A Beautiful Mess

my little Holiday nook.

decorating my loft has been a lot of fun, but creating a 'cozy' atmosphere for the Holidays is actually really challenging in such a large open space. last night i finished up this little nook in my studio and i feel like it really captures that warm & cozy Holiday mood... 

i learned to make finger knitted garland last weekend from Katherine [see her tutorial here]. this is a great 'all ages' craft project. i wish i had a daughter to teach it to right now. :) so much fun. i hung it on my wall and added instant photos with clothes pins. 

i am really excited to finally own a (working.. haha) record player. i've been playing my Jenny Lewis record... it's my favorite. 

what are you doing to stay warm, cozy and inspired? 

XO. elsie         

2010 DIY to-do list...

i thought this was a fun idea that vivs had. i'm keeping my list a little vague since i already have a pretty large list i am working on & most those goals are creative items. anyway.... here are some new things i'd love to try in the new year. some are for my store, home and just for fun... 

 
paint a room. 

stitch a record bag. [source]  

style a fancy outdoor photo shoot. 

make pretty clothing & jewelry. 

 
attend another renegade festival. 

design & get many more tattoos. [source]     

XOXO. elsie

  

ps. what's on your creative list for 2010? leave me a link in the comments! 

when it's cold outside...

i like hot chocolate

wearing tights

warm hats

cute little slippers

redecorating my space

rewatching favorite films

and burning candles...

 

Hope your day is darling! i'm playing in my studio all day. it's fffreezing here. XO. elsie       

ello darlings!

i'm back and mr. larson and i made a pretty sizable dent in our Christmas shopping list.. yay! ummm.. including these gifts for ourselves. haha... 

(from urban outfitters) and i got these pretty stamps from anthropologie.

plus lots of secret gifts, of course! :)) 

& here are the commissioned paintings that i finished last week...

i will take another group of commissions after the new year (in time for Valentine's day), so keep checking back here if you are interested!   

katie's adorable husband, Steven, purchased this painting for her and had it waiting for her here when she visited last weekend. how sweet is that? 

& here's one more photo from our little day trip yesterday... 

making little finger knitted garlands in the car! :) i'll share more about this soon... so much fun. i am happy to be home & back to my 'blogging rituals'. XOXO. elsie   

a little magic...

[source]  

early to bed for me... i'll be away tomorrow for a mini trip with my love. if you wanna see random pics and know silly details you can always follow my twitter. be back soon! LOVES, elsie 

ps. this is pretty rad. get a free polaroid photo frame download right here. i used it to make this...

[i love Penelope. like so much.] 

.hello monday.

today i am working on a bunch of fun projects and feeling so inspired. one of my favorite feelings in all the world.  

here's another little peek at our weekend fun.. katie & katherine are so much fun. (thanks for the photo, Janel!)

here are a few lovely Holiday ideas and pretty things... 

loving this tree idea. pretty pretty. 

 
   

fun DIY idea. i likes. 

and i am seriously obsessed with this. gorgeous.

Jeremy and I are taking a day trip tomorrow to St. Louis for holiday shopping and sorta a late birthday date afternoon with lots of vintage, vinyl, bubble tea and plastic cameras. i'm going to wear my hair curly. excited. XOXO. elsie

ps. what's inspiring you this December? 

[10 blogs i enjoy]

Q: What are your favorite blogs?

A: gosh, i have too many favorites! i, of course, love craft blogs and also fashion, photography and cute personal blogs. here is a quick glance at a few from my 'daily reads' list. i love them all for different reasons. hope you enjoy! 

1. Smile and Wave

 

my bestie has the best little blog. so many pretty ideas for craft & home. her home is really inspiring. she's lovely and SO funny. 

plus... she has this tattoo, which reminds me it's about time for me to get my own 'red velvet forever' piece!

 

2. Freckled Nest

Leigh-Ann's blog is full of pretties and fun craft projects. she's hiii-larious, but i don't call her leigh-ann.... i call her Colleen & she calls me Pilgrim. Oh my... long story. 

3. Skunkboy Creatures

Katie's blog is super inspiring. She has great style and makes the cutest little stuffed animals I've seen.                   

4. Sometimes Sweet

i love danielle. her blog is adorable and filled with cute style ideas (like the cute nail polish color above which i really really need now), fun little self portraits and sweet memories. OH... and she has pretty tattoos. A+ for adorable! 

5. the rockstar diaries

Naomi's blog is funny & sweet. Candice introduced me to it last year and i think all of the photos of her and her husband eating hamburgers and pizza are so cute.

Oh yes, and she makes pretty headbands... i want one. 

  

6. lovelorn unicorn

everything Kate loves is pretty & so i adore her blog. 

7. Bleubird Vintage

James has a pretty little blog with her own lovely vintage goods and lots of inspiration and pretty things. I think she's a darlin'!     

8. Twinkie Chan

i loooooove Twinkie Chan. for one, she's totally unique and her 'food themed' goods are the best anywhere. i also love her photos and quirky personality. plus.. if i didn't read her blog i'd never had seen these dresses.  

& i want the first one... bad. so cute. 

9. le blog de betty

a very cute fashion blog. lots of photos and inspiration for putting together lovely looks. 

10. fifi lapin

how can you not love a cute bunny dressed up in Luella? such a fun blog. 

i wish i could go on forever, but i'll do another installment of favorite blogs sometime (i have lots more!) i hope you enjoyed my little 'blog tour'. LoveLoves, Elsie 

ps. here's a fun little photo from Jeremy's show Saturday night (thanks, Jamie!) 

 
and somethin' sweet...

10 things i L O V E Sunday!

hello you. i've had the loveliest weekend. i'll post a few more photos soon. actually, i have tons of blogging to catch up on... yay. but for now, here are 10 brand new things that i adore! 

1. i love this room. so adorable, right? 

2. pink! 

[source]  

3. floral tights. 

[source]   

4. yarn. i want to own every single color and style. it's so pretty and so relaxing to make little projects with... in love. i learned some new tricks this weekend. will share soon. 

ps.. look at this yarn dress. i die. 

5. friends making me laugh with the mustache download. 

(the ulmers)

(paris) thanks for the funny photos, everyone! 

6. watching cute shows with Jeremy. the office wedding episode made me cry... twice!

 

7. cake that doesn't look like cake.... 

8. this gorgeous engagement photoshoot. the best. 

9. doing some Holiday shopping online. so much fun. 

10. xoxo, i'll love you forever....

hope your week is already off to a lovely start! XO. elsie  

fun weekend photos...

 

 

making crafts and vintage shopping with lots of cute out of town friends. we're all bundled up because it's fffreezing! we are going to watch Jeremy play a local show tonight. i'll be back soon with '10 things i love Sunday'. XOXO. Elsie 

photos are from will, angela and janel. [thankyouuus!]

(just pretty)

on this cold night... 

 

 

making crafts all night. more sooooon. XOXO. e 

scrapbook love

here are a few pages from my '10 things i love about you' book.

[you can see all the pages here & the kit i used to make them here]  

we're all ready for our Christmas party tomorrow night. 

back to work. XXOO. elsie  

almost caught up....

i've been playing catch up for almost two whole weeks now & i'm finally seeing the finish line! getting ready for a fun weekend with out of town guests & a pretty Christmas party at our store!! plus katie cupcake is coming to stay with me & i'm pretty excited to make crafts with her. i like having guests who just wanna stay in and make stuff. it's the best ever. we will go shopping to, of course.

i'll share new photos later this afternoon. but here's a happy thought.... a l m o s t makes me want to go back to paris, like, right this moment.... 

whoa.

scrapbooking is really fun. seriously. 

pink hair....

so i had a mini hair coloring disaster last night and in the end decided to go ahead and dye my hair bright pink... 

it was one of my goals. i didn't intend to do it before Spring, but i'm glad i did anyway because it's fun. here's a funnyyyyy photo from the middle stage (aka disaster hair). it was supoosed to be light brown and it was definitely orange/blonde instead... eek! i'll never try that again. 

haha. but at least the story had a happy ending.... i love having pink hair and i am excited to experiment with lots of different shades until i get bored with it. next, i want bubble gum pink! i'll eventually have my natural (dark brown) color back again, but i'm gonna enjoy this while it lasts with lots of cute little photo shoots and dresses ect.... yay! you only live once, right? and i've crosses another goal off my 27 list. :) 

ok... i am mostly just blogging right not to avoid going out in the freeeeeezing cold to get photos printed. i am FINALLY making my '10 things i love about you' scrapbook tonight!!!! I can't wait. I'll post photos from every page tomorrow. 

Here's some inspiration.... 

check out these foxes by abigail brown. pretty magical. makes me wanna drop everything & grab my needle and thread right now!   

pom pom slippers. i found them at Charley's. 

and i'm totally into this from crafty folk. 

Ok... off to get my photos printed! Excited to spend a warm & cozy night scrapbooking and sipping cider. It's been too long. XO. elsie   

Hope says....

"Holy Cute!" 

that pretty much made my day! xo. elsie