Travel Tips: Taking it home and making it yours

I kinda think that shopping is the best part of traveling but don't tell anyone I said that. When we go to new places, I LOVE to see what they are selling -- from the supermarket to the convenience store. And more than anything, more than anything, I love outdoor markets, artisan fairs and farmer's markets. Oh, and more than that, flea markets -- but I rarely find them when we're traveling. I think you can learn more about a place and its people by the stuff they sell. That's probably not the case with outdoor markets near cruise ship ports and stuff like that but it's still fun to check them out.

The picture above depicts a little vignette on the mantel in our shared office/studio. The painting is from St. Martin. We love artwork involving figures holding large weapons. Who doesn't? The plaster wigwam is from a little trip Mr. Lemon and I took just a couple of months after we started dating. We stayed in Number 11 of the Wigwam Motel. The mask is a vejigante piece from Puerto Rico. What makes it great is that we actually met the artist and got to talk to him at this amazing festival held yearly in Barranquitas. The cement door is not from a trip but sure looks good there. We got it at Crafty Bastards a couple of years ago.

We try not to buy a bunch of crap when we're on vacation. We try to pick out something special like local art or a traditional craft. When we come home we incorporate the stuff into our daily lives. We went a little crazy in Mexico and picked up the boxes because they were so awesome. The bottlecaps are from cool beers Mr. Lemon imbibed (his favorite travel activity is definitely beer). He had the little skeletons before we met. I made the Lovers book. It is about us. I included the doorway in the shot so that you can better see the layout of the house. That yellow paint is from the kitchen. You are looking out our office door into the living room which has the kitchen doorway off of it.

These fruits are painted coconuts that I got shortly after we bought the house. We had the retro/fruity vibe going on and I was way too excited when I found these. They are from a different trip to Mexico for work.

These amazing puppets are from someone else's trip but they rock. This is the mantel from our living room. It is identical to the one in the office. You can see from this photo how tall they are as that is the ceiling there in the upper left corner. And the painting on the right is from our honeymoon trip to Belize. How fitting. Even though all these items are from different corners of the globe, they all work together because they are so "us."

I went to a million thrift stores with my friend Sandi last week and I kept finding all these souvenir plates and spoons and toothpick holders. Wow. And while I think they're all beautiful for their kitsch value, they're just not the things you hold on to -- and certainly not the things your kids are going to hold on to when you die, right?

Special thanks to Mr. Lemon for putting up with my need to do so much shopping on trips.

Travel tips: Beware the Chupacabras

Around here, we take our souvenirs to the next level. While in Puerto Rico this Summer, we decided to check out some gift shops near the rainforest since the rainforest was closed due to the tropical storm hovering over us for several days (yeah, yeah, you've heard it before). I hadn't really liked any of the t-shirts in the shop until I came across this AMAZING chupacabra design. Unfortunately, they didn't have any in Zadie's size but it hit me that I could buy the largest one in the shop and cut it up to make a dress.

I used this pattern that I bought off Etsy and didn't really have any problems with it. I made the size 3t. If I were to make this again either larger or smaller, I would make sure that the width of the shoulder seams on the bodice matched the straps. They are spot on for the 3 but as the pattern uses the same strap, it won't be even with all sizes.

The dress is a great fit and should also work next year. I liked how it has a self-lined bodice so it's very soft on the inside. I purposely added the black panel and off-set the image just for visual interest. I don't really like centering things (if you hadn't noticed). The rest of the fabric is from old t-shirts we have in the stuff-to-repurpose bin. I also used my machine's J foot and did faux serged seams for the skirt. That's an amazing technique and I plan to post about it.

I love the Chupa's glowing red eyes in the drawing. It reminds me of our very own mothman. Just in case you need a gentle reminder, we are huge fans of the yeti around here. My own obsession dates back to (roughly) 1983 and a papier mache project gone terribly awry. El Chupa Cabras is another of the cryptids. He originated in Puerto Rico in the mid-1990s. Some fascinating stuff. We were lucky to avoid him (probably because of all the rain).

But one of the reasons I love to travel is to learn about stuff like this. And although I knew about the chupacabras, I didn't know he was from PR. Whenever we go someplace new, I make sure to read fiction by local authors and I get as many guidebooks as possible to learn the history of the place. And buying a shirt like this and making it work really adds to the whole experience. I will keep this dress forever. I would not have kept the shirt forever had we bought one that fit.

Watch out or the Chupa will get ya! This one's female and her claws are sharp.

Travel tips: toddler in tow

We have flown twice now with our toddler and while we're by no means pros, we have certainly learned a few things. It pretty much comes down to snacks and keeping busy.

The first flight we took started out great but then we had airplane issues and were trapped in the Charlotte airport for an entire day. On the way home, we were lucky enough to spend an entire day in the airport and then a night in a fabulous Charlotte hotel. The joys. But luckily we were pretty prepared with snacks and toys (and extra diapers -- I learned from a friend to pack more than you think you are going to need. She learned the hard way).

For the 14-month old, the best thing we ever bought was a Doodlepad. At the time, she wasn't drawing much but she LOVED it when we would draw for her. She liked making animal sounds and had a blast naming the animals that we sketched out.

I picked up this guy from the local toy store and he has been beloved ever since. It was nice to have something new for her to play with but I made the mistake of bringing only new toys because I thought the novelty would do the trick but I think it would have been nice to have some old favorites as well.

I brought along a couple of wind-up toys and cars, a favorite book for bedtime, and of course her crib entourage. I made this cloth book and finger puppet sack, Katy Kitty, and picked up finger puppets at Old Navy on clearance. The handmade toys have only recently become beloved so I could have done better.

She was 2 this Summer when we went to Puerto Rico and having learned from last year, we brought along a couple of her favorite toys and the Doodlepad again. This year she is drawing on her own so it is getting some great use.

I made this lego sack and we surprised her on the plane with it. She is a huge fan of legos and loves to stack so we figured it was a good time to "upgrade" to the smaller pieces. We left all the tiny tiny ones at home so they wouldn't get lost. I also picked up a few activity books with stickers and a few new sheets of stickers. Twistables are something new that I've just discovered. Amazing. I also got all girly and bought a tiny Strawberry Shortcake doll. I actually think it was for me but Zadie loved the comb and her dress.

In the picture above you see those chubby little fingers playing with beads. I picked up a huge tub of beads from Michaels with a coupon and a pack of pipe cleaners and they really kept her busy. She loved stringing the beads on the plane and especially in the room. Since a tropical storm hovered directly over our vacation rental for 3 days (did I mention that?), I was so glad to have these. I just brought along a smaller container of the beads.

OK, snacks. I won't go on and on but I absolutely love these pouches of smashed fruits. We just discovered them and they are amazing. We keep them on hand for the car or for special treats. If you order from Amazon and subscribe, you save an extra 15%. There are several brands but when I bought them, Plum had the best price in the organics. That seems to have changed.

I also brought along all of her favorite snacks and had way more than necessary but I'd rather haul a couple of pounds of tiny cookies and crackers through security than deal with a meltdown so it was well worth it.

We stashed all of her toys and books in a backpack. We have a yeti from our awesome friends in Canada but how cute is this bee?

For both trips I spent way too much time packing a getting ready but I do think it paid off. We had two great trips by airplane but we also use some of these same toys and bring loads of snacks if we go somewhere in the car.

Travel Tips: Keeping it Cheap(er)

Day 1 of Travel Week is here!

While I'm not going to post about it as often as I'd like (I have a full-time job and only so much vacation), TRAVEL is super important to us. When we go on trips, sure, we like to have fun and relax but really, we want to see the world -- almost all of it. Unfortunately, we don't have unlimited resources so I try to get the best rates possible. And why start Travel Week after Labor Day? Because that's when the off-season begins and the best deals are found (most of the time, consider stuff like hurricane season, holidays, etc.).

So here are some "rules" for finding good rates:

1. Be flexible. Since I teach, we can only travel in the Summer. That sucks because it's super crazy expensive to fly to Europe in June. But it's cheap to fly to the Caribbean because it's so hot. When I search for airfares, I make sure to use sites that let me put in a wide margin of time so that I can select the cheapest times/days to fly.

2. Take your time. I spend at least 2 weeks searching for fares and doing research before making a commitment.

3. Be prepared. If there is something that you really really really want to do on a trip. Make sure you book ahead (if possible) and try to do it early in your trip. That way if a tropical storm hovers directly over your vacation rental for 3 days and washes out all the roads and the rainforest that's only 20 minutes away (see photo above), you'll have already been there, done that, instead of checking out a waterfall on the side of the road the day you need to head to the airport.

4. Find a good forum. You can get the best information from people who have already been to the places you want to go. Unfortunately, there is no one site for the entire world. You have to search around for some good ones by location. I found Tripadvisor to be great for Puerto Rico, TTOL to be an excellent resource for St. Martin, and I've long been a fan of the Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree Travel Forum. Spend some time reading posts before you start asking questions and get to "know" the frequent posters.

Sites I love:

Kayak has this amazing feature called Buzz that lets you see the top 25 locations and also the lowest fares to places. They have a new search called Explore that is looking very promising and I can't wait to try it out. We've chosen our destinations based on the cheapest flights for several years now and that method hasn't let us down. Of course Orbitz, Travelocity, and Expedia have their own features and you can decide which one is best for you based on how you like to search. I prefer Orbitz because they have an excellent flexible dates search (limit 30 days, but still good).

Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO), HomeAway, and Cyberrentals all seem to be the same website somehow but each (like the fare finders above) has their own little pros and cons. One has a better amenities limit, one has unedited reviews. Again, it takes some time and a good map. The thing about staying at a vacation rental rather than a hotel is that you're not going to have someone changing your sheets everyday or all that other good stuff. On the plus side, you will save a lot of money and have the use of a kitchen. We save a lot of money when we travel by buying groceries and I really don't need someone changing my own toilet paper.

Since travel is so important to us, we are as frugal as possible the rest of the year. We don't buy DVDs or CDs, we don't go out to eat very often, we buy used cars and rarely, among other things. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a piece of clothing and I have extreme guilt when I buy a new piece of furniture. Right now we're living pretty much on one income but we make sacrifices in a lot of ways to be able to see little slices of the world once a year. Crazy I feel compelled to justify all that but anyway. One day I want to be able to travel even more -- like for weeks or months at a time.

Rewind: The Nursery

Now that we're turning our crib into a toddler bed and getting rid of the changing table and its drawers full of cloth diapers, I thought it would be nice to post some pictures of the nursery. I put them on flickr ages ago and Ohdeedoh did a nursery tour but I never actually wrote a post about my design. I start at the crib and then move clockwise around the room. I will miss this layout but am also excited to change things up a bit.

The crib is the discontinued Tassa from Ikea. Somehow it will become a toddler bed using the same mattress. I got the sheet on ebay. I framed a beautiful handmade card that my sister in law gave to us at the baby shower but took it down once Zadie got mobile as Mr. Lemon was afraid she would reach it and impale herself. The rugs are from Ikea and Flor. I hadn't seen anything like this but there was a nice spread in Parents magazine a couple of months ago using this same idea.

We constructed the changing table from Ikea's trofast system. There is more information on Ikea Hacker and this earlier post. I've written about the alphabet before as it's been a real work in progress. We'll be moving the dresser to where the changing table is so I'm not sure how it's going to look. And what a sweetie there! About 4 weeks I think. Who can remember?

This dresser is the Anes from Ikea. I think it's been discontinued as well but I like that it's made of actual wood and not a composite. It's very sturdy and well crafted. The bed will be placed under these frames so I'll have to add some more art to fill up the space. All of the frames except for the one are black so it ties all the images together. This little scene has actually changed a good bit these last 2 years.

Although you can see it much better in the first post, I wanted to mention that the molding we used at the edges of our beadboard ceiling is braided metal cable from Lowe's. Wood molding was not working and I wanted an industrial look to tame down the cottageyness of our 100-year-old house with sloping ceilings (it's called a half story). Basically, if I have an idea of something I want to do but I'm not sure what, I'll just walk up and down the aisles of Lowe's until I find it and then I ask Mr. Lemon if it will work. We often call each other from different parts of the massive store. It's tacked up with things that hold down metal conduit.

I love that there is a lot natural light coming in the room. We just have vinyl blinds instead of curtains to keep it airy. There are little cord cleats on the side of each window frame to keep the cords out of the way and we are diligent about using them.

The rocking chair is Ikea's Lillberg. It looks good and is incredibly comfortable but it doesn't really rock. I wish I would have splurged for a nice glider or just bought an ugly one that I could get rid of without guilt. But all three of us can fit in this chair and that makes it really nice. I might recover the cushions. We'll see.

We took the door off the closet when this was my studio and intend to keep it that way. I like how it opens up the space a bit.

And finally, the closet. This has changed the most. I love the little striped socks and black shoes of that doll sitting on the shelf. Most of the stuff is from Ikea too (really?). We got the metal shelf things in their Summer sale tent and even the metal bins on the left are flower pots from there. They work really well in the space which is deep but not very wide. On the right and out of the shot are clothes hanging up. Stuff we use is on the top and the bottom rod holds stuff she'll grow into. I shop ahead to save money.

The pictures in the flickr set have been heavily tagged and commented on but if you have questions or want to know something (or make an offer on the rocker, ha ha), just let me know and I will answer it. I love this space and we spend a lot of time up there.

New curtains on the way

I'm hoping to take advantage of this 3 - 4 day weekend by sewing up some new curtains for the bedroom. I got these off-white curtains with the grommets at Gabe's a couple of weeks ago for $7.99 each. They are the right shade for the room. The fabric is almost like a cotton duck so it should be thick enough to keep out the light. Mr. Lemon and I like our sleeping room like a cave. In fact, I keep my alarm clock in a drawer next to the bed because the light keeps me up.

This blue stuff is a set of two panels that I will use to sew at the bottom of the curtains to cover up that unsightly 1988 forest green (see above). I'm also going to fold over the grommet section at the top of the curtain because large curtain rods are like a million dollars and I really don't think the look works with our mid-century melange of styles. This color is perfect. It's my favorite shade of teal/dark robin's egg blue. It's almost variegated so that the lighter color is the same as what's in the bedroom and the darker shade calms it down in a much needed way.

As for the bed: We want this Mandal bed from Ikea because it is made of actual wood and not a composite but I don't like the unfinished birch look for our room. I think it will completely clash with the Broyhill Brasilia hutch that I'm stuck on. I'm all about mixing styles but that's a bit much. I'd paint it but I don't really want to spend $350 on something that I have to refinish. I'd have to do the drawers too. The drawers are actually the best part about the bed. Since our house is about 900 sq. ft. we need all the storage we can get. Does anyone know of a good bed that will meet our needs?

Feature

My little polka dot dress was featured on the Fabric Loft blog as a source of inspiration for people using Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection. If you live in the UK, check them out. They have a great selection of fabrics. Read the full post here.