This super modern doll house by Finnish Designer Jenni Jurrinen is a wonderful open ended play option for kids.

Swapping food, either casually among neighbors or in an organized group, is reviving a barter-and-trade system for food that went away with the introduction of the modern grocery store, when Americans stopped worrying about growing, trading or stocking up on enough food to make it through the year.

As everyone grew accustomed to shopping for prepackaged foods made in factories, we lost the art of acquiring things to eat from people we know. But recently more people are growing, making and preserving foods, drinks, and goods that they once bought from a store and are rediscovering the benefits of trading goods locally, building community. Swaps are a wonderful opportunity to meet others who are interested in gardening, food preservation, beekeeping, and other sustainable, DIY activities. It’s like trick-or-treating for adults.

There are some of these swap groups right here in Colorado. The Mile High Swappers meet in Denver/Boulder and Fort Collins once a month. No money is exchanged, just think of it as a DIY potluck party! Participants bring at least 3-5 items to swap, but they don’t all have to be the same thing. Other groups in the state are in Colorado Springs with two versions the Pikes Peak Community Cupboard and Bear Roots Urban Homesteading. The Pueblo version is Homestyle Swap Meet. These free community events support local agriculture and encourage turning your backyard into a working mini farm of sorts to create  “swapable” items.  Every  community should have one of these locavore haunts! I now know where to take my pickles, jams, fruits and herbs!!

If you’d like to find a food swap in your area, check out the fabulous Food Swap Network!!!

Example of items to bring for bartering:

•Fresh produce, fruit, sprouts, and herbs from your garden.
•Backyard/Farm fresh eggs, cheese, baked goods, savory snacks, honey
•Preserved, pickled, fermented items, vegetarian soups, stocks
•Homemade condiments, dips, spreads, and toppings
•Handmade soaps, lip balms, lotions, and other beauty products
•Crochet/knitted items, handmade jewelry, handmade cards, etc
•Useful garden tools, household and camping/backpacking items
•Homemade flavored salts, spice blends, seasonings
•Seeds, seedlings, compost, soil
•Homemade soda pop, fruit juices, drink mixes

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We have just completed the 2nd Annual Firefly Handmade Holiday Market here in Boulder! This year it will took place at the BMoCA, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. As organizers, we were thrilled to have such a beautiful building for the market to occur in. It was filled to the brim with gift options and cheerful holiday grins. As always there was an art area for the kiddos and yummy food and drinks (gluten free cupcakes from Swell)!! The DIY gift wrapping station was a huge hit! We hope to see you at our next market in Chautauqua in April!

The amazing chandelier is made by Andrew of AfterGlow Studio

]]> http://hautenature.com/firefly-handmade-holiday-market-2011/feed/ 1 http://hautenature.com/happy-hallows-eve/ http://hautenature.com/happy-hallows-eve/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:00:15 +0000 admin http://hautenature.com/?p=7088

Happy Halloween everyone!

This Halloween I am kind of obsessed with mythological half human, half animal themes….

I like the idea of dressing as a animal human hybrid or ambimorph. Here is a little hybrid mythology to read.

Satyr: half human half goat

Minotaur: half human half bull

Horus: half human half bird

Anubis: half human half jackal

Dracena: half human half snake

others are: naiad, faun, werewolf, cyclops, harpies, siren, triton, nagas, dogons.

Here are some other great ideas for homemade costumes-day of dead, mummy and heidi klum as skingirl ala Bodyworlds. Every great dane should be a fairy.

Everything in nature moves to a pattern of the spiral, why not harness this within our designs. This is exactly what Jay Harmon is doing with fans- biomimicry of the spiral. Watch the video and more at Fast Company.

I love this series about handmakers from the Victoria & Albert Museum UK. See the intro video here or to to the V&A website for more information on this exhibition.

The Power of Making is currently showing at the V&A until 2nd January 2012. The exhibition, curated by Daniel Charney ”aims to show how the act of making in its various forms, from human expression to practical problem solving, is shared by all. We hope the exhibition will inspire people and cause them to thoughtfully consider the role of making in their life, in society in commerce and in education.”

Emphasis is put on explaining the various making processes ranging from carving to clicking to checkering to locksmithing or wickerworking, to the public.

Aussie assemblage artist Brett Coelho has installations in New York‚ Sydney and Melbourne.

He has had numerous solo exhibitions in Melbourne and Sydney and is represented in several prominent private Australian collections. A love of nature is at the heart of Bretts’ work. He is inspired by Rosalie Gascoigne and the boldness of aboriginal art, its’ sense of craft and humble simplicity. “I love spending days roaming around the countryside‚ bartering with local farmers and collecting objects whose color or texture interest me. This work is about celebrating the ordinary, finding beauty in the most unlikely of places”

German designer Michael Wolke  creates this amazing line of recycled pendant lighting. His Beute Lamp is hand-made from discarded cardboard

Available in two sizes; the small (40 cm by 30 cm) and large (60 cm by 30 cm).

Gracious nearby neighbor Glynna allowed a massive harvesting of her very large elderberry bush. After cleaning, de-stemming, cooking down with water and adding honey–the result is a special treat reserved for drinking during the cold and flu season: elderberry syrup. Elderberry is a great immune booster during the winter, it helps to break up congestion from cold and flu.

Make your own syrup by de-stemming (use a clean hair pick or fork to assist in getting the berries off the stem) your harvested elderberries, place them in a large stock pot with water to the same level. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Use a potato masher to mash mixture and release more berry juice into mixture. Allow to cool slightly. Set up another large stock pot with a colander over it, line the colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth or a napkin type material that will strain out the seeds (seeds are teeny tiny). Ladle semi cooled mash and juice over the cheesecloth/colander and let juice drain through until you have ladled it all. Grab the edges of your cheesecloth or napkin and squeeze out the remaining juice to gain maximum yield. Remove colander and add your honey to the mixture along with the juice of one lemon per quart of juice. Lemon juice helps to preserve it as well as does honey. Add honey to taste, but the more honey, the more preserving its action is in the mixture. Bottle with a funnel and refrigerate. It will last 2-3 months. Drink a couple of Tablespoons daily or when you feel under the weather to stave off the cold. Alternatively use during a cold or flu to help rid congestion.