Slow Living: 'Tangled' Birthday Party Crafts

Yesterday we had a mostly-handmade birthday party for my eight-year-old.

She wanted a party based on recently-released Disney film Tangled. None of the local party places have any toys and decorations for that film (one shop told me that they'd sold out of what they had because the movie is so popular; another said their ordering cycle hadn't caught up to films that recent yet). So naturally I turned to other bloggers to see what they'd done. Then I adapted some of the ideas (links are provided as we go) by turning a template for the sun design into a stencil, which I used to add metallic gold suns to recycled-polyester felt pennant flags and recycled-paper goody bags. (Naturally, this technique can be used for any design that's appropriate for stencilling.)

Here's how I made my stencil:

I printed the sun template (provided with this instruction video for how to make lanterns like those in the movie), and followed the instructions with this self-seal lamination kit to laminate the printout.

Then I used an exacto knife and a self-sealing cutting mat for the finicky work of cutting the design out. (I held off having my morning coffee until after I had done this, since a steady hand was required.)

Since the printout was cold-laminated, I could separate the sides when I was finished, so that I had two stencils. The stiff plastic side was best for my purposes, but depending on your design you might be able to use the thinner, more flexible side as well.

For stenciling on felt, I found that the felt was so thirsty that I didn't need to adhere the stencil to the surface (for instance, when you stencil a wall, repositionable spray glue is usually used); I could just lay the stencil on top of the felt and use a pouncing motion with a foam brush. (Don't forget to put something under your felt to protect your tabletop, since it's porous enough that paint will go right through it in places.)

As you can see, the acrylic paint I was using bled under the edges of the stencil a little, but not much. The results look pretty old-world.

Because I was running out of time, I added some tiny slits to the top edge of each sheet of felt and threaded a ribbon through the slits to hang the pennants for the party - but I will be hand-sewing them in place for a prettier, more durable finish before we hang them in their permanent home above the childrens' garden.

I also stenciled the goody bags, which used less paint and more of a brush-stroke application. The edge-bleeding on a paper surface was much worse than on the felt...

...so with my daughter's help, I outlined the edges with purple acrylic paint.

The finished goody bags. Our young party-goers each got a movie tie-in sticker storybook and stickers, a 'dreams' journal, a tree frog toy (shh, it looks like a chameleon), a skipping rope (because we played a 'Rapunzel's Hair Jump' skipping game) or a pirate sword (that looks like it might be Flynn's), and an apple from Maximus the horse, along with some little candies. If it had been less windy at the picnic, we also would have sent everyone home with a Pascal blow-out that they'd made.

We had a heart-shaped cake decorated with a small toy Rapunzel and Flynn in a gondola,

home-made cupcakes decorated to look like Pascal the Chameleon (or in the case of the blue ones with white gumdrop eyes, Cookie Monster),

sun-shaped home-baked bread served in a cast iron pan (thanks to my lovely friend Angel, who also made little paper-bag lanterns with LED candles inside), a plate of sliced cheese, trays of fresh fruit and vegetables, a bowl of apples,

and orange boats with felt sails floating on blue gelatin. Each hull in this case is half a mandarin orange.

We also played pin-the-pan-on-Flynn (using double-stick tape on the back of pan printouts cut out by the kids). In retrospect we should have made a bigger Wanted poster for that game!

We had our party at a local park with a huge playground and spray park, so there was lots for the kids to do in addition to the games and colouring we had planned - which is just as well since it was too windy and overcast for several of our ideas. 

Afterward my daughter announced it was the "best party EVER!", so... mission accomplished!

Lesson: if you're planning a themed party, do a search to see what other people have done before you run out and buy your supplies. Making something amazing for the party took me much less time than I spent hunting in vain through the party supply stores, and the results were much more special and meaningful, not to mention cost-effective!

On the Slow Home movement

I've written before about the principles of slow design, and my thoughts on the slow movement and the trend-driven worlds of decor and fashion. However, I haven't really talked about how the slow design principles are being expressed in the the realms of residential architecture, interior design, and decor through the Slow Home movement. Yvonne Blacker did a great summary post about six months ago on Alluminaire, and Slow Home has been a recurring source of inspiration at the brilliant, sumptuous decor blogs of A.B.C. Dragoo, Irene Turner, and Gloria Battista-Collins. I highly recommend that you spend awhile browsing through all three, as each of them have an incredible eye, and their takes on Slow Home style are very different.

So what does Slow Home mean to me?

It means that our dwellings and furniture should be carefully considered, because they have an enormous impact on our personal health and the health of the planet. Our homes should be grounded in the place where we live, using local materials and vernacular design, instead of interchangeable drywall boxes that could be in any city in the world. Our homes and furnishings should give us a feeling of coziness, timelessness, solidity, and permanence, instead of being disposable and trend-driven. Our decor should reflect our personalities and our family histories, and support our desire to live mindfully and creatively.

My Slow Home. July 2007.

My own home is in a walkable, bikeable suburb with a big back garden full of peonies and irises, a clothesline on the back deck, and wicker chairs on the front porch. We built it a little more than a decade ago now (affordability chose the location for us), insisting on extras like flat ceilings and  hardwood floors that improved on the small multilevel split's good bones and abundance of natural light. Over the subsequent years we've upgraded tile floors to ceramic, added a backsplash and moldings and beadboard and a french door, and built floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the home office. We chose antiques and the occasional reproduction, decorated with collections and things made by hand, and grounded our love of rich colour with carefully chosen neutrals. We've ended up with a modern country look that's evocative of both a Prairie farmhouse and a Maritime saltbox... of where we are, and where we're from. All our decisions were made based on what we love, and what would make our lives more planet-friendly, not what might help the house to sell someday. Oh, and we had help from two children and two puppies in adding heaps of character (mostly in the form of toys and dings in the walls). It's cottagey, and lived-in, and since we're perpetually in the middle of decluttering or painting or picking up toys, I have very few 'finished' photos to share (I'll add taking proper photos of everything to my to-do list for this summer.).

The hand-stencilled brocade panels in the dining room were one of my first projects.
This is my daughter's third birthday, so this shot was taken about five years ago.
That's a walnut-stained farmhouse table under the cloth, and a rather bossy cherry-stained oak on the floor.
We've recently updated the room with aubergine faux-silk draperies and amethyst glass on the cabinet.

The kitchen right after the subway-tile backsplash was installed,
with part of my milk glass collection on the 'plant shelf' above.
The cabinets are the cherry-stained oak that was in vogue at the time we built.

These floor-to-ceiling shelves are in an open home-office space that overlooks the kitchen,
and are visible from the front entry of the house. My husband did an amazing job building them.
They're full of my reference books and shelter magazines, and my collections of Poole and McCoy pottery.

This might not be your version of a Slow Home; maybe for you, minimalist simplicity is the paramount expression of the slow life. Maybe fearlessly embracing your passion for bold pattern and colour is your path to authenticity in decorating. Maybe your Slow Home is a downtown apartment in a bustling metropolis, or a beachside surf shack, or a fifty-acre farm. Wherever you live, however you live, it is still possible to find ways to incorporate the Slow Movement into your home.

Won't you tell me what Slow Home means to you, and what makes your home slow?

16 June Edit: silly me. I forgot to mention that my inspiration in posting this yesterday was that today at 5pm EST / 3pm MST/ 2pm PST / 10pm GMT, we'll be talking about the Slow Home movement on Twitter's #DesignTV chat, hosted by A.B.C. Dragoo - who did another fantastic post on Slow Home today herself - and Jonathan Legate (whose swoonworthy tumblr is brimming with timeless design). You can join in by following the #DesignTV hashtag or using tweetchat. I'll post a link to the transcript afterward for those of you who missed it!


17 June Edit: Here's the transcript: http://www.curatede.com/Tweet/ChatTopic/DesignTV?topicid=297

Monthly Slow News Summary: June 2011

I've been home from my trip to Japan for a couple of weeks now, and I'm still getting over the insane jet lag and refining some blog posts from the trip. Meanwhile lots of interesting posts have emerged on aspects of the slow movement. In the interest of getting them up in a timely manner, I'll just do bullet point lists this month...


On Slow Food:

• "Rather than working to fix the problems revealed in documentaries, photographs and videos, the agricultural sector is currently lobbying to stop public displays of these activities, by introducing legislation that would make it illegal to photograph or record farms." http://slowfood.com/international/slow-stories/99651/farmarazzi/q=89335C
• UN's Food & Agriculture Organization says farming worldwide needs a "major shift" to more sustainable practices. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-13/farming-needs-major-shift-as-food-system-fails-un-farming-agency-says.html
• An ethnobotanist looks at food resilience in the desert and how climate change is affecting chile production. http://csrwiretalkback.tumblr.com/post/5752699528/climate-change-one-pepper-at-a-time
• An interesting discussion: how can we support small vs local vs organic producers? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-klein/small-family-farms-important-as-local_b_870660.html
• Why Slow Food's work to save heritage agricultural breeds from extinction is important: http://www.slowfood.com/international/food-for-thought/focus/96276/meat-less-better-and-local
• Late spring and early summer (where I am) mean locally-harvested asparagus is in season. Nom. http://jorgandolif.com/consume/cooking-in-season-asparagus/
• How to create a food co-op. Brilliant stuff from Jorg & Olif: http://jorgandolif.com/consume/how-to-invest-in-a-food-co-op/ 
• Looks like more people are growing their own food: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/infographic-home-gardening-in-the-us
• I must try this ice cream recipe with the harvest from my Evans Cherry tree, a local variety: http://ecosalon.com/foodie-underground-we-all-scream-for-artisanal-ice-cream/
• Found: a replacement for the iced coffee I got hooked on in Japan: http://slowmama.com/fooddrink/coffee-without-the-heat/

On Slow Travel:

• EcoSalon profiled New Zealand's Release ethical adventure-travel hideaway.
• Treehugger drew our attention to a caravan hotel with a difference in Berlin. Someday I'd love to restore a vintage caravan... swoon.
• A new UK-based blog, The Winding Way, looks like it might be one to watch for slow travel, or as they call it, "natural travel". 
• More great posts from Jorg & Olif to scratch your wanderlust: http://jorgandolif.com/move/%C3%B8ya-festival-norways-coolest-and-greenest-music-festival/ and http://jorgandolif.com/move/how-slow-are-the-worlds-top-five-destinations/

On Slow Fashion:

• http://thegoodcloset.tumblr.com/ A textile impact calculator! Fun!
• http://www.etsy.com/storque/read/the-history-of-a-cheap-dress-12751/ Elizabeth Cline wrote about the history of fast fashion for Etsy, and the comments are quite lively.
• http://ecosalon.com/buying-usa-made-isnt-patriotic/ Louise Lagosi talks about buying local - excellent reading.
• http://www.slowfashioned.com/archives/3892 Slow Fashioned share some beautiful slow finds that are on their wardrobe wish list.
• StyleBistro did a post on Rebecca Burgess' lavishly-photographed and totally inspirational Fibershed Project, applying the 100 mile diet to her wardrobe, including the sourcing of the fibres and dyes used to produce it. Amazing stuff.
• Lucy Siegle's brilliant new book To Die For was reviewed by The Guardian, and she was interviewed by EcoSalon. 

On Slow Design:

• One I missed back in May: http://inhabitat.com/the-100-mile-design-challenge-forces-students-to-think-local-with-their-designs/
• http://www.slowfashioned.com/archives/3751 A book review of Green Patriot Posters. LOVE this concept.
• http://jorgandolif.com/observe/plumen-designer-eco-bulbs/ I can't wait to have these gorgeous CFLs in my home.
• http://www.thorunndesign.com/sasaclock8.html A brilliant clock that incorporates both an examination of how we experience time and a hands-on experience for the user.
• http://www.mnn.com/local-reports/kansas/local-blog/how-the-slow-home-movement-will-change-the-way-we-live More on the work of the Slow Home architects in Calgary. I love how the writer framed the content - imagine if, instead of a Dream Homes Tour selling bigger-is-better, your town had a Slow Homes Tour!
• Lloyd Alter wrote a synopsis of the lessons on green architecture and urban planning from his tenure at The Architectural Conservancy that's an absolutely essential read.

On Slow Living:

• "What are the true impacts of globalization, from an ecological, economic and, more importantly, psychological perspective? ...Helena Norberg Hodge explores this beautifully in her recently released film, "The Economics of Happiness," in which she calls for a return to localization." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelley-a-lewis/globalization-sense-of-self_b_874873.html
• http://www.emagazine.com/magazine/going-local on the Transition movement
• In defence of passion as way to find a calling instead of just a career: http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/06/the-value-of-following-passion-in-a-jobless-world/239899/
• Brilliant new blog SlowMama takes on cell phone etiquette as part of the slow life: http://slowmama.com/slowliving/mobile-manners/#more-2043
• Top 10 Crowdsourced Funding Platforms. http://dowser.org/top-ten-crowdsourced-funding-platforms/
• If you're a family historian or genealogy buff like me, you know how precious anything is that lets you get at the personalities behind the BMD records. Jorg & Olif bring our attention to a way to record your (or a relative's) life story: http://jorgandolif.com/discover/saving-each-and-every-step/
• NYT's Andy Revkin riffs on 'Slow Furniture' and the value of making the occasional thing by hand. http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/slow-furniture/?partner=rss&emc=rss

On Sustainability:

• Why You'll Soon Have Solar Panels, In 3 Graphs: http://www.grist.org/list/2011-06-10-why-youll-soon-have-solar-panels-in-3-easy-graphs#.TfJQcI-l4aM
• It can be hard to get a new change-making project off the ground. Here's a thoughtful video from a Transition group in the UK that explores with humour and grace what they might learn from their failure to engage the general public - with excellent commentary to help put it in perspective. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/06/greening-community-community-doesnt-care.php
• 350.org's Bill McKibben's fantastic editorial turned into a goosebump-raising must-see video:  http://www.grist.org/climate-change/2011-06-11-the-most-powerful-climate-video-youll-see-all-week

Packing for Japan

We're in Japan for late May, but we expected some of the rain and humidity more typical of June's rainy season, based on the tweets we read from expats in Tokyo. All the advice we read suggested that we aim for smart casual, with no jeans, shorts, or low-cut tops - now that we're here, I'd say that's outdated advice for a tourist, as there are plenty of local ladies wearing short shorts (usually over tights or with thigh-high stockings), jeans, and jeggings.

I needed to pack light, and have a dress for a fancy date night, and considered the ability to wash things by hand an asset. Most importantly, I wanted to be using the Project 333 rules for myself. So here is what I packed:

This is my list for the trip, a smaller version of what will likely be my summer Project 333 list (I would have melted wearing only items from my spring Project 333 list):
- cardigan - navy blue cotton with shawl collar from The Gap (turned out to be too warm for most days)
- waterfall kimono-sleeve cardigan - beige
- stylish tops, no cleavage - navy stripe from Anthropologie, navy ikat-dot from Anthropologie, navy stripe tee from Gap, teal square-neck from Gap, polkadot tank from Anthropologie
- slacks or capris - black denim trousers, blue dark-denim leggings, black linen Bermudas, blue jeans (not shown)
- dresses: navy and cream ikat-print 2-layer dress from Anthropologie by Plenty by Tracy Reese; navy ikat-print dress from Jones New York, thrifted
- walking shoes (black Clarks Wave)
- dress shoes (navy Clarks Artisan Timeless)
- raincoat - just a pocket-size plastic emergency poncho, since locals don't use them
- black purse (not shown)
- brown elastic belt
= 18 items

Not included in my list but worth mentioning: 1pair comfortable PJs for summer humidity (although it turns out hotels here provide PJs or yukata or both), bras made with foam cups, socks in perfect repair and appropriate for lots of walking, 2 pair of navy tights, black yoga pants (loungewear) for on plane

Wanted to buy while in Japan: scarf, obi sash belt (navy blue), summer kimono (short so it can be worn as a jacket), umbrella, folding fan and hand towel for in purse. Possibly a second-hand Burberry Blue Label handbag.

Actually bought or was given: an iris-print long summer kimono (dress not jacket) and purple obi sash to wear with it, which I haven't worn; fabric which I will hem to make a scarf; a thin navy blue polkadot scarf, and a clear plastic umbrella. Second-hand Burberry in a colour that goes with my wardrobe wasn't to be found anywhere, even at a designer consignment wonderland like RagTag in Shibuya, and the short traditional jackets proved to be beyond my budget.

So my total item number for the trip was 20, including the scarf and umbrella. I did find this meant I did a lot of handwashing in our hotel room, and sometimes the humidity meant things did not want to dry overnight.

Monthly Slow News Summary: May 2011

On Slow Fashion:

The wonderful Slow Fashioned Pledge. Yeah, I took it. You should too.

EWG's indispensable Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database has gotten a much-needed makeover and relaunch. Also, Canada's Environmental Defense have brought out a report on heavy metals in makeup.

Slow Fashioned posted a genius primer on how to spot fake vintage.

Author Lucy Siegle wrote an article for the Guardian, Why fast fashion is slow death for the planet, outlining the arguments of her new book To Die For. I know that book's on my must-read list.

On Slow Food:

Currency suggested some budget-wise tips for getting the most out of the farmer's market - and Duncan Kinney made a brilliant case for shopping there being one of the most effective ways of making change in his article Dangerous Housewives.

On the Slow Food USA blog, an article suggesting ways to move from concern to community action on food issues.

On Slow Travel:

Inhabitat called attention to a gorgeous green-roofed round resort in Japan that is absolute architecture pron. But where is it actually located? I can't actually find out where "on the coast of Japan" it was built, and the word resort does imply tourism, no? If anyone knows please comment.

Jorg & Olif profiled Six Senses Resorts & Spas' new property in Mumbai, and On Slow Life interviewed the company's marketing director. The same group has previously created the Soneva Kiri spa in Thailand, which looks like a permaculturists' wet dream to me with its stone-adobe-and-cob green-roofed Eco Villa and cob-built cold cellar for wine, and they're about to open their first European spa in the Catalonian region of Spain. For a luxury hotel chain, they seem to be pretty serious about sustainable building using natural materials, with several of their properties aiming for or having LEED certifications, and they pride themselves on offering local cuisines in their restaurants. It's not slow travel in the immersing-yourself-in-local-culture way - how can anyplace that offers package vacations be? - but each of their hotels do offer a variety of off-property experiences to guests. So they're making an effort to make luxury about localness.

Remember this photo from my post about Japan's Sloth Club? 

It's from a Six Senses spa in Jordan. 

Turns out this is the organization's marketing slogan.

On Slow Living:

Create The Good Life! did their monthly essay on resourcefulness, which they define, "in terms of borrowing, fixing, sharing, and experiencing". A must-read. 


In related news, Jorg & Olif profiled the UK's Street Bank sharing site. The guys who run it say on their Twitter feed that they're working on an International version - brilliant!


American decorator Gloria Battista-Collins wrote a lovely meditation on what the slow home movement means to her.


Wendy Abrams' brilliant On Slow Life blog had a great post back in February on the joys of knowing your neighbors. Can't believe I forgot to mention it before. More recently she interviewed architect Sarah Susanka about her book The Not So Big Life.




On Sustainability:


Lloyd Alter brought our attention to stunning calculations by cycle infrastructure blogger James Schwartz that show the average American (and probably Canadian too) are working close to three hours a day just to feed their cars. Wow. 


Shabby at La Poubelle Verte has written a thought-provoking essay on overpopulation.




...and I'm off to Japan for the next two weeks!

Little Black Dress Party a big success

We are so happy with how the first Little Black Dress Party went! It was small but mighty, with about 25 attendees raising $1132 for our charities, the Akanksha Foundation ($283) and Literacy Without Borders ($849) while mingling over delicious appetizers and martinis at Devlin's Cocktail Lounge.

photo courtesy of Marilyn Kontz

Everybody loved the accessory swap table and the silent auction. Thanks to everyone who donated their gently-used-but-rarely-worn treasures on the accessory table to find new homes, and huge thanks to our silent auction donors, Aminah Syed {Photographer}, Black & Bold, Caprice Consignment (on 99th Street), Devlin's, Jilly's Home and Lifestyle, Rebel Hips Belly Dance Studio, Edmonton-area Etsy vendors Everyday Diamonds and Stray Wires, and our twitter friends @recyclenazi and @GenoaK.

The incredibly talented Aminah Syed set up a photo booth which proved extremely popular - check her blog post at the link for more great photos.

Strike a pose. Photo courtesy of Marilyn Kontz

Gorgeous girls. Photo courtesy of Aminah Syed

Nicki wore a hair garden worthy of a tribal fusion bellydancer with her satin LBD.

Marilyn wore a Uniform Project LBD from Bright Young Things (which I had shrunk in the wash, much to my dismay) with a great straw cloche from Le Chateau. This is the dress from the slow fashion website that inspired this party, and you can really see it well in this shot where Marilyn is dancing with Premee:

Photo courtesy of Aminah Syed.

Christy, the mastermind behind the Garbaganza! recycled-materials costume project, found a studded purse on the swap table that matched her bolero jacket - which is embellished entirely with items that were originally headed for landfill. Her earrings were made from soda-can tabs.

#yegLBD organizers Deborah and Asia with garbaganza!'s Christy Boulter. Photo courtesy of Aminah Syed.

My own outfit is all from my Project 333 list: thrifted vintage mod-style shift dress, an amethyst-and-moonstone necklace that I made, and an organza-and-zipper floral headband handmade in Canada by Loralie and bought from local fashion mavens Black & Bold. You can't see them in the snap but I paired them with purple tights and my button booties. (I ran out of time to finish my sewing, but will wear my UP LBD sewn from the Classic pattern in bamboo viscose to the next one.)

(Yes, you read that right.)

We had so much fun that we're going to hold a second Little Black Dress Party! We're even going to let the boys join the fun this time.

#yegLBD2 will be held on Thursday, October 13th, 2011. Mark your calendars...

Project 333 update, month 1

So I'm well into my second month of my first Project 333 stint. My first month went okay... not great, just okay. My single biggest challenge wasn't boredom, it was keeping up with the laundry so I'd have something clean to wear that was occasion-appropriate. I particularly found I didn't have enough shirts or jeans - the things I really wear almost every day.

I have also realized that this much black typically does not photograph well.

(I'll update this post with photos as soon as my camera is working again.)

Items I still have not worn - all but #17 will be swapped in an effort to improve the laundry challenge and incorporate items I needed to add to the list for the sake of honesty:
8. black polyester dress slacks
12. green velvet blazer (thrifted)
14. cream handknit cardigan (handmade)
17. UP LBD - not yet sewn - but I swear I will soon
18. green dress, worn only once (eco fabric)
30. shisha-mirrored belt (handmade)

Items I am subbing in
8. black linen capris (eco fabric)
12. navy blue blouse from Anthro
14. purple floral headband worn for #yegLBD (handmade in Canada)
18. navy blue ikat-print dress (from consignment store)
30. brown leather-and-woven-elastic belt from Anthro

Items I am putting away because the weather has gotten too warm (but may need again if we get a freak May snowstorm):
1a. winter boots
2a. wool peacoat
32. gloves