Wabi Sabi, not to be confused with that new sushi restaurant

by Finola In January we hosted N’s eighth birthday party. N is a very crafty little girl, and the poor thing has a mother who absolutely cannot stand doing crafts. I even hated doing them when I was a kid. I could never cut the shapes the right way, and my gluing skills were just embarrassing. I never knew what the next step was supposed to be, and I remember dreading art class days at school. So when it comes to doing crafts, N and her little sister B are on their own, or else they are farmed out into someone else’s more dexterous and patient hands.

Last year N had her birthday party at Gotta Paint on Kirkwood Ave and Richmond Rd., where the girls painted ceramics, and N would have been happy to go there again because she liked it so much. I would have been fine with that too, because they did quite a good job of entertaining a pile of girls for a couple of hours.

Over the Christmas holidays, however, we wandered into Wabi Sabi, which is a knitting, spinning, and weaving shop located on Wellington St. West in Hintonburg. We knew a little bit about Wabi Sabi because we know the lovely Carol Secord who owns this store. As soon as you walk in, you feel peaceful and calm. The colours of the fibres on display are rich and warm, and the layout is open and very welcoming.

From Wikipedia:

Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience

This is a most accurate description of Wabi Sabi, the store.

I knew that Wabi Sabi hosted different workshops for children right in the store, and so we decided to look into this idea for our crafty daughter’s birthday party. We asked N what she thought, and she was absolutely sold on the idea.

There were a few options to choose from for the party, none of which were knitting per se, but all based on fabric and needles and making things, so really there was no way to go wrong here. N decided that she wanted to make pencil cases, which we thought was an ideal project. Fun and functional. We called Carol and set it all up, and out went the invitations.

Making the pencil cases involved “felting”. When we arrived at the store on the day of the birthday party, the zippers had already been pre-sewn to the felt for us. The girls then decorated their felt pencil cases by taking fluffy fibrous material and attaching this material to the felt using a poking-with-needle technique (sorry to be so technical here). A few fingers were damaged in the process, but there was nothing too serious and only a very small amount of blood. Tony and I helped some of the girls who were overly ambitious with their fluff additions, so that they could finish poking in the material before it was time to go home. It was quite relaxing and relatively low stress. The next step was to sew up the pencil cases using a blanket stitch, which even I was able to pick up fairly quickly, even though I never did get the hang of changing the thread.

The girls all worked at their own paces, and the party flowed smoothly and very quickly. We took a break to eat pizza and cake, and then the girls could keep working on their projects. There was no time in the two hours to open presents, which suited us just fine. Some girls finished their projects with plenty of time, while others had to bring their pencil cases home to finish sewing them. The party facilitators were both kind and helpful and my girls definitely had a great time.

To make the party a bit more festive, we brought along N’s mp3 player and hooked it up to her new iPig (which is completely adorable). Most of the songs were the pop fare preferred by the pre-tween set, but I did manage to get a couple of songs that I like on there too. And surprisingly Punk Rock Girl by the Dead Milkmen is boppy enough that it didn’t totally stand out from the Miley and Taylor songs, though the party attendees did seem to notice the difference and were looking a little skeptical when that one came on. Hmm.

I loved Wabi Sabi and I loved N’s birthday party. I would really like to take up knitting again and I am going to look into signing up for one of their workshops for grown-ups.

Finola is the mother of two crafty girls aged 8 and 6. You can find her at www.finolablog.com

Guerilla parenting: playing at Staples

by Zach There are times when I need something to do with the kids that isn't anything that we usually do, and that is free, or very, very cheap. Often doing something different is for my own sanity. And, usually the novelty keeps the kids, and me, entertained far more than would seem logical.

I suspect that these activities sometimes border on the unusual. For example, taking the kids to Staples. Who takes their kids to a big box store primarily to amuse them? Me, apparently.

For example, there is a Staples at 403 Bank Street. It's a big building, by downtown standards. And it has a number of characteristics that make it a pretty effective way to pass part of an afternoon:

• unlocked, out of the way bathrooms
• usually not very busy
• wide aisles and pretty good sight lines
• many, many packaged, hard to break, colourful items (the expensive stuff is generally locked away or out of reach - watch out for the computer monitor displays, though)
• rows of desk chairs to try out
• staff that don't seem disturbed by small children

If you actually need to buy something, that's great. If not, put something in your hands, and you look like you're shopping. The kids constantly grab stuff off of shelves and displays, so I usually have to say "we're not buying that" many times. However, I can also get some extra mileage out of the experience by getting the Boy to return whatever he's holding to where he got it.

While I certainly don't want to visit with kids on regular basis, I have to say, I've been surprised at how well the store entertains them.

Warning: watch out for the many huge, rolling stepladders the staff uses to reach high shelves. To kids, they seem like immense fun, but are definitely not safe for little ones.

Are you guerilla parenting too? Do you find yourself taking your kids places to play that you never would have imagined before? New suggestions are always welcome.

Zach is the dad of a 3.5 year daughter “the girl” and twenty month old son “the boy”. Zach doesn’t have his own blog but he is blogged about at Capital Mom.

Zucchini chocolate chip muffins

by Vicky Here's a great kid-friendly muffin recipe that contains not only chocolate chips, but zucchini! They're great for after school snacks, or to take on playdates. I can't take credit for them though, they came from Shannon's blog 'Crafty Mom Cooks'. Check out her blog for some really great recipes the whole family will enjoy.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup milk 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup shredded zucchini 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. I'm a big fan of Epicure, and I really love their cinnamon and real vanilla extract so those are the ones I used.

Also I used brown sugar, but you can use white if you prefer.

Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well and set aside. Stir into dry ingredients. Add the zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts (which I skipped this time). I use the finest grater I have for the zucchini, which makes it disappear into the muffins, (not that I'm trying to deceive anyone).

Fill greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown on the top.

I was trying out my Pampered Chef muffin stone for the first time, and muffins tend to stick until it's well seasoned, which is why I used muffin cups, but you can make these without the cups. These muffins are moist and really tasty. They don't last long in our house! I'm sure I'll be making them weekly come September once Joel starts school (eep!)

(Photo courtesy of A Crafty Mom Cooks)

ABC Challenge : Week 5

Last week we had our first Kids in the Capital meet up and I got to meet some of the lovely participants of the ABC Challenge.  I hope to meet more of you at upcoming meet ups! Keep your eyes open for one in June.

Photography tip - losing the cheese

I think Kiernan was barely two when he started saying cheese whenever I pulled out the camera. Except, "cheese" smiles, they aren't very nice smiles.

The trick is to get their natural smiles out. I generally act like a goof - and this article fully supports that strategy! And sometimes you just need to be patient.  This shot of Kiernan was him grinning in amusement right before telling me he'd been drinking water out of the water table....  ah well, whatever works right? I LOVE this photo!

Do you have any great methods for getting great smiles? And, are there any topics you'd like me try to cover? Let me know!

My two picks for this week

D is for discovery

Juliette, enthralled by the beautiful tulip. Quinn by.... his shoe.

E is for eating

She might be smaller, but she's the boss around here. "you. eat this. now."

Participants' photos

I love this photo by Dani. It screams brotherly love :) R is for riding by Danigirl

I love the lighting here. Sometimes we forget the subject doesn't need to be looking at the camera for a great photo I think.

G is for green by jhscrapmom

Helloooo down there! I is for inside by stella0017

I really like the angles on this shot. P is for playing by eisangel

I love how people are interpreting the themes! Check out R is for riding and V is for vehicles and how different everyone's takes are!

As always, it’s never to late too join the challenge. We hope you’ll play along!

Lara is the mom to 3.5 year old Kiernan and 1 year old twins Quinn and Juliette. You can find her at her blog Gliding Through Motherhood.

Anna Epp Photography giveaway winner!

And the winner is.... #16 Jen!

Congratulations Jen. An email is being sent out to you letting you know that you are the winner of the Anna Epp Photography giveaway. And what a wonderful giveaway you have won. We hope that you and your family have a great photo shoot with Anna.

Thanks to everyone for entering our first ever Kids in the Capital giveaway. It is great to be able to highlight an amazing Ottawa business (especially one run by another mom). We hope to do it again sometime soon.

Lara and Brie