you are invited…..kinda of…...

we are hard at work on our oscar party this year. we had so much fun this year. annie, as always, has seen all the movies. i, as always, have not seen any. luckily her themed menu relies much more on the content of the films than my invitation or flowers. i will just have to have her tell me all about 'war horse'. i'm really hoping there is some fried chicken in honor of 'the help' (the one move i DID see!).

best playdough on madewell musings

check out anna's beautiful playdough and how to over at madewell musings.

98 santas and counting

see Anna's latest musings over at Madewell.

new diy on design*sponge!

Every year we save the best shoe, shirt and jewelry boxes from the holidays and recycle them to hold craft supplies, store photos or use as gift boxes for the next giving season. Our stockpiles were getting unruly, as were our drawers full of scrap ribbon and wrapping paper, so we came up with a recycled-wrapping project that can be reused itself. We used the prettiest boxes we had, and many of them needed little more than a ribbon adornment. Good-sized, sturdy boxes with surfaces we didn’t love were covered with scraps of wrapping or kraft paper. Our mom has always kept tags, ribbons, wrapping paper and boxes to be reused the next year, and in keeping with her recycled gift wrap, these boxes can be used again and again. We might keep a few of these on hand for those last-minute gifts that need wrapping in a hurry. See all the details on design*sponge.

holiday gift guide on design*sponge

Our family loves a gift theme. We have given knitting, crafts, cooking, sewing and even butcher shop-inspired gifts in years past. This year we are excited by the multitude of handcrafted, naturally sourced and locally focused gifts available (many of which come from our hometown of Portland, OR!). “Natural” is a rather broad, all-encompassing term that we use to mean original and small-scale, made with materials often relating to nature and closer to something made by man than by machine. Though we did throw in our favorite nail polish — free of formaldehyde, toluene, DBP or parabens — in a festive, party-perfect red. And for the day after the party? The Beekman Lump of Kohl skin detox treatment bar scented with frankincense and myrrh — fit for a king and just about the best stocking stuffer we could ever imagine. Go to Design*Sponge for all the details!

space age

at first we weren't sure what to do with the space age theme 30th we were hired to decorate……but as always annie, the master of a themed party had more than enough inspiration. we created a navy and white table decorated with punched out stars, a planet trivia game and simple flowers.

design sponge book tour in chicago

we were so excited to be included in the design sponge event at anthropologie. we created this backdrop for the smilebooth. it was fun to finally meet grace and support her beautiful new book.

madewell musings

check out anna's new post over at madewell musings……….

pizza gift

every city, state and region has different foods they are known for-either made or grown in a particular area its fun to collect all sorts of foods while traveling and put together gifts. this is a pizza kit we put together, it's missing the parmigiano reggiano we lugged home from italy due to a greedy husband who made a little bit too much pasta this summer. we included salt from the meadow, olive oil from a recent trip to carmel valley, a rolling pin from etsy and nancy silverton's new mozza cookbbok. we also included our favorite pizza dough recipe we found years ago in a new york magazine article about pizzza margherita.

summer picnic

we have to say this was one of the most fun parties we have done this summer! we got to individually package all the food.

more baby knits-

a gift for a new nephew!

birthday gingham

this was by far one of our favorite parties we've done. a backyard birthday party with a picnic theme had us hunting for gingham everywhere! galvanized bins and mason jars help greens and simple white flowers. check out all the food at apresfete.

too hot to handle

ok……we don't quite need these in los angeles….yet. but when we do i think it will be a big fashion statement!

safari friends

our very favorite baby gift to knit, this was very fun to make for one of our own!

more baby blessing knits

more from blankets booties and bears. we've been in laurel canyon knitting away from a week! taking care of the latest addition to the blessing clan.