Book Review: Playful: Fun Projects to Make With + For Kids

I was given the opportunity to review the new book PLAYFUL: Fun Projects to Make With + For Kids by Merrilee Liddiard (love her blog Mer Mag) and photographed by Nicole Hill Gerulat. And guess what? Today is the book release! The cover and all the images/styling are super cute and the projects look so creative and relatively easy. You can order it right now on Amazon.

I appreciate that PLAYFUL is divided into five categories—Playful Dress Up, Playful Toys, Playful Paper Crafts, Playful Repurposing, and Playful Art. It makes it easier to flip to the section you want to craft. Some of the fun projects I could do with Lucas and Theo include a squiggle floor tile project, fingerprint art, duct tape portfolio (to hold all of Lucas' drawings!), and my favorite, the animal art print pillow. Some of these projects require basic sewing skills (I have zero) so I may have to enlist my mom for some help. Templates for the projects are included at the back of the book with step-by-step instructions.

I would recommend this book if you want to get extra creative with the crafting. It's a great resource for adults and kids to make something fun together and then let the kids' creativity take over.

Happy crafting! Wish I could go to the launch party!

+ Top photo by me
+ Other photos courtesy of Abrams Books (photos by Nicole Hill Gerulat)
+ Find me on Instagram (@good_on_paper)

Free Printable Lunch Box Notes for 100 Layer Cakelet

Check out the Free Printable Lunch Box Notes I designed for 100 Layer Cakelet and some school lunch ideas from Kristina for her cutie pie son Dashiell. I want that rye bagel with cream cheese right about now. Love all of her lunch box picks (silicone muffin cups? genius!) -- we currently use this LunchBots and this Goodbyn. What I'm most excited about though, is my Omie Box to arrive in the mail! I got a sneak peak of a model version from Sarah and it's awesome.

+ Photos by Kristina Meltzer at 100 Layer Cakelet

Our Home Featured on Houzz

Happy Friday everyone! I couldn't be more excited to share our home tour on Houzz from earlier this week. Work has gotten a little bit crazy for me (in a good busy way) so I barely got a chance to go through the photos and comments from the tour when it first came out. It's funny because most of the comments are really sweet ones from people saying how they love that it's a "real house" with "real people" and how refreshing it is to see such a lived in house. Oh, hello there plastic bins storing blankets stuffed under the couch! Oh, hello there overgrown weeds in the front yard! We like to call it modern clutter. Ha! But in all seriousness, this is real living for us -- we do the best we can with what we have (and don't have..ahem, storage) . But you'll get a chance to see a few updates including Lucas' big boy room which we all love so much.

+ Photos via Houzz
+ Photography and feature by Nanette Wong
+ See our home in Lee Magazine and Sunset Magazine (back when Lucas was 5 months old!)

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Lucas' Superhero 4th Birthday Party

The theme of this year's birthday party for Lucas who turned four on April 26th was super heroes. While he loves all kinds of super heroes -- Captain America, Flash, Spider-Man, etc., I really wanted the party to be about the super powers of Lucas and his friends (I spend enough time getting shot with spiderwebs and saving people in the Batmobile).

The invitations were printed in black and green on heavy white cotton paper with a clean, minimal design highlighting Super Lucas. Each invitation set included custom tattoos and instructions packaged in a small glassine envelope for each guest. The tattoos had the guest's name (i.e. Super Connor) as well as super hero speech bubbles with expressions like "WOW", "OK", "YES", and "COOL" instead of the usual "POW" and "BANG" expressions. The envelopes were lined with a pattern of the same super hero expressions.

It's been our tradition to have Lucas' birthday parties at Tilden Park but this year we had the chance to have it at his preschool's outdoor space. It's an awesome space that's safe and enclosed, with fun play structures and multiple levels for the ultimate in superhero fun. The only downside to having it at the school was that we had a guest limit.

Last year I took Lucas to breakfast at one of our favorite places, Elmwood Cafe. We did it again this year and I think I'll make it a tradition. Since the day was all about Lucas, we had Theo stay home with Po Po (grandma) which he didn't mind one bit because she is the world to him. And side note here - it is WAY easier with just one kid. Just sayin'. We ordered yummy coffee, a latte, orange juice, an egg sandwich, a frittata with organic greens, and a buttermilk waffle with lemon curd and blueberries on top. After breakfast we walked down the block to pick up donut holes for the party -- a Jackson kid party tradition!

Lucas got to open one small surprise gift from us - a Lightening McQueen race car. He hasn't seen the movie Cars yet but somehow it's one of his favorite characters and he talks about him all the time. Needless to say, he was floored when he opened his eyes to find this little red racer in his hands.

For party favors, we made custom (no sew!) capes for each of the kids so they could wear them on the day of the party. It was a huge hit with the kids and so fun to see them running, jumping, flying around with them. Some of the kids even wore them to school the next day and beyond. A huge thanks to my mom for pretty much doing all of the hard work -- from measuring, cutting, and washing the material, to helping me paint each of the letters on late at night. We also made paper masks (simply cut out the mask shape onto colored card stock and then staple a piece of elastic on both ends) that kids could decorate with markers and star stickers.

My husband Nick also crafted a building scene out of old cardboard boxes, tape, and spray paint as a backdrop for a photo booth. Each guest was encouraged to strike their best superhero pose in front of the buildings using an instant Fuji Instax camera. The guests could stick the photos into a memory book and jot down something for Lucas to read later.

For lunch we catered mini bean and cheese burritos for the kids from a favorite local Mexican restaurant. For the grown ups we catered Vietnamese banh-mi sandwiches and spring rolls. And for dessert I made a yummy chocolate cake (Lucas' favorite) and cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. And lastly, our parties wouldn't be complete without our traditional donut holes wrapped in paper cones.

Everyone had a blast, even Super Theo who came to the party with Po Po and Nana right after his nap.

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate. Lucas had the best time and is now talking about how he's going to be five!

+ See the party featured on 100 Layer Cakelet and the invitations on Oh So Beautiful Paper.

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APT CB2 - The first real apartment designed live on Pinterest

My friend Mark Aver, a creative director at Mother New York, just gave me a heads up about a seriously rad project he's been working on for CB2 called APT CB2. It's basically an experiment where an apartment in NYC would be designed entirely on Pinterest. Five popular designers (like one of my faves, Justina Blakeney) on Pinterest would help decorate each room with items from the store and then Pinterest users would vote or "like" their selections. The ones with the most "likes" would then be delivered to the apartment and built in real time. Seriously, how cool is that? Awesome, Mark!

From Wednesday, May 7th to Friday, May 11th help design the first real apartment live on Pinterest by liking your favorite Pins, and have a chance to win your dream room worth $5,000!  Check out the video here.

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Teacher Appreciation Packs - Exclusive Plum District deal

I've teamed up with Plum District to bring you a special Teacher Appreciation pack exclusive deal. For $10 you can get a voucher for this special pack that includes one note pad, one sticky note set, one little book, and one note card (tape and pens not included). Being a teacher is a super tough job and one that deserves extra love and appreciation.

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Feria Urbana - Saturday, May 3rd from 12-5 p.m.

Come visit me at Feria Urbana on Saturday, May 3rd from 12-5 p.m. at the Linden Street Brewery in Oakland. I'll be selling my goods alongside other local, independent designers and artists like Allymoon and Tiny Atlas Quarterly. It's an outdoor family friendly event with a kids zone with fun activities and crafts. Come shop, eat, drink, and have fun. Mother's Day is just around the corner so pick up something for mom and for yourself. The Linden Street Brewery will be serving up beers, Campovida wine tasting room is open, Adesso Restaurant, Ippo Ramen, and Stroopie Gourmet will be selling yummy food. Free admission. Hope to see you there!

Favorites: Shed

A couple of weeks ago I went on a much needed girls trip (sans kids!) to Healdsburg, CA to celebrate the very belated birthday of my friend Meg. The funniest thing about this trip was that we all kept going back to this amazing store/cafe/restaurant/gardening shop called Shed. I've never seen anything like it -- from the tiles around the cafe bar to the perfect open kitchen (seriously, my dream kitchen) to the expertly curated finds around the shop, this place was a total dream. I couldn't stop taking pictures with my phone and I'm sharing many of them right here.

The weeks leading up to this day were pretty challenging in the parenting-of-an-almost-four-year-old department. Knowing full well that all the testing (of my patience) was developmentally appropriate, I was still at my wits end. So this trip was very much needed. I loved catching up with good friends Carrie, Jacinta, Nancy, and Meg and sharing stories over delicious savory and sweet treats, coffee, and ice cream. By the way, things are a thousand times better thanks in part to the best extra deep tissue massage I've ever had at Spa Dolce by Michelle, and a little refresher of The Happiest Toddler on the Block.

+ All photos by me via iPhone 5

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My Work: Wedding Stationery on Style Me Pretty

Throughout the year I design numerous custom wedding invitations for various clients and many times I never get to see all the pretty details of the special day. So when I see a gallery of gorgeous images from a wedding where I was the stationery designer, I get super excited. Shot by the amazing Lisa Lefkowitz (of course!), designed and styled by the awesome Gloria Wong, and planned by the talented Jubilee Lau, no detail was spared. Check out the full gallery and all the sweet details on Style Me Pretty.

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Favorites: Umami Mart

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I can't believe it has taken me this long to visit Umami Mart. I mean, it's conveniently located two blocks from my work office and I even pass by it nearly every Friday when I go to the Old Oakland farmer's market. I finally made a visit and I was floored. It's expertly curated with a variety of kitchenware, Asian snacks, barware, Hasami porcelain, local/artisanal goods, Japanese magazines, and art prints, all of which I wanted to buy on the spot. The displays even made me want to buy Pocky Sticks, something I could just as easily get across the street at Oakland Chinatown. What I loved most about the space was the clean, Japanese/Scandanavian aesthetic mixed with a little industrial brick.

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