Flora Swatch Head.

Here is a rendering of my gray-eyed baby girl. Capturing her face was a lot trickier and I'm not totally sure I did it. I need to let it set a bit and I'm sure I'll revisit it soon.

In Progress: Swatch Faces.

I had this idea a while back to try to boil down the colors of my eyes and lips to single shades so I could make swatches with them. I have been fascinated by color lately, and this was a fun exercise. If you ever look at yourself in the mirror up close or examine a photograph, no bit of us is one simple color. I still thought it would be possible to at least simplify to one essential color. This is just a rough first draft, but it was fun to do.

Update: new version of Swatch Head Meg.

I wanted to play around more with the line style. This is the next version.

flower tees.

i've talked about sewing before. still, without a deadline it can take me a while to work up the gusto to actually sew something. this week i finally finished this corsage tee.

lulu's reaction was so great and it felt so good to make something, i went on to make this blossom tee.

lulu adores it--there's something so refreshing about gray + pink.

instructions for the blue shirt here.

instructions for the pink flower here.

roses headband.

inspired by these and with the help of this tutorial, i made a roses headband yesterday. it felt really good to make something--really good. maybe it's her name, but almost anything flower seems appropriate for this little blossom.

baby love.

i don't know what else to say: she's here. in our home. crying in her crib. dressed in a kimono night gown made by a friend. wrapped in a blanket used by her sister, then another blanket made by another friend. elle est parfait. we are excited to show her the world.

lemon cupcakes

i admit upfront that this photograph probably does not look delicious, but i can say the cupcakes were. the problem with the look of the frosting came from buying my cake decorating kit from IKEA. i did get my money's worth--i was able to frost more beautifully for a while--but on saturday i gave up on the decorative tips and just frosted from the bag, resulting in these pat-of-butter lumps on top of each cupcake. but next time i will invest more, for sure.

anyway, saturday afternoon rolled around and i was ready to bake something. about a week ago a friend gave me a lemon cupcake from trophy, and it was delicious. so lemony. so fluffy. i wanted to recreate the lemony joy for my family. and i happened to have half a dozen lemons in the fridge. how's that for destiny?

i found a recipe, tried a new gluten-free flour mix, and tried another recipe for the frosting. the results: tangy, lemony cupcake goodness.

lemon cupcakes.

* 3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising), or 3/4 cup GF flour of your choice

* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

* 1/8 teaspoon salt

* 2 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest (i used more, to taste)

* 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

* 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (i used more, to taste)

* 2 large eggs

preheat oven to 350° F. and line four 1/2-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk in 2 teaspoons zest.in another bowl with a fork blend butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon juice until smooth. with a wooden spoon beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until smooth. stir butter mixture into flour mixture until batter is combined well.

spoon into cupcake pan. bake until cupcakes spring back, about 12 minutes for mini cupcakes and 18 minutes for regular cupcakes.

cool completely and frost.

lemon buttercream frosting.

* 1 cup butter, softened

* 3 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar

* 1 lemon, juice and zest of

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional--i didn't want the competing flavors)

* 1/8 teaspoon salt (optional--i didn't miss it)

Mix the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until smooth.

Add the lemon juice and mix until smooth. Add more lemon juice, if desired.

I didn't use the vanilla or salt--it was good.

makes enough for 12 cupcakes.

inspiration: frame a dish towel

i have a good friend who has beautiful taste and often comes up with great decorating ideas. Her latest: framing this dish towel from anthropologie. she found a frame at ikea that works perfectly, bringing her grand total to less than $25 and her effort to little more than shopping for the two pieces.


















i love this idea, especially since it costs about the same as a print and has added charm and texture as an embroidered textile. i have to admit, she had me eying this sea scene with the same purpose in mind. i have nurseries on the brain lately, but this whimsical piece would be lovely in any other space, too.


















what are you making this weekend? planting our new strawberry and grape tomato plants, making cupcakes, customizing shirts, the LOST finale and finishing a couple sewing projects are all on my mind.

Birthday Cakes

Between the two kids we have celebrated 6 birthdays now, as well as several of our own. We will enjoy the sixth birthday cake tonight or tomorrow, depending on how things shake out this afternoon. A look back on birthday cakes past seems like a good way to psych myself up (as if the thought of rich, chocolatey cake isn't enough? haha).

For some reason, I have it in my mind that birthday cakes should be round, and layered if possible. I haven't had a matching pair of round cake pans, though--which has led to somewhat creative use of my corningware and springform pans. This time I am excited to try my fancy removable bottom pan. I also take advantage of birthdays to try new things. Risky, it's true, but I guess I learn better under pressure.

Jane's first. Carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting. Brad made lovely tissue paper flowers. We decorated the top together. My cake writing makes me laugh.

Jane's third. A timely date for her birthday (8-8-08, opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics) + returning from a huge camping trip and still in California with extended family =extra fun for the birthday girl. Chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting. M&M's make excellent decorations, especially in Brad's hands.

Grey's first. I fell in love with the miniature birthday cake seen here and decided to do it for Grey. I took another tip from a friend and we made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting so the mess on Grey's face would be more photographic. It worked.

Jane's fourth. Jane's fourth birthday involved a lot of baking. Per Jane's request, for our family celebration we had a chocolate cake with berries (the blessings of a summer birthday). I was pretty happy with how everything turned out, especially the berry flower on top of all that delicious chocolate.

For her tea party, we had cupcakes and petit fours, three-fourths of which I made from scratch. (I used a mix for the cupcakes, and they were not gluten-free.)

For Brad's birthday last year, I made a two-layer lemon cake (homemade) with fluffy white frosting and strawberries. You can tell I was tired because I stubbornly didn't change the candle arrangement.

And now for Grey's second. I have an idea I'm excited about. I have homemade chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream frosting waiting in the fridge. Chocolate cake will be the best way to wrap up over a week of birthday celebrations for our little guy.

little valentines

Thank you, inchmark, for this fun valentine idea. Lulu and I have had an excellent time making them.