Design Mom — The Intersection of Design & Motherhood

Epic Playdate

May 8, 2013

This post is brought to you by The New Santa Fe from Hyundai.
By Gabrielle.

Last week I told you about the day my sisters spent in the redwoods on a zip-lining adventure. Well, there was also a second-part of the campaign with Hyundai that looks like it was all sorts of amazing fun, and has me taking notes for the next birthday party we host.

beach balls

Hyundai invited bloggers + kids, and local residents too, to an Epic Playdate on the beach in southern California. There was an entire day’s worth of engaging activities like giant beach balls, and making tin-foil armor, and paper rocket ships. Once again, the images of my nephews make me want to eat them up. (Man I miss those cute kids!)

Also, I think Liz and Jordan’s activities might be my favorite.

Liz led the Sand Art Installation, and I think it’s genius! She taped out sections on a tarp, and provided squeeze bottles full of colored sand that the kids used to “draw” with in their assigned section. I think it’s so smart, because it’s one of those activities where one child might finish in about 5 seconds, and another might spend an hour — everyone’s happy! And it looks really cool, too. You can read more about how she organized this activity here.

Jordan led the giant bubble activity — made from hula hoops dipped in bubble solution. Fun fact: This has been a family favorite of ours since my brother Jared made giant bubbles for a 4th grade science fair. : ) If you haven’t tried this with your kids, I highly recommend putting it on your list of summer-fun activities. It’s the sort of thing that will gather all the kids in the neighborhood in an instant.

The most jaw-dropping part? At the end of the day, the Epic Playdate attendees were invited to camp (in the most amazing tents!) on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Dreamy as can be.

I loved seeing the photos from the event and watching things unfold on the attendee’s instagram feeds. It made me so excited for summer!

Just curious: Have you ever tried any of these activities? Are there any that you’d bookmark for a future event?

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Living With Kids: Karin Katherine

May 7, 2013

By Gabrielle.

I gasped when I saw the first few photos of Karin‘s backyard. And then I gasped even louder when I learned that five kids live here. By the time I reached the part about all five kids being homeschooled in this wonderland, I finally remembered to cover my mouth! Which was a good thing, because the next shot was of the most gorgeous ceiling I’ve ever seen in a living room. Friends, when Karin says she’s addicted to the details, she is telling the truth. And, truth be told, I’m addicted to her details, too.

Make sure you tear your eyes away from the gorgeous photos and read her thoughts about being a mother and wife and home educator. They are equally gorgeous.

Q: Tell us who lives in this stunning home!

A: Welcome! I live in Sunny South Florida with my Road Warrior CEO husband, our five children (twin boys and three girls), four tortoises, five Koi fish, and a Labradoodle named Bunker. Our children are ages nine, nine, seven, five, and two, and we’re currently homeschooling them.

Before you ask, yes, they’ve always been homeschooled and no, I don’t know how long we will homeschool them. But right now, homeschooling works for our family and we love everything about it! In addition to being a home educator I am also a blogger, writer, and our family’s head party planner.

The living room ceiling, up next. Prepare to swoon.

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Big & Small DIY: Wrapped Washer Necklaces

May 7, 2013

Images and text by Gina Vide for Design Mom. Edited by Amy Christie.

This side-by-side project is so simple, but at the same time, creates such a beautiful and meaningful piece for both Bigs and Smalls. Grownups, you can create a Mother’s Day necklace by wrapping one washer per child in a color/colors of your choosing. The disks can then be bound together to create a beautiful geometric necklace full of meaning.

For you Smalls, create a necklace with a wrapped washer, one for each year of your age, in whatever colors you like, and string them on a chain.

We’ve made these for a Mother’s Day gift, and made another set for ourselves — and we’ve been wearing them all the time!

In addition to Mother’s Day, the Small version would be a wonderful birthday tradition, don’t you think? Create the first necklace together and then, every year bind a new colorful disk and add it to your “small’s” necklace. The necklace would be a perfect gift for a friend too.

Let’s start creating!

Click here for the full tutorial.

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Favorite Pinners: Cecilie Ellefsen

May 7, 2013

By Koseli.

A few weeks ago I introduced a new series to spotlight favorite pinners and find out what inspires them most. Here’s the second post in the series — nicely coinciding with Gabrielle trip to Norway. Enjoy!

We’re so excited to feature fabulous pinner, Cecilie Ellefsen. She’s a Norwegian illustrator living and working in Oslo. Here‘s what she has to say about her colorful and whimsical aesthetic:

Growing up in a rural part of Norway, nature and animals have always inspired me. The feeling of finding that secret childhood forest with enchanted critters, hollow trees, traps and hideaways fascinates and inspire me. I love to draw and always bring my sketchbook with me. When I`m not drawing, I like to eat good food, watch strange animated films and visit fleamarkets to find treasures for my ever growing collections.”

We asked her to pick a couple of her favorite recent pins and share just why she loves them.

Cecilie’s favorite pins, straight ahead!

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Norway

May 7, 2013

Fjordieth

Photo and text by Gabrielle.

We’re in Norway! The big Fjordieth trip is finally happening. We checked into our hotel late last night and I can hardly believe we’re here. Hooray for Ben Blair!

Ben Blair | Fjordieth

I love this photo of him donning his gloves that I snapped last winter. I think he’s definitely channeling some inner viking!

Rain is scheduled for much of our trip, but right this minute, we have a perfectly sunny day in Oslo, so we’re going to make the most of it. Feel free to join us on our adventure via Instagram.

P.S. — Something else I can’t believe: Flora June Blair is 3 years old today! Remember her birth? (Wasn’t it two seconds ago?) We woke up early and filled her bed with balloons, then served the traditional breakfast in bed. She was over the moon about it! Man oh man we love that little girl.

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Olive Us: Episode 23: Little Red Riding Hood

May 6, 2013

Images and text by Gabrielle.

Friends, I’m kind of freaking out about how wonderfully Episode 23 of Olive Us turned out. (Sorry for the brag!) It’s called Le Petit Chaperon Rouge which is the French way of saying Little Red Riding Hood. This video is stunning. It’s simply magical. Oh. And it’s all in French! Entirely narrated by Betty, who also plays the girl in the red cape.

Now don’t you worry, even if you don’t speak a lick of French, I’m betting you’ll be able to follow along with the very familiar story line. : ) If you’d like a translation, you’re in luck. Ben Blair made a pdf with a side-by-side French and English translation — you can find the pdf link here.

I’m dying to hear what you think! And if your kids watch it, I’d love to hear if they enjoyed it — or if the French threw them off too much. From what we’ve seen so far, for little ones, the language doesn’t seem to matter at all! Consider this a great way to expose your kids to a foreign language in a familiar context.

I also want to say that we didn’t make this alone. Not at all. A huge thanks goes out to Miranda of One Little Minute. who put together the stunning costumes. She started with what we had in our closet, added pieces from thrift stores, then sewed the rest. She re-made the iconic red cape from a women’s red wool coat she found at a second hand shop. It’s thick and cozy and wonderful — and it kept Betty warm on the cold November day when we filmed this.

Another big thanks goes to Merrilee Liddiard of Mer Mag for the title illustration. I love how it turned out! I think it would be cool to have a poster of it made for our wall. Lastly, we are over the moon about Tiger in a Jar’s vision for this episode. We think they captured the story perfectly.

Fun Fact: the forest scenes were filmed around the corner from our house, in the same trees that we filmed Christmas Tree Hunt. For the exteriors of Little Red’s house and Grandma’s house, we actually filmed at the Apple Juice Farm you’ll remember from this video. Fantastic, right? The old half-timber buildings on the property were absolutely perfect for a fairy tale!

If it’s not showing up for you in this post, watch it on vimeo here, and find all the Olive Us videos here.

Click here for more photos. It was so fun to take photos on this shoot!

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DIY: Mother’s Day Garland

May 6, 2013

DIY: I LOVE MOM paper garland | Design Mom

Images and text by Amy Christie for Design Mom.

You know I love a sewn paper garland, and with Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday, I just had to put one together for moms. Big or mini, I think ‘I ♥ MOM’ says it all. This tutorial is the same as the tutorial from a few months back — it’s carefully feeding paper through the sewing machine. But letters pose a little more of a challenge.

Making use sure each letter is pierced at least once to hold it in place can be tricky. But don’t be frightened, I’ve got tips for you below. And I should note: to make the hearts, I used watercolors on paper and then punched them out. I love the texture the watercolor adds!

Add the garland around a wrapped bunch of flowers or use it to tie up the gift for the best mom in the world. I think it would be perfect to put on a breakfast-in-bed tray.

You ready to get started?

Click here for the full tutorial.

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The Sketchbook Project

May 6, 2013

a library of sketchbooks

By Amy Hackworth.

As an earnest high school art student, I labored over projects that had considerably more heart than skill. At the time, I couldn’t fathom that great artists regularly parted with their beloved projects anymore than I could imagine parting with my firstborn child. I was shocked and saddened to realize that artists made a living by selling their work. They created something beautiful, some piece of themselves, and then (hopefully) sold it. To strangers, even.

Thankfully, artists do sell and share their work regularly, and we are all the better when their concepts and ideas have a home in the world. But gallery space can be hard to come by, which is part of the reason the Sketchbook Project exists. It’s an interactive, crowd-sourced community art project where everyone is welcome. (Over 26,000 folks have participated so far!)

You sign up to receive a sketchbook, choose a theme to loosely follow, and then fill your book with your own personal brand of brilliance. I love the Sketchbook Project because its supports the notion that we all have something worth saying through art. You can fill a sketchbook with sketches (of course), or painting, drawing, collage, photographs, photocopies, phototransfers, stencils, or tracings. Wouldn’t a collaborative family sketchbook be a fantastic summer project with kids?

And unlike my carefully guarded high school art projects, this prized possession is meant to be shared with the world. Once your sketchbook is full, you send it to its permanent home at Brooklyn Art Library where it will be cataloged and shelved, but not before it travels the country in the Sketchbook Project’s Mobile Library (check out the tour here). You can even have it digitized so it can be viewed online.

Would creating (and parting with) a sketchbook be a breeze for you? Or a perfect summer challenge? I think I’d feel more motivated if I knew my project was off to a fancy mobile library. Would you?

P.S. I just picked up a couple of art books for our kids at a museum sale. I can’t wait to dive into this drawing book with our boys and try out some of the printing projects in this one. Do you have favorite art/activity books that have inspired you or your little ones?

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Book of the Week: Stars

May 6, 2013

Images and text by Carter.

One of my favorite things about picture books is how they capture raw emotion in the span of so few pages. And oh, how different the tones can be! Last week we saw the catastrophic and zany The Runaway Dinner, and today’s is tender, thoughtful, and still. Stars, by Mary Lynn Ray and Marla Frazee, lyrically celebrates that far away point of light. The evocative nighttime pictures are balanced by wiggly kids, taping stars on sticks to make magic wands. And the words! “But stars that come with night — for those you have to wait for night. You need some dark to see them.”

This is one to gaze at — much like the book’s subject itself. Do you have any other evocative, poem-like favorites?

P.S. – Gabrielle featured the author of another Marla Frazee book, All The World, here. And she’s the illustrator of the Clementine series – Do you know those? Fantastic chapter books for older readers! Clementine is a modern day version of the sparkling Ramona Quimby and Pippi Longstocking.

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A Few Things

May 3, 2013

Mustard Field in Normandy

Image and text by Gabrielle.

Hello, Friends. I hope you’ve had a wonderful week. Are any of you at Mom 2.0 this weekend? I’m cheering on the conference from my laptop. I was supposed to speak on a panel, but had to cancel when I had flight problems. Total bummer because it’s truly one of the very best conferences out there. But you know I can’t feel sorry for myself when we have such an exciting trip coming up. That’s right, the Fjordieth is happening on Monday!

While we get packed up, and work on a Norway itinerary (suggestions eagerly welcomed!), here are a few things that might be of interest:

- Spine Poems — are they the new magnetic poetry?

- My son Ralph has been making awesome 30-second videos. This one is my current favorite. You can see the rest on his YouTube channel.

- Vermeer-esque photos of kids. Thanks, Chara.

- Each charm raises funds for a different non-profit group — you can literally wear what you believe in.

- Remember Richard Prince? He’s in the news again.

- On my Cafémom column: 6 Ways to Cut the Clutter and Hollywood Glam Nursery.

- An interactive novel for kids aged 9 and up. It’s made for the iPad. The trailer looks interesting to me, like a predictor of what’s to come.

- When is a blogger not a blogger?

- Totally funny. (And totally feel good.) Thanks, Heidi.

- Cinco de Mayo is on Sunday! Here are 18 ideas to help you celebrate.

- Today I seem to be pinning lots of flowers. What are you pinning these days?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.

kisses,
Gabrielle

P.S. — That field at top? It’s next door to our house. Amazing!

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We Took 6 Kids to Venice and Nobody Fell in a Canal

May 3, 2013

Text by Gabrielle. Photos by Gabrielle and Ben Blair.

[ UPDATED with a full report. ]

Here it is! A report on our trip to Venice. I’ve been promising this for months and now it’s ready to share.

Here’s the thing about Venice. It’s not like Rome. Or Florence. In Rome and Florence, there are specific things you want to see, and that you stand in line to buy tickets for — like the Colosseum, or the David. In Venice, the thing that you want to see? Is Venice. Yes, there are museums, and yes there are ruins, but if that’s what you’re looking for, pick another city. You can go island hopping, you can walk 30 minutes to visit a church, but the alley around the corner might be just as cool, or cooler.

Venice is the attraction in Venice.

You can’t take a bad photo. If you’re looking for photos opps, choose Venice. There is no bad light, there is no bad angle. It’s just photo after photo of heaven. And we tooks hundreds of photos, and I included way too many of them after the jump. (I need to beg your forgiveness in advance.)

When you’re there, it almost feels pretend. As if it’s a stereotype of Venice. As if Disney had created Venice as an amusement park for grownups, and they had staged all the texture and exposed brick — no detail too small. I had to keep reminding myself that people really live there. There are grocery stores and schools. Venice is all about texture. It’s like a city in constant decay, but the decay is beautiful, it’s what draws us in.

And if you visit over New Year’s, Venice is COLD. We bundled up like crazy. As long as it was dry, we spent the day outside and explored… But we did have one rainy day. On that day, we visited the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, then spent the rest of the day in our hotel room having a movie party — it was too cold and wet to be tourists.

As I’ve written before, traveling in the off season has worked great for us. No lines, no waiting at restaurants. But there are some disadvantages. An example in this case: the most recommended gelato shop was closed! You can even see a photo below of Maude trying the locked door. Sad face.

I’m going to write up a list of what we did, but really, just show up and walk around and take photos. Walk until you’re hungry. Then eat. Then repeat. That’s all it takes to have a grand time in Venice.

To see about one million photos of our trip, and find a list of what we did, click here.

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Days

May 3, 2013

By Koseli.

You may have noticed I have a special interest in thoughtful technology — innovation and creation that spurs creativity, keeps us thoughtful, and changes people’s lives. And you know I love a good children’s app!

Over the last two years my interest in the tech world has grown as I’ve watched my husband Keenan quit his traditional design agency job and join an early start-up — one week after we had our first child. To say it’s been wild and adventurous is an understatement, but it’s also been the most freeing, thrilling, creative sprint we’ve ever experienced.

So! I’d love to introduce you to our second baby, born of midnight work sessions, twists and turns; built by Team Wander, some of the smartest, kindest people that are truly like family.

It’s an app called Days, and it’s the first visual diary that lets you capture your life as it really is, in just a few photos a day. There are no filters and no camera roll import. You can keep your days private or share them with friends and family. There’s also the option of creating animated GIFs and bringing special moments to life!

I’ve been a beta tester for several months and I can honestly tell you it’s been a wonderful way for me stay a little more connected to my husband while we’re apart.

So what do you think? Would you give this a spin even if you’re already on Instagram? I promise you they’re very different. You can download Days on your iPhone here and grab a press kit here. You can also get live assistance through Twitter.

And I’d love to know, what’s your number one app on your smart phone? I didn’t think I could ever find something to surpass Hello Kitty Cafe, but friends, Days is it. :)

P.S. — Days is currently a featured app on the App Store. Amazing, right?

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An Excitement Pack

May 3, 2013

By Koseli.

I recently ran into the sweetest idea for upcoming house guests: an excitement pack by Giulia Duch. She lives in Barcelona and instead of just waiting for her friend from the U.S. to arrive, she collected photos, mementos, ticket stubs, and small treats that represented her favorite to-dos, and labeled the items with things like, “you’ll sleep here”, or “you’ll sunburn here”. Then she packed it all up in a simple packing envelope, and sent it away.

Can you imagine being the friend on the receiving end? Best surprise package ever! I can’t wait to borrow Giulia’s idea for the next time we have visitors to New York.

How do you capture the “looking forward” to a trip part? Any pre-trip traditions to help you savor the experience?

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Figs & Ginger Giveaway

May 2, 2013

Yay! I’ve got another fabulous giveaway for you today. The sweetest little shop, Figs & Ginger, is offering a generous $150 gift certificate so you can choose what you like!

necklaces by figs & ginger

Figs & Ginger is a family owned company specializing in hand made jewelry, gifts, party goods. It’s lovingly run by Rhonda & Elijah Wyman, and they like to build the collection around a “forest” theme ‚ or things you could imagine finding on a walk thru an enchanted one. Isn’t that lovely?

Their goods are now carried across the globe in museum shops, catalogs, and Anthropologie. You can read more about this fun company here.

whale earrings by figs & ginger

Figs & Ginger comes up with the most charming silhouettes, like clouds and fawns and whales and hearts and bunnies and birds. I think their jewelry would make such a wonderful Mother’s Day gift! I’d say my favorites are the leaflet necklace and the pieces in walnut and sterling. Oh. And I love the alphabet charms, too.

To enter, visit Figs & Ginger and leave a comment below — I’d love to hear which piece is calling your name. The winner will be announced on Monday. Good luck!

——-

Jess is the lucky winner. Thanks for playing!

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Honfleur & Deauville

May 2, 2013

Honfleur, France | Design Mom

Photos and text by Gabrielle.

This post is about Honfleur and Deauville. Two neighboring towns here in Normandy that we never tire of visiting. We’ve been to both many times, but the photos in this post are from a visit last May. Spring in Normandy is very wet, and often cold, so when the sun comes out, you can bet we take advantage of it.

Honfleur, France | Design Mom

These first images show Honfleur. It’s a small fishing port that is big on charm. And the light here is so remarkable that it won’t surprise you to hear this little town is considered the birthplace of impressionism. In fact, it’s not unusual at all to see painters with easels set up near the water, capturing the boats and flags and sails on their canvases.

We’ve been told there are particular things to do in Honfleur — churches to visit and towers to climb — but we’ve never done any of them. Instead, we like to walk through the narrow side streets, window shopping, and stopping for ice cream. We might ride the port-side carousel or watch the boats come in. And then we’ll eat a late lunch or early dinner at one of the touristy restaurants that line the wharf — there are a dozen to pick from.

Keep reading — the umbrellas of Deauville are ahead!

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Brussels Sprouts

May 2, 2013

By Raleigh-Elizabeth. Gorgeous brussels sprouts on the stalk from PKNewby.

Do you have a favorite vegetable? An antioxidant-rich green you’re near-evangelical about? A vitamin-packed food you cannot feed your family enough? One maybe they’re half sick of, but they know better than to mention it because of the inevitable lecture on the awesomeness of this vegetable and your belief that clearly you’ve failed them as wife, mother, friend, and companion simply because they don’t understand the glory that is this versatile, vaulted vegetable?

I have one of those: the brussels sprout.

If you have eaten even one meal in our house, chances are I’ve served it to you. If we’ve just met and are still exchanging pleasantries and clarifying how to pronounce each other’s names, chances are I’ve already mentioned it. If we’re old friends (and by now, we are, right?), it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’ve already told you at least eighty times that the brussels sprout is the single most awesome vegetable in existence.

With little exaggeration.

More brussels sprout passion ahead!

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A Day in the Redwoods

May 2, 2013

Climbing in the Redwoods

This post is brought to you by The New Santa Fe from Hyundai.
By Gabrielle.

Have we talked about my blogging family lately? My sister is Jordan of Oh Happy Day. And my sister-in-law (married to my brother Jared) is Liz of Say Yes to Hoboken. Both of those ladies are crazy talented and it’s such a gift to be able to call them and talk shop about blogging. Our phone conversations include compelling topics like: What do you think of this idea for a new column? and Is the internet slow for you today? : )

Anyway, last month Jordan and Liz took their families to the famed Redwoods of Northern California, and spent a day zip-lining in the treetops. It was part of Hyundai’s Epic Playdate campaign and the idea was to have a true adventure with their families — a day spent trying something out of their comfort zone. There’s a gorgeous video of their experience and it made me gasp! Take a look:

Oh my goodness! Can you believe how high they are? That shot looking down made my stomach drop. Also. I’m dying over that footage of Jordan looking perfectly poised as she zip-lines (when she was actually feeling terrified). Oscar-worthy performance, yes? Hah! Mostly, I adore seeing my nephews. They are so cute I just want to eat them up.

Climbing in the Redwoods

It’s been awhile since we tried something daring, so seeing the video really got us craving our own family adventure. Whale watching, or an extended back-packing trip, or maybe we’ll even try some ice-climbing when we visit the fjords!

Climbing in the Redwoods

How about you? Does your family gravitate toward adventure? Or does something like zip-lining through the trees seem nuts to you? Are there any epic adventures on your calendar this year?

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How to Visit the Loire Valley in a Day

May 1, 2013

The Loire Valley is the region along the Loire River, a little south and west of Paris. It’s famed for its numerous castles that tower above the river. And lucky for us, driving to the region only takes about an hour and a half from our house.

So last year, on the last Sunday of May we hopped in the car after church and made a day trip of it. Our goal was to see two castles and to get a general sense for the region. We knew one day wasn’t really enough time, but figured a day trip would almost be like a scouting mission for a longer trip. The first castle we stopped at was Chateau Chenenceau.

Château Chenonceau, Loire Valley, France | Design Mom

Some castles are more kid-friendly than others, and this one is probably the most family-friendly that we’ve visited — lots of options for roaming and free-ranging, and the weekend we were there, it wasn’t too busy at all.

There are gardens to explore, bridges and moats, a grand checker-board hall with views of the river, and on the way out we explored the garden maze and had a little picnic. Also. We took a TON of photos. So please forgive me if this feels like a photo dump. : ) Hopefully it will be helpful for anyone out there who’s considering a visit to the Loire.

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Early Retirement

May 1, 2013

By Gabrielle. Les Nageuses by Florence Douyrou.

Ed Hawkins retired at 33, pressing pause on his prime earning years and choosing play instead. He’s tended to his fireplace and read books all winter, looks forward to sitting by the pool in the summer, and by September his petanque game will be marvelous. It’s all much simpler now: no more rushing deadlines, blinking for hours on end at an endless screen of information, or checking his Blackberry for urgent updates. He is, in his words, relishing his temporary freedom.

Of course, he doesn’t have kids or a wife. Just an equally bold girlfriend who thought this was an awesome idea! Because it is.

What do you think about flipping the concept of retirement? Diving in to a life of leisure while everyone around you is still swimming laps? Consider this: If you were born in 1960 or later, your full retirement age is 67. Will you still look cute in your bikini? ;) Or is this something better left to those without a lot of responsibilities and dependents? Do you know anyone — or, better yet, any other family — that has opted out of the usual life sequence and lived in a different order? I would love to hear HOW and why they did it! (I hope it was you who did something wild and crazy, and that it is working!)

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Happy May Day!

May 1, 2013

lilies of the valley for May Day

By Gabrielle. Photo by Paul Ferney for Design Mom.

Happy May Day to you and yours!

Here in France, May 1st is Labor Day, but it also goes by La Fête du Muguet, which means Lily of the Valley Day. It’s a public holiday and the tradition is to give a sprig of Lily of the Valley to loved ones and neighbors. I was reading a bit about this tradition, and apparently it dates to the 1500s when King Charles IX of France was given Lilies of the Valley as a good luck token. 1500s?! I’d say that’s an enduring tradition! If you’re curious, you can read a bit more about the holiday here.

Lilies of the Valley for May Day

Will you be doing anything to mark the day? Maybe there’s a Maypole festival at your school? Or perhaps, you’ll be making these adorable May Day Baskets for your children to hang on the neighbor’s door.

P.S. — More May holidays! Cinco de Mayo is coming up fast. Here are tons of fun ideas.