terrarium fun!

tyler and i decided to make a terrarium. i got the terrarium box from my old boss, and she was excited to see how it would go... here it is! it was actually a lot of fun to hunt through the yard to find the bits of moss and plants and rocks and and sticks and such. tyler had a great time finding different varieties of moss. it was a wonderful way to teach him about how different things can be even when they look the same from far away. even i didn't realize how many different kinds of moss there are just in our own backyard! i think tyler had the most fun picking out the treasures that he wanted to put inside. we have seashells, shinybeads, and marbles.
put some rocks on the bottom of your terrarium container. then some sand. then some good soil (miracle grow would be good). then plant yourself some pretty green things! use a spray bottle to keep it moist. only spray it when there isn't any condensation left on the glass.(that's a good little 'chore' for little ones too!)

homemade winkie costume (let's get ready for fall!)

  i had to put on a jacket this morning when i left the house for work. i love the cool crisp mornings that remind me fall is coming!! and i am definitely ready to get into the spirit of fall.  it is easy for me because my birthday is at the end of this month, so the end of summer means the beginning of birthday season!! anyways, thinking fall means thinking halloween. and when a mom thinks halloween, she always wonders what genius (and marvelously time-consuming) idea our child will have for a costume. 

this past fall season,when i asked my son what he wanted to be for halloween, he said an O-E-O. what he calls an O-E-O is, in fact, called a Winkie. to be honest i didn't know it was called a Winkie either (until a google image search enlightened me). It is one of the soldiers from the Wicked Witch of the West's castle in the Wizard of Oz. so i thought to myself... ok...an O-E-O. i can do this. can't i?? so i started by doing some research online. this is the pic i found to use as a reference. looks do-able, right??? anything is do-able. 

so i started... bought a sweatshirt, furry stuff and some felt,tassels and buttons... and piece by piece began figuring it out as i went, hand-sewing each stitch.

first, i cut strips of gray felt and sewed them onto the sweatshirt...

then came the shoulders.....

then some furry fabric and fancy buttons....

then the sleeves.....

then i added the bottom flap part of the 'jacket'...

then some applique work with white and red felt...

add a fancy necklace and furry hat and taaa-daaa!

and there he is as happy as can be, my little O-E-O!! 

this year he wants to be a peacock......

what have you made for your little ones???

the art of taking photos

so living in pittsburgh makes it rather difficult to take photos of my pieces. the weather is frequently gray, cloudy, sometimes a bit rainy. there are definitely sunny days, but let's be honest... it isn't just a coincidence that we all have low vitamin d levels around here!
i had such a hard time with blah, flat photos of my items, with no pop or vibrancy. it is so important to have photos that let the customer feel like they are holding the item in their hand. photos that really show the fine details of the item. photos that actually reflect what the piece looks like in real life!!
so this is what i did about it!!
i had seen a few websites that had ideas about making light boxes and all that. with a 4 year old, i couldn't have a contraption like that sitting around. i then discovered a little how-to for using the sun and things around the house to create the perfect image.
first, i found a window that gets sun shining directly in.
i put a tv tray up against the window and made sure that the top of the tray was a bit higher than the window sill.
i put a piece of foil, shiny side up, down and then covered it with parchment paper. i then tacked it down so it wouldn't have too many wrinkles.
i then found a regular old copy paper box lid. i took a long sheet of aluminum foil and taped it to the outside, shiny side out. finally, i took some parchment paper and put it over the window. it helps to soften the light coming in from outside.

it was that simple!!
place your item with it's back to the parchment paper over the window. 
using the box lid, find the sun and direct the light coming in from the window onto your item.it's good to have something to prop up the lid or hold it in place, or to have a tripod for the camera. you will need extra hands for this!
oh, and always mess around with the light settings on your camera, too. i have found that adjusting it to a +1 is good for my camera and the natural light i have.
this is the difference.....                                

what are your little tips and tricks for taking good photos??? i'm always looking for new ideas!