Christine Chitnis: April 2009

The 3/50 Project: Saving the Local Economy One Dollar at a Time

I think by now everyone knows how I feel about Providence. I have a very well-publicized love affair with this town of mine! One of the things that makes Providence so unique, is the incredible variety of local, independently owned shops. Without these, Providence wouldn't be nearly such a vibrant place.

That being said, it is an extremely difficult time for small, indie stores and they need our support now more than ever. I make a real effort to put my money where my mouth is (my credit card bill can attest to that!). I 'shop indie' for hostess gifts, birthday gifts and little treats to cheer up friends (and myself!).

But a reminder to shop local never hurts, which is where the 3/50 Project comes in to play. The 3/50 Project, which I spotted over at Creature Comforts, is a new endeavor that encourages all of us to spend a little in order to save our local economies. Please check it out, it is definitely worth the click over.

Babble Article

I am so excited to share the news of my latest article. This article was written for Babble.com (a very popular parenting site) about my miscarriage; a deeply emotional experience that I recently endured. My goal in sharing was to open up a dialogue about what it is like to suffer a miscarriage, and why it shouldn't be a secret ordeal. I am happy to see that people are finding it helpful.

If you clicked over from Babble, WELCOME! Please take a look around. My original post, where I shared the news of my miscarriage, can be found by clicking here. But enough of the tough stuff, lets move on to crafts, cooking and chickens!

Seed Swap

I just sent off this little package, filled with seeds and recipes for the DigginFood (a favorite gardening blog of mine) swap! I decided to make a felt envelope, with bits of spring-y ribbon stitched across. If you look closely, you can see the ladybugs and bees. I finished it off with a vintage button. I can hardly wait to get my package in the mail!

Year of the Veggie

A great post over at DigginFood on why this is officially the "Year of the Veggie." I love the illustrations she featured from the talented Erica Mulherin. It's like veggies gone wild!

Drool Worth Flea Market

Would you like to drool over this Italian flea market along with me??

Studio Tour

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! We enjoyed temperatures in the 90's, if you can believe it! Most of our weekend was spent working on the yard and it is really coming along. I will have pictures soon! But for now, I wanted to take you on a little tour of my studio.

BEFORE:
DURING:AFTER:
As you can see, I carved out a large work area for myself, with a double wide desk. This allows me to set up a computer station and a sewing station. I love not having to switch things around all the time. Next to my desk I have a filing cart, which also does double duty as my printing station. All of the furniture in this room is from Ikea. Although I normally like to thrift my furniture finds, I wanted to pull this room together quickly so that I could get back to work. Also, having all-white furniture lends a very calm, organized feel to the room! The poster in the corner is from Studio Violet, and the amazing hot pink frame was an Ikea find!I use this shelving to hold my fabric and yarn stashes, as well as all my crafting books and magazines. Along the top of the shelf, I have little mason jars full of buttons...organized, of course, by color! Lastly, I use large cardboard storage boxes to hold scarp fabric and hard-to-organize odds and ends!
All in all, I find my studio very calming and inspiring. There are still all kinds of things I would love to do...curtains, a huge inspiration board, a framed picture wall. But, all in due time, I guess. For now, I love spending my days in this light and color filled room dreaming and scheming my next project. I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Spring Breezes and Secret Yardwork

It is a gorgeous day here in Providence. The windows are all flung open and for the first time, a warm spring breeze is blowing in. This weekend is supposed to be gorgeous and (although my hubby doesn't know it yet), we are going to be tackling our yard!

The beautiful image above is one that I snapped in Philadelphia last weekend. I love how the flowers seem to perfectly frame the ornate window of the church. Anyway, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! See you back here on Monday!

Welcome Ohdeedoh-ers!

Glad to have you here, take a look around. I have all sorts of fun stuff going on! Into chickens...got that! Into crafting...got it! Into decorating...why, I have that too! How about fun vintage finds...right here!

Anyway, welcome...take a poke around!

Craft Time: Name Flags

My lovely cousin just had a little boy and I decided to whip up a gift that could brighten up his room! I am obsessed with my own fabric flags, so I just knew that I wanted to make him some too. I picked very fun "boy" colors and I spelled out his name in felt letters. It was a pretty quick project and the result is too cute. The finished project is on display in our living room (which I still need to tweak before I show you!).
1. Cut out the letters in felt, choose complimentary fabrics and select a bias tape to tie it all together.
2. Cut a front and back triangle for every flag. Lay out your flags in the order that you want them to hang and select the flags that will have the letters. You can either machine or hand stitch the felt letters in the center of the flag. With the right sides together, sew your flags leaving the top open so that you can turn them inside out. Before turning them inside out, trim the seam allowance and the point so that you get a nice flat edge.3. Shoo your chubby chick off the ironing board (okay, you caught me...not really a step, just a chance to show off the cutest creature alive...my chubby chick, who happens to be my favorite, shhh, don't tell the others!)
4. Press your flags and press your bias tape in half. Pin your flags, in order, into the fold of the pressed bias tape and sew in a zig-zag stitch. Helpful hint: choose a thicker bias tape so that it is easier to press and easier to stitch!
Finished! Told you it was a quick project.

Garden Ideas for Earth Day

*Get those kitchen scraps into a compost bin
*Search craigslist for a garden bench
*Catch runoff in a rain bucket
*Grow your own veggies
*Spruce up your garage and make gardening a luxury with your very own potting bench

(all gardening supplies from Smith & Hawken)

Spring Dragonflies

Sarah and I have a lovely little spring project debuting over at Small Magazine's new blog, Smaller today. Do you recognize the photo from anywhere (google readers, you might have to stop by the blog to see what I mean!).

My Cookie Debut!

I am so excited to announce that the article I wrote for Cookie just hit their website! It is a kid-friendly guide to the amazing town of Providence. Please click over and check it out! This is the first of many articles that I have coming out this spring/ summer! Haven't I been good about keeping this secret...I was bursting to share!

Garden Plans

Today I am drawing up the plans for my garden...or rather, my entire backyard. I see so much possibility in this little piece of land that I call my own. I am greatly inspired by this backyard and I would like to incorporate many of the elements seen here; compost pile, rain barrels, veggie beds, wood fencing, and of course, chickens. I am very conscious of our budget and I think that I can accomplish most of this for very little, however, I think that the fencing and shrub removal will be expensive. I have my thinking cap on and I am going to see if there is anyone handy enough that I know who might want to help out for a cold beer and home cooked meal!

Before:

Dreaming of this after:

Welcome Home!

My four little feathered friends finally arrived this afternoon and I am ECSTATIC. I decided that while they are so young and fragile, I will keep them in my studio, positioned right near a heater, with their heat lamp turned on high. It is important to keep them snug and cozy when they are this young. These little ones are less than a week old and they are the cutest little feathery poof balls I have ever seen. They make the cutest peeping sounds and I think they are going to be great company while I work.

In case you are totally grossed out right now, I will add...they don't smell at all...YET. All that I can smell is the sweet hay that I have lining their box. As soon as they get a bit hardier (and smellier), down the basement they go!
In five weeks, they will have grown their feathers and at that point they will be moved outside to their coop (which I still need to assemble!), but until then, I have little peepers sharing my studio with me. I am so in love with them already...aren't they the sweetest little things you have ever seen?

For those of you who are interested, I am going to share tips and tricks for raising your own chickens. This is by no means expert advice, this is just what I am trying (based on wonderful advice from my local feed store and countless books and blogs)!

In order to prepare for my chicks arrival, I needed the following equipment:
-Feed jar (see above picture)
-Water jar
-Hay (for lining their box and eventually their coop, newspaper can also be used until they move to the coop)
-A sturdy cardboard box
-Organic chick starter
-Heat lamp (the chicks home needs to be heated to 95 degrees F for their first week, drop the temp 5 degrees with each passing week)
-Thermometer

Watch your chicks carefully to monitor the temperature. If they are all clustered together right under the heat light, they are usually too cold. If they are spreading their wings out and seem sluggish, they are probably too hot.

More tips to come!

Terrain

My husband and I took a road trip to Philadelphia this weekend for a squash tournament. My husband is a huge squash player (and mighty talented, I must add!) and his love of the game takes us to many wonderful tournament locations. Philly is one of our favorite cities to visit, mainly because my husband used to live there and our first dating memories were created there!The highlight of this trip was (I should say seeing family and friends) TERRAIN. The most magical place on earth! Terrain is a gardening/ lifestyle store from the Anthropologie team. Words cannot describe the beauty of this place...so I will take you on a tour instead, culminating in a deliciously fresh lunch in the garden cafe...come along! *Note: the small picture size does not do these justice, click on the pictures to view them larger.

Farm Days Roundup

Inspired by the organic chicken feed that I am on my way to pick up....farm days roundup!

picture perfect from abby try again, farm girl chic jumper, cherry red wellies, too cute placemat, timer, bird house dishtowel

Spring Roundup

Spring has officially sprung and during my walk today, I found myself inspired by the hundreds of beautiful yellow daffodils blooming around the neighborhood. I thought it might be fun to put together a little collection of spring-inspired finds! Enjoy!

a breezy scarf, gorgeous summer sandals, a bold necklace, a gauzy tunic and a fresh pillow

The Chicken Whisperer

I am in an animal-loving mood today after reading this amazing true story (passed along by my sweet mom). I guess a bit of my excitement also comes from the fact that beginning next week...I will have CHICKENS! Remember a while back I contemplated raising a few laying hens. Well, I have not been able to let the idea go and so I decided to follow my instinct and see this through. My four little Auracana chicks (above) will arrive next week and I found a great coop (below) for a steal on Craigslist. I am a bundle of nerves and I have so much to do to prepare for their arrival. But above all, I am excited to be taking another step in the right, sustainable direction.
Oh, and did I mention (in a bragging voice) that my chicks will eventually lay BABY BLUE eggs. I am already a proud parent!

Hoppy Day

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter. We enjoyed our day with friends, family, and a few too many chocolates! Our mantel looked very festive... funny bunnies, teeny tiny chicks and few gorgeous tulips!

Chicken Little

Besides whipping up several bunny baskets, Sarah and I also made a few of these sweet little chickens (from this tutorial) and then staged a little photo shoot with our creations! What is hilarious about this whole thing is that both of us are absolutely slammed with work right now, yet this is how we chose to spend our afternoon!!