Play Eats: Whip up a batch of fabric pretzels

Today's awesome guest post is courtesy of Jess from Craftiness is Not Optional. She has done some amazing tutorials on her blog so I was so excited that she agreed to design something new for Play Eats.

These fabric pretzels look super cool but look how easy she makes it. They are a really great idea. My kid is starting to get into junk food (we've been lucky enough to hide it from her for a long time) so these are on the radar.

Click over for the full tutorial.

Thanks so much to Jess for baking up this batch. Make sure you check out her other play food tutorials here and these awesome upcycled kitchen canisters. She is super talented.

All photos courtesy of Jess.

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.

Project: Decisions (or, So Much Fabric So Little Time)

I bought some Oliver + S patterns a few weeks ago and realized that I was hoarding them like my cutest cuts of Japanese fabric. Yesterday I decided to break out the Playsuit pattern and go for it. It's sold as part of the Tea Party Sundress set.

Although the samples feature a solid fabric or a solid paired with a print, I really like mixing prints so I got out some of my favorites and starting messing around. How surprising that this Lizzy House Red Letter Day fabric (Pearl Bracelet and Stripes) goes so well with the Michelle Engel Bencsko Shade Garden line (Snail Trail and Sprouts).


So which one do you like the best?

(Playsuit image from the Oliver + S website.)


For more information about Project: Project, read this post.

Team Lemon heads to Pittsburgh once again

Please come buy up Lemon Cadet gear Sunday from 12 - 4 at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. It will be our only show in Pittsburgh this holiday season and the last show in Pittsburgh for a really long time (maybe never ever again).

EtsyKids Trunk Show

I was selected to participate in the EtsyKids Trunk Show in Etsy.com's virtual labs. I've never done anything like this before. In fact, I find chat rooms a little too fast paced for my old bones (I'm 34).

But Trunk Shows are cool. Sellers, like me, get to talk (or type) about their shops, their items, and processes. I don't usually get the chance to do that so I'm pretty excited.

There are 16 of us from the EtsyKids street team. We are also showing a couple of items from a shop of our choice.

There are door prizes and there will also be a coupon code given out at the show. Mine will be for free shipping -- anywhere. The show will start at 8:00 p.m. EST and to find us click here.

Storque feature

I was recently featured in Etsy's Storque. It's like an online newsletter/blog where they highlight issues in the world of craft.

My work was discussed as part of the Handmade Kids series they are doing right now. I'm also going to enter the Handmade Kids contest. I'm thinking one of the new rompers...

It's time for Crafty Bastards

I know you've been wondering why it's so quiet around here. I've been super busy making stuff for Crafty Bastards. It's this weekend! Sunday, Sept. 30 from 10 - 5 at the Marie Reed Learning Center on 18th and Wyoming in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.


They sent us all interview questions for their site. My interview is up right now on the blog.

What's new for Lemon Cadet: a whole bunch of bean softies in lots of different fabrics, of course those fabulous yeti tees I wrote about here, and finally, some long-sleeved t-shirts and onesies perfect for Fall and Winter.

Find directions and all the info you'll need to stalk me on their website. I'll be in spot 28 right next to Ms. Tina Seamonster.

I hope to see those of you within a reasonable driving/walking distance sometime on Sunday. It's not just all shopping. They've got some great entertainment planned, some cool crafting workshops, and food.

The Yetis have invaded!!!

Finally, after weeks and months of drawing and revising and drafting and revising again, I have finished the Yeti drawing.

I'm really happy with the way the little beast turned out. And despite some harrassment from the Vets at my friend Dorsey's print shop, The Locker Room, here in Morgantown, I DO NOT think it looks a boy in a chicken suit.

I'm thinking of putting them on the shirts like this:


I ordered mostly toddler and kids sizes in black, cardinal, kelly, and jade. I also ordered a few ladies shirts (Bella brand) in chocolate. The yeti will be white. I can't wait to premiere them!

Yeti Loves Seamonster is Alive!

I'm super excited to announce that the Yeti Loves Seamonster site is up and running. Tina Seamonster and I have been working really hard to whip our baby into shape. There are still a couple of minor details to work out and we'll always be making improvements but it's ready to rock.

The home page highlights the YLS Team member shops. We've hand picked the best designers for children's stuff on Etsy including cool clothing, well-crafted toys, and amazing art for your kids' walls.

So check it out. We have a blog with cool new product features, a sidebar pointing to some of our favorite items and best of all, a downloads page! Artists from all over have been contributing coloring book pages and designing postcards. Soon we'll even have fun recipes and tutorials.

We are always welcoming submissions so please let us know if you're interested in giving us coloring book pages. We'll add your shop URL and give you credit on the site.

Etsy homepage!

For the second time ever, one of my items has made the Etsy homepage. Just wanted to share my excitement.

It looks great and is from a cool treasury where the items are in numerical order. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and then there's little Seven, my alien guy with the green face and number print belly. As you can see, some of the items show the number, some have that number of items pictured, and some are shaped like the number. Nice idea.

Trading is wonderful

I did a trade with a fellow Etsy seller, theGarbageGoose. She has four super cute children so we traded four of my little guys for some of her little guys.

She made a gorgeous doll for my mom who collects primitive dolls. It's stunning. See it here.

I don't trade very often and I find it very hard to say no to people who have asked me to trade. I've had to though. Sometimes I'm just too busy. I don't think it hurts to ask.

My experiences as both a buyer and a seller at Etsy have been very positive. Seeing this photo of all four of these beautiful children was, by far, the best experience I've ever had. I wish I could see all the kids who wear my clothes. I work so hard to make each little guy unique and well crafted.

Needless to say, this photo is courtesy of theGarbageGoose and better not be reproduced.

It's so easy being green...

My friend Beth asked me to make a special onesie for her friends who are having a baby. They love frogs so I made a cute little guy with this great corduroy number print fabric. It's a really fine wale, so incredibly soft. This is one of my favorite items up on the shop. I just wanted to post a pic here too.