diy wallpaper art

one of my new year's resolutions is to be more artistic.  i do play music, so i guess my goal is to do more visual art.  that can be hard when you have no formal art training or skills!  i found this wallpaper silhouette project over at design sponge and thought it looked simple enough for me!  the tough, or fun, part is finding fun wallpaper samples.  i found some really cool, cheap vintage wallpaper samples on etsy and ebay.  i got to work with my scissors and created this framed wallpaper bird (please forgive my amateur photography)...

these make easy, thoughtful gifts and you can get creative with the silhouettes.

have any diy project ideas to share?

favorite kid links...

first slumber party, by juli

just some of my favorite sites about kids, for kids, to buy kids...

sarah o'leary's sweet book, "when you were small" is an absolute favorite of my daughter's with its gentle drawings and fun little story.  sarah also has a blog about children's books which is certainly worth a visit.

the mini social is a private members only on-line boutique with rotating sales on clothes, shoes, toys, books and art for children.  it costs nothing to join and there are some great finds.

moolka is an online toy store with well-designed and less commercial products for kids.

the happy magazine for kids, anorak.

indie kids music that you also might just like, renee & jeremy, get a free download!

our current favorite toy is the haba rickshaw.

wonderful papercut prints from the talented elsita.  we have little red riding hood.

small is a beautifully created online magazine about kids for parents.  usually some fun DIY projects and there is always a free coloring download.

misha lulu creates whimsical children's clothes.

joslyn of simple lovely also has a kid + food blog, raising foodies, with recipes!

my daughter is a shoe person and some of her quirky favorites are from livie & luca.

and finally, i leave with you with a free download for paper dolls via kiddley which was created by the small object.

happy weekend!  and hello there to new followers!  yay!

green soup with ginger

by juli

so, tracy (fellow slow life blogger) wanted to make dinner last night and i was, admittedly, a bit of a laze and wanted to dine out.  she talked me into it with this delish green soup and ginger recipe from the cookbook, "love soup" by anna thomas, found via 101cooksbooks.  tracy loves to cook and alas, i like to either photograph food or eat it.  i aspire to be a cook sometimes but my kitchen is ill-equipped and i kind of keep it that way by spending all my money dining out.
anyhow, what a great winter stew!  it is all vegan and healthy.  the only adaptation we made was to add soy sausage which added a bit of a kick with some protein.  yum.

book sniffing

my daughter and i share a great love of books.  so much so that we both have stacks all over the house.  new books, old books, books from the library, books from friends...sigh.  so many books to be read!

anyway, i'd like to share a great find, "animals should definitely not wear clothing," from our recent trip to the library.  the book was published in 1970 by author judi barrett and illustrated by ron barrett.  the simple story and ridiculous illustrations make my daughter laugh each time she reads the book. 

felt soaps from soFino

how cute are these handmade felt soaps from soFino?!  i need some of these bright colors in my white tiled shower!

deer felted energy soap, $18

blue heart with a seahorse felted white magnolia soap, $16

set of 18 heart felt soaps, $64

dogs + photography = love

courtesy of martin usborne via ZUMA

the sweet, longing faces of dogs photographed while waiting inside cars for their humans is one of my favorite essays at the moment.  see all of "waiting for godot" by martin usborne on ZUMA's pictures of the day.

merge records

arcade fire photo by anton corbijn

so i guess by now everyone in the world knows about indie rockers arcade fire winning the grammy for best album. this was especially exciting to us because arcade fire is on durham's home-grown merge records. merge is home to so many great artists - spoon, richard buckner, camera obscura, destroyer, the rosebuds, she & him....ok i'll stop now. well, i can't forget superchunk. members laura ballance and mac mccaughan started merge in 1989.

superchunk photo from mergerecords.com

one of my favorite newish merge artists is telekinesis. their new record 12 desperate straight lines was released today! you'll be hooked, i promise! listen at npr.

check out this video for dirty thing, a song that appeared on their 2010 release parallel seismic conspiracies. i am ready to go on the road!