Stacked Coins Baby Quilt

I've wanting to share this for weeks! My first finished quilt!



I had be all hush-hush about it because the quilt was a gift for my friend Jill, who's having a baby girl in September. Now, after a fun afternoon of gossiping, onsie-decorating, and cheesy '80s movie watching (aka the baby shower), the quilt is in her possession and I can safely play show and tell.



You could say this is a do-what-the-internet-tells-you quilt.

Farmers Market find

Why are tiny versions of everyday things always irresistibly cute?

I mean, these eggplants. They kill me.



Each one is about the size of your thumb. I found them at the farmers market on Saturday. The woman selling them promised that these little guys -- they're called Fairy Tale Eggplants (Look, even the name is adorable!) -- were tender and sweet, without a trace of the bitterness sometimes found in larger varieties.

She was right. Last night, we sliced them in half and tossed them in a wok with some onion, garlic, and chicken to make a stir-fry. Delicious. I'll be on the look out for them again next weekend.

Farmers Market Paparazzo

Yesterday morning I joined about 40 other local photographers to troll the Downtown Farmers Market as part of the Worldwide Photo Walk.

I'll be honest. I wasn't exactly enthusiastic when my husband told me he'd signed me up for a photo walk. I had an image of 40 people walking en masse down the street, SLRs slug over their shoulders or around their necks, swarming each street performer and tomato stand in unison,  like some sort of Farmers Market paparazzi.

photo via Wikipedia

I'm happy to report that I was wrong. There were no scenes like the one above at the market yesterday. Maybe because there is so much happening at the market that there were thousands of interesting things to photograph.

My Guy's got a Green Thumb

$2 at a neighborhood garage sale.

Worth every penny.

Hulk Smash!

An excuse to shop: Bags for a good cause

My time with Buttercup Bag No. 4 was short. It's better that way, though. I was starting to get a little attached.

I made her Monday evening, photographed her before leaving for work Tuesday morning, and handed her over to the lovely ladies at Home Ec. Workshop several hours later during my lunch break.

She's one of more than 40 bags that have been donated to the shop for a fundraiser. The bags are for sale in a silent auction with all proceeds going to benefit cancer research. It's a good cause. I'm a happy to donate a bag. I tried to make a super-cute one that I hope will sell at a high (for a handbag) price.

But my motivation wasn't entirely selfless. Home Ec. is also asking everyone who stops in the store (whether they're placing a bid or not) to vote for their favorite bag. The winner gets a big fat gift certificate, and I've got my eye on some fantastic Kokka fabric for sale there.  (Vote for me! Vote for me!)

There are lots of great bags on display at the shop, in all sorts of styles, fabrics, and colors. If you're in Iowa City, check it out. The auction and contest run through July 24. (Also, while you're there, get a fresh-baked cookie. They're delicious.)

A Photo Booth 4th

Pardon me while I make one more post about our fab photo booth.



Last night we took the booth to 4th of July festivities in my hometown and had a blast. The booth was hopping for 5 hours straight. It was fun to have the diverse crowd that a community festival like a fireworks show attracts. Our booth saw a few firsts, including:

a dog



and a SUPERHERO!



It's hard not to be a little bit starstruck by Spiderman. Even if you do know that it's really just an actor dressed up in a padded spandex suit.

Here's one last picture of our booth at the Freedom Festival as people stood in line for their turn while waiting for the fireworks show to start:



Big thanks to the Freedom Festival for making us a part of this year's events.

The photo booth goes outdoors

I'm still not quite sure how it happened, but about a year and a half ago, I became a small business owner.

My husband and I rent out photo booths. And the booths are amazing. I can say this without sounding like a Braggy McBraggerson because I had very little to do with their actual construction. My husband designed and built the actual booth, and wrote the software that makes it run. My mom sewed the gorgeous red microsuede curtain that became our namesake.

I'm just the girl who said "Wouldn't it be cool if we had a photo booth at our wedding?" back when my husband and I were brainstorming ways to make our reception fun and memorable.

But that's a whole 'nother story.

Mostly, we take the photo booth to wedding receptions. But we've also had people reserve the booth for proms, anniversaries, and one super swank 16th birthday party.  This year, we were hired by the Freedom Festival, an annual community celebration in my hometown, to bring the booth to a few of its summer events. Outdoor events.  The first event was rained out. The second one though, the Great Cardboard Boat Regatta, was held on one of those days with nearly perfect weather -- blue skies, mild temperatures, oh, and crazy strong wind gusts.

Turns out that big red curtain serves as an excellent wind sail. We called in emergency back-up (ie: my parents) to run over an assortment of supplies to tie down the curtain so that patrons could get into the booth without fighting yards of fabric.



This is how Ryan -- that's my husband (cute, right?) -- spent much of the afternoon, securing and re-securing the curtain against the wind. We still got some motion from the wind, and you could see the curtain flapping around in some of the photo strips, but, hey, that's just one more reminder of the great day. (And maybe of the humorous site of the wind blowing so hard that it kept pushing those cardboard boats backwards as they tried to run their races.)