yes, yes, yes- yesterday afternoon my tiny shop quietly passed the 1000 sales mark as a repeat (and awesome) client in Seattle placed his order. I love my job- not only because my boss (uh, that’s me) let’s me go running during work or because thrifting is PART OF MY JOB, but also because I truly love making bow ties and am still excited (4 years later) about new patterns that I find and totally rad where-did-that-come-from ideas that I can make happen (seriously- this summer- the bow tie world is about to be rocked!). And weddings! I get to be a part of that infectious excitement and pure happiness on a weekly basis and it’s invigorating! So thank you bow-tie-wearers and bow-tie-wearing-supporters of the world- you’re making my year.

And, in other news, it’s cinco de mayo tomorrow and there are new Mexico-inspired bow ties in the shop.  I want to make these cookies and sip virgin margaritas on our not-yet-built deck.

Which reminds me- Garth and I have been using the word “overwhelming” way too much lately in reference to our life/projects/house. Our list of to-do’s has not gotten any shorter and the evidence of half-finished projects is in every corner of this house. We hope to pop away from the craziness that is working/building/cleaning/planning and just chill for a while with the kids. The park maybe- or the beach- of golly just laying in the sun in the backyard on the trampoline. And ice cream. There should be ice cream in there somewhere.

ecks oh internet world,
elle

Tags:   business · xoelle1 Comment

May day is lei day! I’m sort of in love with fragrant flowers made into lavish garlands to wear around my neck. They are the first thing I’ll gift you when you come to visit me in Hawaii (and you should), and I sort of insist on Mother’s Day that Garth and the kiddos pick one out for me to wear all day. This coming Tuesday is may day and on the mainland that meant placing flowers on your neighbors doorstep but in Hawaii it is a celebration of Hawaiian culture and the lei. I made a gaggle of these leis to send in candy tubes to some neices and nephews and wanted to share how to do it (super duper simple!).

Supplies:
assorted paper
scissors
seed beads (I used a couple of bracelets that had lost their elastic spring)
crochet thread and needle
paper punch and small hole punch

Punch lotsa flowers and then punch little holes in the center of them (my hole punch is 1/16th of an inch). Cut your crochet thread to about 30 inches, string on a seed bead, and knot the string at the bead to secure it. Then string on two flowers. Then string on a bead and knot it about an inch from the last beed. then string on two flowers. Then string on a bead and knot it. Then two flowers and a bead and two flowers and a bead……..

…until you’ve used all of your thread! Finish it off with one last bead and knot, leaving a couple of inches at the end the tie it. It looks pretty cool at this point, but it looks more lei-like if you take each set of flowers and gently fold them away from each other, making them like little bowls. This gives them that va va voom fullness that looks so lovely.

I used a couple of different color combos and tried a few kinds of paper (colored vellum is so great for this!) and I’m sort of itching inside to try a bigger punch (I used a 1 inch punch here)- maybe for mother’s day!

Then I packed them in candy tubes, covered them with stamps, and handed them to my mail carrier who did not seem surprised in the least. I hope that they reach those tiny adorable necks in Spokane before Tuesday!

Happy weekend friends- I’m off to force myself to work outside for a few hours. The end is in sight for the studio!

xoxox
elle

Tags:   making · tutorialNo Comments.

So, it’s been like a week since I’ve done any serious work on the studio.  I’m just not into the flow of it and I think that the excitement has finally worn off- so even though I made myself go out there today for a little while I found excuses to come inside (ok, so it was noon, and I was hungry, but still….) and now I’m trying to reignite a spark of interest so that I can go back out there and kick some siding tushie.  And, I do this by looking through my pinterest boards and remembering that this space will be entirely mine, and all about arts & crafts, and filled with the ingredients of a thousand future making adventures.  And a pin-board map of xoelle bow tie wearers.  And, some pallet letters.  And a clean workspace.  Yes.

It’s not working like I’d hoped.  Perhaps someone can place a gallon of Dreyers Peanut Butter Cup ice cream out on the miter saw?  That might do it.

*sigh*  Back to cutting and drilling and cutting and drilling until I feel like doing it.  A real update will be coming soon.  When I feel like it.

xoxoxo elle

Tags: 4 Comments

These two. *sigh*

They left yesterday, sort of unceremoniously, in the late morning. They had deflated their aerobed, started a load of laundry with their sheets, and left all of their delicious munchies in our pantry. And, I think that they did the dishes more while they were here than we did. I am so glad that I have an amazing sister- and so sad that we don’t enjoy one another’s company on a daily (golly, or even weekly) basis. And of course, I was just thrilled that she and her so-much-like-my-husband husband came to stay for the week. The studio was not ready so they spent the week sleeping in the kids’ room- but we were rarely at home. We did our favorite things on the island (Matsumoto’s! Cinnamon’s! Thrifting! Beach!) and checked out a few new places that we’d never been (Kau ‘aina burgers, yogurtland, and Waimea Valley).

And between all the fun they helped Garth and I hang two of the (seven!) doors and get a whole lotta siding up on the studio. I made them promise to come back to enjoy it since it’s going to be awesome and they totally deserve to sleep out there. And, they have to come back just for the custom stationary that I’ll make for guests who stay in our yet-to-be-named studio (xo inn? Plouzeks Practically Perfect Paradise? elle & gee’s ohana unit? – we’ll work on that).

Miss them already and can’t wait to see them and all of the cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents this summer.

xoxoxo
Mrs. Bigsisterpants.

ps.  the “pretty much” in the title of this post comes from the known truth that my Mom once came to visit me in Florida and when she left there was a self-watering container garden on my porch, a fridge full of planned meals, and the front yard decorated with big blue bows for Jack’s arrival.  So- mom Mom?  Best houseguest ever.  And Julia and Cody?  Taught by the best houseguest ever.  Now we’re all clear.

Tags:   hawaii · mccomas1 Comment

This sweetie little boy is now a three year old. Holy smokes. It was a simple and sweet little party in the backyard with a couble decker cookie cake and a tableful of presents.

I am one lucky lucky mom, and I realize it everyday.

My sister and her clever husband are in town so we are pretending to be on vacation and enjoying Hawaii like tourists. I’ll check in once we’re back to real life next week.

xo
elle

Tags:   birthday · holiday · jack1 Comment

Todays post can also be called: 12 straight days of rain and no less than 8 days of a baby with the runs.

As always my intentions are expectations lean on the side of the ideal. Yes, 29 days is long enough to build a little backyard studio. No, it’s probably not enough time for someone who has two small children, lives in a place where it rains (pours buckets) daily, and has never constructed so much as a fence in her life. When we sat down in early February to pencil in our working days for this projects we found that we only had a handful of days where Garth wasn’t working AND the kids were in daycare. But surely if we planned it all out, shopped at night, and tag teamed the whole thing, we could still do it. It was pretty dissappointing then when on several of those days it was too rainy to be using power tools outside, and most of the remaining ones I had to be inside with Ginger who was not able to be in school because of her randomly dripping bowels. The two photos below represent a 23 day difference.

And, this is how it sat for many days there in the middle. So sad.

March has been much kinder to us and we are a few solid days work away from completion. We have learned SO MUCH from this little endeavor- lessons that I will share at the happy completion of this project. In the meantime: happier photos of the progress from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy.

As you can see we still have to finish the roof, add siding, fit the windows and doors, build the built-ins, and paint. Oh, and build the deck on the front of it, move my stuff in, and clean up all of the construciton mess from the yard. Easy. That’ll take us like 2 more days, right?

We’re gearing up here for some pretty awesome company next week. We’re work and school free for the week and planning on just enjoying lovely Hawaii with my most favorite sister and her husband. Next week rules.

xoxo
me

Tags:   making · reno · xoelle studio1 Comment

Happy Birthday my sweet three year old! It has been one super quick year. You are a delight and an adventure.

There seems to be no limit to the things that you know how to say and do. You’ll repeat any word or phrase that we ask you too (this morning it was, “rolling with the homies”, “alright stop, collaborate and listen”, and other funny rap songs. You’re always astounding us with your new vocabulary and your Dad and I have had to start spelling things out to one another so that you don’t know what we’re talking about. Current catch phrases include, “that’s funny right there”, “that’s not funny right there”, “breakfast? yucky!”, “going to school? yucky!”, “it’s my birfday? yucky!” (everything is yucky sometimes), “gigi, not nice. not nice gigi.”, “where dada go? Dada at work?” “rub a back mama”, “mama, nuk a’dis!”, “you do it”, and in increasing frequency, “I do it myself”. Your skill set has improved by leaps and bounds. You can undress and mostly redress yourself. You are part Spiderman because you can climb things rather quickly (a 5 foot stack of pallets in 15 seconds and the stove with the help of a chair are examples of recent feats) and you love being so tall when you’re up there. When you’re done with a meal you know to put your dishes in the sink and with each little accomplishment you want to inform us and celebrate. We always comply. We are so proud of your abilities and your curiosity.

You are pretty much a Mama’s boy- you like having me around and can’t really go to sleep without me tucking you in half a dozen times. I don’t really mind. Although- sometimes you do call me into your room after bedtime (and several tucking-ins) in a panicked tone and then quietly say, “rub my back” when I arrive. You know what you want. You also adore your Dad and often ask me where he is if he’s not with us. You like to do what he’s doing. You love to be involved and help in the projects that we’re working on and you insist that we explain what we’re doing as we go along.

You are a picky eater, and I wish that I could blame it on you, but it’s really my fault for using cheerios and fish crackers as the first reponders to your toddler cries. Foods that you will eat: pizza, crackers, cookies, cereal (you always demand milk and a spoon), cake, candy, popcorn, nuts, cheesy roll ups, chicken nuggest, fries, dired fruit, raisins, yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches, donuts, cookies, and most recently fresh pineapple and apples. Everything else you usually reject without hardly a glance. We’ve been blending fruits and veggies into smoothies for you to give you something healthy for at least half of your life.

For a three year old you have lots of hobbies. They include putting stickers and band-aids on yourself, watching “nudies” (your adorable name for movies) on Mom’s iPhone, playing with cars and trucks, and figuring out how things work.

And you love the trampoline. We went to visit Grandma and Gramdpa (you know them as grammie and gram gram) last summer and played on their trampoline everyday. When we came home we bought one too. You spend some time out there almost everyday and love pretending to be a dinosaur. This might be a good place to tell you that you’re kind of a wimp too. I mean, we knew that we were jinxing you by naming you Danger- but we could never have forseen this. You’ll climb on things and run fast and fall down and not cry- but if Ginger leans on you, you’ll fall over sobbing that she’s hurting you. If she holds onto your shoulder to stabalize herself you’ll turn red and in face and cry. If she falls on you on the trampoline you’ll lay there under her, not moving, shouting to me for help. I guess your little sister is your kryptonite.

We feel so lucky and blessed to be your parents and it is exciting to rediscover the joys of the world with you. Here’s to another hundred or so years cute pants.

ps. As requested, I am now going to the kitchen to make your HUGE HUGE cookie in place of a birthday cake.
pps. look how far you’ve come! When you were two, one, and the day you were born

love you a million times over, and more.
xxxoooooxoxoxoOOOOOOOOOOOxxxoxoo
mama

Tags:   birthday · dear jack · holiday · jack4 Comments

I’ve done my darndest to take a photo of each one of the kids each day of their life. Nothing specific or crazy, just a visual documentation of them on that day. Sometimes I forget about it until after they’re sleeping and so I have to sneak into their room and use my little pop-up flash to capture their cuteness. It’s quite a departure from the photos of them that I like to take- but golly it’s real life. I have quite a little collection of them and they make me so happy. They are so full of energy during the day- and I just adore gazing at them in this one moment where they are calm and serene and sweet. And Ginger- with her Dad’s hat and the bottle still in her sweet hand? Classic.

p.s. The xoelle studio is coming right along- there’s a floor and 3 walls! I’d planned on posting about it as we go along- but it’s hard to sum up when we are right in the thick of it. Hopefully we’ll be in the thin of it later this week.

xo
elle

Tags:   documentation · ginger · jackNo Comments.

I’m sort of in love with the mini little collection of batwing bow ties. I use a more voluptuous thistle shape for the everyday bow ties in the shop- so these are so refreshing and fun for me to make. Happy. Slim. Radical.

They are in the shop now. Enjoy!

Tags:   bow ties · business · xoelleNo Comments.

Monday the kiddos had their first dentist appointment ever and they did so great- so we took them to the Dole Plantation afterwards for a little Dole Whip and train riding. It was drizzling so we had the place almost to ourselves- there were only two other people on the train and five frat boys in front of us in line for the whip. You can see that the kiddos loved it- we need to go more often, it’s just up the road from our house a mile or two.

xo
elle

Tags:   hawaii3 Comments