A Hip Handmade Holiday

No doubt if you read craft (or even lifestyle and design) blogs chances are you are going to hear about A Hip Handmade Holiday. I am in constant awe of people creating deliberate and well-designed craft projects with a purpose like these two savvy crafting gals I know Susan and Alison.

They created this meaningful and stylish holiday gift idea guide with all the DIY instructions your little heart could fancy. It is really great, full of multiple ideas to make a beautiful unique and handmade statement for the holidays.

Cool part is that you can create gifts for people on your list for $10 or less, and the book download itself is also only $10. Learn more about it here. I may have to join the Craft Pack and get my craft on with you crafters, when you can achieve amazing results like this. Bravo ladies and gent!

Neon Party

All of the details of this neon kids' party put on by Eunice and Sabrina of Hello Lucky is spot on.  See more of the photos here at Apartment Therapy.
 

// photos by Modern Kids Co.

Music Monday: The Lumineers

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, one of the highlights of mine was attending the lovely Kinfolk Dinner/Brunch in San Francisco that I hope to share more of later today. To kick of Monday with a little music I wanted to share a band I recently came across called the Lumineers, with their song called Ho Hey which is a sweet little ditty about being someone's sweetheart. I am enjoying their overall sound, it's pretty nice. Enjoy.

Music Monday : Scissor Sisters

Our five year old daughter has been seriously obsessed with horses for a few years. The other day she expressed again how excited she is to grow up so she can live on a farm with horses and be a real cowgirl. This "Only the Horses" by Scissor Sisters suits her well, I am excited to share it with her and I hope you will enjoy it too. Here's to a little upbeat Music Monday happiness.

Music Monday : Bahamas

This acoustic version of the song 'Lost in the Light' by Bahamas is helping my Monday morning get going in a soothing way. I just bought the album Barchords and can't wait to listen to it all the way through. Toronto-based Afie Jurvanen has such an amazing sound, I can't wait to hear more. Hope you had a nice weekend, and you are off to a great start!

Seattle...

We are still hanging out in the Pacific Northwest for spring break and having a great time. The girls were pretty giddy about their first Ferry ride today, they couldn't have loved it more.

Inside Nature : Illumination

Images : 1: Fireflies 2: Outdoor Lighting by Bruce Munro

Parties in a box

Want to send some snail mail to a friend or loved one? Melanie from You Are My Fave has the best 'Parties in a Box' ideas, seriously Paris in a Box?! Love. A Saint Patrick's Day one, fantastic. She has definitely inspired my brain.

(All photos from You Are My Fave)

Noosa Yoghurt

I kind of have a thing for yogurt, if you follow me on instagram (or other posts) you will see the variety I like to try.

The other day I was struck in the yogurt aisle by something new I haven't seen before, Noosa yoghurt. The pretty packaged cream-cheese sized container (which serves 2) stood out amongst the yogurt crowd. I was also delighted by the g'day cow greeting on the inner sealed label, talk about attention to detail. I got honey and raspberry and it is a different consistency of yogurt than I am used to, like panna cotta creaminess, I really love it. It's not as thick as Greek, not too soft like European, but just right - Aussie style made in Colorado. Hello to my new scrumptious favorite yogurt!

Do you have a favorite yogurt that you have tried lately? If you see Noosa around give it a whirl and tell me what you think.

Inside Nature: Repetition

1: Pine cone photo by Cobalt123
2: Crimean Pinecone Lamp by Pavel Eekra

"Nature is an endless combination and repetition of a very few laws. She hums the old well-known air through innumerable variations." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good Day.

Have a bright and cherry weekend! Hope it is full of happiness and color.

1: Megan Geckler
2: Rachel Castle

Music Monday : Top 10 Musical Discoveries of 2011

I hope you had a nice holiday break, we sure did and are working on getting back into the normal flow. Flashing back over the past year, I came up with a list of my top ten favorite music discoveries of 2011 and did my best to sum each selection up in a few words. What about you? Do you have a band, artist or song that stood out to you in 2011, do share. Next week for Music Monday I will share my top albums of the year!

1: Oh Land - Hip Danish futurist.
2: Metronomy - Cool British Electronica mixing it up since the late 90s.
3: Keren Ann - Multicultural French wow.
4: Matt Corby - Perhaps he is Jeff Buckley, Bon Iver and Nick Drake's nephew.
5: Youth Lagoon - Airy eerie nostalgia.

6: Toro Y Moi - Quirky.
7: Starsmith - Chill electronica.
8: Ben Howard - Acoustic melting road trip music.
9: Bombay Bicycle Club - Adorable boy next door band with a new release.
10: Young Galaxy - Interesting dance pop eclectic.

Feeling a little glitzy...

1: Sportmax S/S 2012 Runway Details from Monsieur J
2: Free People sequin button down (via my friend Holly)

Music Monday : The Black Keys

This is a great music clip to watch on a Monday, I'm digging this guy's nice dance moves. The Black Keys has me smiling real big today. Hope you had a nice weekend.

The World's Smallest Post Service Kit

We have this ongoing joke in our family that when you call something 'cute' it has to reference something miniature and tiny. You know like babies, kittens, puppies, these teeny-tiny macarons or mini burgers and fries. I can hear echoes of our daughter saying, "sooooo cute, cute, and cuuuute!" to all of the above. 

A little while ago I remember sharing these teeny-tiny custom letters that Lea Redmond created that set off my 'tiny cute radar' back then, and have remained on my gift idea list. Then recently... voila! Lea in conjuction with Chronicle Books came out with a Tiny Mail Stationery Kit that allows anyone to create their very own bundle of miniature cuteness. The kit supplies items to write those itty bitty letters and make little gift boxes to share with others. Check out this clip to see what I mean, talk about hip, hip, cool. Wouldn't you love to give or receive a tiny letter, how memorable would that be?!

Trying to think of what to say in such a limited space? This excerpt from one of Lea's custom letters may help inspire you to get the ball rolling and is so adorable.

"To my wife who is my all. I send this card so very small. And though it's held by fingertips. The love inside could sink ten ships."

GIVEAWAY ALERT: Enter to win a Tiny Mail Stationery Kit! Leave a comment below and a winner will be randomly selected and notified on Monday and I will update this post with the winner's name as well. Good luck. You can also find the kit to buy here if you want.

I am happy be part of The World's Smallest Post Service's blog tour  - which included : Simple Lovely >  Refinery 29 > Fete a Fete > Oh My Handmade.

*Update: Jen is the lucky randomly selected winner which I will contact via email. // Comments are now closed.

Top 25 Christmas Books for 2011 part 2

A continuation of Christmas Books for our Advent countdown (Part 1 here). See all of the titles below:

Read more »

Paper Animals

These paper cut animals created by Andy MacGregor caught my eye this morning, aren't they delightful. See a few more animals here too.

Joy to the World

I love the fantastic map print that Angela did that you can download complimentary on her site. (Wow, thanks Angela!) She was inspired by Emily of Secrets from a Stylist and this beautiful simple idea makes such a nice statement. I'm still a huge fan of most anything dealing with maps, globes etc.

(top photo : Angela Hardison // bottom photo: Emily Henderson)

Music Monday : Theme Park

Theme Park is up for Music Monday today, I'm enjoying their British sound and this quirky video. Hope you had a nice weekend and are having a great Monday.

Top 25 Christmas Books for 2011 part 1

A friend told me about a special tradition she does with Christmas and winter holiday books. She wraps them up for her young children and starting on December 1st they open one book to read each evening as a sort of Advent Book Celebration. Since then I've seen many other people online partake in this tradition and I've always thought it was really cool.

This year we decided to join in and try this out. I have collected a few holiday books over time from bookstores and thrift shops, but many also came from the local library.

I love that anyone can do this idea, it is something that can end up costing zilch, (thanks to libraries or swapping with friends) and is totally adaptable to what you like. I'm usually partial to classic or heartwarming well-illustrated titles.

Here is part one of our Advent books for 2011.

1 A Christmas Carol - I enjoy the mysterious illustrations by Brett Helquist that pair well with Dickens' style.

2 The Reindeer Christmas - This story by Moe Price about how Santa decided to choose reindeers to pull his sleigh opposed to alligators or elephants is charming and superbly illustrated by Japanese artist Atsuko Morozumi. I got this title at the library but it is so gorgeous I'm putting it on our wish list.

3 Merry Christmas Strega Nona - I am a fan of Tomie DePaola 70's illustration style and this title is about surprise acts of kindness.

4 How the Grinch Stole Christmas - A classic! The movie is a hoot too, I love Dr. Suess. We will probably watch the cartoon edition movie this season too.

5 A Penguin Story - More of a winter selection, but I love penguins and this graphic illustration style by Antoinette Portis. It is also nice to throw some shorter titles in the mix for our little ones. I like that the main character is all about exploration and seeking out new adventures.

6 Hans Brinker - We used to watch this movie growing up around Christmas so I am excited to share this endearing story with our girls, really pretty art inside too.

7 The Snowy Day - Another classic, can you believe it has been around for 50 years?! A title geared to small ones, also award winning.

8 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey - I went to this play a few years back and ever since then have loved the tender story about healing and love, the illustrations by P.J. Lynch are beautiful too.

I have more selections to share coming your way, but would love to hear about your favorites!