September 2006

Saw these amazing beans on Upside Up yesterday. (Upside Up = very cool blog by a fellow designer/mom). They have messages lasered into the bean that you discover when the bean grows.

Add this to the teacher gift ideas list. And to the Grandma gift ideas list. In fact, just buy one for everyone you know.

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Have your kids do this instead of their homework.

What it is: you go to the site and make a sketch. (It doesn’t have to be a good sketch. Mine was a profile of an elephant.) Then you click “submit sketch” and you get someone else’s sketch in return. The two best parts are 1) you can’t erase and 2) you get to watch the sketch you receive being drawn. So genius.

Someone compared it to fortune cookies, and for me it’s true. I wonder who will receive the elephant?

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Missing my friend Rebecca today (tear). She would throw cookie decorating parties for the neighborhood kids. In the spring, in the summer, but especially at Halloween.

A cookie party can get quite messy, so Rebecca would hold it in the back yard. She’d provide trays and trays of just-baked, thick and yummy sugar cookies. Then the kids would all go to town with individual bowls of frosting and lots of sprinkles, candy corn, and other embellishments. Everyone went home with a plate of cookies. Such a great party. (Rebecca, if you’re reading, I hope you’ll post your amazing sugar cookie recipe.)

You can find the mini-halloween cookie cutters pictured above here.

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My stylish friend Anna first introduced me to Tasha Tudor books and I love them. The stories are so simple and gentle and sweet. I could read this particular story every night of October and be fine with that.

Especially good for the preschool set. Just in time for October, find it here.

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What to be for Halloween is a year-round topic of conversation at our house. The ideas change week by week. Sometimes hour by hour. I have to enforce a drop dead decision date of October 10th, after which no costume changes are allowed, so that I have time to get everything together.

When they were younger I loved coordinating their costumes. When it was just Ralph and Maude they were Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. When it was Ralph, Maude & Olive it was The 3 Bears (Papa, Mama and Baby). Now that’s a no go. We’re all a little too opinionated around here. Last year it was Frankenstein, A Pumpkin, Belle (as in Beauty & the Beast) and A Lion.

This year Ralph wants to be a candy bar. He’s thinking Butterfinger, but he wants to make it spooky by changing it to Blooderfinger. That, or he wants to be a mad scientist. Maude wants to be a warrior from Mulan. Olive wants to be Ariel (as in the Little Mermaid). Thankfully, Oscar and Betty don’t care yet.

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My brother Jared is guest blogging on his wife’s super-cool blog. Awesome with a captial A.

Check it out at Say Yes to Hoboken.

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I came across this architecture set in a catalog and thought it would make a great gift for Ralph. He’s a Lego/Builder kind of kid.

When I looked closer I thought it would make a great gift for me. Or for anyone who likes to mess around with floorplans and furniture placement. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve usurped my kid’s toys. Find it here.

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Erin made creepy cupcakes like these last year and they turned out amazing. These would be way fun to make at a Halloween Party. I can’t believe how much I get a kick out of these. Who thinks up stuff like this?

Find directions at Kids.

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Remember in the first issue of Blueprint, there was an article on vinyl lettering? They were using the vinyl to make house numbers. . .

Anyway, apparently there are companies popping up that make interesting vinyl lettering for the walls of your home. Lovely Laura sent me a link to this company. They offer lots of existing ideas and templates or you can contact them about custom work.

I really love the monogram on the front door and liked the idea of the message next to the piano. Maybe I’ll add a “You look fabulous!” on the full-length mirror or a “Did you remember the pacifier?” by the front door.

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