NATURALLY-DYED EASTER EGGS

Happy Easter, friends! We took a two-month vacay from In Fine Feather to find + bring you the best Georgia-grown content. Today on IFF, we are featuring these adorable naturally-dyed eggs from Atlanta's own Ashley Pepitone of Camp Makery, as featured on the Pottery Barn Blog! Florals by the lovely Juli Vaughn. See Ashley's methods below:

"This blue and white scheme calls out to PB's beautiful Indigo Collection. I simply used a set of Sharpies to hand-draw patterns onto each egg. Sharpies work so well because they come in a variety of colors and you can set the eggs down for a few minutes and they'll be dry when you return!"

"I used several natural dyes to color these beautiful eggs, just like my grandmother taught me. The tan eggs were dyed by boiling them with several black tea bags, and the terracotta-hued eggs received their color by boiling with the skins of 5 yellow onions. You can let the eggs soak as long as you want to get a darker color. Each egg has its own pattern or monogram — I used stickers on the eggs and put them in a nylon stocking tied at the top to hold the stickers in place during the dying process. Stickers are an easy way to make sure your eggs look flawless!"

Photos by Haley Sheffield. 

BIKE MACON

Cheers to the new year, y'all! First of all we are turning ONE this week (!!!) but more on that later. In the meantime, it's THE TIME of year when we resolve to change up our routines and reignite our relationship with our personal health and well-being (because Christmas cookies). If you live in the Macon area, Bike Macon is the perfect opportunity to get moving -- literally! We rode along with Rachel Hollar, founder of Bike Macon aka Macon's first grassroots bike advocacy group. The organization is committed to making Macon more connected, bikeable, and walkable through advocacy, education, and creative events that allow the community to become more comfortable with walking and biking around town. Read more about Rachel and her vision for Bike Macon below!

Inspiration for beginning Bike Macon? Participation in a fun, social bike event during Macon’s Cherry Blossom Festival Parade inspired me to start exploring the city by bike every day. I was having fun, saving money, and spending more time outdoors. Two months later, I applied for a fellowship to start a bike coalition because I wanted my neighbors to experience those benefits as well. In June 2015, I was selected as a K880 Emerging City Champion through 8 80 Cities and the Knight Foundation. The fellowship equipped me with the tools, networks, and resources to create Bike Macon. In just a few months, I’ve been able to engage a diverse group of stakeholders + team of volunteers to support my vision of a healthier, safer, and more socially-connected community. 

Benefits? I’ve been relying on my bike as an alternative means of commuting to work for about six months. I love that I can sneak in exercise during the day without taking extra time from my schedule. Additionally, through this group, I have met the most talented and dedicated individuals. I’m looking forward to the meaningful change this group is leading -- to help Macon become a city that embraces walking and biking as an essential form of transportation.

Personal mantra? “Mai Pen Rai” - it’s a common Thai expression meaning many things: no worries, it is what it is, it’s okay. I spent one year teaching English in Thailand and this is one of the traits I admired most about the locals. Their attitude encouraged me to never take things too seriously and face everything with a smile.

COFFEE GUIDE: ATLANTA

'Tis the season for cozy coffee nooks and a little indulgence! While it's always okay to treat yourself, it's also good to be mindful about what you consume. A great way to do that is by keeping it local and knowing your barista. Craft coffee houses are known for using seasonal ingredients and organic brews. We've rounded up a few of our ATL favs that have particularly great holiday style -- cheers! 

All photos by Haley Sheffield / originally found on In Honor of Design.

STAR PROVISIONS

CAFE INTERMEZZO

AMELIE'S FRENCH BAKERY

TAPROOM COFFEE & BEER

THANKFUL FOR COMMUNITY

Happy holidays, y'all! Couple of things: 

This Saturday, November 28th, is Small Business Saturday. If you've been with IFF since the beginning, you know that Haley and I created this blog out of two passions -- health and wellness + supporting small businesses across the state. Even our posts spotlighting friends overseas have focused on mom and pop shops. As advocates for our own neighborhoods (Atlanta & Macon), we were THRILLED when American Express launched #SmallBizSat in 2010 -- a rallying cry against the corporate consumerism of Black Friday and a way to celebrate Main Streets across America. 

In the spirit of Thanksgiving + celebrating community, we would like to show our gratitude to our loyal readers by offering a gift basket giveaway! The basket will feature products from small businesses featured in previous posts, including Preserving Place, Meraki Botanicals and Pure Barre -- just to name a few. To enter, forward this post to one friend and then send us an email that you've done so (include their name + email as well). We'll select a winner at random and announce next week!

ATL LOVES #KOPYOGA

King of Pops, the beloved fresh fruit ice pops company of Atlanta, recently began hosting #KOPYOGA on the BeltLine. Over the summer, the free outdoor yoga sessions - held every Tuesday at 7 PM - have grown quickly from a few dozen to a few hundred! We were lucky enough to interview CEO and co-founder of King of Pops, Steven Carse, on why he believes in "promoting community and healthy living in an approachable way."

Inspiration for beginning King of Pops: I fell in love with the paleta (fresh fruit ice pop) during my travels to Latin America, and after years of eating, decided it would be fun to try to make and sell them myself. The perfect opportunity to do it came when I was laid off from my corporate job and needed to think of what to do next. So in the spring of 2010, King of Pops was born with only one used push-cart on a street corner.

Mission behind #KOPYOGA? Last year it started as something we did 100% for our employees and decided we might as well invite our neighbors. Between 15 and 30 people came out and it was one of the things I really looked forward to each week. I'm a beginner, and it was a nice way to work on my practice and enjoy the outdoors. We didn't do much differently this year. We started to promote earlier, but on the first day you could tell it was going to be different. Instead of a few dozen it was a few hundred. It's a testament to our community. I feel like the actual yoga practice is the least important part. It's just nice to be doing something with your neighbors. At the end of the day, that is the point. Get out and enjoy your life.

Favorite Atlanta pastime? Lately it has just been riding my bike. Whether it's an organized ride or a slow stroll on the Beltline, it is what I do to get some quality ME time.

All photos courtesy of Haley Sheffield Photography.