new dolls in town.

i have my cousin's 2 baby girls in the family.

one is 2, the other is 7 months.

you know my obsession with making dolls, as seen here,

so a day before christmas i decided i wanted to make some to give to the girls.

i love the ones jenny komenda made so i modeled them after hers.

i used only fabric i had in my stash, only running to hobby lobby for the pink and purple felt.

i think i was most excited for their hair :)

i didn't know exactly how the first one would turn out so i didn't even pause to take a photo. just when it was 80% finished.

voila.

i was kinda in love.

so i rushed to make the second.

as you know, i like color. and i like pattern. and i kinda like it when those two things are crazy and not totally matching, alot. so that's what i did.

once i get to a point where i'm almost finished, i get scared to do anything else for fear that i'll ruin the good thing i have going. so i almost left them without a face... but my mom thought that might creep the girls out.

so i pushed on to make their faces.

and i actually thought i ruined them, with those with those big, blank, hollow eyes... but waited until they had a mouth to decide if i needed a re-do... 

and thankfully, that's all that was needed.

a cute little, french, pink, puckered pout.

(made with a sharpie. i almost lost it, because what's more permanent than a permanent marker?)

getting packaged up to meet their little ladies.

and.....

approval!!

they loved them.

and so did my cousin :)

did you all have a great christmas?

were there any homemade dolls amongst you?

JILL

for little dudes.

i'm back :)

things are better.

still don't know a ton, but husband is better and feeling like himself.

and that makes me better in return.

i'll fill you in at a later date. i want space between it and here.

but i have a really fun little boys room worked up for ya.

using my most absolute favorite wallpaper from anthro.

it's little boy-sy but not cute-sy.

just the way i like it.

if you want the sources for any of this good stuff, email me.

sorry i just got too lazy to include it.

but one more time, let's look at the best part:

this wallpaper kills me.

i also kinda wish i could afford to do one of my bathrooms in this luscious stuff.

i love it so much.

like vintage-african-safari-boys-club-glamping smooshed onto wallpaper.

hope you have a splendid thursday.

JILL

my little hero

over the weekend my sweet friend had a baby shower for her first little baby nugget.

it's a girl and she's due here in a few weeks.

i found these super bunnies on pinterest and almost died. they were everything... the most adorable super hero i've seen to date.

so i followed the link back to the website of the woman who makes these sweet little bunnies. i wanted to get one for baby-on-the-way.

well. turns out that she's a french super bunny and i couldn't read her website... in french.

so next option-- i thought i might try to make my own little super hero.

and i did.

and here she is:

with the cutest little pink knit stockings. ever.

(they were made from a sweater dress i had in my closet. this dress was one of my favorite things but it got a giant unfixable snag in it, and i never could bring myself to throw it away. so now it lives on in super hero form. and that makes me happy.)

and cape.

i was so nervous to give her this super bunny.

seriously, as she was opening it up my stomach was doing flips and my cheeks turned red.

i didn't want it to look too hokey and homemade.

but she loved it, and everyone else did, too.

and that's all that matters.

sorry i was mia yesterday,

i was at a very long, very boring work show.

love!

(and sorry for the bad phone pics.)

JILL

handmade.

remember that video i posted of my fave photographer, stephanie rausser's?

with her daughter and her doll.

i'm re-posting because if you missed it, it'll brighten your day. and if you watched it last time, it'll brighten your day, again! watch it here.

i fell in love with that doll.

i didn't know who made it, if it was her mom, if she bought it...

if i could make one just like it?

she was so beautiful and handmade. much better than the massed produced versions.

then this month's living came and voila:

the dolls are EACH made by hand by this charming lady, jess brown.

she decided when she had a daughter she was going to handmake her something for christmas each year.

she started with a doll, just like this and her friends went nuts for it... as they should.

now she sells them at bergdorfs, custom for clients, and various other places.

i have pinned a few other handmade dolls. all my friends are having babies and babies and babies and i would have loved to have been on the ball a long time ago and make a doll for their sweet girl babies...

i wasn't, but it's not too late to start!

jess brown uses vintage fabric for the dolls' dresses and stockings.

so darn charming!!!!

the pink haired ones are kinda beyond.

love.

JILL

linens and blablas

i was rather quickly turning the pages of the recent house beautiful on the train back from boston this past weekend when i stopped abruptly on page 44 as a colorful set of cocktail napkins hand-embroidered with singing divas caught my eye.

featured in "the best!" section of the magazine these belgian linen napkins are from a delightful kansas city store, sharyn blond linens! when i saw they were featured i had to give a little kansas city shout out!

sharyn blond is a lovely, local, fairway, kansas boutique..."offering the discriminating shopper a beautiful bounty for the table, bed and bath." the store carries a range of elegant china, unusual pottery, italian pewter, hand wrought silver, and gleaming crystal alongside the custom-designed, beautifully detailed, hand-embroidered cocktail napkins, fingertip and guest towels, placemats, napkins, tablecloths, and bed linens sharyn is known for.

all images via sharon blond

and now for the fun part!

with many friends and relatives starting to add new little boys and girls to their families, i have recently been in the market for the perfect baby gift. something unique and thoughtful, but realistic and appealing to both the parents and babies.

this is a very hard criteria...but i have found just the thing- and funny enough sharyn blond is the origin (with other great baby gift ideas as well).

introduced and discovered by my mother-in-law and now gifted to family and friends across the country, the blabla is quite the hit! these dolls, rattles, puppets, keychains and more, are all knitted by peruvian artisans from irresistibly soft natural fibers grown in peru. blabla was started in 2001 by florence wetterwald and susan pritchett (long time friends) while on a trip together to peru. they discovered entire villages of expert knitters who have been keeping the tradition alive for generations. susan and florence were inspired by their talent and gentleness and decided to create their own line of knitted products for children.

all images via blabla

"blabla means nothing and everything, it's a swirl of letters flying, a small word for a big idea..."happiness fits in the palm of the hand"... blabla searches for beauty, authenticity, and laughter."

xoxo

elle.