Tunesday with Walk Off the Earth - Somebody That I Used To Know

Along with apparently 30,000,000 other folks, I can't get enough of this song by Walk Off the Earth.  This amazingly talented Burlington, Ontario band (joined by fellow singer/songwriter extraordinaire Sarah Blackwood) have recorded over 100 videos between them and posted on YouTube.  It seems that their fan base has grown largely from covering songs as requested by their internet audience.  What makes them so fun to watch is that they put their own unique twist to each song. 

 Somebody That I Used to Know by Australian artist Gotye is one of these songs...it is sweet, sad, beautiful, and is played by 5 people and just 1 guitar.  After loving this song, be sure to check out their original work as well as other fabulous covers.  Adele's Someone Like You is another favorite at our house.  Enjoy.

Celebrating MLK Day with Random Acts of Kindness

I've been working hard to help my kiddoes get out of their little egocentric worlds a bit.  On a recent visit to Washington DC I was thrilled to realize that now when we visit one of the many memorials that are scattered throughout the city...well, they "get it."  We can stand together on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and imagine ourselves being there with Martin Luther King, Jr.  for the March on Washington. At the MLK memorial, we can talk about the Civil Rights Movement and find meaning in his words that have been carved into the stone.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."  (MLK, 1963)  This is now my daughter's favorite quote.  

When MLK Day arrived, we decided to devote the day to Random Acts of Kindness.  (I suppose "planned" or "purposeful" would be more appropriate, but they just don't trip from the tongue quite as well...)

I was completely inspired by this post on the What a Ride blog.  Our morning was spent creating and collecting our supplies, and then we were off...spreading a bit of joy in our neighborhood:

• delivering brownies and watercolor pictures to neighbors who don't have little people 
• leaving a thank you note and more brownies to our local firefighters
• gifting pretty drawings to some of the folks living at the senior care center
• taping a baggie of quarters to the vending machine at the gym
• smiling and saying "Hi!" to everyone we saw
• preparing baggies of candy to give to folks who are homeless
• finally, the favorite kindly act of the day... 

hiding dollars at the Dollar Store!

I think that my favorite part of the day was hearing, "This is fun!" as they put together the pieces of this day out of their own stash of goods.  

I'm still smiling.

Tunesday with First Aid Kit - Ghost Town

Sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg (aka First Aid Kit of Sweden) make beautiful music. Hauntingly lovely.

Easter Egg Dyeing with Silk Ties: A Tutorial

I have born and bred some crafty little people. (My hunch is that we all start out that way, and tend to lose a bit of our uninhibited creativity somewhere along the way.) It is so fun to see their eyes light up at the suggestion of a new craft to create, especially if the words "Martha" and "Stewart" are used. You see, my oldest has her eyes set on taking over Martha's job.

So, last year, we took Ms. Stewart's suggestion and used silk ties to create colorful patterns on our Easter eggs. They were really easy to do, and though the colors were not as vivid as they girls would have liked, they did adore the patterns.

Supplies:

-Raw eggs

-Cooking pot (not metal...we used our lovely Le Creuset enamel pot)

-Pieces of silk approximately 4" x 4" (you might trim them later to better fit your eggs)

-White cotton fabric scraps approximately 5" x 5" (bigger than the silk)...we used an old sheet

-Wired twist ties to hold white fabric in place

-3 T. white vinegar

-White (enough to cover the eggs in the pot)

-1 T. vegetable oil (to shine up the eggs once finished)

-Tongs

-Wire rack (for cooling the eggs)

First, play with your fun ties for a while.

Then, cut into approximately 4" x 4" sizes, or whatever works to fit around your eggs. (It definitely doesn't need to be perfect, and actually doesn't even need to completely wrap around your raw eggs.)

Make sure the brighter printed side of the silk fabric is facing the egg.

Take a square of your white cotton fabric and wrap around the raw egg and the silk fabric. It should be snug but not crazy tight.

Wrap a twist tie around the white fabric to hold it all together.

Place all of your completely wrapped and twist-tied eggs into the enamel pot. (Remember, NOT metal pot...the chemical reaction won't work with metal.) Add water to cover the eggs. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for about 20 minutes.

After simmering for 20 minutes, remove the wrapped eggs from the pot with your tongs and put on cooling rack. (Hot water...be careful!) Once cool, carefully unwrapped the layers of fabric. Prepare to "ooh" and "aah" because it's pretty cool. You can shine them up a bit by rubbing a little bit of vegetable oil on them with a paper towel or scrap of fabric.

Well, that was last year. I had big plans to use vegetable dyes for this year's eggs. Alas, the marketing geniuses at the grocery store put the Paas dyes in plain sight of my eager little creative people.

They did have fun double- and triple-dipping the colors.

The included wax crayon was fun, too.

I think that Martha would be proud.

Tunesday with Snow Patrol + Martha Wainwright

I made my pilgrimage to Abbey Road Studio back in the 80's with my good friend, Carolyn. We were both a bit obsessed with Paul McCartney at the time. Someday I'll dig up the old slides that I took of us at the crosswalk made famous by Sir Paul and his friends. Fun memory.

I love the Live from Abbey Road song sessions on the Sundance channel. One of my favorites is this rendition by Snow Patrol of their song Set Fire to the Third Bar. Inviting Martha Wainwright (sister of Rufus and daughter of Loudon III) to join them was genius. I find it hauntingly lovely. Enjoy.

Fun with Pinterest

I'm a hardcore visual person. I do so love to look at pretty things. This turns out to be both a blessing and a curse in the age of instant gratification, find darn near anything you wish with a few taps on the keyboard, visual/information overloaded way of life we now live. Let's just say that some days I don't sleep much.

Pinterest is a place to catalog the things you love.

That's what they say.

Pinterest is my new-found love. Even quicker than Tumblr (which is also quite fun), I can quickly "pin" photos that I want to remember or share, place them in their appropriately-designated pinboard (think techy inspiration board or file folder of magazine clippings), and look at them with ease any time I need to be inspired. It's also crazy easy to see what others have deemed worthy of pinning. I tell you, it's better than Pepsi (my previous addiction)!

I also love the fact that your source is automatically credited. ("Yay" for giving credit where it is due!)

Here are a few of my pins. Enjoy the visual journey.

Source: designlovefest.com via wynzia on Pinterest

Source: google.com via wynzia on Pinterest

Source: puregreendesign.blogspot.com via wynzia on Pinterest

Source: papier-mache.com.au via wynzia on Pinterest

Source: brabournefarm.blogspot.com via wynzia on Pinterest

Source: jakandjil.com via wynzia on Pinterest

Tunesday with The Okee Dokee Brothers - Lucy and Tighty

We dance in the kitchen...a lot. My little gals can tap their toes and belt out the lyrics to everything from showtunes to pop to alt country to opera to bluegrass...and lots of other goodness. But sometimes grown up songs have grown up lyrics...and so we talk about these things, and it takes away a bit from the spontaneity of just dancing and singing.

So, a little fix of the Okee Dokee Brothers is perfect. The lyrics are kid friendly, but they also make me giggle. And the music...oh, the music. Talk about toe tapping...