If Alice Waters made you the Egg, I imagine it would probably change the way you think about cooking. She builds a fire, slices crusty bread, brushes olive oil, gathers greens from her garden, cracks an egg, holds it over the flame in a copper spoon until it puffs like a soufflé, slides the egg onto the bread, and…Oh! I can taste it, can’t you?
As writer Daniel Duane describes it, “For that fleeting instant, I felt love.”
Such truth! Sometimes I forget that feeding someone else — feeding each other — is more than putting plates full of food on a table at a certain time as expected every morning, noon, and night. It’s actually a highly personal, sensual, and loving act.
I’m wondering: Do you feel sexy when you cook? (You totally should!)
Egg by Ira Perelman.
I asked Amy of This Heart of Mine for a project that would be fun for kids or adults. I love that she thought of star-gazing! We’re so far into the countryside, that the stars here are outrageously bright. It’s awesome! — Gabrielle
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Star gazing is one of my favorite things. Ever since learning about them in junior high, I’ve loved looking upwards and pointing out the constellations I could remember and being in awe of their impressive sight. With summer right around the corner, I have hopes of spending a few late nights gazing at them again.
Because of my love of the stars, when my daughter was little, I purchased her a night light
that shines stars all over her bedroom walls. After seeing a few light-filled jars on Pinterest, I had an idea to fill a jar with the constellations — and I was able to do it using items I had around the house!
Click here for the full constellation jar tutorial.
Hello, Friends! How are you? I just arrived back in France from Miami. It was a short trip, but it feels so good to be home! My kids have school off today and tomorrow so they were all home when I arrived and came running out of the house with a big welcome sign. Love!
My jet lag is comical at this point, so I’m going to head straight to bed, but I just wanted to say hello and share this fantastic project from Gina of WillowDay. So chic looking! Find the whole tutorial here.
Enjoy! And I’ll see you tomorrow.
P.S. — Did you have a good weekend?
Have you ever heard of May Baskets? I hadn’t. But Amy of This Heart of Mine told me about the sweet May Basket tradition she experienced as a child and I thought it sounded so lovely! Amy came up with a bunch of little May Basket ideas, and I asked her to share a tutorial for 3 of the baskets here. Enjoy! And please do chime in if you have your own May Basket memories. I’d love to hear them! — Gabrielle
May Day is coming! And May Day means May baskets. I remember as a child feeling so excited about the pretty little baskets of treats left on our doorstep by kind friends. The treats were nice but the baskets were my favorite part. Even now, many years later, I have two of the very best saved in my keepsake box.
I don’t think we really celebrate May Day for its official purpose but it does give us reason to make beautiful, colorful baskets filled with treats for our friends. Maybe you’d like to make some too?
Click here for the full tutorial.
It’s planting time around these parts, and I’ve got plants and seeds and soil on the brain. Everything in Normandy seems to grow and thrive like gangbusters. Last year, we had so many herbs on our hands, I didn’t know what to do with our loot! So I asked Lindsey of Cafe Johnsonia to teach us how to dry herbs — I don’t want to waste a sprig! — Gabrielle
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Spring is here and my little garden is already springing forth with herbs. I love to enjoy them fresh all through the warmer months. When it starts to turn cold out, I start harvesting my herbs so I can dry them to use all winter long too. Hopefully this will inspire you to get your hands dirty and plant a little herb garden to enjoy all year long — fresh and dried. This is the perfect time to plant seeds or seedlings for a boom crop. (Check your local garden centers for seedlings and advice on planting herbs in your climate.) Or if gardening isn’t your thing, maybe this will prevent you from throwing away the extra fresh herbs you bought and can’t use up.
There are some herbs that are definitely better fresh than dried, but when you dry them yourself, you are able to better preserve the essential oils in the herbs and they are infinitely fresher than the dried herbs you’ll find on the supermarket shelves.
Click here for the full tutorial.
In college, when I was studying design, printmaking classes were always my favorite. So when Miggy suggested a DIY for fabric monoprints, I wanted to give her a high-five! I think you’ll love this project. I want to try it on pillowcases and onesies, and maybe a picnic blanket too! — Gabrielle
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Hey guys! I’m so excited to be sharing another DIY on Design Mom. When it comes to creating, my two great loves are painting and sewing. So it should come as no surprise that I’m always trying to combine the two. I had this idea when thinking back to my art school days. In the world of printmaking the general idea is that you have an image and then make several (hundreds even!) copies of that image. However the beauty and genius of the monoprint is that it’s a one-shot deal. You spread some paint on one surface and transfer it to another surface. One time. It’s a little leap of faith, and who doesn’t need more faith?
Now, some people might ask, why do a monoprint? Why not just paint directly on the fabric? Well I think you’ll see that ‘printing’ gives it a much different look. The texture and feel of the paint is entirely different than if you just painted directly on the fabric. And it’s fun. Duh.
Click here for the full tutorial.
If I were to write my own dictionary, garlands would be defined as pure joy on a string. It’s true, isn’t it? And this fresh take makes me double-happy, as it uses up all the garden cuttings that would otherwise be tossed. I quite like the thought of giving them a few extra days to be beautiful.
As seen on Niche Rotterdam.
So many neat ideas have shown up in my inbox this week, I thought I would share a few of my favorites — while you still have time to try them out!
Tiny Pinata Eggs!
They might be too cute to smash.
No-sew Bowtie.
Oh get out of town. How cute are these?!
Watercolor Easter Party.
Your kids can watercolor all the decorations! Invites, cupcake holders, garland — everything is available as a free download.
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Speaking of all this handmade goodness, I’m a judge for the 2012 Handmade Olympics!! And I’m honored to be involved (just check out my fellow judges). There are 7 different categories and over $1700 in prizes. Woot!
For each event, you can nominate one of your own fabulous creations, shops or blogs, plus nominate one of your favorites from another shop, site or blog. But. Nominations close tomorrow (4/5), so don’t delay. You can find out more here. I hope you win!
P.S. — If you’re curious, I’ll be judging event #2: Favorite Handmade Goodie for Kids.
I love the idea of “alternative” Easter baskets! Something fun to switch things up from the usual plastic grass and hollow chocolate bunnies. So I was delighted when Elisabeth of My Growing Home suggested a Little Farmer Easter Basket. Isn’t that the cutest idea? And it’s super easy to put together, so you have plenty of time if you want to pull this off by Sunday. Yay! — Gabrielle
As Easter approaches, we always try to talk to our boys about the signs of new life in nature. In the past, I’ve tied this theme into our holiday celebration by including a packet of seeds in their Easter baskets, but this year I decided to go farther by transforming their “baskets” into personal mini gardens to be planted for spring. I used wooden wine boxes to make little raised beds and filled them with veggies, flowers, and kid-sized gardening essentials. And what’s a garden without a sneaky bunny?
Not only are these boxes easy (and inexpensive) to put together, but they provide a project for the little ones that will last all spring and summer. Happy Easter!
Click here for the full tutorial.
You know I love wheat grass. It’s such an easy way to welcome spring, and it grows so quickly that it amazes kids! So I asked clever Miggy to come up with a fun wheat grass project — and her idea is terrific! I think these would make perfect place markers at a summer soiree. Or even party favors. What would you use them for? — Gabrielle
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Hey all! So excited to be sharing a spring-time DIY. Today I’m going to show you how to make a monogram wheatgrass centerpiece using some basic things from around the house. This is super easy, even for you wheatgrass virgins out there. Let’s get started!
What you’ll need:
-Wheat berries (hard red winter wheat worked best for me—found in the bulk foods of my local health food store)
-Potting soil
-Mason jar (or something similar to soak wheat in)
-Pie plate, vintage pan or some other cute kitchenware to use as your “pot”
-Rocks (for drainage)
Click here for the full tutorial.
