Saturday in Golden Gate Park

September 25, 2016 by mymateriallife

Hello Again Dear Chickadees, I celebrated yet another birthday recently and ready to leave that last year happily in the past I decided I’d like to welcome this next one with a float on a boat. And so, guided by the excellent suggestions in interior designer Floriana Petersen’s book 111 Places In San Francisco That You Must Not Miss, we headed to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco yesterday to do some exploring and enjoy some boating. Once happily settled […]

Categories: Places • Tags: san francisco, travel, golden gate park, stow lake, spreckels lake, iphone camera filters

Madam Marabou

August 18, 2016 by mymateriallife

As I was lying in bed the other night the following words suddenly appeared in my brain … Madam Marabou wore one yellow shoe. Isn’t that the oddest thing? In the midst of my middle of the night worrying, scheming, planning … Madam Marabou … and a yellow shoe. Where do you think these things come from? I have an idea. Did you ever see the movie, Always? Always is a Steven Spielberg remake of a 1940s movie called A […]

Categories: Cats, Illustration, Kid Stuff, TV & Movies • Tags: cats, poetry, sidewalk chalk

Les Pompoms Earrings

July 30, 2016 by mymateriallife

Soon after I made my wool pom-poms that you can see in my recent post, The Posh Pom-Pom, I ran across this bit in Town & Country magazine on an earring by Rebecca de Ravenal called Les Bonbons. The structure of the earrings was so similar to what I tried to do with my various sizes of wool pom-poms, jump rings and chain. But I’d been thinking of some kind of hanging decoration for a room. Could I miniaturize my […]

Categories: Clothing & Accessories, Kid Stuff, Other Textiles • Tags: earrings, jewelry, pom poms, pom-pom earrings

The Story of the Sidewalk Chalk Fairy

July 27, 2016 by mymateriallife

Early last week I was feeling so low about things in the news. One brutal act after another. Then as I was rinsing a dish at my kitchen sink I saw a dear neighbor walk by through my window. She and her family are going through a hard time right now and I find myself wondering at her courage every day. The next day I went to get my mail and I found the following written in chalk on the […]

Categories: Illustration, Kid Stuff • Tags: encouragement, inspiration, sidewalk chalk

The Posh Pom-Pom

July 20, 2016 by mymateriallife

I have such a fondness for pom-pom making tools that when I found this unusual wooden animal set from Todd Oldham’s Hand Made Modern line sold at Target, I jumped on it. This was months ago actually. I’m just now getting around to playing with it. But don’t worry, the set is still available from Target as I type this. Each animal allows you to make a different sized pom-pom, ranging from approximately 1″ to 5″ in diameter. What you […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Other Textiles • Tags: chain tassel, hand made modern, pom poms

Lemon & Rosemary Refrigerator Cookies

July 2, 2016 by mymateriallife

I got this recipe from my sister. It comes from this wonderful book she has (from the early 90s I think) called Betty Crocker’s Ultimate Cookie Book. She made them when we went to visit her last summer and I could not stop eating them. For one thing, the lemon and rosemary flavors are delicious together and for another, these cookies are not too sweet. Almost, but not quite a savory cookie if you can imagine that. In addition, these […]

Categories: Sweets • Tags: baking, betty crocker's ultimate cookie book, cookies, lemon and rosemary cookies, recipes, refrigerator cookies

More Dare Wright from A Palo Alto Treasure Trove

June 26, 2016 by mymateriallife

In the late 80s and most of the 90s I worked in Palo Alto. I don’t get downtown much anymore but we visited yesterday and my first order of business was to seek out this place … Bell’s Books – I was so delighted to see that it was still there and in such good form. You won’t find many 80-year-old businesses in this valley of silicon anymore. The rents are way too high for many independent shops, not to […]

Categories: Kid Stuff, Places, Reading Material • Tags: bell's books, dare wright, palo alto, the lonely doll

Salty*mom’s Genius Granny Square Bag

June 15, 2016 by mymateriallife

When I saw this bag it made me so happy that I wanted to share it with you here. There is something so special about it, don’t you agree? Of course there are those cheery colors in a free fall sort of arrangement, but there’s something else. I didn’t realize what it was until I read how its creator put the bag together. Rather than joining those squares (all 172 of them!) with a line of single crochet that would […]

Categories: Crochet, Sewing • Tags: crochet, diy, salty*mom, sewing

Fun Summer Knit: Chunky Striped Bathtub Runner

June 11, 2016 by mymateriallife

In my last post I mentioned a bathroom of ours that just may have some disturbing issues of unknown origin. While we haven’t made any progress on that, I am happy to report that I whipped up a real cute runner for the tub that helps to take my mind off of it. Have you ever knit a bath mat before? It’s such a joy. Maybe because of the big needles or the ease of garter stitch (I always use […]

Categories: Knitting • Tags: bath mat, brown sheep cotton fleece, cotton yarns, garter stitch, knitting, sugar 'n cream