Foodstuffs – Sew Becky Jo

March 18, 2020

Homeschooling Tips for COVID-19

Today I got an email from a public school teacher asking for advice. Homeschooling is new to many, and I feel our teachers are really going through some trial by fire here.

Being that I’ve homeschooled, here are MY tips for success. As always, your mileage may vary, but I see a need, and I want to help. This is my wheelhouse.

First, throw out the idea of the quiet private cubby of school concentration desk. That’s some throwback Quaker stuff. It makes school seem really punitive and children are social creatures. If you put a child in a cubby, they will squirm and wiggle right out of it. Put them all around the kitchen table or sprinkle them in the living room. Put them where you are, where they are. Earbuds are recommended.

My kids get online by 8:30 am, breakfast done, teeth brushed, water bottles filled and next to them. Just like with work, this gives them time to orientate themselves to the day, check any messages, turn in anything forgotten, and get in the mode before the 10 am check-in time of Portland schools.

Around 10 am, there’s snack set out for grazing. Nuts, grapes, etc. We have realized we are going to be in close-quarters, quarantined together, so are not practicing social distancing within our family. It’s just not possible. More on that later.

By noon we break for a brief, half hour lunch.

Afternoon, older kids likely still have scheduled classes. They do that until done, then do a physical activity before free time.

Elementary school child does her class assignment of a “Diary of a Whimpy Kid” style journal, then physical activity before free time.

Physical activity options in our house:

1. 1. Go for walk or bike ride. Many of your local bike shops are still open by appointment. Get a tune up or a bike. A bike is the perfect length for social distancing and a great grocery store runner. Here’s my favorite shop in PDX.
  2. Hullabaloo. If you can find one not $124 like this one on Amazon, it is the ultimate sanity saver. I’ve had mine for over 10 years and it’s still going strong. I have friends who’ve made up new spots from fabric in their stash!
  3. Switch Ring Fit Adventure, Just Dance on Xbox – any number of physical game console options.
  4. Put on tunes and have a dance party.
  5. Cosmic Yoga on YouTube. Almost a half million subscribers for a good reason.

Free-time options – Screen-free and Not:

1. 1. Have group drawing/art while listening to an Audible book. I recommend the Little House series as it’s perfect for now, great for all ages and genders.
  2. Libby is also a great option for audio books and links with most libraries. Many counties are now allowing people to sign up for a card online to get digital books and audio books. Here’s Multnomah County’s sign up page.
  3. Science Kit: This usually involves vinegar, baking soda, and food coloring on a tray. Or making slime, etc.
  4. Planting a garden is science AND math. I’m a firm believe LIFE is ALGEBRA. You’re always solving for X. For example: How many seeds fit in a line when spaced 5 inches apart?
  5. Plant a seed in a cup to bring back to class after quarantine! Make it a class project.
  6. Get out the food dehydrator. Make fruit leather & dehydrate nuts. It’s both good quarantine sense and science. There’s all kinds of information about there about why you should soak your nuts, then dehydrate them (phytic acid y’all) and it makes for a great science study. Same with fruit leather – how long do the grapes last vs. how long does grape fruit leather last? (for grown ups, check out Brad’s It’s Alive if you really want to geek out with me.)
  7. Planet Earth. Need I say more?
  8. We love LOVE BrainPOP Jr. If your school hasn’t opened up the app completely for online learning, MAKE IT HAPPEN. There’s even a section on Coronavirus on BrainPOP now.
  9. Bill Gates just posted a tweet for Khan Academy being bolstered up for your use. That man never ceases to amaze. Khan Academy, if you don’t know, is the most used online resource by public schools. Your math teachers LOVE it.
  10. Make a sourdough starter. I love the entire King Arthur website. It’s a practically no-fail place to start.
  11. Use Ms. Jue’s Diary of a Whimpy kid idea and journal/art through it all. Bonus points for using those gel pens you have drying out, that stash of washi tape you’re “saving” and all those stickers and glitter.
  12. Teach to sew/crochet/knit – math, art, AND functional life skills. Look up the history of encoding messages in knitting. Look up the history of human strife & racial inequality in quilts, and current art and human strife in quilts. (I refuse to call these “politics;” that denotes a choice to make it this way.)

Right, so this seems to lean heavily on STEM/STEAM but I believe they’re all intertwined. There’s no math without music and vice versa. Gradients and vectors are math and art. Ratios of oil paint, drying time of watercolors… it all intersects in my mind. A kid baking cookies is learning math and science. Working out a garden plan with the kids figuring out the size of the planting box is both art and engineering. What is the cubic feet of soil for X sized planting box? This is applied learning. This is how we learn to apply worksheets to life. You got this. And you got me. AMA.

Love to you all.

We bake our sourdough weekly. Make a sourdough starter!

August 8, 2013August 9, 2013

They Grow Up

My oldest turned 18 and graduated high school. That’s been picking away at me – only for the most selfish emotional reasons. He’s fine. He’s more than fine. He’s great. I couldn’t ask for better. His future plans are solid and I’m beyond proud of him. I just can’t help but want to take him trick-or-treating more, hold him more, watch him go down the slide….all those things that are done and have been done for some time, but it’s so final now.

I didn’t expect to mourn my child’s successful completion of childhood.

It’s complicated. I don’t know if you feel this with every child, just your first or just when you have them so young that perhaps you didn’t appreciate what it was you had.

There’s no one like him in the world. He’s amazing. He’s brilliant. He’s funny. He thinks for himself….I love that. His opinions are his own. He listens, processes and decides things for himself. What could be more successful than that?

He will always be my baby. My 9 1/2 lbs, 2 feet long, 2 weeks past due ginormous baby.

I didn’t scan of his baby photos for this….this is sort of a word vomit more for me to get out than anything planned….it would be just more photos of him being adorable with bugs, cats, photo-bombing…..he’s a photo-bombing master.

Seriously. Master. Photo. Bomber. You can’t even compete.

And he’s all grown up. He leaves this fall. I can’t tuck him in to bed or read to him or tell him to eat his dinner…I can’t go back and do it more or less than I did….you think 18 years is soooo far away, that you have so much time.

And then.

You don’t.

June 29, 2013

Mom’s House

I refer to my mom a lot on here. I know I’m lucky that I have such an amazing mother. She has always been there for me, at my best and at my worst and every point in between. My mom will tell me she’s proud of me, just because she feels like saying so and she always says, “I love you more.” All children who have become parents themselves know you can’t argue with that one. And, when things are bad, my mom doesn’t sugar coat things for me; she’s the first one to tell me to pull myself up by my bootstraps, but she’ll do it while hugging me and handing me a hot cup of coffee.

One of my favorite things, though? I can always go home. And by I, I mean my entire family can always go out to Boring, Oregon and just…be. There will be beds, food, hugs, and hot coffee.

I wanted to share a few photos of what that’s like. This isn’t the house I grew up in. This house is about 3/4 mile from the house I grew up in and it’s much larger, but it feels the same. It still feels like home…if maybe just slightly more Bed and Breakfast now too!

April 9, 2013

Yellow

I picked up this spool of yellow thread the other day because I really liked the yellow. No other reason, really. I needed a ‘contrasting thread’ for my FMQ class and it made me smile. I’m not usually one to pick yellow unless we’re talking kitchen paint….almost every kitchen looks great in yellow…but here it is…nonetheless.

I think I can blame the baby. We were playing with her blocks…

and as we were playing…I was also doing a bit of color play…

when, of course, she’d let me…

I guess they are hers, after all….

My little helper.

March 29, 2013

Target Hacking

As I was making the last round of Star Wars goodies, my daughter asked for some of the green schematic fabric for herself. At that point, it was already almost gone and was sold out everywhere. Ooopsie. I did manage to save 1 print panel for her…meaning, one block of the print as it is repeated on the fabric.

I picked up some clearance frames at Target thinking this would look pretty cool.

Dummy me. Do you KNOW how many D-rings I’ve put in frames and how many photos I’ve set while working for photographers? I know, you don’t, but trust me when I say more than a life time’s worth.

I didn’t even think about it when getting these frames.

I’m slowly, begrudgingly, trying not to kill the cheap particle board frames….eventually, I’ll get these up. But please, be warned, keep this in mind when you see those clearance items at Target and you think, “It’s like I’m losing money if I don’t buy it!!!” So far, with my time included, these are very expensive frames.

March 23, 2013March 22, 2013

April Fools Day Is Coming

My Clover pen just died. I picked it up at Modern Domestic almost 2 years ago, and the water-erasable fabric pen held out until recently. I really love it. Ink on one side, water on the other, super light touch.

Of course it was mid-project. Luckily I remembered I had my handy-dandy disappearing ink fabric pen that came with Ms. Viking.

See that label sticking off of it??

Whatever you do, Becky, do NOT leave this at the bank. Or at an H&R Block. Or…at the kids’ school… hee hee hee….

March 22, 2013

Kid Crafts – Backstitch

I had this BRILLIANT idea that if I got the 7 and 8 year old little plastic embroidery grids to practice on, they’d be busy crafting while I could sew. HAHAHAHAHA. I am dumb.

Little did I realize that just because they’re practicing a backstitch for a few hours, does NOT mean they won’t need floss cut every 5 minutes and their needle rethreaded.

They did great for their first time.

Next thing they are going to learn is how to thread those needles. My mom got Hazel this cute sewing basket. Actually, I think it was her church quilting group. Anywho…I need to put one together for Alex too. With needle threaders.

February 21, 2013February 21, 2013

Upcycled Wool Owl Pin Cushion

My mom hands me this owl pin cushion and says, “Here, this is for you.”

Of course, I think it’s darling and say, “Wow! Thank you!! He’s so cute!”

THEN my mom nonchalantly adds, “Oh, do you like it? I made it.”

My mother, master quilter extraordinaire, carpenter, gardener…ok, she does it all and with perfection but not that fussy kind of perfection, she does it with that comfortable, amiable perfection…sigh, I love my mom. Anyway, mom once described her wardrobe as Goodwill Chic because she is so adept at finding wool, silk, antiques, and more at thrift stores.

One day she just whipped up a couple pin cushions out of some thrifted wool and gave one to me.

He’s adorable.

He has cute little wings.

Cute owl ears…

A little upcycled wool bottom to protect my fine, fine furniture.

And a darling ribbon…

I will have to get come cute straight pins to do him justice!

Yeah, my mom is pretty amazing.

January 10, 2013December 10, 2013

Starch Fabric Kitchen Cabinets {Tutorial}

I don’t know what it is about moving into a new rental, but I always go through the same series of steps:

I don’t do anything to make it “home-y” because it’s temporary.
I get tired of it not being home-y because it’s boring so I do a few things to make it better.
I get really frustrated because I should have just dug in and made it great and now I’m going to put in the effort.

I still will not paint, because I know me…and I know when we leave I’m not going to want to re-paint. I’ve done that and even a little Chinese red guest bathroom is a monumental chore to turn back to white when all you want to do is move on.

These next few months are going to have a lot of ‘fixing the home’ thrown in with my usual sewing/cooking/family adventures.

Today is fabric starching. This is an old, blurry, worn out photo of me in 1979. The wall behind me is not wallpaper, but starched fabric. I’ve mentioned before, my mom is amazing.

First, start with boring, ugly, beat-up cabinets. Give the surface a good wipe down just to make sure your starch will stick.

I went to Target to get starch. I wanted to get the liquid in the jug kind to dip the fabric, but they didn’t have any. These 2 cans of spray starch, little did I know, would be even better. They were priced at 95 cents each and had 55 cent coupons on them, so this was less than a buck. I’ve read tutorials where people used cornstarch but I have a healthy fear of insect infestations. Food-based starch = potentially nasty bugs. No thank you. Your phobias may vary.

I used about 4.5 yards of fabric for a mid-sized apartment kitchen. So, at Joann’s, this Alexander Henry fabric is about $13 a yard, and with a 40% off coupon making 5 yards for $25.

I highly recommend pre-washing your fabric. This will help prevent any color bleeding that may occur and put you back at square one for repainting when you leave. Also, it will help prevent shrinkage as it dries after starching.

Measure once, then measure again. Write it down unless your brain has fewer holes than mine.

Measure every cabinet. You will be surprised how one is actually a half an inch larger than the one next to it. Superior architecture in apartments and all….my little cabinets over my fridge are a half an inch smaller in width than the little ones over the stove vent. I would have loved to have been at the planning meeting for that one. No, not really.

I didn’t take a photo of me cutting the fabric…I’m pretty sure you can figure out how to cut fabric…I used my mat/rulers/rotary cutter because I’m slick like that, but a pair of scissors and squaring up on a book should do just fine. You’re going to trim the fabric to the cabinet later anyway, so don’t sweat it too much.

Spray the cabinet on the top lightly to ‘tack’ the fabric to it so it will sort of hold…and get ready for your house to smell like “Fresh Laundry Scent” aka turn on a fan.

Hold the fabric and spray the sh*t out of it. Really saturate it. Like…dripping off the cabinet kind of wet.

Smooth fabric out and down as gently as possible. I tried using a sponge, but ended up preferring my fingers to smooth out the bubbles versus the lumpy texture of a million layers of apartment paint. Also, I found the sponge stretched the fabric too much. I did use the sponge to dab the excess starch and catch some of the drips.

Like in this fuzzy picture, use your ridiculously long thumb nail or a butter knife to press into the corners if your cabinets are framed like mine. If not, ignore this part.

You’re going to have some overlap as the fabric gets wet and stretches a bit. This is an easy fix. Depending on the quality of your fabric and whether or not you pre-washed it, it will shrink up some after it dries. The rest is easily taken care of.

When it’s dry in a couple hours, you are going to take a MF-in’ SHARP box knife and slice the fabric excess. Unless you’re afraid of marring the cabinets…then just pull away slightly and trim. Don’t worry….it’s ok….just wait and see….

I went through 2 blades, both sides. The fabric peels away SUPER easily.

And whether you pull away and cut or use this method, you’re going to get some fray and peeling. It’s ok. Don’t freak.

You were a genius and got the uber cheap spray starch, right? Right. So just spray that little corner, dab it back down, smooth any threads, and you’re golden.

Check on your adorable helper and make sure they’re doing alright.

Stand back. Admire your handy work.

And the final touch? My mom’s colander from 1979.

This took me a weekend’s time but if you don’t have kids/meals/craziness you would easily get this done in a day and, again, less than $26. You have no excuses. Get off your butt and fix your kitchen!

:::UPDATE!! ONE YEAR LATER HERE!:::

January 7, 2013

Pantone Color of the Year Rant

Ok, I’m going to try to get this out of my system once and for all.

Pantone has somehow convinced y’all they’ve always been some fashion leader. Kudos to their marketing department for that coup de grâce.

Don’t get me wrong…I love Pantone! I’ve owned many Pantone color books over the years. Yes, Pantone color books. For printing. It’s this thing we used to do. We used to design on our huge desktop computers for print. One would tell the printer the colors chosen by using a Pantone books so they could match the colors. You know, CMYK and all that. This was a big deal for things like Annual Reports and brochures for mail that goes to a real mailbox.

But Pantone was not fashion forward. The fashion world would always be at least a year ahead of your Pantone book. This is why you can color mix yourself in PhotoShop and Illustrator…if anything, we in the design world would wait for Adidas or NIKE to announce the coming season’s fashion colors because they were the ones pushing the fashion color envelope. NOT Pantone. I once used a metallic burnt orange ink with blue on an annual report 3 years after Audi made the color popular on their A4. Not really fashion forward.

The absurdity would make me laugh if it wasn’t for the fact that Pantone has rewritten their history in the fashion world and you all bought it, hook, line and emerald green sinker.

June 20, 2012November 27, 2012

Ordering Online Part 1

Due to my busy life and time constraints, I like to order things online. It’s easier to browse in the evening on my tablet or laptop during lunch than to cart bored kids into a fabric store or craft store and actually come out with fabric I need instead of a box of 25 foam craft frames. The grocery store is a mad house with kids, every other person trying to rush in and out between work and home, and weekends are just pure misery.

I recently restarted my Organics To You service to keep fresh vegetables and fruits in the house. This also keeps my cooking fresh and adventurous as I have to find creative ways to cook things like fava beans, chard, kale and it keeps the kids happy as they have a continuous variety of fruit to snack on. This way I only have to go to the grocery store to stock up on dairy, meat and bread type items.

If, say, I decide I no longer want fava beans, or come this fall, turnips, I can simple go online to my account and ask to have those omitted. If I need to skip an order or move my order to every-other-week, that’s an option as well. It’s quite convenient and completely without the hassle of the grocery store. It’s like the farmer’s market is delivered to me personally in this nice, jam-packed box that contains way more than I could get for the same price at the store or farmer’s market. I love it.

March 13, 2012November 27, 2012

Crafts Spring 2012

This is my to-do list of crafts for Spring 2012.

With kids:

Crayon Stained Glass
Salt Dough Ornaments
Painted Frames
Cupcakes!!!

Just me:

Best Lemon Bars from My 30 Spot
These Best Cloches from Aesthetic Nest – I have enough Lily cotton yarn to make a dozen…however, I won’t. Just enough for Zoe and Hazel!
Something finished for the master bed…I’m not sure what I’ll be able to fit in. I’d like to cover the cheap duvet I bought with a better fabric or maybe finish the simple square quilt I have started – either one will take more investment in fabric – we shall see. I’m also distracted by chenille blankets such as this one and this one but that would require even MORE fabric and I just can’t justify the purchases at this time let alone the time required for each whim!
Some clothes – I have some cute patterns and want to sew some summer clothes for the kids. Fingers crossed!