Bee and Bea joined forces again (six years and counting) to support books, reading in the community. However, with SO. MUCH. going on these COVID times, we decided to focus the efforts internally and not add our usual call and crowd funding ask to the mix. In 2020, the Bb’s supported Virginia Mason’s Bailey Boushay House. Coloring has been a big part of their creative outlets, so much so Ms. Bea was Bob Ross for Halloween. The two curated a huge collection of coloring books and implements for clients and families that utilize Bailey Boushay House services. Shameless plug! We used Fakequity’s Bookshop affiliate link (thank you to a friend for founding!) to order adding to the good-deed-ness (support indy bookshops and Fakequity’s own book drive.)
It’s never to late to join us either of course (is it really calmer right now?) – donations via this link go directly to Bailey via the Virginia Mason Foundation (501c3).
Just for Funsies – Here is one of our current kid book lists – let us know some of your favorites.
In 2019, #beeisforbooks morphed into #Bbisforbooks because with two ‘Bs’, there is more than double to celebrate now. They supported the Program for Early Parent Support (PEPs), raising $840 – this org is near and dear to our family.
In 2018 – more bees joined the fun in supporting Bailey Boushay House! More links to past: 2017, 2016 (twice!) and 2015
#BeeisforBooks – instilling right (pint)-sized philanthropy in children.
This year Bee wants to continue supporting families at Bailey Boushay.
The What: Bee is for Books is about ensuring that all children have books of their own and removing a barrier to the critical adult child interaction of reading aloud and together.
The Who: Families of the Bailey Boushay House in Seattle, part of Virginia Mason Health System.
The More Why: Philanthropy, community, empathy, awareness, loving kindness and just being a good human being are only a few of the many many attributes we want to cultivate in our young family, now more than ever. See more here about Bee is for Books.
I don’t have all the answers right now (or likely ever) for the hard WHY questions Bee will ask as he grows up (why do some children in the world not get to go to school/does that man sleep in the van on our the street/would someone give up their pet/do some kids get a special meal at school/why ….) BUT I know that sharing and learning and discovering together overtime will ease this.
all the disaster memes (thank you, I take no credit other than collaging them)!
I do love a theme! The disaster preparedness party idea started this summer when one of parents in our PEPs group shared an article on being ready for 9.0 earthquake in our near future (remember time is relative). In my last professional position, disaster preparedness was one of my bailiwicks, and I must have just been in a mood but therein sparked the September get together with our awesome PEPs group. Seriously, salt of the earth and surprisingly many had some form of disaster kit or at least a hint of a plan “a bunch of water in our garage and hope for the best”, so there was actual enthusiasm to get together and update now that our families are bigger by at least one. That and we like hanging out, eating and letting our kids play together. Our first annual (because you need to update your kits) PEPper Prepper party was this September, which is National Emergency Preparedness Month (#notacoincidence).
Snapshot of some our kit contents to share.
Host your own Prepper Exchange Party
Create a list of basic items for guests to sign up to bring. Some examples:
Suggest a minimum quantity to share with each family
Have guests sign up to bring 1) a dish or drink to share (potluck!) and 2) preparedness items to share
You might also want to have people bring boxes or find some 5 galloon food buckets to store items in. On a whim, I asked our local PEPs office if they had any swag that would be appropriate for disaster kits. Surprisingly, they had the perfect tote for us – electric lime green! [thank you for the other items too!]
Fortune cookies aka hope in a disaster and note the jam – must make room in my pantry!
Congregate, eat food, play with reckless abandon, assemble kits. Another in the group found a cute coloring book to download about Pepper the Prepper Cat. There are others but this was a better fit for our toddlers (big picture, not a lot of words, they just eat crayons anyways). I also found a spooky vegetable page, a homage to our veggie-phobic brood. However, the large punch balloons were the big hit. Note: we live dangerously, since the balloons are labeled for ages 8 and over.
Check out this awesome repurpose/hack to portion out bleach using Medela storage containers. The label with instructions makes me smile.
Some helpful resources for filling in the rest of your kit:
#BeeisforBooks – instilling right (pint)-sized philanthropy in children
The What: Join Bee in his SECOND philanthropic event! So what if he as been on this planet approximately the same number of days that there are hairpin turns in the road to Hana? Bee is for Books is about ensuring that all children have books of their own and removing a barrier to the critical adult child interaction of reading aloud and together.
The Why: Right now, there is so much going on in the world, in particular regarding stereotypes: race, religion, gender, income. No better way to fight the negative energy of ignorance and hate than with education, awareness and language of acceptance and kindness. For children, this can happen in a lot of different ways depending on where you live, your family and experiences. But one activity makes things far away near, or foreign friendly or frustrating reassuring; Reading, specificially reading books about diverse characters or themes. Maybe they look like you, maybe they don’t, maybe their family is different than yours or celebrate different holidays or have different toys or play in a different manner. It is this curiosity and interaction that leads to conversations and opportunities to grow together with your child, influence identity and values, foster moxie and credence and develop tolerance, acceptance and understanding.
The Ask: Share the titles of your favorite books featuring diverse characters so that we can create a massive list of resources. Then make a donation! For every $25 you donate up to $100, Beckett will match your donation! Curated list will live here.
The Who: Children of patients and clients at the Bailey Boushay House in Seattle. We provide the donation straight to the children. This summer there are almost 40 children ranging in age from baby to teenager who will benefit from your support!
The More Why: Philanthropy, community support, empathy, awareness, loving kindness and just being a good human being are only a few of the many many attributes we want to cultivate in our young family, now more than ever. Research shows [link to prove it!] that involving your children in charitable activities is key to lifelong community support, much more so that just watching their parents donate money. I use community loosely in that there are some many different ‘communities’ we are a part of: neighborhood, cultural, hobby, professional, political, demographic, social, special interest… on and on. But even without a robust study to test hypothesis, we have known from before our little Bee was part of our life that philanthropy was an important part of our family.
Guess what? We aren’t uber rich major donors, nor logging in 20 hours a week at a soup kitchen – but we are involved in charity and causes that resonate with us, giving of time, goods and financial support. Sure we could do more but we could do less and there is no perfect level, it is what is meaningful for you at that time, for that particular cause. Including our toddler is the next step for us and fits right in with wanting to build our family more around experiences and less around things, but also teaching important life lessons. I don’t have all the answers right now (or likely ever) for the hard WHY questions Bee will ask as he grows up (why do some children in the world not get to go to school/does that man sleep in the van on our the street/would someone give up their pet/do some kids get a special meal at school/why ….) BUT I know that sharing and learning and discovering together overtime will ease this.
NPR Story on the small percent of non-diverse books despite half of children under five today are non-white. Does not EVEN capture the other aspects of diversity.
The Fine Print
The ‘campaign’ runs through August 11
Total campaign matching donation will be up to $500 (he is just a toddler after all)
Donations (97 cents of every dollar) will be used to purchase new books featuring diverse stories for Seattle children who do not have access to new books to call their own.
It is just our family trying out this tactic, not a uber non-profit, but if you want to join us and make this even more big and more official, let us know in the comments!
So many options and ideas out there for diaper cakes. They make an adorable centerpiece for a shower, customizable with ribbons and flare, and certainly are a needed gift commodity for new parents. (..would fit well with a Bee is for Baby themed shower I hosted.) For an added creative, yet not too complicated, twist, why not turn your diaper center piece into something more unique. For this tutorial, I am sharing how I crafted a bee skep (or hive) from diapers. A skep is an old hive design made often of twisted straw. While, no longer a legal hive style in most places, it is still found frequently in bee designs and themes. Read more about the beauty of bees here.
The skep can use less diapers than a tiered cake which is good for cost-conscious but also if prospective parents use an alternative to disposables. In crafting this, I already came up with other modification options that I will note but would love to hear your ideas as well. I love bees!
Supplies
Diapers in primarily newborn sizes (approx.. 20-25) and some size 1s (approx. 10)
String or twine to form circles (or wire)
Decorative twine or yarn to tie rolled up diapers
Double sided tape
Ribbon, several yards
Bee stickers, cutouts (print and cut clip art), stamps, buttons, whatever you want to decorate
Foam or straw wreath for base (optional), 12 to 16 inch diameter
Fabric strips (#3 of 2.5 x 40 in/ WOF) to wrap around wreath base (optional)
Flat pins
Tissue paper to fill in the skep to support.
Supply Notes: I used a mixed of newborn and size one for the first two layers but found the newborn to be easier to shape. Wowsers, I also forgot how small they are compared to our current toddler dipe. Also, Pampers newborn diapers had the most white space while the Huggies newborns had some green and cartoon accents. Not a big deal, just be aware that it might add accent colors or is an option for you to decide if you want. I used the diapers I was gifted so you see a little green and Winnie the Pooh every now and then.But hey, he liked honey.
Not necessary but I did roll up the rest of the diapers I had and stuffed them inside the bottom too layers. It added stability, more diapers to the gift but you could skip this step. I used some tissue to stuff and support the top layers. Again, you could use a mix of tissues and maybe a balloon etc. I was gifted the diapers for free on our local Buy Nothing group. You should definitely check out this organization if you haven’t already – a great way to meet and make community through random acts and asks of kindness.
The wreath base is also not necessary but can be an additional gift if decorated for nursery décor. It added stability as this particular skep was off to be mailed. The bigger the base the taller the skep. I used one that was 15 inches.
Ideally the diapers will be actually used on an adorable baby bottom, so no glue was used and maybe the few diapers with pins in them can be used with reckless abandon.
Instructions
Create base if doing this step. Wrap with fabric strips secured with flat pins. Using a straw wreath would add another design element (homage to old English skeps) and you might want to wrap just with ribbon or twine to let it show through. Your creative call. Note, I started with yellow strips but didn’t have enough cut so switched to grey. They are out of a jelly roll.
Start building the rings of the skep. Roll up the diaper over the string/twine or wire. I cut off a length about 36 inches for the first one, which is more than enough. Roll from the ruffley edge down. You might also want to decide which side is the ‘outside’ or right side if designs.
Tie the rolled up diapers either with one in the middle or two, on either end. I used colored twine (brown and yellow) to add a color accent. Colored twine is easy to find now in just about any shade. I put the tied twine on the part of the rolled up diaper that will face inside. Note in this photo how they are rolled around the white twine and tied. When you have added all the diapers for the ring, tie the loose ends tight enough to form a circle. Repeat this making each ring or layer smaller each time to create the taper. The last ring was three newborn diapers and the very top, which you add at a later step is a newborn diaper rolled the long way and folded in half.
Create each layer and do not worry a ton about length, its diapers, they are forgiving. I tied each ring in knot that I could undo if I needed to add or substract or substitute a size 1 diaper for newborn if that made it fit the skep better. Stack your rings as you go to get a sense for how it is shaping up.
Here is the diaper count I used.
In the first ring I used: 2 Newborn and 6 size 1
Second ring: 2 Newborn and four size 1
Third ring: 7 Newborn and no size 1
Fourth ring: 4 Newborn and 1 size 1
Fifth ring: 5 Newborn
Sixth ring: 3 Newborn
Top: 1 Newborn
I had a lot of other diapers and wanted to stabilize the diaper skep. So using twine and a few rubber bands, rolled up more size one diapers (these are more useful to new parents anyways) and stood them end on end inside the first diaper ring, then put a layer around perimeter of open/flat diapers. In the picture you can see that I put the ring more in the middle. This way some of the rolled up standing diapers would be wedged in the wreath and also the second ring. Again, this is optional. I stuffed the rest of the skep inside with tissue paper.
Once you have your rings created and stacked, you can tape them on the inside or in between useing double-sided tape. I tried to alternate the spaces between diapers versus lining up. Now is the time to put in tissue or other filling to support shape.
Add the ribbon. This adds color, theme and also helps hold it together. I used flat pins to affix the ribbon (grosgrain) to the wreath and then pulled it up and into the top of the skep. You could also weave it in and out, or use twine etc. With the top I used a small section of ribbon to hold the diaper folded but not too tight.
Add some bees and maybe an entrance. I used my favorite bee stamp, espresso colored ink and some scrap kraft paper to create the bees in hexagons. There was much internal debate about circles versus hexagon. Yes, time I will never get back but well spent. You could also use stickers, scrapbooking cutouts, large buttons or print out some images.
The final product was about 12 inches tall. For future skeps I might roll the diapers even tighter to make more rings, or use a more narrow ribbon to hold together and ideally all the diapers would be white but knowing the green is there because of gift from Buy Nothing, makes me smile. The expectant mama used to be in the same group before moving away too. Enjoy!
– panoramic of grey and yellow room for Little Bee
Well, it only took me about a year to push publish the last post about Little Bee’s nursery, albeit, it is hard to use the word nursery now but the ‘decor; and space are growing. Future modifications will be to keep making it more ‘montessori’ but for now, it is a space for some stories and sleep. The most fun part of putting this room together was curating and creating all the art and decorations(see post Fresh Nursery Wall Art Ideas and this one Simple Stitched Paper Garland or Bunting) but I also made simple custom curtains to help darken. This room will continue to be a work in progress as he grows.
To make the curtains, I used some simple grey heavy fabric curtains from Ikea. I hemmed them to the window length and then sewed two strips of coordinating bee and yellow honey comb fabric along the bottom to match the theme. I did the same thing (sewing coordinating fabric) to the tie backs. Easy peasy!
The What: Join Bee in his first philanthropic event! So what if he as been on this planet only a handful of Mercury Sun orbits? This is just a pint sized event he really can sink his teeth into… literally and figuratively (we do need to keep working on not chewing on books). Bee is for Books is about ensuring that all children have books of their own and removing a barrier to the critical adult child interaction of reading aloud and together.
The Ask: minimum of $10 donation, which will buy at least one new book. Best part is Bee will match book for book.
The Who: Children of patients and clients at the Bailey Boushay House in Seattle. We personally know the impact of this organization and that the donations will go straight to the children and families in need.
The Why: Philanthropy, community support, empathy, awareness, loving kindness and just being a good human being are only a few of the many many attributes we want to cultivate in our young family. Research shows [link to prove it!] that involving your children in charitable activities is key to lifelong community support, much more so that just watching their parents donate money. I use community loosely in that there are some many different ‘communities’ we are a part of: neighborhood, cultural, hobby, professional, political, demographic, social, special interest… on and on. But even without a robust study to test hypothesis, we have known from before our little Bee was part of our life that philanthropy was an important part of our family.
Guess what? We aren’t uber rich major donors, nor logging in 20 hours a week at a soup kitchen – but we are involved in charity and causes that resonate with us, giving of time, goods and financial support. Sure we could do more but we could do less and there is no perfect level, it is what is meaningful for you at that time, for that particular cause. Including our toddler is the next step for us and fits right in with wanting to build our family more around experiences and less around things, but also teaching important life lessons. I don’t have all the answers right now (or likely ever) for the hard WHY questions Bee will ask as he grows up (why do some children in the world not get to go to school/does that man sleep in the van on our the street/would someone give up their pet/do some kids get a special meal at school/why ….) BUT I know that sharing and learning and discovering together overtime will ease this.
The first ‘campaign’ runs through the end of 2015.
Donations (97 cents of every dollar) will be used to purchase new books for Seattle children who do not have access to new books to call their own.
Bee’s Matching will be limited to 50 books (hey, he is just a toddler)
It is just our family trying out this new tactic, but if you want to join us and make this even more big and more official, let us know in the comments!
The Last Side Note: I certainly have fond memories of my parents reading aloud (Little House. on the Prairie Bonnet Head over here). What books do you remember?
I was gifted this wonderful wooden glider from my Buy Nothing Project group. (check them out). As we move around the baby swag to the most convenient location for the ‘phase,’ the glider ended up down in our family room. With a few stains (yes a quilt could cover and did), I decided to have it add something to the room decor.
Recovering this glider was pretty straightforward, did not requiring advanced sewing skills, just about two hours time. All told it essentially cost me $0 – the fabric was a gift for our second wedding anniversary some years ago and the ribbon ties were scraps. I kept my approach simple by not adding a zipper, button, snaps or velcro, but you certainly could. I provided some links at the end from other tutorials as cushion size, style or vision may require a little different approach.
quick way to reupholster or recover a glider
Supplies –
Glider, rocker or chair in need of a facelift
Fabric – enough to generously cover the front and back of both pieces, i would guesstimate at least 1 yard per fusion, so that you have extra for whoopsies!
About 2 plus feet ribbon scraps for ties (or sew your own)
Needle, pins, ruler and coordinating thread
Sewing machine
Disappearing ink fabric marker or penicle
Steps –
Step 1: Trace the cushion pad onto the backside of the fabric. Also examine where the manufacturer put gathers or tucks to ease around corners (see bottom cushion)
Step 2: Measure the thickness of the cushion. For this chair it was three inches.
Step 3: Trace another line 2 inches (or about half the thickness of the cushion + 1/2 inch seam allowance) around the outline of the cushion, this allows for enough fabric to cover the sides.
Step 4: Cut out fabric. You will need to matching pieces (top and bottom). I used the selvedge to my advantage by lining it up at the bottom/back so that when I sew the cushion shut the fabric would not unravel.
Step 5: For top cushion – Use a basting stitch, sew the fabrics, right sides together leaving the back open. For the top cushion with ties, pin them to the right sides (aka on the inside for sewing) so that they are caught in the stitching. I lined them up with the velcro loops on the original.
Step 6: For top cushion – Turn cover right sides out and slip over the cushion. Exam your results. If there are baggy or misshapen areas, mark with a pin. Then remove the cover, turn inside out and redraw/mark the new sewing line to fix the misshapen areas. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until it fits tightly and to your satisfaction.
Step 7: For bottom cushion – the steps are almost the same except that you need to match the tucks or gathers to make the rounded corners. Lay fabric over cushion right side up and pin small tucks or gathers. Sew these down with a basting stitch, remove the pins.
Step 8: Repeat steps as in top cushion. For the bottom seat cushion, I used the existing laces to tie, so no ribbon.
Step 9: To finish the bottom, open end of each cushion, I folded the fabric similar to a present and sewed shut with a whipstitch. See nothing fancy. In some areas I folded over the edge before sewing shut to take in some of the extra. You could also just safety pin this closed. While not ideal to remove stitching I can still toss in the wash at a future time.
Step 10: Finish the ends of the grosgrain ribbon by melting ever so slightly and quickly using a lighter.
All told, this took me two hours, start to finish. You could add in top stitching or buttons to the cushions but the original fabric was really tough to get a needle all the way through, so I did not add the topstitching.
Bee McQT approved!
Other great examples and approaches tore-upholstering or covering gliders or rocking chairs:
More extensive but fabulous tutorial on upholstering a rocker by Lil Blue Boo
