Cake Box Book

Made this Cake Box Book as seen in Esther K. Smith's How to Make Books.  I love the look of using this vintage looking yellow cake mix...so 1950's! I of course considered making a book of the funfetti style cake for MJ since that's her favorite cake mix, but I didn't like the box. 

I used kraft paper, a cake mix yellow paper, and old school ruled newsprint paper (the kind I hated using when I was a kid). I bound the book with red and white baker's twine.

I love how the stitches look on the spine.

Voila! A Cake box book!

Christmas at the Napa House

Napa house is adorned in festive greenery, lights, and all things Christmas...

Our advent calendar, full of little goodies to enjoy the whole month long.

Beautiful bough of bay leaves and oranges atop our tea cabinet.

Our mantle, with stockings made from vintage blankets.

Our little Christmas tree in jewel tones!

New Project

My mom bought me this chair for a reading chair in my bedroom. I love the style but despise the fabric. Last night, as it sat in my living room, and as I sat staring at I decided I would try to recover it myself. I didn't decide this all at once. At first I just ripped off the trim to see what was underneath, then all of a sudden I was searching for fabric then draping and hammering. Within a hour or so I had recovered the top of the chair. The fabric is a natural linen with diamonds silk screened on top. Now I just have to finish the bottom and I might fabric paint the sides instead of recovering them. I think I did a pretty good job to start, I just have to carry it through to finish the chair!

Napa House

Haven't blogged during the move which has stressed me out so badly!!!! I did, however, decorate the girls room in time for their first night. I stayed up until 2am making the bunting. The fabrics are the ones I'm using for their quilts, which will come in a week or two when I get my studio room set up. The Napa House (as we've dubbed it) is beautiful, and I am happy to start this space from scratch with Aaron. Mila woke up this morning and the first thing she said after she opened her eyes was... "This new house is great! Let's never move!" The girls have sung its praises all day, which is a good thing. Another bit of good news is my computer came and I can;t wait to set it up...oh, girls just came down the stairs wearing about 10 of my shirts each and I think its time to go upstairs and survey the damage! Wow! I have an upstairs!!!!

Is it the 1st yet?

Pics of our new house. We move in on the 1st of November and the wait is killing me...
My tiny little apartment, which has housed me, my boyfriend and those two little girls 3 days a week for the past year is a disaster! Some things are in boxes, some things aren't, things in general, are a mess. My small space is now claustrophobic. Knowing that there is a larger space waiting for me makes things even harder. I am so excited to move, and yet this move is stressing me out! Kids, work and the dirty dishes don't pause long enough to get anything done! And once the boxes are packed, where do you place them? Currently, they're blocking the back door, barricading us in! Aaahh... I just keep thinking of what I can do in this new house! I will have a workspace, the girls will have a room, there is even a clawfoot tub! sigh... is it the first yet?

Pumpkining, a Grand Opening and a New House

A busy, busy week. The Grand Opening at Maison Reve finally happened yesterday after so much hard work and long nights from our entire staff. Aaron and I signed a lease for our new house (more pics to come) after a couple of weeks of stress and worry, and we took the girls to the pumpkin patch (which was great). I am excited and exhausted!

Filoli House

MJ and I visited the Filoli House for her birthday. I had visited the Muckross House in Killarney Ireland last year, and it was my favorite thing on the trip. The Muckross House was purchased by the owners of Filoli, the Bourn's, for their daughter as a wedding gift. The Grand Ballroom at Filoli is painted with murals of the Muckross Estate. I was curious to see the connections between the two estates, and Filoli lived up to expectation.


This tree was beautiful, massive in size with drooping branches that touched the brick walk beneath it.


There are many gardens at Filoli. This patch of lavender was among my favorite.

Not too shabby, huh?


I loved this French bicycle parked in the shaded path.

My ideal kitchen. One of two adjacent kitchens inside the Filoli House.

Doll House for Mila

Working on a dollhouse for my Boyfriend's daughter's 3rd Bday. I started with a wooden blank house (purchased from Michaels) and have painted the outside and wallpapered the inside.

This is the bookshelf inside the attic. The girls (Mila soon to be 3, and Nadia 5 1/2) love to be told stories and read to, so this is an important addition to the dollhouse.

I wanted the house to have a whimsical feel, so the colors are very little girlish and the painting is loose. The sides of the house are painted like brick, the front has ivy with flowers, and the roof is scalloped like singles, but all pink

I chose a paper for the inside that is also loosely painted and has soft colors.

Mila requested cupcakes for her birthday, so the kitchen is set with miniature cupcakes to celebrate.

I've used furniture from a dollhouse I had when I was a kid. Good dollhouse people are hard to find (they are all blonde) so this is one I had, and I'm sculpting the others from this weird soft modeling clay made by crayola. Its white, very light and feels like you're sculpting with Divinity candy.

I'll post some pics of the people once they are dry and painted. I think she'll like it!

My apartment is very small but it has character and lots of interesting things inside. Its curry colored walls hold many pictures and paintings, and a collection of antique red furniture houses unique objects of all kinds. A small table by the front door is laden with natural objects collected and gathered from nature with care. Above, thin shelves keep small rusted tins and paper ephemera. A French landscape painted by a friend reminds me to make a trip back there sometime soon. Bottles, jars and other vessels hold small objects made precious by their presentation, and butterflies with brilliant iridescent wings hold still in their frames. This is my house, my tiny space in which I share my life with the people I love.