Etsy.

Orange and Olive Wristlet

Etsy is so much better than when I first opened my shop there in 2006.  They've made tons of changes, and the latest one I've been waiting on for a long time: the ability to change your shop name. 

Unicorn Satchel

Tweed Purple Wristlet

Five years ago, I didn't have a business name--was barely even a business--when I started making and selling things on Etsy.  So I named my shop after an old email account and have been stuck with it ever since.  No more.  Last night I changed my shop name to my business name (makes sense, right?), and you can now find me on Etsy under RecyclingisRad.  Whoo! 

Octopus Satchel

All the old links to my shop will continue to work, and the old URL will remain active for the next month or so.  But I promise you'll feel much more special using my new URL:  www.recyclingisrad.etsy.com.  Yay Etsy!

I Heart Canadian Thanksgiving + S'mores Whoopie Pies

I have been so busy lately!  Regrettably not taking and/or posting enough pictures of everything due to my ill-chosen love of procrastination.  Sigh.  But yay!  I was able to wrap up a few of the big orders before our annual Canadian Thanksgiving celebration last weekend and totally relax and enjoy the festivities.  And in honor of taking a break, and also Canadians everywhere, God love you, I decided to post a few highlights from the weekend.

I heart Canadian Thanksgiving.  I'm not Canadian or even related to anyone in Canada, so the only reason to celebrate is a pure-hearted love of Thanksgiving food.  That and getting all our friends over before it's too cold out to even huddle around the firepit in the backyard.  This year we planned ahead by brewing a batch of homemade hard cider.  The day of we made two turkeys (one smoked on the grill, compliments of my sis, and one deep fried in the turkey cooker in the backyard), and our friends truly outdid themselves with amazing side dishes.  So much fun.

What might be my favorite part of the event was the art project I started my kids on early in the day to keep them busy:  The Hall of Famous Canadians.  A couple of my favorites from the collection:

Bryan Adams: Canadian!

Neil Young: Canadian!

Another highlight: whoopie pies.  Who doesn't love them?  They're like cake-burgers!  I made two kinds (both recipes from one of my favorite food blogs in the whole world, comma, dessert category: Brown Eyed Baker), a pumpkin with maple cream cheese filling, and my personal favorite, s'mores.  Whoever thought of turning a s'more into a whoopie pie was straight genius.  They. Were. Delicious.  Follow the link below to get the recipe for yourself.  I recommend.  

S'mores Whoopie Pies

Forest Creature Friends.

Zip-Up Acorn Home with Bunny and Fox Friends.

Today I delivered a batch of creature-filled acorn houses to CorAzon on Lake Street.  The zip-open acorns each hold three little animals, a mixed bag of raccoons, foxes, squirrels, and/or bunnies.  The creatures I made from old sweaters, and wool and flannel shirts and skirts.  And I found some ridiculously plush velour-esque drapes for awesome acorn tops.

Grey Squirrel.

Zip-up Acorn House.

I love making tiny things, so I was excited to work on this project for CorAzon, as always, a fun easy-to-work-with client.  They should be up on the shelves in the store soon, at both the Lake Street and Washington Avenue locations.  Stop by one of them to check the animal sets out in person.

Sydelle Wristlet

Just wanted to share this super quick!  It was bright spot in my week when I got an email from a woman who currently owns one of my wristlets.  Her not-yet-two-year-old daughter apparently loves to carry it around, and this smart lady thought if she could give her daughter a kid-size wristlet, she'd get her own purse back.  Even though I'm in the middle of a project involving tiny toy creatures, making a kid version of something as grown up as a wristlet sounded like a lot of fun.  So I took a quick break, and here's what happened:

Sydelle Wristlet

Wristlet with sunglasses for reference...it's roughly 2/3 the size of a standard wristlet.

I hope Sydelle loves her new purse, and I can't really imagine anything cuter than a two-year-old with her own wristlet.

Happy Birthday Ames!

My sister, who is amazing, celebrates her birthday this month.  She's one of my favorite people to make stuff for, and last year I stitched her face onto a beer cozy.  Once you embroider someone's face onto something, there's basically no hope of ever outdoing that.  Well, I  mean, there is, but I didn't really have the time to hand-stitch a fabric mural of her riding a unicorn-wolf across the solar system with her pet eagle.  I'm keeping that one in my back pocket for next year though.  Instead, I made her some stuff for the kitchen in her new house, including these hilarious napkins.

Polite Observation Napkin Set

My screenprint method is completely freehand, involving embroidery hoops, glue, and toothpicks, and is probably murder on my eyesight, but totally a labor of love.  I'm generally drawn to a process that leaves room for imperfections; they're just so much more interesting to look at.   You can see the variation in the print from piece to piece, and I only ruined one in production.

Gross Woodgrain Napkin

Dirty Hands Woodgrain Napkin

 Start to finish, these were super fun to make, and maybe if I ever get all the orders cleared off my table I'll make a few more sets.  For now though, I hope my sister gets the point.  Happy Birthday Ames!

Polite Observation Napkin Stack

Swede Lake Farms + Icebox Pickles

Jalapeno-Garlic Icebox Pickles made with Swede Lake Farms' cucumbers and chesnok garlic.

Yesterday I got to spend the day in Watertown, MN volunteering my super sweet garlic-shucking, bean-picking skills at Swede Lake Farm.  Maybe my skills aren't all they're cracked up to be (more than once I had to have one of the real farmers lift heavy objects for me, hanging my head and my t-rex arms in shame).  But the farm is awesome, and one of my favorite places to spend the day.  Swede Lake Farms is organic for real, and family for real; once I'm there I never want to leave.  The polar opposite of a factory farm, almost every task there is done by the hands of the farmers--Scott and Deanna, and the fantastic interns Colsie and Robert.  And besides being some of the world's greatest people, they grow the most delicious food in the universe.  When we finally dragged ourselves away yesterday at sunset, we left with a backseat full of heirloom potatoes, giant romano green beans, and cucumbers.

The green beans they grow are, I suspect, infused with crack, and I selfishly hoard them so they last till the next market or farm day.  And the cucumbers?  Please.  My often veggie-hating children eat them out of hand like apples, and will mow through a pound in no time.  If those two happen to leave any behind, I make the rest into icebox pickles.  (Oh icebox pickles, I love you...and I'll get back to you in a second.)

If you're lucky enough to live in the Twin Cities area, Swede Lake Farm's amazing produce is within your reach.  Find them at the Mill City Farmers' Market on Saturdays during the warm months, and at the Kingfield Market on Sundays.  Even if you don't live anywhere near Minnesota, you can still reap the benefits of the Swede Lake farmers' garlic crops.  They grow some rare and beautiful varieties for eating and cooking or for seed.  Ordering details available here.

Ok.  Icebox pickles.  We were fated to be together, I know it.  And as it turns out, I married into the recipe, so it actually was fate that brought us together.  Sometimes I eat them straight out of the jar standing in front of the open fridge, but truly the best way to appreciate them is stacked on a medium rare burger you just popped off the grill and covered in piles of bacon and molten white cheddar.   This year I added jalapenos from my garden and some of Swede Lake's awesome garlic to a few of the jars.  So good.  But however you spice it up or not, it's basically the easiest pickle recipe ever.  The most important part is getting a really great cucumber to start with, and I've already told you where to get those.  The word icebox in the title of the recipe is your clue that there's no canning required or allowed for this recipe.  Full recipe after the jump.

Peek.

I just started a new project for a local store that I'm super excited about.  It's only in the very beginning stages at the moment, so all you get is a peek.  But I'm hoping to have the whole thing deliverable by early October, at which point you'll be allowed to see the finished project in all its (tiny) glory.  Yay!

Check it:

Stay tuned for the full reveal in October!