Outsourced

My friend Adriana has a resourceful and eco-friendly approach to decorating her home and it's no different in preparing for her new baby's arrival. She has a real knack for gathering old & neglected materials and re-purposing them to feel fresh and modern.

Since Adriana had packed up her sewing machine to make room for Baby Tucker, she selected fabrics for this diaper clutch and handed them off to me to sew. The outer fabric is recycled 'wrapping paper' from one of her shower gifts, and the cheerful clown lining is a vintage print. She chose an unpredictable turquoise button as the perfect finishing touch.

Extra-Terrarium

The last terrarium I made was enclosed and didn't hold up very well, most likely because I hadn't given my mom the proper instructions to maintain it (sorry, Mom!). This time I created a desert terrarium for my good friend Jess, a lover of succulents and a native Arizonian. I imagine it will thrive well considering it requires very little attention, just full sun and a little water from time to time.

I've had this terrarium sitting on my kitchen table for a few days and have become really attached to it. Luckily it was fairly easy to make and I have enough leftover supplies to make another.

Note: Petco wound up being a great place to find gravel and sand (used for small pet cages & aquariums). After experimenting though I decided to use sheet moss as the ground cover instead.

Oh Happy Day

It's a really good day. Kari and I are celebrating our 30th birthday... and 30 years of friendship. Before email we survived our long-distance friendship by writing each other letters and sending care packages. And the best gift we could ever give each other was stationery, and apparently it still is.

These days we're no longer using Precious Moments stickers to decorate our envelopes, but have discovered the grown-up version: HappyTape! With its multitude of patterns, colors and uses, its hard not to give in to the childlike urge to collect 'em all.

She Crochets Shells

It's officially Fall when yarn becomes just one of the everyday items rolling around in my purse. Train rides, casual family gatherings and hours in front of the TV are all perfect times to mindlessly stitch away.  It's been a while since I've crocheted and so I decided to start up again with a fast-paced, non-threatening project like a scarf.

It took a few rows to get into the rhythm of the shell-stitch, but once I got going I quickly worked through 4 skeins of cashmere merino yarn. In crocheting as opposed to knitting, it's easy enough to  pull out stitches and begin anew when there are slip-ups (the perfectionist in me loves this!)

I gave the finished scarf to Ron's mom this past weekend for her birthday. It made me happy to see her trying it on, and the sangria color looked great on her (good call on the color, Ron!)

Hunting and Gathering

This past trip to Paris I was on the hunt for inspirational materials to work into my projects. Everywhere I looked I found graphics, colors, and materials that excited me. The hard part was finding the time to shop with only 5 days, and a million beautiful sites and things to do. Alas, I think I gathered enough to keep myself busy for a while.


In the Marais I returned to one of my favorite shops, Entrée des Fournisseurs, a beautiful shop tucked in a courtyard off rue des Francs Bourgeois. Stepping into the store I was greeted with a vista of ribbon spools, bolts of fabric and buttons filed neatly on cardboard. My favorite finds this time were embroidered sew-in labels: one that reads "Crocheté main" for my upcoming crochet projects and another that reads "Fait par Maman" for my mom.





At Ultramod I rummaged through vintage ribbons and made out with a collection of blue & gray striped ribbons to feed my maritime obsession. They're almost too precious to use. I could have spent hours at La Droguerie in the 2e arrondissement sifting through jars full of beads, buttons and feathers. There I found bias tape made of Liberty fabrics(!!).


The Marché aux Puces turned out to be another great source of inspiration-- furniture, prints, clothing, brocante. I happened upon a booth selling bundles of vintage piping. I couldn't decide over red or blue, so in the end I just bought both.

Make a Wish

Julie is drawn to things that are small, pink, polka-dotted... and Made in America.

Here you go, Julie. Happy Birthday!

Sweet Dreams

Ron travels way more than the average person. This year alone he's gone to India four times, with detours to Japan, Switzerland and Austria. While jet-setting is in his blood, recovering from jet lag is a drag. For his last trip I made him an eye pillow out of Liberty of London's Grey Susanna print. I filled it with lavender for it's relaxing aromatherapy powers and added flax seed for weight. So simple!

After using a plastic bag to tote his eye pillow around, I had the idea to make a carrying case for it. Not only does it protect the surface from dust and dirt but also helps preserve the dreamy lavender scent.