The Violet Hours

Time to Decorate with Fruit

Yes, you heard me. And yes, you are reading The Violet Hours blog. I know, decorating with fruit may sound super grandma to you, but after you look at this post, your mind will be forever changed!

Oh Happy Day always gets it right, and this fruit balloon garland proves it. I'm obsessed!

I specifically sought out a pineapple wallpaper because I won't deny that I love it. And how perfectly crafty is this color-by-numbers one by Jenny Wilkinson found on Design*Sponge?

Call me crazy (Michael-husband, I hear you the loudest), but I could really get behind a glass fruit chandelier in my life one day. Found via Pinterest.

What is it with pears that make us love them so? I love all three of these lovely dolled up plastic pear crafts. Sources: Glitter pears, We Heart It; Chalk pears, The Empty Nest; Jute Pears, I Should Really Be Sleeping.

Oeuf never ceases to fail when it comes to their garlands. I'm in love with this crocheted cherry one.

If this pomegranate iPhone wallpaper were real wallpaper, it would be in my bathroom.

 

Almost as good as Willy Wonka's lick-able wallpaper, these bananas from Flavor Paper are scratch-n-sniff. For real.

Are you inspired now? But just pick one. You don't want your home looking like a giant fruit salad.

Time for Instagram Love

I am so not alone in my love for Instagram. It has definitely pulled ahead as my favorite form of social media. At this point in my life, I have time to look at pictures and not much else!

Some of my Instagram pics are among my favorite I've ever taken (like this one of my daugther Sommer at her first music class), and I'm desperate to free them from my digital devices and let them live in my world so I can actually touch them. Here are some great ways to do that...

LMNOP blogged about Origrami, a service that prints postcard-quality prints of your Instagram photos. And then packages them in that amazing box. I'm doing this. Even if I have to pay shipping from Australia.

 

I love the way A Beach Cottage arranged Instagram photos of a beach vaca on a wall in the shape of a heart. Because face it, who doesn't love the beach? And Instagram. So if you are a shutter-happy photographer on one subject, this project will visually link the imagery and colors nicely.

 

Seriously, this is a dream of mine: a huge frame with hundreds of Instagram photos. If only I had the wall for it. Found via Because I'm Addicted.

 

Young House Love framed their Instagram photos in jewel cases. Always a fabulous, photograph vehicle. (PS...I'm so proud to share a book publisher with them! How on Earth did that happen?)

Time for the Color PINK

I was driving to Michael's the other day, and heard a fascinating report on NPR. The author of a new book called Drunk Tank Pink, Adam Alter, was discussing with Ira Foster how hidden currents, from reactions to color to our attraction to certain letters of the alphabet, affect our behavior and thoughts in significant ways.

The term "drunk tank pink", I just learned from this website Color Matters, is the name that was given to the color that was used in jail cells to calm violent prisoners. It was discovered that this hue (R:255, G:145, B:175) had a calming influence, even affecting a person's heart rate, but could then create adverse effects after about 15 minutes of being subjected to it.

Then there's the story about the head football coach at the University of Iowa who painted the opposing team's locker room pink to weaken their performance on the field. Rumor has it that the visitors would cover everything with newspaper as best they could before entering the locker room to derail this bubblegum assault.

So naturally I began to think about pink in a new way...little girls clothed in pink, sleeping inside pink walls, chewing on pink plastic giraffes. Do we push this pacifying color onto them or is it a biological attraction? 

A few years ago I blogged about this project by South Korean artist JeongMee Yoon on Parents magazine's Goodyblog. Starting with her 5-year old daughter Yoon conducted a documentary-esque study of children and their possessions. She orderly arranged their belongings, from clothing to pencils to books, in their bedrooms. The resulting photographs are astounding. The diptych is of a set of twins that both started out in the pink world, and then went their separate ways to pink and purple.

I am usually not drawn to pink for my 1-year-old daughter Sommer and much of what she wears is hand-me-downs from her brother (she survived the winter being mistaken for a boy in a navy-blue coat). I'm curious to see how it all shakes out; if one day, she'll be fighting to paint her half of the room blush or bashful.

Time for a Toddler Bed (literally!)

I pinned this photo from a French blog a while ago as aspiration. This is my goal for how I want my kids' room to look. Loose, fun, casual. I'm on my way, for sure...we have a knitted bunting, a mushroom table lamp, a poppy, apple green side table, cool wallpaper from Fine Little Day...and now, we have a toddler bed.

Yes, Oliver has graduated, and thank goodness! Poor Sommer has been waiting for her fashionable, Kalon Studios Caravan crib for months now. We got Oliver the Gulliver bed from Ikea; now I just need to hack it a little bit to give it some European style. I wanted something simple that could compliment the Caravan, but at a lower price point. I plan to style it like a little day bed, and honestly, I can't wait to start pinning textiles.

Tonight will be the first night as a big boy. Must mark it down in the calendar.

Time for Map Crafts

I'm so attracted to maps, both for the actual use (navigation) and for their design and craft aesthetic. Obviously I'm not alone in this, as maps have been decoupaged on everything from coasters to lampshades. But these crafts, like this amazing map dress by Elisabeth Lecourt, are taking maps to new destinations...sorry, it had to be said!

This looks crazy hard I know, but I think the artist just covered this cardboard deer head in maps. Love. Found via Babble.

 

This could be a very cool abstract embroidered design, but it's actually the Paris Metro system. By Needle & Compass on Etsy.

 

I love the link between transportation and navigation with this folded paper map boat by d. Sharp Journal.

 

A travel scrapbook made with map pages? Yes. Found via Scrapbook.com.

 

Ok, so I'm ending with the decoupaged map chair found via Pins for Your Home because I just love it.

Time for Spring Break Staycation Activities

If you are about to embark upon a week of kids at home (aka wild abandon) for spring break, maybe a few of these 10 ideas from my recent Mom.me story will inspire you! (And while you're there, check out all the great things that Mom.me has to offer!)

Missing the beach in a bad way? Bring it home with this easy homemade recipe of flour and vegetable oil.

 

Too cold for a backyard camp out? Instead, camp in with a homemade tent in the living room!

 

Are Legos getting old? Try building a tower with marshmallows and toothpicks!

 

Download scavenger hunts for the grocery store, the mall, and traffic to keep your kids busy while you run errands!

Check out the rest of the story on mom.me!

Time for Pom-Pom Bunny Crafts

It doesn't have to be Easter to get the hankering to craft a bunny. But you do have to have pom-poms on hand to make any bunny craft worth his weight in carrots. Whether it's the whole body, the tail, or just the nose, listen up: pom-pom(s) required. Here are some of my faves...

 

This cutie-patootie little bow-tied cupcake topper bunny by Oh Happy Day is just the perfect amount of cute.

 

Not for the faint of craft, this pom-pom bunny by Jennifer Murphy is lovingly described in 18 "simple" steps.

 

Sweet and simple...I'm in love with this book-page and pom-pom bunny by Dekotante Rock My Home.

 

Just the noses...that's all the pom-pom you need to give these envelope bunnies a soft touch. By Martha Stewart.

 

What a clever little party favor! Give your Easter guests a pom-pom necklace buy displaying it as the tail of a paper bunny. By B. Jane Brewing.

Time for Easter Candy Decorations

I'm usually very anti- the idea of decorating with sugary, edible items as craft materials for all the obvious reasons...the waste, the insect-attraction factor, the potential for decomposition. But honestly, Easter has me rethinking this rule of thumb. And I think because you don't typically leave Easter decorations up for weeks on end, it's totally excusable. Pass the Peeps please!

I made these sprinkle and icing Easter eggs for Parents magazine a bunch of years ago. They are so much fun to make, and there a ton of different techniques! I used corn syrup as glue...worked better than hot glue!

Martha Stewart always takes Easter to a different place. I wouldn't let my kids anywhere near these beautifully styled jars of Easter candy!

 

What's prettier than a sugary, gumdrop wreath like this one from A Pretty Cool Life? Just shellac it and save it for Christmas!

 

I love the idea of using candy-dot paper strips as easter basket decor like this one from Parents magazine (ok, I know...but I used to work there!).

 

You can't talk about Easter candy decorations without Peeps. This sweet topiary by Country Woman magazine is amazingly easy to make. Go ahead and use your glue gun on this one...who wants to eat peeps anyway?

Time for Spring Break Staycation Crafts

I just started contributing to a very cool, newish parenting website called Mom.me, where you can explore crafts, behavior advice, recipes...basically everything under the sun that comes along with the parenting gig. They asked me to come up with some fun Spring Break staycation crafts. I tried to make each project something that would be just that: a project; not something that would only take 5 minutes. So here are a handful of the ideas. You can see the whole gallery here at Mom.me.

Snap Happy ABCs sends kids on a scavenger hunt with a camera, looking to find something from every letter of the alphabet to photograph. Upload the photos to picmonkey.com to add text then bind it with zip ties in paper-covered cereal box sides.

Growing up, my sister and I had a self-cleaning Lego mat like this Road Mat. You just push all of the toys into the center, then pull the drawstring and there you go! Clean-up is done-zo! My 2-year old son Oliver cannot believe how lucky he is that this is Mommy's "work".

The play value in this cardboard castle is huge. Let your kids spend the week constructing, and they'll play with it endlessly!

I don't think there's anything more satisfying than putting together a terrarium. Send the kids out in the backyard to gather moss, sticks, and rocks, then arrange them on top of soil in an upcycled plastic snack container (the one I used was from Target's addictive trail mix).

In most homes with young kids, you can find a handful of popsicle sticks. Just add some velcro dots to the ends and watch the kids come up with a gazillion ways to play with them. I call this, Popsicle Stickies. It's good, I know.

Check out the rest of the craft ideas on Mom.me! My second story with them will go live on April 4th; I'll be sure to remind you when it's up. (And follow them on Pinterest...they have good taste, I swear!)

Time for Fresh Eggs: Modern Easter Egg Crafts

One of the last stories I produced as Lifestyle Director at Parents Magazine was this Easter egg story by the amazingly talented Jocelyn Worrall. Prepare yourself for some overwhelming cuteness!

These beauties were made with just a simple brush and tempera paint.

 

We've all seen the chick Easter egg craft before, but these yellow-dyed large eggs are sitting in jumbo egg shells. Genius. Watch the how-to video here.

 

This technique uses rubber cement. So easy to do and the results are gorgeous! Watch a how-to video here.

 

Wrap a ceramic or wooden egg in white yarn to make these fluffy bunnies that you can use year after year. Watch a how-to video here.

 

These little guys might possibly be my favorite. Keep clicking through the slideshow on Parents.com to see the instructions.