I have been wanting to get bean bags for the kids to sit in when they watch TV…not that I want them to be too comfortable or turn into couch potatoes, but, let’s face it, kids will watch TV, may as well be comfy. Well, what I didn’t realize is how expensive a nice bean [...]

Everybody has a pile of squished T-shirts in their drawers that never see the light of day. Well “git’em” out and start snippin’. Here’s what you do: Find the shirts that don’t have seams on the sides Cut off the bottom hem Get a VERY sharp pair of scissors Cut one continuous 1-inch spiral strip [...]

Once upon a time, when I was pregnant with Miika, I splurged and bought a cashmere, hooded sweater by Ralph Lauren. It was soft, long, warm, light-weight, covered my pregnant belly and all I really needed for a winter coat. I loved it because it was so comfortable and not thick or bulky. I have [...]

I have this bug to create something or better yet, re-purpose some stuff. After dropping Miika off at school this morning, Nathan and I went for a little walk in the arts district of Oak Park scrounging for ideas. Ideas are the only things that I can justify shopping for until the job thing settles [...]

OK, it’s time to share the how-to on my shopping bag idea. Since I’ve discovered that I’m not the only one who has figured out that T-shirts make great shopping bags and I’m not going to make a million-dollars doing these, I’m sharing. Here it goes: Cut the neck and arms off of the shirt, [...]

The Picky Peasant is up and running!!! For now, it’s just a simple site, but I have big plans. In a nutshell, I’m developing products that are made from recycled materials. My dream is to employ folks with disabilities to help fabricate these products. The process of recycling, reusing and recreating has so many possibilities [...]

…sort of… I set up my Etsy shop tonight, but it needs more work…more photos, more products, etc. But hey, it’s a start. In the time it took to set it up and tinker with it, 11 people checked it out. Right now I’m just listing the T-crawler. I’ll put up the hats and what-nots [...]

Well… The T-crawler© is gobbling up my nights! But I’m having fun with it. I’ve put a few out there for a test ride with Nathan’s therapists and so far the response is very exciting. The “T” is for Therapy and T-shirt (these are made from recycled, disinfected T-shirts). And the whole point is to [...]

It’s official! I’ve developed my first recycled product! I’ve made about 20 of them so far and have given away a few samples to friends to put them to the test. The RE-bag! Yesterday I grocery shopped using these recycled bags made from T-shirts and a lady chased me down in the parking lot wanting [...]

2007 was the year of the patch for Miika, but her summer was not ruined by 6 hours of daily eye patching. We had lots of distractions. For a few weeks my neighborhood mom friends and I did “camp.” I was the book lady and read stories and the girls made books in the back [...]