I am decidedly the opposite of a hoarder. Upon my death, or during my lifetime, you’ll never find a houseful of gathered up this’s and that’s, Collyer Brothers-style . To the contrary. I’m a bit of a compulsive discarder (much to my husband’s chagrin). If I’m not using it, wearing it, eating it, or otherwise,…
in the chaos of the holiday season i cherish quiet moments where you can stop, think and take everything in. these photographs from jennifer squires remind me of exactly that. jennifer’s new series of seascape shots were all taken while sitting alone on the beach waiting for the sun to rise. i love the sense…
it’s been such a pleasure to have blair from wisecraft over at the d*s guest blog this week. today she’s leaving us with some wonderful ideas for homemade decorations- my favorite part of the holiday season. as much as gift guides are a part of the holidays, i’m always most excited to get those out…
I have torn pages from magazines for years and tucked them away in folders and notebooks I keep in my studio. I thought I would go through them (its been a while) and pull together some holiday decorating inspiration for us all to enjoy. (The original source is noted when I have it.) Enjoy! *Living…
This week we put on our warm sweaters and headed out to the Skyline Ranch Tree Farm to take part in a classic holiday tradition: choosing and cutting down our own Christmas tree. Although it may not seem to be the “green” thing to do, cutting your own Christmas tree actually turns out to be…
interior designer betsy maddox has taken a page from the scandinavian style book, when designing her chicago home – and rightly so. nothing quite warms up a space like white walls, light colored floors, and pale colors. (and after spending 3 winters in chicago, i can say with some authority, that warming up is definitely…
this next before & after comes from jelena of poppyseed creative living. jelena recently left her 9-5 corporate job to pursue a career in design and refurbishing found furniture, and this beautiful yellow dresser was one of her recent projects. after cleaning up the frame, jelena applied a coat of yellow paint and distressed the…
designer will means has already shown us the beautiful before & after work he’s capable of, so i was excited to see another email from him in my inbox. will picked up a pair of old library chairs for $15 and decided to revamp them. after stripping the chair down, will refinished the frame and…
[i'm thrilled to have our summer correspondent in copenhagen, brittany watson, back for a special holiday post- thanks, brittany!] I’m back, but this time planted back in DC finishing my last year of school and dreaming of my unforgettable Danish summer. Somehow, Copenhagen came back to me when we, three students from the Corcoran, Caryn…
yesterday we posted four great holiday craft projects and today blair is keeping the diy fun going with a great sweater wreath project that lets you make good use of any old sweaters that are headed for the trash. CLICK HERE to see the full how-to on the d*s guest blog! in non craft-project news,…
Two things to tell you about the inspiration for this project before we begin. First, I love the holidays. Especially all the decorating that goes along with it, and, truth is, I usually go a bit overboard in that area. But…I’m also a bit lazy. I love it when my parts of my holiday decor…
My love for plants growing under glass knows no bounds and I was extra excited to find a way to incorporate a little terrarium love into my holiday repertoire this year. These ornaments are actually fake terrariums, by using dried sheet moss or reindeer moss , the ornament isn’t technically growing so it requires no…
i purchased these miniature birdhouses from the craft store about six months ago, because they were so adorable and i knew i would eventually come up with a use for them. voila! a miniature wooden village for my mantel during the holiday season. i already had some lights lying around, so i went and purchased…
continuing with the fluffy holiday craft theme is this beautiful wreath project from the talented blogger behind domestifluff (i love that name), kristen. inspired by a rosette pillow tutorial on etsy, kristen decided to create her own version for a wreath. though there was “much felt circle cutting involved” kristen loved the outcome, and the…
jaime from prudent baby and prudent advice sent over this fun hanukkah garland tutorial that i thought would make for a great afternoon craft activity. all you need is some fleece (wool and felt would work nicely, too), scissors and a little thread and you’re good to go! thanks to jaime for sharing! CLICK HERE…
i have a well documented love affair with bears. there’s something about their deceptive cuddliness that i can’t resist. whenever i go camping i’m irrationally terrified they’ll attack me (you should have seen me on our honeymoon in montana. i was convinced one would hunt me down whenever i ran from the tent to the…
good morning! i wanted to kick off this morning with a beautiful new calendar from artist anneliese dehner. anneliese’s calendar features birds that migrate through portland, oregon, each one printed as a digital version of anneliese’s original watercolor and pen & ink drawings. if you’ve got a pdx resident or bird-lover in your life, you…
Gift Ideas for that lady in the craft room, over there, stitching away on those holiday gifts. This holiday season will be simple one in our family, and I’m very excited about that. We’ll make a lot of our gifts, as we always try to do, but this year there is even more emphasis on…
Don’t be ashamed to admit that you loved/love Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet. We all did/do. There is a time to save face and renounce everything you thought was cool in 1996, but that time isn’t now. You can now finally succumb to your full blown crush on Leonardo DiCaprio, I won’t…
i am so excited for today’s city guide, namely because i have so many wonderful family memories from a town in this area. martha’s vineyard is a picturesque island off the coast of massachusetts that is seems to be known these days for celebrities, huge homes and fancy parties. but i grew up knowing it…
