This is our fifth year hosting Thanksgiving in Chicago for the twelve members of our joint families. Each year we try to do something slightly different for food and table decor. I came up with a Thanksgiving napkin ring idea solely using things here at home because (a) my craft closet is to the brim …
Make DIY plate cupcake stands from vintage plates and vases from thrift stores or the dollar store. It’s quick and easy to make several of these cheap cupcake plate stands for birthdays, baby showers, and graduation parties. It’s fun to thrift unique china plates, vases and candlesticks to turn into cupcake stands and cake stands. …
Back in the summer, Liesel Eastman saw our wedding featured in the Knot Magazine and contacted me to see if I could help with the creative details for her October wedding to Barrett. In addition to creating her online RSVP system and designing the sewn zigzagged programs, table numbers, ring bearer pillow, place cards and …
Here’s the best pumpkin banana bread recipe that I have ever baked! It’s easy, healthy, and yummy with both banana and pumpkin pie spices. Shane and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary with an autumn weekend in Wisconsin. Along with the pumpkins, colorful leaves, fresh apple cider and antiques, I picked up this tasty pumpkin …
My friend Heather Crosby and I have creative chemistry. Whenever we get together we build on each other’s ideas until it becomes something totally original. Heather came over for dinner last week toting stacks of Polaroid pictures that she’d snapped that weekend – bright yellow mums, pumpkin patches, rows of individual pies, Indian corn, orange …
In the past five years or so, it seems like Halloween has gone bonkers in the DIY area. From costumes to cupcakes to candy, it’s a holiday ripe for creepy crafting. The always stylish Rachel Pluto hosted a Halloween party for her 10-month-old daughter Maya and friends. Rachel delighted parents by making Emeril’s devil’s eyeballs, …
Make a DIY passport cover for your summer travels. It’s an easy beginner sewing project that you can make in an evening. You can use fabric or felt, and you can decorate the front how you wish. I decorated mine with a Chicago flag to give as a DIY gift for my friend, and I …
The Fulton Market area of Chicago where I work is filled with food wholesale companies – fish, meat, eggs, butter, …and (xoxo) bacon. This week I walked into Meadow Brook Egg Company and walked out with a twelve-pound box of premier restaurant quality bacon. I’ve been dreaming about trying Megan’s famous bacon cups since Shane …
Today I popped by my friend Anne’s to drop off gifts for five-year-old son, Gavin, and her newborn son, Graham. I recycled and altered my chalkboard gift tags idea to wrap Gavin’s birthday treat. Supplies: Red and yellow tissue paper Chalkboard cloth fabric (I used scraps from making chalkboard pillows) Tape Scissors Chalk Wrap your …
Anyone who works in the Fulton Market area on a windy day can attest that Chicago’s long standing candy and chocolate history is still thriving. For his sister’s recent Chicago weekend visit Joseph Dombroski planned a sweet creative activity: a self-guided tasting tour of top downtown Chicago chocolate emporiums. Supplies: Free chocolate scorecard template (rate …
While Monday is the official first day of fall the best thing about Chicago is that summer days usually extend way into September. It’s 80 degrees today and I just spent the afternoon at Wrigley Field with Shane watching the Cubs clinch the NL Central League title. Yay! When my sisters and I were in …
UPDATE: Dinosaur and Birdie Chalkboard Pillows are now for sale at UncommonGoods! Great gift for kids. So when I first invented chalkboard pillows I handmade the chalkboards out of plastic, a knife, drill and chalkboard spray paint. Yeah, it took a long time. But now I’ve discovered the joys of chalkboard cloth fabric which has …
I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be at Chicago’s Renegade Craft Fair on September 13-14, 2008. “Craft and pass it on” is the new MerrimentDesign.com motto that came to me while I was trying to describe the purpose of the site to my friend Renee. Merriment is all about creating things for special occasions and …
I went with my friend Liz to the local tattoo parlor to watch her get a tattoo of two baby birds to represent her boys. Graphic designer Liz had drawn the tattoo in Adobe Illustrator and brought a printout to scan. Unfortunately, the tattoo artist told Liz that while the design looked great on paper …
Nothing says my birthday like a warm, sunny August day and the Air and Water Show. Shane created a cute message on my beloved sun-faded antique sign that I bought this spring in Brooklyn. And I took this photo with my new camera. Fun! Today I thought I’d quickly post a couple creative birthday gift …