the goose is on the loose

April is just around the corner, and with it comes the count down to Mama Goose's Grand Opening in its new and improved home. The current store is well loved, but at 850 square feet, has outgrown itself. The new location on State street is an amazing 3000+ square feet, bursting with potential!

Kelly, Mama Goose's owner, brought me on board a couple of months ago to help with the store layout and design. We've been collaborating on everything from retail displays to children's play spaces. The main objective has been to maintain what everyone has grown to love about the store, but with an updated, fresh new look. This will also include better organization and more designated places for children to play while their parents shop. The whole process has been such an exciting challenge, creating an innovative space on a shoestring budget! We're going for an industrial-retro look, incorporating many salvaged materials. The building used to be a hardware store and the walls were lined with peg board. Spruced up with paint and bulldog clips, some of the original pegboards will be reinvented. Ithaca is so lucky to have a great resource like Significant Elements for architectural salvaged materials. We've found fun new ways to use doors, screened windows and more! Stay tuned for pix as we get closer to moving in.

Right now, the main entrance is covered by storage sheds. You can only see in through two windows off to the side. Downtown neighbors have been curious about what's going on. I came up with a window display that hopefully will answer some of their questions. I created a life-size Mama Goose, the store's namesake and icon. Next, I cut out child-sized clothing from newspaper, and hung them with clothespins on a line. The goose, standing on an overturned galvanized washtub, asks, "Have you heard the news?". Each outfit shares a bit of info about the new store, and creates anticipation for the projected opening at the end of April..

sew green contest

The same weekend that I entered the Design Sponge DIY contest, I entered Sew Green's Green T ReFashion Design Contest. I had fantasized about entering this contest for years, and this seemed like the right time to dive in!

I was now designing for two contests simultaneously, after never entering anything in my life. It did make me question my sanity more than once! Chaos ensued as our entire house was turned upside down to become my temporary studio.





The Challenege: design something from reused cottonT's, denim or other cotton fabric. Sew Green wanted to bring attention to:

"The ubiquitous T, icon of freedom and self-expression, is not the benign item it appears to be. Conventional cotton is the most toxin-intensive fiber on earth. It requires 1/3 pound of pesticides and herbicides to produce the cotton used in a typical t-shirt, and about 3/4 pound of toxins for the average pair of conventional denim blue jeans. Dyes and finishing add more toxic chemicals. " -Sew Green

So what did I come up with? I took a pair of striped jeans from Salvation Army, a pair of my old jeans, and a vintage pillowcase then started cutting. I love taking adult clothes and refashioning them into creative outfits for babies and children. I designed an ensemble for a size 6-12 mos. old: kimono jacket, booties and elephant.

thank you apartment therapy!

I'm so thrilled! Apartment Therapy's Re-Nest discovered my table and chairs today! I love Apartment Therapy and Re-Nest is their green living section. I'm honored.
Life is getting exciting!

diy kids table and chair instructions

My entry for this year's Design*Sponge DIY Contest was a child's table and chair set made from a contractor-grade cardboard tube. I'm happy and proud to say that I made it to the top 20. I was among some wonderfully talented folks. Thought others might want to try it themselves...

MATERIALS:
-6 foot cardboard tube (12"diameter)...these heavy-duty tubes are used for concrete molds and are found at any building supply store.
-2 foam cylinders 12"Hx12"D
-1 to 2 yards fabric
-4 16 in. cardboard cake discs
-1 16 in. pizza pan
-bias tape
-white duct tape

DIRECTIONS:
1) Cut tube to size -Using a craft blade or sharp knife(my bread knife made the cleanest cut), cut a 16 inch height table base. -Next, design chairs. I made the front a 10 inch height that curved gently around to 18 inches.

2) Assemble table top with cake discs. -Glue four discs to one another. -Weight them with a heavy book until dry.

3) Paint all cardboard pieces with two coats of your color choice in a semi-gloss acrylic paint.

4) Make cushions while the paint dries. -I used a great cotton jersey knit that I had gotten used from our fabulous local sewing resale shop Sew Green. -I created a simple pattern by tracing the 12 inch foam tube onto the fabric with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. I made two circles and attached them two a tube made from a rectangle that was 37x12 inches. -Create a hemmed 54 inch by 2 1/2 inch strip in coordinating fabric to finish the table top.

5) Assemble the set. -Stuff cushions into the chair -Attach cake discs to table base with duct tape.
White tape on white paint virtually disappears! -Use a hot glue gun to attach fabric strip to your table top side. Add bias tape if desired. -Set pizza pan directly on top...it's removable for clean-up!

6) Have a little friend over for tea!

When it's outgrown, the cardboard can be recycled, the cushions reused, and the pizza pan...make a pie!

design madness

Two months ago, my design ideas and suggestions were recognized by a wonderful local entrepreneur, Kelly Moreland. Kelly owns Mama Goose, a hip and extremely popular children's clothing and toy resale shop. Mama Goose's original store-front was bursting at the seams and Kelly was looking to expand to a larger building. She asked me to be her design consultant and pull out those idea books!! One of the first things she did was to turn me on to one of her favorite blogs, DesignSponge. I loved checking out their DIY Wednesdays. I even decided to enter their DIY contest with one of my many ideas...a modern children's table and chair set, created out of a cardboard concrete mold. I love finding new uses for common supplies/objects I already have at home or things that are readily available to anyone. The cardboard tubes are inexpensive and at every home building store.

I entered the contest with the goal of getting used to putting my creations out there. I never anticipated the wonderful reception they would receive. Out of 500 different designs, my little set became a semi-finalist. I had a weekend to re-shoot photos with 100 other excited DIYers. I then went on to become one of the top 20...a finalist in the DesignSponge DIY contest 2008! My table and chairs, along with 19 other fantastic and creative DIY projects, were posted on DesignSponge. Click here, to see my set and all the others. There was a tense week of public voting. Although I didn't win a prize in the contest, I won an absolutely priceless gift...the confidence to keep creating and making each and every one of those ideas in all of my little books. So thanks to all of you who voted for me and each of you who check back to see what I come up with next. I've got a bunch up my sleeves...

beginnings

I come from a long line of makers. I was born in a house my grandfather designed and built. It happened to be the first solar-heated house on Long Island, back in 1947! My mother taught me early on that it was far more satisfying to make something yourself than to go out and purchase it. DIY was her middle name! She made my clothes. She built the furniture in my room. She created wild and whimsical toys. Then my mother gave me the best gift of all; she put a sewing needle in my hand, she kept an easel with my paints ready at all times, and she even made me a little workbench out of wooden fruit crates. Ahh, the good ol' 70's!

Fast forward to the present. I'm a busy, stay at home mother of two wonderful children and a partner to a very busy, loving husband. Did you catch the double "busy" part. I've aways managed to weave in a project related to my family and friends, whether it was knitting a pair of mittens to whipping up birthday aprons. There always seem to be so many more ideas than hours in the day. I used to scribble them endlessly into my idea books; sharing them with anyone who would listen, and hoping that one day there would be time and space to execute them. Little did I know, that day was just around the corner. I was about to re-invent myself as maya*made, maker and designer. This blog will be my vehicle to share and hopefully inspire others through my journey.