October 2008 Archives
If evenings already find you with permission slips to sign, agendas to check, and dinner to put on the table, then you can appreciate the help Spelling City offers both your child (spelling practice) and you (time).
A Birmingham grandmother recommended this fabulous, free resource for those of us who spend a portion of many evenings helping kids prepare for their weekly spelling tests. Just enter the spelling words into an easy interface and you can let your child take the mouse from there. Choices start with "Test Me", "Teach Me", or "Play a Game." Take practice spelling tests, hear and see the words spelled, or explore the words through an assortment of games like crosswords, word finds, missing letters, sorting...on and on.
You could invest hours of your time and never think of all the spelling tricks this site can generate in just one click. If you homeschool or teach, Spelling City can be a key resource for you, especially if you have auditory learners.
For busy BirminghamMoms, the best feature is that the voice on Spelling City retains its ever patient, steady tone, never escalating even when the dog barks, the phone rings, or/and the water boils over. Delegate the practice tests to Spelling City and save your own efforts to focus on your child by reviewing quiz scores and discussing the school day.
It's a sad fact that I won't be traveling to the Mediterranean anytime soon. Even if I were, I doubt I would care to spend time hauling around or even shipping the great things I would find on my trip - especially knowing so many of them are already in town at Tsitalia Imports.
This giant warehouse of a store is full of pieces with the interesting textures and uniqueness that handmade items offer. I spotted the olive jars right away and thought of the imitation jar I purchased from a home store catalog that arrived with "made in China" stamped across the box. I could have had the real thing here, and in my choice of sizes. The smallest jars start at less than $15, and a single piece or a small collection would beat the usual mass-produced accessories hands-down.
Colorful hand-loomed rugs come in all sizes; it was explained to me that they do not come in the precise standard sizes, since the final dimensions depend on the size of the artisan's loom. Many sell for $225.
I've admired these large glass jars when I've seen them as accessories, particularly when used as lamps (a lamp shop can french-wire them, meaning no holes are bored into the base). These are quite large, so it would take a home of massive scale to do them justice, but any one of them would add character. If you're splurging on a kitchen or bathroom makeover, you should check out the hand-hammered copper sinks that line the the shelves at Tsitalia.
Finally, anyone can enjoy the imported olives, olive oil, sea salts, and other products here. Tsitailia is owned by the same family that owns Birmingham's Southside Fish Market, so the food products are a natural fit.
Don't let the rows of massive clay pots outside fool you; there are plenty of smaller, accessory-sized items indoors. It's worth your time to peek inside for inspiration and some interesting earthenware you won't find at the mall.
BirminghamMom tip: Give in to the craving and head to Fish Market for lunch. The cypress trees outside and lemon tree inside will feel like a micro-vacation, and the grilled chicken salad is just as good as the shrimp salad if you're not a seafood fan.
Turn a feather boa into a cute wreath for next to nothing.
I had a bright fuschia boa I had gotten as a party favor and couldn't bear to throw it away (although what was I going to do with it?). I thought of all the feather wreaths I had seen and decided to give the boa a shot.
This was so easy! I took a wire coat hanger and stretched it into some semblance of a circle, leaving the hook intact. Then I found the loop at one end of the boa (buried within the feathers, but one is there, trust me) and placed it over the hook of the hanger. I wrapped the boa around the circumference of the hanger again and again until it reached the other side of the hook. Then I slipped the remaining end loop over the hook, and bent the hook down and out of sight on the back of the wreath. After attaching a ribbon onto the wreath with a bread twist tie, I hung it on my daughter's door with - what else? - a removable hook.
You'll need a feather boa around 6 feet long, a standard length, which can be purchased in almost any color for $4 to $9 if you don't already have one at the bottom of a dress-up box somewhere. What is great about this wreath is that it requires next to nothing to create and the boa can always be removed for a later play date with no damage.
This version admittedly isn't as sturdy as those that are professionally created, but it will hold up fine for display. The fluffy feathers are very forgiving and don't require exact placement to look great.
Michele, a BirminghamMom of three from Oak Mountain, has a great tip for the kids' Halloween candy that gets left over because no one wants it (not even during a bout of insomnia with an empty pantry). Michele just tucks her kids' unwanted candy away until the Christmas season, when she pulls it back out to decorate her gingerbread house.
This way the assorted hard candies, Necco Wafers, Tootsie Rolls and licorice strips can still be utilized, even if only for ornamentation. They have a harmless second chance as stained glass, frosted windowpanes, chimneys and trim around doors and windows on your gingerbread manor. Ironically, the candy helps retain the illusion that the gingerbread house is edible while ensuring that no one will actually want a bite. (Obviously, the candy you consider disposable depends on the tastes of your household, but I'm betting Recee's Cups and Hershey's Kisses never make it to the gingerbread house project.)
Whether you build a house out of home baked gingerbread, buy the kit for $10, or smack graham cracker squares onto milk cartons, your leftover candy can add plenty of bling without requiring "good" candy or materials. When it's time to dispose of it, you can say goodbye with no remorse that any good stuff went to waste.
Thanks, Michele, for the tip!
There is a special place in the back of my jewelry box, in the far corner of a velvet-lined drawer, that is the boneyard for broken, smashed, and kinked jewelry that is too good to throw away and yet is worthless to me otherwise.
I've been holding on to this stuff for no reason other than the vague notion that it would come in handy sometime. After reading about yet another home gold selling party, where friends gather to sell their gold Tupperware-style to a jeweler and go home with cash, I decided it was time to unload this stuff. After all, it was really just a nuisance, and gold is at its highest level in years.
I carefully looked over each piece and decided a few still had sentimental value, but I would never miss the dented gold hoop, a second gold hoop of indeterminate origin (did I find this in a parking lot or something?), a broken chain bracelet and a herringbone necklace, which, please believe me, was all the rage at one time (now impossibly kinked).
I carried these in my purse for days waiting for a spare moment to present itself, and finally I was at Patton Creek and thought of John John's jewelers, conveniently across from Zoe's. The ladies at John John's were happy to weigh my jewelry, and as I sat there wondering if my total would buy an ice cream next door at Ben & Jerry's, I got the happy news: $52 for this little collection of broken pieces.
I eagerly accepted the cash, a rare commodity in my debit-card world. This would buy more than an ice cream splurge.
If you have gold jewelry that has no hope of repair or a useful life, almost any jewelry store in town will be happy to take it off your hands and give you cash in exchange. If you have a piece that exhibits workmanship, such as a brooch or locket, consider selling it as an estate piece rather than merely for its gold content; it may be worth more. Otherwise, it's time to recycle that old gold. Here's hoping your pieces are reincarnated as something more original than a gold nugget pendant.
You can play chicken with retail and wait until after Thanksgiving for discounts on the best new merchanise, or you can get first pick of everything and get a discount through the Shop, Save and Share Card offered through the Junior League of Birmingham.
Purchase a Shop, Save and Share Card for a $40 donation and you'll receive a 20% discount at some of the most popular shopping destinations in and around Birmingham from October 24th to November 2nd. Over 350 retailers and restaurants are participating, from well-known department stores to specialty boutiques. While some stores have exclusions, much of the merchandise will be newly stocked for the holidays and will not have been discounted otherwise.
Besides saving money on your purchases, you also help benefit the Junior League's 37 community projects that support women and children here in Birmingham. With the large number and variety of participating retailers, you can easily spend $200 and recoup your purchase price over the course of this 10-day shopping event. This card can apply to so many purchases: Gifts, party clothes, home accessories, and lunch or dinner after shopping or any day during the event.
Purchase the card online from the Junior League of Birmingham now or at selected participating retailers (denoted by an asterisk on the list) after October 28th.
If you have ever wound up in charge of the elementary school festival, rec league party, or PTO open house, then maybe you already know about a BirminghamMom's secret weapon for goody bags, candy and party favors: World Products.
The company is a toy, candy and gift distributor, but their warehouse-type store is open to the public and is chock full of trinkets and all things Party. Walk in here and you will believe you stumbled into the supply closet for the midway strip at a state fair. Stuffed animals, jewelry, key chains; you name it and it is probably here in bulk.
When you see all the inexpensively priced trinkets, you'll feel bad that your kid has held tightly to hard-won tickets at the arcade in order to make the conflicted and difficult decision between a small rubber ball and chinese finger cuffs. He could have bought scores of these at World Products for the price of a single pizza. (And to think, you worked with him at that ticket redemption counter for an hour thinking there was a math lesson in it somewhere.)
When you're in charge of goody bags or in quick need of a theme party, skip ordering from a catalog and go directly to World Products to buy just what you need. You can purchase most things individually and some by the gross for greater savings. (A gross is 12 packs of 12.) There are also pinatas, hats, Alabama/Auburn gifts, beach balls and sand pails. Several shelves are devoted to biblically themed objects, like the classic Ten Commandments charm bracelets - remember those! - and other giveaways suitable for VBS-type occasions.
World Products is at 1631 First Avenue South in an older, nondescript building; look closely or you may miss it. They will be moving shortly, so look for an update here once they are in their new location. Hours are M-F, 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
This batch of curly willow was $8.99 at Whole Foods, and although it is displayed in the store in shallow water and has several green shoots, it will dry nicely and last well through the holidays. After Thanksgiving is over, stick pieces of it among a giant tub of poinsettias during Christmas, and if they still look good after the holidays, they can be placed in a container of dried hydrangea blooms and have yet another life. (Note the white pumpkin from Oak Street Local, mentioned previously as a great source for pumpkin varieties.)
The sheaf of wheat shown here was $2.99 at Publix. I stuck it into a deep vase and stuffed moss around it (available by the bag at any craft store or Wal Mart), and now two of them dress up the mantle. These will look as good at Thanksgiving as they do today, and they cost much less than fresh flowers that need frequent replacing.
Finally, my mother-in-law has taught me to get some 
extra fun out of seasonal bedding plants. Although these pansies are not as fool proof as the dried decorations, you can at least enjoy them indoors for a week or so before planting them in the ground (and it takes about a week to finally get to around to it at my house). The small basket at right has two 6" pots of mixed pansies which were an amazing $2 per pot at WalMart. A colorful ribbon and a handful of spanish moss (again,find it in any craft section) and your table has a colorful and cheap centerpiece until you have the time to get the pansies planted outdside.
Our family carves at least one pumpkin and sometimes several, but naturally this has to wait until within a day or two of Halloween so the pumpkins don't begin to decompose. Since the kids love to create the toothy Jack-O-Lantern faces, we go ahead and draw the faces using indellible ink pens. We have a couple of weeks to enjoy the drawn-on faces and then we use them as our patterns when we finally carve the faces on Halloween.
I've found that having the "Sharpie Faces" doesn't diminish the fun of the actual pumpkin carving at all. We would still have had to mark the features to trace while carving, and this allows us to really see how our pumpkin is likely to look when it's cut. These models here won't win any awards for originality, but we do get to enjoy the thrill of creating the Jack-O-Lantern faces twice; once in ink and once with the carving tools.
A Birmingham Dad of three recently shared his family's ritual for pumpkin carving. After the last feature is carved, they turn off all the lights in the house and light the candle that goes inside the pumpkin. Then he carries the pumpkin and leads the parade from the kitchen to the front door step while the kids provide the spooky ghost noises. Thanks, Todd, for the idea!
BirminghamMom tip: Save your candle stubs to use inside your pumpkins during Halloween; just be sure to place them in a secure base such as a small tin or a glass jar and not let them burn lower than 2".
If you are addicted to shelter magazines and have folders full of inspirational tear sheets, check out My Deco File, a feature by Domino Magazine that allows you to create your own idea file online.
This great application allows you to upload images from any site and add them to your file via a "Tear Image" bookmark. When you drag the bookmark tool to an image you like, it automatically records the source of the image and prompts you to add your own title, category, and any notes to associate with the image.
My Deco File gets better, though. You can upload images of your own home (or the home you aspire to own) as well as pics you may upload directly from your smart phone. Imagine how helpful this will be when you're out shopping for accessories or the perfect sofa. You can send photos directly to your image library, then take time later to consider your selection in the context of your overall decorating plan.
Make your file public, private, or share it only with the contacts you add. You can browse other public files created by professional decorators as well as amateurs. Think of the fun you could have dreaming and scheming with this resource at your fingertips and available to you via web anytime! You and your fellow decorating enthusiasts, former college roomate now hours away, or like-minded sister can view one another's files and swap suggestions.
Now you can properly recycle your old magazines knowing your inspiration tear sheets and are only a few clicks away.
Riding through Crestline the other day I drove slowly to take in this Birmingham enclave that seems to relish fall and Halloween in particular. The front porch stoops are loaded with vignettes that are whimsical without being campy and predictable. I had one question: Where do all these great pumpkins come from? They certainly weren't the regular orange carving variety sold at the big box stores.
I turned down Oak Street and there they were: Pumpkins of every variety piled high and tumbling in every direction. White ones, knobby ones, giants and miniatures - including a romantic sounding (for a gourd, anyway) Cinderella variety.
Turns out the pumpkins were just the beginning of what was to be discovered in this gorgeous shop, Oak Street Local. Inside were tables abundant with locally harvested produce from heirloom tomatoes to muscadines. I knew it was organic even before I asked because it was so... real. Here were apple varieties besides Granny Smith and Golden Delicious, and pears that I could envision actually falling from a tree, not rumbling down an endless conveyor belt. Sure, I inspect my giant-size supermarket fruit as much as anyone, but here I didn't miss the high gloss wax and the tiny stickers.
Maybe the biggest thrill was the presentation, which made the experience 
feel like a walk through a cookbook coming to life. This was way more inspiring than buying tomatoes from a roadside tent! And the produce prices weren't outrageous, either - $1.89 per pound for locally grown sweet potatoes. A special touch was the photo display of the farmers and growers who supply the store. (BirminghamMom tip: Don't miss the photo of the farmer who is a dead ringer for Fabio.)
My white pumpkin from Oak Street Local will be a beautiful, easy easy centerpiece set against a dark brown tablecloth. Let the kids carve the regular orange ones; Mama is stepping out of her usual gourd this year.
Oak Street Local is at 115 Oak Street in the Crestline area of Mountain Brook. Don't miss the Oak Street Garden Shop next door. A limeade from Zoe's is just a short stroll up the street.
Here's a wonderful way to add a grace note of tiny abundance (oxymoron intended) to your environment and be environmentally-friendly with the same gesture.
It's this little vase, which is actually not a vase at all. You may feel a hint of recognition: It's a syrup bottle from Cracker Barrel. Those little bottles left on the table after a Momma's Breakfast can have a second shot at usefulness.
The most meager bloom your landscape can offer is showcase-worthy in one of these petite bottles. A single caladium leaf from your patio container is elevated to a perfect specimen; a bloom pinched from a knockout rose bush in your side yard looks expertly cultivated. Other ideas:
Pick one or two odd flowers from your grocery store mixed bouquet (a couple of them always look misplaced) and put them in this tiny vase on your nightstand.
Take one to the office for a private little smile at your desk. Better still, surprise a buddy on her birthday or before a big deadline. No vase to return, just toss when the bloom fades.
This diminutive bottle was made for pansies! Just one on your bathroom vanity adds a sweet touch.
Root cuttings of coleus or ivy on your kitchen windowsill.
Add a sliver of ribbon (wired looks best) or raffia.
BirminghamMoms who entertain: Use each "vase" as a place card for guests by punching hole into a card with the guest's name and tying it around each bottle with a wired satin ribbon. Initials look wonderful painted directly on the bottle with a paint pen.
One bunch of roses or gerbera daisies goes a long way here, and guests can take them home as a favor. Most would never guess it's a repurposed syrup bottle, but let them know it's nothing precious. I had a friend offer to return one to me after I brought a flower to her at work; with a ribbon around the top, she couldn't believe it was just an old bottle. That's when I knew this little thing was worth saving from the busboy's bin.
Just wash the empty bottle in the dishwasher and the label will peel off easily after the rinse cycle. Your family's next pancake breakfast at Cracker Barrel can set you up for plenty of giveaway vases.
