Sorry for the delay in announcing the winners of the Lotta book. My mom was in town all day yesterday for blogging lessons. It was a lot of fun teaching her the in's and out's of blogging. Now that the glazed look of information overload has worn off, I think she's really excited to join in.

Here are the two winners of the Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby book. Please send me an email (you can find it on the "About Molly" page) with your mailing address and I'll pass it on to Chronicle Books:

Jennifer who said:

To me, this seems like the perfect "Show & Tell" as we happily slip in to strawberry season. Yesterday I gave it a workout on two batches of jam and it gave me the most perfect, slightly chunky strawberries--which is how I love my jam.

And I should probably thank Courtney as well, who turned me on to this nifty little kitchen gadget when we were having a discussion about crying over chopped onions.

Today's Show & Tell is called the Chef'n VeggiChop. It is a small kitchen chopper that requires no electricity and quickly chops, dices with the pull of a cord. It's like starting a lawn mower (but easier) or working out on a rowing machine (but much more fun).

I got my VeggiChop just over a week ago, and I've found tons of uses for it. I've made fresh salsa by throwing all the ingredients right into the chopping bowl, chopped nuts and veggies for a salad and used it to make strawberry jam. It is simple and fun to use. Simple (and safe) enough, that I'm completely comfortable with Emma and Mary using it--as long as they remember to keep their hands on the lid, so it doesn't send puree'd veggies everywhere.

I've always been the kind of person to shy away from extra gadgets in the kitchen--I don't like them cluttering up my limited counter space and it's hard to find a convenient place to store them where I'll actually get them out and use them.

But I've hardly put away this little gadget--it goes from use, to the dishwasher and back to my counter as part of lunch or dinner prep.

And with all these great summer fruits and veggies just weeks away from emerging from our gardens, I imagine it will be getting even more use. I'm seeing lots of batches of pesto in my future....

Check out this quick demo to see exactly how the chopper works.

And guess what?? Thanks to the generous folks at Chef'n I have TWO VeggiChops to giveaway.  You know the drill--leave a comment on this post to be entered in the giveaway. I'll choose and announce two random winners on Sunday.

I'm so excited to share another great crafty book with you tonight--Stencil 101 by Ed Roth. The girls and I broke into it this afternoon and there is tons of potential for great craftiness. The book includes twenty-five pre-cut and reuseable stencils as well as ideas and tips for using them.

This afternoon I used two stencils, the horse shoe and the fawn to customize basic white tees for the girls. The stencils tear out of the book really easily and can even be stored in an expandable pocket in the back of the book, after you use them. (great idea!)

When I stenciled the tees, I laid a pad of paper inside the shirt and used pins, stuck straight into the thickness of the pad of paper, to hold the stencil in place. This was really helpful since I didn't have any type of spray adhesive to hold it and it also kept the paint from bleeding through to the back.

Per the books instructions, less is more. I started out with just a bit of paint on my sponge, dabbing and layering on color, in order to keep the paint from soaking under the stencil. I used a hair dryer to dry the paint quickly before I removed the stencil and then again to set the paint. Tomorrow, I'll iron the reverse sides of the tees to really set it permanently.

And in my opinion, this is definitely a crafty project for older children or adults. My girls only involvement was picking out what stencil they wanted and then being impatient while I worked.

Beginning to end, with distractions, the two tees probably took my 15 minutes to complete.

Now I'm feeling sassy and confident and thinking of putting a stencil above the doorway leading into the girls room or maybe even up the risers of their steps!

And of course, the youngest of our clan had to get in on the modeling session as well. Everyone needs their turn standing on the chair. And apparently, after watching Mary, she determined that you were supposed to run your fingers over your stencil as part of the photo shoot. This girl watches her sisters' every move.

And did you guess? I have not one, but TWO copies to give away!  Leave a comment, I'll announce the two winners (plus the Birk winner) on Monday. And thank you, once again to Chronicle Books!

Happy Weekend, friends!!

When my husband spent a summer in the Holy Lands, he took one pair of shoes--Birkenstocks. And while I could never imagine spending all summer with only one pair of shoes to pick from each day, they served him well for his whole trip.

So when I was contacted by Birkenstocks to review a pair of their new Spring sandals, I was excited to try what would be my first pair. And while I was instantly drawn to the colors of the two new spring styles (I chose the Madrid), what impresses me most about the Birkenstock company is their dedication to making the complete process of creating these shoes environmentally conscious. As they say, "They were green long before green was a trend."

Here are a  few things that impressed me about their green commitment:

• The shoes are made with a commitment to craftsmanship using premium quality, natural, renewable, recyclable and naturally insulating material.
• They are made from durable cork, no trees are cut or destroyed - the bark is simply peeled away and then allowed to re-grow.
• The shoes can be repaired, increasing the life of your shoes and decreasing the amount of waste entering our landfills. (I love this. Rarely, in this day and age, do we think of repairing our shoes. We simply toss them out and buy a new replacement pair.)
• Left-over EVA from the sole production process is broken down and further processed for use in children’s playgrounds, sport fields and sound barriers along freeways.
• You can read more about their green steps here.

I am impressed with the steps they have taken to have a low-impact on our environment. 

And guess what? Need a new pair of shoes for Spring?? I get to give away a pair to one lucky reader, in the style (Madrid {the first pair pictured} or Gizeh{the second pair pictured}), size and color of your choice!

Leave a comment to be entered in the giveaway. I have one more crafty giveaway coming up on Friday, so I will announce all the winners on Monday.

And if you don't win, the other good news is that the sandals are pretty affordable, starting at $49.95, which for a pair of shoes that can be as long-lasting as these, is a really good deal.

Yay for shoes! Good luck.