Our Magical Woodland Nursery

We finally finished our magical woodland nursery and I am absolutely in love!   Rather than forcing the typical gender stereotypes (I mean…I don’t even know this person yet!),  I wanted to create a mostly unisex nursery that encourages a healthy imagination since that’s what I remember most from my own childhood.   We would gather around as my mom told elaborate stories about gnomes and fairies that my brothers and I fully believed and lived.  They were so magical and real to us that I wanted to start my own child’s life out with that same sense of possibility and wonder.    I combined stuffed animal taxidermy with a large painted mural of a magic forest, neutral furniture and the most modern-looking nursery essentials as possible.  I already posted about some of the elements in the room, but the final result below really brings everything together beautifully.  I hope you feel inspired to keep things simple, magical and woodsy for your baby too!

Heirloom Wedding Book

Photo: Chris Cammock

Photo: Chris Cammock

I just finished turning the photographic fabric panels and muslin from one of my best friend’s chuppah into a hardcover book for them to have forever.  Let me begin by saying this gorgeous wedding book wasn’t my idea, I was merely the craftsman in this post, but I always love sharing a beautiful idea.    As you can see from the photos, Sarah and Ryan’s chuppah was a stunning combination of branches, unbleached cotton muslin and white fabric panels printed with photos of their story, from their ancestors to their childhoods to their own new family together.   You could certainly make a quilt out of the panels as a keepsake, but I loved the book idea because it will last a lot longer.  

DIY Woodland Nursery Decor

Faux elephant, unicorn and lion taxidermy in Italian linen!

My need to nest has been seriously delayed by our apartment hunting and packing to move, but I managed to squeeze out a few wonderful goodies for the nursery before I trade my gigantic studio space for a much, much smaller one.   Even before I knew it was a boy, I knew wanted a light and airy magical woodland nursery where bears play banjos and mice are pirates.   Luckily, what I wanted would have worked for either!  

Christmas Party Round Up

Saturday marked the last party in the garage and it was a huge success!

OH Don’t worry…..it’s O’Douls!

We figured it was time to find a new place to decorate, cozy up and entertain in since we aren’t quite edgy enough to raise a baby in a garage loft.  For now, enjoy this holiday party post, use the recipes (everything was delicious!) and next year, get ready for new-apartment posts and baby nesting!

Our party had a much looser theme than last year, but we encouraged people to wear “vintage holiday” attire….any decade would do.  Jeff and I channeled the 60′s, mostly because it was the only vintage maternity dress I could find!   Here’s what we served:

MENU

Starters

• Hot Artichoke Dip with Pita Chips and Toasted Baguette Slices (Martha Stewart)
• Cheese and Meat Plate (Trader Joe’s cheeses, salamis, fig butter and hot pepper jelly)
• Dill Dip With Veggies (recipe below)
• Marcona Almonds (Trader Joe’s)

Dinner

• Glazed Ham with Mustard (Trader Joe’s)
• Roasted Winter Vegetables (recipe below)
• Butternut Squash and Turnip Gratin (Wine Garage)
• Classic Stuffing (recipe below)
• Touch-of-Grace Biscuits (from The Bread Bible, but these are similar)

Desserts

• Yule Log (Cake, Filling, Icing (whip this until light and fluffy once it is thickened at room temp), Mushrooms)
• Sweet Potato Bourbon Cake (Martha Stewart I also added a simple orange juice and 10x glaze)
• Hot Chocolate with Gingerbread Snowflakes (Hot Chocolate, Gingerbread Snowflakes)

Dill Dip

We served this with raw veggies at the party, but traditionally, my family serves it in a rye or pumpernickel bread bowl with rye and pumpernickel bread cubes (it’s the best!).

• 16 oz. mayonnaise
• 16 oz. sour cream
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small (or 1/2 large) yellow onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon dry dill weed

Mix everything together in a bowl and let sit in the refrigerator at least 4 hours before serving.

Roasted Winter Vegetables

• 5 cups whole cremini mushrooms, cut into quarters
• 6 cups brussel sprouts, cut in half
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into hunks
• 1 large acorn squash, seeds removed, cut in wedges along grooves, peeled and cut into hunks
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• fresh thyme leaves

Preheat oven to 425.  Line 2 sheet pans with foil and put the mushrooms on one and the sprouts on the other.  Drizzle both with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme leaves.  Roast both for 15 minutes, stir and flip and continue roasting until tender and browned, about 5 minutes.  Dump both into a serving dish or casserole and toss to combine flavors.  Lower the heat to 400 and repeat the process for the parsnips and acorn squash.  These will take longer than the mushrooms and sprouts.  Toss everything together and add more salt if needed.  

Classic Stuffing

I made this vegetarian this year with veggie stock, but I recommend using chicken stock if you have meat eaters around…it’s a lot tastier that way!

• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 1/2 cups chopped celery
• 1 cup butter
• 9 cups soft bread cubes
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed sage leaves
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/2 cups stock (veggie or chicken)

Preheat oven to 350.  Toss bread cubes, salt, pepper, thyme, and sage in a large bowl.  In a large skillet, cook and stir onion and celery in butter over medium heat until onion is tender.  Pour over the bread cubes and toss until coated.  Transfer mixture to a casserole dish, drizzle with stock and bake, covered with foil for 30 minutes.  Uncover, increase heat to 375 and bake until browned and crispy on top, about 10 minutes.

As promised….Our 2012 Christmas card “album” cover!

And back!

 

 

 

Herb Saver

Use a permanent marker to turn one of your ice trays into a herb freezer so you never waste your harvest!   After you pluck and wash each herb, just pop them into the wells of the tray and freeze.  I add a little water to each full segment because I love the perfect little block that comes out, but you really don’t need to.    Next time you make a sauce, soup or dip, just pop one out and stir it in!

Community Baby Quilt

Here’s a quick post to show you how the community baby quilts turned out from the April baby showers.   Giving 30 people a block regardless of artistic ability could spiral into something pretty ugly, but if you carefully control what people are allowed to use to make their block, it will turn out adorable no matter what.   (And as the putter-together of it all, you could also tweak things a bit to make it look a little better too! )

Milagro Heart Wedding Cake Topper

My dear friend, Kalimba, is getting married on Cinco de Mayo and she asked me to make her a sacred heart cake topper.   I love this little topper and I wish I had thought of it for my own wedding!  I used red velvet, vintage lace, rust silk charmeuse, stuffed it with bamboo filling and poked a wooden skewer in it….done and done!

Throw A Themed Holiday Party!

A vintage themed party for the holidays takes the pressure off of making elegant, time-consuming food.  Retro treats always tend to be quicker and cheaper to make unless, of course, you’re using Gourmet magazine from 1962 instead of something kitschy.  We modeled our holiday party on a gem my mom gave me from the 70′s called “Christmas Idea Book”.  The photos were so hilarious we couldn’t resist trying to recreate that vibe in our modern loft.   We encouraged guests to dress up in “festive 70′s attire” and set up a photo booth against a decorated wall to capture their hilarious duds.   We spruced up the food a little, because we are foodies after all, but mostly it was cheeky, retro fare straight from some old cookbooks. 

The Menu

• Brie Fondue with Crunchy Breadsticks and Pears
• Beer and Cheddar Fondue with Bread and Green Apples
• Endive with Goat Cheese, Walnuts and Figs
• Maple Glazed Ham
• Orange and Sage Turkey Breast
• Sweet Potato Bonbons
• Sherry Brussel Sprouts
• Green Bean Casserole Mushrooms
• French Onion Soup with Gruyère Croutons
• Pig in Herb Blankets
• Boozy Eggnog Jello Mold
• Cornflake Wreath
• Burnt Almond Torte
• Inside-Out German Chocolate Torte
• Winter White Sangria
• Hot Buttered Rum

Our Picnic Wedding

Here they are…the official photos of our big day!  To read more about our DIY wedding year, click here.  We are selling some of our wedding components on Ruffled and links to buy that stuff and all of our vendors are listed at the end of the post.  We hope you enjoy the photos as much as we enjoyed the day!

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