A Good Day for Roses

Roses and Canvas

I had a friend from High School drop by the other day. She noticed my roses in front were blooming and asked if she could have some. Of course I said yes.

Emily modeling a Tiny Tipis Canvas Bag

  Seeing as I didn't have a vase handy I decided to have her put her bouquet in one of my canvas bags. Hey, if it works for fresh produce why not fresh roses, right?

Fresh cut red rose being kept safe in a Tiny Tipis Market Bag

 She couldn't have picked a better day to come see me. All the rose bushes were in bloom and her yellow dress really complimented the colors.

The Tiny Tipis 10 ounce Canvas Grocery Bag even keeps flowers fresh until you get home!

Thorns aside, I think she really enjoyed getting to pick her own roses.

Emily smelling a fresh cut rose before she puts it in her new Handbag

 Even though the flowers were contained in the Canvas Tote the lovely smell was not. I wonder how long her new bag will smell like roses.

Roses just peeking out of the bag.

 Look at the smile on her face! I'm not sure what I like better, seeing someone put one of my bags to good use or enjoying my roses.

Home Grown Roses in a Tiny Tipis Canvas Bag

She grabbed a few more after I snapped this pic. I think if I let her know when the next bloom cycle comes along I'll be seeing her again.  :)

You can buy your own Tiny Tipis Canvas Bag and use it to store and carry just about anything. Sorry, roses not included.

Tiny Tipis Etsy Store

Tiny Tipis Facebook

Tiny Tipis Pinterest

The Garden Blog

Tiny Tipis Website

More Articles by Tiny Tipis

Home Brew Heaven - Part 1

The foam shows the beer is brewing.

As time passes I am learning to appreciate the smaller things in life. Things like good beer, quality wine, and pungent cheese... fresh veges from the garden and the earthy smell of a well maintained compost. Right along with learning to love these small things comes the desire to learn how they are created.

My husband and I have a friend who has some experience brewing beer at home, home brew if you will. Let's call him Spiky since that is what my son call him. Spiky showed up the other day with malt and hops and a bunch of other things and said, "Let's make beer!"

Spiky poured some goo, malt extract, into a large brew pot and we all waited impatiently for 50 minutes until we reached the final 10 minute stage where the hops are infused into the concoction. After the flavor of the hops had time to infuse our brown liquid we drained it into a large glass carboy and waited for the temperature to reach around 85 degrees Fahrenheit. At that point we added the yeast and sealed the carboy to keep germs out.

We sat the 5 gallon carboy in our den to ferment. Our den stays between 55 and 65 degrees since we keep it closed off to save money in the winter. I wrapped an old towel around the base to catch any splooge that came out of the bubble airlock. It seems so simple I don't know why I've never done this before!

Supposedly in 3-4 weeks we will have some Pale Ale Homebrew to bottle and keg. Spiky is fairly confident it will taste good since he has experience with this. I'm just excited to know how beer is made. I'll let you know how it turns out when I finally get to taste it.  ;)











Last night I had some lovely "me time" while the boys had a night out so I took the ultra rare opportunity to enjoy some wine, cheese, and blueberries. Cabot from Vermont makes an amazing white cheddar that pairs well with almost any red wine. Bicicleta by Cono Sur was a good wine for under $10 and fits well with my recent Chilean Wine kick. Mmmmmm... was a good night indeed!

For more Tiny Tipis updates Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Pinterest. Hop on over to the Etsy shop or Zibbet store to support Hand Made Goodness. Thanks for Reading!!!

Second January Feature - Crooked Corks Wine Racks

How is your year going so far? Have you been able to stick to your New Years resolutions? My resolutions this year were to get organized and to finish projects. I want to make a point of finishing the lovely things I started! I'll admit it, I'm already falling behind on the finishing projects but the organizing is going great!

I'll bet you've been waiting all week for the new feature artist and super secret coupon code. A new and tasty talent for you to sip up into your eager mind... Wait no longer! This week I have an especially juicy, and perhaps even fermented, treat for you.

Crooked Corks Wine Racks

Elise, the brilliant mind behind Crooked Corks, hand-crafts each wine rack sold in her online store. Her wooden wine holders are made with careful attention to detail to ensure the functionality is second only to the visual appeal. Here was what she had to say when asked why her shop is so unique:

"Crooked Corks creates custom made wine racks, wine stands, wine gift sets and wine accessories for anyone who simply enjoys a glass of wine. Our natural wood designs are made by hand and are designed to be unique, eye catching, and functional. We love exploring the different flavors and cultures wine brings to our kitchen table and taste buds. Wine is special, and so are you!"

The idea for Crooked Corks creations was born from a very special Christmas gift given to Elise by her husband a few years ago, a handmade wine rack of course! The gift brought tears to her eyes as she unwrapped it and inspired her to start her shop. Now, over 3 years later, Elise still loves selecting old, new, and recycled wood to turn into the wine accessories she will sell in her store. You can find Crooked Corks on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Wanelo in addition to their Etsy Store.

You have to check out these gorgeous hand crafted wine racks! Order from them now and receive 10% off your entire purchase with the Special Coupon Code BLOGTIME.

Thanks for looking! To browse items from Tiny Tipis visit the following sure-to-please links:

Buy Direct from Tiny Tipis Website

Etsy Store

Zibbet Shop

eBay Listings

Tophatter Auctions

Follow Tiny Tipis on Pinterest for all the latest and greatest Pins.

Tune in next week for a great feature on Angelinas Avenue

Like to see your shop featured here? Leave me a comment on how to contact you with details!

Happy New Year - 1st January Feature

Happy New Year Everyone!!! How were your holidays? Mine were great but I'm so glad to be done with all the craziness. This year I decided to take a look at other artists and creative people that I admire. I want to share their passion with you and hope that you will be inspired. As a bonus the artists I feature will be sharing a super uber secret coupon code for you to use in their store. Do you feel loved yet? Good.

www.etsy.com/shop/TheNavigatrix

Meet Sally-Ann. She is the creative genius behind Etsy Store The Navigatrix. Her store features Upcycled Steampunk creations and other Victorian inspired jewelery. I asked her what inspired her and why she started making Steampunk accessories. Here is what she had to say:

"I have a background as a professional modelmaker and began making costume and props for Live Roleplay, a favourite hobby. I began getting involved in Steampunk fairly recently, being introduced to it by a friend and by my brother Matt simultaneously, who both encouraged me to take my Steampunk costume creations further. My creative impulse has re-awakened and now I'm doing the cliche: making stuff on my dining room table out of bits and bobs and inspirations. Etsy taught me the verb 'to upcycle'; my materials come mostly from charity shops and family hoards!"

Her brother Matt has an Etsy Store as well, Arcane Armoury. The two of them work closely together to inspire each other and create one of a kind items. Both Sally-Ann and her brother are located in England and come from a creative family. Sally-Ann has a degree in model making from the University of Hertfordshire and enjoys being a mom.

If you would like to purchase any of Sally-Ann's lovely items you can find them in her Etsy Store and don't forget to use your special coupon code: BLOG15 for 15% off!

Thanks for reading the Tiny Tipis blog and as always, you can find my creations at any of the following online vendors:

Buy Direct from Tiny Tipis Website

Etsy Store

Zibbet Shop

eBay Listings

Tophatter Auctions

Follow me on Pinterest for all my latest and greatest inspirational Pins.

Tune in next week for a great feature on Crooked Corks! 

 Like to see your shop featured here? Leave me a comment on how to contact you with details!

One Day She Will Fly

The things I have learned this year:

- When I tell myself 5 minute limit on the computer it ends up being 15. Maybe I should start aiming for 1 minute...

- Laundry doesn't do itself.

- Listen.

- Good enough is an excuse for a crappy job.

- There is never a "right time" to quit.

- Being the dumbest in the room is a good thing. It means you are the smartest in the room to surround yourself with those who would lift you up.

- Telling myself to "just do it" gets more done than "I need another cup of coffee for that."

- Baby gates only work for babies, not toddlers.

- I would rather buy a toy for my son that buy myself anything.

- Every second counts. Ever minute is precious. Every day is a gift. Every year is a giant opportunity to succeed.

- Eat well to live well.

- The sooner I get dressed the more I will accomplish.

- No matter how high up you hide the sharpies the child will find them.

- Fashionably Late is a lame excuse for "I didn't care enough to be on time."

- I have control issues.

- There is always room for improvement.

- If you are not moving forward you are moving backward or stagnating - either way is not good.

- The ability to accept help does not show weakness. The ability and willingness to return the help is where you show strength.

- Be Organized.

- Show others you appreciate them every day.

Not bad for a year... I'm only that much more determined to make next year even better now. 

DIY Lace Patch for Clothes and Jeans

5 Simple Steps to Patch old Jeans with Lace

      Recently one of my favorite pairs of pants started ripping at the back. For a while I sucked it up and wore them with shorts underneath but the hole just kept getting worse every time I wore them so I decided to do something about it. In my massive piles of sewing odds and ends I happened to have lace... lots of lace (Thanks Grandma.) Follow along to see how I fixed my favorite pants to make them even better!

1) Lay clean pants on a flat surface with lace on top of the hole. My hole was big enough I needed two rows of lace to cover it. Cut the lace about an inch too long (1/2" extra for each side of the rip). If you don't cut the lace long enough your patch won't cover the entire hole and it will continue to rip further. 

2) Since my lace needed to be wider to cover the hole I just cut two pieces the same length and cut a piece of hemp cord (about 2" longer than lace segments) to use as a stabilizer for joining the lace. I then placed both lace segments back to back with the hemp in the middle. To join them I used the widest zig-zag stitch on my machine with a short stitch length for the maximum amount of strength in the seam. I stitched down the middle ensuring the hemp cord was captured inside the zig-zag and both pieces of lace were secured together. I decided to use hemp because I have it on hand, it is cheap, and I like the natural look of it with the lace. You could use any type of strong cord pretty much.

3) After joining my two lace segments I cut the hemp cord to be 1/4" longer than the lace on each side. I left the hemp longer so I would be able to turn it under and prevent unraveling. 

Broken needles happen... just make sure you pull out all the little metal pieces or it can really damage your machine. My needle broke while I was sewing around the extra thick seams in the crotch. If you advance the needle by hand in the thickest parts it's less likely to break.

4) (Showing stitches inside jeans) I first zig-zag stitched a big rectangle to secure the lace to the jeans. Make sure to turn your cording under and zig-zag over it extra well if you had to use it to stabilizer. If you don't the stabilizer cord will pull out and your patch will fail. I tried to only zig-zag on the busy parts of the lace to hide as much of my thread as possible on the visible side. The rectangle will keep the lace in place but you still need to sew down any ends that are loose so they don't stick out when you wear your pants. I did this by using a straight stitch to sew around the outer edges of the lace patch. You can see this in the photo above where the straight stitch makes little triangles outside of the zig-zagged rectangle. This way I don't have any loose lace bits flapping around on my butt.

 

 5) Last Step! Cut any loose thread ends and try pants on. Now brag because your favorite pants just got even better!

This took me about 30 minutes to do (even with taking photos) and maybe half a brain cell. When I wash these pants I try to turn them inside out to protect the lace from snagging on other clothes. So far the patch has held excellent with no damage. Let me know how your lace patches turn out!

 Tiny Tipis is a small handmade company providing environmentally friendly products to help customers reduce their carbon footprint. We focus on using high quality materials with attention to detail and running our company as close to zero waste as we possibly can. All shipping materials are recyclable, compostable, and/or biodegradable. See more of what Tiny Tipis does for our planet at any of the links below: 

 

facebook.com/TinyTipis

pinterest.com/TinyTipis
TinyTipis.blogspot.com

instagram.com/tinytipis/
TinyTipis.etsy.com

 

 Thank you for being environmentally responsible!!!

The Greatest Gift of All

Yep, you guessed it. It's that time of year again when the reindeer are out and Santa is about. People scurry to and fro to get the latest gadget to give them more mojo... and bloggers become poets who don't even know it. Oh my!

I'll keep this short, sweet, and to the point: COUPON CODES!!!

For 10% off your entire order from www.TinyTipis.etsy.com use HOLIDAY2012

If you prefer FREE SHIPPING check out the new Tiny Tipis Website! We just added the option to purchase directly from us and are offering free shipping through December 2012 on all orders.

BONUS!!! All orders shipped in December will be gift wrapped so you don't have to worry about it! Nothing says Christmas like a pretty present under a tree.

If there was ever a time to buy it is now! Shop happy, stay warm, and keep safe through this holiday season.  :)


To keep up on all the future sales follow Tiny Tipis on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/TinyTipis

Find our inspiration on Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/TinyTipis

And as always, Shop Tiny Tipis online in any of the following places:

www.TinyTipis.etsy.com

www.zibbet.com/TinyTipisLLC

www.eBay.com

Where Do You Sleep

It's hard to explain being poor to someone who has never wanted for anything. I wouldn't even know where to begin. Priorities change as one gains wealth. Children suffer from poverty silently. They lack the ability to change many things about their life and depend on others for nearly everything. They tend to make the best of every situation because they don't have the life experience to know that there is something better out there. I've slowly been evolving as a person as I see poverty and grief all around, not just in America but everywhere. Today, I share this photo series by James Mollison called Where Children Sleep. Open your eyes for a moment.

Kaya, 4, Tokyo Japan

Indira, 7, Kathmandu, Nepal

 Alex, 9, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

 Alyssa, 8, Harlan County, USA

Ahkohxet, 8, Amazonia, Brazil

Lewis, 10, Barnsley, England

 Lamine, 12, Bounkiling Village, Senegal

 Prena, 14, Kathmandu, Nepal

Nantio, 15, Lisamis, Northern Kenya

Risa, 15, Kyoto, Japan

Kana,16, Tokyo, Japan

 Bilal, 6, Wadi Abu Hindi, The West Bank 

 Joey, 11, Kentucky, USA

 Dong, 9, Yunnan, China

All Photos in this post are from here.

The Waldo Canyon Fire

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/news

The air in Colorado Springs is feeling more like soup than something breathable this week. As a west side resident I've been keeping an eye on the Waldo Canyon Fire progress. It doesn't look good. Evacuations and notices currently extend from Woodland Park to Monument and into the Colorado Springs City Limits. I find my own home a mere half a block outside of a pre-evacuation area.

From http://www.gazette.com/

While my home is still a few miles away from the actual front line of the fire I admit my stomach is twisted in knots. I've already left once due to the smoke. Thankfully the wind changed and I am now home again. The situation is so surreal. People have already lost homes and places I used to hike are now consumed by flames. The mountains I used to love so much are now an inferno fueled by years of collected pine needles and dead brush. I can't help but think about how long it will be before I'm allowed to walk through beautiful William's Canyon and drive on Rampart Range Road again. In my head it is still unreal.

I wait with my ears turned toward the TV all day to see if anything will change. The meager 5% containment and the ever growing fingers of the Waldo Canyon Fire threaten more communities as each day passes. I can only wonder if, or maybe when, I will have to leave my home again too. My heart goes out to those who have lost their home. There are no words strong enough to comfort their losses.

From http://www.gazette.com