holli zollinger

Wandering across the interwebs today looking for some fun Chevron fabric for a project or two, I came across the work of Holli Zollinger. An artist from Utah, Holli's textile designs are fun without being overly cute or kitschy. I love the scales of her patterns and the colorways. I'm mostly drawn to the naturally inspired prints. Check out a few favorites:

I can't help but think of Florence & The Machine when I see this one. 

I love that the fabrics are offered in several different weights and finishes. They're the perfect small touch to add color to a room, although I could see an entire upholstered piece looking amazing in one of these.


I picked up these two for a fabric bin I plan to whip up for our living room. I say "whip up" as if I'm fast on the sewing machine or something...

Happy Friday All - I hope you have a fantastic weekend planned!

xo,

chelsea

Braided and Plaited

I'm having a continued love affair with braids. They're the perfect answer for a messy hair day. They dress up, they dress down and look darn good doing it! 


Some recent plaited pretties:

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And check out this awesome how-to from B. Jones Style - she does some seriously amazing hair posts!!

Braids, love or hate them?

xo,

chelsea

KiddoCraft - money magnets

Here's a fun little DIY craft project I put together with the kiddos on a rainy weekend. It's a great way to display and use coins picked up from foreign travels and for holding up those reports cards and art pieces on the fridge.

What You'll Need:

• Pair of Scissors
• Magnet - we used the roll variety but the small dots work too. If you go with the magnet dots, you'll need some strong adhesive as well. I wouldn't recommend Super Glue for a kid project, but any craft store should have the right glue to get the job done.
• Money!! I had some coins collected from our trips to London, Norway, Denmark and Sweden. The Scandinavian coins have some very cool and graphic looking minting on them.

(looks like Sutter snuck a dime in there too!) 

1. Begin by cutting your magnet strip into sizes small enough to fit on the back of your money. Sutter was super precise about getting them all the right size!

2. Decide which side you want facing out, flip it over and stick your magnet strip to the back! 

3. Voila! Money Magnets. Something fun and pretty to look at in just a matter of moments.

This was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy as the kids like to say.

What's your go-to rainy day craft?

xo,

chelsea

a birthday

We threw a little impromptu birthday party for my sweetie last Friday. His real birthday was somewhat derailed by tantrums and bad weather, so we wanted to make it up to him and surprise him after a long work-week out of town. I stayed up late Thursday night baking (somewhat unsuccessfully) a frozen Daim cake, making banners and hanging streamers. The kids were so excited they were shouting surprise before we even got in the front door.

(that fan...it's just hideous. If this were not a rental, it'd be gone in a heartbeat. ok, I digress)

A homemade birthday banner

a little strumming on the guitar. This was my mom's guitar way back in the 70s. When I took lessons from one of the nuns at my Catholic school, this is what I learned on. Now we're working on cleaning it up so either me or one of the kiddos can learn on it again. I love having some kind of instrument in the house.

Some homemade Daim cake. Not the best attempt, but I'm making a promise to make it again and perfect it! I got the recipe from Carl's mother and it's a birthday favorite of his.

I love this little photo that Sutter took (you can see the shadow of his head in the foreground). He loves learning about the camera and he was super anxious to capture the pizza in all it's glory. We tried our hand at making Shaman Bread inspired by one of our favorite restaurants, Full of Life Flatbread. If you're ever in the Central CA area, it's a must-try - and don't forget to save room for their homemade s'mores!

All in all, it was quite a successful little party. We played records, strummed the guitar, ate pizza and cake and played until it was late. So much fun that we even found my little man asleep on the floor in his jammies.

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

xo,

chelsea

thrifted and new

A few peeks from around the house lately...

Thrifted a little enamel pot with wooden handles and a Dutch pewter pitcher with wooden handles. Hoping to shine up that wood a little, but they're nice for now.

The leftovers of a fun St. Patrick's Day bouquet. I could stare at lilies all day. They are so beautiful and erotic.

My new bag from Fabric & Handle. It's even more gorgeous and versatile in person and Salinya was such an absolutely lovely person to work with! It's quite perfect.

Some potatoes we started on St. Patty's Day. The heart-shaped one is so cute! Now I have something nice to look at while I do the dishes.

The kiddos are on Spring Break this week which makes for some chaos. Sutter gets to go to camp and Harper gets some extra time with family including my mom who is sure to spoil her rotten. Sutter asked me last night why I don't get a Spring Break from work. Good question, kiddo. At least I get to take Friday off so we can go camping...can't wait!!

Is anyone else on Spring Break? What are your plans?

XO,

Chelsea

Fancy Friday - 3.25.2011

Happy Friday everyone! I, for one, am extremely happy it's Friday. Not for any particular reason other than I'm excited to relax and create this weekend. I'm not sure how most people are, but it takes me some time to get in my creative groove - but then once I'm there I feel like things really flow. Now I see why people in creative jobs come up with amazing things. Carl says the same is true for coding. You need the music right, the mood right, food at the ready and a solid chunk of time. In any case, I'm hoping to "find the zone" this weekend.






Here's some things I fancied this week...

Some great around-the-house uses for vodka, if you're not drinking it that is.

Peach and mint never seemed so good together. I've been obsessing ever since I saw this pairing.

I made this pretty garland today and I love the way it turned out. Simple but sweet.

Thank goodness for Google Translate! Now I can read Annaleena's Hem without dragging Carl in the room to translate. Her home is beautiful and chic and her DIYs are perfection.

This Pantone magnet DIY is fun and cheery. Perfect for spring's colorblocking madness.

A fun ode to brown-baggin' it for lunch.

Is anyone else as obsessed with Pinterest as I am? Find me here.

Besides my get-creative plans for this weekend, I'm also excited for Spring Cleaning! Is that weird - that I look forward to cleaning? It's calming for me and always makes me feel like it's easier to get through the week with an organized (if not full to the brim) home. Plus, spring is time for changing things up around the house and making things feel shiny and new!

What are you up to?

XO,

Chelsea

Dressed - gray sidewalks

This has been a pretty wet week for us California folks. Unlike most everyone else - who seems to be beckoning spring like a siren at sea - I'm holding on to the winter. We rarely get what I call "weather" around these parts and it's nice to have a change once in a while. Plus it gives us a chance to break out the sweaters, boots and jackets that are usually saved for "cold" places. Yes, we are kind of sissies in California.  But the silver lining is that the thrift store run amuck with cold weather goodies. I scored this awesome sweater the other day and couldn't wait to break it out. I was so excited to wear it, that I enlisted my favorite little photographer for some impromptu snaps.

(sweater - thrifted,

pants - j crew minnie,

boots - sam edelman - amazing LF stores sale!!)

Not to be left out, this little miss wanted to show off her rainbow brights. I'm pretty sure her outfit picks these days deserve their own fashion blog. 

And Sutter wanted to be in front of the camera for a bit too! Showing off all his mad karate skills. Hi-ya!

I hope you are having a lovely week! I'm very happy that tomorrow is Thursday and this long week is coming to an end. I'm looking forward to a relaxing, craft-filled weekend!!

XO,

Chelsea