Amy's List

You can find Amy here.
More on Letterboxing here

Raesha's Summer List

Raesha can be found at her blog here

Dont forget to send us your list! (I can put the vintage photoshopped touch on it for you ;)

Summer Time Lists

Whether you or your littles have started your summer vacation or not, it's always a good idea to have a plan. I tend to think of things 2 seasons ahead... not sure why...but now I am craving pumpkin pie and crisp autumn nights??? Good thing I already made my summer list of things to do.

Read through ours (somewhat vintage inspired) and then make one of your own. Think about what you or your family really needs this summer. Is it more quality time? A great road trip? Or living more simply? We'd love to feature your list on this blog when you are done. Send your list, blog info, and a picture to cardigancakeblog at gmail dot com and we'll post them!

The tutorial for Jess's paper mache project can be found here: http://theredthreadblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/crafting-with-kids-tutorial.html

On a Line

For as long as I can remember, clotheslines have been an important part of the history of the women in my family. As a little girl and even now one of my favorite moments with my Grandma is hanging clothes on the line with her. When I was small it was my job to hand her the pins. I loved feeling the cool dampness of the clothes while she'd pin them up.

When I got my first house in New Mexico, my Grandpa made me my own clothesline and drove it all the way down from Idaho for me. I loved having it to hang the cloth diapers on. Especially living there, everything dried so fast in the heat. I was sick when we had to move and leave it behind.

It's been 4 years since I've lived somewhere that I'm able to finally dry clothes on the line again. Last weekend my sweet husband broke out the "Honey Do" list and made me my own in my backyard. I painted it blue and added the copper tops. As soon as the paint was dry I grabbed all the sheets in the house and washed them. The kids handed me the pins while I shook the sheets out and hung them up. Today it's towels and tomorrow it's shirts. Now if I can just get the garden to grow, that would be something!

Lazy Sunday

I love this time of year. Right when the weather is starting to warm up. Right before school gets out. When you still have some routine, but are about to lose it to summer and really you're ok with that. Dinners are more enjoyable and lingering thanks to the longer light. One thing we're going to try and do this summer is have a nightly game out on the front porch before bed. I can't wait to start the summer plans. We'll have to make new library tote bags for library day. Maybe the tote bags will also be used for swim gear on swimmming day. This summer we're also going to read Nancy Drew and watch Hailey Mills movies. Picnics at the park and clothesline tents in the backyard. A lot of nonscheduled free play will be a must. Thank goodness for lazy Sundays to sit back and be inspired!

How Does your garden grow?

8 bags of topsoil, 4 bags of sheep manure mixed with compost, one nicked sprinkler line, a bazillion tree roots and much rototilling here it is. I present to you.... my first garden! It's the great experiment of the summer. I originally had high hopes of planting all my little seeds indoors weeks ago. Then I was going to transplant them all carefully outside after the danger of frost. Funny what happens with high hopes. Instead I took all my seeds and gently planted them into the soil. My 2 year old came along behind and helped me cover them up. Hopefully they are all still in their rows. At some point this summer I want to get a couple of raspberry plants to plant in the middle of the 2 garden beds. I do have dreams of being able to send the kids out to pick salad for dinner. Drying out the gourds and turning them into birdhouses for all the robins who live in my trees. Watching the kids sit outside after running through the sprinklers eating watermelon and having seed spitting contests. I'll post updates frequently. Wish me luck!

Squash, birdhouse gourds, cantaloupe and watermelon.

tomatoes, pablono peppers, walla walla onions, lettuce, carrotts, beats, sweet peppers, and banana peppers.

Wiped Clean!

Oilcloth. A must have staple in my house. We have all the kids chairs, eating surfaces and the craft table covered in it. Great for lunch sacks, covering cookbooks and for making coasters.

Back in the days of our Grandmothers it was a heavy canvas type fabric made waterproof with a coating of linseed oil and paint. It was a basic, everyday cloth that was easy to clean and inexpensive to replace when it wore thin from use. I have memories of my great Grandmothers table covered in layers of it. When one layer grew too thin, she simply stapled another layer to the top. If you looked underneath the table you could see all the edges of the layers.

Made of plastic or vinyl woven with cotton, updated oilcloth is as long-lasting and as adaptable as the ones of our Grandmothers time. Use it anywhere you want a splash of color and a washable surface. When you wipe away those acrylic paint accidents, spilled tomato soup, smashed blueberry muffins, and tacky glue mistakes with ease, you will thank our ancestors for inventing it!