Honest To Nod

Time to Decorate for the Holidays - all Holiday Décor is 25% off!

You've been buzzing and it's time to decorate those trees! 25% off ends December 6th. 

Monster Juice Box

I wanted to do something unique for Charlotte's party. While meandering through the craft store I noticed all the bright packages of crinkle-cut basket filler and I had an idea. I could glue it to juice boxes and make big, fat furry monsters out of 'em. I tried out my theory upon arriving home, and guess what? It worked! It took just about three minutes to make each monster, and I only had to make six, so it was a pretty quick, easy project.

Here's how to make them:

1. Grab your supplies: Juice boxes, hot glue, crinkle paper and a giant wiggle eye

2. Working in 1" sections, squiggle some hot glue onto the box, then grab a handful of paper and press it onto the glue.

3. Keep going until all surfaces are covered with paper. (Make sure to leave some space around the opening for the straw)

4. Glue on the giant eyeball.

Ta-Da! You're done.

Post by Christina Williams : justcallmechris.blogspot.com

Things to Make - 27 Easy Projects From the Recycling Bin

Here's a list of some of the things it has helped us create. What have you made from recycling bin lately? Milk Cartons

1. Rocketships - Wrap a milk carton in construction paper, fold in the top, add rocket wings and Barbie is ready for the moon.

2. Cradleboards (backpacks to carry dolls in) - An old milk carton + a belt or ribbon = a backpack for carrying dolls. Easy peasy. Toilet Paper and Paper Toll Rolls

3. Story sticks - The Pima Indians of Arizona kept records of things that had happened in their lives on story sticks, so we drew pictures on flattened paper toll rolls to tell our own stories.

4. Doll slides - All you need is a toilet paper roll and a paper plate for Polly Pocket to have some fun.

5. Doll castles - Once Polly Pocket tires of her slide, she can relax in a beautiful castle.

6. Instruments - Make some noise, just add beans and seal the ends of a paper toll tube. Now you're ready to rock.

Large Cardboard Boxes

7. Castle - A large painted box can become almost anything with a little imagination. Why not give your children a kingdom to reign over?

8. Boat - Add a broom with a construction paper flag on top so everyone will know from where you sail.

9. Posters - Just cut up the cardboard into large pieces and decorate. Now hang on the wall and you have some art.

Small Cardboard Boxes or Bowls

10. Decoupage bowls - A great use for old shoe boxes or produce bowls.

11. Cardboard boats - Use a straw with a construction paper flag to make a sail. Blue construction paper makes great water. Just don't put in real water.

12. A Pueblo Indian house - A great way to learn about American Indians and reuse small old boxes. Grocery Store Paper Bags

13. Purses - Every girl needs some bling in her life.

14. Mail carrier bags - To make this more fun use stickers as stamps and put some stationary out on the table. Encourage kids to write and deliver notes to each other. Plastic 2L Bottle

15. A homemade lava lamp - Oil, water, and alka- seltzer = fun.

Packaging Paper

16. Tissue paper tie-dye - All you need are liquid watercolors or food coloring and rubber bands to create beautiful (though fragile) tapestries.

17. Butcher paper town - Just smooth out the brown packaging paper that comes in Amazon boxes and draw a town. Add various toys and lego buildings to decorate. Play. Old Magazines

18. Necklace Beads - All you need are old magazines, glue, and cord to make a beautiful necklace.

19. Decoupage bowls - Also included as #10. A great way to use up old magazines, stickers, and other random scraps of paper. And now you have a place to store knick knacks too. Gently Used Construction Paper (we often use new construction paper, but if you have some that is slightly used or cut, all these projects would still work)

20. 3D Pictures - Because everything is better in 3D.

21. Sunprints - Leave construction paper in the sun for a day or so with objects on top and check out all of the pretty patterns that result.

22. Ice cream cones - Circles and triangles glued together = delicious fake food.

23. Handprint puppets - Use your imagination and add some popsicle sticks. Now put on a show.

24. Toddler Designed Hidden Pictures (a fun game for older kids to play after a toddler has already doodled on the paper) - This is one of our favorite games to play with T's old "art".

25. Teepees & headbands - A great craft for Thanksgiving. Add a little paint and some homemade paper dolls and you have a whole activity set ready to go. Newspaper

26. Paper Mache Bowls - Add some homemade "paste" (flour, salt, and water) to newspaper, wait until dry and paint - awesomeness.

27. Paper doll chains - Basically an instant toy.

 

Post by Darcy : bedtimemonsters.blogspot.com

Monster Party

My little girl turned three on Halloween, and I know I did the monster thing once before, but that was pretty much limited to cupcakes...so this time I took things a little bit further. Take a peek.

The kiddos feasted on fluffy monster juice boxes and one-eyed cupcakes. Most of them just licked the frosting off the cupcakes, but can you blame them? I kinda wanted to do that myself.

One of our party games was a monster bean bag toss. The monster is one I designed for an invitation a couple years ago. I had this crazy idea to make the beanbag toss out of a vinyl outdoor banner and some PVC pipe. It was a huge hit; and super sturdy. I made beanbags out of knit gloves I found in the dollar section at the craft store. Hint: stock up on dollar-section gloves during the winter...they make great beanbags for games all year long.

I've been wanting to have a monster adoption center ever since I saw this pin on pinterest. (Original idea here and here). I found some socks in the dollar section of the craft store (I hang out there a lot), cut them in half and added some eyeballs and felt hair. I learned the key to making monsters is not to try too hard. The best thing? Each one of these cuties only cost about .25 each. I had all the felt and the eyeballs on hand. Sidenote: I have a real problem buying wiggly eyes. Really. Somebody needs to stage an intervention. I've never met a wiggly eyeball I can resist.

Another great thing? Monster parties are a hit with kids any time of the year. So grab some wiggle eyes and get to work!

Post by Christina Williams : justcallmechris.blogspot.com

Pretty Pom-Pom Curtains

As I was working on the fun little details of putting Hazel’s big girl room together, I realized some new curtains might be in order. I happened to have a spare, plain white, sheer-ish pair on hand, but they just weren’t very interesting. They would work, they just needed to be dolled up a little!

I found this pretty pom-pom trim on Etsy, so I ordered four yards and waited at my mailbox for it to arrive!

After that it was just as simple as a bit of matching thread and one long stitch down the inside edge of each panel.

Voila! Pretty, girly curtains that work in the room and were simple as pie to make!

Don’t mind the two-year-old who is somersaulting in her bed while Mama takes pictures of her special pom-pom curtains (I think she was enjoying the delayed nap time…).

Don’t be afraid of putting special little touches in a room. They don’t have to cost a lot of money or take a ton of time or skill! If you don’t have a sewing machine, you could hand stitch or even use fabric glue! Get creative and have fun!

Happy Monday, loves!

By Raechel Myers at Finding My Feet

Raechel is just a mama, trying to raise her children to love the Lord and take their dishes to the sink. She loves sewing, fun design projects, finding killer deals at garage sales, and drinking peppermint mochas all year long! You can also find her at SheReadsTruth.com. 

Personalized Picture Frames

These personalized picture frames are an easy way to capture the special moment from your child's birthday party or the holidays coming up! 

 

Just pick a favorite photo and save a couple momentos from the day to add to the frame - I used some of the pretty paper from the pinwheels at Hazel's sunshine party, and some of the rose paper from Stella's ballerina party invitations as the mat on the frame. I also kept a couple pieces of confetti from each party to add to the frame as well.

You could save a piece of wrapping paper from a favorite present, the birthday party invitation, the decorations, etc. The options are endless, as long as they are flat! You could also buy a deeper shadow box frame if you had some thicker momentos you wanted to include.

The process is simple. I just traced around the glass and cut out the paper:

Then I used double-sided tape to affix the photo in the middle of the paper.

I glued on a couple pieces of sunshine confetti for a final touch!

This new frame, along with the one from Stella's party are going up in their new sharedbedroom... more details on that to come!

Post by Haeley : Design Improvised

 

Englewood Project – Thanksgiving

A few weeks ago, we posted a blog about the classroom makeover we did for a youth group in the Englewood neighborhood in Chicago.  Before we even set foot in the facility where this makeover happened, we decided we wanted to do more than provide them with a fun space to play in, we wanted to help the neediest of families in this community to have a nice Thanksgiving, especially those with children.

We not only wanted to help as part of our support of the No Kid Hungry Campaign but also to provide our employees with a very tangible and real way to get involved.   Our employees shopped for and donated all of the side dishes for 50 Thanksgiving meals, The Land of Nod provided the turkeys with the help of Sunset Foods, headquartered in Highland Park, Illinois.   When we were making the plan for doing this, we couldn’t figure out where in the world we were going to store 50 frozen turkeys!  Our two refridgerators here at the corporate offices were just not going to work!  Sunset not only offered to store the frozen turkeys for us, but then gave us gift certificates to help offset the cost.  It was a huge help. 

Our next issue was transportation, how were we going to get 50 boxes of food and 50 turkeys safely down to Englewood in one trip?  Again, we found a generous partner in RSL trucking in Chicago, they gave us a rental van free of charge, so we could load up and get everything down there in one trip.

The day of the Thanksgiving meal distribution, we loaded up the truck with turkeys and food and then a small caravan of us, including our Managing Director Michelle Kohanzo and two of her kids, headed down to Englewood.  Yolanda Morris, the director of the youth program along with several volunteers helped us unload and set up for the families who would come to claim their meals.  Everyone was very appreciative of our efforts, and more than gracious in accepting our help.  One of the women who work with this program told me that without our donations, these families would not be able to have a Thanksgiving turkey dinner.

It’s amazing how good it makes you feel to be a part of something like that, but even more, I’m incredibly proud to be working with such an amazing and generous group of people here at The Land of Nod.  It just goes to show you that a small group of people really can work together to make a big difference.  Happy Thanksgiving!

By Sue Cortesi

Sue is the Director of Human Resources at The Land of Nod. Not only that, she’s also an avid cook and baker, much to the delight of everybody in the office. In fact, Sue’s famous cranberry recipe took home the grand prize for Taste of Home Magazine’s recipe contest. 

Font Love: Bergamot Ornaments

One of my new favorite ding fonts is Bergamot Ornaments. (It’s free here!) But, every time I use it I get all angsty because I have to guess/remember how to get each symbol – plus I’m always wondering if I’m missing something awesome.

SO. I made a pretty and handy little key for myself. And I love to share. So, please enjoy!

By Raechel Myers at Finding My Feet

Raechel is just a mama, trying to raise her children to love the Lord and take their dishes to the sink. She loves sewing, fun design projects, finding killer deals at garage sales, and drinking peppermint mochas all year long! You can also find her at SheReadsTruth.com. 

 

Get swept away to our NYC Pop-Up Toy Shop

The Land of Nod Toy Shop from The Land of Nod on Vimeo.

 

Get to Know Leah Duncan

What are your favorite things to draw?

Animals and nature are what I’m drawn to the most, but sometimes other things strike my fancy like objects I own, shapes, or cityscapes. Mostly I draw things that reflect moments in my life. I also love creating geometric patterns from the ordinary, like the pebbles in a road or the reflectors on a bicycle.

Midtown Bedding, $16-109

How has living in the South influenced your style?

My color palette, which I think could be the most important aspect of my work, is heavily influenced by my life in the south. I tend to lean toward a warmer palette and will almost always choose a warm gray over a cool one. It seems to be a reflection of the warmer, sunnier skies that I miss so much now that I’m in NYC for a little while. I also love girly pastels, which are very much a part of the landscape and architecture of the south.

Flutter By Rug, $349-$749

What are the best and the hardest parts about being a full time artist?

The best part is being able to do work I feel good about and put it out into the world. This has all been a dream come true for me so seeing people connect with my work, having it brighten their home or just put a smile on their face – that feels very rewarding. I sometimes feel like my job is selfish because I love it so much, but knowing that makes it feel less so. The hardest part could be how very hard you have to work to make it as a working artist and business owner. I work more than most people I know and so do my friends in this industry. But the truth is I’m much happier working 80 hours a week doing what I love than not. 

Garden Party Bedding, $16-$129

What advice do you have for all the young artists out there?

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Prepare to work hard. Be nice. Develop a voice that is purely a reflection of who you are. Most importantly, you will fail and there will be times when you’ll question everything you do. Don’t let that stop you. I’m fully convinced those who make it are the ones who keep going no matter what.

Bursting Bloom Flower Decals, $34.95-$59

What do you enjoy about the Holidays? Do you have any traditions of your own?

I love the holiday spirit this time of year the most! My biggest holiday tradition is probably watching Elf as many times as I possibly can.

Geometric Forest Tree Skirt, $59

Tell us about making the Geometric Forest and the Bearing Gifts patterns. What was your inspiration behind them?

I have a small (or rather large!) triangle obsession. Geometric Forest was created as part of a triangle based collection and ultimately it was perfect for the Land of Nod. Bearing Gifts was inspired by my love of animals and tribal prints, which created a festive twist on the two. 

Leah Duncan Holiday Stockings, $24.95-$28.95

How would you recommend customers style them in their homes?

I feel like these are a modern and fun spin on the holiday season, so they could be styled similarly with modern accessories in blue, white, and silver or gold tones. The holidays are a time when styling should be a little more light-hearted so my best suggestion would be to have fun with it!

Geometric Forest Holiday Décor, $24.95-$59

See all of Leah Duncan’s work for The Land of Nod here.

By Anna Passadori 

Anna develops and designs exclusive product for The Land of Nod. She hails from the west coast and has traveled the world to source product. She loves anything Marc Jacobs, Sofia Coppola or stripes! (So, if anyone can get a photo of Sofia Coppola wearing a striped outfit by Marc Jacobs, please send it along.)