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April 14, 2014

A Hoppin’ Easter Sunday

Is Easter a big deal in your house? Growing up ours always involved a hidden basket (one year behind the Christmas tree that had yet to be taken down), plastic eggs hidden outside, and a big family dinner at my grandparents’ house. Now it mainly involves dinner at my moms and yes, baskets are still hidden! Check out these 17 projects and ideas to make your Easter Sunday extra special.

ROW 1:Easter Brunch Invitations + Stickers // DIY Floral Party Hats // Printable Easter Treat Bags ROW 2:Easter Bread // Easter Sticker Buckets // A Simple Easter Arrangement ROW 3:Paper Rabbit Bust // Easter Candy Bark ROW 4:Easter Ice-Cream Sandwich Treats // Bunny Ears Twist Wrap // Origami Easter Bunnies ROW 5:Paint Swatch Flowers // Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt // Happy Easter Egg Hunt Signs Kit ROW 6:Easter Egg Terrarium // Washi Tape Eggs // Printable Iron-On Bunny Bags

Posted In easter, entertaining, food, holidays, invitations, kids, make it, paper goods, recipes, round up

April 11, 2014

Happy Weekend

01/ How to Make Your Cat an Internet Celebrity and achieve financial freedom.
02/ Pizza in the Wild is exactly what you’re expecting.
03/ Vans has teamed up with the ASPCA with some awesome cat and dog covered kicks.
04/ Meet Puk – a super awesome suspended fruit basket.
05/ The Black Dogs Project shows the beauty of the most neglected shelter animals.
06/ Food becomes abstract art in Cut Food.
07/ Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart take on NYC like tourists.
08/ A cardboard cathedral made from 98 cardboard tubes and 8 steel shipping containers.
09/ Watch what happens when you put 8 million flower petals inside a volcano.
10/ These vertical playgrounds looks like so. much. FUN.

This week on Design Crush:
I made my guest bath a little less blue, a little more light for SWPaintingWeek.com.
Le Creuset’s Matt Collection is incredible.
Jujujust works magic in her fiber art and other creations.
I’m so excited to be opening up a boutique with GREAT.LY next month!
You need to make this Overnight No-Knead Bread this weekend. You’ll thank me later.
Lovely family trees that are perfect for Mother’s Day or any day.
Eight prints: April edition.
What You Are, Be a Good One is a book full of beautifully illustrated quotes.
The wild and wonderful watercolors of Sara Falli.

Posted In ads, collaboration/project, create, do good, happy weekend, house and home, kids, kitchen, online, pets, photography, shoes, wear it

April 9, 2014

Family Trees

I’m doing my best to start thinking about Mother’s Day a little earlier than usual this year, my mom’s birthday is a week later and I always feel like I’m caught off guard. I’ve got my eye on these sweet personalized family trees from Evajuliet, you can choose from three to five generations and among 15 designs. (The deadline to order is April 18th.)

Posted In create, holidays, mother's day, paper goods, prints

April 9, 2014

Overnight No-Knead Bread

I’ve been wanting to try baking my own bread for years, but the task always seemed so daunting. Does anyone else feel that way? Thankfully no-knead bread is all the rage right now, and with it’s free-form shape is maybe the least intimidating bread ever. After some goading from my friend Joanna, I knew I had to try it for myself. The result? A perfectly crusty boule with a soft and chewy center, made from four simple ingredients that are probably sitting in your kitchen right now.

Overnight No-Knead Bread
• 3 C unbleached bread flour
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 5/8 C water
• 16″ long strip of parchment paper, cut in half lengthwise

In a medium bowl, stir together ingredients until all the flour is moistened and it looks like a shaggy mess. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for 14-20 hours (18 hours being ideal).

Have a strip of parchment paper approximately 6 x 16″ ready and waiting. Lightly flour a work surface and with floured hands fold the dough over itself twice. Recover loosely with plastic wrap and rest for 15 minutes.

Lightly flour hands and shape the risen dough into a ball, place it on the center of the parchment strip. Cover loosely with a cotton dish towel and rest for 2 hours (the parchment will act as a sling while transporting the boule). If you like, cut an X on top of the dough with a serrated knife.

Thirty minutes before baking preheat oven and a 6 to 8-quart dutch oven to 450-degrees.

When ready to bake, remove the lid from the preheated dutch oven and carefully lower bread dough with its parchment sling into the vessel. The parchment will hang over the edges. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 15-30 minutes until the crust is well browned. Cool completely before slicing with a serrated knife.

Posted In recipes

April 7, 2014

Le Creuset Matte Collection

When Le Creuset revealed their new matte collection a few weeks ago (it’s now in stores) I most definitely did a combination hold my breath/squeal/internal happy dance. I’m excited to check out these new muted tones from the company that’s known for bright and glossy pops of color in the kitchen in person.

Posted In house and home, kitchen

April 7, 2014

A Little Less Blue, A Little More Light

After our teaser last week, I’m back today with my bathroom reveal for National Painting Week! That’s right, I went with a subdued version of the color that was already in play. There’s just something about a blue of any hue that feels refreshing. And because this is also the bath directly across from the guest room I wanted to keep things in the same color family to feel slightly related.

In case you need a reminder (it is Monday after all), here’s the bare bones empty before shot. My goal was to make this windowless hall bath as appealing as possible to buyers since I’m gearing up for a move and will soon be putting my home on the market.

I visited my local Sherwin-Williams store and picked up some paint chips to test against the light about a week before painting. This is definitely an important step, colors that differ only slightly can look hugely different depending on what light they’re in. The winner was Mountain Air, a super light blue-grey that feels unbelievably fresh and welcoming.

I really love how Mountain Air looks with the other elements I’ve added to the room – a new jade plant (that will hopefully survive!), a shower curtain with a splash of coral, and a few abstract drawings are all helping me achieve a relaxed feel. I also bought some new white towels and hardware to add to the equation for an overall refresh.

And then I went a little overboard and added a stack of favorite books because, well, it is a bathroom. I also like the pops of color and type they bring to the room. All in all I’d call this project a huge success! I think when I remove the pieces of my personal style any potential buyer should be able to picture themselves putting their own spin on this room.

Check out my fellow bloggers sharing their blue projects today for SWPaintingWeek.com – Remodelaholic gave her daughter’s room a refresh and The City Sage gave a side table new life. Tomorrow tune in to Vintage Revivals, Four Generations One Roof, and Simply Grove to see how they worked their magic with green!

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for which I received compensation. All words and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep Design Crush going!

Posted In house and home, sponsored post, walls

April 4, 2014

Happy Weekend

01/ Project 22 is raising awareness about soldiers suffering from PTSD.
02/ Love this animation explaining how cats communicate feelings with their bodies.
03/ I’ve been waiting for the neckerchief to come back. (Seriously.)
04/ River Giants captures liquid splashes at high speeds.
05/ Secrets, tragedies, and more are inside Thomas Doyle’s dioramas.
06/ City Clips create a skyline while saving your place!
07/WarkaWater towers collects condensation for drinking water.
08/ Metal Cats, you know just metal heads and their adorable feline friends.
09/ Incredible portraiture food art by artist Nadia Luongo.
10/ What happens when undeveloped film is swallowed… and retrieved.

This week on Design Crush:
I’m starting moving prep on my house, beginning with the guest bath.
It was definitely an Insta March – whew!
Check out a dozen ways to decorate eggs + Bing Rewards program.
Get a great backpack and help secondary students in Zambia with be packs.
Make one of my favorite DIYs yet – faux stained glass windows!
Crushing on Howkapow’s spring collection in a big way.
I’d love to add a few of these geo ring holders on my dresser.
Meet my favorite new shoes for spring – Bucketfeet.
If you’re in the love it camp, here’s how to devour cheesecake 10 ways.

Posted In accessories, create, grand design, happy weekend, office, photography, sculpture, video, wear it

April 4, 2014

Cheesecake 10 Ways

Mmmm, cheesecake. It lies in that polarizing area of food where people either love it or hate it. From this post you can guess which camp I’m in. My mom makes amazing cheesecakes, meanwhile I’ve never even attempted one. I think that needs to change in the very near future, and these are the ten front-running cheesecake creations for my make-it-or-break-it culinary experience. Which one should I go with?

Click on each image to go to the recipe.
All photos copyright of their respective sites unless otherwise noted.

Posted In recipes, round up

April 3, 2014

Geo Ring Holders

These four small geo ring holders designed by Alan Wisniewski for Umbra are practically sculptures in their own right. Each of the designs measures about 4-inches tall, making them perfect for small spaces or gifting to your artsy friends and family. Oh, and they’re super affordable as a bonus.

(via bltd)

Posted In accessories, house and home, jewelry, wear it

April 2, 2014

Howkapow Spring Collection

Bristol, England-based Howkapow brings a smile to my face every time I visit them online. Their shop is full of innovative, fun, interesting work from breakthrough talent as well as a few carefully-chosen independent, family-run brands. There’s an ever-changing collection of unusual pieces at affordable prices, and their spring collection was just recently released so I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you.

Wooden Dutch Wall Clock // Art Pop Mini Clutch // Rubi Floor Lamp // Labradoodle Tea Towel // Silk Canisters

Posted In accessories, bags, house and home, lighting, paper goods, prints, wear it