Tag: books

Organizing August’s Books

August is really into books lately. We used to keep all of his baby board books in a box on the floor, between the glider and the wall. As his interest (and collection) has grown, the books have been overspilling and taking over that whole area. Books were scattered everywhere, and we needed to get organized.

The storage in August’s room mainly consists of two Effektiv units from IKEA (now discontinued), side-by-side. Here’s a shot of them from when I first shared his nursery.

The unit on the right suffered a little at the hands of one very active little boy, and so the doors didn’t stay aligned anymore when shut. I removed the doors and hinges, emptied everything out (there wasn’t much in there anymore), and adjusted the shelves to work for our books. That side of the room looked cluttered though, with the open bookshelves right next to the shallow built-in shelves with toys.

I wanted the changing pad to stay on the left side, but it was attached by its safety straps. I reattached them to the other unit, then swapped their order. Now I can still store extra diapers, wipes, and assorted other supplies behind doors, and we have a place for August’s growing library too.

I think I’m going to find a new spot for that black and white rug (it’s just not soft enough for a little kid’s room), so I’ll probably bring back the off-white rug that was in the space before. Eventually the glider won’t be needed anymore, and we’ll have space for a play table or just more space for playing. I’ve been having a lot of fun with the planning stage, but we don’t want to rush August out of his crib before he’s ready.

March 4, 2013
Young House Love

The Day John and Sherry Showed Up at My House

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.)

November 27, 2012
A Hip Handmade Holiday

I was in Salt Lake City last month to meet with Allison Faulkner and Susan Petersen of The Craft Pack, along with their fantastic designer Matt Mildenstein. I got a sneak peek at their new digital book, A Hip Handmade Holiday, which is filled with craft projects, ideas, and digital downloads, all to make gifts for under $10 a pop.

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.

November 7, 2012
Scientific Botanical Prints

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.

June 4, 2012
Holly Becker’s Decorate Book Tour

The Decorate book tour brought Holly Becker to Anthropologie in Chicago last night. I had interviewed Holly about her book a couple of weeks ago, and I was looking forward to meeting her.

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.

August 24, 2011
An Interview with Holly Becker, Author of Decorate

Holly Becker has always been one of the kindest, most-supportive bloggers around. She makes herself available to others whether it be through her daily blog, Decor8, her e-course, Blogging Your Way, or now through her new book, Decorate. She and co-author Joanna Copestick, along with photographer Debi Treloar, have created a beautiful book on decorating that is equal parts inspiring and informative.

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…)

August 9, 2011