i love handmade and so do my readers! sponsorship opportunity!

 hello dear friends - do you have a sweet handmade shop, or perhaps a blog full of inspiration or tutorials for handmade items? inspired mama musings is gearing up for another handmade holiday and would love to promote your shop or blog!

inspired mama musings sponsorship will include a button in my sidebar that will link directly to you, as well as the opportunity for a featured post, a giveaway or coupon code for readers.  

there are two sidebar button sizes available at amazing holiday rates!  that's right, now through december you can advertise for the following prices ::

250x125  $7 per month

125x125 $4 per month

want more information? please contact me at InspiredMama@msn.com 

 xo, erika

small style :: pixies!

over the weekend i tried to take a few photos of my boys modeling the recycled wool pixie hats that i sew and sell. harper's photos are pretty darned cute. i even put one up in my new autumn banner.

luca wasn't quite as interested but still absolutely adorable...

we gave him acorns and leaves from the oak tree to study while i clicked away. that kept him still for about 10 seconds.

then he chewed the hat. that is daddy's leg over there on the right of the photo. he was on active duty and instructed to catch the baby if he decided to make a run for it {which he totally did}.

this was the last photo, right before he ran. but it doesn't even matter because it turns out there is nothing quite as cute as a toddling pixie streaking across the yard wild with giggles while daddy tries to catch up. 

a note to my little pixies - please do not outgrow your love for pixie hats and make believe and general silliness for a long, long time.  or perhaps ever. that would work for me too. love, mama xoxo

all about the hats ::

i make them from pristine recycled wool and cashmere garments {and occasionally fluffy angora!}

they are embellished with wool felt and braided wool ties.

each hat is one of a kind.

my amazing hubby made the beautiful wood buttons that i add to them!

i am linking up with mama loves papa today!

happy eleven.

it was the first day of autumn. i wore vintage pearls and lace.

he had tie dyed socks on with his tuxedo.

i cried when i said my vows.

niko and riley were so small.

our cake was covered with mums and topped with a vintage red candy dish.

i carried  roses.  there were also coffee beans in my bouquet.

eleven wonderful years, and counting. happy anniversary, love! i really am the luckiest girl. xo

naptime bustle.

here is what i did while the baby napped today ::

i wiped the sticky, smudgy hand prints off the glass patio door. and it is still clean an hour later, because the baby is still sleeping.

i swept the dining room. it is the third time i have had the broom out today and not even close to the last time.

i collected acorn caps from the backyard for a fun project. they are teeny and really cute. but i am hoping to also find some larger caps. i think a visit to the park is in order! 

i folded a load of laundry AND put it away. that almost never happens all at one time around here.

right this second the baby is still in peaceful slumber so i am blogging while knitting a lovely, hand-dyed gray, merino-cashmere blend hat (for you, tahirih, if you are reading!) while drinking iced coffee and admiring my tidy floors and clean glass door. i should be getting dinner started. but not yet. just give me a few more minutes...

what do you do with yourself during nap time, friends? 

vintage thrift

 today i found this ::

a vintage pattern carefully and thoughtfully cut out and ready to sew. 

at first glance i simply wanted the fabric. see the tiny acorns! LOVE! it feels a lot like linen and the background is a delicious espresso brown. but after i got it home and looked again i think i will go ahead and sew it up and see how it turns out. i believe it is the top, second from the left. and if i hate it i will cut it up and use the fabric for something else! 

 this sweet tiered dessert stand came home with me too ::

$2.99! how could i leave it behind?

i also found more (!!) vintage fabric yardage and a really funky vintage skirt. maybe after i find the perfect top, shoes (or boots) and accessories to doll it up i will come back and share photos. you all can't wait, right? that's what i thought!

happiest monday, friends!

i am here. come visit!

hey, local friends - this weekend you can find inspired mama MAKES! at the oh, so good hyde park street fair. i am tucked away in the idaho indie works booth with 20 talented and super fun artists. seriously folks, you don't want to miss it! 

here is a little of what i have to offer this weekend ::

 eco mitts made from recycled wool, cashmere and angora.

wool dress up crowns and headbands knit from soft, hand dyed wool.

handmade buttons for all of your crafty projects.

 

lots of whimsical coloring wallets.

i also have wool flower hair clips, and fabric button bookmarks, earrings and rings and the sweetest eco pixie hats, available in every size!

as if the handmade goodness wasn't enough there is also live music and entertainment, loads of activities for the kids {bouncy houses, face painting, games, hula hooping...}, and yummy food and beer.

i hope to see you there! chop, chop lollipop!

small style :: when big brother was small.

just a few more things that harper wore, mama loved and luca is now growing into.

 these pants with the butter-soft heather ross lily pad pockets. i made them for harper when he was nearly two but i am hopeful that they will fit over luca's cloth diapered bum this fall. 

 

harper's solstice sweater from a couple winters ago. i am positive it will look as amazingly adorable on luca as it did on harper.

and this little cassette tape jacket {target, i think} we still have this handknit pixie hat too.

have i mentioned how much fun i am having with another boy baby?... ♥

linking up with mama loves papa's small style post.

before you go...

honestly i am not too terribly sad to see summer go. today on our afternoon walk i spotted three bright red leaves on the virginia creeper that lines our small street. my heart fluttered. there is a chill in the evening air. an i-need-to-put-on-my-handknit-sweater kind of chill. i really wish i had knit myself a shawl this summer.

 

i am ready for change. i need change. new hair, new clothes. different food, different mood. i am ready.

 

meanwhile we are keeping busy soaking up every last lingering second that summer has left. 

the last wildflower bouquet.

one more pedicure.

 

a final day spent playing on the river.

until next time...

small style :: the striped romper

riley at a birthday party in the striped romper from the gap - summer 1995

harper just learning to walk in the striped romper - summer 2008

and luca running and playing in the striped romper - summer 2011

seriously, how sweet is that?!

i am linking up with mama loves papa (a day late, OOPS!) click over and visit her for more small style!

just now.

just now, on a whim, i decided to open my HP gallery and quickly choose a random photo to post. this was our last pumpkin harvest, three years ago. we haven't grown pumpkins since. i miss those crazy vines snaking around the garden and watching the pumpkins get bigger and bigger then slowly turn orange. i miss home grown jack-o-lanterns glowing on our front porch. i miss harper and esme being that tiny.

i still have those little brown corduroy pants and striped shirt that harper is wearing and i think they will fit luca this year. i just now decided that he will wear this very outfit to the pumpkin patch next month. yes, a pumpkin harvest photo of luca in his big brothers pumpkin harvest hand-me-downs will happen for sure.

we are also planning a big, crazy fun, backyard pumpkin carving party with all of our friends, something else we have not done for three, maybe even more, years. i can't wait. i love autumn. that is all for now.

for the LOVE of LONG hair!

alrighty, postpone the new edgy short hair that i have been day dreaming about for a just few more months because lookie what i just discovered!!

i know, too good, right? you can buy it here (only $4.99!) and there is a giveaway you can enter here.

i wear the waterfall braid (in fact i wore one last night, mom's night out mamas!) and the bohemian twist all the time but i simply cannot wait to try all of the others.

so, instead of chopping off my tresses in the near-ish future i think i will adopt a fun, new color for autumn. any suggestions for me? please share!

how to properly finish a handknit sweater.

alternately titled "oh hey, you finally finished that sweater of yours, now you get to spend three long days trying to decide which buttons are perfect for it!!"

i loved the gray buttons first, then i thought maybe i wanted wood buttons. but i add wood buttons to everything, i am kind of over it. the top-left button in the first photo, right next to the gray ones,  is actually a dark green. and the button right under it a dark brown.

once you sew on some darned buttons already you can then put your new wool sweater on even though it is nearly 90 degrees and go into the backyard and have your eight year old take some pictures of you looking all dorky as i have demonstrated below.

no make-up and a grundgy pony tail. but this post is all about the sweater, friends. i would seriously hate to take the spotlight.

now if it would just kindly get cool enough for me to wear this lovely i would be a very happy girl.

here are my yellow sweater's deets ::

pattern :: tea leaves cardigan

yarn :: cascade 220 in lemon ice

needles :: addi turbo circulars in sizes 6 and 7
buttons :: vintage from my button jar. and i really do think i made the perfect choice!