For Sale

I'm selling some of my crafts! Check it out at http://www.uptownsales.com/toys/jbtoy.php.

Fail at crafts

Montverde Day was a bust. I sold about $28 (gross) of balsa gliders, so I'll come close to breaking even on festival expenses (not counting money spent on supplies for the crafts that didn't sell). I sold no bib clips, crowns, picnics, wooden toys, or pencil- or paint-by-number kits.

I'm disappointed, a bit frustrated when I let myself be, but I'm not upset. It just wasn't the right audience. The table looked great and I think the stuff I made was fabulous.

I haven't decided yet what to do with the remaining inventory -- keeping it, selling it on Etsy, giving it away. I'll think on it for a while. For now, I'm going to NOT CRAFT for a while.

Language explosion

A. is having a language explosion -- picking up 2 or more words a day, and trying out new words that I suggest (although the ones that stick are the ones she picks on her own). Yesterday it was "Nana" and "Halloween" (seriously -- she skips a syllable, but it's clear what she's saying), today it was "play" and "Pooh".

The other day, her recent love of the word "pie" inspired me to make a (rather mediocre) apple pie. A. loved the pie, and said her first "app-ple" while eating it! While she was in the bath, I tried to record her saying some of her words. She got distracted by the bath toys fairly easily, but you can get an idea, at least.







In other news, I've started an herb garden around the patio that's outside of the kitchen. I have rosemary, thyme, and basil in the ground, cilantro waiting to go in, and room for one more (oregano or parsley). We'll see how they do -- I'm not the best gardener.

Also, I purchased a 10x10 space at our tiny town's sizeable craft fair on November 1st. I've been working every evening and some nap times on crafty toys, and I have 5 crayon rolls, 5 felt crowns, some number of bib clips, and most of 3 felt food picnics. I'll also be selling some balsa gliders and crayon-by-number. I don't expect to make much money, but it'll be neat to see what sells and have an excuse to hang out at the fair all day. :)

Playhouse

Every so often, my parents get a really big box at the warehouse. They're kind enough to save these and give them to us for use as playhouses for A. They last a few months -- long enough for another box to arrive.

We got a box about a month ago, but A. wasn't too into going inside things. So we left it out, tilted on its side, and she and the cats would explore it occasionally. Gradually she got more and more interested in going inside, so we decided to commit to cutting it up.

I added a door, window, cat door (to prevent the trapped-cat problem we've had in the past -- it took weeks for A. to get near Chaos again), and roof. She loved to play in it, but it was a bit blah.

I was struck by inspiration when we were coloring in the playroom. I told A. that she was free to color on the box, and she took to that immediately. It looked like so much fun, I got in on the action. We had such a blast, bath time got pushed back to 7:30.

Here's the box. There's a half-door she can swing and the flaps are stood up so that there's standing height inside.

The front door. A lucky horseshoe over the door, her house number (0504 -- her birthday), a doorbell, and a mail slot. A. decided the house number needed to be emphasized more.

The side has various flowers, scribbles, and a lizard stuck to the side of the house.

A view through the window. TedDee is over for a visit, and her favorite household item, a phone, is ready for use.

The back wall has her computer desk. Look, she's working on a Python script! Hello, world!

Looking in the front door at the window wall. A family picture, clock, and cat snoozing in the sun. Every time A. sees the cat, she signs "cat" then lays down and pretends to snore.

We had a really good time decorating this. I can't wait until this one wears out and we can take on another!