended toys for older kids I have experienced. 


Would you let your kids have a blender? Or do you think I am nutty? (it's ok - I am used to it).

make a tiny meditation matchbox

All my children love tiny things. One recent morning, my son spent time making tiny scrolls and putting them in empty match boxes. Everyone was so charmed, we could not stop talking about all the things we could do with the concept.

We thought about birthday invitations, poetry boxes, wish boxes, and treasure hunt directions. We thought it would be fun to mail them, leave them on our friends' porches, or in random public places (that one I want to do soon!).

We also spent the morning making beeswax bottle cap candles. So, I turned all my goodies into a tiny meditation box. I wrote a meaningful quote and tied up my scroll with three matches. Tucking it into the match box, I thought what a sweet little gift this would make for anyone going through a tough time. 


How about a new mama?


A recent graduate? 


Someone who has met sudden sadness or is facing a big change?

The candle idea was inspired by craftaholics anonymous. She uses crayons, which is super cool, but for this application I really like the beeswax. Even from this small candle, it smells amazing. We keep our beeswax in a tin can and remelt it in a water bath for different projects. Super simple. 

old me, new me (best mom gift ever)

This is the picture my brother and I made for my mom for Christmas. I think she really liked it. I know I would. We were inspired by this site and this one. The details are what make it. I should have worn a blue hoodie - but I was thinking dark would do it. Getting the space in between us along with my hand on his shoulder was impossible because he is not a little boy anymore. If I could have gotten it you would have seen my ring and bandaid.

make monogrammed mugs

We are on the monogramed mug bandwagon. We used Design Mom's tutorial here.  These are so simple! Basically, you use transfer paper to copy the outline of the letter and then use a porcelain paint pin to trace and fill in. Ours will go in the oven tomorrow for a bit and then they are done (and the smears will be gone). My 9yo daughter helped do these with no problem, so you can get the kids involved. And you easily have enough time to get some made before the holidays, so get crack-a-lackin'.


Of course, as in every craft we do, soon we were experimenting and drawing pictures and quotes and designs.... The possibilities for these cool paint pens are endless.

gift guide - 9 year old girl

Well, I am back after an unplanned hiatus. Life is too busy this time of year!

Here is my last gift guide. This one is for a 9 year old girl. This girl is into art, dolls, ballet, theatre, competitive swimming, and all sort of tiny things. She is pretty awesome and these are some things she will love.

I can not wait to give her this Leafcutter Designs tiny post office kit! She is going to flip! From the tiny newspaper to wrap gifts in to the tiny envelopes - jeez, this was made for my daughter.

The only way I can tell my daughter from any other swimmer is because she wears this swim cap. It is cute - and there are others too, like a shark. She usually gets a new one at her birthday and Christmas.

Black Apple's Paper Dolls Primer. This gorgeous paper doll book is full of dolls, clothes and ideas for things like armoires and theaters! The only problem is that it is so cool my daughter refuses to cut it up. It is suggested that you color copy sections or buy another copy - because you will want to both play and have a full copy to browse.

My daughter usually gets a tote of some sort each year. This year, to complement her burgeoning guitar playing, this is the one. At only $13, it is a deal!

In the past I have purchases kits to paint your own mastroyka dolls off Etsy. But it is really easy to make your own. Just grab one of these doll sets at Hobby Lobby and package up with some either sharpies and watercolors or acrylics and you are good to go. This makes a great stocking stuffer!

Kiki Magazine is a very cool magazine for girls that covers fashion with an emphasis on how-to's, designer biographies and interesting articles about the business side of the fashion industry. It is something that I often grab to read too. I highly recommend this magazine over any other commercial magazines. With no advertising, the content remains rich and in-depth.

We are big Enid Blyton fans, and this kid has blown through several of series (The Wishing Chair and Fairway Tree), so next up is the Naughtiest Girl Collection.  Fingers crossed that it is as good as the others.

So, what are you getting for your nine year old?

gift guide - 7yo boy

This kid is a serious entomology and science buff. He looks under every rock and leaf and has been able to catch some amazing natural phenomenon with his eagle eyes. He also has a killer sense of humor and especially loves to watch and perform slapstick comedy. Here are some of his holiday treats.

This handmade bag, filled with goodies is perfect for adventuring nature kids. You can get it here.

This nature vest will be great to carry supplies when we are hiking and traveling. You can get it here.

I reviewed Microcosmos here a few months ago. This is simply the best insect film ever.

This Little Rascals box set is perfect for kids with great comedic sense. Actually, we already own it and have enjoyed the hours and hours of episodes many times. The Little Rascals have influenced play, dress (one kid wears undershirts because of an episode), inventions (remember all their cool vehicles?) and every sort of kid cultural creation around here.

I love to support art projects made by kids. This cool coloring book is just a few bucks and about a million times more rad than anything else you will find in any store. Get it here.

I have no idea what I am thinking. It must be all the unschooling and "yes" philosophy I am drinking in - but I am getting my son a BB gun. He wants it so bad, and is a very cautious kid. But, I have several bad gun stories in my past - so this will be an interesting journey for us. Which I guess is what parenting should be, right? A journey and relationship between people...

gift guide - 5 year old boy

Do you have all your holiday shopping done yet? I am getting there. This week I am sharing some things that I am either giving my kids or have given in the past. Most of them come with a pretty strong endorsement. Since I have three, really specific kids, the lists are geared towards them. 

Please share your additional suggestions in the comments!

The 5 year old boy that this list is geared to is an amazingly kind and loving kid, who is equally comfortable mock battling all day with his older brother in dirt holes as he is taking ballet and performing dances with his older sister. 

When I look at him, I hear the Walt Whitman line,"... I am large, I contain multitudes."

So here is the list for a fun loving, active and imaginative boy.

Fun Hats. My son love dress up stuff and cool clothes. He will love this hat from team sanchez. I swapped with her and have already received the hat. I love it! It is very well made.

Shadow puppets. I have a set of these from Owly Shadow Puppets and they are really gorgeous. They are laser cut from a plastic material, so will withstand many, many shows. A sheet, flashlight and a few of these and you are on your way to the theatre!

Paper Balloons. These are so great for stockings and Christmas cards. They fold up flat and then you blow them up through a little hole. If they deflate, you can just blow them up again. My kids have had so much fun with these over the years. You can get them at Pearl River and Amazon. The animals shapes are always a hit!

Fisherman Pants. These are some of the most comfortable pants for active kids. My son loves to wear them to play in, and they always make it into costume play. They are impossible to outgrow - they just seem to get shorter. You can buy them here. 

Wooden Sword. We actually bought these at a medieval festival but you can also get them here. They are one of the most consistently played with toys around here. My kids spent a lot of time decorating and painting their swords. We used hammered metal spray paint for the blade and a color with lots of jewels on the hilt. They are wielded on top of picnic tables, up and down stairs and all throughout the house. 

Make a Fort Kit. I have seen this all over the internet and think my 5 year old would love it. The original idea came from here. She has lots of versions you can make - from mini to deluxe kits. 

My Fathers's Dragon. If you do not have this book in your library already, you will want to get it. The short trilogy has just enough real adventure to ignite imagination, but not give nightmares. The tale is about a boy (Elmer Elevator) who saves a baby dragon and then helps save his family. The dangers are real, but easily overcome by a smart boy with things like pink lollypops, hair ribbons and a toothbrush. SO great for five year olds.