Cardboard Safari

Thought these were a modern, animal friendly way of getting the look of a bust. Added bonus- your kids can help you put them together. Buy them here at Cardboard Safari.

My new blog!

I'm sorry for the lack of post yesterday. But I do have a perfectly good excuse and that is....GROSGRAIN! My new blog devoted to sewing. Please, check it out. I have a fabulous post about a new reversible dress I designed. More cute than anything in Gymboree, I swear.

See it at: http://grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/

Not too modern not too disney

Both lily and molly have had beautiful origami mobiles made just for them. However, I don't think I'll ever have it in me to ever make another one. They can be highly tedious and frustrating. I did find a couple really unique, completely disney-free mobiles sure to prompt guests to ask whereever you bought it. They look like something you might see at MOMA but really affordable. Something about me prefers the ugly duckling. Buy them here at Modern Nursery.

Vintage wallpaper. Animal shapes. Who could resist?

I just love this idea. Vintage wallpaper, hand-cut and reprinted, into different animals and flora. Find them here at Romp!

Another duty to neglect

Shirking the small details makes more of a difference than you'd probably imagine. My fingernails are always black and chipped from some project I'm in the middle of completing and the balls of my feet are always rough and dirty from walking barefoot all day. To the average daily encounter I must look like I don't bathe for weeks. I've *never* had a professional manicure in my life let alone a pedicure. So that's why the theme of our bi-weekly MOPS meeting was right up my alley. They say pedicures and manicures are as much about relaxation as they are about the aesthetics of having nice-looking nails. See my introduction to the world of pampered rituals above (I'm wearing black) By the looks of things, some of us start earlier than others. How cute!

If I were three again....

I've always been a fan of leaving a child's room looking like a room rather than creating a tacky "theme". But looking at this space makes makes me want to change my mind and convert our upstairs office into another bedroom. Perhaps when Molly gets older. Although, it would be a sad day when you'd have to paint over the walls in lieu of some N'Sync-ish poster and blinking string lights. See how she did it here!

Like mommy like daughter.

I just bought this FABULOUS dress at Target on sale for ONLY $11.48 (online for $45) which reminded me of a post DesignMom published a couple weeks ago about this darling designer of children's dresses-

Ses Petites Mains. Their dresses would totally go with my new Issac Mizarahi find. Their prices are really high but what else would you expect from a small designer with a french name?

A place to hang your heart.

These are just the most charming hangers. Picture a child's white linen dress hanging from their shoulders. You can buy them here.

It's a beautiful day. Don't let it get away.

To celebrate earth day I met Brian on his lunchbreak and had a picnic out on the riverfront (well, okay Earth Day might have been incidental) BUT we did throw away our garbage after we were done. I noted that leaving our trash *might* give the hoards of elementary school children with their white plastic bags something to do but Brian was too lily-livered. As far as earth days go I think this one was near the top. The weather was great! Sunny, not too hot, not too cold....maybe a tad breezy but still pretty close to perfect. And the trees were GORGEOUSO!! The brightest blossoms I think I've *ever* seen. Brian enjoyed his surprise 'fantasy baseball' tee and I took a lot of photos with our mouths full of Panera....but kept those out of the blog. No one needs to see that.

Fetching florals, feathers and field sparrows for your spring coif.

After reading an Oh happy day! post. I felt inspired to peruse etsy in search of some lovely hairpieces appropriate for adorning your coif in that spring sunlight. Here are some of my fetching finds. Just click on the picture to be taken directly to the selling url. Enjoy:)

Look fashionable while sporting a black eye;)

Step back into the fifties with these *cool* vintage ice bags. Good for headaches, backaches and booboos. Just like grandma used to have....but with better fabric! Look fashionable while sporting a black eye;) You can buy them here!

Pretty things for my car

When you learn to sew it is both a boon and a burden. Suddenly all those cute things you might have bought without any physical effort other than typing in your credit card number become 70% cheaper if you sew it yourself. Case in point- my previous car seat cover post. After looking at all those yummy fabrics I got jealous and dreamt of having one myself. The price was a little steep for me to sink a chunk of my very limited capital into, so I sifted through the simplicity stacks and found pattern 4636. Whatja think? Lily was so excited to sit in it she barely let me put on the final touches. I've been thinking about making one for Molly but I'll have to cut my own pattern for an infant version with hood. Now that I finally got my cigarette lighter fixed, the new seat will go nice with my new XM:) No more five year old Beyonce. Fred, Ethel and Lucy here I come.
Oh one more thing, the simplicity pattern came with a shopping cart cover. I might try that one next. If you have any questions about the pattern just send me a message or comment!

Where the line blurs.......

It looks as though something awful has happened in lily's dollhouse. Talk about make-believe imitating life. The tiny plastic people leave their toys on the floor, throw their blankets off the bed and knock over furniture, too lazy to do anything about the growing chaos. At first sight it looks as though the place has been burglarized in the middle of the night- door kicked in, parents lying unconscience on the floor, tables and chairs overturned. I pointed this out to Brian who got a small kick out of the idea. Today, I turned the house around so that all the clutter lay well hidden. If only real-life were as effortless.

Some ideas to make your life easier

This looks great for mommies on the go. You could feed your child without a messy open container. Either in the backseat on a long car ride, a picnic or just for everyday feeding. Whatever. Thought I'd give it a shout out. You can buy it here.






This looked so useful too! I know my daughter has (perhaps literally) a million stuffed animals. I don't have any room for them and I can't bring myself to give them away so they are constantly encroching on the order of things. This product will take care of two birds with one stone. Soft seating/stuffed animal storage. Comes in different sizes and colors. Buy them here.

Spring Picnic

Today was the warmest day of the year (so far). We didn't have any grand plans so we spent the afternoon eating a picnic lunch in the backyard. Molly enjoyed the outdoors, spellbound by all the sights and sounds she doesn't experience indoors.

We had fried chicken and french fries. Lily of course ate one bite and didn't want anymore, requested an apple, ate five bites then said she was full. Ugh. We finished the lunch by adorning our hair with flowers and throwing the apple to the birds.