Kristin van Ogtrop's Blog, page 452

Magical Pillows at Fabricadabra

Fabricadabra! Your room can be transformed in minutes with magical pillows from this very special web shop. Fabricadabra is based in Massachusetts and owned by Donna Halloran who has the best eye for prints and patterns. I recently spotted one of her pillows on Jen's sofa over at Made By Girl. What do you think? A pretty nice accent, right?

I love their broad range of Silk/cotton ikat pillow covers -- so many great colors for the season -- they are just amazing and so I had to order 3 for...

New Use for a Wine Cork

If you've read a wedding magazine or blog in the past year, you've probably seen this idea already - but I love it too much not to share it here. Using old wine corks as place card holders is a charming re-purpose for all kinds of gatherings - even a small dinner party. It's simple enough to DIY (the steps are all laid out here) and a great way to show off the corks you've been saving from all those "special bottles" over the years (side note: does anyone else do this??). 

 

(image via Style...

Another Reason to Avoid Fast Food: Bad Financial Choices

If "Super Size Me" wasn't enough to turn you off to fast food, consider an intriguing new study by researchers at the University of Toronto. They find that consumers who have fast food on the brain become more impatient -- in one case, too impatient to wait for a delayed, but larger monetary payoff.

The study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of Psychological Science, primed participants by flashing fast food logos, including McDonald's golden arches and KFC's colonel, on a computer...

Organize with Handmade Bins

Is your closet a nightmare? When you open your wardrobe do you do so very carefully to avoid being buried in a sea of stuff? If you need some help organizing your things, opt for bins. I use them for everything from book storage to magazines, socks, slippers, toys, mittens, you name it I store it in a bin of some shape and size. I found some handmade bins (also called fabric baskets or storage buckets) that I like that I want to share if you only imagine plastic or wicker -- bins have come a ...

Stationery That Makes Me Swoon

Have you met Mr. Boddington yet? If not, I'd love to introduce you. I'm pretty sure you'll love him just as dearly as I do. He is so worldly and stylish. He makes me swoon. 

Mr. Boddington's Studio is one of my all time favorite sources for stationery. They somehow manage to combine playfulness and sophistication in the most perfect way. 

This NYC-based design studio churns out everything from custom wedding invitations to gorgeous letterpress notecards for day to day correspondence, for...

Office Mates for Better or Worse

My new "office mate" started this week and I'm truly worried that we are not meshing well. First, he used all the paper in the printer and didn't replace it. Then he needed step-by-step instructions on how to use the speakerphone for a conference call. Later, I found his dirty lunch dishes stacked next to the bathroom sink. When I called him out for his behavior he replied, "Don't we have an admin to take care of this stuff?"

Like all new employees, he needs to be educated on how it works ar...

Host a FREE "Radiant You" Facial Party Courtesy of Dr. Hauschka

It will lift and brighten your spirits and your skin as well. What could I possibly be talking about??

Hosting a Dr. Hauschka "Radiant You" facial party with the amazing products by the 40-year-old holistic skincare and cosmetics company! And did I mention it's FREE? 

Here are the details:

1. Go to the Dr. Hauschka website to sign up and fill in your friends email addresses.

2. Dr. Hauschka will send you a box filled with instructions and facial kits for you and all your guests.

3. Host your p...

Letting Go of Sentimental Clutter by Embracing It Once a Year

The April 2010 issue of Real Simple arrived last week, and over the weekend I had a chance to pour through its content. This may be one of my favorite issues ever of the magazine. If you don't have a subscription, I recommend picking one up off the newsstands. I found a lot of great advice in this 10th anniversary issue.

On page 220, scrapbooking enthusiast Ali Edwards gives advice for documenting just one week of your life in the feature "If you're going to stop and smell a flower, make it a ...

Don't Forget, Bookies: Vote for April!

Remember, the poll is open only through Sunday, March 28. Cast your vote, if you haven't already, for one of the books below:

A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's posthumously published memoir exhilaratingly captures a time (the 1920s) and a place (Paris), and the literary notables (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein) who populated his life.

The Believers, by Zoe Heller

Heller (the author of the wicked What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal) takes a dark look at a clan who...

Better Mothering Through Running!?

When you have children, young ones especially, is spending sometime exercising—even a LOT of time—selfish?

No way, no how, say theauthors of a brand new book, Run Like A Mother: How to Get Moving—and Not Lose
Your Family, Job or Sanity! The book is one part practical, good-natured, and realistic advice on how to get out the door when you are short on time, energy or just about everything else. It's also a manifesto of sorts. About the power of fitness to make you a more focused, less harried ...