I'll be selling handmade, upcycled jewelry at Production in the City, a very cool Made in DC event cohosted by Smart Growth America and Think Local First. Please join me and 20 other local vendors, as well as a cool panel discussion, and get a head start on your holiday shopping!
December 5, 2013, 5:30-8:30pm
Boilermaker Shops, 3rd and Tingey SE, Navy Yard, DC
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/production-in-the-city-tickets-9284075921 (registration optional)
And check out my latest newsletter for a little "thanks for being a fan" coupon! http://eepurl.com/Jo0VD
And if you're in a really good mood, like me on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/retrocycledvintage) or follow on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/retrocycled).
Happy (almost) holidays!
A blog about vintage, crafting and life in general
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Monday, March 5, 2012
I was so happy to see a photo of my chic grandmother, Emily, on my sister's blog. I'm stealing it to show you, but the original is here.
I love her elegance, her gracefulness without trying. She's not trying to woo you in this photo, she knows she's pretty and totally at peace with whatever comes her way. She's still beautiful and graceful, but something about seeing photos of her when she was younger just makes me feel a little unkempt (I doubt she was wearing leggings and sweatshirts after her kids were born, as I am right now) and inspired. I love that she's wearing lipstick, which she still does! [Side note: my other grandfather supposedly fell in love with my nana because she was the only one at the end of the party who still had her lipstick on, i.e. wasn't drinking too much or making out! I love that!]
I have a few other photos of her, and of my husband's grandparents, I hope to share them with you over time.
I have a few other photos of her, and of my husband's grandparents, I hope to share them with you over time.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Vintage Fashion for Breastfeeding - A Tough Find
I have some really lovely vintage dresses in my closet, and a few more in my shop. But when I needed a dress for an event recently, nothing in my closet met my needs. Even though I'm back to my pre-pregnancy size, all of my vintage dresses are high-necked, which means bad for breastfeeding. So I looked online. I needed one with buttons or a wrap that was suitable for breastfeeding, but was flexible on just about everything else. I couldn't find anything anywhere! I looked all over Etsy and couldn't believe there wasn't one dress for me. Now, I'm a bit of an unusual(ly, shall we say, "gifted") size on top, so maybe I was expecting too much. But I was a bit disappointed - I figured I could find a fun wrap dress (and now I'm bumming that I gave away my stretchy blue disco wrap dress to my friend Ellyn a while back!) I also looked for handmade wrap dresses, but didn't find any in the under $40 category (which pretty much any dress needs to be right now, since it likely won't fit properly once I'm done breastfeeding.)
I ended up wearing a button down dress from Old Navy that I really like. It's not available any more but they seem to keep their wrap and button down dresses well stocked! I've included a couple of those below, along with a couple from Etsy that popped up. Even though I don't shop at ModCloth or JCrew, I checked them for this blog post, and didn't find anything newsworthy.
Good luck searching! If you know of any inexpensive dresses for maternity, nursing or just 'gifted' women, leave a comment!
I ended up wearing a button down dress from Old Navy that I really like. It's not available any more but they seem to keep their wrap and button down dresses well stocked! I've included a couple of those below, along with a couple from Etsy that popped up. Even though I don't shop at ModCloth or JCrew, I checked them for this blog post, and didn't find anything newsworthy.
Vintage Aqua Dress, from Etsy seller JupiterDesigns, Size 12, $11!
Magenta Disco Dress, from Etsy seller RouletteVintage, $26
Old Navy Charmeuse Dress (w/ hidden buttons)
Good luck searching! If you know of any inexpensive dresses for maternity, nursing or just 'gifted' women, leave a comment!
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
A holiday UN-SALE: Get to Give
I was thinking about the holidays and how I'm always tempted to have sales and reduce prices to increase purchases in my shops (I know this is blunt, but why else would one hold a sale?) I still may do a sale this month, but I have decided to have an UN-SALE:
Any purchase in either my vintage or jewelry shop that uses the code GIVING will have 20% of the list price of the item go directly to charity. As an odd little bonus, you'll get 1% OFF your purchase (because you can't create a 0% OFF coupon code!) This UN-SALE goes until Dec. 15, but if it is popular I might extend it (check back here, I will revise this post if I extend it.)
These donations will be on top of the 10% of net proceeds I give to charity, which usually ends up being actually about 10% of gross sales by the time I'm done giving. I usually donate to cancer, humanitarian, animal rights or similar causes, but I'm open to suggestions (feel free to provide suggestions in the comments or in your purchase note!)
Last but not least, if you're purchasing a present for someone, I am always happy to gift wrap for free, so just shoot me a note or email with instructions. I use gently upcycled materials (like pretty pictures, newspaper and reclaimed bows) to wrap these presents, making them one of a kind and quirky.
Any purchase in either my vintage or jewelry shop that uses the code GIVING will have 20% of the list price of the item go directly to charity. As an odd little bonus, you'll get 1% OFF your purchase (because you can't create a 0% OFF coupon code!) This UN-SALE goes until Dec. 15, but if it is popular I might extend it (check back here, I will revise this post if I extend it.)
These donations will be on top of the 10% of net proceeds I give to charity, which usually ends up being actually about 10% of gross sales by the time I'm done giving. I usually donate to cancer, humanitarian, animal rights or similar causes, but I'm open to suggestions (feel free to provide suggestions in the comments or in your purchase note!)
Last but not least, if you're purchasing a present for someone, I am always happy to gift wrap for free, so just shoot me a note or email with instructions. I use gently upcycled materials (like pretty pictures, newspaper and reclaimed bows) to wrap these presents, making them one of a kind and quirky.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Exciting events coming up!
TWO exciting pieces of news!
Jewelry pop up shop!
I and three other DC-area jewelry designers will be showing off our latest designs, many one of a kind items and lots of holiday gifts in reasonable price points! Plus you'll get to tour NOA Gallery which has some very neat art. Light refreshments will be provided.
Sunday, December 4
2-5pm
132 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20002
(just down the street from Rustik and Boundary Stone in Bloomingdale neighborhood, on the G8 and 80 routes and about 10 min walk from Shaw Metro station)
Pre-holiday Sale!
I'm running an extended Black Friday holiday stock up sale!
Thursday, 11/24 to Sunday, 11/27
REtroCYCLEd
10% off all items!
happyfoxstudio
20% off all items!
No coupon code needed! Purchase from both stores and I'll refund shipping overages (or contact me in advance and I'll adjust shipping!)
Jewelry pop up shop!
I and three other DC-area jewelry designers will be showing off our latest designs, many one of a kind items and lots of holiday gifts in reasonable price points! Plus you'll get to tour NOA Gallery which has some very neat art. Light refreshments will be provided.
Sunday, December 4
2-5pm
132 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20002
(just down the street from Rustik and Boundary Stone in Bloomingdale neighborhood, on the G8 and 80 routes and about 10 min walk from Shaw Metro station)
Pre-holiday Sale!
I'm running an extended Black Friday holiday stock up sale!
Thursday, 11/24 to Sunday, 11/27
REtroCYCLEd
10% off all items!
happyfoxstudio
20% off all items!
No coupon code needed! Purchase from both stores and I'll refund shipping overages (or contact me in advance and I'll adjust shipping!)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Things I Wish I Knew about Motherhood (Before It Arrived!)
I was thinking the other day about all of the things I didn't know about motherhood in advance, despite reading quite a few pregnancy books and a few 'first year' books. So I decided to compile a few of the things I wish I'd known - mostly practical rather than emotional, that's a whole other story! - so that I'm not tempted to give unsolicted advice to my future pregnant and mom friends (my biggest pregnancy pet peeve!)
SLEEP
Babies don't just necessarily know how and when to sleep. Maya used to only sleep for 45 minutes at a time, all night long. I assumed this was pretty normal. It's not! I wish I'd known to read at least one sleep book in advance. I recently read Dr. Weissbluth's book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. I don't agree with a lot of it (I don't care for 'crying it out' though Maya does seem to need 5 minutes of fussing sometimes before she'll go to sleep) but there was a lot of good information in it, especially about when to put a baby down for a nap. Note: In my uneducated opinion, the authors of The Baby Whisperer and Happiest Baby on the Block are certifiably nuts. The author of No-Cry Sleep Solution is less so, but still pretty weird (holding your baby's mouth shut?!) Though the No-Cry book had the best information on signs of tiredness, which I was totally missing.
Also, the information on SIDS varies among websites and books, some claiming the peak SIDS age is 2-4 months, others 4-10 months, etc. I wish there was better, more information, especially about the actual risk if you remove 'risk factors' like smoking (i.e. what's the rate of SIDS among non-smoking households?)
EATING
Babies don't always know how to nurse. I was resistant to having a lactation consultant, I thought, 'Oh, I won't need that.' But Maya didn't know how to latch immediately. Less than 3 minutes with a lactation consultant in the hospital, and we were good to go!
One of my biggest a-ha moments: Breast milk can be used for so many things! Since I was instructed to put it on sore nipples, I thought, if it's healing for that body part, wouldn't it be for others? Turns out, you can use it to sooth bug bites (it works, tried it!) heal cuts (works!), baby acne (works!) and diaper rash (works!) You can also put some in your eye (or your baby's) if you have an infection! It also is supposed to help with cradle cap, though we had less success with that. Obviously I'm not a doctor so ask yours if you should be using breast milk in this way. But I still cannot believe that doctors don't regularly tell patients about these uses, since for a lot of women it is a renewable resource :) Just Google "other uses for breast milk."
Also, I didn't know that some women produce either too much or too little milk If you have a lot of milk, you can donate it - just Google 'milk bank'. Unfortunately I was excluded due to my time overseas, but it's neat that moms with too much can help preemies and other hospital patients through donation. On the flip side, I have a few friends who do not produce enough milk, and have had to get over quite a bit of guilt.
Not all babies will take bottles. We've tried at least 6 different kinds and as many feeding positions/atmospheres. Nothing has worked! I've met a lot of moms with this issue. It sucks a little because we can't have a babysitter, but it's not the worst problem in the world! Just inconvenient for me. I do wish I'd known - I actually would have introduced a bottle when she was younger (we waited until 6 weeks to prevent nipple confusion, which may have been a mistake!)
Everyone, and everyone, disagrees on when you should start feeding an infant solid foods, and what. It's so frustrating to get different information from each place (including the American Academy of Pediatrics, who can't decide either). We are going to try to wait until 6 months, but exactly what to feed Maya first is up in the air, since cereal doesn't seem very natural or digestable. I'm voting for avocado but my husband's keen on pumpkin. We'll see!
CLOTHING
Everyone likes to dress their baby in something different. I took the suggestion to have lots and lots of onesies on hand, and even structured my baby shower around decorating them. However, Maya wore only a swaddle for the first 6-8 weeks since it was a brutal summer here. Some people love onesies, but I prefer shirts and pants as it's only one thing you have to take off to change her diaper. We have lots of unused onesies, most of which were donated, a few very special ones I've kept.
People love to call a baby 'him' or 'her' depending on their assessment, but are super embarassed when they get it wrong. Just ask! Not all girls wear pink, not all bald babies are boys! (And a related comment: Some babies are small. Others are huge. Both are normal. That is all.)
DIAPERS
It's really hard to find high-quality eco-friendly disposable diapers. I really wanted to use biodegradable or compostable diapers so that we don't contribute (as much) to landfill issues. We use Nature Babycare disposables, which are very nicely absorbent and biodegradable. We never have leaks with pee, not even overnight. However, almost every poops comes up over the back of these diapers. So we use them at night (Maya doesn't poop at night anymore, hooray!) but can't use them when we travel. We're experimenting with other eco-friendly (but not compostable) diapers.
Except at night, we use BumGenius Elemental (organic) "all in one" cloth diapers. We like them a lot! We almost never have 'blow outs' (maybe 1-2 per month) and I don't think we've ever had pee leaks. The only really frustrating thing is that we spent 2 months line drying them, and then I found out you can actually dry them in the dryer. BumGenius customer service was very unhelpful, and told me 3 different things about drying them. A big waste of time but good to know in the long run. We used to use these for Maya at night, too, since I had to change her at least once. When she stopped needing changes, though, she would get diaper rash if didn't change her cloth diaper. Hence the switch to disposables at night.
Babies need to air out! I didn't know this. Now we try to give Maya 5-10 minutes of air time at every diaper change and after baths. It doesn't completely prevent diaper rash but it does really help.
DEVELOPMENT
Some babies hate tummy time, as Maya did. We got her to like it by doing lots of airplane time, spending time with her down on her play mat, laying her over our knees and lightly playing rhythyms on her back, and other 'together' tummy time.
Maya's been very early on some developmental milestones, normal on others and late on a few. And some things that she was super early on (like babbling) she hasn't progressed that much since starting months ago. It's a lot of pressure to put on a baby to do everything at the same time, so I'm learning to just be pleased with her progress and not worry too much or compare her to other babies (though it's hard since there are 3 babies in her play group born within a week of her!)
Overall, even after reading pregnancy and new mom books, I just sort of assumed our bodies - and our babies - knew how to do everything 'right', but that's just not the case, either because of our modern lifestyles, or evolution, or whatever! I think that's the biggest thing I didn't know, that early motherhood (and maybe all motherhood?) is 'one step forward, two steps back' - I will be so excited to figure something out, only for Maya to undo her schedule / feedings / sleep habits / play preferences / whatever, after a few days or a week! After consulting books and the internet and asking lots of questions of friends and doctors, at some point we just need to do our best, take a breath and give a lot of love!
What did you wish you knew about motherhood before it arrived? Leave comments!
SLEEP
Babies don't just necessarily know how and when to sleep. Maya used to only sleep for 45 minutes at a time, all night long. I assumed this was pretty normal. It's not! I wish I'd known to read at least one sleep book in advance. I recently read Dr. Weissbluth's book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby. I don't agree with a lot of it (I don't care for 'crying it out' though Maya does seem to need 5 minutes of fussing sometimes before she'll go to sleep) but there was a lot of good information in it, especially about when to put a baby down for a nap. Note: In my uneducated opinion, the authors of The Baby Whisperer and Happiest Baby on the Block are certifiably nuts. The author of No-Cry Sleep Solution is less so, but still pretty weird (holding your baby's mouth shut?!) Though the No-Cry book had the best information on signs of tiredness, which I was totally missing.
Also, the information on SIDS varies among websites and books, some claiming the peak SIDS age is 2-4 months, others 4-10 months, etc. I wish there was better, more information, especially about the actual risk if you remove 'risk factors' like smoking (i.e. what's the rate of SIDS among non-smoking households?)
EATING
Babies don't always know how to nurse. I was resistant to having a lactation consultant, I thought, 'Oh, I won't need that.' But Maya didn't know how to latch immediately. Less than 3 minutes with a lactation consultant in the hospital, and we were good to go!
One of my biggest a-ha moments: Breast milk can be used for so many things! Since I was instructed to put it on sore nipples, I thought, if it's healing for that body part, wouldn't it be for others? Turns out, you can use it to sooth bug bites (it works, tried it!) heal cuts (works!), baby acne (works!) and diaper rash (works!) You can also put some in your eye (or your baby's) if you have an infection! It also is supposed to help with cradle cap, though we had less success with that. Obviously I'm not a doctor so ask yours if you should be using breast milk in this way. But I still cannot believe that doctors don't regularly tell patients about these uses, since for a lot of women it is a renewable resource :) Just Google "other uses for breast milk."
Also, I didn't know that some women produce either too much or too little milk If you have a lot of milk, you can donate it - just Google 'milk bank'. Unfortunately I was excluded due to my time overseas, but it's neat that moms with too much can help preemies and other hospital patients through donation. On the flip side, I have a few friends who do not produce enough milk, and have had to get over quite a bit of guilt.
Not all babies will take bottles. We've tried at least 6 different kinds and as many feeding positions/atmospheres. Nothing has worked! I've met a lot of moms with this issue. It sucks a little because we can't have a babysitter, but it's not the worst problem in the world! Just inconvenient for me. I do wish I'd known - I actually would have introduced a bottle when she was younger (we waited until 6 weeks to prevent nipple confusion, which may have been a mistake!)
Everyone, and everyone, disagrees on when you should start feeding an infant solid foods, and what. It's so frustrating to get different information from each place (including the American Academy of Pediatrics, who can't decide either). We are going to try to wait until 6 months, but exactly what to feed Maya first is up in the air, since cereal doesn't seem very natural or digestable. I'm voting for avocado but my husband's keen on pumpkin. We'll see!
CLOTHING
Everyone likes to dress their baby in something different. I took the suggestion to have lots and lots of onesies on hand, and even structured my baby shower around decorating them. However, Maya wore only a swaddle for the first 6-8 weeks since it was a brutal summer here. Some people love onesies, but I prefer shirts and pants as it's only one thing you have to take off to change her diaper. We have lots of unused onesies, most of which were donated, a few very special ones I've kept.
People love to call a baby 'him' or 'her' depending on their assessment, but are super embarassed when they get it wrong. Just ask! Not all girls wear pink, not all bald babies are boys! (And a related comment: Some babies are small. Others are huge. Both are normal. That is all.)
DIAPERS
It's really hard to find high-quality eco-friendly disposable diapers. I really wanted to use biodegradable or compostable diapers so that we don't contribute (as much) to landfill issues. We use Nature Babycare disposables, which are very nicely absorbent and biodegradable. We never have leaks with pee, not even overnight. However, almost every poops comes up over the back of these diapers. So we use them at night (Maya doesn't poop at night anymore, hooray!) but can't use them when we travel. We're experimenting with other eco-friendly (but not compostable) diapers.
Except at night, we use BumGenius Elemental (organic) "all in one" cloth diapers. We like them a lot! We almost never have 'blow outs' (maybe 1-2 per month) and I don't think we've ever had pee leaks. The only really frustrating thing is that we spent 2 months line drying them, and then I found out you can actually dry them in the dryer. BumGenius customer service was very unhelpful, and told me 3 different things about drying them. A big waste of time but good to know in the long run. We used to use these for Maya at night, too, since I had to change her at least once. When she stopped needing changes, though, she would get diaper rash if didn't change her cloth diaper. Hence the switch to disposables at night.
Babies need to air out! I didn't know this. Now we try to give Maya 5-10 minutes of air time at every diaper change and after baths. It doesn't completely prevent diaper rash but it does really help.
DEVELOPMENT
Some babies hate tummy time, as Maya did. We got her to like it by doing lots of airplane time, spending time with her down on her play mat, laying her over our knees and lightly playing rhythyms on her back, and other 'together' tummy time.
Maya's been very early on some developmental milestones, normal on others and late on a few. And some things that she was super early on (like babbling) she hasn't progressed that much since starting months ago. It's a lot of pressure to put on a baby to do everything at the same time, so I'm learning to just be pleased with her progress and not worry too much or compare her to other babies (though it's hard since there are 3 babies in her play group born within a week of her!)
Overall, even after reading pregnancy and new mom books, I just sort of assumed our bodies - and our babies - knew how to do everything 'right', but that's just not the case, either because of our modern lifestyles, or evolution, or whatever! I think that's the biggest thing I didn't know, that early motherhood (and maybe all motherhood?) is 'one step forward, two steps back' - I will be so excited to figure something out, only for Maya to undo her schedule / feedings / sleep habits / play preferences / whatever, after a few days or a week! After consulting books and the internet and asking lots of questions of friends and doctors, at some point we just need to do our best, take a breath and give a lot of love!
What did you wish you knew about motherhood before it arrived? Leave comments!
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