Picnics Under the Moon

pouf it up

I've been obsessed with this pouf from Le Souk for a while now, though there would probably also be massive dog hair magnet issues, and I suspect that my children would use it as either a stunt cushion for couch diving or a soccer ball (or both).

I came across Casasugar's link to this pattern for a KIY (knit it yourself) puff yesterday, and I've been on a knitting rampage lately, so I've decided to give it a try. I just need to gather all the ingredients this weekend and will let you know how it goes! Pickles has a bunch of other great knitting patterns as well, so if you're looking for a good way to use up that three year old bag of yarn (everyone has one of those, right?) you should absolutely check it out.

furniture + wallpaper = fabulous

There is nothing I like better than finding projects online that use our wallpaper in fun ways - these furniture updates by Peacock Chic (which can be seen here) are just fantastic! They've inspired one of my resolutions - bring back Weekly Wallpaper Project! Now that Christiana will be in Minneapolis full time, I suspect you'll be seeing a lot more creative uses of wallpaper...

... since sliced bread

We're probably a little biased, but we really do think that selling wallpaper by the yard was one of our very best ideas. Highlighting our hair the night of our sophomore year Homecoming dance was DEFINITELY one of the worst. OhDeeOh agrees (about the wallpaper by the yard at least) and we appreciate them showing this lovely dresser project as proof that a bit of wallpaper can spruce up pretty much anything. Thank you for the mention! And if you've purchased a yard and have something adorable to show for it, just send us your images to picnics@hyggeandwest.com - we would love to see them!

dress up your dresser

Our customer Misty emailed me with these fantastic photos today - just goes to show that a little elbow grease and wallpaper can go a long way. Here's the before and the stunning after below...

So pretty! I just love how the Red Daydream pops against the white woodwork.

She also sent a photo of this adorable little key hanger that she made with some of the Blue Daydream. Thank you so much, Misty, for sending these! And if you've done something fabulous with our wallpaper and would like to show it off, just email photos to me at picnics@hyggeandwest.com...

furniture refresh

Karen Guard of Darling Octopus used some of our wallpaper by the yard to give some furniture a makeover with really adorable results! Thanks so much for sending us the link - read more about how she did it here. You know, we've sold a BUNCH of wallpaper by the yard - anyone else have projects that we should see??

japanese lantern (?)

We've been working on a project for an upcoming book and we're just wrapping up all the loose ends before I head out to San Francisco on Wednesday night for the photo shoot. I am trying to decide if I like red Amaze on this lantern/luminaria... Does it look vaguely Asian?

sit + knit 2.0

I just stumbled on The Knitted Chairs and I can't decide what to make of it... The DIY-er in me kind of wants to try it to see if this could be a way to turn a couple cheap plastic chairs, a whole mess of yarn and some gumption into the matching set of small chairs my living room will desperately need once the built in bookcases go in. But I can't completely decide if they are really cute and comfy looking or a little odd? It did remind me of this incredibly chic Ruth Cross chair we used in our Wallpaper + 3 a couple weeks ago... Anyone want to weigh in?

PS - The site comes with downloadable patterns for some of the chairs featured in the blog in case you really want to try this.

la droguerie

It is really overcast in San Francisco this morning!  Since Aimee's on vacation, I thought I'd spend a little time looking at photos from our Paris trip.  These ones from this lovely shop, La Droguerie, really hit the spot on such a foggy morning.  How I'd love to be diving into some kind of crafty knitting project today (on my couch, with some bad television on in the background...).  Too bad I have lots of things on the list like sending out wallpaper samples, oh, and I must, must, must finish painting the bathroom ceiling.

So many gorgeous things to make!  This was better than a candy shop!

lights, camera... wallpaper!

Here are a few wallpaper projects I've been working on up for a local TV show being taped tomorrow.  Public speaking has never really been my thing.  A few years ago I even tried to improve the situation by going to Toastmasters.  That unfortunately didn't work out because I had to give an impromptu one minute speech at my very first meeting.  I chose to talk about how much I love eggs for breakfast.  To this day, I still have no idea why my brain synapses fired up eggs as a speech worthy topic.  Not only is a little odd, but as it turns out, the deliciousness of eggs speaks for itself.  Which is why I ran out of things to say after about 30 seconds, and then just stood there wondering which exit I could get to the most quickly.

Luckily, I could talk for days about how much I love wallpaper, so there's at least that in my favor.  But I'm still a bit nervous.  I just have to finish up this last project above (what I'm visualizing will turn out to be a lovely constellationish lamp shade using our Pieces wallpaper) and then try not to panic. 

light my way

Some more photos from our little project!