Its all about the Ring

sometimes... its all about the ring

check out some handmade and vintage rings we love on etsy.

Packaging!

We love to give a gift that's as special as the recipient. For us gift giving is a part of storytelling, a way to say thank you or we've selected something especially for you, its a way to show appreciating or to cheer someone up. One of our favorite parts of the gift giving process is the packaging... a great gift starts when a beautifully packaged object is placed in the hands of the one it is meant for. Here are some of our favorite ideas for creating a beautifully packaged gift.

love the eco friendly and sophisticated look of these fabric wraps from Chewing the Cud. 

love the clean and simple packaging from thinkgarnish.com

and for some fun and inexensive packaging pick me ups... check out our favorites from etsy!

In the Studio

   
   fun in the studio today...

Fireside

With the start of a rainy day we thought we'd share this post with you!

We love the cozyiness of sitting by a fire, especially under a sky studded with stars on a late summer night. What we like even better is to recreate this feel at home when you really need a night under the open sky but cant get away for a weekend of camping. Here are a few ideas to create your own little outdoor retreat at home...

A full on campfire may not be a possibility in your own backyard, but a nice sized fire pit will be just as cozy and is easy to make. Check out these great DIY instructions to create your own. If  you want the feel of the fire but on a smaller scale, check out how to make a tabletop fire pit here.

Create your own little fire bundles with aromatic herbs and botanicals. Wrap rosemary, lavender or pine in newspaper and tie off with twine. Throw into the fire for a burst of that woodland scent.

We love good food. It doesn't have to be fancy, just good quality and shared in good company. Campfire food to us immediately says cozy and comforting. Roast marshmallows on skewers. Give your s'mores a little twist by adding a salted dark chocolate (this is our favorite mid range brand) and a handmade graham cracker (we love this recipe by smittenkitchen).

Make your fireside event your own... for more cozy inspiration check out the etsy treasury we've put together to help you complete the look!

DIY Froggie Runner for Passover

Working in this cute little froggy table runner for a Seder event this weekend. This is a fun craft to do with little ones on just kraft paper or newspaper and they can color or paint the frogs themselves. For a sleeker look you can also just use green paper like we did here...

This is made from a snowflake template I found online and then adapted into a runner by connecting all the pieces. First start with a square. I just used regular 8.5 x 11 paper to make my template, so my square was 8.5"x8.5". Once you have your square sheet of green paper (and you'll need like 20 or so squares to make a runner) fold in half.

It should look like this

fold in half again (in the opposite direction) to get a little square.

then fold from corner to corner and you'll get a little triangle.

Once you've folded all your triangles, you can draw your frog onto each of the pieces.

you should have a bunch of little squares that look like this! Go ahead and cut out the frog shape on each.

unfold to reveal a little froggie grouping of 4. Tape or glue the feet of each section to the next to create a runner. I made a runner two sections wide by about 10 sections long. Enjoy!!!

here's an adapted template from Secret Agent Josephine. Her template didn't work so we sort of made our own... have fun!!!

Pink and Mustard

inspired by the colors in this lovely little mixed media piece by immacola... pink and mustard

soft coral pink with golden beads...

love this little calendar by SimpleSong. such a lovely addition to your workspace.

hand silkscreened pillows on organic canvas from pikku. Love these bold graphics and large swathes of color.

quick and adorable presentation of ribbon scraps! mustard, pale peachy pink and soft grey... from melinda josie

Stones

Items from nature can be a great source for inspiration. We love these simple and easy ways to enhance the beauty of something as simple as a stone. Forget the pet rock of your childhood. These ideas are ways to create sophisticated and beautiful objects for your home, workspace or even to give as a sweet little gift. 

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For You... A Valentine Inspiration

Valentine's Day is just around the corner... Here are some of our favorite ideas to get you in the mood for a little romance. How to "lucky in love" scratcher from BHG. Folded hearts wall art. Float my Boat valentine. Logs with hearts. paper hearts mobile.  heart thumbprint. folded heart wrapping. paper mobile.

Atelier

For those of you who don't know, Atelier is the French word for workspace or studio. It conjures ideas of romance, creativity and spaces full of objects, tools, art and history. Here are some of our favorite images of ateliers from all over. We hope they inspire you to carve out your own space where you can create and practice beauty.

Summertime Tea

How amazing is this week of sunshine??? It makes us hopeful that true summer weather is just around the corner... And what better time is there than a sunny day to have an impromptu tea party... Here are some images to inspire your fête. Whether you're planning something sweet for little ones or an alfreso dinner party for your friends, these pretty pics are sure to give your imagination a jump start.

images from pinterest

Happy Easter!!!

It was so much fun making our Easter Tree!!!

As many of you know Priska (my biz partner) is from Switzerland. It's always fun to hear the different ways that she celebrates the holidays back home and to see how she's continuing some of the traditions with her family here. Decorating easter trees is one of their festive holiday customs. The "trees" are a collection of branches in a fun vase of some sort adorned with beautifully decorated handblown eggs. What's wonderful about this "tree" is that it's something that you can keep for years to come. Each year you can add more beautiful eggs and it's also an item you can have on display for the month or entire spring season. We got busy and made some fun glittery eggs as well as some decoupaged floral eggs and ended up with a "shabby chic" easter tree.

Featured on Martha Stewart: How-to Create Yarn Heart

We're so excited to have a follow up article featured on Martha Stewart. They wanted us to share with them how to make the yarn heart we created for Jean & Devin's wedding. 

learn how to make this heart...