Category: handmade

Label Love: Mikoleón Sustainable Shoes + Clothing — and a Giveaway!

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Growing up our family always had what it needed, but certainly there was no money to spare or to spend on being fashionable. Our clothes were most often second hand or sewn by my mother, and when we did buy new things we had to be price conscious.  Shoes, however, were one thing that my mother would not spare expense on. She always said her children had to have good shoes — for the health of the foot, not for the sake of fashion. She bought us sensible shoes that fit well and since we only had one pair of shoes at a time, they would be shoes we could do anything in: climb trees, walk to school, play sports, and so on. When my sister, who was the fanciest little toddler you will ever meet (she went through a phase where she couldn’t be seen in public without a bridal veil), wanted fancy shoes my mother found a local shoemaker who made my sister Mary Janes that were functional and fancy (of course this was long before the online shopping era, so my mother had to locally source shoes, a good thing for sure).

I carried my mother’s concern for healthy foot development forward as a parent and have always done my best to outfit Ro and Sen’s feet with quality shoes that would let their feet breath and develop in a healthy manner. With Sen and Ro growing like weeds over the winter (I love weeds, by the way) I needed new shoes for both of them this spring. I had the good fortune of getting them handmade shoes from Mikoleón, which, by the way, have proven to be exceptional quality.

Mikoleón is a small company making children’s clothing and footwear. The production ethics are outstanding: their clothing is made from up-cycled fabrics, 100% cotton, chemical free, dye free, fair trade, reduced CO2, sustainable and handmade. Their shoes are handmade by cobblers in traditional slow production methods. The leather is processed in an eco-friendly and sustainable way. With all this production goodness I wanted to share more about the company with my readers (this is not a sponsored post!), so I asked Cony, the woman behind the company, if she might indulge me in an interview. She said yes and offered to do a giveaway too — yay!  I don’t encourage frequent or conspicuous consumption, but do take note of Mikoleón for the next time you need to buy some beautiful ethically made children’s clothing and footwear. And make sure to read to the end of the post to see how you can win something from Mikoleón.

Mikoleon Shoes

Cony, could you tell me a little bit about yourself, the person behind Mikoleón. What is your background?

I’m a mom of 5 and now grandmother to 14 beautiful grandkids including triplets! I’m an entrepreneur at heart! I love the idea of creating something and watch it blossom…I like to figure things out; I’m fascinated and obsessed with anything related to textiles and natural fibers; and I’m committed to living a green life as much as I can!

How would you describe Mikoleón in 5 words?

A brand with a conscience.

Why did you choose Mikoleón for your brand name? What does it mean?

A Mikoleón is a Kinkajou also known as “honey bear,” but not an endangered species…yet. They are native to the jungles of Central and South America, they eat fruits and live among trees. Mikoleón in Spanish means monkey-lion, and for us, it was the perfect name to describe the soul inside our company.

What inspired you to start designing shoes and clothing?

I wish I could say that my dream was to be a fashion designer! But the real reason is…I saw an opportunity to help people in Guatemala with sustainable jobs and that combined with my love of textiles sealed the deal! I was in awe of their craftsmanship and desire to have a better life. I couldn’t deny the opportunity.

What did you want to be when you were a child?

I wanted to be a mom. Now that I’m one, I want to someday write a children’s book about love.

Craftsmanship and sustainability are important to you. How do you translate these into your designs and their production?

Even though we have skilled artisans, there’s always a learning curve to produce high quality products for them. Training our employees to understand the level of quality we want is imperative and essential to our production. We strive to make products that are simple in design and that showcase our specialty fabrics.

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Where are Mikoleón shoes made and clothing is sewn? What is your relationship with the seamstresses?

Our shoes and clothes are made in Antigua, Guatemala. Our seamstresses and cobblers are skilled women and men that were in great need of a job to provide for their families. We were just lucky to find them…and have the chance to help them.

Our fair wage policy goes beyond what the local Guatemalan government considers a fair wage. Our in-house employees enjoy all the benefits the laws in Guatemala require, such as medical, social security, maternity leave, and vacation benefits. In addition, Guatemala laws require that you pay your employees for 14 months of wages but they actually work only 11 months! Twice a year they get paid for two months of work while working only one.

We take much pride to say that we pay fair prices for their goods.

What’s special about the materials you use? And your production methods?

Our denim is up-cycled. Basically, we collect new waste materials from the denim factories in Guatemala, and transform it back into threads; we then use the up-cycled threads to make new woven and knit fabrics. This saves a tremendous amount of water in the manufacturing process compared to traditional new fabrics.

We consider ourselves a slow fashion company, meaning, each piece is done in small quantities as needed. We don’t have a factory, I like to think of it more as a sewing shop, and much like a seamstress or tailor shop would be here in the USA. We buy raw materials from ISO certified factories (ISO 9000), and we are always mindful of the environmental impact of our production methods.

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What has made you the most proud of what you’re doing?

Being able to empower our employees to believe in themselves and their worth; and second would be, knowing that we are providing our customers with products that make them feel good while making conscious fashion choices.

Do you plan to expand the line?  What’s next for Mikoleón?

For now, we just want to educate consumers about the beauty of natural fibers, up-cycling, and the negative impact on our environment and the real cost of fast fashion.

When you are all caught up on work, what do you love to do?

I love a cup of chai tea, sitting on my back porch and staring at our beautiful Rocky Mountains, reminding myself how lucky I am for the chance to love my little tribe!

 

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Thank you Cony! Readers you can find Mikoleón’s online shop here and follow them on Instagram @mikoleonkids

Mikoleon wants to giveaway a $100 gift card and a Nena & Co Mini Clutch to one of my readers! …Details below

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Example of a Nena & Co Mini Clutch shown above **If you are curious about Nena & Co, you can read about them here

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Sen calls his Mikoleon shoes his “Adventure Boots” — according to him the side pocket is meant to hold treasures collected while adventuring, I’m pretty sure he’s got that one right!

To enter the giveaway, visit my Instagram account (rules are explained there too) and make sure to:

  • Follow @mikoleonkids
  • Follow me @hippieindisguise
  • Like and comment on the giveaway photo to confirm your entry
  • For extra entries: Tag friends in the comments. Please separate each friend into a different comment so that it is easier for me to make the ballots:) No limit to number of friends tagged.
  • For an extra entry: Sign up for Mikoleón’s mailing list (and BONUS you’ll get a 20% off coupon sent to your inbox!)

Contest closes Sunday May 1st, 2016 at 3:00 pm NYC standard time and is open worldwide. The winner will be announced on Instagram on Sunday May 1st after 4:00 pm. Good luck friends!

 

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Custom Illustrations: Artful and Creative Childhood Heirlooms

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Illustration by Stephanie Ball

Over the last year or so a few talented illustrators and artists have drawn and painted portraits of Ro and Sen. These gifts has been such a delight and treasure for us, that I wanted to share them here in case you may be looking for a creative gift idea, something that won’t end up in the charity bin or will only last for a certain age span.

If you are going to give a material gift to someone then make it something worthwhile, something that will become an heirloom. The artworks below certainly will.

Stephanie Ball | @pianobythesea | email: stephballillustration@gmail.com
Joana Oliveira | @mydailydoodling | www.mydailydoodling.tictail.com


Cecelia Contreras | @migamigaceci | www.migamigacrea.wordpress.com

Kellie Diguanco | @kelliedigs | email: kellie@iamkellie.com

Lauren Noel | @ladynoel_designs | www.ladynoeldesigns.bigcartel.com

Cheng Kulai | @chengkulai | email: chengkulai@yahoo.com.hk 

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 Sara Goetz | @sarahgoetz | www.sarahgoetz.me

Faustine Badrichani | @wooln_ny | www.faustinebadrichani.com

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With Faustine’s illustration we printed it onto canvas paper and the children painted it with watercolours to make unique holiday cards for friends and family.

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Zero Waste: How to Make Easter Egg Bath Bombs with Flowers + Essential Oils

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zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

I freely admit that the naturally dyed Easter eggs I see on Instagram (these ones!) and Pinterest (these ones!) have me feeling a little underwhelmed with our own vegan Easter crafting traditions. For a few years now, I’ve wanted to naturally dye wooden eggs but haven’t found an economical source for the wooden eggs. We’ve been making our own bath and beauty products for the last year or so (deodorants, creams, toothpaste and so on) and it occurred to me when I was getting our Easter decorations out that the plastic Easter eggs we use for the egg hunt would make perfect bath bomb moulds, so I decided to try it out with the kids. And, low and behold we found our Easter egg, vegan friendly, crafting tradition! (Note: After years of frustration related to buying aluminum wrapped chocolates, I decided to buy reusable plastic eggs that I could fill with dried fruits and other treats, rather than put aluminum foil into landfill. Zero waste life!).

Making the bath bombs was really easy and a super fun activity for the children. They got their hands into some dough, designed their own scents from mixing essential oils, and crumbled dried flowers. A sensory and very satisfying experience! The bombs smell great, are healthy for sensitive skin and soothing for the soul. On top of this, you can make the bombs with common household ingredients that are likely to be in your pantry or available at the grocery store.

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils

Here’s how we made them:

  1. In a bowl combine: 2 cups of baking soda, 1 cup of potato starch (you can also use corn starch or cream of tartar), 6 tablespoons of Epsom Salts (you can also use sea salt).
  2. If you want to make different scented bombs, then separate the mixture evenly into a few bowls — we separated into four bowls.
  3. Crumble approximately 2 teaspoons of dried flowers into each bowl. We did different combinations to get different colours. For example, a pink egg from wild roses, and a green egg from blue hydrangea. Make sure to finely crumble the flowers because the bits will go down the drain in your bath so you don’t want to clog it up. Although, as Ro said: “It would be the nicest clog ever!”
  4. Add 7-10 drops of your favourite essential oils to each bowl. I use Do Terra essential oils which are very high quality (pure) so I didn’t need many drops, if you use a more conventional essential oil you may need a few more drops to get a strong enough scent. We used lavender, wild orange, balance, serenity, citrus bliss, eucalyptus and melaleuca in different combinations.
    • Lavender, balance and serenity are calming.
    • Wild orange and citrus bliss are energizing and refreshing.
    • Eucalyptus is great for opening up the air ways especially if you have congestion or a cold.
    • Melaleuca, also known as tea tree, is a natural anti-septic, is soothing and smells great.
    •  I’ve included links above to purchase from Amazon, but if you are interested in opening an account with DoTerra to get oils at a significant discount email me: hippieindisguise1@gmail.com
  5. Add 2 tablespoons of melted (liquid) coconut oil to each dry mixture, if separated into four bowls. (Overall you would add 6-8 tablespoons to the entire mixture).
  6. Using a spray bottle or a teaspoon to very slowly add water and mix, only add water until the mixture is crumbly but will hold together if you squeeze it in your hand. At this point it can be pressed into your egg moulds. Pack the moulds fully and firmly so that as they dry they will hold shape. I let ours dry in the egg mould for 2 days although 1 day was probably enough.
  7. Gently open the moulds. A few of our eggs crumbled from over excited hands, so be careful.

natural easter egg bath bomb diy dried flowers essential oils

zero waste vegan easter egg DIY flower bath bomb essential oils hippie in disguise

natural easter egg bath bomb diy dried flowers essential oils

No surprise, the children couldn’t wait for Easter to use the bath bombs. We found they worked really nicely. They didn’t fizz around (you need to add citric acid to the recipe if you want fizz, but citric acid can be hard on the skin so I don’t add it to my recipe) but they smelled really good and easily melted into the bath water. The crumbled flowers floated to the surface of the bath and made the bath water extra fancy. The coconut oil was soothing on the skin and the essential oils gave off a delightful and calming aroma. Overall, the bombs were a success.

natural easter egg bath bomb diy dried flowers essential oils

If you have any questions about how we made the bath bombs please leave a comment and I will be happy to answer. For an amazing tutorial to make naturally dyed wooden eggs visit Fareisle Blog here.

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You might also like my post:

How to Make All Natural Temporary Tattoos from Real Flowers

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Zero Waste: Wrapping Gifts with Fabric

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About 10 years ago, Matt’s mother decided to wrap all the Christmas gifts she was giving in fabric. A frugal, creative woman she didn’t enjoy, nor see the point, in wrapping a gift in beautiful paper only for it to be torn off and wasted, it seemed like a bit of an obscene luxury and careless of the environmental impact. For a few years already, Matt and I had been carefully unwrapping gifts so as to be able to reuse as much of the paper as possible, but admittedly it took a little fun out of the whole gift exchange. The fabric wrapped gifts she brought, on the other hand, were beautiful and appeared fancier than traditional paper wrapping and bows, and no extra special handling was needed to unwrap them. Win-win!

Photo not mine, view it and it’s source via my Pinterest board

A few years later, and I don’t remember how I came across it, I learned about the practice of Japanese fabric wrapping using a wrapping cloth known as Furoshiki. I’m certainly no expert in furoshiki, but  I can tell you that from the idea of furoshiki developed a set of wrapping techniques, where fabric is used to package things for transport or gift giving. It is said to have been developed out of a sense of waste consciousness and caring for the environment.

Since this time I’ve used fabric to wrap gifts when I have some on hand (otherwise I reuse paper).

If you ask Google you’ll find there are different techniques for boxes and bottles and other general shapes too. There are also lots of tutorials if you search ‘furoshiki’ on YouTube and I’ve pinned some favourites to my ‘ g i f t ‘ board on Pinterest.

Aside from gifts, there are also techniques for wrapping picnic lunches and meals for transport, where the fabric folding and wrapping comes out looking like a little basket. There are also folding techniques for shopping bags, flower bouquets and more. All this to say, if you want to wrap something in fabric as a gift or to travel with, then there is a furoshiki technique that can do the job. All you need is some scrap fabric (old sheets, scarves, silks, linens) to work with. No tape, no string, no glue. Although sometimes it’s fun to embellish the wrapping with a scrap of ribbon or yarn.

Photo not mine, view it and it’s source via my Pinterest board

Don’t be fooled by how pretty the furoshiki wrapping looks and assume it is complex. Every technique is simple and involves very basic folding and knotting. Gift wrapping in under 2 minutes — 1 minute for a pro.

This year I used some of Ro and Sen’s play silks from Sarah’s Silks to wrap gifts. The play silks we have are long rectangles, so I folded them over in thirds so I could work from approximately a square shape, but there is no great precision required in the size of the fabric relative to the size of the wrapped object, but generally a bigger piece of fabric is easier to work with. Using play silks to wrap gifts for children has the added bonus that the wrapping is a gift itself. Imagine a child unwraps a gift and is just as excited about the wrapping!

sarahs silks play silk furoshiki zero waste gift fabric wrap

Photo care of Sarah’s Silks

Overall, gift wrapping with fabric is easier (and faster) than wrapping with paper as you don’t need tape, ribbon or scissors. In my experience, people react positively to fabric wrapping: children find it extra fancy and adults usually have an ‘aha’ moment, like “hey, what a great idea!” In addition, fabric wrapping is more economical, encourages reuse and repurposing, and is environmentally friendly. Win-win-win! Try it out and please share the idea!

Make sure to check out my Zero Waste Gift Guide, which is great as a zero waste starter kit or for experienced zero wasters. Lots of ideas!

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tuta and coco montreal children art prints

Children’s Art Prints by Tuta & Coco

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On the Christmas of Ro’s second year, a family friend made us and our extended family a custom photo calendar featuring photos of Ro that he’d taken and gathered from family. This was nine years ago when photo calendars were not yet readily available. It was a simple, but very thoughtful gift, and ended up stealing the show Christmas morning. Everyone enjoyed pouring over the photos he’d selected and reminiscing about Ro’s development over the year (children change so much in a year at that age). The calendar was enjoyed that day, and everyday for the rest of the year.

As someone who, for a long time has felt dis-ease with excess and has had a hard time with Christmas mornings, seeing the lovely gifts exchanged and knowing that many will not be loved for long, it struck me how loved the calendar was. So, each year since then we have given this same present to everyone in our family and circle of friends: a photo calendar covering our life in the last year. That’s it. Simple gift, but one they will enjoy the whole year.

I’ve thought more than once that I’d like to make a calendar that features the children’s art work but wasn’t sure how to. This year when I found a local shop, Tuta & Coco, out of Montreal, that produces high-quality prints and paper products from children’s artwork I was really excited to put my idea into print. tuta and coco montreal children art printsWorking with Tuta & Coco was a breeze, I sent them scans of the art work (thank you Dad for scanning all those drawings and paintings!), Tuta & Coco then processed the digital files and emailed me drafts of the calendar until I was happy with it and then they printed it. The work was done.

The hard part came before when I was sifting through and selecting which artwork to include…while I’m minimal in many ways saving my children’s artwork is definitely a weakness. Hashtag understatement of the year.

tuta and coco montreal children art prints

It was a lovely surprise to find when the calendar arrived that each month was it’s own print (separate sheets), the calendar is held together on a small handmade wooden clipboard, so after a month has passed you can continue to enjoy the print off the clipboard (there’s no perforation to ruin the print). The clipboard is a nice clean design. And, in Sen’s opinion the clipboard is “Amazing mama! But, do I have to wait until the end of all these months to use it for me?” Seriously, it is the cutest tiny clipboard!

tuta and coco montreal children art prints

tuta and coco montreal children art prints

I absolutely love that all aspects of the calendar product will remain useful and loved after the year has gone by. The prints can be taped to the wall, used as postcards or any number of other ways. The clipboard is a fun and functional small size, especially good for children to use, and will be great to bring along in the summer for sketching out in the wild.

One final cool thing with the calendars is that you can start with any month, since each sheet is separate. This means you can give the calendar to anyone (including yourself) starting in any month of the year. Bonus!

You can find Tuta & Coco’s shop here, they ship worldwide. You can also find them on Instagram here and Pinterest here. **This is not a sponsored post, just sharing a cool find 🙂

Tuta & Coco kindly included a favourite piece of artwork from Ro and Sen in their children’s gallery on their site, which the children are pretty proud about!

tuta and coco montreal children art prints

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Creative Mother: Erin Wetzel, artist

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Drawing a Day

A Thoughtful Guide to Women’s Gifts

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Suitable for any occasion, any season, these are some excellent gift ideas for women and mothers.

Following up on my Thoughtful Guide to Gifts for Children, I’m sharing a guide to gifts for parents, well, mostly for the women and mothers in your life. I chose these items because they are sustainably made, high quality, and because I know I would use them every day / week and that they would add enjoyment to my life.

I should say that my favourite thing to get as a gift, for any occasion, is always a drawing or piece of artwork from my children. I don’t hope or wish for anything else. A handmade gift, a child’s pure, organic creativity is the absolute best. However, not everyone shares my view, and then there are the basics and some frills that are also nice to have around. So, in the interest of thoughtful acquisition, I’ve pulled together a list of gift ideas that cover all price points and are sure to be well appreciated by the recipient. Women's Gift Guide

  1. Prints of Your Children’s Artwork  –  Ok, not a big surprise that I recommend this! But seriously, I would hang every piece of art work my children’s made if I had the wall space and if I knew the work would sustain the wear, oftentimes the paper is too delicate or I don’t want to put tape on the artwork. I found a company, Tuta & Coco making excellent art prints on sustainably sourced paper, find them here (they also make cards and calendars)
  2. Knit Snood – I absolutely love my snood – a knit neck warmer – from Wooln, it’s hand knit by grandmothers from NYC from ethical wool sources, available in a range of colours, you can find it here, I promise you will love it!
  3. Mala necklace – I have a peaceful mala necklace and I can’t explain how much this has been a blessing in my life, the mala is great for meditation, but also when worn, even on a busy day is a great reminder to slow down, to find a calm moment and be present, the necklace is gorgeous and made from the best materials, you can find my favourite malas here
  4. Storm Overcoat – an extravagant item in my world, but a girl can dream, right?! This gorgeous jacket is made by my favourite women’s line, Ace & Jig, and is available here
  5. Photo prints – shameless plug…photo prints are a nice way to support photographers and artists, and are usually a lower price point in terms of art and wall decor, I have a shop on Big Cartel with photos listed for sale. The floral wreath photo shown has the option to include text, such as a child’s name. I can also list any photos from my blog or Instagram feed if you don’t see what you want, just ask, please visit my shop here
  6. Notebook – a staple in our house, I always have a notebook with me for ideas and another for drawing, I love Mohawk paper products, the quality and environmental standards are first class. Widely available, you can find the notebooks here
  7. ‘Blomster Mandala’ colouring book – by Maria Trolle, gorgeous flower mandalas to colour, good for relaxation and inspiration, you can find it here
  8. Reversible Ace & Jig Meadow blouse – taking capsule wardrobe to a whole new level, this fully-reversible blouse would be a dream addition to my closet, made from ethically manufactured textiles, you can find it here
  9. Wool sweater – this Jumper no 15 from Babaa is gorgeous and I would live in it from fall to spring if I had one, good knits are expensive but so worth the investment, Babaa’s wool is sourced ethically from sheep who are treated well, find the jumper here
  10. Essential oils – I never go a day without using essential oils whether for emotional support, health support or household cleaning. My two favourite blends, and my children agree too, are Balance (think spruce, camomile, vanilla, very calming and restorative) and Citrus Bliss (think citrus vanilla heaven, energizing aroma and delicious in water and smoothies)
  11. Indigo-dyed kitchen linens – daily use items should be well made but also beautiful, adding a little joy to the mundane, I love my indigo-dyed linens from Tafari Designs, you can find them here
  12. Reversible Ace & Jig Ra Ra Midi skirt – again helping to make your capsule wardrobe even more capsule, this reversible skirt is made of gorgeous ethically manufactured fabrics and looks good every season, you can find it here
  13. Lounge/pyjama pants – beautiful and super comfortable, but not so casual you can’t answer the door in them, I love my Punjammies pants, and especially love that sales are used to support women and children who have escaped sexual slavery – awesome! – find the pants here
  14. Playful – a little bit of crafty inspiration is always a good idea, I’ve had my eye on this book by Merrilee Liddiard for a while, her projects are modern, beautiful, made from everyday items and are easily adaptable to your own resources, find it here 
  15. Beeswax food wraps – another every day item that is so beautiful and wholesome that you feel joy every time you use it, these wraps replace disposable plastic wrap (which never biodegrades!) and can be used for an endless variety of things, and I dare say they are more effective than plastic, we love them, find them here, worth every penny!
  16. Wooden spoons and spatulas – everyday kitchen tools should be well made, work well, and beautiful, my favourites are handmade by Park Wood Shop and are available here
  17. Edible treats – I love consumable gifts like edible treats, yoga classes and massages, they are deeply enjoyable and don’t leave you with stuff accumulating in your home. I once had the delight of enjoying a jar of Fare Isle‘s beach plum jam and I can tell you it is so delicious I still think about it one year later, mmm. Find the jam and lots of other edible treats here
  18. Simplicity Parenting – written by Kim John Payne, it is one of my favourite parenting books, taking the perspective of less is more, living connected to the moment and disconnected from technology, being present with your children — the approach advocated applies to all aspects of life, not just our relationship to the children in our life, you can find it here

If you missed it make sure to check out my guide for children’s gifts

xo, Danielle

*FULL DISCLOSURE: I’M NOT COMPENSATED FOR PURCHASES OR CLICKS TO SITES. I’M RECOMMENDING THESE GIFTS BECAUSE I THINK THEY ARE EXCELLENT, ETHICAL CHOICES, THEY ARE SUSTAINABLY MADE AND ARE LIKELY TO BE USEFUL FOR MANY, MANY YEARS. UPDATE: I have recently changed a few links, for books only, to Amazon Affiliate links in an effort to earn commissions and support my work here. Thank you for your support.  

A Thoughtful Guide for Children’s Gifts

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Update: I developed this list for December giving, however it is suitable for any season or occasion, including Valentine’s day and birthdays. 

It’s that time of year when many people are thinking about gifts for the children in their life. So I decided to share my best recommendations in the interest of thoughtful acquisition. We are very minimal when it comes to gifts: for birthdays it’s one gift, for Christmas it’s two gifts. Over the years the children have grown a nice collection of thoughtful toys, books and play things, that are sustainably made, high quality and heirloom worthy. This list is based on our favourites (and a few wish list items) that both Ro (age 10) and Sen (age 4) enjoy now and did so at a younger age too.

 

Full Children's Gift Guide 2015

I didn’t include any clothing on the list because my children get little enjoyment from what they wear, but if you are looking for clothing recommendations, you can always email me or leave a comment, or check my Label Love series of posts, featuring ethically made, sustainable clothing.

  1. Studio Escargot Doll – small, soft loveable dolls that are beautiful but can still be played with, handmade by Sophia Smeekens, available here
  2. Mozartkugel Music Ball – handmade in Germany from sustainable wood sources, this wooden ball contains a wind up music box that plays Mozart, beautiful sound and beautiful to look at, available here
  3. Once Upon a Balloon – written by Bree Galbraith, a story about the magic and whimsy of childhood imagination, widely available, but you can find it here
  4. 12-piece Wooden Rainbow – made by Grimm’s Wooden Toys, this toy is deceptively complex and yet simple enough for a toddler to enjoy, hours of creative fun, available here (note: the entire line of Grimm’s toys is amazing, you can’t really pick something your children won’t love)
  5. Play Silks – hand dyed silk and cotton play scarves and scapes, hours and hours of creative fun, your children will never cease to come up with something new with these scarves, available from Sarah’s Silks here (note: you can’t really go wrong with anything from Sarah’s Silks)
  6. Global Guardian Project Learning Capsules – monthly digital magazine (including videos, podcasts and art downloads) for children and families to learn about global stewardship. Each month features a different country’s wild life, landscape and challenges, and includes art projects, activities, meditation, recipes and more! You can use my discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off  and find them here
  7. Felt Bee Costume – handmade felt bee wings and mask from Wishing Elephant and Opposite of Far collaboration available here
  8. Ocean Warrior Necklace – handmade necklace made from amber and sterling silver, a reminder of our connection to the health of our waters and planet, from Tribal Dreaming available here
  9. Dancey Pants Disco Doll – sweet homesteading, yet adventurous dolls handmade by Michelle Housel available here (but often sell out quickly, so keep checking)
  10. Felt Vegetables – handmade felt vegetables, a friend of mine made Ro and Sen a set and they have been enjoyed for hundreds of hours, you can find the set shown as well as many others on Etsy from Little Farmer Felt here
  11. Slingshot with Felt Balls – handmade wooden and felt toy, made in Canada from sustainable wood source with eco paints, by Des Enfantillages and available here
  12. Swurfer Swing – handmade wooden surfing swing, watch some videos here to understand how fun and versatile this swing is, available for purchase here
  13. Blank Notebook – always in use for drawing, taking notes, blank notebooks are a staple, but always exciting as a gift, our favourites are from klt:works available here
  14. The ABCs of Homesteading – a fun, beautifully illustrated book with a hand screen printed cover, written and illustrated by McKenzie E. Ditter available here
  15. Jump Rope – handmade adjustable length wood skipping rope, made from sustainable wood and rope, water based paint, in Canada by Des Enfantillages and available here
  16. Toy Camera – handmade wood and recycled bamboo and finished with oil, made by Park Wood Shop available here
  17. Coloured Pencils – our favourite colouring pencils are made by Lyra, beautiful colours and great hand feel, widely available, but you can find them here for sure
  18. Binoculars – handmade wooden toy binoculars made by Fanny and Alexander and available here
  19. Sonya’s Chickens – beautifully illustrated book about love and nurturing, the realities of nature, life and death, written and illustrated by Phoebe Wahl available here
  20. Pencil Case – young artists need to be able to travel easily with their pencils, handmade from upcycled materials and available in a range of styles and colours, made by El Quiltro and available here

My favourite toy shop in Canada is Three Little Monkeys, they are located in downtown Ottawa, but have an amazing online shop and ship everywhere, so check them out.

Check out my Thoughtful Women’s Gift Guide — good for any season or occasion.

*Full disclosure: I’m not compensated for purchases or clicks to sites. I’m recommending these gifts because my children enjoy them, they are durable, sustainably made, and are likely to be kept and passed on to their children. They are heirloom quality gifts that children will thoroughly enjoy, that inspire creativity, open-mindedness, care and nurturing. UPDATE: I have updated some links on this page as Amazon Affiliate links, purchases made from links to Amazon from my site I will receive a small commission for.

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Wooln: Socially Responsible Knits

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It’s that time of year again when I look forward to wearing a cozy knit hat and sweater around the house, sipping tea with a blanket over my legs. Somehow this is much more comforting than cranking the heat in the house and pretending the cold season is not upon us.

Hippie in Disguise Danielle Chassin Ace & Jig dress Wooln snood

Brunch Addict snood from WOOLN and Arbor dress from Ace & Jig

 

As a vegan I am apprehensive about wool products, but also believe that humans can have symbiotic relationships with animals and that ethical wool is not an oxymoron, but a reality for a small portion of wool produced. I’ve been thinking more and more about the overall impact of goods (the entire lifespan) from production to waste, and how those goods which may be less harmful to animals in the production phase, like micro-fleece clothing, are harmful at the ecosystem level and also negatively impact the lives of many animals, mostly insects (which I count as no less valuable than other animals). At the end of their useful life these products live on forever as landfill. So I’ve had to seriously reconsider opting for animals fibres more often for the greater sustainability of these fibres (wool is biodegradable). Luckily there are more and more companies sourcing ethical wool and making beautiful things with it. Enter Margaux and Faustine…

From France to New York (and many places in between), Faustine and Margaux are two mothers who share a passion for knitting and social responsibility. They recently launched a small knits shop, WOOLN, with an innovative twist. I absolutely love what they are doing and hope their model, that is, doing business with the aim of benefitting society at large, will be adopted by other businesses.

Margaux, Faustine, please, tell me a little bit about yourself. What is your background? How has it influenced your creative pursuits?

Margaux: I was raised in the French countryside and have always wanted to move around the world…which I did many times in my adulthood: I studied in the UK and France, then lived in Italy, New Zealand, Australia and back to Paris. I now live in Brooklyn and I’m thrilled! I believe that starting from zero again so many times makes oneself creative, even not intentionally.

I quit my serious job 5 years ago to dedicate myself to my passion: knitting. My life is all about yarn, needles, wool, patterns and softness since then! (And I confess, sometimes I dream of going back to the countryside!)

Wooln NYC Faustine and Margaux sustainable knits knitwear

Faustine: Sometimes, I feel I have had many lives already, and that I will probably keep going on having “circles of life.” When I finished my Business School in Paris, I went into working in finance in London. And felt so “creatively” frustrated that I gave up after only a few years and settled myself as a full time artist in New York (mostly painting until I started sculpting a year or two ago). This also correlates with when I had my first child. After being a full-time-artist-and-mum for almost 4 years, I met Margaux and we launched WOOLN, and since then, it has been providing me with the perfect balance between creativity (we do everything ourselves, the patterns, our website design and I am the one who makes all the illustrations, the packaging bags, etc…), and business (strategy, sourcing, IT, etc…).

What part of the world do you live in?

M: Brooklyn, NY. Did I already tell you I love it here ?

F: Manhattan, NY. I have lived in 10 different places, and it is by far my favourite place to live in the entire world! Having said that, now that I have a family of my own, I feel I could pretty much live anywhere and be happy, as long as I have my children and my husband with me.

How many children do you have and how would you describe them?

M: I have 2 beautiful girls Cosima and Sidonie aged 3 and 1 and a half. They are both very cheeky!

Wooln NYC sustainable knits knitwear

F: I have one girl who is 4 and one boy who is 2. They are obviously both equally cute but I can’t decide who gives me more work! And I also have 2 stepchildren from my husband’s first marriage; they are 15 and 9, they are very cute too and don’t give me any work! (They do not live with us). When we travel, we use an entire row of the plane! They all get along so well, it’s the cutest thing to see.

Wooln NYC Faustine Badrichani and family

What is your favourite thing to do as a family?

M: A picnic or an exhibit in a big museum where we can run. Also we love spending long holidays in our family home in the south of France.

F: We love travelling, and now that Joseph is over 18 months, it is getting more fun every time. We are just back from a trip on the US West Coast, which was amazing!

What are you passionate about?

M: Knitting (and cheese too!)

F: Knitting (and cheese too!)

What inspires you?

M: French indie movies, my husband and many of my NZ friends. Kiwis have something special.

F: Reading, travelling, going to museums, watching documentaries, and… Pinterest!

Can you tell me a bit about Wooln? What do you design and how do you source your materials? 

WOOLN is a line of hand-knit accessories, knit by grandmothers and retirees in New York with socially responsible yarn.

Wooln NYC BabyKit wool hat and mittens

M: It took us a very long time to find the perfect yarn; we wanted something local, 100% natural, soft and socially conscious. We finally sourced two types of yarn:

  • One is a 100% American wool – spun and dyed in a family owned spinning mill in Nebraska, with sheep grown up here in the USA
  • The other one is an extremely soft Royal Alpaca yarn. The company works responsibly with artisans in Bolivia and Peru.

I love your term ‘wool agency,’ can you explain what this means to you? 

F: Wool Agency was actually the first name we had found for the company. We changed it to Wooln, because we felt Agency was not really what we were doing, like a nanny agency or web agency was not necessarily what we wanted to be associated too. We picked WOOLN because we liked the vowel drop, which reminded us of other “sharing businesses” like tumblr and flickr, and it felt more 2.0, which is the DNA of our company: we only sell online, we communicate with our knitters via emails, we found a few of them via Craigslist, we raise money via crowdfunding on Kickstarter, our PR is only through bloggers, etc…

By creating WOOLN, we try to match 2 things that matter equally to both of us: having an amazing product, be fashionable, and cool and great looking, as well as doing something good for society, which for us means working in a socially responsible manner, and promoting a new way of buying. We hope we will be able to fulfill those two goals, and not just be this socially responsible company, or this fashionable brand, but a cool mix of both.

Wooln NYC sustainable knits knitwear

You have an innovative and socially responsible business model, can you tell me more about it?

F: Our model is very innovative as it has not been widely done in the fashion industry; however, it is anchored in the sharing economy trend. We are using talents that are otherwise barely taken advantage of to create a cool product and give consumers a new way of buying. With WOOLN, the act of buying is very personal: buyers know who made their hat, they can know more about them and really have this connection, which is something completely different from what they get by going to one of those big fast fashion brands. Our mission is to create connections between people, and to make buying a question of people, not just of material things. [Danielle: every WOOLN item comes with the name and information about the knitter and you can read more about each knitter on the WOOLN website.]

I love that you share mini biographies of your knitters and the illustrations are such a special touch. Who does your illustration work?

M: Faustine! She is the best illustrator! When I saw her illustrations, drawings and paintings in her studio for the first time I was very impressed. It came naturally that she would draw WOOLN faces for our packaging and branding we didn’t know yet that she would also sketch our knitters.

Wooln NY sustainable knits

F: I have always loved drawing, and drawing for WOOLN allows me to really feel complete and fulfilled with this whole experience! Business with an artistic twist.

One of our Kickstarter rewards is a sketch from me, and so far it has been the most bought reward! It is going to take me a month worth of drawing, but I won’t complain, I just love it!

What has made you the most proud of yourself and your business?

M: Finally getting this project that I’ve had in my head for so long REAL! Being able to forget about fear and judgment, and more practically, visiting a huge number of senior centres in New York to find our great knitters! And of course raising these 2 adorable little girls.

F: Even though we are only in the first year of WOOLN, it is the biggest achievement for me. I feel like I have been waiting for so long to have this fulfilling experience, and everything now comes together, providing me with everything I need to be balanced: doing something for the benefit of society, doing business (I am definitely business minded), being creative and artistic! What else could I ask for? (maybe more time for my family but I do not want to push it…)

What are your dreams for your business and motherhood?

F: Our strategy is really to take one collection at a time, and keep making headway. We have already learnt so much and the season has barely started! On a longer term basis, we hope to add a cotton collection for the warmer months (even though we both enjoy spending our summers in France with our parents and children rather than working in sweaty New York…) And probably extend our locations, maybe start having senior knitters on the West Coast would make sense!

As a mother, I do not have any dreams or goals: I am just trying to do my best and enjoy every little moment with them. Before having kids, I did not really understand why people would say “enjoy every minute of it, it goes by so fast.” Now I do. It does go by way too fast! And I want to make the best of every minute.

Merci Margaux et Faustine // Thank you Margaux and Faustine!

Readers: you can find WOOLN’s online shop here and on Instagram @wooln_ny.

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Have you subscribed to the Global Guardian Project yet? They are monthly learning capsules for children and families to learn about global stewardship. Each month features a different country’s wild life, landscape and challenges, and includes art projects, activities, meditation, recipes and more! Use my discount code: HIPPIEINDISGUISE for 10% off , you can read more about it here

Make Your Own Mother Nature Leaf Dress: A Compostable Zero Waste Costume

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Mother Nature Leaf Dress Hippie in Disguise Danielle Chassin

Ro’s finished Mother Nature Leaf Dress, not perfect, but we learned from the process how to make a better one next time (see instructions below). But we did have a great time innovating to make a costume that is completely garbage free and compostable!

Halloween is Ro’s favourite day of the year. Her love for imaginative play and dress up, in combination with her outgoing personality make it far more fun than birthdays or Christmas. She just loves dreaming up a costume and then bringing it to life.

Ro is fortunate to have two grandmothers who are talented artists and very handy in the sewing department. Matt’s mother is a visual artist, she illustrates, paints, sculpts, sews, makes fibre arts, and gives an artistic flair to everything she touches. My mother is multi-talented, she went to school for fashion design, so she can design and sew up a storm of beauty. She has also put her talented hands to pottery, knitting, furniture, gardening and many more projects of beauty over the years. With these two creative grandmothers not only capable, but interested, in helping bring Ro’s visions to life, she has had some pretty extraordinary costumes over the years.

I should mention that I can sew, and while I’m not nearly as capable as either of them, I can certainly sew a Halloween costume. But, I loved that Ro and her grandmothers had a special project each fall, starting with a chat about her idea, maybe some sketching, a trip to shop or gather materials from a thrift shop, and then sewing and assembling the costume. It was a lovely tradition and a great bonding experience. At the same time, I didn’t want Ro to think that we were not capable of making her costumes ourselves — self-sufficiency is an important thing to me. I hoped the time would come, naturally, when we would make her costume ourselves.

Ro starts thinking seriously about Halloween in late summer, when her mind turns to the return to school and she sees the signs of fall start to show in the natural landscape. Last summer, we had beautiful weather and spent nearly every full summer day outdoors enjoying nature in forests, by the river, and everywhere in between. While both children have an innate interest in the natural world, I was intentionally trying to cultivate their interest by, not only spending time in nature, but also encouraging them to use natural objects for art. Ro loves fashion, not for the sake of trends, but for the creative self-expression. My mind hadn’t turned to Halloween yet, when one day in late August Ro announced that she wanted to make an ombre dress out of leaves and be Mother Nature for Halloween. To say my heart was singing to hear her say this would be a modest statement. She had, unknowingly, married her interests and mine and I knew this was the perfect year to shift to the two of us making her costume.

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Many people have since asked us how we made her dress and so I thought I would share our method here. This is just one, very simple way to make the dress, by using a braiding technique and affixing the braids to the base garments using safety pins, but I thought some process photos might help those of you who may need a visual guide. I hadn’t expected to be asked how to make the dress, so I didn’t take any photos when we made it, so I’ve recreated a few below for the sake of this post.

Without further ado, here’s how we made the dress:

  • After sketching the dress she wanted (a full length, tank dress), we found a suitable tank top and long skirt from her existing wardrobe to use as the base to pin the leaf braids onto.
  • In the weeks leading up to Halloween, we tried a few techniques, braiding and tying with string, and found braiding to be the least fussy.
Leaf braiding using simple three strand braiding technique, closed off with a safety pin, which is used later to affix the braid to the garment.

Leaf braiding using simple three strand braiding technique, closed off with a safety pin, which is used later to affix the braid to the garment.

  • On the day of Halloween, we spent about 3 hours walking around our neighbourhood gathering leaves, trying to find a range of colours to get the ombre effect. Especially looking for leaves with long stems, which makes braiding much easier. I highly recommend maple leaves. We used some oak leaves, because Ro loved the colours, but they were very hard to work with for braiding, and in some cases I had to pin the leaf itself to the garment. This can be avoided by using leaves with longer stems.

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  • It is important to gather your leaves freshly when you make the dress, because they will not last more than 12-24 hours before drying and becoming very brittle and crumbling off. We did not pick leaves fresh from trees, but rather gathered from the ground, so if you are someone who picks leaves then they may last longer. Although, I’m sure you can find plenty of leaves without the need to pick live ones from trees!
  • Next, we organized the leaves into colours: purple, red, orange, peach, yellow, lime, dark green, brown. Ro wanted a fade from purple to red through to green and brown, so we arranged the colours to make braids in this order.

Just a simple example shown above, our leaf chains changed colour more gradually as the garment was full length.

  • Once we had a braided chain of leaves about the length of half the shirt, we would stop and pin it closed to keep the braid from undoing. Chains longer than this tended to pull apart with wear. We continued to make chains and lay them on the shirt, until it appeared to be enough to cover the top. Keep in mind the garments will stretch when worn, so allow space for the braids to overlap.

Leaf braiding using simple three strand braiding technique, closed off with a safety pin, which is used later to affix the braid to the garment.

  • I was set on making the costume in such a way that would not create any garbage, so we used pins to attach the braids to the top and skirt. None of the pins opened while she wore it, but if you are concerned you could tape over the pin on the side that contacts the body, or wear a second garment underneath as a barrier.

Try to pin through and around the braided stems. You can trim off the extra stems or tuck them under another braid.

  • We repeated the same process of braiding and laying out the braids on the skirt, and then pinned them in place. Note that the direction of the braids was reversed on the skirt, meaning the braids pointed down to the ground. This helped to have a smoother, more comfortable waist.

Leaf braids on the tank pointing up, leaf braids on the skirt pointing down. Separated here to show technique, but you would want to have the ends of the leaves touching to hide the stems.

  • The braiding and pinning for the top and skirt took about 5 hours. Partly because we were developing the process as we went and partly because Ro wanted to try the top on at every step of the way!

  • The last piece we made was the hair piece; Ro wanted a fascinator. So we took a left over chain of red maple leaves and braided them. I closed the braid with a regular hair elastic. When the braid was laid over the top of her head, draping down, the leaves fanned up for an interesting look. Held to the head with a few bobby pins.

If we’d had more time, I would have filled in those peeks of white fabric with some shorter braids, but time and patience ran out. Ro wanted to skip around the neighbourhood in her dress!

By the end of the evening, Ro’s dress was dried out and starting to crumble. We had a trail of leaf crumbs all around the house. As I swept up, I noticed that the most beautiful pile was gathering at my broom.

A leaf heart made from the crumbled leaves from Ro’s dress. The rest went into the compost.

Please feel free to ask any questions about process or technique if my guidance wasn’t clear. Good luck and have fun getting creative with natural materials and please share your results with me!

You might also like my post:

How to Make All Natural Temporary Tattoos from Real Flowers

How to Make Easter Egg Shaped Bath Bombs with Real Flowers

Ecominimalism: Minimalism and Sustainability Talking with Robin Kay

Top post: Minimalism: 7 Best Books to Inspire and Inform

 

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Creative Mother: Sophia Smeekens

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Growing up my mother was always sewing up one project or another. She spent many years working in the evenings, after her day job, and after taking care of us three kids, hand sewing dolls, first for friends and family, and then later trying her hand at making a business of it. Because of this experience I feel very nostalgic when it comes to handmade dolls. I love most handmade things, heirloom quality products, that can be passed through generations: a hand knit sweater, a hand sewn quilt, a hand carved wooden spoon — they are time travellers of sorts, since their aging is not in step with the human passing of time.

When it comes to handmade toys and dolls, these are extra special. Unlike clothing, home goods or tools, which can be very useful, handmade dolls often become objects of love. Children adopt dolls into the family, taking them on family trips, carrying them from place to place, dressing them, feeding them, sleeping with them. Over time they become deeply invested with emotions. There is something very special about being a dollmaker, knowing and wanting to make something that will become an integral part of the child’s life story.

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Sophia Smeekens is the owner, designer and one-woman-show behind studio-escargot, and I also happen to think she is a very special woman. In her signature style, she handcrafts whimsical dolls of all sorts that are not only beautiful but ignite the imagination. While Sophia makes beautiful dolls, it is her energy and story, that make her a person who inspires. Sophia has taken her life experience and channelled it to craft an intentional, slow, creative life, and through this shows us one way to find purpose, overcome obstacles, and live a fuller life. Because of this, I think there is a little something extra special in her dolls. I can’t wait to add one to our story.

Please read on to hear from Sophia, herself.

Tell me a little bit about yourself. What is your background?

Coming from a normal Dutch family with two brothers and parents who both worked as teachers in primary school I had a simple and carefree youth until my mother was diagnosed with cancer and died 1.5 years later. I was 14, a critical age for a girl to lose her mother. Looking back it felt like an earthquake had taken everything away from me. I was rootless, lost. It took me 20 years to get back to who I really am: a mother and creative, but above all a human being, trying to let go of fear and all rules society has taught us. I feel very connected to nature (even though I am not living in a deserted reservate) and living in simplicity and am slowly peeling off all extra baggage I have, to eventually live with only what I essentially need.

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What part of the world do you live in?

I live in the Netherlands in a suburb attached to Amsterdam.

How many children do you have and how would you describe them?

I have two children, age 12 and 3. Mike and Isa. Mike is a sensitive loving soul, Isa is a little rebel, takes over and knows shes gets away with a lot of her behaviour because she is the youngest…

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Isa wears a charming corduroy jacket by another creative mother, Katie, the woman behind Red Creek Handmade, and her skirt is from Yellow Pelota

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What are your core family values?

Live conscious with an open mind and a warm heart.

How do you spend most of your days?

My days are spent creating (dolls) and making (mostly raw) food. Isa is not going to school yet so we still spend a lot of time together. We love wandering outside, picking flowers, gathering nature’s treasures, picnicking and visiting playgrounds. On rainy days we snuggle up to read or watch a movie.

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What is your favourite thing to do as a family?

Really just being together, talking, laughing and cuddling.

What are you passionate about?

Creating

What inspires you?

Nature, simplicity, wholehearted living.

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What is studio-escargot? And what does the name mean? 

Studio-escargot is the name of the label I set up 3 years ago. Escargot is french for snail. As I feel related to snails: I move forward slowly 🙂  Also the work I make takes time, I put love and attention into it. I hope my dolls are there to last a lifetime.

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Can you tell me a bit about your work as an artist and doll maker? How did you get started making dolls?

I have been creating things all my life and can not imagine my life without.  I studied artisan classic upholstery and interior styling. After my studies I worked as a visual merchandiser for 10 years. When figures and profit started to pass the creative goal I resigned from work and went back to school where I enhanced my styling skills. But the urge to create never stopped.  When pregnant with Isa I started to make things like blankets and pillows as well as a doll… A friend of mine liked it, as did others and I started to make some for friends. A friend of mine told me to try and attend a Christmas fair, there a doll was bought for Reva, Madelon’s daughter (the famous @madebylon) who posted it on Instagram…the rest is history, as they say.

Did your life goals or career aspirations change once you had a child?

Yes, Isa inspires me so much. Her stories and her imagination, her books get me to make new stuff! But she also made me realise that working at home with a child takes good planning, patience and discipline!

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What are your dreams for your work as an artist and as a mother?

I am working on some ceramic doll heads and would love to complete them with a body, maybe make some more sculpture like dolls… I would love to make dolls for theatre as well and write that children’s book….if only I had more time! As a mother I hope I will be able to see the profound needs they have and that I will be able to assist them to get healthy, conscious, open minded and loving adults.

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You can find Sophia on Instagram @studioescargot or on her website www.studio-escargot.com. Follow her! I promise you will be inspired by the intentional life she leads and your eyes will thank you for all the beauty she shares.

 

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