This Week in Our Haven: No. 30
This week in our haven has been busy and productive. I had some extra special projects to work on this week and I’m excited to be at the end of the week so that I can share it with you. You can now find (and purchase) Haven Handmade products at Workshop Apothecary LAB in the Gold Coast neighborhood of Chicago! I’m really thrilled to be working with another small business. I love that people will be able to actually pick up a Huggable, see the stitching up close, and feel the fabric. As much as I appreciate the convenience of shopping online, being able to hold a product (especially anything made from fabric) in my hands before I buy it is so helpful.
Shop announcements:
More new Huggable designs are here! Baseball players are the newest additions to the Huggable line up and they can be customized to wear your favorite team’s colors.
Check out Workshop Apothecary LAB at 1023 N. Dearborn Street in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood. You can find products from several awesome Chicago-based small businesses and makers, including Haven Handmade!
Huggables make helpful homework buddies!
What we’re talking about: With April being Earth Month, we’ve been talking a little about what we already do for the planet and what more we can do. One thing I’m proud of is how little fabric waste I create as I make products for Haven Handmade. I planned the dimensions of the Huggables in particular to leave as little leftover fabric as possible. And small scraps from other projects can be saved and used for the Huggables’ shirts, shoes, and accessories. All my little fabric scraps are sorted by color so that it’s easy to find the perfect piece for each detail.
What we’re doing: Joanna received some new craft supplies for her birthday, so we’ve been doing lots of creative activities this week. We made some animals from clay using this adorable kit. Joanna also spent some of her free time just tinkering away on her own and made some modeling clay creations, decorated a wooden sign, and crafted flamingo stick puppets using glittery markers, popsicle sticks, and paper. I love when she just lets her imagination lead her and she doesn’t worry about making something that follows anyone else’s instructions or rules. If you are looking for some open-ended, creative craft supplies, this Create Crate by Chimney + Babo seems like a great place to start!
What we’re cooking: After all the cooking and baking for Joanna’s birthday last week, I kept things pretty simple and low-key in the kitchen this week. Having some grab-and-go breakfast bars ready for the week made starting the day easy. I adapted this recipe for Healthier Dark Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookie Bars to use what I had on hand and to make them a little more breakfast-y. I subbed in an extra cup of ground oats for the all purpose flour, swapped the whole wheat flour with almond flour, used the lower sweetener amounts, used honey instead of white sugar, and used raisins, dried cranberries, and mini chocolate chips as my mix-ins. I basically made it into a new recipe, but it worked like a dream and we enjoyed our quick, easy, tasty breakfast bars all week long.
What we’re reading: Joanna is still on a Hotel Flamingo kick even though she got several new books for her birthday that I’m also excited to read with her. She finished reading the first one with Peter and has started reading it to herself now. She was even reading it out loud to me as I made dinner last night. I think Joanna would recommend this series to any kid who loves stories with characters that are animals.
I’m ready to slow down and take it a little easier this weekend now that both Easter and Joanna’s birthday are behind us. Whether you’re taking it easy or staying active this weekend, I hope it’s a good one!
(Disclosure: I do not receive any compensation for the recommendations, links, or reviews I post here. All opinions are my own.)
