new

happy new year. it was a nice night in last night. alisa & i made mocktails & watched new year programs on tv in our pjs. we bought 6 small poppers for a dollar & welcomed the new year.

it is time for new calendars! i recently learned about midori traveler's notebooks & decided that i wanted one for my calender this year. they are about 8.5" x 4.5" with leather covers & elastic which make it easy to insert many different types of notebooks, folders, & pockets. instead of spending about $50 on one, i decided to make one out of some leather we had lying around the house from when we made moccasins with my american girls class :). i used ray blake's diy video & the inserts that he provides for free on his site. i used paper i saved from an old 2013 anthropologie calendar for the grid & calender inserts & gold elastic to secure them inside. i was really impressed with how it turned out. as usually, theo wanted to be in the middle of everything. (also, sorry the photos aren't the greatest...)

i was pretty proud of myself for just going for it & making my own notebook. it had been a long time since i had worked with leather & i am excited to experiment with other ways i can use my leftover leather.

today was a lovely lazy day where i spent over half the day in my pjs. i started personalizing my midori, watched the grand budapest hotel on my ipad mini, had a tasty brunch with alisa, & then headed to the movies with my parents to see the last hobbit movie. i liked it. tomorrow i have to get caught up with letter writing. i think i have about 4 letters to write! that will be fun : )

link love:

• these hair clips are just so cute. beary cute ;)
• i usually don't like cake, but this cake is just so perfect. & as a part swedish gal, i love it even more.
• gold & white polkadot bowls that you can make?? yes please.
• i know it's not definitely (& thankfully) not summer, but i would love to use these creative fruit kabobs as place cards at a luncheon. 
• even though this west elm doormat isn't available anymore, i still would love one just like it for when i have my own place. 
• speaking of having my own place, wouldn't this just be so beautiful?