Girl, on sprinkles

Now that I've gone back to work full time, it's been a while since I've done some quality baking with my kids.

Is this normal?

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your day is filled with good food, family, and friends. I know mine will be and I couldn't possibly be more thankful for everything I have.

Now, off to make some of these!

From Cookies and Cups

Gobble! Gobble!

new stationery on Etsy

I was inspired to draw these tiny cages while bird-sitting our friend's sweet parakeet, Christabel. The kids were sad when I told them that our temporary pet (the best kind) would be heading back home so I created a little birdie friend for each.

And, naturally, turned them (the birds, not the kids) into stationery.

birds on a wire flat notecards three wheels design on etsy

They are $16 for a set of twelve in my Etsy shop and come with some happy chartreuse envelopes. I'd be happy to personalize them for you too!

it is ICE cold in here

I was one of those kids who would hang around the edge of the pool for HOURS if the water was too cold while my friends tried to coax me by telling me to just jump in!

I've had so many things to blog about but every time I sit down to write a post, I get overwhelmed by how much I need to catch up on.

Well it's freeeezing in here but I'm ready to jump.

Just don't make me put my face in the water.

Independence

We spent our July 4th at Fort McHenry, an important battlefield during the War of 1812 and the birthplace of our National Anthem. One of the highlights of our day was the unfurling of a replica of the flag that was Francis Scott Key's inspiration for writing what would become the Star Spangled Banner.

When the flag was laid out, the crowd joined in a chorus of the anthem. If you are someone who cries at parades (no mocking), you would have shed tears along with me. It was a beautiful and purely patriotic moment.

After a short round of applause a lone, deep voice emerged from the crowd. Quietly and confused, we listened.

And celebrated independence.



Yeah, I really cried after that one.

Happy belated Fourth of July, my friends.

Father's Day DIY | Gifts for dad

Here's a gift we created a few years ago for Father's Day that's still a favorite. I shared it around the holidays but thought it would be worth mentioning again. It's easy, inexpensive and the results are so incredibly sweet.

 

Materials:
Poster paper (one sheet for each letter)
Kids (number varies)
Scissors
Camera
Wide picture frame

Instructions:
Cut out letters using a full-sized sheet of poster paper and hand them off to the kids.
Take as many shots as you can (vertical works best) and stop only when you've got a bunch of photos for each letter (or someone cries and tries to eat the paper).

Find your favorites and pop them into a frame. I printed them out as 4x6 inch photos and put them into a long Ribba frame from Ikea.

I don't have a photograph of the final framed product because it's at Brian's office but here's a small, digital version:

I promise....it was as much fun as it looks.

beautiful gadgety techiness

Have you noticed the new iGoogle showcase? You can set up your home page to look like Martha's, Anna Sui's (love that clock), Queen Rania's or Betsey Johnson's. I'm in love with Betsey's prints (they change throughout the day) so I used her color theme and added a bunch of gadgets I hadn't been using but should have (like Twitter and ToDo). I feel like I gave myself makeover just in time for summer!

take your customer to work day

Since I work out of my house and it's usually pretty crazy here, I thought I'd share some photos instead of inviting you all over for Take Your Customer to Work Day (which is really my loss because I'd love to have every one of you over for coffee).

I dream of having an amazing studio like this one or that one but I don't. Really. With the exception of the desk, which I bought years ago for my husband from a local woodworker, the furniture is what I like to call "re-purposed late-century Ikea" aka the furniture that was in my living room when I first graduated from college.

Even though I'd love to have my own studio space, my little corner of our busy downstairs family room is perfect. It allows me to keep an eye on the kids and encourages me to stop for play breaks.

Keep in mind, there are lots of reasons that I didn't give you a wide shot of the room. Like this:

And this:

Thank goodness for early bedtimes, portable laptops, and cozy corners upstairs like this:

Thanks for coming with me to work today!

there's just something about that (big) bird

Growing up, I felt such a connection with the characters on Sesame Street. Maybe it's because I remember my own childhood trip to the store for "a loaf of bread, a container of milk and a stick of butter" (I'll save that story for another day) or because the front stoop at 123 looked a lot like my own in Ridgewood.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street and I've spent the past four hours some time on You Tube watching my favorites. What are yours?

national stationery show

The National Stationery Show started today and I'm ridiculously jealous that I'm not there (either exhibiting or just walking the show like I did last year with my dear friend Jen) so I'll just keep stalking Twitter, Flickr and drooling over the amazing coverage over at Crow and Canary and Oh So Beautiful Paper.

Some pics to satisfy your paper cravings:

Whitney English

Rag and Bone

Inviting Company

The Paper Menu

NSS Blog

Good luck to all of my paper friends!

the greatest gift(s) i could imagine

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Happy Mother's Day to every woman with a child in her heart.

Show some love and

Happy teacher appreciation week!

fried love

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I'm going to attempt to make sopapillas tonight (using a recipe from Emeril). While in New Mexico a few years ago, I fell in love with these fluffy pillows of fried dough. We ordered them at every restaurant from Albuquerque to the Colorado border.

I might as well include some photos from Flickr because if they're good, they'll be eaten before the camera comes out. If they're bad, well...is fried dough ever really bad?

from chowdownphoenix's photostream

from angelknight's photostream

mhaithaca's photostream

typographica's favorites

If you missed typographica's release of their top typefaces of 2008, get ready to swoon. Thank goodness there's no place in the budget for new fonts.

Some of my own favorites from the list...

Calgary by Ale Paul

Arlt by Alejandro Lo Celso

Memoir by Stephen Rapp

And my personal favorite, Compendium by Ale Paul

Did they choose any fonts that you love?

Upcycling for Earth Day | Etsy roundup

Happy Earth Day! Some of my favorite upcycled items for children on Etsy:

Birthday Tunic Dress by Courtney Courtney

(Hey! I recognize that beautiful girl in that fabulous photo! Pascale rocks.)

The Original Recycled Shirt Skirt by Lillipops Designs

(using repurposed men's dress shirts)

Giant Personalized Wool Ball by Handmade Pretties

(using 100% recycled wool scraps)

Mighty Mouse T-Shirt by Little Overcoat

(using recycled tees)

Mjou Doll by acajou

(created from sewing workroom scraps)

Journal by Nico Papergoods

(handsewn journal covered with recycled children's clothes)