Big News!!!! (Banana Papers preview)

Warning: Long post ahead!

After years of hesitation and lots of self-doubt, I've finally received enough encouragement to convince myself to make the leap and start selling my craft projects! I'm in the process of opening up a store on Etsy called Banana Papers. I will also be at my church's craft market in November. Getting the Etsy shop running is a little overwhelming at this point bc I don't get much time on the computer during the day and what little time I do get, it's taking me forever to learn how it all works. I'm not too knowledgeable on the computer! The craft market at church will be much easier (I think) bc I can just sit and visit with friends who stop by. No headaches trying to figure out shipping costs, etc.

Curious why I chose the name Banana Papers? First of all, I wanted something unique. This past winter, Lolabee and I were driving down the road and the subject of cookies came up. I had mentioned vanilla wafers. She said, "Banana Papers?!?" I laughed and said, "No, vvvvanilla wwwafers." That time she heard me correctly. For some reason, it just always stuck in my head. My shop will have no rhyme or reason to it, so that made it easy to need a name that wasn't too particular. It'll be colorful. No matchy-matchy things. And, because I always want to be fair with my kids, I guess you could say Cal plays a little part in the name too -- simply bc he loves to eat bananas. :)

I love crafting but always feel bad spending money to buy supplies to make one or two things, then having so much left over. Plus, after I make one thing, I always think how it'd be cuter if I'd done this or that instead. By making extras of these things and selling them, it helps me to maybe make a little bit financially as well as it gives me the excuse to create things. And, a portion of all of my sales will go to local mission work so that others may hopefully benefit from it as well.

So, that's that!

Below is my Etsy shop's store banner. After I made it, I started thinking it's kinda Napolean Dynamite-ish/MTV's Teen Mom. LOL I would have made it a little more elaborate, but I just couldn't figure out photo resizing and such, so we'll just go with graphics.

I just made the onesie above for my mom. It's too small for her, though. Hahaha (Just messing with you, Mom!) She needed a baby gift for a shower this weekend and it was for a baby girl. She's commissioned me to make baby gifts before but they were for baby boys. I've been dying to try rainbows for a while so this gave me an excuse. The cloud wraps around to the back of the onesie. I wanted the edges to be a little rough and the stitching to be a little imperfect -- kinda like a kid's drawing.

I started making these banners bc it gave me an excuse to use lots of fabric from my stash. I love fabric and have collected yardage and pieces over the years. Lately I've been buying vintage-inspired designs. The first banner I ever made was for Bee's bedroom. (Not shown) It was easy enough that I wanted to make more, but didn't really have a place for them.

I love to cook. These recipe boxes are inspired by one I saw last year somewhere online. The recipe card dividers are made from old album jackets. I've scalloped the edges to some. Each box has a variety of colored dividers. There's everything from country to gospel to symphonies to classical to rock. Some of the covers made me and KJ literally laugh out loud. Bad hair, bad clothes...you name it. We'd just crack up. I did make a point to carefully cut each card so that there's nothing offensive showing. Not that I was buying raunchy records, but some of them had a little bit more risque, hippy-type of stuff that I didn't necessarily feel was appropriate. I actually really like how these turned out. They were definitely the most fun to make. The inside bottom of each box is lined with funky paper. The boxes are distressed to look like a recipe box great-grandma would have had on her counter. Each one will come with 8 dividers.

I like the dividers plain, but feel the need for each to be labeled according to food type, just like typical recipe dividers. However, each card was cut to show off certain aspects of the album jacket, so I hate covering it up. I am playing around with the idea of offering these style of labels. What do you think? They're just the right size, but look a little kooky. (No, they're not supposed to look like the people are talking....)

Lastly (for now) is a wreath. There will be lots more available in different colors and fabrics, but all will feature the same basic details. There's fabric and felt flowers with felt leaves, yarn, pearly beads, and lots of burlap; vintage-inspired fabric and doily are wrapped opposite of the yarn. It's meant to be hung where the flowers are sitting at about 5:00 to 8:00. The wreath is sitting a little crooked in this pic. I can't decide if I should come up with a ribbon/scraps/rikrak or something for them to hang from or leave them alone. Thoughts? My mom is quite dumbfounded by this wreath. I thought it turned out pretty cute but when I showed her, her first question was, "Is it done? That's all you're doing to it? Okay, yeah, it's...cute(?)." LOL I'm hoping others will like it a little better :)

(Mom, I know you're reading this and making excuses for your reaction. It's okay. You don't have to "get" all of my wacky ideas. Hugs!)

So, there you have it. A sneak peek! More to come, just haven't had a chance to tackle it yet. I know there are several of you who read this blog but don't comment. I'm serious when I say I want your input on this stuff! Email/text me if you don't want to comment online. I've never showed my stuff to anyone and I'd love to get some feedback. Plus, I need thoughts on the recipe card labels. I'm stressing about that!

Zoo Trip (Cal's first visit)

This past Memorial Day we took the kids to the zoo. It was Cal's first trip. We took Lola to the zoo for the first time when she was one, so we wanted to do the same for Cal. I hate to be a Debby Downer, but the first word that comes to mind when I think back to this trip is BUST. It wasn't just hot but the zoo is just so...what's the word...sad. So many of the exhibits were shut down and/or animals that had been there recently died. The few big animals that were left just seemed depressed. I'm serious. They'd just walk around with their heads hanging low. I felt bad for them. We took a picnic lunch and had planned on it being this super fun trip, but it was just crowded and hot. Unless it improves, I really can't see going back until next year. At this point, it's just not worth the cost.

We did get to break in the new wagon that the kids had just gotten for their birthday from Gaga. It's great. It has real tires so the kids just bounced along through rougher areas, whereas our old wagon would have gotten stuck. They loved it and so did we :)

We ended up spending a good chunk of the time at the playground. Cal was hot and ready to leave, but we let Bee play for a bit. She likes new playgrounds.

Family Heritage (My Osage side)

Waaaaay out in the middle of nowhere sits my great-great-grandparents' old house. They were full-blood Osage, therefore explaining why there's an Osage roundhouse on their property. The house was built in the late 1800's-very early 1900's and, remarkably, is still in very good condition considering no one lives there. There's no roads to get to it. There's no running water. No indoor bathroom. My mom spent lots of time there as a kid and I've heard the stories of using the outhouse in the middle of the night. Yikes.



I make it to "the camp" as we call it about once a year. On this trip, me and KJ had gone down to mow it. Every time I'm there I just get lost in the history. It's such a unique place. I LOVE the house. My great-grandma always kept it maintained and pretty much true to its origins, so that explains the cool colors. Red & yellow! If you look closely at the windows, you can see how they're the originals with the little stained glass squares framing it. LOVE them. The big front porch. My dream. Since I was a little kid, I remember making the trek down to the camp and just thinking it was so cool even then. It's like stepping back in time. I'd give anything to have a house built almost just like it--except with a bathroom. I love how the kitchen is at the very back of the house and there's a breezeway. Just too cool.

I have always liked these old fences. Not sure why. I think the little scallops across the top are what make it so cute. You just can't get stuff like that these days.

The magnificent windows....

This is just a sign that you come across along the way. I don't know who made it but I thought it was kind of funny. It's not too old.

Happy Boy (Cal)

Last week I posted a picture of Cal first thing in the morning; a morning in which he was not so happy. Those days are rare, but not unheard of. I usually leave him in his bed for a while after he wakes up bc he's so content to blab to himself and roll around in bed. However, if Beezy pops in and then leaves, that's what really sets him off. He prefers that she stay in there and throw random objects into bed with him. But heaven forbid she leave the room after a few seconds, bc he gets nuts!

These are the pics that show him being his usual self. So happy. I love him so much! His little eyes are always a tiny big puffy first thing in the morning. I also think he looks so cute with his little undershirt. I feel weird referring to it as a "wife-beater." We'll go with "muscle undershirt." That sounds a little better for a 1-year-old.

Beezy

Okay, so these pics were supposed to be attached to the post about playing in the backyard, but I forgot. I try to keep the number of pics/posts even between the kids so that one's not getting more than the other, but I usually make them a week or two in advance, so I forget. Anyhow, just more pics of outside....

Cheap Toys

I think the cheap toys theme might become a regular on here! This was the only picture I thought to take of Cal with his new gloves. One glove was the tiny Fruit Loops box sent to him from Gaga and the other glove was a pudding box. He wore them on his feet too. He liked to walk around and kind of hit everything with the gloves. I guess maybe they were like his boxing gloves?? After two days, they were beat up enough that they got tossed in the trash. Easy fun :)

Backyard

Just another evening spent in the backyard. Lots of swinging, sliding, laughing, racing, chasing, and wiping out. Oh, and tummy-baring if you're Cal. (Another new phase he's really into!)

And, as always, top off the evening with a popsicle. This might have even been the first time Cal's had his very own popsicle -- at least at our house. On a side note, the lighting indoors at night is just horrible! I know very little about photography, but I have grown to thoroughly appreciate great natural light. When I see these pics with so much yellow in them like these below, it makes me nuts.

Helping Daddy with his popsicle -- or trying to steal it...???

Picnic @ the Park

After school earlier this week, I surprised the kids with a picnic lunch at the park. They love picnics! After eating, we played and played until both kids were sweaty, exhausted and ready for a nap. I feel so blessed to be able to do these little fun things for them. I want them to have lots of happy memories of their childhood.

Bee loves her PB&Js...sometimes she wants them cut into a triangle and other times a rectangle, and once in a while she prefers "4 little baby squares."

Below: This is a phase he's really into right now. He thinks he's so funny when he sticks something halfway in his mouth and then shows you.

I love this picture below of Lola. She was laughing at Cal. When I close my eyes and think of her, it's this smile and little happy face that I picture. She's such a sweet, fun little girl.

Cal, Cal, Cal...what can I even say about him? Chubby, cuddly, lovable, stinker, loves to be chased.

I remember wearing jellies as a kid and they always left sweaty dirt rings (or is it dirty sweat rings?) all over my feet. I guess some things never change...

And look at these pie feet. Check out how the toe thingy isn't even between his toes right. LOL This happens a lot to him and it doesn't bother him in the least. He wears'em that way anyway. Lola, on the other hand, has never been able to handle things like that, or, having a piece of mulch/gravel/etc. in her shoe. Just another thing I've noticed.

Laughing so hard that her eyes were getting teary.

Dog bowls (Cal)

Both of my kids have gone through a phase of being thoroughly impressed with Izzy's food and water bowls. Lola did it; now Cal's into it. At least Cal has gotten past the phase of eating the dog food. Nowadays he just likes to fiddle with the little pieces; sometimes he likes to hand-feed Izzy and other times he likes to drop them in her water...you just never know. It's a little gross, but I don't think it's too big of a deal. As long as he's not eating it, I'm fine....

...until the water starts to get everywhere. I don't mind him getting wet, but our patio gets extremely slippery when wet. I don't know how many times I've almost fallen. And, since Cal's already cracked his head HARD on wet concrete at the pool, I gotta watch him. This is him after I shut his party down. Poor kid.

But he recovers quickly. He loves to run around barefoot in the yard, so he was fine.

Sammys (lunchtime)

Recently at a craft show, I bought a little sandwich gadget. When I make the kids' "samwiches" using that press/gadget, they love it. It makes the sandwiches into a little pocket thing. Anyhow, it's funny to me how they're so impressed by them.

I can't believe Lola's big enough to sit on our bar stools these days. I thought she'd be at least a few years older before she was big enough to climb up on them and sit safely. Kinda makes me sad to see how quickly she's growing.