Crafty Mama: Magazine Christmas Tree

While trying to find a crafty, eco-friendly way to decorate the shop for the holidays, I came upon instructions to make these great recycled trees. A lot of people have been asking about them, so if you'd like to make them yourself, just click here for the instructions. I learned that the thicker the magazine, the fuller and more impressive the tree turns out and the longer it takes. I found it to be rather meditative, but I don't recommend it while the little ones are awake. Enjoy!

Local Find #2: Tom's Shoes

We found these at Design Alternatives, on the corner of Mission and Alisal in Solvang. They're comfortable and stylish for kids, women and men. The best part about them is that for every pair bought, Tom's Shoes donates one pair of shoes to a child who needs them. One for one. Design Alternatives offers them for $34 for kids and ranging from $44-$100 for adult styles. Support a local business, give a pair of shoes to a child in need, and you walk home with a new pair of kicks.

Featured June Bug Product: Felted Wool Hats

These whimsical hats are hand made by Shari Eynon of Los Olivos. Using wool sweaters, she felts the material and hand-stitches them into absolutely one-of-a-kind creations. A lot of care and detail goes into each one. And they're not only fun, but warm, too! They range from $35 to $50 in price, depending on the time it takes her to complete each one.

Local Find #1: Astroturf Welcome Mat

Looking to spruce up the store a bit, we found these awesome astroturf welcome mats, complete with plastic daisies, at Harrison Hardware in Solvang. These are made in the U.S.A. out of polyethylene - so, if you ever want to get rid of yours (but why would you want to do that?) you can recycle it! Only $11.99 for a 17.5" x 23.5" mat.

Meet the Mamas from Perpetual Bloom

Alia Glasgow answered some questions for us about being a mom, a business owner, and a person!

*Tell us a little about your business. Caroline came up with the name Perpetual Bloom, we like the idea of our business being ever changing and ever growing. We have unique handcrafted clothing with changing cuts, styles and colors depending on the season and one of a kind jewelry we make with bead clusters, vintage buttons and more. Along with designing and marketing our own pieces we will be hosting trunk shows for other designers as well.
*What made you decide to start one? Caroline and I are both just crafty, creative people and we knew we wanted to work together. I hired her to help me with my home daycare and the next thing I know we are tie-dying and making jewelry! Originally we thought we were just going to be hosting events for other designers and working on commission but after our first trunk show we realized our stuff sold better, so we changed our focus.
*What's the most challenging aspect of being a mother and running
your own business? Finding child-free time to make the dye pieces is the hardest, it's a messy job that we don't need their "help" with. So we often stay up late at night after we put the kids down in one of our kitchens and work. But I am not complaining. Caroline and I have been having so much fun and we both call the creative process therapy!
*How have/or would you like to deal with it? Now that things are picking up and we have more trunk shows booked we have decided to hire a babysitter one full day a week to work on Perpetual Bloom
*Things on your to do list? Website, business cards, a baby line . . . . .
*Your favorite bedtime story? The Giving Tree!!!
*How many children do you have and how old are they? Glasgow's: Chase 5, Payton 1 and the Pendergast's: Lily 5 and Gavin 3
*Greatest challenge of motherhood? Patience, and remembering to use compassionate communication
*What cheers you up when you're down? It's a coin toss between being creative and friends . . . so how about being creative with friends:)
*How would you describe your taste in music? Very, very eclectic.
*Bores your pants off? Math. Someone says numbers to me and my brain turns off.
*Favorite thing in the whole world? Food. Wish it wasn't, but it is!