Calling all designers

I found this laundry/folding station on Restoration Hardware's website this morning. After studying it for a few minutes, I've come to realize that it wouldn't be too hard to make. Love the look of theirs, but come on, $300 on sale??? Thats a bit much for me. I think all you'd need is a table at a proper folding height with horizontal supports that are high enough to hold a series of laundry bags (with dowel rods loaded in the seams). The horizontal supports on the table should provide enough room for the casual toss of laundry into the bags. I'm loving the wheels on the legs. Thats a major plus! Just a little something to keep in mind for the next home. :)

January

January always reminds me that with patience comes beauty. The rush of the holidays is over, and there is nothing more to do but wait for good things to come. Winter is in full swing here. Chills blow through town and bring rosy cheeks and noses. The dreary days of winter make me think of things to come. Valentines Day and Spring are among the long awaited; however the I must remind myself that simplicity of January allows for personal renewal. Just as Spring's bulbs must wait patiently though weeks of cold and darkness before they will bloom, let us rest for a month... good things are bound to come.

In the "wait" for spring, I've been relying on a few things to keep me cheerfully inspired:

Relaxing Music for January:
Kate Spade's Album
Lee Ann Womack - "Greatest Hits"
Alison Krauss & Robert Plant - "Raising Sand"
Feist - "Let it Die"

Blogs:
Orangette - also look for her new book coming this spring!
Paper Pony
No.462
M.A.Belle
Pure Style

I've also been doing a little indoor gardening. I planted paperwhites a few weeks ago and they're blooming! My amaryllis has not had the happiest life though. This week I planted a hyacinth in an apothecary jar - essentially creating a terrarium!

Two Words

Two words my friends, two words... Felix Doolittle. I have found the perfect vendor for my wedding invitations and paper accessories. This line of stationary and paper goods is amazingly beautiful. I stumbled upon the website only thirty minutes ago, after looking through pages in my "Wedding Ideas" binder that I have been assembling. How did I not see this gorgeous paper sooner, you ask? I have no idea! I found it on a page of interesting wedding gifts from an old Real Simple magazine.

I have been back and forth between letterpress and the look of hand watercolored wedding invitations. The more I fall in love with letterpress, the more I think that few people will appreciate it the way I do. So... on a sad sad note, I think I may have given up the idea of letterpressed invitations and wedding accessories. I think that something handmade would be nice, but I don't want anything that is too crafty. The moment I realized this, I remembered my years and years of watercoloring presentations in Design School. I love watercolors. They are so me! They are small glimpses of what something could be... often with a lack of full clarity. Just enough to get the idea in your mind, but not enough to obstruct the goal. I made the decision at that point to use watercolored invitations. Felix Doolittle is everything I've wanted in a watercolored invitation and more. The designs are simple, yet have a great amount of emotion in them. Not to mention, watercolor lends itself more to my theme.

An afternoon/early evening English Countryside garden party. The juxtaposition between structured topiaries and aged concrete urns overflowing with garden flowers. Natural materials such as gravel paths, antique brick, grass, and moss below foot, with late spring's sky above. Glass bulb party lights and lanterns hanging from trees as the afternoon light fades to evening. Crickets chirping, the moonlight above, and the sacred smell of spring's freshly cut lawn.
Now I only need a location, a date, a dress, and all the other wonderful things. Oh, and a big budget for these cards; since I'm caught up in the moment of these beautiful illustrations, I'm going to look past the price. Those are my next goals. For now though, I am thankful to have such beautiful inspiration from Felix Doolittle's gorgeous wedding invitations.

New Reading Material

A few new books on my wishlist:


This book is incredible. I've looked at it a few times in B&N, but I haven't had the chance to purchase it yet. Its on my holiday wishlist though! And it comes with a free subscription to Domino! Woohoo!


I'm eager to read this while I sip my morning coffee.

I'm looking forward to trying some of Ina Garten's newest recipes! They look simply delicious!


And a new book to help me plan for the big day!

Pumpkin Muffins

I made pumpkin muffins last week and they were a big hit around here! The recipe made a ton (maybe 5 dozen), but you wouldn't be able to tell by the empty plate of muffins only four days after baking them. I woke up to a cool fall breeze and decided that today was the day to make more muffins. After brewing a pot of hazelnut coffee my mission for muffins continued! Mmmm. My recipe is one that was handed down from my grandmother's friend ( I can't trace the origins before that... but it has been a hit in our family for years!). It is delicious and reminds me of all the fall has to offer. At my house, we like to bake half of the batter as muffins and use the remaining half to fill loaf pans. In the mornings we just toast a slice or two and spread a little cream cheese on the warm bread. I also like to freeze some of the loaves and save them for a busy morning when there is no time for baking.


Here's the recipe:

3 cups of sugar
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups of pumpkin (1 lb can)
1 cup salad oil
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp alspice
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup water

Combine sugar, eggs, pumpkin and oil. Sift dry ingredients together and add to sugar pumpkin mixture, alternately adding water. Place in muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees F. Muffins take about 25 - 30 minutes. The small loaf pans take approximately 45 minutes to bake and a large loaf pan will take nearly an hour to bake.

I am trying to make this slightly more healthy than it is. I know... I know... its never going to be Weight Watchers friendly or Sugar Busters friendly, but I will try and add a few more nutritious ingredients. See my notes below for some successful substitutions.

Notes:
1. sugar - I use 2 1/2 cups. I'd like to try to substitute the sugar for honey, but I haven't tried this yet.
2. salad oil - I use 3/4 of a cup. I think that the recipe could be reduced a bit more too... maybe even 2/3 cup. Next time I will try that.
3. flour - Instead of using 3 1/2 cups of flour, I have tried adding a cup of oatmeal (run it through the food processor to blend it up first) and 2 1/2 cups of flour. Personally, I enjoy the slightly crunchier texture, however some of my family prefers a smoother texture to the muffins. Its all in what you prefer.

Enjoy and good luck! Tell me what you think of the recipe and any other substitutions you may have!

Creativity

I don't know about you, but I've spent the past month fresh out of ideas. Maybe its from 4 years of design school sucking every ounce of creativity out of me, or maybe its just that I've been busy doing other things. I think its probably a combination of both. Anyways, I'd like to officially announce that I am out of that rut. I'm back and feeling incredibly design savvy, creative, and resourceful.

I decided to make a tufted pinboard covered in linen the other day. Its been on my mind for a while, but I haven't had the chance to approach the design of it until Monday. I'm not completely finished with the tufting process (just a steady border of upholstry tacks three inches inset from the border of the pinboard) but I'm looking forward to finishing it by the end of the day tomorrow. I have to run back out to Lowes to buy a few more packs of upholstry tacks. One note to those interested in using upholstry tacks - buy more than you anticipate needing!!! I cannot say this enough. I bought 150 tacks and thought I would have enough... but I've only made it around three sides of the board. For some reason the tacks keep getting bent after I hammer them in and then bounce back out of the board (VERY annoying!). I am hesitant to post a photo, only because the place is a mess.... but I want to give you an idea of how its going to look. Here it is:

Making the pinboard made me want to rearrange a bit. I've flipflopped the dresser and small kitchen table/workdesk and I think there's a bit more space to work on projects now. I also want to find a way to display some of my purses. I don't have a walk in closet, but I think that I could use a small wall outside the closet to display them on. I think I'll need to install some simple shelves - probably white lack shelves from Ikea (good price point and relatively easy to install). Before that happens though, I think I need to save up a bit of money!

Oh Baby!

These are the cutest baby pillows! I found a link from Beach Bungalow 8 about the new textile design company called Rikshaw Design. This company sells baby bedding and accessories made from hand blocked fabric - in soft soothing shades and patterns. I have some friends who are expecting and also have childrens fabric laying around (well, I've been trying to save it for the perfect project). I think this is the perfect use of that fabric. I'll probably make other animals though... maybe a scottie dog or a dashound or a bunny and mouse. Here are some other images from their website.