Perfect Gift: Leaf Napkin Rings
By Amy Christie.
Fall has arrived — and a new season of cooking! I feel like every time I open a magazine or check a favorite website, people are planning autumn dinner parties. So I thought it would be fun to come up with a knock-your-socks-off hostess gift for those of you with dinner plans on the calendar. I love how they turned out! I think I might need to adapt them into Christmas ornaments.
The changing leaves are one of my favorite parts about fall. I love the gradient colors and have collected a couple of trees worth over the years. But they don’t last! Sigh. They lose a bit of the color. They dry out. They crack and crumble and I’m left with a pile to clean up. Using a bit of plaster, some paint and inks, I figured out a way to make them a little more durable. And entirely perfect for a beautiful setting a fall table.
… Olive Us: Episode 9: Pique-nique
By Gabrielle.
A new Olive Us episode just went live! That always makes for a happy day at our house. Little June likes nothing better than to climb into our bed as soon as she wakes up, then snuggle in with Mom and Dad and watch Olive Us episodes on repeat. : )
In this new episode, you can follow along as the children go on a picnic in the mountains. We filmed it at Kotter Trail in Mendon, Utah when we were there in July. Being in the mountains really is one of my favorite things in the world!
Have you ever spent time in the mountains? There’s nothing quite like it. Living With Kids: Araya Jensen
This is one of those home tours that’s inspiring not just for style or color choices or even the dining-room-turned-playroom complete with chalkboard walls! It’s a story about one family’s persistence and unwavering hope, about not giving up on a dream even when it looks like that dream might never come true, and even includes a five-month period of living with most of their belongings still packed up in boxes…just steps away in the garage. House hunting and house finding are two very separate and equally stressful endeavors, so I can’t imagine the added pain of living for so long in a state of limbo! Luckily for Araya and her family, everything worked out perfectly. Just look!
Q: Tell us about the family who makes this house a home.
A: We are a fun-loving family of four: myself, my best friend and husband Jordan whom I have known since we were children, our lovely daughter Avery who is five and loves puppies and worms equally, and our full-of-energy son Quinten who is two and is seldom found without a golf club or some other type of athletic equipment in his hands. On weekends we can be found exploring state parks, local museums, or dancing round the house.
Q: How did this house become your own?
A: The journey to owning this house was quite the testament in patience, persistence, and downright hope.
We had sold our lovely but small bungalow, and the pressure was on to find the house in which we would raise our family. We spent most evenings and weekends searching for the perfect house, and we had put offers on multiple homes to no avail. Finally, we walked into this one and our excitement grew. We went down our wish list and they all checked off. Don’t get me wrong: it was ugly, outdated, dirty, vacant, and the yard was overgrown, but it didn’t scare us. It just meant more chances for us to make it our own.
… Love the Place You Live: A Hike in the Woods
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Fall has come in so gently and beautifully over the past few weeks, and the fantastic weather has really made us want to get outside and soak it up. So for this month’s Love The Place You Live exploration, we decided to seek out a hike through the local forest. Our town is actually very near a National Forest, and we drive through it all the time — but we’ve never stopped to hike!
We parked near a village called La Lande de Goult and started up a path through the woods to the top of a hill. (Maybe it’s a small mountain. Living near the Rockies makes you biased. : )
… Sibling Adoption
I’m fascinated by the story of the Truax family. The couple comes from my hometown, St. George, Utah, which is how I heard about them. They are currently the parents of four, and are in the process of adopting 3 orphaned siblings from the Ukraine, ages 5, 10, and 16!
Apparently, orphans leave the orphanages in the Ukraine around age 16 and are left to their own devices. Without a support system, a huge number end up on the streets. 70% of the boys end up in a life of crime. 60% of the girls end up in prostitution. So the Truax family is anxious to bring these children to their new home as soon as possible.
The idea of adopting older children is so heart-warming to me. Obviously, a 16 year old is not in that stage where they literally need to be fed and diapered just to survive. But she’s still a child, and in great need of direction and a homebase.
Ben Blair and I both have a list of parents, siblings, and cousins that goes for miles. And if anything happened to us, I’m not at all worried our children would end up in government care. But the thought of them being raised separately absolutely breaks my heart! I think that’s why I like this story so much. How amazing that these 3 siblings are finding a new home where they can be together.
Have you ever considered adoption of older children? Or maybe becoming a foster parent? Fun fact: My oldest brother, Jake (#3 above), was adopted into our family when he was 6, just after my parents had their first baby. I think he was was 11 when I was born (I’m #7 in the line-up).
P.S. — Adopting a child is expensive. Adopting 3 is astronomical — as in $68,000. If you feel inclined, you can donate to the Truax adoption fund here. [ Update: I need to clarify that adoption can be FREE! In the US, when adopting from the foster system, most adoption is free and includes support services. ] What to Wear to 1st Grade – Euro Edition
This lovely creature is Betty Blair, age 6. She is kind, and funny (and giggly) and she takes ballet classes. Side note: I think ballet is a French word, but Betty’s classes are called “Classique.”
Would you like a tour of what she’ll be wearing to 1st Grade?
Outfit #1 is a blue floral skirt from Benetton with a layering henley and cotton sweater from the grocery store. The brown flats are from the same grocery store but they were a mistake. They’ve only been worn a few times but they’re already scratched up and looking sad. We’re on the lookout for some better replacements.
Betty is number 5 in our line up and I was number 5 in my family. I remember mostly trying to stay out of my older siblings way, and I see that in Betty sometimes too.
… Olive Us: Kitchen Cleanup
Who has dinner clean up duties at your house? When I was growing up, each sister or brother was assigned a night of dish duties. Mine was Thursday nights and I remember frantically trying to finish up so I could watch The Cosby Show with my family. (Someone was always sure to help me so I didn’t get left out.)
Since we moved here, our dinner time has been pushed back and we’ve found we’re all pretty worn out by the time we finish up with our meal. To get through that final leg of the day, and tidy up the kitchen, we turn on something loud (the older kids will pick a playlist from one of their iPods) and we’ll have a clean up dance party.
It usually only takes a few songs and keeps everyone in a happy mood as we head in to our bedtime routines. And as an extra bonus, it keeps me and Ben Blair up on what our kids are listening to these days.
When Tiger in a Jar was here last April, they filmed one of the cleanup parties. It was a one-shot deal! And we loved how they edited it together. We don’t count this as a full Olive Us episode, but we thought you might enjoy a little behind-the-scenes peek at our family life.
P.S. — You may notice a 7th child. That’s my wonderful niece Roxcy who was staying with us at the time. What to Wear to 9th Grade – Euro Edition
This is Ralph Blair, age 15. Fifteen! If we were in Colorado, he would be starting his freshman year of high school, but here in France he’s in his last year of middle school. They call middle school “college” in France so that makes it sound pretty cool to an American teen’s ears. : )
For outfit #1, Ralph is wearing a heathered henley from Zara, jeans and a scarf from his closet, and tie-up Vans. Ralph’s in that stage where we sometimes pick something up in the kids department and sometimes pick something up from the men’s department. It all depends on the actual item of clothing.
Ralph is a great sport about taking part in these posts, but he hinted to me that it might be his last year participating. Totally his call, of course.
… Living With Kids: Cory Kallfelz
Most of us probably lean toward instant-design, don’t we? We buy a home, change the flooring, update the kitchen and bathrooms, paint and paint and paint, and maybe even buy a couch on a Saturday when we were supposed to be picking out paint colors! And just when we think we can’t take another day of renovation, the project is over! But can you imagine a home renovation that took seven years to complete? That’s exactly how long it has taken Cory and her husband to transform the ancient one-room schoolhouse into a home abundant with thoughtful details and timeless design. Seven years? Time well spent, I’d say! Please enjoy the home that Cory and Douglas (and Otto and Max!) built.
Q: Tell us all about the family who lives in this home!
A: I’m Cory Kallfelz and I live in this special house with my husband, Douglas, and our two sons: Otto, who is seven, and Max, who is three. Our home is located in Rhode Island just up the street from the ocean, nestled in a cluster of very sweet historic cottages. Douglas and I are both architects – a dangerous combo! – and we are passionate about our profession and connect on seeing the world through a similar lens. We met in design school many years ago and greatly value each other’s design counsel. We are avid DIYers and have spent many weekends and nights plugging away at our house project.
Q: How did this home come to be yours?
A: We were sold on this house because of the charm of the immediate neighborhood, its proximity to the water and our little town center, and most definitely because we could get our hands dirty with a hefty renovation. We found the former house – originally an 1890s one-room schoolhouse – and knew that this was our project. Our design juices flowed immediately, and we started our construction two months after closing.
… Lullabies
Last night, as Ben Blair and I were going from bedroom to bedroom, turning off lights and tucking in kids, it occurred to me that the only room where we still sing a lullaby is June & Betty’s. Each of our children was sung to nightly for years and years, but the ritual has faded for all but the youngest two.
The lullaby we use is one that was sung to me by my own mother, and as I was going through the melody last night, I wondered if there were other parents around the world singing the same song. I realized I’d sung the song thousands of times but I’d never thought to look up the source. What I found was predictable but interesting. Both the tune and words I inherited are different than the ones I could hear in online samples. And of course, we decided we like our version best of all. It’s so familiar to us it’s practically tattooed on our souls. : )
… What to Wear to 8th Grade – Euro Edition
Here’s a little tour of what the lovely Maude Blair, age 13, will be wearing to 8th grade. Starting with outfit #1, which features a floral jumpsuit from the Next outlet, and a navy cardigan from Abercrombie. (If you’re curious, you can find a little sidenote about what my kids think of Abercrombie in this post.)
The silver, leather ballet flats are from Carrefour (a French grocery store).
… What to Wear to 2nd Grade — Euro Edition
Here’s another What to Wear to School wardrobe tour, this time featuring 7-year-old Oscar. Fun fact: based on the emails he’s received, Oscar has a bit of a fan club from his roles in the Olive Us episodes. Luckily, it hasn’t gone to his head. : )
For outfit #1, Oscar is wearing a yellow polo shirt from JC Penney, sky blue khakis from a clothing store in Rome, classic checkered Vans and a striped tee from H&M.
It’s fun for me to look at these photos and see how much Oscar moves around. He is active as can be!
… Olive Us: Episode 8: How to Set Up A Study Space
Just in time for back-to-school season, here’s the latest episode of Olive Us: How To Set Up a Study Space. It’s a really cute one!
We filmed this episode at my mom’s house in Mendon, Utah.
Matt and Julie of Tiger in a Jar had such a great vision of how to make it charming. I love the music they found! And a big part of the charm is definitely the fantastic illustrations of Merrilee Liddiard. (Do you know her work? Her excellent blog is called Mer Mag.)
I hope you enjoy the show!
P.S. — More Olive Us videos. What to Wear to 6th Grade – Euro Edition
Hey there! It’s time for some What to Wear to School posts. Let’s start with Olive Jean Blair. She just turned 11 and started 6th grade here in France. Fun fact: because of different age enrollment guidelines, in Colorado she would be starting 5th grade.
In this first outfit, Olive is wearing pale-pink sequin capris we found at a Next outlet near Dover, England. Her pink layering tee is from Carrefour (a Target-like French grocery store chain) and the dark brown oxfords are too. The grey wool v-neck sweater used to belong to Ralph, but it was accidentally washed and now has a cropped, shrunken, felted (but still cute) look. The necklace is by Truebirds.
For years, bright green was Olive’s favorite color, but recently she’s had a change of opinion and currently there isn’t a bit of green in her wardrobe.
… Living With Kids: Rae Friis
I’m stumped about how to introduce this week’s home tour to you. The word that seems most appropriate to describe it is happy, but I’ve spent more than a few minutes trying to think of a better one. I mean, there’s a cozy nook! And a chalkboard! A wall of vintage maps! Over-sized art! A chubby baby! Suddenly, mid-smile, I realized that we can’t do much better than happy, can we? Happiness is a design style we should all covet. So welcome to a glimpse into Rae’s happy home and happy family.
Q: Tell us all about the happy family who lives here!
A: What a big question! I’ll start with the babe and work my way up.
Griffin William (G Dub) just turned one, and has the Scandinavian look like his daddy. Aside from his cute packaging, he is super sneaky and tends to do things when people aren’t looking. For instance, it was a few weeks after he started crawling that we actually saw him do it. No joke.
Tilly Jane (Matilda) is our almost four year old wanderlust. You don’t know where she is going or what she is up to, but you know it’s going to be good. Or naughty. Like when she visits the other team’s dugout after a game to mooch a snack before coming to mooch one from her brother’s team. “Tilly, where did you get that doughnut?” She is also our encourager. If you want to feel amazing about yourself, go talk to Tilly. Seriously. However, she has zero regard for personal space so I recommend a phone call.
Espen just turned six, and if I had to pick a child to spend the day with, it would be this little dude. He gets excited about everything, small or big. Waking up (excited), getting a strawberries and crème at Starbucks (excited), vacationing at Disney Land (excited), having a friend over (super excited). In addition, he is the resourceful child that plays with Legos for hours, cracks the password on my iPhone, and gets the family laughing when we need it most.
… Switzerland Report, Plus 6 Last-Minute Roadtrip Tips
The whole family felt like our last minute trip to Switzerland was even better than expected. So we’ve been analyzing what made it so good, and wondering if we can replicate the experience in the future. Here are some of our tips for last-minute road trips (most are just reminders to me personally : ), plus a report on favorite activities in Switzerland.
1) Embrace the Spontaneity.
I arrived home from my trip to New York City on a Saturday afternoon. While I had just had an adventure, I could see the rest of the family was itching for one too. My first instinct was to take a long, long nap. Then evaluate where we were laundry wise. Then run an errand or two for road trip snacks. And turn the whole thing — if we did it at all — into a carefully orchestrated event.
But I could easily predict that if I even took step one (the nap), I’d wake up with the realization that I was behind on work, that the house could use a good cleaning, etc., and this trip wouldn’t be happening.
So we just went for it. I said this to myself: This is not a life or death situation. No one is going to starve. If we’re not having a good time, we’ll come home. Thirty minutes later, we were packed and on the road.
…Switzerland Report, Plus 6 Last-Minute Roadtrip TipsRead More »
The Perfect Gift: Cork Stamps
It’s mid-September and you’re probably settling nicely into a school year routine. If you’re like me, you love a good excuse to stop by the school and say hello to your kids — and maybe even spend time in the classroom. So I asked Amy of This Heart of Mine to come up with a little gift for teacher (the perfect excuse to drop by!). Her idea is a great one. Enjoy! — Gabrielle
The (pre)school year officially begins at our house today! The excitement has been brewing for some time now, I’m glad the day is finally here. With the first day upon us, we have readied our teacher gifts. I thought a collection of handmade stamps seemed perfect. Very teacher-rific! These cork stamps are very easy to make, use simple materials, and allow for a lot of personalization.
This project is so much fun! I think you’ll love it.
… The Perfect Gift: Gilded Moleskine Journal
I love gathering school supplies for my kids, but I’m always tempted to pick up fresh pencils and crisp notebooks for my friends as well. It seems like everyone enjoys a fresh start in the fall! So I asked Jordan of Polkadot Prints to come up with a perfect gift for friends who are trying something new. — Gabrielle
A friend of mine has recently gone back to part time work after taking some time off to focus on her young family. She is in a creative industry, so she’ll no doubt have light-bulb moments and genius ideas on the go! I’m hoping these gilded Moleskine journals will come in handy for her brainstorming and note taking whether in the board room, the car or anywhere in between. They were quite easy to make and once on a roll, I ended up making myself a set too!
So lets gather our tools and get started.
… Living With Kids: Wendy Hyde
Wendy knows how difficult it is to turn a temporary rental house into a never-want-to-leave home. All of us living in rented spaces know this, don’t we? Sometimes, it’s just easier to leave things the same and spend the time and money elsewhere, starting sentences and someday plans with “When we get our own home…” But whether it’s her innate sense of style, her decorating skill, or her husband’s perspective-changing accident that fuels her, Wendy has decided not to press pause on this time and space in their lives. Friends, Wendy’s hitting play. And, boy, does she play well…with colors and patterns and high-end ideas that would feel right at home on magazine pages. Welcome to Wendy’s anything-but-shabby nest!
Q: Tell us all about the family who makes this house a home.
A: There’s my husband, John, who is a photographer with an amazing eye. He’s also very handy, which is great when I need help with my endless DIY list! Then there’s me. I’m an interior designer and blogger who loves to decorate and redecorate our space; thankfully, my family doesn’t mind too much.
Finally, there are our four munchkins: three Lego-loving boys ages 12, six, and five, and our dance-obsessed nine year old daughter. Our family is loud, full of energy, and crazy-in-a-good-way. And I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Q: Where does your home live?
A: We moved to our home in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah after my husband was in a serious car accident that nearly claimed his life. It turned our world upside down. We needed to find a rental house, and this home was a true gift during a time when our family was struggling.
… The Names That Got Away
Question:
I absolutely adore the names that you chose for your children, and I was wondering if you have any names that got away? If so, would you be willing to share? I have to say, I’m always curious what you would name another handful of children! Thanks so much. — Trisha
Answer:
What a fun question, Trisha. I love the phrase you use: the names that got away. That’s perfect. I do have a list. Or at least a couple of little stories. When I was pregnant for the second time, and we’d found out it was a girl, we started chatting about names. I suggested Claire, (which I love!) And Ben started laughing. “Claire Blair?” he asked? Ugh! I hadn’t even thought about the first and last names together! When I realized they formed a full-on rhyme, which I was not okay with, I about burst into tears.
Then, when I was pregnant for the third time, I was positive I was having a boy (I wasn’t), and we starting picking out names. We really liked one of the Blair family names: Charles Sargeant Green, and we planned on naming baby number 3 Charles Sargeant Blair. But baby number 3 turned out to be Olive! And when the next boy arrived (Oscar), Charles Sargeant didn’t feel quite right, so we saved it for a possible future son. Since we’re done having babies, it’s now officially a name-that-got-away.
Other names that have made our short list over the years: Mabel, Maxine, Beatrice and Hazel. But I can’t remember any of our boy names. In general, we’re drawn to the names from our grandparent’s generation. We favor names that are:
-Easy to pronounce
-Easy to spell
-Currently uncommon
-A name with some history — a name our kids will discover as they get to know great books.
As a mental test, whenever we were talking about names, I would imagine my kids as 80-year-olds, sitting at a card table playing canasta. If the name we were considering fit at the table, it got a green light.
And now, I’m so curious I have to ask: Do you have any names that got away too? I’d love to hear them!
P.S. — What if it was illegal to keep your birth name?