Simplifying My Shoes- Tieks Shoes

I recently posted about my desire to simplify my closet by creating a wardrobe that fits, feels good and that I feel confident in the clothes. It is a work in progress and I am not at all finished. I'm still refining and learning what my "look" is.

I have a strong desire to live with less stuff which is in line with my word for this year, Intention. As a yoga instructor and yoga studio owner, I follow the traditions and beliefs of the Yoga Sutras. Within those sutras are guidelines for living. (Now you might be wondering how yoga goes with Tieks shoes...keep following along, please) So one of the guidelines is Aparigraha; which is often translated to mean non-greed or non-attachment. To basically only take what you need. David Frawley, founder and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies explains that Aparigraha also means "not having a lot of unnecessary things around yourself and not hankering after what other people have." I have this desire to live with less stuff but that doesn't mean that I'm going to live life in ugly clothes. Nor does it make sense to wear inexpensive, cheaply made clothes and shoes that I will continue to have to replace and purchase over and over again. Which in turn will be polluting the earth with more stuff. So I'm focusing on buying quality items that can go with several of my clothes and that will last me for many, many years. 

I posted a question on Facebook asking my friends for shoe advice. I explained that I am in the market for flat shoes that can be worn with dresses and skirts but also look okay with a pair of jeans. I lean towards the ballet flat style rather than a pointy shoe and absolutely no heel! I had so many great responses. Several friends remarked about their love of Clark's shoes but I recently purchased 2 pairs that weren't a good investment so I knew that brand wouldn't work for me. Several other people expressed their love of Tieks. Of course, I've heard of these shoes and have seen advertisements for them pop up on my Instagram feed. But the $175 investment! Were they worth it?

I spent more time than I would like to admit reading blog reviews of Tieks and watching youtube videos where women advise on cleaning tips to how to correctly pick your size. The shoes only come in full sizes and this seems to be quite an issue for women who have half-sized feet like I do. Do you size up or down? The opinions on this matter are vast. But I thought if this many women like this brand of shoe, clearly this company is doing something right. So I held my breath as I clicked the checkout button. The shoes arrived within three days and I immediately was wowed by the packaging and the handwritten note! Are you kidding me? What a special touch!

I tried on the shoes, they felt comfortable and the color and quality were outstanding. But they felt a bit lose. Since they are made of leather I'm concerned about stretching so I immediately jumped on their website to inquire about exchanging and do you know what they are going to do?
They are shipping me the other size to try on, without charging my credit card, and I have two weeks to decide which size I will keep. I am in awe of this policy and so appreciate that flexibility. A company that makes returns and exchanging easy to do are a big winner in my book. I'll keep you posted on a final review once I decide which size to keep.
Are you a Tiek's gal? Leave a comment and tell me about your love affair with the shoe company.

Living with Less- Clothes

I haven't quite adopted the label "minimalist" quite yet though I definitely lean towards it. We live in a small house by choice and we live with all the items we own, no storage units filled with stuff we aren't using. We purge our house quite frequently and when we buy something we are intentional about where it will go in our house.

But my clothes closet was a whole different matter. In our shared closet I was taking up most of the space. I started reading about the Project 333 and immediately fell in love with the concept. I did as instructed and dumped all my clothes on my bed and went through the pile one by one, trying everything on. As I worked through the clothes I created piles on the floor:

• Keep / Fits great / I love this item
• Maybe / Has sentimental value
• Donate / Doesn't Fit   

After I did the initial round of closet clearing it still looked like my closet was spilling out, in no way did it look like a minimalist closet. That's when I realized that I needed to adjust the concept for my life. I am a yoga instructor and am teaching several yoga classes a day, I literally live in leggings. I have my work uniform of yoga pants and yoga studio logo t-shirts that I wear every day. But then I have the "other" clothes. Clothes I wear occasionally out to dinner or a movie, clothes meant to be lived in like the rest of the world does. And then I have the special occasion clothes; the wedding or fancy dinner or funeral.  

What I learned through the process is that I wanted to really hone in on my personal style. I wanted to create a "look" that I felt comfortable and confident wearing regardless of whether it was a "thin" week or a "that time of the month week". I have spent most of the year thinking about it and creating Pinterest boards and noticing fashion in a different way than I have ever before. I've found pieces that can go from teaching a yoga class to a lunch date. I found the perfect black dress that can be worn several times on various outings whether dressed up for fancy dinner or dressed down by adding a jean jacket. I've decided on a gray-black basic color scheme with pops of color in the accessories. It's still a work in progress but I feel better about how it is evolving.    

My wife introduced me to the concept of buying quality items versus quantity. When we met I was a thrift store seeker, yard sale shopper, coupon cutter, frugal gal to my core. I was raised that way and it has continued into my adult life. I have always been a saver of money but I have issues with shelling out a lot of money for clothes and shoes. And then my wife pointed out to me that my way of sale shopping actually made me spend more money, took more time and if we get down to it was worse for the environment. For example, I was purchasing yoga pants on sale for around $15-$25 at various stores that would last me about a year before they became see-thru or fell apart in the washing machine. But the leggings that I purchased from a higher quality store that would make any frugal gal gasp, $90 on a pair of leggings?!?! They actually lasted 5 years and were still in great shape during the closet purge that I donated them.

Thanks to my wonderful wife I've now adopted her quality over quantity philosophy, though I still have to remind myself of that when I hold my breath while pushing the checkout buttons to purchase shoes that cost over $100. But with quality items in my closet that will last me a long time and in line with Project 333 I am creating a minimalist fashion closet that works for me. Keep checking back for updates! 

Have you tried Project 333? Ever thought of adopting a minimalist wardrobe or capsule wardrobe, as they are often referred to as? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear what your "uniform" looks like.  

Creating a Personal Oasis

When we told our friends who have kids that we were going to adopt an older child from foster care several thought we were crazy. Not because they thought that we shouldn't actually adopt a child but because they were envious of our current custody schedule for our two biological kids, L and Z. Having an entire week alone, just the two of us, without kids seemed like a dream to our friends with kids. By adopting, all of that would change. 

We share custody of L and Z and have a schedule of one week with us and one week with their other parent, we divide the month equally in half between the two houses. Although it's been years since their father and I divorced I still feel sad in my heart on the transfer day when the children leave. I would much rather have them all the time than be without them for a week. But like most things the more you do it, the more use to it you become and it morphs into your new "normal". During the weeks when it was just my wife and I our schedules didn't change all that much; I still teach yoga in the evenings, we still have dinner at home and walk the dogs. Not really all that much changes in our day to day life except that it would just be the two of us. 

Right now in the midst of our adoption from foster care journey we now have a kid with us all the time...I miss my wife. I miss the time that we had just the two of us, totally uninterrupted. The freedom to have conversations without having to sensor ourselves because another set of ears are nearby. I miss reaching out to hold her hand and not having to share her with anyone else. I am mourning the loss of our time together that we once had but I'm also extremely grateful that we had so many years in the beginning of our marriage to have that time together to form our relationship. I know that we will always truly cherish that period of time.

Like many parents bedrooms ours has become the "catch all" room. It is the place where stuff just ends up; the kid shirt that needs a button sewn on, the laundry in the basket that needs folding. With the dog crate in the corner and the ironing board propped against the wall behind the door the room is not the romantic setting seen in movies. And what my wife and I need right now is a personal oasis, just for us, to retreat to without kids to interrupt. 

We've lived in this house for three years and it's the last room to be decorated. I need it to become our sanctuary. Our retreat. The space that is only ours. We put a bright, cheery yellow paint on the accent wall to remind us to live a happy life. Quilt and accent pillows were purchased and then I saw a dear friend posted these frames on Freecycle stating the color and that they did not come with glass or backings- perfect! Exactly what I had in mind to create an artistic piece over our headboard without having to spend any more money. My wife had the "you and me" made by an artist from Etsy years ago, it is the title of a song that we love by P!nk. 

Now I love walking into the room and seeing the turquoise frames on the bright yellow wall. It simply makes me happy and I need happy right now.

Pokemon Shooter Game- A Spin on Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

My youngest son went through a Pokemon phase. He clung to that deck of cards in his little hand and could rattle off facts about the damage and attacks each character could do. He would spend so much time just staring at the cards, flipping through his deck and wishfully talking about the cards he hoped to get for his birthday or from Santa. 

We decided to throw him a Pokemon themed birthday party. We don't do "friend" birthday parties every year because my son was blessed with having to compete with Independence day for his birthday and scheduling gets difficult. So I wanted to go all out BUT while maintaining a reasonable budget for a kid's birthday party. Also Known As- I wanted to be frugal!  

For the Pokemon party I needed to come up with ways to entertain a group of kids who may or may not be interested in Pokemon themselves. Several of the kids, thankfully, were really into it but a few had never even seen the cards before. So I created games and crafts that everyone would enjoy.

Pokemon Shooter Game- A Spin on Pin the Tail on the Donkey!

We've all played "Pin the tail on the Donkey" well this is similar in that you are going at it blind. 

Here is what you will need to recreate this game:

• Pokemon Cards: I purchased a huge lot of Pokemon cards off of eBay for super cheap, I didn't care how good the characters on the cards were I just wanted a lot of them for all of my games.
• Water guns: purchased at the dollar store, enough to have for each kid to use for the game but to then take home with them as part of their party favor as well.
• Wine corks: with a bread knife cut slits into one of the ends of the cork, then slide a card into each one and set up several on a card table out in the yard. 
• Card table.
• Bandanna or scarf to blindfold.

I prepped the game by having all the water guns filled and in a beach bucket so we would be ready to play without delays. If you've ever thrown a kid party you know how important it is to keep things moving without a pause....so important! I reused the same corks and simply slid the cards into them on the next person's turn.

The Game: Once the child is blindfolded and spun three times, he/she has to listen to the other children to tell him where to shoot. Basically the other children are his/her eyes. Whatever cards the child knocks over in thirty seconds they get to keep those cards. So for kids who are collectors they were thrilled and for the kids who weren't, they were so excited to have a nice assortment of cards. 

The kids loved this game and we played several rounds before they wanted to just refill the water guns and shoot at each other while they ran around the yard.

Pinwheels- using your scrapbook paper stash

This turned out to be a really fun craft that all of the Bee Yoga Fusion YogaKids enjoyed. What I wasn't able to capture was all the kids running around the playground with their pinwheels held high over their heads trying to get their pinwheel to spin faster by running faster! Brilliant activity to get the kids up and moving! I conducted this craft with children in kindergarten through second grade. My YogaKids are seasoned crafters and have exceptional fine motor skills, please be mindful that this craft involves sharp objects and children must be monitored the entire time while doing the craft. 

For each pinwheel you will need:

• Wine cork
• Wooden skewer
• 1 bead
• 1 sewing needle (The kind with the ball at the end, used for pinning the fabric)
• 8x8 square piece of scrapbook paper
• Scissors and a pencil

Have the child fold their paper into a triangle by bringing to points together, make the crease and then unfold. Do it again for the other side then unfold. You should have a giant X made by the creases on the paper. Have the child draw a circle in the very center of the paper no bigger than a quarter. Cut on the line of each crease from the end of the paper to the circle and stop. 

To assemble the pinwheel, an adult will need to push the skewer into the side of the wine cork. You may need to begin the hole with a hole starter like you would in a wall depending on how dry the cork is. 

Moving on to the paper, grab a point and draw it into the center, skip a point and then bring the next point into the center. Continue in this manner until you are back where you started. Poke the sewing needle into the center of all the point tips at the center of your paper and through the main paper as well at the center of the original giant X. Your needle should be poking out of the back of the paper, place a bead on the needle and then gently push the needle into the wine cork. 

You are done!

Of course the pinwheel is made of paper and this should go without saying but if left outside on a rainy night it will be ruined. This is a wonderful activity to do with kids of a broad age just remember that there is a needle involved so you may want to assemble it for younger kids and watch them closely while playing with it. Older children will love the independance of being allowed to create something using sharp objects and the finished pinwheels bring out the kid in all of us.   

Easy Classroom Earth Day Activity

Sometimes it's hard for kids to understand the importance of Earth Day. A great activity to do with your child's classroom that is easy and low cost is to plant flowers with them. Allow them to be in charge of taking care of it so that they can see for themselves the importance of water and sun by supplying their plant with these these nutrients.

I used red plastic cups that I purchased at Costco. Each child received 2 cups, one which I prepped before doing the activity by poking holes in the bottom using a nail and the other cup did not have holes. The cup with the holes is the one that you will plant the seeds in as the holes will provide adequate drainage. The outer cup is to protect the surface the plant sits on from getting wet.

Before we began I had the Bee Yoga Fusion YogaKids decorate their cups with stickers. I find it helpful to give the kids a particular number so that everyone has the same amount of stickers. Look at your collection of stickers and decide how many you have that each child could have the same amount.

After they were done decorating they filled the cups up with planting soil and stuck their fingers in the soil to make holes for where their seeds would go. In a tupperware container I mixed a bunch of flower seeds together so no one would know what color flowers they were going to get or what kind. I wanted it to be a surprise when the flowers actually started to grow. And it also alleviated any argueing or whining over a particular flower color. They passed the tupperware container and pinched  and amount of flower seeds and placed it in their holes, covered the seeds lightly and then watered their seeds.

This is a great activity to do with a classroom as it's low cost and easy to do. Hands will get dirty but that's part of the fun!
Enjoy!

  

Rainy Day Fun- Ring Toss Game

When it's raining outside kids become restless but that is no excuse for not being active or moving their bodies. Try making a ring toss game out of recycled materials and put a new spin on a rainy day afternoon.  

First cut out large circles in three paper plates to make rings to throw. To make the actual standing peg use a paper towel tube or two toilet paper tubes taped together. Cut a small circular opening in one paper plate to pass the tube through the paper plate. Slice the tube and fold up and tape to the underside of the paper plate, see second picture. Then have the kids decorate the peg and the rings with markers and stickers.

The Bee Yoga Fusion YogaKids enjoyed adding a yoga element to our ring toss game. The person throwing had to stand in tree pose while trying to throw their ring around a peg. Give it a try with your kids today!   

Christmas Ornament Organizing

I know you are not even thinking about Christmas right now! I know, I know. But hear me out.
You know those plastic containers that the Costco apples come in? I personally hate recycling them…I just know that they have to have another life. And here is a great way to re-use those plastic apple holders to give them more life and to help you organize your Christmas decorations. Glass ball ornaments fit perfectly in each apple holder or place several delicate ornaments in each space. The options are limitless! Then you can easily stack them in a rubbermaid container to store in your attic/garage/basement.
Happy Spring Cleaning!

Something to Try: Painting with Corks

Kids love to paint.
Toss the brushes aside and pull out the wine corks that you saved from last month's Mom's Night Out and have your kids paint a picture only using corks to paint. The bonus is that clean up is a breeze! And you are recycling corks in another use before they are thrown away in the trash.
See what their creative minds come up with and give them the space to explore this new medium.

Foosball Game Craft for Kids

Creating this foosball game was a great activity that had the Bee Yoga Fusion Yoga Kids working as a team. We used a cardboard shoebox and cut the top off of it. The YogaKids then took turns decorating the bottom to clearly mark the center of the field and the goalies using markers. I cut out the squares at each end to make the goals so that the ball could roll through it when the team scored.

Each child decorated two large craft sticks as people using markers and their imaginations. I adhered the sticks onto the 12 inch dowel rods using 2 rubber bands, being sure to criss cross them to help the people stay in place.

I poked holes in the side of the shoebox for the dowel rods to feed through. At first the YogaKids tried using a rolled up piece of paper as the ball but it didn't work as well as they imagined. So they then decided on using marbles.

Creating the foosball game was a lot of fun and then playing with it was even more enjoyable.
This is a great craft to teach kids about making toys out of recycled objects that you can find around your house. Suitable for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Recycled Tin Can Pencil Holder

I bet you remember making one of these when you were a kid. Did your mom or dad proudly display it on their desk? I wanted the BYF YogaKids to make a few gifts for their parents this holiday season so it only seemed natural to reinvent some old school crafts that maybe their parents remember making when they were kids. 

Using washed out soup cans I had the kids place school glue along the length of the can and then they slowly wound pretty acrylic yarn, of their choosing, around the can. And because these are yoga kids we decided to take pictures in yoga poses to then adhere to the can with a hot glue gun. The end result was fantastic! The yoga kids were so proud of their upcycled craft and were excited to put them under the Christmas tree for their parents.

Age range- Kindergarten -4th grade

Difficulty level- Easy with parent assistance

Why not have your kids make their own toys today?

It's winter break and it's quite possible that your kids are driving you a wee bit crazy. Everyone is excited about the expectation of gifts and food and relatives visiting. Maybe you could use a few minutes to yourself but don't want to plop the kids in front of a screen?
I've got your covered!
Hand them some random items and see what they come up with. Try giving them the corks leftover from the wine your family drank the other night, some paper, scissors, pipe cleaners, markers and glue and simply tell them to make some dolls.
Dolls? They might ask.
Yes, dolls. Okay if you have boys in your house tell them to make superheros.
See what they come up with on their own. Tell them that the dolls/superheros need clothes and hair, maybe a hat to wear.
Then give them another challenge. Raid your recycling bin and tell them to build a house and a car for the dolls/superheros to use.
When you supply the items for the children to create, they instantly start using their imagination. It's amazing what they will come up with.
Go ahead…give it a try!

Handprint Holiday Wreath

Adorn your front door with a wreath made out of your child's handprints this holiday season. This holiday handprint wreath is a wonderful, easy craft that you can make with your child in an afternoon. Simply have your child trace their handprint on various pieces of scrapbook paper and with care cut them out. Then take a paper plate and cut out a huge inner circle, staple each handprint to the paper plate. To cover each staple, glue various colored pom-poms to each staple using regular school glue. Hole punch the top and thread a ribbon through it to hang on your front door.

Bird Feeder Using Recycled Materials

The Bee Yoga Fusion Yoga Kids LOVE being outside. We got a break from the winter jackets and decided to make winter bird feeders for our feathered friends.
This activity is great to do with a wide range of elementary aged children.
You'll need:
a paper plate and large craft stick for each child
toilet paper tubes
creamy peanut butter
wild bird seed

With our craft sticks we smeared peanut butter on the toilet paper tubes and then rolled the tubes in a plate filled with wild bird seed. When the kids were done smearing and rolling we put hold punches at one end of the tube and used yarn to hang the bird feeders from random trees near our playground.

Try this easy craft with your children and help feed our feathered friends this winter.

Monogramed Initial Sticks

My yoga kids love nature and what better craft activity to complement a walk in the woods than making a monogrammed initial out of sticks that we found on our nature walk. I let the kids pick out embroidery floss in their favorite colors and each child sat and concentrated on making their initial.

Try this craft with your kids. Take a walk through the neighborhood or in the woods and pick up sticks that you find along the way. Then find a quiet spot to wrap string or yarn around the joints to hold the initial in place. For the younger kids I used twist ties to hold the sticks in place so that they could manipulate the embroidery floss around the sticks without the letter completely falling apart.

Enjoy the quiet moments with your children. While they are working ask questions about their day at school, their friends etc. Sit and listen. Don't comment as you normally would and instead try and listen and observe. Keeping an open mind and an open heart.

Halloween Bat Craft for Kids

What kid doesn't love bats? Making these Halloween bats are super easy and you will be upcycing, and that's just plain awesome!
Before my BeeYogaFusion Yoga Kids began this project we read the book Stellaluna.
(How cool is that website, right?)

As for the craft, cut up a paper egg carton so that each child has a cup. Have the children use markers or paint to color their bat. Click on the second bat wing picture and print. Then cut out the bat wings and tape a twist tie to the back of each wing. Using the tip of the scissors create a small hole in the side of each egg cup and place the twist tie in the hole.
Your done!
Either leave the bat as is to sit on a shelf or place a hole in the top of the head and put a string through so that the bat can hang upside down.
Happy Halloween!

Halloween Pumpkin Luminaries

We are getting ready for Halloween at the Bee Yoga Fusion yoga studio and the yoga kids celebrated today by making pumpkin luminaries.

Supplies needed:

• orange and black construction paper
• Elmer's glue
• craft foam paint brush (something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Value-Pack-10-Pc-Foam-Paint-Brush/dp/B003UHJDAS)
• scissors
• canning jars
• Finishing spray sealer (something like this: http://www.michaels.com/mod-podge-clear-acrylic-sealer-matte/10194372.html)
• battery candle lights to put inside the jar when finished

I had the yoga kids rip the orange construction paper into small pieces and then glue each piece onto the wide mouth canning jar using a craft foam paint brush. I instructed them to use just a little bit of glue, which was hard for the wee ones to resist gooping it on. Then with scissors they cut out their eyes and mouths using black construction paper. After they were finished I went back and glued down and pieces that were sticking up and smoothed the surface with my fingers. Once the glue was dry I sprayed each one with a glossy finishing spray and put a battery candle light in the jar. 

It's a wonderful craft for the kids to make and feel as though they are contributing to the fall decor in your house or in their room. This also makes a great gift for the grandparents!

Halloween Craft for Kids- Spiders and Web

This is a wonderful craft that is easy and really fun to do.
You'll need: embroidery hoops, embroidery floss, glue, pipe cleaners, egg carton, markers, goggly eyes and a hole punch.
Start by cutting the egg carton up into single egg holders. Have each child color the egg carton with markers to make their spider and then with a hole punch make two holes for the 4 pipe cleaners to pass through the body of the spider. Glue on the goggly eyes and your spider is complete.

Moving on to the web. Take the outer ring of the embroidery hoop off and have the kids wrap embroidery floss around the hoop making a pattern as they go. This is a lot of fun and each of my yoga kids got really quiet to concentrate on the task. When they are finished making the web, tie the final end to the hoop and place the outer ring of the hoop securely on, this will hold the floss in place.

Put a final hole punch in the spider to secure a piece of floss through so that you can tie it to the hoop, Hang the hoop on your wall with the spider dangling down.
This is a great craft for Kindergarten to fourth grade students.
Happy Halloween!

Crochet Dog Bowl Mat

My dogs needed a mat under their water bowl and instead of buying an overpriced mat at the pet store I  pulled out the crochet hook and got to work. Using cotton yarn I single crocheted a large rectangle, super easy.
Easy to clean I simply throw it in the washer and dryer and the cotton is absorbent for spilled water from my dogs tongues. Do your dogs or cats need a fashionable mat under their food bowls?

Bike Wheel Wall Decor

My wife and I were looking for a creative way to display cards and pictures that we receive from friends and family throughout the year. The yearbook pictures, the Christmas cards, the drawing our son made at school…all of it was living on the front of our fridge. We grew tired of the cluttered looking, overcrowded fridge and yearned for a different solution.

My wife and I enjoy going on long bicycle rides, so it seemed a perfect solution to use a bicycle wheel to adorn our wall. I spray painted the wheel a fun blue and we attach the pictures to the spokes using silver binder clips. It has been the best conversation piece when people are over for dinner.

Upcycle a bike wheel for your house!

UPDATE:
I've received a few emails asking how I attached the bike wheel to the wall. It was really simple! I used anchors and two screws. I'm a big fan of EZ Anchors, that is what I used for this project. Here is a close up of the bike wheel on the wall.