Fall school days are on their way, bringing tons of exciting new classes, friendships, and experiences. Year after year, however, there’s always one period eagerly-anticipated by kids and teenagers alike: lunch! Growing students have big appetites, and not just for learning. Unfortunately, while good, wholesome food-for-thought has always been a priority in American classrooms, less attention has often been given...

A local homeschooling group of children stopped by the shop today to show us the moccasins they have been working on in sewing class over the past few weeks. Check out the beading and fringe work - hard work even with tiny fingers! The children started their journey a few months back with a tour of the Soft Star Shoes workshop.  Afterwards, they researched Native American...

Lots of happy Elves this week as our long-awaited kitchen / break area is done!! Since most of us Elves pack our own food, our break area is an important place where we gather for lunch, snacks, meetings and celebrations. Up until now our break area was a hodge-podge of assorted clutter on top a loose scrap of vinyl floor with no...

Soft Star Shoes is now proudly 100% powered by solar and wind! Actually, we have been for a full 5 months now - but it has taken me a while to get around to writing this blog entry. I got a little nudge to write it this week when an EPA report was issued ranking our little town of Corvallis...

It is so fun to live and work in a college town. Right now the town is buzzing with the great team work by the Oregon State Basketball team, coached by Craig Robinson. As a new coach, he is creating a bit of Cinderella story - going from no conference wins last year to a competitive season this year and...

Corvallis had a bit of snow last night, and while it might not mean much to you all in the North, it has slowed down life here. Since we don't get many days like this, when we do it's best to stay off the roads and get your snow play in. So that is what we are doing today! We...

Another great thing about living in Oregon is our vote-by-mail system. Here is Tivi dropping my ballot off in the neighborhood ballot box- she is so excited about election day! In Oregon your ballot is mailed to you a few weeks before election day, along with thick pamphlets where candidates and measure supporters can promote themselves in an open forum...