NinaBeana & Freezer Paper

My dear sweet NinaBeana, my local SAHM with whom I would spend every afternoon if I didn't have to work. Every time I leave her house I whine, "can I quit my job please?" She's so generous of spirit (and food) that her house has become a revolving door of friends and family, and somehow she remains sane.

Our friendship began three years ago at our local library, where our kids, at the ripe old age of 9 months, brought us together. As the story goes, she spotted my tattoo and was too scared to say hello, and after seeing her funky little outfits and her bumper stickers, I was too scared to say hello. Thank god for our babies. Actually ... thank god for her baby Grace, who crawled right over and tried to steal Little Man's binky. They still steal things from one another (we will never discuss the firefighter hat drama of 1/8/07), but they also hug and kiss and talk and share and pretend and snuggle and giggle and craft and make their moms very very happy.

Speaking of happy, this photo makes me happy. Back in December, Nina and I went to the Bazaar Bizarre together, made covert "I could make that..." lists, ogled the beautiful goods made by bloggers that we've been reading, strolled through the South End, tried organic smoked salmon at a beautiful little deli, shared a ham, cheddar and fig sandwich, and grabbed tea and scones for the ride home. While waiting for the train, I snapped this photo. I love it because it's just so Nina.


In the last three years, we're shared many things, including an ever-growing list of "Crafts To Try." And ever since Angry Chicken posted her adorable freezer paper stencils, we've been trying to plan a weekend crafts-only date. With the lure of Tord Boontje designs in my house, we finally had a crafty date last weekend. And it was wicked fun.

Little Man and I ran off to the "art store" as he calls it, where he selected the t-shirts and paint colors. Nina and I laid the Tord panels on the floor and let the kids pick their favorite animal images. Then we traced the animals onto the freezer paper, carefully cut the stencils, ironed the paper to the outside of the shirt, with another layer of freezer paper fused to the inside (very important) and handed out paint brushes.

I consider the experience a success because Little Man wore the red rabbit to school yesterday and accosted everyone with "I paint this shirt with Mommy!"

By the way, see that silly face he's making. Yeah ... that's what happens when you tell a kid to "smile." Apparently Alison's boys got the same memo.