DIY: Tag Blanket

I have seen blankets like this given at baby showers, and I thought, "I could make that!" I have a powerful ribbon fetish, so this was a partially selfish indulgence. Being a designer, I also wanted to make it with the most stylish materials I could. Many of the ribbons are those I have gathered on my travels in New York and London, or even saved from fancy gift packaging. The fabrics are a very soft corduroy on one side, and on the other that silky-plush material with the dot bumps. If you make one, be sure to use fabrics that are machine-washable and ribbons that are colored with dye and not with the patterns "stamped" onto the outside, or the pattern will eventually just wear off.

I also made extras as gifts; one for my nephew and one for my unborn niece. The cost was about $20 a blanket to make for one this large. I added quilt batting and a simple quilting stitch. It's nearly a yard long and has dozens of different ribbons, so I've been getting comments that it's the biggest "taggie" blanket people have seen. There is a "Taggies" brand...but I say, do it yourself and you'll get exactly what you want.

Our Christmas Card

Just sharing our Christmas card for 2008. I actually was able to make over a dozen hand-assembled cards without any stress! A little on the crafty side, I must say. But I think I'm getting a bit worn out of stressing over the perfection of details. Enjoy.

Tasty Paper Ornaments by Art School Girl

I actually discovered Art School Girl's work through her photostream on flickr, and I fell in love with these clever paper "cookies." Don't they look like you could eat them? She sells them and other great paper products on her website, which you can view right here.

Another Look

This fantastic crest I discovered in an old volume in the periodicals section of a university library (The Paper Nut title in the center is my current addition, via Photoshop). In addition the high-res scan I made, this graphic was vividly etched my "visual inspiration file". It really laid the foundation for the idea of The Paper Nut, the squirrel-and-nut perched iconically. Sometime I'd like to implement this as a secondary logo, perhaps for a line of more ornate-style products.

Jewell's Picks & Pics: Some of My Toys

Vintage or not?

Has anyone ever seen the giraffes in the above photo? Mommy found them at a thrift store and wants so badly to find the entire set. They are probably Fisher Price or Playskool, circa 1985. We've seen the elephant and chicken in the set, and also have one of the sheep. It's a silly obsession.

The blocks are from ebay. We have quite a set!

The stackers, little bear and the pig and monkey tops all may look vintage...but they're not. Thank you Target and Old Navy. The spoon and fork are from a Japanese shop in a mall.

The Paper Nut Letterpressed Gift Tags

Newest addition to The Paper Nut's Etsy site: A set of 8 different letterpressed gift tags!

The Paper Nut: Letterpressed Notecards are Here!

Well, here they are! I never would have believed how difficult it is to get a business up and running, especially when I'm a one-woman show. Designing, marketing, financing, and designing a web page, is enough work for a whole crew of people. At the moment I'm working to get these available on my Etsy site, so keep checking there, or you may contact me directly. Also along with these notecards are a set of letterpressed gift tags, which I will post shortly. Everything is printed on Crane's 100% cotton Lettra paper in ecru with matching envelope, and packaged in a clear enclosure made of biodegradable material.

It's Here...

The notecards have arrived. Just thought I'd let you know. I'll have pics up in a day or two, so check back soon!

Etsy Find: Luxe Deluxe

My sister and I have been wanting to dabble in jewelry making. We already have a vision for what we want our stuff to look like. So when I came across this Etsy site (via decor8 blog), I was so thrilled to see stuff that was exactly what I want to create. But I could never do as good of a job without such fabulous vintage pieces...where does she get them?

DIY: Free Halloween Banner!

Just as you're beginning to fathom that summer really is over, you may have forgotten to throw up some decorations to mark the onset of cold-weather holidays. So if you haven't decorated for Halloween yet (partly due to a hesitancy to mix scary black creatures and dripping blood into your current decor), here's a...well..."cute" little banner I whipped up that you can download for free! Of course, you'll still have to print it, buy ribbon, and put it together. I promise I've tried to keep it as simple as possible. This is the first of what I hope will be many free holiday downloads, one for each holiday...so stay tuned!

Click image below to download pdf:

Jewell's Picks & Pics: Arte Bebé

I found Arte Bebé because I was looking for shops that carry Egg by Susan Lazar (I'll do a post on that later). Just look at all these fabulous things to beg Grandma for! Every once in a while you want to sport something that obviously didn't come from Target or Old Navy (no downing these, they're my main staples).