winter olympics

23 February 2010   //     0 comments   //   media, photography

Was perusing the UH-MAZING Olympics photos from Boston.com’s Big Picture and I can’t stop staring at that one above.

But go check them all out here and here — every one is pretty much incredible. Here are some of my favorites.

shrinky dink valentines

16 February 2010   //     2 comments   //   design, diy, kids

When you’ve got that creative, um, inclination and you’ve got Elementary School aged kids, Valentines day can be a bit of a double-edged sword. Oh the possibilities! But oh, the work to get them all made for every kid in each of your kids’ classes.

This year we went Shrinky Dinks. 54 of them. Zoe and Lucy decided we would make hearts for the girls and stars for the boys.

We punched holes in them all. Then added some beaded chain.

Lucy and Zoe love hanging things on their book bags, and they had that in mind as we created these. So we made paper hang tags with “hang” messages on them: “Wanna hang out?” and “I like hanging around with you!” and “Hang in there!”

A little goofy, but perfect for 7 yr olds. And they looked great all together on our coffee table!

snow day

13 February 2010   //     2 comments   //   eat + drink, nature

We got a sweet little snow last night — about 3 inches worth, light and packable — that coated our world with a crisp, bright frosting. And now it’s Saturday — the perfect time to make Snow Cream with the kids!

Here’s our recipe:

  • 1 1/2 cups Milk
  • 2 tbs Sugar
  • 1 tsp Vanilla

Whisk together in a measuring cup. Pour a little bit over a bowl of snow (we use cereal bowls) and stir until it resembles the thickness of ice cream (not too soupy).

Makes 4-6 bowls, depending on how much snow you use. Yum. And fun. It’s Fum!

What are you doing with your Saturday?

hipster puppies

12 February 2010   //     1 comment   //   funny ha ha

margi tells people she does “graphic design” for a living, but in reality does “nothing”

…………..

Crystal turned me on to the tumblr site hipster puppies today and I cannot stop scrolling. The writing is so perfectly hipster du jour, and the crowd-sourced photos are crazy hilarious. It’s Stupid Pet Tricks meets Chai Lattes.

(photo via mark h)

fun with logos

09 February 2010   //     0 comments   //   caught my eye, design, signage, vintage

I was browsing the groovy tshirts at Desteenation this morning and I found this one from Fuel Coffee in Seattle:

And check it out — we’ve got our own pride and joy Fuel here in Charlotte: Fuel Pizza.

Vintage design is fun, eh?

regretsy

09 February 2010   //     1 comment   //   clever, diy, funny ha ha

I’m sure I’m the last one on this bandwagon, but I just stumbled upon Regretsy, a satirical Etsy. An archive of crafts gone wrong. Clever and funny stuff.

mad men on the brain

02 February 2010   //     8 comments   //   conferences, design, vintage, wearable

Peggy in checks

Its February and you know what that means – Mom 2.0 Summit is coming!

2010 Mom 2.0 Summit - FEB 18-20

There are so many things at Mom 2.010 to be excited about that I can’t process it all, so I’ll take it step by step. Right now I’m spending time thinking about the Thursday night welcome party: Martinis, Music and Mad Men. What to wear?

If you know me personally, you’ll know that clothes aren’t really my “thing.” I mean, I care what I wear, but I’d just as soon wear the t-shirt + jeans variation uniform every day if life would allow it (and mostly it does). But a Mad Men party is a Mad Men party. You just don’t skimp on that one, right?

So I went to the Mad Men site to do a little research and 2 hours later I emerged with a sense of direction. It’s the gateway between the 50s and the 60s. This means prints, pencil skirts, cupcake dresses, pillbox hats, matte lipstick, and so on and so on.

Betty in Summer

And to make it easy peasy, I had this brilliant idea: Our awesome neighbor Hong Kong Vintage has, without a doubt, the perfect costume outfit waiting for me. I’ll report back after I go. (And hey – they have an online shop too!)

What are you wearing? Need some suggestions? More tips on how to dress like a Mad Woman here.

etsy + coolmompicks valentines

02 February 2010   //     0 comments   //   design, diy

Cool Mom Picks Etsy Valentines

So CoolMomPicks and Etsy had a baby! Actually, it was a Valentine design contest. Did you participate? I hope you won!

The winners are now available for purchase — in plenty of time for VDay (or Friendship Day as we call it at my kids’ Montessori school). 12 black-and-white line art designs in PDF form that you can download, print and color with your kids.

They’re adorable. And I love the different styles that arise from crowdsourced art. Go get them here.

Meanwhile, we’re cooking up a project of our own in UpsideUp land. I’ll share with you soon.

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

eames house tour

02 February 2010   //     0 comments   //   design, history, type

So not only is House Industries releasing a fantastic new font collection (the Eames Century Modern), but they will also be drawing three names to accompany them on an exclusive look into the inner sanctum of one of 20th century’s greatest design teams. The Eames House was built in 1949 as number 8 in the series of Case Study Houses and is still recognized as a revolutionary use of space and materials.

To toss your hat into the ring, fill out this form and enter EAMES HOUSE in the comments box.

And if you forget the first time (like I did) hopefully they’ll be understanding when you fill out the form twice (like I did).