• Brothers

  Emily said: “I always struggle with new gift ideas for my brothers in their mid-late twenties. I always go with t-shirts or something boring like undies or socks.” And Valerie said: “I’m trying to figure out what to get my brothers (18 and 19) that isn’t in the video game/dvd/gift card oeuvre. But I’m pretty broke this year, so I have a $40 limit for both of them. Everything I’ve looked at so far that I thought would be good goes way over that!”
  There were a lot of requests for brotherly gifts! This Cards Against Humanity game (4) looks awesome, and you can’t go wrong with a Jon Ronson book (Brandon and I both like him). Lost at Sea (5) is Ronson’s newest. You can pay for these with points through Amazon’s checkout.

• Sisters

Ashley said: “I’m having a really hard time coming up with something for my 18 year old sister. She has so many interests its hard to narrow down a meaningful gift.”
I think sisters would enjoy the brotherly gifts above too, but if you’re looking for something a little more girly, perhaps a bracelet with meaning (2)? The one shown represents strength, motivation, and knowledge, but it would also just look cute as part of an arm party. If she’s a maker, use a gift card to west elm to buy beautiful heirloom scissors (3).

• Parents (Yours or Hers/His)

  Marie said: “I could use gift ideas for my boyfriend’s parents!! We’ve been dating for 1.5 years and although I’m not very close with them (distance makes it tough), I’d like to give something thoughtful.”
  Give tickets to a show. I cashed in a bunch of my Amex points recently to get tickets to The Book of Mormon (1) (Brandon and I will be going on our anniversary in May). You can pay with points through TicketMaster, so there are tons of options for shows and concerts that they’ll like.

• For Those Who Don’t Need Another Thing

  Hillary said: “Would love advice about what to get my dad and stepmom. They are retired, don’t really need any “stuff” and are just plain hard to shop for. I usually default to restaurant gift cards but would like to give something more thoughtful. Help!”
  Give to charity. Donate your points to Hurricane Sandy Relief (6), or to another charity on behalf of your gift recipient.

• The Wild Card

  Sarah said: “I’m having a tough time coming up with something for a family gift exchange. It could go to anyone in my family from my 12 year old niece to my 50+ uncles. I seem to only be able to come up with girly or adult ideas.”
  My best bet for one-gift-fits-all is How Music Works by David Byrne (7) (pay with points on Amazon). It will appeal to book-lovers, music-lovers (young and old — doesn’t everyone agree that David Byrne is awesome?), and it has a technology/science bent.

I was selected by American Express to help educate consumers about how to use Membership Rewards points. As such I was paid for my services as an ambassador, but all gift choices selected and opinions about the gifts and American Express are my own.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Gifts for the Hard to Buy For | 21 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

I’ve ‘known’ John and Sherry Petersik of Young House Love since 2007. We started our blogs around the same time and we’ve chatted plenty of times via email over the years, but we had never met before. When I read that they were going to be in Chicago for their book tour, I sent them an email hoping to find a little time to meet up. Sherry wrote back and said that they were down for one of their infamous house crashes, and so we set a date.

Do you know how weird it is to meet someone you’ve known for five years by them coming to your house? I mean, it was awesome, but it was also a little surreal to see John and Sherry walking up to my front door.

They came in, we all hugged, and then they house crashed. Brandon and August were home the whole time, and John and Sherry met Eleanor for a few minutes too after Brandon picked her up from preschool. Clara was back at home with her grandma, but we all agreed that she and Eleanor would have been toddler besties.

I drove John and Sherry to their hotel when they were done taking photos of the house, and on the way I tried to point out interesting things around Chicago. “There’s the Sears/Willis Tower, over there is the Trump Tower” and so on. And of course I blurted out “here’s where R. Kelly shot Trapped in the Closet!” I’m not sure if they were into that (but man, “En Vogue… with a new lead singer” had me and Brandon cracking up in the latest installment). Later that night, Sherry and I realized that we (professional bloggers that we are) forgot to take a picture of “Young House Love and Making it Lovely” together with a decent camera. We made sure to get one with the three of us the next day, but of course I only had my phone with me. Behold!

(Pics or it didn’t happen.)

See all those people behind us there? The line for them at their book signing was crazy long, with people wrapped around the store and waiting out in the rain. It was a dedicated (and really sweet) group of people. I’ve worked and attended a lot of book readings, but this was a particularly good one. A few people in the crowd even recognized me and had me sign my page in the book (I contributed project #199), which felt really cool.

John and Sherry are now New York Times best selling authors for their book, Young House Love, and I couldn’t be happier for them. (Congrats, guys, and thanks again for coming over.)

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Young House Love | 43 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

A bunch of us bloggers gathered and got our craft on, choosing different projects from the book. (I went with the Nutcracker Bowling League.) I have since decided that I ought to set aside entire days devoted to group crafting, because that is fun.

Video! Done in one take! Alison and Susan are naturals. (Oh, you guys. I’m totally going to be a pro at this some day. I’m working on it.)

The trip was made possible by Vivint. Styling and awesome background by Cayleen Haynie, and music by Pleasant Pictures.

“I kind of Sgt. Peppered them up a little bit.” See? Pro-talk. The nutcrackers are awfully cute though, aren’t they? I’m a little hesitant to let the kids use them as bowling pins. I think I need to make a few more, specifically to set aside as decorations.

We got our party on* later that night, after our marathon crafting was over. I’m pretty sure 95% of the internet’s cute, crafty bloggers are based in Utah, including most of the ladies below.

* Parties in SLC are mostly fueled by Diet Coke and Diet Dr. Pepper. Also, I got eyelash extension while I was in town! (Sadly, not before the video and photos though.) Utah, you’re a kick.

A big thank you to The Craft Pack for having me out to Salt Lake City. Their book, A Hip Handmade Holiday is available now, for $10.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as A Hip Handmade Holiday | 26 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

Would it really be surprising that someone as fond of pink as I am would also be fond of flowers? Even the less girly among us can appreciate a good bloom, no?

A few people, in writing about my keynote at BlogPodium, noted that I had dressed to match my blog. My branding. The truth is that I’m just consistent in what I like. My blog matches my clothes, my home… even down to some of the book on my shelves. For example, here are two of my favorites.

The Rose: An Illustrated History, and more recently, The Art of Instruction. My dog rose print is the same one featured on the latter’s cover.

I designed two themes for Making it Lovely, and if you’re on the default “Lovely” theme, you’ll see an abundance of flowers in the background. Even if you choose to view the blog in “Minimal” mode, you’ll still see my custom floral illustrations in the header. As much as I love a good, clean site with a true minimal aesthetic, it’s just not me. The flowers (and colors and patterns) I use aren’t part of a larger, calculated move on my part to reflect my branding (though it works as one), I just like them. Simple as that.

I saw that a flash shopping site was selling framed botanical prints a few weeks ago. I had enough credits to cover the cost, so I bought one. They’re no longer available on that site, but they can be found (unframed) at The Evolution Store.

I would have loved to hang two prints over the sofa (like this), but the picture rail in my living room doesn’t leave enough clearance.

These prints are huge. I love the scale of mine, but I don’t know if that corner of my living room is interesting enough to warrant art of that size. Something feels a bit off too, between the print, the plant, and the vase on the other side of the TV. I’m going to leave things as they are for a while to see if I get used to the print’s (rather commanding) presence, but I may play around with the placement. It’s beautiful though; I’m glad to have it.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Scientific Botanical Prints | 57 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

She spoke about creating mood boards, offering tips for creating them and several compelling reasons to do so.

Holly was one of my earliest blogging friends and supporters, so it was a real pleasure to finally meet her!

I spoke briefly after Holly about the way that I use and create digital mood boards. I was also the Vanna to Holly’s Pat Sajak during the mood board portion. It was fun, and an honor to be a part of her book tour.

After we spoke, Holly invited the audience to create their own mood board using fabric swatches, wallpaper samples, buttons, images from magazines, and other lovely things.

Holly graciously signed copies of Decorate after the presentation was over, and then a small group of us went out for dinner in my fair Chicago.

Holly is as smart and sweet as I had imagined, and I’m happy to see so much success coming her way. Decorate is in its third printing already! If you haven’t yet picked up your copy, please do. It’s an amazing book by a dear friend.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Holly Becker’s Decorate Book Tour | 15 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

I recently asked Holly a few questions about her new book. Be sure to read through — some of the answers may surprise you!

• How did Decorate come to be, and did the book stay consistent from your original vision or change and evolve as you worked on it?

When the phone rang in the Fall of 2009 with my British co-author, Joanna Copestick, on the line, I had just relocated from the US to Germany and was still in the thick of settling in. (more…)

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as An Interview with Holly Becker, Author of Decorate | 16 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

This book looks fantastic. I bought teeny little deer and even teenier little mushrooms last month, and when Brandon saw and asked me about them, I sheepishly told him that I was going to make a terrarium for Eleanor. I think he thought I had gone a little nuts. I’m going to need this book for some inspiration (and to show him that terrariums can be cool).

p.s. The publisher is having a giveaway for Terrarium Craft, along with a DIY terrarium kit here until June 30.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Terrarium Craft | 20 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

Nicole Hill Gerulat sent this book to me after she read that I was looking to improve my photography skills. It’s a companion to her Photo 101 course, which I wrote about separately.

First off, I learned a lot about my camera in just the first ten pages. I’ve read (OK, glanced) through my camera’s instruction manual before, but the features and functions never made as much sense to me as they did after reading the first chapter. I was excited! Then I read this:

It should not take 1,000 shots (or even 10) to get the right one. Who has that kind of time? Or hard drive space? The goal here is to get our percentages up so that at least 80% of a shoot is portfolio-worthy.

Say what? I sat up a little straighter in my chair. I’ve always been of the ‘take a million shots and hope for a few good ones’ school. Happily, my percentage has been improving, thanks in large part to Nicole.

• Photo 101 Textbook by Nicole Hill Gerulat

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Photo 101: The Book | 8 comments | affiliate links may be used in posts

Before I knew who Lena Corwin was (and long before I started following her blog), I admired her illustrated maps. Now Lena has compiled twenty of her favorites and released them as a book. Of course I had to buy my copy right away (and you should too).

• Maps by Lena Corwin

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Maps by Lena Corwin | One comment | affiliate links may be used in posts

Pretty fantastic. Though you’ve read On the Road, right? Do I want my suitcase telling people I’m on a peyote-feuled trip? But then again, look. Orange! Cute! Bookish!

• REMO General Store (via Swiss Miss)

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Kerouac Luggage Tag | One comment | affiliate links may be used in posts