Totally Confused?
Not really, we just needed to figure out what to do with a leftover IKEA gingerbread kit and the Lindt chocolate bunnies, chicks, lambs. frogs and bugs.
Happy Easter to all our readers!!!
The funflector team
neat stuff
Hello Chicago!
The old world has come back to Chicago! The German Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza is open until Christmas and offers authentic German wooden and glass ornaments as well as Bratwurst, Pretzels, Strudels and Glühwein (mulled wine). See our blog post from last year about the Chicago Christkindlmarket.
For the second year, the Swedish American Museum also has a booth at the market and that’s where you go to get your Tomte fix. Tomte can be translated to gnome, elf, Santa, Father Christmas, nisse, Heinselmänchen depending on what language you prefer. Today, I volunteered in the booth and tried to count the “Cute!” (or “cuuute!”) but quickly lost track. The tomtar are all handmade in Sweden and come in many styles and sizes – and they are truly cute!
Traditional Angel chimes, modern moose or dalahorse chimes are available as well as wooden toys and books. Since most Swedes wear reflectors, the museum has teamed up with funflector.com to spread some Swedish safety culture and offers a wide variety of funflectors! There is even a tomte funflector!
The Chicago Christkindlmarket is open every day from 11am to 8pm (to 9 on Fridays and Saturdays). The Swedish American Museum Booth is #52. located outside the main market, East of the Daley Center, close to the intersection of Randolph and Dearborn. Stop by next time you are downtown Chicago and say “Hi” from The funflector Blog!
Elisabeth
Unexpected Berlin Icons
Traffic signals are designed to be intuitively understood. Maybe that’s why I never paid much attention to what traffic light signals for pedestrian cross walks really looked like – until I visited Berlin, Germany. There, the traffic light guys signaling “walk” and “stop” have a lot of personality and really popped out. The almost forgotten East German Pedestrian crossing lights got new life and are today Berlin icons. I tried to remember what the American guys look like until I realized there aren’t any, at least not where I live. Instead, white letters spell “WALK” and red letters “DONT WALK”.
It turned out to be quite a story behind the Berlin “Ampelmännchen” (means “small traffic light men”).
…Unexpected Berlin Icons Read More »
Visible or Scary?
In its native Sweden, H&M isn’t just a store for the latest fashion, it is also where parents get pretty good and inexpensive basic clothes for their kids.
When I visit Sweden I usually get PJ’s (all cotton and no flame retardant chemicals) and outerwear (most with integrated reflective strips) and cotton socks. Sizes up to 180 (16 y) is a big bonus when your kids are tall!
Safety reflectors and reflective strips have been integrated in children’s outerwear for a long time, but what I found the other day is taking it a step (or two!) further. The entire fabric looked reflexive, so I had to take a photo with flash to see just how reflective it was.
Wow, look at this:
Had to buy this reflective jacket and can’t wait to get back to my Chicago suburbs and play around with them. Do you think drivers will be too scared to drive safely or relieved that they saw the pedestrian?
Elisabeth
Summer Solstice
The long Scandinavian twilight summer nights peak today, June 21st. Swedish Midsummer Eve always falls on a Friday close to the old Midsummer Eve on June 24th. After long winters and slow springs, Midsummer is when Swedes head out to their summer cottages, invite friends over, eat herring, small fresh potatoes and strawberries, drink and dance all night long. If you are a tourist in Sweden, make sure you understand how closed down everything is and I mean EVERYTHING. Restaurants, coffee shops, stores, currency exchanges, and pretty much everything else. I got married on Midsummer day. One of the foreign guests had to borrow money for a taxi since they had not managed to get Swedish crowns. “I didn’t think it would be THAT closed”. Well, it was. Watch this if you don’t believe me!
This summer, I have the fortune to be working and blogging from Europe. Early summer is a lovely time when nature erupts with leaves, flowers and sweet scent of lilac and “hägg” (prunus padus).
Last week, I had the pleasure to to show my kids what a Swedish high school graduation looks like. The white caps “The Student Caps” originated among college students in the 1840’s to mark the affinity to their universities. At that time they were used daily, today they are rarely used outside of graduations and college ceremonies.
Happy Midsummer!
Elisabeth
The Ultimate No-Brainer / Small Foot Print #4
There is no Planet B. (duh!) Earth Hour (March 23rd at 8:30 pm) and Earth Day (April 22nd) are here soon to remind us to be careful with the only planet we have. However, it is not enough to be reminded, we also need to TAKE ACTION to leave a healthier planet behind for our children and for our grandchildren. As our followers know, we are all for walking and biking instead of driving, hanging out laundry to dry, reducing waste and recycling and more.
Here is another one, the ultimate no-brainer: With LESS effort, LESS time, LESS money and NO chemicals, you can get a cleaner house, office and car, a healthier family and a happier planet!!! Everyone is a winner: you, your wallet, your kids and the earth – can it get better? So, let me explain:
With Norwex cloths you can clean your house, office, vehicle, windows, kitchen and bathroom – and your face! – with just water. It is not magic, just Scandinavian technology of incredible skinny polyester fiber (quality microfiber) that picks up everything – dirt, grime, grease, crumbs and dust without additional chemicals. Read more in the Norwex product catalog!
So how can you get your hands on these amazing cloths? Here are three suggestions:
1. Buy them, either online or at my next party in Libertyville, IL (email info(at)funflector.com for dates and directions)
2. Get them for free! Book a real or online/catalog party. Introduce your friends to the amazing cloths and reap the rewards from the generous host gift program. As your consultant, I will guide you through and the online host portal will make it a breeze reaching out to friends and family near and far.
3. Earn an income on them! As a consultant you don’t only get free products, you also get a commission on every sale! Norwex has a figured out how to get you started with no startup cost! I did this a year ago and it’s been an amazing journey where each hour at work makes an impact in someone’s life! Be your own boss AND surround you with an inspirational team.
Take action NOW – go green AND help yourself get more time for the things you love to do more than cleaning!
Take care,
Elisabeth Hubbard
Owner funflector.com & Norwex Independend Sales Consultant
The Ultimate No-Brainer / Small Foot Print #4 Read More »
Chicago Christkindlmarket
Christkind is to German kids what Santa is to American. Christkind visits on Christmas day to put presents around the tree. Kids are kept away with closed doors to the living room until a little bell is heard. That means Christkind has finished its mission and the family can be let in to marvel at the pile under the tree. Christkind (“Christ Child”) has long golden hair and angelic wings and is a central part of opening ceremonies at many German Christmas markets, which are often called “Christkindlmarkt”.
Here is a glimpse of the Nürnberg Christkindlesmarkt
Chicago has its own Christkindlmarket with tight ties to the Nürnberg one on which it is modeled. The opening ceremony (Nov 20, 2012, 4:30pm) often gets visits from the Nürnberg mayor and the previous Nürnberg Christkindl. This year, you can meet & greet the Christkindl on November 22, 11:00am, right after the Chicago Christmas parade.
Being brought up with a mix of Swedish and German Christmas traditions, I love to go to the Christkindlmarket for some real German Bratvurst, Kartoffelpuffers and to look at the handcrafted ornaments that look just like those my grandmother had. Except for skyscrapers instead of small half-timbered houses surrounding the market, it does take me back to Germany for a little while. German vendors come all the way here just for this, which gives it an authentic flair.
This year, there is a new section at the NE corner of the plaza. That is where you will find the booth of the Swedish Amercian Museum, filled with Swedish ornaments, handcrafted collectible tomten (Santas), Angel Chime rotary brass candle holders, wonderful wood toys for children, funflector® safety reflectors in fun shapes for kids and adults, and a wide assortment of Scandanavian books.
Here are some pics from previous years:
Elisabeth
Chicago Christkindlmarket Read More »
One More Weekend…
… before Halloween! One last weekend to head for the local pumpkin patch or a haunted house.
Pumpkin Patches and More is an extensive directory of pumpkin patches by county. If you don’t see the links right away, just scroll down. They also have tips on carving pumkins, recepies and much more.
If you hurry up, you can still order your Halloween decoration and costumes online. Vote with your wallet and buy American made products! Keepamerica.com has a large selection of cool Halloween items, all supporting US manufacturing. US made Halloween reflectors are of course available in our webshop! Don’t forget to check out our Halloween specials at shopinterest! We ship as fast as we can, but don’t wait much longer to place your order to get it in time!
BOO from the funflector team
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a mantra that is often heard around Earth Day. I knew I had a box with outgrown and worn out jeans to tap into, which could be REUSED for some fun craft projects.
So, what can you do with your kids’ outgrown pants?
…Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Read More »
Small Foot Print #1
We are big fans of making our footprints on earth as small as possible. Taking good care of the only planet we have, seems to be the obvious thing to do. So what can you do?
Here is one idea: Harness the wind — hang your laundry to dry in your back yard and save electricity and/or gas (and save on your utility bills)!
We had our clothesline put away during the winter months, but now it is out again! A big load of shirts and pants dried in just a a few hours. If you have some trees to attach the clotheslines to, it’s an investment of a couple of dollars for a clothesline and some clothespins. If, not this Dutch drying rack might be the best solution. We bought ours a couple of years ago and it is still standing strong. A friend recommended it after trying several cheaper ones which didn’t even last through their first Midwestern storm. I was happy to see that this model is still available at Gaiam. For a couple of more days you can even get a $20 discount (and free shipping)! It is easy to mount, folds up quickly and can easily be lifted out of its base to be put away. As an extra bonus, the scent of wind dried clothes and sheets is the best!
The Clothes Line Shop has clothespins and some practical accessories like baskets for clothespins to hang on the line. Good to know for when the green pouch, that I got in France 15-plus years ago wears out.
By the way, did you know our website is 100% powered by windpower? Isn’t that neat?!
Elisabeth
Small Foot Print #1 Read More »