an ode to crayons

i've always loved crayons. crayolas in particular. the best schools years were the ones that started with a brand new yellow box filled with waxy, bright, crayons. i did my best to use my crayons evenly, rotating them so that they would stay pointy for as long as possible.

zodiac crayon carvings by diem chau

love in every color - 8x10 fine art photograph by shannonpix

to be honest, i think this old sesame street clip is what started my whole crayon love affair. this was by far my favorite sesame street video and i love it now just as much as i did when i was six.

i believe coloring (with crayons especially) is good for the soul. next time you're having a bad day, grab a box of crayons and a coloring book and scribble away. and please do color outside the lines if you'd like :)

wishing i were back in california

first time making a quilt

mrs p and i have been friends since the first grade and we went to grade school, jr.high, high school, AND college together so it's pretty crazy to think that soon she'll have a little baby girl! as a baby shower gift, i wanted to get her something unique and special that hopefully, they'll treasure for a long time. so i decided to try my hand at patchwork quilting. i'm a pretty terrible sewer so i'm still debating whether this was an awesome or terrible idea. please forgive me for the awful photos. i took them as i worked at all hours of the day and the sun hasn't shone in boston since the beginning of time.

basic supplies. i invested in a rotary cutter and quilting ruler for this project... best purchase ever.

neat little squares waiting to be sewn. 

everyone says that you MUST iron as you work and i found that it really does make everything clean and tidy.

ready to be made into a solid piece

finished! it turned out smaller than i had anticipated... i swear the more i worked on it, the smaller it became. then i just ran out of fabric and time so all i could do was scratch my head and ponder why sewing doesn't follow normal laws of space and matter. and i didn't take any photos of how i did the edging because i had such a hard time with it. i kept having to pin, repin, sew, rip seams, and resew the layers to the bias tape. i definitely went into crazy mode for a couple of days. but it's on there and hopefully it will stay put.

congratulations mrs p! i can't wait to meet baby girl k and seriously, don't look too closely at the stitching. i hope you and baby girl k enjoy it :)

greek style mac and cheese

weekend dinner... delicious greek style mac and cheese with feta, harvati with dill, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and olives. i only used half the amount of feta because i ran out but i increased the amount of harvati which made me happy since i love harvati with dill. i also cut the amount of olives a bit and the next time i'll add more sun dried tomatoes. recipe via steamy kitchen.

world's smallest post service

lea redmond runs the world's smallest post service. she creates and sends packages and letters so teeny that they come with magnifying glasses so that you can read its message.

photos via ali loves curtis

side note: where does one go to get a tiny roll top desk??

chronicle and lea redmond have teamed up to create the world's smallest post service kit so you can run your own miniscule post service.  it includes everything you need to get started including envelopes, twine, postage, and gift boxes, all impossibly tiny.

world's smallest post service

in addition to running this miniature post service, lea has creates interesting things such as recipe dice and a matchbox theatre. she also has several other projects that can encourage people to be more thoughtful of the world around them or to just do something that will make another person smile. visit leafcutter designs to see them all :)

happy hippo

special request on etsy