SHIM + SONS

SPRING CLEANING

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by my new blog to say hello! I appreciate all the sweet comments and tweets last week. You all are the best! 

So does it feel like spring wherever you are in the world? We've been enjoying a little sunshine here in Portland which has been so nice! And I know spring is right around the corner because I'm itching to purge and organize. First up on the purging schedule is fabric, loads of fabric! I'll be selling bags and boxes of fabric. Most of the boxes will be a good mix of quilting fabric with some linen + wool scraps thrown in there. I'll be posting later this afternoon the link to where you can snatch up a bag or box of fabric, so stay tuned!

UPDATE // Fabric boxes in two different sizes for sale HERE. 

UPDATE 2 // More BIG boxes have just been added!

A NEW BLOG // SALLYJSHIM

I'm so excited to announce my second home on the web. Today my new blog, SALLYJSHIM launched. You can read my first post here. [There are five posts so you can get a feel for what the blog will be like.] I have been thinking about a new blog for a few years now. I have been blogging here at SHIM + SONS for almost six years and I love this space which I created as a personal journal. But I also wanted to expand my blogging topics and felt conflicted about doing it on this space, which has become a little haven to me. You can read more about my decision to start a new blog here. I will be posting at SHIM + SONS on a weekly basis and Monday-Friday over at SALLYJSHIM. I appreciate each and every one of you who stop by SHIM + SONS. Your encouragement and support helped me start my design studio and has helped this working-from-home-mum to feel connected to a group of individuals who appreciate handmade goods. I hope you continue visiting me here as well as my new second home. 

xo,

T-SHIRT SWAP

Lately I've been quite sentimental when I think about my early blogging days. Six years ago there was a small online community of women who enjoyed arts + crafts + design and many of us had little ones. We would post photographs of our kids and our latest creations and we formed these personal connections with one another even though many of us had never met in person. It was back then that I realized that for many of us we needed "something" outside of our identity as wife, mother and worker. For me my blog provided me with a creative outlet and was a little space on the web that was "all mine". Back then "swaps" were fairly common, I hosted a few of my own. People would sign up to participate in a "swap" [each with a different theme], make their goodies and send them off to someone that they most likely never met in person. Over the years the community grew and swaps became less prevalent. A few months ago I tweeted about how J was making freezer paper stencil t-shirts for his 2nd grade market and Paula and I exchanged a few tweets. I suggested we do a simple swap for t-shirts. 

The boys helped me make a few t-shirts and we filled a box with the t-shirts and a few Valentine's Day related goodies.

We repackaged red + white paper straws, handmade cupcake toppers + Valentine's Day M&Ms. Let me tell you everything looks better when repackaged.

We also sent a box of strawberry pocky with a vintage [is 3+ years considered vintage?] SHIM + SONS gift tag. 

My favorite part of course is packaging it all up.

Jen's custom Valentine's Day cards came in handy. I printed them out in a smaller size to use as a gift tag. [And can I tell you how proud I am of J because he's been working on his handwriting and he's made huge improvements! His writing is on the gift tag.]

I haven't had a chance to take photographs of the adorable t-shirts Paula + KJ + Ellie sent the boys. The boys love them! More than anything I love how a simple swap connects us to a beautiful family in Alabama that we've never met [but plan to meet one day]. 

P.S. I have a NEW project I will be sharing with you all tomorrow! I am very excited!! [And for those of you who are interested in learning how to make your own freezer paper stencil t-shirts, I'll have a simple tutorial for you.]

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy {belated} Valentine's Day! I had a fun-filled day with two class parties and a yummy southern dinner at Screen Door with my boys. Hope you all had a good one!

The boys and I were thinking about making robot valentines again this year since they are both at new schools but we opted for the half-way homemade route this year. Jen of Sophie + Lili gifted the boys with sweet custom valentines [have you seen how she is expanding her printable stationery line?] and they were too cute not to use. I printed the valentine cards on to white cardstock and cut them with a paper cutter. J rounded the corners using my corner rounder and the boys filled in their classmates' names and their names on the provided lines. Quick and easy.

But of course the handmade valentine lover in me wanted to add a little something extra. And since I'm the party coordinator for both boys' classrooms I thought something fun for the kids to play during the Valentine's Day party would be great. So I designed simple tic tac toe cards and the boys sorted out m&m's by color and added two sets of colored candies inside plastic bags [yes, there was some sampling involved]. I printed out labels for the "x's + o's" and the boys helped me stick them on the bags. 

The tic tac toe cards, x's + o's and valentines were all placed inside clear resealable bags. I think these would make fun birthday party favors as well.

The valentines were a big hit with the boys' classmates. Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that is so much more fun for me now that I have children. It was SO cute seeing how much fun the boys had handing out valentines to their friends and teachers. 

UPDATE // I redesigned the Tic Tac Toe Valentine and it is available as a free printable here.

HELLO, JANUARY! GOODBYE, JANUARY!

It is hard to believe the first month of the new year is almost over. I didn't intend to take a break from posting but life has been full. I've been finishing up projects, working on new ones, organizing + purging and getting myself ready for the new year. I've also been enjoying time with my family [with one road trip to Ashland under our belt] and weekly lunch dates with Appah [no babysitter required!]. I love the excitement and promise that a new year brings. Although I have a list of goals I want to achieve in 2011 overall I'm keeping it pretty simple and wanting to learn to FOCUS in everything that I do. I have a tendency to try to multi-task all day long in order to feel productive [and sometimes it is necessary] but often I miss out in the joy of whatever it is I'm doing or working on because I'm not fully present. I think this also means doing less and/or being selective in how I spend my time. I don't think this is going to be easy for someone like me [I'm a total busybody] but it is definitely worth a try! [This also happens to be my One Little Word for 2011.] Hope you are all having a wonderful start to the new year!  

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !!!

FROM THE SHIM FAMILY

[The Appah doll was a Christmas gift from Appah--although he is denying he bought it and claims Santa left it for me. A big thanks to Jennifer of Sophie + Lili for making the doll in time for Christmas!]

2 0 1 0

JANUARY // day trip to cannon beach 

FEBRUARY // valentine's day ties for the boys

MARCH // weekend getaway to seattle

APRIL // secret agent kits for easter

MAY // enjoying the warmer weather

JUNE // j's 5th birthday

JULY // spending time with family + friends in california

AUGUST // family camping trip

SEPTEMBER // new school for the boys

OCTOBER // their first star wars costumes

NOVEMBER // trip to ashland

DECEMBER // one last trip to seattle

day 26 // a very white christmas

It was a very white Christmas this year at Casa Shim. Although I wish our Christmas involved white powdery snow we had to settle for white Christmas decorations. I was originally planning to go with a white + gold color palette [since I have leftover materials from the Gifted feature]. But somehow everything turned out white.

Cutting out snowflakes is one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season. As cliche as it may sound, I really love how no two snowflakes are alike. J made a bunch of snowflakes which we strung across the windows in their playroom using hemp twine. j had more fun opening up all the snowflakes I made. 

I also made a linen tree by wrapping strips of white linen around a white foam tree. I'm not sure why they don't make the foam trees with a pointed tip. I improvised and made a paper cone and hot glued it in place [before wrapping the strips of linen around the tree]. I also hand stamped on to white twill tape some words [love, faith, hope, peace, joy, forgiveness, grace] that reflect what Christmas means to our family.

I cut the words out and pinned them on to the linen tree. The boys helped pin on some silver matte sequins.

My makeshift votive candles were made from my favorite simple ikea glasses + tiny marshmallows. 

This white roost ceramic origami crane was a gift from Melissa. I've wanted one for a long time. So pretty and simple.

And the tree that keeps giving. We've seen it here for Halloween and here for Thanksgiving.

I removed the kraft paper leaves with our words of thanksgiving [which are waiting to be placed into a book] and added some more simple white leaves using beautiful paper from our recent Whimsy & Spice order.

We also made a linen wreath by wrapping strips of white linen around a foam wreath form. J had fun pinning the sequins on to the wreath.

I also made a paper chain using this Martha Stewart edge punch [see first photograph]. I borrowed the idea from the lovely Kjerstis Lykke blog. And in order to use up the last few snowflakes I made a quick garland using paper + hemp twine. I'm a little sad Christmas is over. I've really enjoyed the quiet + lazy days at home with the family. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

day 25 // merry christmas!

M E R R Y  C H R I S T M A S ! 

Wishing you a day filled with good food + family fun!

day 24 // hot chocolate kits

Last year I made snowy day survival kits for friends + family which included board games + hot chocolate + marshmallows. This year I decided to make some simple hot chocolate kits. Although I could have gone the homemade hot chocolate + marshmallow route, I went for the easier repackaging route. I bought the ingredients for the kits and placed them in pretty Weck jars which I picked up from Canoe.

The kits included Dagoba's xocolatl drinking chocolate...

...and tiny marshmallows...

...and chocolate covered peppermint sticks.

I designed simple tags for each jar and tied it with hemp twine. My original plan was to sew drawstring bags for the kits like last year but I ran out of time so I used white shopping bags and attached a personalized tag.