mer mag

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T16:09:00.008-05:00

Happy Valentines Day friends! How is your day going so far? Jon spelled out J+M in a heart for me with chalk on the driveway which started the day out just right.

I've been stuffing my face with chocolates, decadent cookies and Cinnabun pancakes all week thanks to a wonderful Valentines exchange that I was lucky enough to attend over the weekend. Stephanie Ford, from Sycamore Street Press, hosted the get together at her swoon worthy abode and several of us gals brought unique Valentines to share with one another. For my contribution I decided to use watercolor to write out "love" on several different cards. I then added a little quote about love on each card and passed them out with a little chocolate treat.

I can't decide which card ended up being my favorite but I know I had a lot of fun making these. I love the idea of having Valentines parties for just the gals. Have you ever had a get together like this? If not, I highly suggest it.

Any exciting dinner plans for the evening? A night out with your sweetheart, the gals or just a comfortable night in with the family? That is most likely what we'll be doing. Jon and I used to really live up Valentines Day when we lived in NY. We decided it was our one day of the year to really splurge and celebrate each other and our marriage. I remember some melt in you mouth pasta from an Italian restaurant where there was a dress code and the waiters would come and brush away any crumbs that might fall on your table during the duration of your meal. And then there was Cafe des Artists where I had the most phenomenal fish dish in the world. And there was an Asian restaurant that was out of this world. I think it was a star hang out spot and I even think they have filmed a couple of movies there. They had the most gigantic Buddha I've ever seen. That place was a little too fast and furious for our taste but still a lot of fun. I'll have to ask Jon what the name of it was as I can't recall just now.

But for this year, well I think we'll avoid the crowds tonight and then go out on Saturday. I'll have to come up with something scrumptious to make here at home for this evening...will have to see...

Happy Valentines to you all and I hope you enjoy yourself thoroughly!

XO
mer

Make your Valentine turn red in the face...

2012-02-09T16:55:00.008-05:00

I love my mother. She is an infinite well of creative, clever and slightly outrageous ideas. And Valentines Day is her time to shine. You wouldn't believe the things she would do for my dad - we're talking pouring bright red tempera paint on freshly fallen Colorado snow to spell out "I LOVE YOU!" for my dad to see when he drove up after getting home from work on Valentines Day. And then there was the daily proclamation of how much she loved my dad - which was done at the top of her lungs (I'm pretty sure the neighbors could here it). And the smooching my parents would do after my dad came home from work...well I won't even get into that. Yeah, she is a passionate mom and I love her for it. So this year, I decided to take a page out of her book and create a Valentine's Day card for Jon based on one she did for my dad a number of years ago.

Basically the front of the card reads: "This Valentine's Day card is sure to turn your face RED." With plenty of fun innuendos implied, your Valentine might shyly open the card...only to find...

...that you have placed a photo of them inside...and with bright red lipstick kisses...

..you have covered their face...making it indeed turn RED!

I thought it was the cutest idea and had to do it for Jon this year.

And if you want to make one too, I have created the card for you which you can download by clicking the text below.

Hope you and your cupid enjoy!! XO

"I'm Stuck on You" Valentine buttons

2012-02-03T01:14:00.027-05:00

I had recently purchased a 1 1/4" button maker to make little buttons to sell in the shop and had been having some fun with it when I thought, "hey, we could make monogram buttons for all the kids in Little A's Kindergarten class this year for Valentines!". And well...that is just what we did.

The button maker I purchased was a little too complicated for Little A so I had to do the button making part for him. (But if you want to do this yourself, and want to get your kids more involved, there are several button makers geared for kids that are much more affordable and would work great for this craft. Here are just a few I've found online: 1. 2. & 3.).

I did have him help with punching the holes in the cards and adhering the buttons once they were finished. He loved doing this...in fact when he was struggling he wouldn't let me help him. He just kept on working at it until he got that hole punched into that card. I love his determination.

He then of course addressed all the cards out to his class mates. He was quite particular about it actually. I had a few monogram circles cut out, ready to be made into buttons, that had letters that didn't correspond to any of his classmates names and he was quick to let me know that they were of no use. I loved his little "mom, get it together" sigh whenever this happened.

For the girls we went with the traditional heart motif on the buttons and a mint and red color scheme.

And for the boys we opted for a bit more universal route and went with a star motif (which Little A is completely into). And for the color scheme: indigo and red. And the cards still have a heart to keep with the Valentines theme.

We opted for an out-of-the-ordinary color scheme this Valentines. Last year we had so much fun delving into the traditional vibrant hues of season that we thought it would be fun to mix it up a bit this year. Little A loved the new look, and so do I.

And I do so hope that the recipients in Little A's class enjoy the the buttons as well.

Don't you think they would be so cute sported on backpacks and book bags?

I mean, wouldn't that be so perfect? I would have loved to get a little "M" button to wear around when I was in grade school (OK maybe I just want one now).

(Oh and I had Little O step in as a model as Little A was away at school...so if you are thinking...he doesn't look like a 5/6 yr old, you'd be right. He's 3...but was totally into the buttons. I want to have a little preschool Valentines card exchange party for him...don't you think that would be fun?).

(adorable robot bag from The Happy Birthday Shop)

We'd love to share this craft with you and have created a few PDFs for you to download should you chose to delve into button making for yourself (but I must warn you, you'll get addicted. Anything and everything will soon need to become a button...don't say I didn't warn you).

You can download the various PDF files individually here:

Red Valentine Heart Cards
Mint Valentine Heart Cards
Indigo Valentine Heart Cards
Red and Mint Heart Alphabet Button Templates
Red and Indigo Star Alphabet Button Templates

*and if you are interested in doing this project but don't want to purchase a button maker, then I would suggest downloading the alphabet hearts and stars and then printing them onto sticker paper. You could then punch them out and adhere them preexisting buttons (lots of places give them away for free) or just hand them out as stickers. You could still go with the "I'm Stuck On You" verbiage and everything.

Make a "Pillow-Talk" Pillow for your Valentine

2012-02-01T01:16:00.013-05:00

Alison of the Alison Show, and The Little Tiny, is sharing the love this Valentines by hosting a round up of Valentines crafts just in time to get us ready to celebrate the holiday of L-O-V-E. She invited me to take part of the festivities and we came up with this fun little twist on "pillow talk".

I love the idea of exchanging little messages to those you love a top a pillow - and a blackboard pillow nonetheless. A true "conversation heart", if you will. You could start by writing a little love note to your sweetheart and leave the pillow for them to discover. And then it would be their turn to leave a little note for you. The conversation of love could just go on and on...

But don't leave out the littles, because they will love to join in on spreading the love around.

Little O really got into to it and loved being allowed to actually draw on one of mommy's pillows. And I loved seeing him so delighted and engaged.

To make this you'll need to purchase blackboard fabric (I found my at Joann's) and contrasting fabric for the back and sides of the pillow. I referred to this tutorial when making the pillow. When using a stiff fabric I found it necessary to have an inset so this pattern worked well.

I also used webbing, alphabet stamps and multi-surface black ink pad to create a little "pillow talk" tag.

We've been having a lot of fun around here drawing and writing love notes. A great way to jump right into February and the season of love, if I do say so myself.

(simply wipe the pillow clean with a damp cloth, wait a bit for it to dry and then write another message to those you love!)

And don't forget to stay tuned for all the remaining Valentines posts Alison has in store for us. She has quite a line up! I know I for one can't wait to see what's up next!

Happy February!

Featured in Create With Me magazine

2012-01-31T03:20:00.008-05:00

Have you come across the new and inspiring periodical, Create with Me? It covers artistic adventures with children and invites you to get in on all the fun with your little ones. If not, you are in for a real treat.

We have enjoyed looking at all the creative ideas that so many great bloggers (and their little ones) have contributed to the first Create With Me , June 2011, issue. So when we were asked to contribute our Triangle Stenciled Shirt project...

and our Color Theory Valentines to the Winter 2012, issue, we were more than delighted to jump in on all the fun!

I have to say that one of the most fun things was showing my littles the magazine. I sat down with them and told them, "OK boys, let's look at this magazine and see all the super fun stuff we can create together." So we went through each project, page by page until we happened upon our Triangle Freezer Paper Stencil project. Little A just started giggling out of control and aksed, in between gasps of giggles, "What am I doing in a magazine?". Little O started giggling as well when he saw himself, seated beside Little A, and pretty soon the whole lot of us were in stitches. And then when we later happened upon our Color Theory Valentines, well the boys just nearly fell on the floor. I had no idea how surprised and delighted they would be about seeing their projects in print. It was such a fun moment for us all.

And now, after reading the articles, I have to make sure I remember to follow up on my promise to provide many a color theory lesson for my littles in the future. And being as I do in fact have a few ideas up my sleeve that I've been dying to delve into, I can't say I mind so terribly much...

My super sneaky glasses secret

2012-01-25T11:13:00.016-05:00

OK, so it was abundantly clear that top buns and geeky glasses were all the rage at ALT (we already knew this ladies, right?). Well I have to share with you all my super sneaky way of acquiring prescription glasses for OH so much less.

Just to give you some background, I starting doing this over 10 years ago when I found a $12 geeky pair of glasses at Claires that I liked (yes, I said it Claires! that teeny bopper shop in the mall). I wore them around a bit as a fashion accessory but then later thought, hey, I like these so much I want to turn them into prescription glasses (yes, I officially do need glasses). So I took them to my local optometrist and in no time at all (and hardly any $$) I had my own custom pair of glasses for super cheap. Well let me tell you, these glasses have held up! If the prescription wasn't old (I could always get it updated) I'd still wear them because they are in GREAT condition. And they were from Claires people. I wanted to take a picture of them but they are currently MIA (tucked away in some drawer I'm sure).

Now contrast that with these high priced prescription glasses I got about 5 years ago. These certainly have NOT held up for the long haul. Yes, I do have two little boys that love to bend and stretch my glasses when I'm not looking. But they have had their way with my Claires pair and they are still as good as ever (I'm going to find them and put a photo up, because you have to see them).

Well, as is the way of life, my eye sight has deteriorated a bit and I needed new glasses, again. I knew for sure that I didn't want to spend $$$ on hi priced frames again so I went shopping...in the mall. And I found the perfect pair at Express, for only $29.90.

I nabbed them and went straight for my department store optometrist (I'm thinking cheap people). The lenses were only $50 and it took less than two weeks to get them. And I LOVE them! I did have to get used to the weight of the larger glasses but they work great. And with this price, I'm seriously in the market for more!! This is the great thing about this little secret, you can afford several pairs. I also think it's a wallet friendly way to try out trends when you are not quite sure you are ready to dive in with both feet.

Now I know there are online glasses retailers that offer frames for a great deal. I've never gone that route because I like to try my glasses on. Not all frames work on everyone. I had tried on a number of these chunky geek chic glasses - before finding these ones at Express - and didn't like the way they looked on me. However, having said that, I did just order these frames from Modcloth and will have to see how they work. If I like them, you better believe I'm taking them in for prescription lenses. Oh the possibilities are endless!

So what about you? Have you done this? Have you ordered online from some of the inexpensive sites? Did you like the results? If so, please share your sources. If not, I highly suggest hitting up your local mall. You never know what you might find.

Altitude Design Summit Report

2012-01-23T03:10:00.006-05:00

I'm back from a lovely long weekend in Salt Lake City, attending ALT. It was a whirlwind of information, which was great, but i think for me the best thing about the conference was being able to meet up with SO many inspiring people. Such as old NYC friends (So great to hang with you Brooke and Mara!!) and finally meeting a slew of blogger friends in person (EZ you are just as lovely as I imagined) and connecting more with my new craft night bloggy friends (Susan, Annie, Alison, Jen). The list goes on and on. (Such as I chatted it up with the darling Emily Henderson and gave her an Advil (my claim to fame) - if you've read this post, you know how much I adore her work. She's a doll with a wonderfully generous personality. And I spoke with the ever elegant Amy Butler (she's a gorgeous gazelle, had no idea how tall she was. Reminds me of Uma Thurman).

There were so many lovely gals (and a couple of gents) that I met and wish I could list them all. I do have to quickly share how much I adore Annabel Wrigley of Little Pin Cushion Studio. I illustrated her portrait (can you spot her bus. card in the slew of cards below?). She is SO darling and full of generosity and warmth (my favorite trait of my favorite bloggers). Keep her on you radar, she's got some super great stuff in the works. And can I just say that I'm SO glad that Rachel Faucett of Handmade Charlotte (and Anthropologie fame) stopped me in the hall!? She is so fantastic and has sooo many great ideas. I adore her energy and enthusiasm. Oh yes and I have to give a shout out to Roxi Marj. She's a creative genius with a really great and original point of view. Seriously keep her on your radar. Oh my, the list just goes on and on...

(Leather bag by Annie of Annily Green. Gold polka dots handed painted on by me.)

Now to keep up all this creative momentum! The possibilities are endless. And I have to say a BIG thanks to all of YOU dear readers, because without you...well I'd still be crafting up a storm...but all by myself...and the connection I get because of you and this community is priceless. So thanks! You are the best readers ever. Seriously.

Altitude Design Summit

2012-01-19T02:30:00.003-05:00

("I heart SLC" shirt made from Freezer Paper stencil for the conference)

Hello friends! I'm currently in Salt Lake City along with a slew of fantastic design blogging friends (and personal heros) and I couldn't be more in heaven. If you haven't yet heard of ALT, you are in for a real treat. In short, it's a dream design blog conference full of fantastically inspiring people. You can get more of the low down here.

OK, so you might be surprised but I really haven't left my children to go galavanting off to conferences, or even on a couples retreat...like ever. (I know, Jon and I seriously need a little Valentines rendezvous, don't you think?).

So as excited as I am to have a bit of time away, it feels a little weird to up and leave. To make things easier on the boys (or on me?) I left them a little gift (just a fun activity book) for them to open after I left, letting them know how much I love them and asking them to be good to dad, and that I'll be back soon, etc. I wanted to make them a batch of Hershey Kiss cookies like my mom did once when she went away for a wedding. I remember feeling so much love from her every time I ate one of them. I unfortunately didn't manage to get around to it, but maybe I'll have to keep that in mind for next year! Because if the rest of the week is as good as this first night has been, I know I'll be back!

And I know that the boys will be having the time of their lives while I'm away (I'm sure there will be a lot of WII playing going on. Jon turns into a little boy himself with he's with those two...it's really quite adorable...and a little funny).

(the boys made a matching triangle shirt for Jon last year for father's day)

An update on the blocks...and a spray paint makeover

2012-01-13T22:15:00.004-05:00

Hello fantastic friends! Thank you so much for all you kind words regarding our little Zero dollar gift exchange. We had a wonderful time doing it and I highly recommend you try it out, at least one year. You won't regret it.

I also wanted to give you a little update on our mix-n-match-em blocks. Many of you asked how we secured them together so that they would spin. Well I wanted to update you and let you know that they are actually freestanding - no pole involved.

So essentially you could have the head on the bottom and the feet up top, if you wish (just don't do it in front of Little O...he'll be very distressed and quickly put it back in it's proper order).

We had actually thought about having them on a pole and we love the idea. We just wanted to keep it simple for this first go around.

Basically, if you did want to make your own but wanted them to spin, I would suggest getting a decent sized dowel and securing it to a square wooden base. Then drill holes in the blocks, slightly larger than the circumference of of the dowel. Place the blocks on the pole, and voila! spinning block toy.

I also wanted to share with you a quick spray paint lamp makeover I recently did. I got the lamp at a second hand store for only $2 (the clerk couldn't confirm whether or not it actually worked so she said she'd give it to me for $2 and if it didn't work, well I was out of luck. I loved the shade so figured it was a good deal either way. And thankfully, it does indeed work).

I then grabbed a can of yellow spray paint (about $4) and went to town.

I had been wanting a large, retro statement lamp in the boys room (for nighttime reading as well as aesthetics) and thought that this one would do just the trick.

I love the bright pop of yellow that it adds to the room. I'm not sure if it's a bit more "groovy" than I would normally go for, but for now (and for that price!) I'm pretty content. I have a lot more in mind for the boys bedroom and the new year is just the push I need to get myself to actually tackle it...hopefully...

The gifts of 2011...

2012-01-06T22:29:00.014-05:00

I wanted to share the gifts from our Christmas 2011 zero-dollar-gift-exchange earlier but I'm afraid I caught that pesky flu bug that I was so hoping to avoid. But I'm now alive and well and ready to jump right into the new year! If you have been following my blog you know that Jon and I have been doing a zero dollar (or at least in principle) gift exchange for the past couple of years. We decided to keep on with the tradition this past Christmas as we have really loved the thoughtfulness and creativity that has come out of it. And this past year did not disappoint.

For my gift to Jon, I wanted to do a portrait of both Jon and I together, something I've wanted to do for some time. In 2009 I painted a portrait of Jon using Acrylics and I had promised him that the rest of the family portraits would be coming along shortly thereafter so that we could have a family portrait wall. Well...that's still in the works. I did, however, manage to create a watercolor portrait of the two of us holding a banner that reads "together forever". OK, maybe a little cheez for some, but I have to say it holds special meaning for us. We celebrated our 10th anniversary this past year and it's been a time to reflect upon this great journey we are on. So many of our friends have struggled to stay together and many have divorced. We know first hand that marriage can be hard at times. Yes, even we have had our times of trial, but we have vowed to stick it out, through thick and thin. And this past season I have so enjoyed reflecting upon all of our wonderful, magical and magnificent times together...and was so thankful that we both have made the commitment to stick it out, so that we can continue to have more of these moments...pretty much for forever. If you haven't already been introduced to the blog, A Blog About Love, authored by a darling friend of mine, Mara and her husband, then you had best be on your way over. It offers so much insight on what it means to truly love and to truly be happy, no matter what is going on in your life (Both Mara and Danny had previously been married and they share their journey and love story on their blog). Here is one of my favorite posts to get your started. Consider it my New Years gift to you, it's that good!

Jon's gift to me was nothing short of incredible (he always surprises me!). OK, so to give you some background, we recently got hooked on the first season of Project Accessory. Jon's not a Project Runway fan (oh, but I am :)) but he was not only able to tolerate Project Accessory, he actually got rather into it. He couldn't get enough of all the welding, metalworking and so forth. So for his gift to me he decided to do a little metal jewelry working of his own. Cool right? But just wait until you hear where he got his supplies...

We spent Thanksgiving with Jon's family this past year. After Thanksgiving, he and his brothers have a tradition of going out to the shooting range with all their no-longer-in-season pumpkins and have a marksmen competition, leaving no poor pumpkin unscathed. Well, my creative husband was thinking ahead and when he saw all of the discarded brass rifle cartridges lying on the ground, he quickly picked them up and pocketed them away for future creative Christmas endeavors (he was SO much more on the the ball than I was!). He and his brother later took them back to the shop and cut, sanded and pounded them down into beautiful rectangular brass scales. He then drilled holes in them and connected them with jump rings and attached a chain to hold them all together. And the result was nothing short of amazing! - and dare I say a little dangerous? (And almost nearly free!).

And if that wasn't enough, he wanted to have a go at a brass cuff (all the rage on Project Accessory this last season) and I love the result. Oh and he threw is some amazing earrings he made as well (not pictured here because I was starting to feel really pathetic for not making him more gifts...OK, not really, I just didn't get a photo of them). Yeah, I'm one lucky girl. Together Forever is sounding pretty great, right?

And for the boys, well I wanted to make them as least something for Christmas. I didn't manage to sew their pajamas this past year and the boys asked for things in the ballpark of Lego Star Wars and Super Mario Bros...neither of which have inspired much creativity in me yet, so I didn't have anything creative in the works for them. But it just wasn't feeling like Christmas if I didn't make something for them. You see I grew up with a full scale Santa's workshop going on in my house in the month of December and let me tell you it was pretty darn magical. My father made us girls 2 doll houses and 1 doll castle, a full blown model train and table for the boys - just to name a few projects- and my mother was always at her sewing machine making dolls, doll clothes, play clothes and more. So I just couldn't finish the year out without making something for my little ones. And this little mix-n-match up block set is what I came up with (highly inspired by my Easter mix-n-match-um pals).

To make these we went to Home Depot and purchased a 4x4 fencing post which Jon and his brother Steven then cut into 4x4 cubes. Jon then sanded them down and I painted on some fun little pals. It was, not surprising, a little young for Little A, but Litte O still really enjoys it and I love what it looks like in their room.

It was a fun and creative Christmas and I'm already chock-a-block full of ideas for 2012!

scenes from the season....

2012-01-04T02:58:00.008-05:00

We're back home and slowing getting back into the swing of things. We had a marvelous time with friends and family and are excited for the new year ahead of us.

We do however, have a slight pang of reluctance as we take all our Christmas decor down and reminisce on the scenes of this past season.

Little O is especially reluctant and manages to put back up all decor that I begin to take down.

I can't help but relate to his stubborness and decide to give in a little, letting our little shrub of a Christmas tree stay up...just a bit longer.

We've had a wonderful season full of creating, gifting, pondering, stuffing our faces, laughing and lounging with family friends, magic, delight and joy. I find that as I grow older, it's the season itself that is the greatest gift for me. Christmas day is always a joy, full of magic and wonder, but it's the time preceding that day that I treasure most.

And it's the season that I have a hard time letting go of...more and more...each and every year... Is it because my children are growing older I wonder? And each year signifies another beautiful year of childhood passing along?

Well, whatever the case, a good season we did have. The boys were delighted with all the magic and wonder and Jon and I couldn't have asked for more (except, perhaps, for more time to squeeze in all the creative ideas that seem to overflow within us this time of year!).

We've really enjoyed starting new family traditions and I have to report that the book advent was a smashing success. Little A was especially into it and every morning he'd wake up and rush first to our random acts of advent calendar to pull out his and Little O's candy for the day and then quickly rush to open the corresponding book for that day. Both boys would then bring the book to us in bed and look at it while we would unsuccessfully try to catch a few more morning Z's. Then later that evening, after the boys were ready for bed, we'd sit down and read the book together. It was such fun. My favorite was probably when we read The Nutcracker and I let the boys ceremoniously hold our little nutcracker doll during the duration of the story. They don't normally get to play with this guy so it was quite a treat for them and they handled him with almost a reverential manner (this also helped them sit still through the long story).

We also put up a small tree in the boys room this year and they loved having 5 minutes of Christmas lights on as they drifted off to sleep each night.

I had so much fun with the little touches this season and some of my favorites were secondhand scores, like these vintage deer found at the beginning of this post.

We also dug Jon's old record player out of storage and we've been listening to an assortment of retro holiday tunes all season long. I've so loved having the crackling, nostalgic sound resonating throughout our home.

Needless to say, we had a great Christmas and after I share just a few more things with you, such our our zero dollar gift exchange for this past year, I'll be sure to jump right back into 2012! (Which I'm truthfully very excited about!).

New Years Eve hat making party

2011-12-31T22:33:00.012-05:00

A couple of years ago Jon and I had family in town for New Years and we decided to make our own hats to celebrate the festivities (one year we even stuck a sparkler out of the top of Jon's hat and lit it for the count down into the new year!). We had loads of fun doing it and have since started a little tradition of hat making for each New Years Eve.

This year, as we're still in Colorado, we decided to bring the tradition with us to share with all the extended family. Everyone loved it but the nieces and nephews were the ones who really got into it and ran with it.

I laid out piles of white, pink and gold card stock and let everyone decide which color they wanted their hats to be. I used the template for the hats found here. I then set out a number of decorative trimmings, glitter puff paints, markers, etc. and let everyone go at it. (I found that after-Christmas-sales are a great go-to for sparkling New Years fan fare. I made these gold glitter star garlands from old Christmas tags and I used gold baubles from the marked down dollar bins at Target for the other garlands. Their are so many gold and silver holiday items that really work well for New Years festivities).

My sister helped the Littles with puff painted lettering and I adhered some of the more difficult trimmings.

I loved to see what everyone came up with and the Littles were very proud of the specific touches that made their hats their own.

I especially loved my little niece who insisted that she completely color her hat blue, as she wanted to do things different from all the others. Another niece came up with the darling idea of making hers a princess New Years hat, complete with a dangling princess ribbon.

For fun festive confetti I cut circles out of various colored paper with a 1 inch circle punch.

The confetti was a big hit with the Littles and a new favorite of mine to make any simple celebration more festive.

I think all had a great time with this little hat making craft. Little A had a lot of fun with creating the hat but then opted out of the photo shoot early to continue playing his Starwars Lego WII game that Santa has brought him.....He then, sadly, shortly thereafter contracted the flu that Jon and Little O have had, so the poor boys were cooped up in bed with 7-up and saltines while I finished up the photo shoot with my nieces and then wrung in the New Year without so much as a celebratory kiss.

2011 has been a full year complete with changes and many an up and down. I'm happy to say that a great deal of the ups have been in the past couple of months and I'm excited to enter the new year with an air hope and possibility!

So here's to 2012! Happy New Year!

cookie plate for Santa

2011-12-26T12:22:00.006-05:00

We're enjoying a White Christmas here in the frigid lands of Colorado visiting family and dear friends. The boys are happy as can be playing with their new treasures and enjoying precious time with cousins. Being with extended family, although at times happily hectic, is one of the most prized gifts for me this time of year.

I can't believe that the season is coming to an end. I still have SO much to share with you. We've been so busy traveling, making, gifting and playing that I haven't had a moment to check in with you all. But I'm more than happy to share all that we have been up to keep the holidays going...for at least a little bit longer.

One thing that I'm excited to share is our new personalized Santa plate. I thought it would be fun to make our milk and cookies gift to Santa a little more special this year so I created a custom plate with playful illustrations of the boys on it.

I used American Crafts Slick Writers to draw on simple images of the boys on a ceramic vintage plate. I then put the year on the back of the plate to commemorate this particular Christmas. If you want to do something similar, but question your drawing abilities, I think a simple assemblage of stick figures would be pretty cute and your children will be sure to love it.

The boys loved the idea that Santa would see images of them sharing their milk and cookies with the Jolly Old Elf. And I loved that we would have an heirloom for years to come.

I have more to share as well as more fun to be had with friends and family (I'm thinking snow forts, midnight movies and outrageous family banter with eggnog and delicious goodies)! In the mean time, happy boxing day to you all. I think we might be doing something like this today!

personalized gift tags with...

2011-12-15T10:57:00.005-05:00

I thought it would be fun to personalize our gift tags this year. I knew the boys would be thrilled to run to their presents to see their own faces on the packages. I was just going to go with good old fashioned photos when I thought, "hey, why not spice things up a bit?". So I created some digital photo decals to make things especially festive.

The boys managed to get a sneak peek at these tags and they love them. They couldn't contain their giggles when they saw, not only themselves but mom and dad as silly reindeer.

And to spread some Christmas cheer I'm gifting you with the download for the decals so that you can spruce up your own set of personalized gift tags! Just click HERE.

To use these just open up Photoshop and you will see everything in a layered file. I would recommend turning your photos black and white first (click convert to grayscale in photoshop) and then turning them back into CMYK files before dragging the hat and reindeer decals onto the photo.

Then print out your tags and feel free to add a personal saying or just a good old "love, mom and dad". Then sit back and watch your littles race to their personalize gifts on Christmas morning!

what things really look like around here...

2011-12-13T01:30:00.005-05:00

It seems like every year December gets just a bit more busy than the previous year and every year I recommit myself to trying to simplify during this month. Yeah...I'm still working on it. Right now, while little A is at school, I've been busy filling etsy orders, drawing and painting portraits and working on illustration jobs, all while little King Kong does a number on his toys in his room and I try to keep the season merry and bright for all. In actuality, I love having this activity as it adds to the spirit of giving for me. I love to send out packages to customers knowing that they are a special gift for a loved one. I love being able to share in the joy of it all. I do however have to be careful to keep things balanced...well at least to some degree...

So what about you? What is your secret to keeping things in check? Are you like me and love the hustle and bustle, so long as it doesn't start spiraling out of control? Or are you good at just taking things slow, kicking your feet up and warming you bones by the fire?

New Pillows in the shop and a print sale!

2011-12-09T12:22:00.005-05:00

I've been having a lot of fun adapting my work to fabric and wanted to share a few items with you. Now in my shop I'm offering some of your most beloved prints in pillow form!

Shop Love is Spoken Here and I Lovely Love My Family pillows here!

Order before Dec. 15 for Christmas delivery.

And this weekend get 20% off all print purchases! Just enter "lovelysale" in the convo section and I'll refund the difference!

[fingerprint Christmas tree cards]

2011-12-05T11:32:00.005-05:00

We like to do handmade Christmas cards for the teachers, etc. during the season and apparently we've hit on a tree theme that we just can't shake.

This year we had a lot of fun "finger painting"...but not in typical sense of the craft.

I made a simple tree graphic and printed it out on Recollections 5" x 6.5" white blank cards (found at our local Michaels). We then we pulled out our fingerprint ink pad (from Lakeshore) and went to town.

It was so much fun to see what the boys came up with. There is really no way you can go wrong. Little O did one with a lot of brown and I was worried it would look a little muddy but it ended up looking beautiful to me. I love how they sort of end up looking like a medley of out-of-focus Christmas lights.

And Jon couldn't help but get in on the fun as well which thrilled the boys.

But Little A was the one who really went to town on this. He had a handful of friends from our old haunt, So. Pas, that he wanted to make cards for.

He got really into it and I love that he can write his own cards now. It's very empowing for him and so fulfilling for me to see. My favorite was when he desperately wanted to send one to a particular little girl. He was very serious about this and wanted me to make sure she gets it. I told him I would.

This made him very happy.

If you are interested in doing a few of these cards yourself (you'll get hooked if you do!) then you can download a temple of the simple tree design by clicking here: files.me.com/merrileel/zbe1pz.

Happy finger printing!

[children's picture book...]

2011-11-30T23:45:00.026-05:00

In addition to our Random Acts of Advent calendar, I wanted to introduce a new advent idea for this Christmas season. I love and adore children's picture books and, being an illustrator myself, have quite a collection of them. As of last year, I decided that I wanted to collect enough children's Christmas picture books to be wrapped, opened and then read every day in December up until Christmas. I was hoping to share this idea with you before the first day of December, but I just recently completed my entire collection of 25 Christmas themed picture books! So what a better day to share the advent fun but on the first day of December?

I had a lot of fun wrapping and adorning these books. I used a variety of papers including white butcher paper and a selection of really fun wrapping papers from Fifth & Hazel. The above geometric print is one my fav's.

I then used an assortment of trimmings and trappings including simple little tags on which I wrote the days of the month, counting down to Christmas.

I know a lot of advent's end on the 24th but I thought it would be fun to read one more story on Christmas night (the 25th) to end the season on a nice note.

Collecting 25 books might seem like an endeavor but it's actually not too bad as there as so many great Christmas and winter themed books out there. In fact, it might be hard to pick just 25! Our little collection began from a few books that were given to us along with a few we had purchased. Last year, when I knew I wanted to do this, I decided to wait until the after Christmas sales to purchase a number of books, which I highly recommend if you want to do this next year. I also purchased a number from the Scholastic book club, which made things more affordable. But I have to say, some of my favorite purchases were made recently from thrift stores. I was able to find an original Golden Book Rudolf and the super great Babaar and Father Christmas book. This one is utterly gorgeous and I can't wait to read it.

So these are the books we're going to be reading this December (and I have to confess that I can't vouch for all of them as I wanted to be surprised with a few of them as well...but I'm sure they're all going to be great).

1. Footprints in the Snow by Mei Matsuoka (I was drawn to the illustrations in this book)
2. Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney (we haven't read this but my boys love the first Llama Llama book so I'm sure they will be delighted with this one)
3. Golden Book's The Christmas Donkey by T. William, illustrated by Andrea Brooks
4. I'll Be There With Belzon by Kirk Richards (Kirk is an old high school friend of Jon's and we love his work)
5. Babar and Father Christmas by Jean De Brunhoff
6. It's Christmas, David! by David Shannon
7. Stella, Queen of the Snow by Marie-Louise Gay
8. Christmas Tapestry by Patricia Polacco
9. Christmas Lights by Susan Mitchell (this book was given to Little A for his first Christmas. I love remembering those precious times when we read this and the boys love to see all the flashing ligths)
10. The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Klastrup, illustrated by Matt Tavares
11. Ho, Ho, Ho, Tucker! by Leslie McGuirk
12. The Stable Where Jesus Was Born by Rhonda Gowler Greene, illustrated by Susan Gaber
13. The Snowman, lift-and-look book, by Raymond Briggs (Love this classic and my boys can't get enough of the flaps)
14. The Elves and the Shoemaker by John Cech, illlustrated by Kirill Chelushkin
15. My Penguin Osbert by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, illustrated by H. B. Lewis (I'm a big fan of Elizabeth Cody Kimmel - I was lucky enough to illustrate her Suddenly Supernatural series - and My Penguin Osbert doesn't disappoint. We love it.)
16. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Suess (a classic, need I say more?)
17. B is for Bethlehem by Isabel Wilner, illustrated by Elisa Kleven
18. Auntie Claus by Elise Primavera
19. Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas by Elise Primavera
20. Golden Book's Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer
21. Angela and the Baby Jesus by Frank McCourt, illustrated by Raul Colon
22. The Nutcracker adapted by John Cech, illustrated by Eric Puybaret
23. Snowman at Christmas by Mark Buehner, illustrated Caralyn Buehner
24. For Christmas Even, First Christmas a changing picture book beautifully illustrated by Sophie Williams
25. and for Christmas night, we went with Silent Night, illustrated by Susan Jeffers

When the books were all wrapped I placed them in front of our fireplace. I'll have to find a new place for them when we want to light a fire of course but for now, we are enjoying it.

Oh and I had to share with you the vintage serving tray I found at a local thrift store. I'm seriously in love with it. I mean a retro fondue party scene? Does it get any better than that?

At any rate, we are excited to start the count down and I'm certain that this new little tradition will add such a nice touch to the season.

Now all we need is a tree...I'm thinking left of the fireplace should do quite nicely...

- Oh, and what I need from you now is for you to tell me your favorite Christmas book. With this new tradition, we'll always be in the market!

[A lovely little sneak peek...]

2011-11-30T02:39:00.003-05:00

Hello friends! Thanks so much to those of you who took advantage of my Cyber Monday sale over in my shop. I always love to see what you are drawn too and I'm always so happy to see my little prints go off to enjoy themselves in your homes. In fact, I was especially delighted to spot one of my I Lovely Love My Family prints in a recent before-and-after dining nook makeover on Design Sponge. Kelly, of Let's Die Friends, did a great job and her makeover turned out fantastic. And I'm so flattered to see a spot of Lovely Love in her home!

And now on to some more good news! I have created a small batch of my very own Lovely Love and Love is Spoken Here pillows. I'm super excited about them! I am teaming up with a few of my favorite South Pasadena gals for a little craft fair of sorts and these pillows will be making their debut there. After that...whatever is left will be in the shop for you to have your pick from! So stay tuned.

Oh and I just found out that MerMag was listed as one of Babble's top 50 Design blogs for Mom! I'm so thrilled and very humbled to be listed among some seriously great gals with some seriously great blogs. Thanks babble!!

[CYBER MONDAY SALE!]

2011-11-28T13:22:00.009-05:00

How was your Thanksgiving?! Are you stuffed to the gills and sick of the Black Friday crowds? I love how on Monday we can all sit in our jammies, recuperate, and...shop some more online!!! And...In celebration of Cyber Monday I'm offering a buy one get one deal in my Tuesday Mourning shop!

Just purchase the first print and mention in a convo which print you want for free!! I've listed a slew of new prints that you'll love. And your tried and true beloved prints are there as well! Happy Holiday Shopping!

[an easy and quick Thanksgiving craft]

2011-11-22T01:02:00.014-05:00

Thanksgiving is just a couple days away, can you even believe it?! We have been put in charge of bringing pies and I'll be making my favorite simple, yet super delicious, apple pie. Jon is going to experiment with a caramel pumpkin pie of sorts. Yuumm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. Can't wait!

We have also been put in charge of coming up with a simple craft to keep the kiddos occupied while we cook, cook, cook! And I think we've come up with just the thing. These simple DIY festive feather headbands are just the thing to keep your Littles entertained while you stuff those turkeys and mash those potatoes. And to make things extra easy for you, I've provided downloadable templates of both the headbands and the feathers.

I printed the headbands out on a 13"x17" sheet of bristol paper (but any sort of stiff cardstock/poster board paper should work). If you don't have a large format printer, you can take this file to your local copy shop and have them print out of few for you. You'll see on the template that I added a bit more of the pattern beneath as you'll most likely need it to wrap fully around your child's head. Once printed you can have your kids decorate the headbands with watercolors, crayons, colored pencils, you name it...basically whatever you kids are into and what makes things easy on you.

Little O really enjoyed delving into the watercolors. I painted a few spots to get him started and then just let him go at it.

I then created a number of feathers out of black scrapbook paper and had them decorate them with white colored pencils and chalk. Little O (3 years) did a little scribble and was pretty much done after that. Little A (5 years) on the other hand really got into it.

I was so in love with what he did. I was really impressed with his variety and restraint. On his own he chose to color one feather completely with white colored pencil. Then he did another where he drew in the feather lines with blue chalk. For the last one he chose to do just a touch of blue on the end of the feather. Love the variety kiddo. I'm seriously impressed. You'd think I was a proud mama or something :).

He then chose to decorate his headband with water colors after we adhered the feathers. True to his nature, he took it pretty seriously. Little O was adorable as he was completely enamored with what his big brother was doing.

I loved how they both turned out.

And the boys were very into them as well. In fact, they wore them the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

I think they really loved doing something for Thanksgiving as they keep stating to me, in response to my Christmas music listening, "Mom! it's not Christmas yet. It's Thanksgiving!" It was like they were just waiting to officially do something to celebrate this holiday. I'm so glad too as it lead to a conversation about the first Thanksgiving and how so many came together in a time of celebration, despite their differences.

I also made a few freezer paper stencil shirts for them and Little O refused to take his off. For the cute little turkey I used this stencil from Alison's cute blog.

I'm so glad we did end up doing something festive for Turkey Day. They were so happy. And quite adorable.

And what about that black Friday shopping. Any plans? I hope to hit up a few shops...and then I'll being doing some sort of Cyber Monday sale at Tuesday Mourning, so check back in after you are stuffed to the gills and all rested up. Have a fabulous Thanksgiving week/weekend!

*OK, so for some reason I can't get this moble me link to work the way I want it to. While I'm looking into to it you should be able to download the headbands by using this link: files.me.com/merrileel/teomsd and the feathers by using this link: files.me.com/merrileel/j2g8q5 .

[personalize your festivities with...]

2011-11-16T23:34:00.007-05:00

Forgo the name plates this year and spice up your holiday parties with these simple DIY gilded monogram glasses for your family and friends. Best part, it's so easy you'll have them all done in one afternoon!

I had a few stacks of vinyl letters on hand which proved perfect for sticking onto glass. I cut out the reverse portion of the vinyl letter in order to use it as a stencil.

I then used a paintbrush and PermEnamal in 14K gold (Follow manufactures instructions) to fill in the stencil. I had to apply a couple of coats (letting the first coat dry a bit before reapplying) in order to get full coverage. I then let it dry for quite some time before removing they vinyl stencil (again refer to manufactures instructions for drying times as well as how long to wait before washing, etc.).

I was pleased with both the simplicity of the finished look and craft project itself.

And by using IKEA's godis glasses, the project was easy on the pocket book. And there are few things I love more than an elevated look - for less.

Put these out for Thanksgiving, or any other upcoming holiday get together, and have the guests take them home as favors. Or just make a set for your family. Your kids will love getting their own glass out - which will help make setting the table a breeze.

[gifted mag...]

2011-11-15T00:12:00.008-05:00

If you haven't yet been over to Creature Comforts to check out EZ's fabulous online holiday guide, Gifted, you should do so now. It's a fantastically curated guide chock-full of unique and of-the-moment gift items. EZ was so sweet to ask me to create some free downloadable gift tags for the guide and I couldn't be more happy to share them all with you. You can find them on page 136. I can't wait to get all my Christmas shopping complete so that I can get to wrapping, wrapping, wrapping!

But before the wrapping, there is the shopping, shopping, shopping. And that's where EZ's guide hits a home run. I'm especially impressed with her round up of gifts for the guys (which, trust me, is not always easy). I would seriously get everything from pages, 20, 27 and 28 for Jon if I could. And after showing Jon, he wholeheartedly agreed. And I think Little A needs the ridiculously cute real tool kit by Romp on page 71 and Little O would love to dress up in the darling Kalon Studios masks on page 72.

And if you want to know how I stay in the spirit of things and somewhat on top of it all during the bustling season, take a look at my interview in last years Gifted guide on pages 15 and 16. And as far as favorite holiday jingles go, I simply must add the dreamy vocals of Zoe Deschanel in A Very She and Him Christmas. I've been waiting for this ever since I first heard her smoky voice in ELF and rest assured I haven't stopped listening to it since I nabbed it at Barnes and Noble last week!

So now to that shopping, shopping, shopping....

[Quilt How-to]

2011-11-07T15:36:00.015-05:00

OK, so I officially have the quilt bug. I get it. While my quilts up to this point have been very simple, I understand why spending long hours, working on intricate patterns and tiny stitches is completely worth it...and...slightly addicting.

I've had in my mind a simple modern black cat quilt idea for a year now. I wanted to do it last year around Halloween/Fall but didn't get to it. The idea was still intriguing to me this year and I knew I had to do it. After things got settled here I quickly got to work and managed to get this done just in time for the season. And we have loved every stitch of it since.

The boys have spent many a moment curled up on the couch with a book, all snuggled up in our new cotton creation. I knew that I loved it but I was especially pleased to see that the boys really have taken to the quilt as well. They just knew that it was something a little more special than our typical throws (they had seen me work on it so they had a rough idea of how it came to fruition). And Little A loves that it has a cat motif (we call him A-Cat as a nickname). In fact, he asked me if he could take it with him to bed tonight, and I let him...just this once.

After a bit of trial and error I came up with a patchwork construction that I was pleased with and I'm more than happy to share the step-by-step process with you here. If you have ideas to do this quicker/easier/better/etc. please do share! (I recently did a quilt where I cut up a bunch of triangles and then at the end of it all I realized that I didn't need to cut so many triangles! I could have just done one large one and then later quilt it down the middle. That's what I get for just winging it! :)).

OK, so to start, you will need to cut the following shapes in the following sizes (or adjust to whatever ever size you prefer). I have 42 cats total so the following cutting instructions are for this amount. I chose to go with all black cats to keep things graphic and modern but I think a gray to black ombre affect would also be fun as well as an assortment of similar toned patterned fabrics.

Once you have all of your fabric pieces cut, you can proceed to piecing the quilt squares together.

1. Sew two B triangles onto one C strip as per the photo. Let the tips of triangles hang over just a hair.
2. Turn down triangles (cat ears) and press.
3. Turn strip with ears around and sew to A (cat face).
4. Turn around, flip ears up and press.
5. Sew two D triangles onto the bottom of the cat face as per the photo, leaving tips of triangles hanging over the edge a bit.
6. Turn lower triangles down and press.
7. Trim excess fabric.
8. Sew one E rectangle piece to right side of the cat face.
9. Sew the other E rectangle piece to the opposite left side of the cat face.
10. Turn sides over and press.
11. Sew F rectangle to top edge as per photo.
12. Sew second F rectangle to bottom edge as per photo.
13. Turn top and bottom rectangle pieces out and press.

From there proceed to finish all cat quilt squares (I know it seems like a lot but pop in a movie each night while you are working on these and you'll have them done in no time!). Every quilter has a different take, but I must confess that I don't mind the imperfections that I experienced along they way. There were a few quilt squares that I set aside there weren't "perfect". The cat ears were to small, or not even, or there was some other quirk. In the end, I couldn't bare to discard them. They were part of my quilting journey and each told a little story (I can seriously remember what I was specifically watching or talking about during a couple of these squares). I had to include them and I'm so glad I did. For me, they add so much to the quilt story.

Once quilt squares are complete, proceed to sew them together one row at a time. Then sew each row together, being careful to align seams.

From there proceed to baste together your top patchwork, batting and back of your choosing (you can find a number of tutorials for how to do this on various quilting sites and blogs and youtube).

For my back, I literally pieced it together from scraps I had with no prior planning. That is what I love about quilt backs, you really have free reign and can have a lot of fun with it. I then chose a simple quilting stitch that really highlighted the cat squares (and was easy for me to do on my personal machine).

And I must say, one of my favorite parts of the quilt is the binding. I spent a lot of time pondering and searching fabric stores for just the right look and I was so happy to have found the fabric that I did. It just makes me smile when I see it.

And as much as my boys love this quilt, I think I might love it a tad more.

I've done a couple of quilts geared for my kids but I have to confess...as much as they love this...it's secretly a quilt just for me. It makes me so happy to look at it and even more so to cuddle up in it with my boys, with Jon ;), a good book or just for a little snooze.

And that is what I love about handmade quilts. They are so much more than just a blanket. They bring joy, comfort, warmth, love and a smile to your face. And there have been a number of smiles in our house as of late.

[Halloween 2011]

2011-11-01T00:40:00.007-05:00

Hope you all had a most wonderful Halloween full of spooks, spirits and seriously good loot. We certainly did and let me tell you, we are plum tuckered out.

The boys had very specific ideas for what they wanted to be this year and to my initial chagrin, they did not go together. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do about this (try to convince them to pick something themed? etc.) but in the end I just went with it. I was happy I did as it brought an entirely new level of Halloween happiness to the Littles, and in turn myself.

Li'l O told me very early on, and emphatically, that he wanted to be a "puh'kin". He's a lover of all things authentically Halloween and after some initial apprehension, I couldn't be happier at his choice.

Initially I wasn't sure what to do to make this tried and true Halloween classic interesting for me and something we could call our own. But as we explored ideas, I happily settled on something playful, with a vintage vibe to it.

For the basic pumpkin shape I used the Simplicity 0418 pattern. I chose an orange felt for the exterior of the pumpkin and a simple vintage looking fabric for the lining. I switched up the shape of the stem and chose to go with buttons instead of Velcro to hold the straps together.
For the green striped "jammies" worn underneath, I took a couple of women's shirts I found at Walmart and refit them to work with Little O's proportions. I took the top in quite a bit at the sides, chopped the length and cut off the cuffs and sewed them back on a little higher. The leggings were a bit more complicated. I made these from a woman's XL shirt, using the arms as the legs. It was all pretty piecemeal and a bit haphazard, but it worked out well enough for us. For the face I used felt to create a vintage, cupie doll looking face which I then hand stitched onto the front.

Little O looked adorable in it and I couldn't be happier with his classic choice.

Little A was also very opinionated about his costume this year. After exploring a variety of ideas, he decidedly settled on Secret Agent Perry...the Platypus...from the ever popular cartoon (or at least in our house), Phineas and Ferb (thank you Netflix online...). I wasn't entirely sure what to do for this but he was dead set on it so it was full steam ahead.

I used Butterick pattern 3238 to create the basic body suit and hood. For the tail I put batting between two pieces of orange felt and machine quilted the diamond pattern and then sewed the platypus tail in place of the the tail used in the pattern. I then sewed simple felt eyes on to the top of the hood. Jon found a great hat for only five dollars at the costume shop and I made a simple beak out of yellow fleece.

For the feet I cut out simple felt shapes and sewed elastic to the backs. To prevent the feet from continually turning around and around his ankle, I punched a couple of holes in the top and pulled his shoe laces through and tied the laces atop. This ended up working out great.

It was fun to see how much he lit up when he put the costume on. He immediately turned into "Secret Agent Perry" and started to make "secret agent" stances. He also told me that he couldn't talk when he wore it because Perry the Platypus doesn't talk. It was pretty much awesome.

Not many adults knew who he was but with his fellow five-year-olds, he was a hit. And that was all that really mattered to him.

This year I really learned the magic of making your kids dreams come true. While it's very fun and magical presenting new and fun things to your kids...things that they couldn't dream about until you made that world possible for them, it's all together an entirely new thing making their dreams come true (both are important I think). It was so great to see little A's face light up with delight when he first saw himself as "Secret Agent Perry". And I have to say, it's one of the most gratifying things as a parent to see what your child's personality brings to world. I can hardly wait to see what the future holds for us!

I have to admit that after I was halfway through with Little O's costume he started listing several other costume ideas that he wanted to entertain. This was new to me as Little A never did this at his age (although he did do it this year). I decided to instill a new "once mom purchases the fabric, no more costume changes" policy. This worked well with Little A (who initially wanted to be a ninja, then Perry, then Bowser...and so on) but did not compute too well with a three year old. In the end, I decided not to worry too much about it and hoped that he would put his pumpkin on if he wanted to get candy. And well...it totally worked. He loved it and was more than happy to gear up and get going on getting candy, candy, candy!

By the end of the night, as with this photo shoot, the boys were tuckered out. We really didn't get very far before Little A just started sitting on the porch after ringing the door bell. The home owners were thoroughly entertained by this and I'm sure got the impression that we'd be trucking up and down the streets for hours. So after only about eight houses we called it quits and ended the night with cousins and grandparents. I was definitely OK with this as I'd been scheming up ways to prepare for the massive amount of sugar intake that was sure to ensue. However, having only gone around for a little bit, their treat bags were just full enough to be fun, yet sparse enough to keep a mother (and dentist?) happy.

It was a great haunting holiday for all of us. Here's hoping that you too had a very Happy Halloween!

[a mix and match 'em monster...]

2011-10-25T09:58:00.012-05:00

This year for Little O's third birthday, being a little obsessed with puppets as of late, we decided to take the the puppet show on the road and visit my sister and her Littles. Being as this was supposed to be Little O's year with the family I felt this fit and we wanted to keep things low key. So the morning of the party I gathered all the black card stock I could find, grabbed an x-acto knife and started cutting out monster parts.

I created a number of heads, bodies, arm and leg sets, some crazy wings and a few tails. I then used a 1/8" hole punch to create eyes and holes for the brads where the creatures appendages would be connected. I only put one hole in the bodies for the heads as I wanted to children to be creative about how they were going to attach the legs, wings and tails themselves. I put an assortment of brads in the middle of the table and then let the children go crazy, mixing and matching, creating spooky creatures and silly monsters.

The younger kids needed a bit of help with the hole punching and attaching the brads but they loved the freedom and creativity of it all. I was delighted to see what sort of creatures they came up with and the adults couldn't help but join in on the fun. The ideas were endless and the creatures created were nothing short of amazing!

We taped paper straws to the back of our puppets and let the puppet show begin!

After hanging a white table cloth, my sister held up a studio light from her husband Trent's art studio. The Littles held their newly assembled creations up to the cloth and we had a grand time creating silly, spooky and spontaneous stories.

The Littles had just as much fun watching as they did puppeteering (and I dare say, so did the adults!).

Little O was due on Halloween but came 10 days earlier and I must say, he is definitely a Halloween kid. He is obsessed with anything and everything Halloweeny, spooky and somewhat scary. These puppets were right up his ally but if your Littles might be a little too spooked by these creatures, I suggest using scissors to create more rounded shapes (x-acto's aren't the best tools for curvy corners) and do away with the jagged teeth.

After a wonderful time of puppet play, we headed to the back yard for a low key party spread of doughnut holes, apple cider, festive store bought cupcakes for the Littles and of course...presents.

Little O loved the festivities and the attention. It was fun to see how he "got it" this year and he relished the fun of it all.

It was great fun for all and it really got us all geared up for a delightfully spooky Halloween!

Happy Birthday my little baby. May your third year of life be full of delight, wonder and happiness.

[get frightfully festive this Halloween with...]

2011-10-16T23:26:00.010-05:00

We've been having a lot of spooky fun over here - attending gigantic pumpkin contests, going on school field trips to Pumpkin Land and most recently making these very fun paper mache Halloween puppets.

They are pretty simple and the boys are in love with them. In fact, little O now asks to play with them every other minute.

1. To get started, all you need is a small balloon, some basic home made paper mache mix (1 part flour to 5 parts water... boil about 3 minutes and let cool) and a few strips of newspaper.
2. Dip newspaper strips into the paper mache mix and place over the balloon.
3. Using no more than four layers, cover the balloon thoroughly. You can add additional shapes such as a pumpkin stem...
4. or fold up some paper for some cat ears. Let dry overnight.

5. Once completely dry, paint on desired face.
6. Clip off the part of the head where the tail end of the balloon is. If this doesn't pop the balloon, pop it and then take the balloon out.
7. Grab a handy sponge brush to use as the perfect puppet stick.
8. Fold up sponge brush and carefully place inside of head.
9. Leave the very tail end of the brush outside of the head to act as a stabilizer.
10. Now that you have your puppet structure assembled, you can choose what type of fabric you would like. I cut 2 sheets of fabric at 10"x 9".
11. Sew sheets of fabric together at the sides (with right sides facing each other). You can either choose to hem the fabric at the top and bottom or leave it as it for a fun, unfussy, spooky look. From there, use a gathering stitch to gather the top of the fabric together.

12. Hot glue the gathered end of the fabric straight onto the base of the puppet's head. Let it dry. Feel free to repeat the process for any number of festively fun puppets! Have lots of fun puppeteering for the rest of the afternoon!

And having fun puppeteering is just what we did! It's always so exciting to see which projects really pull the boys in, and I'm happy to report that this one was a real winner!

They spent hours with the puppets and I spent the rest of the afternoon seeing happy faces and little orange and black heads bobbing up and down.

Little O was particularly taken with them and will still ask me if he can play with them nearly every other minute, promising me that he will be Oh so careful with them. It's so adorable, so I of course let him.

This project is also a great one to pull the Littles in on. I made a few extra pumpkin heads for them (or you can have them get their hands dirty and do the paper mache themselves! They'll love it!). Simply use the tail end of the balloon as the stem, give them some orange and black craft paint and then and let them have at it.

They really got into painting their little Halloween creations. I'm especially fond of the creepy black paint dripping from Little A's pumpkin head. So fitting.

And they make great center pieces which happily remind me on the fun we had. And I must say that it's nice to have a set that is more kid friendly. When the boys threw them around the house and smashed in their sides, I was perfectly OK with it.

The puppets on the other hand...

well those are showcased in a safer place and come down only with some supervision...which merely means I'm supervising...A LOT.

[easy breezy KIDDIE...]

2011-10-06T22:26:00.008-05:00

Remember these Easy Breezy End-of-Summer scarves? Well, as temperatures are dropping and fall is at our door step, I've been itching to make a few more of them, but this time for the Littles.

And if you think the first version was easy breezy, you'll be more than happy with how quickly you can whip these mini-little variations out.

In fact...it's so easy you'll probably want to bring your Littles in on the fun. And I can think of no better beginning sewing project than these. It is a perfect "learn how to sew a straight line" kind of endeavor. And depending upon the age and ability of the child you can have them just sew the initial straight seam which connects the two ends of the fabric together and then sew the french seam and hem it for them. Or you can have them do it all, walking them through it step-by-step, offering any needed help along the way.

And as for sizing, I would have fun with it. Choose whether you want it a little larger and billowy (Like Little O's in the above three pics) or if you want to have it fit more snug and slightly bandana-like (such as Little A's in the following two pics). Mix it up. These things are so fun and easy to make you won't want to stop experimenting. In fact, I've got a mind to cut up a few old sweaters for when things get really chilly.

(And can I just insert that I've had to start bribing Little A to pose for pictures? Now that he's a grade school super star, he's too cool for mom and her photo shoots. He still loves the crafts mind you, but posing for the camera is so blasé. So yea, he gets a couple of marsh mellows and then he's off to conquer dragons and pester his brother).

And, with all this cowl fever going on over here, I couldn't let the boys have all the fun.

So I made a variation for myself, using my newly-most-favorite-fabric ever - a gorgeous indigo Indonesian Batik found at the tried and true, JoAnn's.

This fabric came in a 45" bolt so I solved the "too tight to wrap around twice" problem by simply leaving it hanging as one simple loop. And I must say, I completely love it.

And you don't have to twist my arm to pull on a cardigan (my new all time favorite wardrobe staple) and wrap around a scarf to cozy up to a delicious cup of hot cho (especially when served in this little mug that I seriously don't use as much as I should!) in front our first fire of the season in our new fire place.

HELLO FALL.

You are indeed welcome here.

[from boring bin to a...]

2011-09-27T14:02:00.004-05:00

I'm not a big fan of run-of-mill office items, so whenever I would look at this boring wire mesh office bin (which held my wrapping paper rolls) I would cringe a little. I'm not even sure where it came from. My college dorm days? Jon's? I don't know. Wherever or whenever it came from, it needed a face lift. So with a little gold spray paint and minimal effort I was able to transform this drab little bin into a gilded win (I know...where do I come up with these fantastically cheezo titles, right?...).

Now I love it so much that I can't bear to hide it in the back room with all the rest of my craft supplies. So it makes a statement here in the living room/office area.

Oh how I love simple transformations that have a pleasing and strong impact in then end. Total win.

[DIY costume ideas on...]

2011-09-21T22:56:00.011-05:00

Hi Friends! If you are like me, you are anxious to get your kids costumes in the works in order to leave time for lots of Spooky fun during the month of October. And if you want some great, yet simple, costume ideas, Look no further than CountryLiving.com. Our knight costumes from last year were in the line up as well as several of other clever costumes, including some great ones from a handful of friends such as Brooke, Christy (an old art school friend who is the queen of clever costumes! See more from her here and here) and Gabby. You are sure to be inspired!

And for the knight costumes, if you don't happen to have a vintage art smock pattern lying around, I think the bias trim apron, from Leisel's Oliver + S Little Things to Sew, would do just the trick.

So my question for you is, when do you start making your kids costumes? Do you wait until the last minute or are you scheming up ideas throughout the year? And do you dress up with the kids?

[Crayon installations and...]

2011-09-19T00:43:00.003-05:00

So things are starting to look more like home around here and I can't tell you how much of a relief that is. I don't do well amidst clutter and boxes - let's just say it doesn't bring out the best in me. For better of for worse, I'm highly influenced by my surroundings. So I'm happy to report that I'm feeling calm and happy now that things are more or less in order and I'm ready leap right into fall.

The boys are also really starting to feel more at ease here. Little O is our assertive explorer and has discovered what to do with every nook and cranny in our new home. Such as this creative crayon installation that he initiated.

Little A jumped right in to join in the fun. And I have to say, I'm quite taken with their creative eye. Those clever little artists.

And so my only question is, is it too early to delve into Halloween? When do you start your frightful festivities? Do you wait until October or do some of you sneak into the spooky fun before the harvest month begins? Do Share!

[Back-to-Fall wardrobe]

2011-09-11T23:47:00.013-05:00

There was a sneaky bit of crispness in the air today which got me all giddy inside in anticipation for the upcoming fall weather. Little A has two week's worth of Kindergarten under his belt (and soaking it all up like a rock star). Things are starting to look a little more livable here in our new place and just in time for the delightful onslaught of fall-to-winter holidays (my kids have already emphatically declared what they are going to be for Halloween. Completely not what I expected - and they don't go together as a theme, so we're trying to see how we can pull it all together. Should be fun!).

But before we get into all the Halloween costume making, we had to suit Little A up with some back-to-school/fall duds. I love to sew as much as I can for the boys but with the move there was not time for this so we had to turn to our trusty shop spots. And we had such a fun time doing so - mixing and matching hi end finds, such as designer looks from Tea, with a clustering of more economical, yet equally fab, staples from places like H&M, Target (my quick go-to source for boys shoes) and more.

So when shopping for kids clothing, there is a lot to consider. Durability (particularly with my boys), comfort (will my kid even wear this super adorable yet somewhat constrictive jacket?) the price tag (what do I want to spend when they grow out of these things so fast?) and finally the fun one - style (which, depending on the age and disposition of the child, they will weigh in on from time to time).

For me, I happen to know that Little O will be wearing these items again in just a few short years which definitely influences my shopping choices. What I try to do is purchase a few really high quality items that will last for the long haul, and be carried on down to Little O in a not so "I'm so worn out its a dead give a way that I'm a hand-me-down" sort of way, and then mix them with an assortment of more affordable staples and kid-appealing graphic items.

For example I felt like a splurge on this stunning kimono robe sweater from Tea was well worth it. Not only for the quality of the piece, but also because of it's versatility (it's almost like a jacket really) and for the fact that it will stay in good shape for Little O (and if we ever have a little girl I will totally hand it on down to her as it's a neutral enough and if taken care of, should last that long). We then paired it with a couple of more affordable pieces from H&M kids, such are these super fun and vibrant red pants and simple striped long sleeve T. As for shoes, I typically find myself at Target as I seem to need them like, yesterday. I'm always rushing my Littles out the door only to find that NONE of their shoes fit anymore! Seriously, how is this possible? So off to Target we go. And thanks to their line up of our favorite All Stars, we always seem to find something to please...and just in the nick of time.

in the above pic:
-striped T from H&M kids
-red pants, H&M kids
-kids black cons, Target

Now another thing I like to stock up on are an assortment of interesting and kid appealing graphic tees. At times I think I'd love to dress my little darlings as fine little French gents, with not a graphic in site. But let's face it, with Sponge Bob and Super Mario Bro's out on the loose you're going to have to find some pretty cool duds to combat the onslaught of licensed characters running around (especially if your child is in public school). This tiger Tee from Tea does just the trick. It's super cool and invites a myriad of inquiries from both your kids friends and their parents. (And if you hurry you can nab one on sale for for only $12.50. Score!). Don't worry, I'm not that controlling of a parent. When it comes to pajamas and underwear, there are no limits. Recently their aunt gifted them a new set of Sponge Bob pajamas when we arrived to our new home, and it was like Christmas for them. The boys LOVE getting ready for bed because of this. So totally a win win, right?.

One item that I wanted to be sure to acquire in our shopping extravaganza was a shirt for Little A's school photos and I think I found just the thing in this Chapultepec Polo from Tea. This shade of blue is a winner for Little A and I like the somewhat sophisticated yet still casual look of it. We also went for some fun denim harem pants from Zara Kids to keep things playful. Little A is still getting used to them but I just can't help but die from cuteness when I see him in these. They might fall in the "not so sure my kid will wear these all that often, but I just had to have them anyway" category which is something all of us moms need to indulge in from time to time, right?

And what fall wardrobe would be complete without a great scarf? We got this H&M plaid scarf for Little A some time back and luckily he loves it and will wear it as the weather cools (which blows me away as he has a myriad of tactile and textile particularities). I also managed to stock up on a slew of items from Forever 21 Kids, such as this pearlized button up denim collared shirt, before they nixed their boy department all together (they apparently are now only carrying kids fashions for girls). And of course, we came back to our tried and true, Target, for these simple slip on canvas shoes.

Whew... So now that back-to-school shopping is out of the way, we can start thinking about those Halloween costumes...maybe...in just a few weeks...or more...now where is that box with my sewing machine at?...

[we are the mighty, mighty...]

2011-09-02T11:33:00.006-05:00

OK, so Fridays are serious business at Little A's school (and consequentially, for Little A as well). They are spirit days and if you wear red or a viking shirt (or both!) you get a treat and earn points for your class. The class that gets the most points wins the "Viking" to keep in their class. At the end of the semester, if your class wins the "Viking" to most number of times, your class wins a class prize. And, more importantly to Little A, you get a treat every Friday if you show up to school sporting your school pride.

At back to school night they had t-shirts to purchase if you so desired. I took a look. They were nice and all...but, if I am my mother's daughter*, I was pretty sure I wanted to make my own version (I mean we're talking about a viking graphic here! Talk about a cool subject matter!).

So we ran out to Target and got the only red blank t-shirt we could find. It was a bit short (Little O will be sporting this pretty soon I'm sure) but it was all we could find as we were up against a clock. I drew a quick image of a viking on freezer paper, cut out the stencil and ironed it on. I've done a number of freezer paper stencils before but never with a white paint on a red cotton fabric. Let me just tell you, you will have to make several applications of the white paint. We were in "pink" territory for sometime and I was really starting to get worried. But persevere, because it does eventually whiten up. (I'm just pretty sure that we'll never be able to wash the thing as it will most likely end up being too small and I'm afraid Monsieur Viking will be pink all over again...). And if you want to get a bit of beard texture, like mine, just take your sponge brush, hold it upright, and stroke the paint back and forth across the stencil until you are satisfied with the results.

So needless to say, when Little A woke up this morning to discover his newly decked out Viking shirt, he was over the moon (and can I just share that he included a plug for spirit Fridays in his Thursday night prayers? So I'm guessing that this is pretty important for the little guy).

And because vikings are just overall totally cool (whether or not they are your school mascot), I've offered the graphic for you to download and use as a stencil as well. Just click on or copy and paste this link into another browser and your download should begin: files.me.com/merrileel/h2j4mz. If you need a freezer paper stencil refresher, you can take a look at this one.

*and if you are wondering about the "I am my mother's daughter" comment, I'll share. While growing up my mother would never purchase the school, dance, drama, you name it, required attire. She would simply look at what they were offering and make her own (typically an exact replica for much less $). It drove us crazy as kids (we wanted store bought over handmade every time) but now that I'm grown, I admire her gumption and skills to be able to do so. And in case you are wondering, my viking is not an exact replica (it's an original design) but I felt that it still fit within the spirit day requirements.

And if you are wondering about Little A's first day of school, it went smashingly well! I was so proud of the little guy. So thanks for all you well wishes!

[Anticipating Kindergarten and an....]

2011-08-30T01:05:00.011-05:00

Little A is going to his first day of Kindergarten tomorrow and we had to pull together an "All About Me" poster for the event. Being up against a clock and having most of our stuff in boxes (I can't seem to find the boys art supplies anywhere and we are all going a tad crazy as a result!) I was worried about how "creative" we could be. So I decided to come up with a simple design that was full of photos and spaces where Little A could write in his likes, etc. I was lucky enough to find our 13x19 glossy photo paper (which also happened to perfectly fit the poster we were given for the task). From there I printed out the images (that Little A helped to pick out) and then had Little A write in his interests.

Little A took to it immediately and began filling it out (it didn't hurt that I let him use a permanent marker, his favorite taboo writing utensil of choice).

He then chose to draw a self portrait on the star and I loved how it turn out.

I loved how proud he was of the poster and he insisted on bringing it to Back-to-School night. And me? Well I was wiping my brow with a sigh of relief, glad that I didn't let my "I'm not so great with changes" little guy down in the midst of all these transitions.

Here's hoping the first day of school goes so well!

And in case you are interested, I'm giving you a template (designed in Photoshop) for you to use as well. As I mentioned earlier, It's a nice large size of 13x19 but if can be scaled down if need be for a smaller paper or for scrapbooking, etc. And if you do want to use the larger size, and don't have a large format printer, you can just take your design, via cd or thumb drive, etc., to your local copy center, such as Kinkos, and have it printed out there for you. It fits perfectly on an 14x22 poster board. Just add a title up top and you are good to go.

Download the template here and enjoy!

*sorry, for some reason blogger won't read the link but if you copy and paste the following link into a new window, you should be able to download it. Link here: files.me.com/merrileel/1m0t3l

[paying homage to our south pasadena home]

2011-08-29T11:42:00.012-05:00

As we've been unpacking and trying to get settled in to our new place I've been having a few nostalgic pangs while remembering our previous place of residence. Mostly because it was already in order (there are few things in life more stressful than moving!) and in the two short years we lived there, many memories were made (little O pretty much spent his entire life here and little A's preschool years were all in this home). Even though it was short lived, it was a special place for us, and one that we will always hold dear.

On that note, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite spaces and moments from our South Pas. home. The first pic is of Jon's desk where he would work, and his wall - which grew into a wall of family photos, painted portraits, momentos and more.

Below is the same room opposite Jon's desk which was our "all purpose room". Seriously. Both Jon and I would work in here (so it was a home office), our kids would play and watch movies in here, and I had my sewing machine and all my craft/fabric storage in this room. Yeah it was a little crazy but luckily the room was large enough that it was able to comfortably accommodate all of these needs. This is where we spent most of our time and definitely the room I miss the most.

I finally managed to frame some of our photos that a friend (Chris Lindsay) took of Jon and I back when we lived in Brooklyn, NY. They served as a fun reminder of our newlywed years in NY.

I love this moment. Little O is at my desk, concentrating seriously on his imaginative play - something that was a very common occurrence.

This next room was our dining room which, when not littered by cherrios, was also a pretty great place to congregate. I really love the above pic (take after we had recently moved in and Little O was still in a high chair) as it shows the light in this room as I loved it the most.

I loved the little moments in the home that reminded us of the ocean and the beauty that could be found around us.

I also really loved this Asian inspired with-a-nod-to-vintage-Hollywood-glamor dresser that I found at a thrift store upon first arriving in California. We ended up using it as a hutch in the dining room to store extra linens and educational activities for the boys to entertain themselves with while at the dining room table. We unfortunately couldn't fit this lovely item on our moving truck so it was put on the street (along with the kitchen table and several other items!) with a FREE poster in front (time had run out to sell anything). It, and everything else, was snatched up pretty quick.

The above and below a pics are a few shots of our small yet functional kitchen.

I'm more of a "tuck the kitchen away instead of having it be the center of the house" kind of girl so this worked for me. Jon, the master chef in the house, would definitely have liked more room to explore his culinary talents. Thankfully, our new place has just that.

I really love the above pic of the boys in their room (also another favorite place of mine). Back when Little O would take naps, I loved laying down with him for a few minutes. Everything was so calm and serene and the world outside seemed to melt away. To me, it was a room to dream in. I think the boys liked it as well and I hope Little A can remember at least a few special moments from this room to take with him as he grows. (As I go back in my childhood memory, I find that 5 yrs is the age that my memory really starts to become solid and more clear. I cherish these memories and hope that Little A will as well. And who knows, perhaps Little O might have a few sense memories as well).

And finally I love this last pic only because it show my two littles as if they are merely apparitions running through the halls. Little happy ghosts that will hopefully have left their giggles and childhood optimism within these walls.

So yes, we will miss our old home but are excited about having a backyard (I can count at least 5 messy mud fights the boys have already indulged in) and the mid-century modern vibe of our new home.

And I just have to say a little something about the wonderful people I was able to associate with while living in South Pas. You really don't know how good you've got it until you move. Whether it was old Brooklyn friends who invite you to their private beach for one last bash, complete with home made crepes in the morning. Or South Pas friends who offer to watch your kids while packing and loading the moving truck (and then when half of your stuff doesn't fit so you have to take another day unpacking and repacking the truck and giving away a number of large items, they offer to watch your kids again). Or whether they send you away on your journey with a road trip care-package full of sunflower seeds, beef jerkey, sour gummy worms and more items sure to keep you senses awake and alert, or kind cards with kids games and activities for the road, or Great Harvest pancake mix and locally made raspberry syrup (yum!), or Williams Sonoma's fabulous Pina Colada mix to toast to you new place, or mouth watering home made granola...You know you are loved and had it good. Thanks you guys. You know who you are and have made it so a return trip to our old stomping grounds just can't come fast enough.

And now on to life in the present. There are still so many boxes to unpack and a back-to-fall wardrobe we have yet to share with you. Little A starts Kindergarten tomorrow so we are full steam ahead here. I'll be sure to try and check in here as much as I can so stay tuned.

[DIY coral-motif pillow]

2011-08-24T12:32:00.014-05:00

These past few weeks have been a crazy whirlwind of moving, getting Little A ready to start Kindergarten (sigh..) and working on a number of illustration jobs. To keep me up at night and plowing forward, I consumed a marathon's worth of HGTV Design Star, Dear Genevieve and finally managed to get caught up with Secrets From a Stylist (loving that Emily Henderson. Does she not have the coolest style or what? Not just in design but I totally want her wardrobe, right?). So after being inundated with tips and tricks for the home, I couldn't help but take a little time out to do my own little home decoarating. And what better way to add a little pop in your home than a throw pillow? And one with a touch of gold, ikat and a nod to the sea? Even better.

I'm sure by now most of you are experienced in the art of freezer paper stenciling (or are at least familiar with the technique) but I went ahead and showed you how I went about creating this hand painted motif in a step-by-step fashion.

1. First decide what size and shape of throw pillow you want (I found a good guide for this here). For mine I used a down pillow form from a old throw pillow that I already owned and wanted to update. I then cut out a sheet of freezer paper that that was roughly the size of the pillow case. From there I drew the design I wanted right onto the freezer paper.

2-3. After the drawing was complete I began cutting. To do this, place the freezer paper over a self-healing mat and then use an x-acto knife to cut out the design. Intricate designs like this take a little bit more time but are worth the pay off in the end, so hang in there :).

4. After cutting, iron the paper (shining side down) onto your choice of fabric. For mine, I chose a linen for the front and a bright silk Ikat pattern (purchased from eBay) for the back. (For pillow sizing/sewing techniques and instructions, I always refer back to this Design Sponge tutorial).

5. Once the freezer paper is securely ironed onto the fabric, you can begin painting (be sure to place a card board box or something similar underneath so that the paint doesn't bleed through to the surface below). I was really feeling gold for this so I chose a metallic gold fabric paint. I like sponge brushes for this as they really help to get smooth and precise coverage.

6. Once you have painted all of the necessary areas, set it aside and let it dry. Some recommend letting it dry over night before taking the stencil off. I did that with my first freezer paper stencil but have since found that I can get just a good results if I let it sit and completely dry before taking the stencil off. Could be an hour or more (or less) depending on the size of stencil and amount of paint used.

7. Once the paint is completely dry, carefully remove the stencil. This is such a fun part, as you finally get to see the finished painted design in all it's glory. Sit back an enjoy it.

8. Then complete your pillow by sewing together your newly custom painted fabric with your choice of back side fabric. (Again, I used this zippered throw pillow tutorial to do this).

When it's all complete, toss it on the couch and sit back and enjoy your new creation!

And...if you are interested in doing a coral-motif like mine here, I've offered up a stencil for you to download by clicking here. It's created on 8.5x11 paper for you to print out but if you want to increase the size you can take it to your local copy center and have it enlarged there.

Enjoy!

(Oh and if you make a pillow, tote bag, shirt, etc. using this motif, I'd love to see how it turns out so shoot me an email. Thanks!)

(Oh and today is Jon and I's 10th anniversary! can you even believe it? Happy Anniversary Jon!!)

[camps, crafts and a...]

2011-08-15T00:47:00.009-05:00

So I've been a busy, busy bee this past month. In between a number of illustration projects, preparing for a move and trying to keep my littles entertained in the California heat, I've managed to squeeze in a 2-day, day camp that I just happened to be in charge of planning and carrying out. The camp was for girls ages 8-11 and I couldn't have asked for a more ideal age range or group of girls. This age is the most common demographic for which I do much of my illustration work for and I love it. These girls are not jaded, are full of life, ready and excited for the future, are amazingly resilient and willing to see the good and beauty in everyone and everything. In short, I love these girls and had a fantastic last couple of days.

We did a number of crafts and activities on the first day including sewing 20 minute tote bags (thank you Jordan for being the power house on that one!), cooking calzones, sweet rolls and cookies, making scrap paper notebooks, creating rolled felt flower hair ties and yarn flower head bands and much much more!

It was such a treat to see how each girl would light up when seeing her creation come to life and to realize just what she was capable of. I also really loved seeing a sea of flower adorned heads bobbing up and down throughout the camp and most every girl proudly brought along their newly sewn tote bag to the field trip on the second day. All in all it was a great success!

Now that the camp is over, we have loved having the tote bag around here as well. It makes the perfect library bag for little A.

On our bag we varied a bit from the Purl tutorial and used an old elastic belt for the handles (which worked great!) and then I added the stitched "x" marks where the handles are attached.

I was also fond of the illustration that I created for the camp flyer and thought I'd offer a print variation of it for you in the shop! Enjoy!

[bees, beards and...]

2011-08-05T13:06:00.006-05:00

We celebrated Jon's birthday on Wednesday and I can't believe how time flies. Wasn't it just yesterday that we were celebrating with donuts and custom cards. Well we had a great day starting with breakfast at Marston's and ending with a Menchies custom frozen yogurt pie.

In celebration of Jon I wanted to share a gift I gave him, a Beard of Bee print by artist Meagan Donegan, in honor of a recent commercial he was in. (I actually gave this to him for Fathers Day but I thought this a good occasion to share). Go ahead and watch the commercial and you'll see how it all connects. Oh and Jon's the goofy one in the white bee keepers suit.

Fun huh? You should check out the entire campaign as it's pretty funny. And I'm not a big chicken girl but I do sort of crave their chicken (even if I've never had it) so job well done.

And and because I know you are curious:

- yes those are real bees
- yes the actor with the bee beard was stung - about three times around the eyes
- yes the actor with the bee beard was an experienced animal handler but this was his first time working with bees
- yes we're assuming he was well paid for it :)
- yes Jon was initially more nervous about the bees than his co-actor
- yes you can see this campaign on TV...if you live in the South, where the Bojangles Chicken chain resides
- yes Jon is really that funny in real life, only a little less surfer dudesque
- yes Jon is a fabulous actor and...

- yes he is available for hire! :)

Happy Birthday Jon!

[sisters, smiles and...]

2011-07-30T14:04:00.007-05:00

While on our recent travels to see family and friends I couldn't help but be inspired by my lovely nieces. After spending a couple of days with them I knew right away that I wanted to do a simple sewing/dress up craft with them. Lucky for me, they were willing to indulge their silly I-must-create-while-even-on-vacation aunt.

We went to fabric store and purchased 3 simple white t-shirts (on sale at Joanns for a steal). I was inspired by their carefree, flowing gold locks and felt that they were just begging for flapper inspired feathers and gold sparkly head bands. So we went straight to the trim section and picked out a few strands of trim. Then it was straight to the feathers. Bright fun feathers.

From there we proceeded to pick up some gold fringe (I was loving the majorette meets flapper idea) very wide black grosgrain ribbon for a giant sized bow and 1/8 a yard of bright pink spandex for a little ruffly pop of color.

We then went home and got to work. I wanted to have the girls involved with the creation of their shirts and head bands as much as possible. Sarah, the youngest, needed little help in deciding just how she wanted her head band to look. She seriously has a natural eye for things. For her shirt, I helped her to lay out her gold fringe in a reverse tiered fashion. From there I machine stitched the fringe on for her. She later, on her own, decided to use a piece of fringe to create a corresponding bracelet which I thought genius.

For Anika we decided to do a long thin strip of ruffled pink down her shirt. We loved the bright neon pink color but didn't want it to be too overpowering so we settled on a 1 1/2" ruffle.

Anika already knew how to ruffle up the fabric by hand, using a needle and thread, so I just let her get to work. Once she had the ruffle to her liking, I sewed it on the t-shirt for her.

For Katie, the oldest, we knew we wanted to create a giant bow. We played around with a few ideas but most of them looked sloppy. So finally we settled on cutting two strips of ribbon and sewing what would be the two tails of the bow strait onto the shirt. From there we created one large loop for the main bow by sewing two ends of the ribbon together. We then created another loop to go around that one in the same fashion. Katie then hand sewed the top of the bow on top of the tails, straight onto the shirt. We were really happy with how it turned out.

And as for the headbands, I had the girls choose a feather color that would correspond well with their own shirts as well as look good all together as a whole. They then picked out their own feather placement and we hot glued them onto their headbands. They girls then hot glued the ends of their head bands together to complete the project. I loved the headband craft as it was really something they were able to do completely by themselves, from start to finish.

It was loads fun for all and I think the girls were happy with their final creations. I think this would be a really fun birthday party craft don't you? You could get a bunch of t-shirts, trim, ribbon, feathers, etc. and let the kids (or adults!) go at it.

[Scenes of Sunday...]

2011-07-24T23:43:00.005-05:00

We had another dreamy Sunday afternoon and can I just say that this is my all time favorite day of the week? I love regrouping, spending time with loved ones and just plain keeping things looooow key. If I had to choose a time and a day when things are happiest and pretty darn near perfect in our house, it would have to be on a Sunday afternoon.

On this particular nearly-perfect-afternoon Jon decided to introduce a make shift marble ramp for the boys (and lets be honest, himself) to enjoy. He used the boys IKEA drawing paper roll for the marbles to slide down and thew a couple of broom sticks and shoes on opposite end to create a "goal" of sorts for the marbles to slide into. Needless to say, all boys were in love with it.

We also had some train table playing going on which kept Little O and I occupied for hours.

I have to confess, it's incredibly satisfying setting up a train track in various configurations. I seriously think I should be a city planner. I mean the possibilities are endless.

We're big fans of the Brio Network train set (which is unfortunately hard to find in the US). The virus characters are super fun and they even have little "emails" that they transport around the track which can then be placed into little slots that make silly jumbled electronic noises when a virus triggers it. The boys go nuts for it.

So yeah, like I said. A pretty great summer Sunday afternoon. sigh...But I think we're relaxed and ready a new week now...maybe...just maybe...

[back-to-school shopping with...]

2011-07-22T17:09:00.007-05:00

Last weekend we were able to attend the fabulous LA Renegade Craft Fair which has become a favorite Los Angeles experience for us. It has also become a beloved spot for finding unique, one of kind, back-to-school t-shirts for Little A and this year we made it a point to be on the look out.

We loved quite a few shirts showcased by a number of different vendors but it seems like our tried and true favorite is Pinecone & Chickadee (It didn't hurt that they were the most affordable, and with an in person deal of two for $30, well, we just couldn't resist).

Last year we scooped up the Kids Whale baseball jersey and Sasquatch T-shirt (seen below).

This year we couldn't resist the bright colors and fun graphic illustrations on the Kids Plant and Tiger T-shirts (seen in the top two pics) and Little A is over the moon about them as well. We have our sights set on the Strong Man Tee for next year. After that, here's hoping they come up with more versions, because we're officially hooked!

[my new go-to baby gift...]

2011-07-20T01:28:00.011-05:00

My older sister recently welcomed her 4th little girl into the world (5th child total, as she has one boy) and I couldn't be more happy for her. I wanted to celebrate this new little darling, baby Ella, so I decided to make her a quilt. I have had this idea for a simple herringbone quilt for some time now and was excited to have a chance to try my hand at it.

I chose to make this a smaller quilt, approximately 30"x 40", so it would be something baby Ella could snuggle up in while young and then perhaps convert it into a "lovey", that she could tote around with her, as she grew.

I knew I wanted the fabric and herringbone quilting to be the main focus so I chose to go without patch-working and to use only two sheets of fabric. I chose a floral vintage inspired fabric, that I purchased from reprodepot, back when they still sold fabric, and went with a solid white for the back side.

After placing batting between the two sheets of fabric I pin-basted everything together. I chose a coral pink top thread that corresponded with my binding and a blue bobbin thread that complimented the floral fabric and placed the white fabric side up to make it easier to see my stitches. I then chose where I wanted my vertical lines to go and machine quilted those first. I liked having them various widths apart but you could make yours more precise if you like. From there I just chose one end and started connecting my lines in a chevron/herringbone fashion. Again I liked the organic, freestyle nature of this project so I wasn't picky about how perfect the stitches were and made a point to vary the lines up a bit.

When the quilting was done I did a zig-zag stitch around the edges to make it easier to attach the binding. I wanted to binding to pop so I chose a bright coral pink fabric that had small blue flowers (found at Walmart for 1.99 a yard. score!) that I thought went well with the vintage quilt fabric. I love Heather Bailey's continuous quilt binding tutorial and referred to this when finishing up the binding.

I was happy with how easy it was! Not to mention slightly addicting. I seriously think this is my new go-to baby gift from here on out.

[a dilapidated barn and a...]

2011-07-18T01:41:00.008-05:00

We had our annual photo shoot whilst on vacay, as is now the tradition, and what better backdrop than my parents out-of-service barn? We've used this fond location before but this time we decided to venture on inside and we were delighted with what we found.

Not only was there a delicious amount of woodsy debris, but right in the midst of everything, was our vintage blue wooden rocking horse made by my father (he made this for my older sister when she was a little girl and we've all had a turn on it at some time or another whilst growing up). Honestly, it was perfectly placed in the middle of everything and all we had to do was put the boys on it and click away. Totally kismet. (Oh, yes, and Little O made sure that Woody came along for the fun...so very like him. If you notice, Muno came along for the pirate pics. He's pretty much never without a famous friend of sorts somewhere near by).

The above pic is the best one we got of Little A. He's apparently, at the very "old" age of 5, over his parents and couldn't wait to get back to all the fun with the cousins. I think it was something short of torture for him to be pulled away from it all, if even only for a moment.

The below pic is my favorite. I like the playful nature of it and Jon is such a cutie, don't you think?

And I had to get a pic of me with my little sister, Lorajean, our resident family photographer. I love her vision she's a natural behind the camera.

Thanks so much little sis' for letting me pull you away from the fun for a bit of photo mania!

[fireworks and a...]

2011-07-16T01:56:00.013-05:00

Whew! We have finally returned home from our annual summer reunions to see family and friends and as usual, had a most excellent time. The kids were over the moon with seeing grandparents and cousins and we couldn't have been happier either. We pretty much didn't see Little A at all in the past 3 weeks as he was playing non-stop with his cousins (and one time even asked us to leave so that he could play with the other kids without us around) so I'd say he was pretty happy. Yeah, it pretty much was a smashing summer success.

This year for the 4th my family hosted a pirate party themed reunion. We started things out by attending the Real Pirates exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science where we were able to see the one and only pirate treasure ever discovered and actually got to touch real live actual pirate treasure coins. Yeah, it was pretty cool and a great way to get us all on the mood for some pirate partying.

As usual my mother went above and beyond, transforming her home into a pseudo pirate ship of sorts. The small spot below the balcony stairs became "below deck" where a play kitchen was placed for little cooks to "prepare" grub for the crew. The tree in the front yard was de-limbed on one side within the tree to create "dead man's tree" where various pirate toys were placed, complete with handmade styrofoam mountains, for the little buccaneers to play with.

My father and brothers made miniature cannons that really worked! They were so cool, you have no idea. All I can say is that they were made from black PVC pipe, styrofoam balls painted black and fire extinguishers that gave a great smoke illusion when firing. How they were assembled is a mystery to me, I'm sure you could find it on youtube or something. Needless to say, we had some fun with those.

My little sis set up a pirate photo booth and we all dressed up in our pirate best. (This is my brother-in-law Trent in the pic above, who wins "best pirate look" for his overgrown beard and just overall piratey stances and gestures. Don't you just think he looks the part?).

Jon led the littles in a pirate treasure hunt and they loved every minute of it. He pretty much had the accent, swagger and humor down to a science.

After our annual hot dog bar and loads of delicious salads and sides we devoured a most scrumptious pirate ship cake.

Jon finished up the night up with a bang by presenting an exciting display of fireworks that we picked up on our way over.

Then a few of us headed to City Park to see the big overhead fireworks display. Little O fell asleep on my lap while we laid under the stars celebrating the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Another great 4th of July.

*to see more great pics of the party click here on LJ's site.

[arrrrg...we be lookin' for...]

2011-07-11T00:40:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure what ye land lubbers have been up to but we be sailin' the desert seas with our sights set on plundering some pirate treasure.

We have many a more piratey adventures to share when we sail on back home and will be sure to share them with ye all then! Stay tuned...or ye just might be finding yerself walkin' the plank...

[arts and crafts corner]

2011-07-01T00:27:00.005-05:00

We've been doing a lot of drawing and painting around here. Little A is getting older and is more capable and willing to really learn how to draw and Little O is just over the moon to do whatever his brother is doing (and of course loves getting his hands on any sort of messy, colorful, creative substance - and doing it in your undies...well, does life get any better for a 2 year old?). Because of this we decided to get a family annual pass to the LACMA this year. After attending for the first time (thanks to Tim Burton!), I knew right away that we needed to bring along a pad of paper and pencils for the Littles to soak it all up (Little A drew his first Jack Skellington interpretation on a museum brochure and I was over the moon).

I've been wanting to create some sort of art/drawing carrying case of sorts for the littles for sometime now and after this recent museum trip, I knew it was time.

I thought it would be fun if Little A had some sort of ownership involved with the carrying case so I had him paint black circles onto linen that I would then use as the outside of the portfolio.

I will confess that he did lose interest in this after a bit so I helped fill in a few spaces. This then got him right back into it and grabbing the brush back out of my hand for him to finish up.

I then proceeded to sew the portfolio carrying using this new "custom" fabric.

I pretty much just made everything up as I went along (so there are a few rough patches here and there) trying to accommodate all the needs of sketching and painting on the go.

We made a pocket on the left hand side for his pad of paper and another large pocket on the right to hold any drawing/activity books he might be interested in at the moment.

Then on top of that right hand large pocket I created several little pockets for his colored pencils (his preferred medium at the moment) and a set of watercolors.

He really loves it and has taken to drawing several items from his step-by-step drawing book (a score for 50 cents at a school fair!).

And now that we are off on our annual June and July road trips to see family and friends this little portfolio has really come in handy.

If you want to make one yourself, I'll be posting instructions when I share Little O's art portfolio with all of you, so stay tuned!

Hope you are enjoying your first month of summer and, for those of you in the states, are gearing up for a great 4th of July!

[Catch me over on the Crafty Crow today for...]

2011-06-15T13:22:00.006-05:00

Join me and our friend "Little J" over at the Crafty Crow today for the marvelous "Book and a Craft" series. I decided this was a great excuse to do something for the little girls out there (I mean, c'mon when was the last time I got to indulge my inner ballerina?) so we channeled Degas, Eva Montanari and ballet. Does it get any better than that?

Check it out here.

And as of today, school is officially out for the summer! Can you even believe it? Do you have any great summer plans in store? I'd love to hear them.

[lemon squares and...]

2011-06-13T20:07:00.006-05:00

We had a marvelous weekend. It started off on Friday with a fantastic benefit held in miss Davy Jean's honor. I can't begin to describe what a special night it was. Truly amazing people working together to do something even more amazing for this special little girl. And can I just say that Ruthy is one of my new BFF's? She's seriously as great as she comes off on her blog.

Then on Saturday Jon and I spent the day, with the kiddos, at the LACMA visiting the fabulous Tim Burton exibit. Needless to say it was fantastic (it's a little frightening for kids however...no surprise there...so we did a run through each on our own to really soak it all in).

And then on Sunday we enjoyed being homebodies with a little lemon square making and some freezer paper stenciling.

I had a few tee shirts of Little A's that I've wanted to spice up for a while so I had Little A start out with a simple, imperfect, pattern of triangles in yellow.

He really enjoyed working on this. I love seeing how his concentration increases as he gets older. He was very into this craft and loved seeing it come together.

His favorite part was choosing where to put the two random black triangles. He really got into that little element of surprise.

So like a said a great day. A great weekend.

And if you are interested in doing freezer paper stencils yourself, you can find a fab tutorial here.

What did you do over the weekend? Anything fab, indulgent or crafty with the family? Do tell.

April flowers, bring...

2011-05-20T00:01:00.004-05:00

It has been unusually chilly and drip-droppy here in SoCal as of late, especially following a brilliantly warm April full of blooms. To embrace this bit of drizzle I've come up with a little rain drop craft made from security envelopes.

It's an incredibly simple craft that will be easy to do with your little ones. Just use the raindrop template (found at the end of the post - right click and save), trace it atop the envelope, and then cut and apply to either fine art paper, canvas, wood, you name it, using some sort of adhesive or acrylic medium, Mod Podge, etc.

Now sit back and enjoy your little piece of spring rain as you look forward to summer days just around the corner.

On Ohdeedoh

2011-05-17T12:30:00.005-05:00

The lovely Danielle Thompson, of Thompson Family-Life, interviewed me for Odeedoh's Big Blog Family series. Take a looky-lou here.

Thanks Danielle and Odeedoh!

[a recap of...]

2011-05-04T18:14:00.005-05:00

As I didn't have time to make little suits for my little gents, I had to come up with something much more simple. Freehand fabric painted bunnies on t-shirts was just the ticket. Dress them up with some suspenders, a cardigan and new shoes, and an Easter hunt ensemble you have. (They wore their Sunday best from years past for the actual Easter service).

We did our simple food coloring egg dye technique complete with stickers, which gave us the same fun color variation. And yes, we did this on Easter Sunday...right before the hunt...which also seams to becoming a tradition for us.

And it couldn't be Easter without our Lindt Chocolate Carrots. These are the one thing that Little A requested from the Easter Bunny...again....and again.

Needless to say, they were a very big hit.

Sugar high's quickly transformed the little ones.

Another big hit were the chalk eggs the boys received from a previous hunt. They were perfect for coloring and adorning their chalkboard painted pails.

It was a gorgeous afternoon and we spent most of it with my aunts and uncles and cousins from the surrounding area eating delicious food and playing the most entertaining round of Gestures ever (I'll just say this - my older aunt Cheryl received the card "fire hydrant" and acted it out appropriately [think dog vs. fire hydrant]. Hilarity ensued).

Happy boys.

Happy parents.

It was a most marvelous Easter Sunday indeed.

[mix n' match...]

2011-04-28T23:09:00.003-05:00

I have had this idea in my head for mix 'n match animals ever since I had a few extra wood tiles left over from Little A's geometric floor puzzle activity. And like all ideas floating around in my head, it would be lucky if it came to fruition. This one, however, just couldn't stay dormant any longer.

I've been especially busy this month (as you might have noticed from the lack of posts) putting together Little A's preschool benefit auction (by far the largest party I've ever been in charge of!). I was afraid Easter would just be swept under the rug in the midst of all my party preparations which made me a little sad. So the night before the big day, I went to work putting together these little Mix 'n Match Easter pals for my little guys to wake up to (using hard wood and craft acrylic paint).

And I was so happy I did. The littles woke up especially excited to see that the "Easter Bunny" had brought them these three little friends (good thing too as there were no eggs, baskets or candy ready for them at that time!). My little 2 year old knew just what to do and went right to work mixing and matching, arranging and rearranging. I was so pleased to hear a myriad of giggles coming from the front room as I scrambled this way and that, trying to get ready for Easter Sunday. They quickly assigned an identity to each friend. Little A is the rabbit, Little O is the cat, and apparently Mom is the fox - which I think I'm OK with :). Dad felt a bit left out so I assured him that another animal persona would be created just for him.

For Easter service I had the boys wear duds from years past as I didn't have time to make them suits. However, I did pull a few things together for the hunt following.

Which I will share with you later...when I get a moment to breathe. So here is just a teaser...

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday full of peace, joy and family fun!

And now I'm off to finish up my last minute preparations for a Festive Fiesta Fundraiser taking place this Saturday. Wish me luck!!

[time keeps on...]

2011-04-21T23:12:00.007-05:00

Wow. Has it really almost been a month since I've posted last? Time truly is hoppin' away from me. And can Easter really be just around the corner? I swore to myself that I wouldn't have another whirlwind Easter...but I have to say, things are looking like they are going to plow forward as usual in the Liddiard household...on hyperdrive.

This is exactly why I need super easy, and simultaneously, super cute Easter activities. The boys and I are a fan of these little origami bunny faces. They are a breeze for the littles to make and decorate.

I've created a little tutorial here for you to see how to go about doing these little bunny darlings.

Step 1: grab any square piece of paper

Step 2: fold in half to make a crease

Steps 3, 4 and 5: rotate and fold in half again to make another crease then unfold

Step 6: fold up bottom edge of triangle

Steps 7 and 8: fold up bottom ends to meet the center crease line (to get your bunny ears)

Step 9: fold up bottom tip for your bunny chin

Step 10: turn over, fold under (backward) on the dotted line

Step 11. draw a face you are finished

(dotted lines represent fold lines and softer solid lines represent creased lines)

The boys loved the craft. Little A was very much into all of the folding (if not a little OCD about it) and loved putting on the face. Little O on the other hand, was much more interested in starting an all-out bunny war.

Little O rapidly won Little A over and bunny combat commenced.

Easy Easter craft? Check.

Happy Boys? Check.

Boys occupied for a few more minutes while mom chugs away at her myriad of tasks? Check.

Overall success? Check.

[Little A turns five and hosts a...]

2011-03-27T23:36:00.013-05:00

So sorry to be MIA lately. We've been doing a lot of party planning around here for a lot of different events and have therefore been very busy. Last week my Little A turned five. I seriously can't even believe it! I can vividly remember seeing him lying in the hospital basinet on the day he was born and looking over at his little squinty eyes and chubby cheeks and thinking how this day was like Christmas morning, only better - and I'd get to take home the best present ever. I had to keep pinching myself to make sure it was all real!

Fast forward to five years later and my little baby is having a birthday. It's true what they say about time going by too fast and kids growing up, etc. All I have to say is that the next five years better go a whole lot slower. Seriously.

My little A has the best personality. He has a multitude of imaginary friends whom he impersonates on several occasions. He loves learning and begs me to sit down with him to do his reading lesson everyday and he's getting very good at it. He's memorized the track numbers to all of his favorite Gabba songs in the car and requests them by number each time we go for a drive. He's still a puzzle fanatic, a little comedian, rather particular about almost everything and an all around wonderful big brother. Oh, and he recently told us his favorite food is cereal.

It was this such revelation that inspired the theme for his 5th birthday party. He had originally requested a Captain Underpants party. As he's getting older and coming into his own, I really wanted this to be about HIM, so I wanted to find a way to work in the Captain Underpants theme, but was struggling with how to really run with this. We had previously thought about taking him to a local cereal bar, Mix and Munch, for his birthday breakfast, as I knew he would love the idea of mixing cereals and adding toppings, etc. Then, after seeing Brooke's early morning PJ party, I thought, hey, we could do the cereal bar thing for his party, and hold it in the morning! And that is just what we did.

We started off with simple invitations with a yellow fruit loop adhered to the front of the card, inviting the guests to come in their PJ's and enjoy gobs of cereal and Saturday morning cartoons. We'd throw in a Captain Underpants reading for good measure and just all around have a good time.

I tried the whole, you're turning 5 so you can invite 5 guest of your choosing thing, and it went over pretty well. With siblings, etc. there were more than 5 guests, but the effort still helped things not get too hectic with party planning and favors. It also helped him feel like he had some say in all of this, which was really fun for him (I know, it's about time right? The curse of having an artistic, meddling mom I guess...).

Little A was ecstatic about his "Captain Underpants Cereal Party" and had a blast picking out the cereal flavors ahead of time. He choose several brightly colored and fun flavored cereals because of their exciting packaging but ended up loving the tried and true Cherrios the best (and I, and his Dentist, couldn't be happier).

We set up two tables: one for the cereal and toppings, and one for the milk, orange juice, spoons, napkins, etc.

Then we let the kids go at it. It was so fun to see how excited they were. Seriously the next best thing to a kid in a candy store (and slightly healthier?). A lot of them even opted for no milk on their first trip, which made spills that much easier to clean up.

For toppings we had marshmellows, mini chocolate chips, pop rocks, chocolate covered sunflowers seeds (my fav!), strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, almonds and chocolate, carmel and marshmellow flavored syrup.

I made sure it was adult friendly with non sugar cereals such as granola with fruit toppings (which I had two generous helpings of!) and a few muffins in case there were any non-cereal lovers attending.

The kids then sat around our coffee table, which was covered in butcher paper and adorned with Captain Underpants drawings that they could then color in whilst watching "Saturday morning cartoons". We actually don't have our TV hooked up to cable but we used our instant streaming from our netflix account and watched a few of Little A's favorite cartoons (which he loved showing off by giving narration to as well as dancing in front of all of his friends and singing the theme songs. Yeah, he was pretty happy and very comfortable with being the center of attention).

After a couple of cartoon episodes the kids then all sat around to listen to a Captain Underpants reading headed up by Jon (and assisted by Little A).

We kept things pretty chill and after some unscripted play, we gathered everyone around for some cake. A giant Rice Krispie treat cake in fact.

Songs, candles, wishes...

...and the cake was cut and distributed.

For party favors, I made little boxes for the kids to take home their very own custom cereal concoction (which, by using 12x12 inch scrapbook paper, just happened to be the perfect size for a bowl size serving of cereal).

I also made custom cereal spoons for all of the kids based on some I had seen on the web. Mine are not nearly as cool as I managed to get the wrong wire to wrap them all together and couldn't run out and get any more at midnight when were were putting them all together the night before.

I also managed to find a few magic milk straws for the kids to take home...

....or to enjoy at the party. Yeah, they were a hit.

When the party was over, Little A and Little O had fun picking at the rest of the cake and lounging around in their PJ's (which were custom made for the event).

In fact, Little A requested to wear his PJ's for the rest of the day and being as it was his big day, I happily obliged.

Now here's hoping the next birthday takes a very, very long time to roll around again.

Happy birthday my Little A.

[a heartfelt...]

2011-02-21T20:11:00.004-05:00

I once again have to say a BIG thanks for your lovely generosity and kind hearts in reaching out to little Davy and her lovely family. Together we have raised over $2000 for this incredible little girl and I couldn't be happier. The BOGO offer is officially over but, as I mentioned, the print proceeds will continue to go to the Schultz family.

Every time I look up at our framed Lovely, Love artwork a smile comes to my face. It already held such a special place in my heart for my own family, but now there is even more love associated with it. And that is thanks to all of you.

Thank you for being so lovely.

Mer

[a lovely outpouring of...]

2011-02-17T17:39:00.010-05:00

I can't even begin to tell all of you lovely readers what a wonderful opportunity it's been to be in the middle of such an outpouring of love for darling Davy Jean and her family. You guys are the BEST! We've raised over $1000 and that's just in the first three days! I've heard from Ruth and she mentioned that they are now able pay an ambulance bill that they have since May of last year. Way to go you guys!

You have the rest of today and tomorrow for the bogo offer but these print proceeds will continue to go towards this special family, so the Lovely, Love never stops!

And as you can see from this incredible stack of Lovely Love orders (which are x'2 as per the sale), that I'll be busy working away on getting all of you fantastic people your lovely prints. It's just me chugging away at these orders, so I appreciate your patience. I promise to get them out in as timely a manner as possible.

And thanks again for letting me see your lovely hearts. Your generosity, warmth, kind comments and excitement about helping this inspiring family has really made my week. Thank you all for your Lovely Loveliness.

Mer

Oh and a big thanks for HGTV:Design Happens, Odeedoh, Gabba Friends, and many others for their help in spreading the lovely word around!

*image of Davy courtesy of the mom.

[spreading the Lovely, Love around...]

2011-02-14T00:22:00.016-05:00

I wanted to start Valentines Day off with a lovely, love story and a new print in my shop to go along with it.

About a week ago I got an email from Ruth Schultz, wife of Scott Schultz - the creator of a little known kids show you might have heard of....Yo Gabba Gabba. Ruth had seen my Lovely, Love My Family paper heart cut out I had made for Jon for Christmas and wanted to purchase a print of it for her husband's office. Needless to say I was completely flattered and more than happy to accommodate.

In fact, her request inspired me to take it further and offer several Lovely, Love prints in various colors in my etsy shop.

After hearing from Ruth I later came across this beautiful story about her, her family and more specifically her lovely daughter, Davy. Darling Davy was born with a cleft lip and palate, congenital heart defects and several other conditions. From there I went on to read more about this amazing mother/daughter team on Ruth's own blog, the mom.

It didn't take long for me to fall in love with little Davy and her talented, humorous, gorgeous, and incredibly strong mother, Ruth. Her blog tells the story of Davy's growth, trials and triumphs and is filled with hope amidst weariness, and happiness amidst adversity...all while being shared in Ruth's transparent, down to earth, day-in-the-life-of writing style.

Ruth is also a mother to three happy, healthy, hyper and hilarious boys, Max, Oliver and Harper. Just about every post concerning these little guys makes me smile with familiarity (and I think I've even spotted one or two or all three of them on our favorite little show ;)). Needless to say, Ruth's a busy woman.

After catching up on Ruth and Davy, I knew right away that these Lovely, Love prints had to be for them. It just felt right. So I have decided that the proceeds from all of the Lovely, Love prints in my shop will go to Davy and her family for things such as hospital, medical, and doctor bills, medications, supplies, etc. (something I've since learned that they are always in need of, despite the success of the show). And to kick it off, I've decided to start spreading the love around by offering ONE FREE PRINT with every LOVELY, LOVE print purchase...all week long!! Just indicate which print you want for free in the comment section at check out and I'll be sure to mail them both off to you.

A very Happy Valentines day to all of you!! And get on over to the shop, and start your week off right by sharing a little love.

Mer

(all Ruth and Davy photos courtesy of the mom)

***And there are more prints now back in the shop! So sorry, I wasn't up to speed on things when Odeedoh posted about this, but now there should be plenty...so keep on spreading the love!

[A little color theory for...]

2011-01-31T01:00:00.025-05:00

Can I just say that any holiday that uses an overwhelming amount of saturated reds and pinks in it's celebration is OK by me?

As I was going through my Valentine inspiration files this year I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the powerful, strong colors popping off the pages. I was inspired...and the artist in me just want to dip my brush in and explore the variation and intensity of the wonderful hues.

So for this years Valentines cards, that is just what Little A and I did. We jumped right into a little "Color Theory 101", and ran with it.

I started us out by going through my acrylic craft paints, choosing a variation of beautiful reds (wine, cranberry, tomato, blood, etc.) and then threw in orange to warm things up and white to push us a little into the pink zone.

I then drew out a grid for us to place the various, scrumptious hues.

Little A got right to work. He was very interested in blending colors so we got to the pinks right away. From there I had him mostly work with one color at a time, blending here and there with other colors if he chose to. I was sure to point out the amazing, subtle variations that one hue, RED, could have. I also worked right alongside him, helping him fill in random squares throughout the grid.

He got really into it...taking things pretty seriously (as you can see here).

In no time at all, the entire grid was filled with delicious, eye popping colors.

It really was a little mini work of art. In fact, I almost hated the idea of cutting this up into little Valentines...I almost wanted to frame it and hang it on the wall!

Well cut away we did (but not until I scanned it in), creating little mini custom works of art for each of his classmates and teachers.

We then addressed the cards and fit them into business card size vellum envelopes (that I've had hanging around, and dying to use, for forever).

Of course no Valentine would be complete without a little candy, so we placed a decadent dove chocolate cherry swirl heart in each one (and can I just say yummy!).

I then added little conversation heart sayings to the front of each envelope using some of my favorite pens (these seriously come in SO handy. I'm addicted...and you will be too).

Little A and I had a wonderful afternoon creating these. In fact he's asked me a couple times since if we could make more valentines...

and hey...I'm all for spreading the love around...

...so much so that we have created a downloadable pdf version here for you to use if you don't have time to make one of your own. Just click here to get started.

(And if you are looking for more V-day fixes this year, check out our piratey Valentines downloads from last year (recently featured on Parent Map and Crafty Crow). They were a big hit with Little A's mateys!).

** All downloads are for personal use only. Please do not use for resale, or commercial production.

[the gifts of 2010]

2011-01-11T21:33:00.014-05:00

When Jon and I were dating he made me a bouquet of paper tiger lily's for Valentine's that I absolutely fell in love with (a great way to score some serious points with a budding art student, don't you think?!). And it so happens that I fell in love with him as well...and things only continued to bloom from there. It's now sort of become our thing - in the past nine years (whew! I know, can you believe it!) he's given me various lovely botanical creations in paper, copper, you name it.

In spite of all of this, nothing could have prepared me for the absolutely incredible paper flower creation, inspired by paper artist Jen Stark, Jon gave me this past Christmas for our $0 gift exchange. When I opened the package I was completely speechless. I had no idea he'd gone to such lengths to create such a stunning and beautiful piece of art. I'm so enamored with it.

We're now trying to figure out how to hang/display it. I'm not sure if we want to keep all the extra paper that fans out into a spiral or if we want to somehow cut it off (Jon wasn't sure so he left it for me to decide). I like it...but then I also like the idea of the focus just being on the flower. What do you guys think? Trim it, or leave it? And how to hang it? (All the petals are cut out from the paper beneath. No paper is, at this moment, adhered to another).

[the gifts of 2010]

2011-01-05T18:19:00.013-05:00

Jon and I decided we would loosely follow last year's $0 gift giving theme for Christmas 2010. Meaning: we would try create the gift with little or no $ but spending a little on supplies, etc. was allowed, if needed. I decided on a simple paper cut heart with a little saying that was meaningful to our family.

Our little family has a tradition of cranking up the music and joining together in an impromptu dance party. We do this whenever anyone initiates it. Someone cranks up a song and all are expected to stop whatever we are doing and go over to where the music is (typically on Jon's computer) and dance, dance, dance! One of our all time favorite dance party songs is the Yo Gabba Gabba's "Lovely, Love my Family" perfromed by the Roots.

So it only seemed fitting to use this song title for my gift. Jon loved it and we added it to our ever expanding wall of art (which is incredibly difficult to photograph well due to our "napping house" quality of light we've got going on here as well as the iridescent paint that the previous tenant put on the walls - which is very reflective...and I'm too lazy to repaint it...).

I also gave Jon a book of our 2010 Christmas photo shoot. There were so many great photos, thanks to Jordan, that needed to be recorded and enjoyed for years to come. I hadn't completed the heart cut out when I ordered the book so I simply added the title using type (although I wish it had the custom cut out letters).

The book did not fit into the $0 gift theme but I have to say I'm pretty proud of how much I did pay for it. I managed to purchase a $50 blurb voucher via Jasmere for $22 (score!) back in October. I was able to get a 12x12 inch book with the voucher and I couldn't be happier. I did end up paying a little more for matte pages, but with the discount, it was all still very affordable.

What a great way to record the happiness of this past year!

[Starting a New Year, and a...]

2011-01-05T17:51:00.013-05:00

Happy 2011! I hope all of you are rested and rejuvenated after spending time with friends and family and ready to take a on a new year. I love this time of year...it's a great time for change, for renewal and for reflection. And don't you just love to look back and reflect on the last year? When putting together my 2010 Christmas cards I just couldn't believe how much time has flown. My boys are getting so big and life is speeding by. This year I really want to do all I can to slow down and simplify - so that I don't miss the most important things in life - such as taking more moments to really spend quiet time with my littles, enjoying their individual personalities and cultivating their unique talents.

Having said that, I've found myself entering the new year with a very full plate. I've got a number of exciting projects already in the works that will keep me pretty busy this month, but I'll do my best to stay up to speed here on mermag, and check in when I can.

Thank you all for a wonderful 2010 year! Here's to another one ahead!

[A Very Merry...]

2010-12-24T13:23:00.006-05:00

Here are a few other origami box ideas along with a simple tree ornament I gave out as a gift this year.

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas Eve while you are putting in It's a Wonderful Life and sipping peppermint hot chocolate as you wrap up all your last minute gifts for your loved ones. Hope your season continues to truly be merry and bright!

(Oh, and while you're gobbling up your Trader Joe treasures, be sure to check out Marigold's and A Creative Mint's bag wrapping ideas inspired by this post. So great!)

[Thinking...]

2010-12-20T20:53:00.005-05:00

I can't believe there are only 5 days left until Christmas! Where has the time gone? Well, if you are like me and need a stress free (and fast!) treat idea for friends and family, look no further.

These super simple origami boxes filled with some delicious goodies are just thing to put a smile on their faces. And if you are more on the ball then I am, fill them with scrumptious confections straight from your kitchen. Otherwise, find some store bought delectables, add a bit of holiday trimming, and you are all set!

Now on to that sewing, wrapping, and last minute shopping I've got to do!

[cards for the teachers and a...]

2010-12-13T23:38:00.006-05:00

Good times were had at our family Christmas card photo shoot this year...and, thanks to the ever fabulous Jordan, the pics turned out great too! I'm a little late on the family and friend Christmas card front this year but I'm happy to report that we have little A's teacher cards completed and sent out (check that off the list!).

We went with simple origami Christmas trees made from pattered paper which we then adhered to blank white cards . Little A signed them and then we topped it of with possibly the best photo from the family shoot...

...that of Little A lounging with his feet up, chillin' on our chairs, hanging onto the Christmas wreath... Knowing his personality, his teachers will be sure to get a kick out of it.

Now on to the rest of my Christmas cards! (If only I was ambitious enough to do origami trees for all of these...)

(oh and I'll share more from the photo shoot later...after I've got my Christmas cards out :)).

[slow down, you move too fast. you've got to...]

2010-12-10T17:51:00.011-05:00

I've been trying to slow things down a little bit this year in an effort to make the most of the Christmas season and the priceless time I have with my little guys while they are young. It's really been great (if not a little bit hard) to let go of some things and just let the season sink in. As always I have a kagillion ideas for Christmas starting Dec. 1st and just want to run with them, i.e. - handmade ornaments, super fantastic handmade gifts for the boys, friends all my extended family, a gorgeously decorated home, delicious treats and goodies for all, you know, the list goes on (and on top of that, it's also a really busy time of year for illustration and my etsy shop...). While doing this stuff can definitely get me into the Christmas spirit, it can also stress me out if not kept in check. This year I really want to be sure to reflect, serve and really feel the Peace of the season. So we are keeping it simple.

I started this by letting go of the idea of creating a new, perfectly decorated tree and just let the kids go for it. It turned out to be a magical afternoon full of joy and merriment. Little A was ready to put the tree up just as soon as we got back from our Thanksgiving travels so we headed over to our local lot. The Christmas spirit must have been in the air because the kind salesman offered to let us name our price (he must have noticed our gawking stares when he told us just how much this little squatty tree originally went for). He then proceeded to pull out some santa hats for the boys so that our picture taking could be more festive. We were very thankful for his kind spirit which really set the mood for the rest of the day. (Which helps when I think of how my iphone was set down and then most likely swiped at IKEA yesterday...yeah I know, sad story).

The boys were very happy with their work and the Christmas spirit began to resonate throughout our home. Can I just say I love this time of year! Little O is walking around singing Jingle Bells and Little A is trying to figure out how Santa is supposed to get to our house if we don't have a chimney (he doesn't like the idea of him using the door...just doesn't seem right I guess).

And don't worry, I still have a few creative ideas I want to share, and you can hop on over to Giverslog to see what I'd slip into santa's sleigh for all of you if I could. Hope your season is feeling merry and bright!

[brown paper packages tied up with string...]

2010-12-01T13:34:00.006-05:00

If you are lucky enough to live by a Trader Joe's, or in my case right across the street from one (far too dangerously close to those Candy Cane Joe's Joe's!!), then you probably have seen their fantastic holiday paper bags. When Jon came home with a few the other night I couldn't help but swoon over the marvelous, whimsical illustrations that adorned their bags. Being a lover of brown paper, a fan of great art and design and an advocate for reusing great shopping bags I knew at once I had something here - beautiful wrapping paper right at my finger tips...and the best part...it was totally free!

After trying to do a search for the illustrator hired to do such lovely drawings, I soon discovered that I was really behind the times. Apparently Trader Joe's has had this same bag design since at least 2008 when the creative Katie Chambers of Ink&Post reused these bags and made some pretty fantastic DIY labels (which Design Sponge even covered...hello...where have I been?). I have to say, these are way cooler than my simple idea of wrapping paper...Thanks Katie for the inspiration (even if I am 2 years late!).

Oh, and I still haven't been able to find out who the illustrator/designer was on these so if anyone knows, pass it along.

Happy Re-giftwrapping!

[Cyber Monday Sale!]

2010-11-29T10:50:00.006-05:00

Hello friends! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and scored on a lot of great Black Friday deals (I actually got up at 4 AM this year for the first time and hit the shops with my sister! It was a blast!). But isn't it great that the sales don't stop there. I love this cyber Monday thing! So, just like last year, and in the spirit of it all I'm offering a free print with every print (or original portrait) purchase you make in my Etsy shop here. When you check out just enter promo code: CYBERSALE along with which print you want to have for free and I'll ship them off to you!

Happy cyber shopping!

(I'm on the road today, trying to get out of the Colorado and Utah snow back to sunny California! I'll try to keep the shop stocked as much as possible but if you see a print that you want that is not available when you want it, just convo me and I'll be sure you get it for the sale price).

[Little O turns 2!]

2010-11-10T02:10:00.011-05:00

Little O (formally know as Baby O...sigh...) recently turned two and we threw him a little Knights and Nobles birthday party, to coincide with his Halloween costume. With his b-day so close to Halloween we found that we need to either throw him a Halloween bash or a themed party based on his costume to make things easier during the holiday season. In fact, with how much I love to put together a party, and juggling between two boys, it became necessary to instill a new birthday tradition for our family. We will now rotate every year between a fun themed party with friends and a more low key, but equally exciting and special, day out with the family. This year was Little O's first big bash with friends.

I had seen a sort of table tent a while back that I had fallen in love with and had wanted to make one for the boys ever since. I finally got to it this year and it was perfect for the occasion.

I then made little dragon finger puppets as favors (I know, they look like horses...) popped a sucker inside, attached a name to each and hid them throughout the yard so that the littles could go on a dragon hunt and find their special dragon.

I had grand plans to make a cake but it sunk after coming out of the oven an hour before the party (I tried to make a really tall one...I guess that's what I get for trying to side step the multi-layer technique...) and so I quickly made some chocolate cupcakes instead which ended up working out perfectly.

We threw together a simple spread fit for a two year old - string cheese, crackers, grapes, juice and red vines - which were a great, drooly, messy hit with the little darlings (as if the chocolate cupcakes weren't messy enough!). And of course we brought out the boys Schleich castle and knights for decor/playing/what have you.

The highlight of the party (besides seeing all the little princes, princesses, knights, etc. in their garb) was Jon's puppet show he put on with his very own handmade dragon puppet (which I was super impressed with).

I'm pretty sure it was a big hit with all the littles as well - who proceeded to take turns puppeteering themselves with the coveted dragon and putting on performances.

Great fun was had by all. The rain stopped just in time for the event and I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.

Happy birthday my little baby!

[Halloween 2010]

2010-11-04T02:42:00.015-05:00

Knights, King Arthur, castles, dragons, etc....they are all a big deal at our house. In fact we keep the boys from fighting over their medieval acquisitions by giving all red knight paraphernalia to Little A and all things blue knight go to Little O. So it only seemed fitting that for this years tricks-or-treats the boys dress up as their attributed red and blue colored knights.

Jon had purchased this wonderful wooden sword and shield set in London way back when I was pregnant with Little A (I guess we know where this affinity for knights comes from). I was at first sad that we didn't have a second set for Little O but, as my mother pointed out, it was probably a good thing as too much real sword fighting would probably be going on.

The costumes were pretty simple to make and put together. I sewed both the boys coverlets using a vintage 70's art smock pattern and then hand drew (with fabric markers of course) shields with the boys attributed animals within (yes, we have a lot of identifying going in our house: colors, animals, you name it...we like themes I guess. Little O is the bear and Little A is the cat (and in this case, a Big Cat, or a lion).)

I sewed the hoods from a knight pattern that I already happened to have (and as you can see, Little O was not about to put his on) and then I just found grey shirts and pants to put on underneath. The hardest part of the costume was actually finding the boots. I found Little A's pair at Marshalls a while back but they didn't come in Little's O size so I was on the hunt for some time. I finally checked in at Target right before Halloween and they had the perfect black boots in Little O's size. Score!

Jon went as Robin Hood this year (he made his own bow and arrows and they were incredible!) and I was of course the medieval white cloaked ghost? or Maid Marion? or?...

Needless to say the boys loved every minute of it. The costumes, the imaginative play, the trick-or-treating, the candy eating...all of it!

(oh and in case you are wondering, I used the back side of the Halloween backdrop for this little photo shoot. So handy!).

[Trunk-or-Treat]

2010-11-04T01:39:00.008-05:00

I was asked to put together a Halloween photo booth for a trunk-or-treat after-party at our church this year. Being a fan of the photo booth movement, I was of course totally on board. I had grand plans for this but as the clocked ticked closer and closer to Halloween time seemed to melt away and the day of the trunk-or-treat arrived all too quickly. Using all of my available sheets for this ghost costume I was in need of a white back drop so I raced over to JoAnn's, the morning of, and managed to luck out with some great white vinyl home decor fabric on sale for $2.99 a yard! I gobbled up about 4 yards, grabbed a few sheets of black poster board and some wooden dowels and headed straight for the check out.

Upon arriving home, I got to work straight away. Jon helped me by finding some great font inspiration for the speech bubbles and called up a friend with photo backdrop equipment so that we could hang this thing. I quickly painted some spooky silhouettes in decorative frames, using both black craft acrylic paint and black tempera paint (the only kind of paint I had on hand for this). I then found an old rubber stamp and began stamping a wallpaper look behind the frames (with proper planning you could do this a lot better than I did and actually put the background pattern on before painting the frames...just a thought...)

It was hard to keep the Littles feet from dancing all over this but I somehow managed to get it finished just in the nick of time (just don't look too close!). Little A was delighted to see each scary creation come to life in the frames. His favorites were the googily eyed monster and Dracula (whom I was surprised to find him familiar with...)

While letting the backdrop dry I popped in Charlie Brown's - Great Pumpkin Halloween movie, to keep little feet from tromping all over everything, and I began work on the speech bubbles. I used some of Jon's font choices for "BOO!" and "EEK!" and just hand lettered the other titles. Little A was very excited to be able to read "EEK!" and "BOO!" so these speech bubbles naturally became his personal favorites.

We made it to the trunk-or-treat a little late, pulling up just in time to see a portrait of a queen come to life and suddenly reach through her frame to deliver candy to the startled trunk-or-treaters (totally awesome). Jon took the littles around the parking lot for round one while I went on into the gym to set up the photo both. Phew! I somehow managed to put it together with enough time to do a second round of trunk-or-treating with the boys.

When it was time to close up trunk we all headed indoors for donuts, homemade root beer, pumpkin bowling, pin the mouth on the bat, Halloween fishing and of course costumed photo shoots. All in all I think it worked out...and can I just say...so glad to have this all ready for next year!

[Gifted Magazine!]

2010-11-01T16:44:00.004-05:00

Hello friends! I'm so excited to share with you the fabulous holiday online magazine, Gifted, that the extraordinary Ez, of Creature Comforts blog, has put together just in time for us to start thinking about our 2010 holiday gift giving. She was so kind to invite me to be apart of the incredible line up of interviews which focus on everything from favorite holiday songs to how to stay sane during the hustle and bustle of the season. To read my, and many other incredible bloggers, thoughts on the holiday season, hop on over to Gifted now!

There are also several DIY tutorials and incredible gift round ups that you won't want to miss. Thanks EZ so much for for putting this gem together! I already feel on top of things this year thanks to this amazing publication.

[Last minute ghost costume: how-to]

2010-10-29T00:37:00.008-05:00

If you're like me and are slightly manic about what you want to be for Halloween (Frida Kahlo? Liz Lemon from 30 Rock? Cool spooky ghost?) and have been waiting up to the very the last minute to put something together, well you're in luck. With this simple hooded cloak ghost costume (made from two twin sheets) you'll be haunting the halls in no time!

Step 1. Grab two white twin sheets (I purchased mine from Ikea).

Step 2. Sew them together length wise. Cut out a head hole in the very center of both sheets (or do like I did and just seam rip the center stitches until your head can fit through and you are comfortable with the size of the hole).

Step 3. Fold fabric in fourths so that the head hole is in upper right hand corner.

Step 4. Trim corner opposite of head hole, rounding out the base of the cloak.

Steps 5 & 6. Using remaining, trimmed fabric, cut two semicircles for hood (you can measure from the high forehead to the base of your neck and then add 3 inches of ease of just eye it based on how large you want it to be).

Step 7. Sew semicircles together stoping about two thirds of the way through (this will be the neck area where you will attach the cloak). Hem edges of hood.

Step 8. Sew hood onto cloak at the neck hole - leaving a bit of room at the base of the neck for tie.

Step 9. Sew ribbons on to each side of the neck hole at the base of the hood for tie. Place your costume on, add a bit of ghoulish make up and let the haunting begin!

This concludes our 5 full days of Halloween marathon! I hope you have been frightfully inspired.

Happy haunting this Halloween weekend!!

[oldie but goodie...]

2010-10-28T14:56:00.006-05:00

For day four, of our five days of Halloween, I bring you an oldie but goodie - paper snowflake pumpkins! Making these fun and festive paper decorations has become an annual family favorite for us. So gather around your little ghouls, grab your scissors, decorative papers and loads of imagination and your sure to have frightful, delightful time crafting each unique and surprising spooky face!

For how-to instructions, click here.

And for a few more Halloween oldie's but goodies click here and here.

[pumpkin cream pies and...]

2010-10-27T02:51:00.009-05:00

Jon and I have been stuffing our selves silly on some pretty fantastic pumpkin cream pies (also know as pumpkin whoopie pies) and we've been loving every bite of it. But what's Halloween if not a time to share our sugary loot with others?

So I got to work putting together some origami treat boxes (using my sister's fab tutorial here) so that we could share our baking delights with those we so hauntingly adore. These boxes are deceptively simple to make and quite addictive (...almost as addictive as these cookies!).

For the boxes I used 12"x12" scrap book paper but, as my little sis frequently does, you can use wallpaper- or really just about any paper that has a stiffness to it. Add a bit of wax paper, a couple of cookies and you're set.

Top it all off with a few embellishments and you are ready to share your tricks and treats with all your ghoulish friends!

[from paper bags...]

2010-10-26T11:51:00.003-05:00

OK ladies, like we need another excuse to go shoe shopping. But it certainly doesn't hurt if we know we will be reusing our shopping bag afterwards, right!? I've been particularly fond of this DSW striped shoe bag for sometime and have been saving it for just the right project. I think I finally found it! So today, for my second Halloween installment, I'm sharing with you how to make these super easy, super cute bat holders out of a cardboard tube, a little paint and a paper bag (or any other fun, thick paper you have lying around). This project is a fun and easy project for your kids to do as well.

First thing you do is cut the card board tube down to the size you want (you can use old paper towel or toilet paper rolls, etc.). Then you paint the tubes with black craft acrylic paint. While the paint is drying, cut out some bat wing shapes out of your bag/paper. (Because this bag has been around for sometime, it's a little wrinkled, but yours will most likely be smooth). Be sure to leave a little extra room where the wing will be attached to the cardboard roll as that part will be folded over and attached to the roll. Now cut two small black triangles for the bat ears.

Once the tube dries, go back and paint a simple bat face using white craft acrylic paint. After that dries, adhere the bat wings onto the body of the bat by folding over a bit of the wing and placing adhesive on the folded tab (I used glue dots for this but you could use simple elmer's glue). Place a dot of adhesive to each bat ear and then adhere them to the inside of tube wherever you want your ears. Give it a moment for the adhesive to do it's magic and then, voila! you have yourself a fun little bat in a matter of minutes!

The real batty magic happens when you decide just want to do with these little bats. You could use them as finger puppets and put on a spooky show or just set them out as a Halloween decoration but I really like their utilitarian value. For example they make great napkin holders and would be darling as a last minute addition to a haunted feast!

Or my personal favorite, candy holders. Don't you think these would make great favors at a Halloween party or serve as a fun way to package a treat for coworker, friend, etc. ?

In fact, they are so enticing they won't stay around for long. Watch our for little hands trying to sneak away with the candy!

[five full days of Halloween!]

2010-10-24T23:09:00.011-05:00

OK, the countdown is on. Whether you're scrambling to finish up your last minute costume preparations, parading through corn mazes, carving out those carefully selected pumpkin patch treasures or gathering with friends and family for hot cider, apple bobbing and spooky movie marathons...Halloween is in the air! And isn't it about time for Mermag to reflect that? Yes, Yes, Yes!! In fact, I have so much to make up for that I'm doing five straight days of Halloween! (a Mermag first)! So everyday for five days, starting today, I will post one fun Halloween craft, idea, activity, goodie, etc. to help you count down the last few goulish days before Tricks and Treats!

To start the countdown off I'm sharing a fun little felt pumpkin activity that has kept my Littles (and myself) entertained for hours. It's easy and pretty fast to make - always a win win combination. Simply cut out one or two (or however many you like) simple pumpkin shapes out of felt (I like having a tall one and a shortie to keep things interesting). Then grab your scissors and continue to snip away at various colors of felt, creating features and accessories for your little pumpkin pals.

I personally like the free style cutting approach as it adds a bit of character so don't be afraid to just cut away and see what you come up with. If you are someone who likes things more uniform you can always draw out your shapes first either on paper (to then be used as a pattern) or right on the felt before cutting.

It's so much fun to see these little pumpkins come to life and the combinations are truly endless. And...I must confess, for as much fun as my Littles are having, I think I'm the one who has become a bit obsessed with it (the more combinations I make, the more ideas I have...so I just keep cutting!). Little A has taken to scolding me randomly so that I'll leave it alone for a bit and let him have a go at it!

[summer round up: part 3] (final installment)

2010-10-21T17:40:00.007-05:00

OK, I know your thinking..."Um, Mermag, I'm sipping hot apple cider in a chunky sweater and curling up inside with a good book, thinking of my final Halloween preparations...so why are you posting about summer?" Good question readers! All I can say is that this is the last summer installment and we are off to more appropriate spooky and chilly subject matter. I promise!!

So...moving right along...

It's sort of become a tradition for us to have a little family photo shoot during our themed 4th of July festivities, and this year was no different. Following a sort of vintage Hawaiian (meets I'm not sure what?) we hammed it up in front of the camera. My little sister and her artist husband were kind enough to take a few shots for us in the middle of a misty drizzle and various children running this way and that. Thanks guys!

The above pics is one of my favs as it shows life as it really is: Jon and I trying to blissfully ignore the tormenting and fighting that goes on daily between my sweet littles. And speaking of littles...my baby is 2 today!!! I can't believe it. So I'm off to celebrate the rest of the day with him and family!

...Oh and I'll be back soon with Halloween goodies...and hopefully a birthday party wrap up!

[summer round up: part 2]

2010-10-11T02:30:00.005-05:00

Aloha! I know we are well into October, and Halloween in on the radar...So...the only thing I can say is that I have to hurry and get this summer round up completed so I can delve into skeletons bones and black cauldrons!

Shortly after the super-hero reunion we made our way out to Colorado for a patriotic 4th of July weekend with a Hawaiian luau twist...Allred style. My fabulous mother and sister, D-lyn, did most of the party prep creating giant, brightly colored surfboards that were used as benches (and then for photo back drops), organizing our annual hot dog bar, making fishing booths and lolli-pop ring toss games for the kiddos, adorning everything with grass skirts and much, much more (D-lyn even managed to make her very own vintage swim suit!).

The kids enjoyed the day show complete with colored fireworks and Mentos and Diet Coke explosions. D-lyn taught all the little girls Hulu lessons (after becoming a self-trained instructor via library videos) which they were head-over-heels for. There was also a lot of swimming, slip-and-sliding, chatting, eating, reminiscing, giggling, running, playing, laughing, chasing, movie watching, napping, game playing, fire work watching and more going on throughout the weekend. I can't think of a more perfect way to have celebrated the 4th. (Although we all agree that for next year's theme, we're going to have to keep to the red, white and blue color scheme...makes things really feel more patriotic...naturally. Plans for a nautical/pirate 2011 4th of July are in the works...I mean, it just wouldn't be an Allred party if we didn't put a slant on it...right?).

[summer round up: part 1]

2010-09-28T16:06:00.013-05:00

With yesterday reaching a record high of 113 degrees in the LA area (HOT, people...HOT!), I felt it only appropriate to begin my 2010 summer round up series. You might have noticed that I was a little MIA during the summer months, but that doesn't mean I didn't have lots to share with you all. I simply wanted to soak up all the fun, and all the sun (yeah, 'cause it's not like it isn't hot for like...the entire fall season here or anything...) before getting back into the swing of things with school, work, holidays, blogging, etc.

To start things off with a bang I wanted to share with you the stellar Liddiard family reunion that Jon's sister, Karen (cute girl in the middle of all her brothers in the pic below), hosted for the family. She chose a super hero theme and flew with it. I was asked to help out with a few things and I was more than happy to indulge my inner party planner.

Upon arrival Karen greeted and presented each family with custom made reunion t-shirts with "Liddiard Man" on them that read "Truth, Justice and the Liddiard Way". Everyone then colored in the shirts by using fabric markers (genius Karen!), which was a huge hit with both kids and adults alike. Each family brought their own capes (I made ours, seen in the first two pics) which, when teamed up with the new t-shirts, made an incredible super hero sea of reds, yellows and blues.

Karen borrowed a giant blow up slide for the occasion and the kids were happy to show off their mad super powers all while keeping cool. I created a make shift "photo booth" complete with speech bubbles so that the supers could communicate what was really on their minds. I also wrapped each table in banner paper and then drew on comic strip boxes for everyone to share or create their own incredible stories.

The afternoon continued with scrumptious food, oreo cookie eating contests, talent shows and good times with the cousins. Probably the highlight of the event was when we celebrated Jon's father, Don, who recently retired, with a personalized superhero book. I was in charge of compiling and designing the book, which was an honor (It became a wonderful way to learn more about my in-laws which made me love and appreciate them all the more). The book consisted of photos from Don's early years, family photos, admiring words and stories from all the kids and their spouses. He seemed genuinely pleased with the gift and I was happy to be even a small part of it.

The night concluded with an outdoor showing of The Incredibles complete with movie popcorn and red vines. It truly was an amazing day and I left feeling happy to be able to be a part of this true family of Incredibles!

[a haircut + a backpack + a pose =]

2010-09-13T14:42:00.008-05:00

If you are like me, you are thinking "where on earth did the summer go?" or "how is my little one growing up without my permission?". I know for many of you school has been in session for a few weeks already but for us Little A's preschool officially starts on Wed. which means, haircuts, earthquake backpack kits, and some serious deep sighs and misty eyes while thinking of how time just keeps on going by...and way too fast.

When Little A heard it was haircut time (he has been complaining about not being able to see so I hesitantly resigned to trimming his light golden tresses...) he had a very specific step-by-step approach of how it would all go down. First off he pulled his chair over to my computer (where I had several haircut inspiration pics up), told me he wanted to watch a hair cutting show and would like the usual lolli to accompany it. Then before I could make a snip he ran and got a marker and some tag board and drew his own version of what he wanted his haircut to look like (as seen above). As impeccable as his taste is, I decided not to go for the crew cut look...but we did shorten things up a bit. As for the entertainment, we settled on James and the Giant Peach and a Trader Joe's organic lollipop (he'll never know it was left over from my Valentines Day stash) and we got to work.

First stop to show off new do: preschool treasure hunt. Even though it wasn't his "official" first day of school we took pics (complete with Jon's studious faux glasses) before the event.

After I had taken a few snap shots he exclaimed "I know mommy, like this!" and he proceeded to give me the rockin' pose shown above. And then "Oh wait mommy! This is it! It's really cool. Take a picture of me!" (as seen in pose below).

And last but not least, the earthquake backpack kit. OK, so if you want to look at how perfect your life already is and appreciate everything you already have, before anything terrible might happen to you or your family, just make an earthquake backpack kit for your child. Yeah, you'll reevaluate your priorities. After compiling a mini-photo album full of happy times, goofy faces, familiar places, etc. with the intent to calm, sooth and comfort my four year old in a possible scary time I couldn't help but get emotional. And then to write him a little note of comfort...and imagine him reading it...well that just about sent me over the edge. And a good wake up call. Now I look at my little ones with renewed gratitude and love. It's easier now not to see them as pestering, whining, mess making machines that are constantly interrupting my chi and let's be honest, destroying my house. No, now I easily see little angels full of happiness and humor, interesting conversationalists, precious bodies to hug and snuggle and pure, perfect joy. Yes Joy.

Wishing you all happy school days ahead!

(If you are interested, I used this simple tutorial for the drawstring backpack).

[Easy Breezy...]

2010-09-10T17:10:00.007-05:00

OK, so summer is officially coming to an end...which makes the nights a bit more chilly and (in my opinion) absolutely perfect. And what could be more sublime for a breezy night than a light weight cowl scarf? And one that is so super easy to make? Even better. In fact, you probably don't even need a tutorial but here one is anyway!...which will hopefully make things extra simple.

STEP 1. Purchase 1/4 to 1/2 yard of some lovely light weight cotton or sheer fabric (make sure the bolt is 60" fabric or it will be a very tight cowl). I purchased the above breezy cotton fabric from Mood Fabrics in LA for my birthday this past April and was elated to finally decide on something to create with such scrumptious material.

STEP 2. Fold fabric in half with wrong sides together.

STEP 3. Stitch fabric together at the end.

STEP 4. Now for the only slightly tricky part. Turn the fabric inside out, press and sew the seam again, creating what's called a french seam (if you need a tutorial for this you can find one here). Then hem the sides of the scarf by turning over the raw edges 2x's (about 1/4 of inch or less) and stitch.

STEP 5. Your scarf is complete! To drape the scarf, simply place it over your head and around your neck, twist and loop, then place the remaining loop over your head once more and, voila! You are set for a breezy end-of-summer night under the stars.

*And for fall and winter, pick a heavier weight fabric, grab some hot chocolate and you are ready to fight the cold!

[incredible prices...]

2010-08-23T13:39:00.005-05:00

My good friend Jordan Daines has had a delectable grouping of enviable artwork stashed in her kitchen that I have wanted to get my hands on for some time. Well lucky for us she's hauling them out and offering them up for auction...with starting bids that will make you squeal with delight!

Jordan's husband Matt (picture of the super fab couple above) is working on his architectural thesis and Jordan has offered to help with the cost by parting with many of her much loved works of art. Thanks Jordan!! I'm going to have reign myself in a bit because I can think of, oh at least 5 paintings that I'm pretty sure I simply MUST have.

I'm pretty sure there are a few that you simply must have as well...so hop on over to her blog and let the bidding wars begin!

[coconut cream donut...]

2010-08-05T16:29:00.003-05:00

When I asked Little A what kind of cake we should make for Jon's birthday he said immediately and emphatically "a coconut cream donut cake!". Jon and I looked at each other wide eyed, laughed and then smiled. Jon was definitely on board. I thought I would have to make this "cake" up but we managed to find a recipe for "coconut cream donuts". We couldn't find any coconut cream so we filled them with banana pudding (an interesting and yet still scrumptious variation).

They took a long time due to all the episodes of risings required but they were very fun to make. I've never deep fried anything before and let me tell you it was especially satisfying dropping the dough into a pot of hot oil and then watching it brown and "inflate".

My favorite was the donut itself just after cooling down a bit, with a little icing. Yum. Little A was just all about the coconut and the icing on top (as was his brother). Jon loved the entire donut. I'd say it was a great alternative to the traditional birthday cake. Thanks Little A for the inspiration!

I also thought I'd share another little gift I made for Jon on his day. I used an old typewriter that a friend gave me and wrote 34 different "titles" that Jon currently holds, such as "father", "actor", "friend", "teacher" and so on. I then turned them into little white flags and then stitched little flag poles with white thread. It was fun and simple way to celebrate Jon and all that he's accomplished thus far in his life.

Can I just say I love birthdays?

[wishing the happiest of birthdays to...]

2010-08-03T12:45:00.006-05:00

We are planning on having a fun filled day with our birthday boy today. I'm thinking a little Despicable Me, a little Thai food and a little present giving should make the day merry and cheerful. Oh and Coconut Cream Donut "cake" as requested by little A (and heartily agreed to by Jon. Little A just made it up on the fly but we actually found a recipe for this in donut form. Sounds delish).

I made the above card for Jon and we presented it to him complete with a champion breakfast-in-bed comprised of cinnamon toast crunch, milk and a banana. Add a balloon or two and we are ready to start our birthday celebrations!

I love you Jon. Happy Birthday!

[two new prints...]

2010-07-29T00:32:00.004-05:00

I've been playing around with watercolors lately and these two paintings, Beth of Billings Hill and Eleanor, are the result of some of my experimenting. I'm really becoming quite the fan of watercolor and gouache. I've always been an acrylic kind of girl when it comes to painting, so it's been a fun challenge to mix things up a bit and explore these mediums.

Hop on over to the shop and check these new gals out.