Winter in Olalla & New Friends

Upper Olalla Valley from the Efforts land

Snow covered home of Earnie, Ellie & Myrtle Efforts In Upper Olalla

Ellie's very special Douglas Fir tree in our woods

Dearest Friends of Earnest Efforts ~*~
We've had our first snow (about a half foot) and Myrtle & I agree that although it is nice for about half a day, anything after that is just cold, wet & simply a damper on our day (we don't mind rain, but we do mind snow).  We're heading off for our afternoon hike here in 15 minutes, so I need to write fast & get ready for the wind that's blowing this next snowstorm from the NW.  Hope you enjoyed the above pics because yesterday morning was grand!

The real reason we're writing this quick note is to send a thank you out to Addicted to Fluff who wrote a fun & kind review of our wood baby rattles being enjoyed by her two boys.  The videos are great & we would love it if you would check them out & write her a comment.  We bloggers (can I call myself a blogger if I only write on rare occasions?) love the comments! 

Hope you all are staying warm, dry and filled with loving kindness.  I've got a lot more pics to share, but time to get out & hike before Myrtle sleeps the day away. 

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Ellie Efforts (aka Heather) ~*~

Shake It Baby

Hi Friends of Earnie & Ellie

We want to introduce you to our Australian friend, Eden.  Her Momma co-owns Byron Baby Shop in Byron Bay, NSW, Australia, where they carry our wood baby rattles in their lovely shop.  We just had to share Eden's rattle joy with you all.  She has got some fabulous rhythm!  We hope you enjoy this as much as we did.  Happy last day of November to you all and remember

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Earnie, Ellie & Myrtle Efforts
(aka Rick, Heather & Myrtle the wonder dog)

Mothering Magazine Best Rattles and Baby Toys



 Dear Friends of Earnest Efforts - We are excited to share with you that our wood baby rattles are featured in Mothering Magazine's 2011 Natural Toy Guide for Baby Toys & Rattles.  Our rattles were chosen when Bootyland Kids of Seattle, Washington were asked to share their favorite rattle with Mothering Magazine.  A very sweet review was written by Melanie Mayo, the web editor of the magazine.  Thank you so much to Bootyland Kids and all of our customers over the years.  We are deeply grateful & honored!!!  Happy Holidays to you & yours and remember to...

Take care, be good & kind and don't forget to laugh,
Earnie, Ellie & Myrtle Efforts
(aka Rick, Heather & Myrtle)

Tidee Didee & Hunting Pacific Yew Trees

Good Morning Friends of Earnest Efforts -



Before we share beautiful photos from our day fishing/hiking trip up the North Umpqua River we want to welcome Tidee Didee Diaper Service & Natural Baby Boutique to the growing circle of retail stores that carry our wood baby rattles.  Cindy Martin is the owner of this service & boutique based in Portland, Oregon which was started by her grandparents in 1954.  Can you believe that?  The year after Earnie was born :-)   If you live in the Portland area, please visit her boutique, welcome her and shake a rattle for us or visit her shop online at http://www.tideedidee.com/.



Susan Creek Falls

Last Sunday we spent the most glorious day along the North Umpqua River fishing and hiking.  My idea of a perfect day.  The kind of day that makes my chest feel like it's going to burst with happiness.  Damp moss, dripping trees, the smell of fungi in all of it's amazing forms. 

Pleurocybella porrigens (aka Angel Wings)

By the way, Earnie didn't tell me that he found these delicious morsels.  He showed me the pic while we were eating breakfast many miles away.  Really...I kid you not...:-(

Earnie hiding his mushroom secret

One of the many best parts of our adventure was finding the Pacific Yew tree to photograph for our Etsy shop - I know that sounds really geeky, but what can I say.  If you have visited our shop you will know, without a doubt, that the Pacific Yew is my very favorite wood and I love to post new Pacific Yew boxes as soon as they are finished.  The following photos are a couple of the new pics we've added to our collection.

Pacific Yew Needles

Small Pacific Yew Tree

And Myrtle wants you all to know that she LOVED her day in the North Umpqua Watershed as much as Pappa Earnie & Big Mamma Ellie. 

I sometimes wonder if she know how amazing her life is.  Sometimes I have to mentally pinch myself to see if this life is real.

Psychedelic Madrone tree bark

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,

Ellie Efforts (aka Heth)

PaintCutPaste Blog Interview & Giveaway

Dear Friends of Earnest Efforts natural woodworking,

I have to say that Jen of PaintCutPaste has written one of my top favorite blog interviews ever of Earnest Efforts.  I LOVE Jen's enthusiasm and have enjoyed visiting her blog just to read about the fun her & her daughter have with art.  Her daughter, "N" is just now in kindergarten and will now have some new leaders in her life, but she is one lucky girl to have had a mom like Jen to start her journey exploring life through art.  If you would like to win one of our Wood Baby Rattles or Wood Spirit Shakers, please visit her blog, read her interview and follow the directions on how to enter to win!  You can also follow Jen & "N" on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/paintcutpaste

Enjoy, be well & remember...

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Ellie Efforts (aka Heather)

TLC Natural Baby - New Online Shop

Dear Friends of Earnest Efforts natural woodworking

It is always so hard to decide what to write about first when you have lots of new good news.  So...I've decided to write two separate blog posts so each gets their own top billing!!!

TLC Natural Baby owner Tej & her son Maddox

Tej Carbone contacted us recently about carrying our wood baby rattles in her new online shop TLC Natural Baby.  The shop has been up and running for just a week now and I'm sure she would love to have you stop by for a visit.  Tej is also a certified babywearing consultant with one-on-one and group classes in the Orlando, Florida area and their new shop carries a variety of baby carriers (including slings and woven wraps) and other natural baby items.  We shipped an order of rattles to her a week ago, and they are up and ready for purchase at her shop.  You can also visit her on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TLCNaturalBaby
Best of luck to Tej & her family and remember...

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Ellie Efforts (aka Heather)

New Friends & Exploration Into Cyber-World

Good Morning Dear Friends

Blueberry Baby's Newest Love

First of all we want to introduce you to a new friend and a future satisfied customer of Earnest Efforts baby rattles.  Blueberry Baby in Fairbanks, Alaska has been carrying our wood baby rattles since 2007.  We wish we could take a trip up to meet co-owners Betsy and Laura in person and all of their wonderful children.  Instead we get to love on them through cyber-space and we're grateful for this.  Betsy's newest love was born in September and she is a precious beauty!  She already has her first baby rattle and we can hardly wait until she's old enough to play with it!  Congratulations Betsy and her family!!!

And now, we're excited to announce that we have officially entered the 21st century with DSL and voice mail.  What a new, amazing and addictive world we entered this week.  The first day we were up and running I had our netbook set up in front of our home pc and was wondering why the mouse wasn't working on the netbook.  Ha!  So, it's Sunday morning and I'm in my sanding "uniform" sitting in our office writing to you.  Life is great!!!  We have already been posting new boxes on Etsy at lightening speed, which is about how fast they've been selling.  What a great feeling to experience - being unable to keep up with your Etsy sales.  What more can we say... 

Take care, be good & kind, and don't forget to laugh,
Ellie, Earnie & Myrtle Efforts
(aka Heather, Rick & Myrtle)