Toy Safety and The Best Loved Child

The tow headed "boy" on the left is a long ago version of myself.  I'm in my grandfather's sweet, clean  barn and the other urchin child who is working so earnestly on her saddle tack is my cousin, Margie.    Margie was lucky enough to live on the ranch and I was visiting.  What were we doing?  We were "riding" the saddles that were so thoughtfully stored mostly in our reach and demonstrated by my baby sister. 

The ranch saddles were hung from the barn rafters to keep them dry and safe from critters.  We kids loved to climb on them and swing.  My mom took the photos, so at this moment an adult was present, but, my memories of playing in the barn are pretty unsupervised. 

It's at about this time during one of my visits to my grandparents ranch that I remember grandma providing us with one of the neatest toys ever.  It was a Mr. Potato Head toy.  Not the one with a plastic head like our kids have now but a  prehistoric version.  It consisted of a set of eyes, ears, lips, etc. very much like the modern toy but made of metal.  On the back of the parts, where a modern set has a plastic tab that fits into a slot in the plastic potato, this set had an inch and a half long ice pick like spear with a very sharp tip.  You stuck the eyes, ears, etc. into a real potato. We also experimented with the big carrots that were stored in the cellar and given to the horses for treats.  I was pretty small and my memories are a bit fragmented but while playing with this toy (you know where this is going) my brother was stabbed  with one of the pointy bits. I remember lots of blood, maybe a tetanus shot and the toy disappeared never to be seen again.    Even my family thought this toy was too dangerous for their very young, and these folks let my brother drive the truck when he was nine and thought nothing of hoisting their toddlers up on a giant horse for a ride.   (You've seen the photo evidence of our barn escapades.) I wasn't raised by sadists. On an almost daily basis I have reason to give thanks for being born to a family that was capable and caring. My parents and grandparents weren't negligent, they just lived in a less enlightened time.  Imagine all the people who designed, manufactured, stocked in a store, purchased and gave to a child this scary version of a toy.

As time goes on we (the collective whole society we) have decided we need to protect young larva as much as possible and how we do that is still evolving. In 1972 the Consumer Product Safety Protection Act came into being and it's been amended and improved over the years.  In the recent past most of America has been alarmed to find that many toys, even from well know makers, have contained lead based paint or other toxic materials.  Most of these have been made in China but often the ultimate manufacture was unknown.  In response, in 2008, our government passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act with some specific rules for all products marketed to children.   Mostly it said that children 's products shouldn't contain lead or certain phthalates and that products had to be labeled so we know who made them and where and most controversial, that children's products had to be tested by a third party to prove they met the lead and other standards. The labeling isn't hard to comply with but the testing was impossible for an artist crafts person (like me) to comply with.  A whole lot of artists, including me,  rejoiced  when the rules were modified to allow someone like myself to make toys or childrens' decor as long as I use products that have been tested and certified free of lead or other toxins.  Wood was declared to be non toxic and not in need of testing but coatings, paints, varnishes and all finishes have to be from a source that certifies they have been tested and are compliant. 

Some makers of childrens toys use wood and only finish it with peanut oil or beeswax (which could be eaten).  The above teething toy by the wonderful littlealouett is a perfect example.  While I appreciate this look I want color and pattern and I want more color than i could get with berry juice. Fortunately, there are child safe finishes.  I have three considerations in choosing what I use for my arks, toys and decor. 

1. All components must meet CPSIA standards

 All paints, sealer and finish I use are labled "AP" by the Art and Creative Materials Institute. 

Products bearing the AP seal of the Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI) are certified non-toxic. A medical expert evaluates each product and its ingredients. A product can be certified non-toxic only if it contains no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or injurious to humans, or to cause acute or chronic health problems. AP certification is reviewed by ACMI's Toxicological Advisory Board. These products are certified by ACMI to be labeled in accordance with the chronic hazard labeling standard, ASTM D-4236 and federal law P.L. 100-695.

I date all items and save receipts and the dated containers of finish and paint so I can show the paint used on a specific item.

2. My comfort and safety
This may sound strange but something that can meet the CPSIA standards may not be the best thing for me to use every day.  For example, when I started making arks I top coated everything with Minwax Polyacrylic.  I used it because it said it was safe to use on infant cribs.  (I have an empty can that is labeled "crib safe".) I also liked that it was water based.  This product does not meet the 2008 CPSIA standards.  The product didn't change the standards did.  I contacted Minwax and they recommend Fast Drying Polyurthane for childrens products.  Fast Drying Poly is not water based.  I would not be able to use it in the studio (which is a spare bedroom right next to the master bedroom).  There would be too many fumes.  I would need a spray booth in the garage, a resprator, some heat to make the finish dry, etc.  Maybe sometime down the line but I need a water based product.

3.  A Beautiful color and Finish
This comes after the safety concerns but it's important to me. I want my colors to be beautiful and not fade and I want a beautiful satin look and feel to all my products. 


Thank heaven we've come a long way from sharp pointed Mr. Potato toys.  Safe toys are complecated but we can do it.

No Nonsense?

The holidays left my Etsy Shop pretty empty, so I've been up to my elbows this week cutting, sanding, gluing and soon painting. 

Clamps every where

Camels in progress - fueled by Dr. Pepper.

I start most days by putting on my current favorite socks. I've worn this brand before and their logo has been subtly printed in beige or on the sole.  The version I wear most now greet me with this admonition.

Their stern advice gets me ready each morning.  Ready to do this:

Nonsense?  Nothing like socks that keep your feet warm and dry and make me smile each morning.

How Do You Store The Christmas Tree?

We have a BIG, lovely and very fluffy pre-lit artificial Christmas tree that we bought several years ago at Sam's Club.  I still love it but storing it each year has been a bit of a problem.  It came in a humongous cardboard box and we would store it back in the box but the tree once fluffed up didn't fit back into the box with the flaps closed.  The box with tree also weighed two or three  tons.  We could have used a forklift to get it to the storage room or back to the barn.  The box has been disintegrating little by little and this year it dissolved into dust. I've looked for a storage box, tote, bag (or two boxes)  and I've even purchased a couple but the tree doesn't fit into anything. 

Look what BL Hubby came up with for tree storage.  A Bagster Hack!

A Bagster is a huge bag sold at our local Blue as an alternative to a roll off dumpster.  You buy the bag and take it home and fill it up with trash or debris then call the associated trash company for a pick up at an additional fee. Both Orange and Blue have this brand or a similar brand.  We thought it was a genius idea but the expense is more than getting a roll off.  But where else could you get a huge, strong, flexible container?  With handles even?  It was only 29$. 

Tree is now bagged, and hauled off to the barn by the big strong teen aged BLGrands.  Sorry for the fuzziness in pictures.  Success!

The Best Nativity Set - Or is it Christmas Yet?

I listed a Painted Wooden Nativity Scene in my Etsy shop.  It's a version of one I've been making for years that is partly my design but mostly designed by Judith Martin.  Sorry for the long post but I wanted readers to know where this design came from.

More than 20 years ago my sister and I were both pregnant. It was fun to share being pregnant with someone.   I'm the oldest and she is only three years younger but our life stages had never been in sync. I married at 20 and started having babies right away, this was number six.  She married at 30 and it took a lot of pregnancy tests before one showed positive.  She was due the end of September.  I was due in March.  This was a surprise pregnancy for me (long story) and because pregnancy #5 had been plagued by hypertension and preeclampsica, and because of my "advanced maternal age" I was considered very high risk and had been referred to one of the nation's best perinatologists.  We also found out that BL Hubby and I had a rare blood incompatibility, similar to RH disease, so even my early pregnancy was full of worry.  Sis tested borderline diabetic when routine testing was done at 28 weeks and she followed her Dr.'s diet and testing advice and decorated a nursery.  She was told it wasn't anything to worry about.

My sister is really my best friend.  She had lived with me for a year and a half when she graduated from college and my kids (and husband) adored her.  Even after she got her own place we loved to get together for a day out.  Usually we liked to shop (we rarely bought anything).  We preferred the antique district, thrift shops and what we referred to as "cute" decor and gift shops.  Most often one of us would fix lunch.  Our tastes were similar and when I moved to the other side of the country what I missed about So. Cal. was a day out with my sister.

We were excited about having babies nearly the same age though everyone worried a lot about me.  As my sister's due date came and went our whole family and everyone who knew them was excited to welcome their new little boy.  We weren't prepared to find out that 2 weeks postdate, her baby died and then he was delivered stillborn.  My sweet sister and brother-in-law were overwhelmed with grief and we were, too.  Our hearts broke and we felt guilty for having a surplus of children while they were denied one.  To make things worse, it became apparent that her doctor had been negligent.  My sister and brother-in-law named their little boy Daniel.

My sister never begrudged me our baby boy.  He was born in February, more than five weeks early and after a lot of  high tech intervention.  She used to say there were times when she just wanted to hold a baby  and she was glad that she could come over and cuddle mine to her hearts content.  As Christmas approached the next year and we would have our days out, she looked for some kind of Christmas ornament that would memorialize her sweet boy.  Hallmark makes an ornament for almost everything, but not this.  We both were also searching for a nativity scene we liked.

Christmas passed with without any success in our search but we kept looking.  Sometime that year we were visiting a decorative painting store near my home owned by a couple that produced wood cutouts for many popular designers.  There in the window was this book and wood set designed by Juliet Martin. 

Christmas Elegance by Judith Martin

We fell in love.  I still love this depiction and symbolism of the baby Christ and the lambs.  Sis bought the book and I was going to paint one for each of us.  By the time I got to the project it had occurred to me that Judith Martin had other designs for Christmas figures that could be combined to make an awesome Nativity display.  I altered the size and when I couldn't find a Judith Martin design of Mary I liked I (after a few bad designs) designed one of my own.  For Joseph I re-purposed a shepherd..  I then had the bright idea that this would be the perfect ongoing Christmas gift for my close family.  People got "starter sets" that consisted of Mary, Joseph and baby and each year I could add a figure.  I could, and did, play this out for years. Young family members know they are really grownups when they get their own set.

Fast forward a few years and I'm living far from my sister.  I was asked to come up with and teach a painting class for a Relief Society "Christmas in July" event and I decided that the group could paint the Baby and a couple of lambs.  It was a pretty successful class, but several people wanted more of the Nativity Scene. Thus was launched the longest ongoing Relief Society class ever.  We had people meet to paint Nativity Scenes for eleven years.  (One of my friends still wants to do a Joseph - I should gift her with one).

My Nativity Scene

I've altered, refined and added to the original idea over the years but I'm still indebted to Juliet Martin for her designs.  Though her books and designs are out of print they are still in demand.  I haven't been able to find any  contact information for her but would love to let her know what her design has meant to me and my   family.  To me this is still Daniel's Nativity Set and it reminds me of the hope I have for resurrection, and joy and healing even after unimaginable loss.  Plus, I learned to paint well using Juliet Martin's designs.  (Every sheep I draw still tends to look like hers.)  Juliet, where ever you are - Thanks.

Note: The Nativity in the Etsy shop is smaller than my original.  One of the problems mine has is that it takes a whole lot of space to display. It's also made using a layered technique so the figures can stand alone.

We Interupt this Great Life for a Flood

Forget whatever I had planned for this week.  Life had something else in store.  I came home from registering my car Tuesday to see water tracks coming from under the front door sill.  Inside was evidence the powder room toilet had overflowed (water came from the washer).  I started mopping and Jack called our insurance agent - and the septic people.

Gray water was down  the center hall, an inch deep in the under the stairs closet, seeped into the living room and kitchen.  Bad part:  everything but the kitchen and bath is laminate flooring - fairly new laminate.  It all had to go. 

We had a visit from a sweet claims adjuster who declared us covered by our homeowners insurance.

Some nice damage control folks came yesterday morning to tear up the laminate in the wet areas, spray mildewcide and leave three powerful fans, two dehumidifiers and an air cleaner. It sounds like a wind tunnel downstairs

 Septic was located.  I was delighted I could remember where the 2nd (hidden) tank was. This picture is for future reference.

Septic was pumped.  (My driveway looked like a disaster convention with all the trucks.)
BL Hubby and I will get to install a new floor downstairs.  We're still waiting for our favorite septic tank repair guy to consult tomorrow on replacing the pump.  (We really wish we had listened to him when we first moved in and had the drain fields redone so we didn't need to pump.) Until then it's showers at Grandma's!

Some bright spots. Our first floor is quite open and the laminate flows seamlessly from the living room through the hall and into the dining room.  I loved how well the installation went getting the flooring to look good throughout the three rooms and through three big openings.  It was a lot of work and quite a bit of  help from BL BIL, who was making his living at the time laying a lot of laminate, to make it look good without any transition pieces.  Our insurance (and most policies) will not cover replacing the flooring in rooms not damaged in order to match the new laminate to old.  It looked like the dining room might not have got any water under the laminate and if so then the insurance wouldn't replace it and then we would have to pay for the dining room laminate out of pocket or live with a big transition piece and the dining room not really matching the rest of the downstairs.  Fortunately (unfortunately?) the water went a couple of floorboards into the dining room, also, so my downstairs won't look like a patchwork quilt.

  Since laminate products go out of stock almost as soon as you buy them you can't just patch like you could if they were hardwood,  the whole floor has to be replaced but a lot of the flooring is still good.  We've elected to take up the good parts ourselves and I'll be able to install it upstairs in a room or two.

I've  been wanting to do a little update of our space.  Watch what you wish for.  I still think updating by disaster is a bad idea.

Adventures in Painting Signs

Entrance to Farm

I've been painting like mad this last week, but this weekend was another kind of painting.  Wednesday night the biggest BL boy called.  He begged me to come visit and make him some signage - and he was so persuasive we agreed.  We loaded up early Friday and drove 9 hours to Lexington, KY to this destination:

Entrance Sign

 Our BL DIL's family have farmed a beautiful piece of land down the prettiest road in the Lexington bluegrass country for about 50 years.  The farmhouse is about 150 years old and gives me and my sisters serious house envy.  This is no show farm  but a real working family farm.  This is the third year that they invite everyone to come enjoy a giant corn maze, pumpkin patch, hayride and other farm frivolity.  This is no ordinary corn maze but almost 10 acres of paths to get lost in.  It's one of the best in the nation.  Just look:

BL boy cuts  the maze and ramrods the fun.  I love his role as "CORN COP".  Sorry about the bad cell phone picture.  He goes to the maze so attired if someone is misbehaving.  It's amusing and non threatening but gives a friendly reminder that you shouldn't throw corn, etc.

This year you can climb on a giant hay stack and watch goats climb a giant tower and feed them, too.

Climbing Goats

A friend of our sweet DIL had painted their entrance sign a few years ago.  BL boy refreshed it and had big plans to paint some cute directional and informational signs but when he came to the art he got timid.  Our DIL has done some signs for him but she was swamped by work and he decided maybe Mom could do better than he could.  I had never thought about marketing my painting for signage but this was fun, and I learned a lot.  Lettering has never been my thing but practice makes perfect.  Here's what I managed in a day and a half.  This sign is viewed from the street when they are closed.

I did two "museum type" signs designed to be informational when they have kids and school groups:

How Corn Crows

Pumpking Growing

This is at the entrance with prices:

BL boy wanted this one for the entrance to the corn maze:

This one is for the pumpkin patch - fun pumpkin facts.

It was great to see this years maze and visit (briefly) with the BL kids.  I was paid in pumpkins.  Look at this haul.  There's still tons more like this grown on the farm and available to buy but the big orange one in the back with the great stem was the best of the bunch and I claimed it Saturday night before the crowds came.

And I got hugs from this BL Grandson.  Totally worth it:

New Look

If you know me you know that I'm a terminal DIY enthusiast.  I have trouble getting outside help.  Maybe I should seek treatment.  I did my own Etsy shop banner, and my own blog banner and set up.  It got me going but I never was completly happy.  Enter one of the Best Loved SIL's.  Yup, Ashley married an artist who suggested I needed a facelift, graphicly speaking.  When he found that I had proudly created my banners, etc. on my favorite graphics program, PowerPoint, he couldn't stop laughing.  I showed him, I got him to redu me.   I love my new look.  He has a graphic design company, 4 Style Graphics, and he did my new look here and check out my Etsy shop.  If you need graphics for wedding invites, blogs, anything, check out his facebook page.  My favorite is  my new business card.  

I love my little animals all lined up.  

Thanks Drew.