Nest Decorating & Designs by Tamar

Home Sweet Home

We are back from NYC, my it's good to be back home!
I think I am finally realizing that I might not be a city girl anymore...it was mobbed, millions of people everywhere, museums were packed, the streets were packed, even the park was packed, I guess everyone was outside because of the lovely weather,but after a while I started feeling that weird sense of being in some kind of battle....it made me remember why I moved to Vermont ...
Now don't get me wrong, I love NYC, I still enjoy my visits, it's good to feel the city buzzz, we saw some great exhibits at the MOMA, visited the New Museum which is a remarkable building, ate at Balthazar in Soho, walked up and down Spring st. and Broadway, went to the new Muji, and CB2 and I got to visit Anthropologie and H&M.
Traveling with three teens can be a little challenging at times... when they were little they all enjoyed a lot of the same things and we where very clear on what to do and what to see,I still have the urge to go the the Children's Zoo, the Merry- go- round in Central Park and the Natural History Museum... these days it's a totally different story, The boys were pulling in very different directions and it was a little over whelming at times....not to mention the three of them sitting and texting in the restaurant...uggggh!!! The only thing we seemed to all agreed on and I know it's totally wonderful, we ALL love art and food...
I managed to squeeze a little bit of shopping in too and when I got home I realized everything I bought matched...how funny.
Yellow glasses from Anthropologie

A stuffed cat from Pearl River

Tiny wooden spoons from Pearl River

An amazing scarf from H&M

Pretty Bobby pins from Anthropologie

A tiny pouch from fabric that looks like "Liberty of London"...maybe it is?

and here they are all together, see how they all match...

OK, back to work, I have tons of orders waiting to be made and sent.
xox

Nostalgia

I was going through some old photos, the boys wanted to see how their mom looked like as teen....I really should take the albums out more, we had such a good time.
Suddenly I came across this photo of my mom (in the chair) my sister (holding the dog) and I, in our house which suddenly looks so funky and fun to me. I had to share it with you. Notice my mom is covered with some fantastic piece of Marimeko fabric and sitting on an Eams lounge chair (my dad still has that chair) there is a Marimeko table cloth too, I remember it so well, it was made of oil cloth, I wonder if you can still get it....the photo was taken in 1970.

Happy Birthday Mikey

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Today is Mikey's 13th birthday, he was born in Jerusalem on Valentines day!

We love you sweetie!

Full house

It's snowing and snowing, this year is turning into a real classic Vermont winter, here are a few scenes from our front yard:

sweet husband plowing (our dog Nana is patiently waiting for her walk)

That was on Thursday, yesterday Ronen left to work in Israel  for a month again,he is finally finishing a documentary series his been shooting forever, I don't seem to be able to get used to these long separations, the kids are not little anymore so it's not difficult physically but we miss him so much! a month is such a long time!!

I went to sleep very early last night and woke up this morning to a full house, all three kids had friends sleep over, I am amazed at how they all found what they needed, mattresses,pillows,blankets sheets...just another reminder how they are all growing up so fast. I made them all pancakes (my small contribution...) and I am off to bed (again) to finish my super fluff,highly enjoyable book "The Undomestic Goddess"

friendly Saturday morning:

I started writing articles for a sweet little magazine here in Vermont called :
Vermont Homestyle my first article is about renovating kitchens on a budget, I became truly specialized on this subject after working with many clients and redoing my own kitchen ...should be fun and hopefully few more Vermonters will get to know my work, I need more clients!
Etsy wise things are a bit s l o w , but I am continuing to work on many new products,I found some wonderful fabrics (expensive)but I couldn't resist so I bought a little of each and here are some photos of more new pouches for spring:

A wristlet from a gorgeous heavy weight cotton:

a cosmetic pouch from a lovely Chintz

an art pouch from a lovely piece of "Laura Ashley" fabric, I worked at "laura Ashley" on Madison Ave. in Nyc for 4 years while I was going to Parsons, this was in the early 80's...I was so crazy about that stuff then, and still am in many ways...

They are all available in my shop.

New spring products

I have been wanting to make new Dreamcatchers and Fairy crowns for spring for a while now, lying around the house this week recovering from a  mini procedure felt almost like a mini break and gave me the time to do just that! So I re designed them, re thought the bead work on the hanging strings and re named them with all my favorite girlish names, of course they all sound like they just walked out of a Jane Austin book but that's exactly what I love!!!!
I also wanted to thank all you sweet people who left me such nice comments and emails about the Decor8 article, thank you all!!
I  signed up to the Dawanda web site and my husband is working on building me my own web store , anybody have experience with a yahoo store web site? does it work? sell well? we thought we would give it a try...not sure I like the idea and their graphics and colors ....very basic...hopefully soon we will be able to afford a real site and not a template...
so here are a few of new Dreamcatchers, all available in my shop:

 

I am also working this week on a completely different product, inspired by my sweet neighbor Kate who has a beautiful 2 year old daughter and just gave birth to her son, she reminds me of myself a few years ago managing 3 little ones, with one arm holding one baby, another pushing a stroller and the third on me in a sling...anyway, I made these giant baby pouches, I found the softest flannel in very cool prints and they are big enough for a diaper or two and a box of wipes, or a snack and bottle, or even as a traveling pouch, when you have your first child you are so into all the gear,by the time I had my third baby I got so sick of giant diaper bags all I wanted to do is minimize the gear,grab a diaper and stick it in my own bag. so here is a way to do just that! (available in my shop of course...):

and on a last note, I was in the book store this morning and found this gorgeous Interior book by Anita Kaushal , check it out it's perfect!
http://www.amazon.com/Family-Home-Love-Life-Style/dp/030739445X

have a wonderful weekend! xox!

Chores,errands and general tasks

I can't believe it's the 8th already, December is flying by and I am in whirlpool of tasks,errands,orders,sewing and have a general feeling that I am not doing half the things I set out to do. It has a lot to do with my hubbie being away, I am very spoiled by us doing everything together,we are a great team and manage to get all these tiny annoying things out of the way, splitting up errands, dividing the cleaning (he does the vacuuming and bathtub which I hate!) and we split up cooking diners which I can't do it every night, it's gets to boring....I did manage to fit in some Hanukkah cooking and made a giant amount of Latkas that were devoured in 5 minutes by 3 hungry boys! 
Note to self:
must clean,do laundry,cook (not pasta or Latkas)...

I did take some time last weekend to decorate the front door:

and took a picture I love of our snowy front yard:

This week I am styling and producing a fun photo spread for the "Burlington free Press": Stocking stuffer gifts for kids, I already started my store rounds and found some fantastic stuff, I am focusing on color, creativity and general cutness! I will post it here after it gets published.

Here are a few things I managed to make this week in between orders (and instead of cleaning)

A tissue holder cozy

I also sell them in a set of 3

don't you love those great colors?

and finally, I found some great heavy double sided Cath Kidston gift paper so I made a whole bunch of Country kitchen magnets, the other side is the polka dot print in the backround, they too are in the shop

next post I'll let you know if I finally managed to get my life together....

Giant snow bunnies

Saturday morning is always a good day to look back at the passing week. Thanksgiving came and went, we were on our own this year with all of our friends hosting families or away, so I decided not to get a turkey since one of my sons is vegetarian, one hates chicken (weird right....) which leaves us 3 with a giant bird....instead we thanked with an Indian meal complete with home made Chapati, Ginger sweet potato and Coconut milk soup, Curried chicken Masala and separate curried tofu dish and rice with chestnuts.
Was yummy!
and then it snowed! finally! is there anyhting more beautiful then waking up to a snowy day?
The boys climbed up Bolton valley and did a little snowboarding and massive fun.

When I look at these giant kids it's hard to believe how  much they grew this year! Daniel is 6'!!...

I also did more sewing, especially more pouches, they are so fun to make! I am very proud of this one, I used two different velvets I have

and the biggest meditation of all for me is making jewelry, I love it and never seem to have time to actually sit down and make some, also the beads are so expensive....!
Here is one I made last night, I really like the little pearl and smokey Czech bead on the ends,which I  love to wear on the bottom. This necklace is long, about 15" it hangs right between the breasts.

both necklace and pouch are in my shop ,the photos didn't come out so well, too much sun today in my favorite photographing corners, maybe I'll try new ones later, but for now I'll just curl up and read my book...:)
Have a fantastic week!

Bliss

What can I say , you love them,you fight with them, they drive you crazy,you are always worried,anxious or sleepless,you fear the day they will start driving,they are always right and you are always wrong,you try not to nag them to do their homework,you try to be cool, after all you yourself were a teenager about a minute ago?
And then today I walked into Daniel's room (14) and what do I see:

wanna look again.....

BLISS!

The end of summer

And what a great summer it was....
Our guests are all gone, the house is back to it's normal self, well almost normal since we are doing a mini renovation in our slowly-falling-apart kitchen, I promise to write more about it and add some photos when it's all finished.
I finally finished a few mega orders this weekend and shipped them all out today,between departing guests, the kids at home all day,writing for the new book, taking care of my Interior decorating clients,  and renovating the kitchen I am so ready for Fall and some serious quite time around here. I can barely remember what it's like to have a few morning hours to myself and actually get in some serious creative time...

I made some new Fairy crowns this weekend and just posted them on etsy I love this photo of a whole bunch of them

Here are some of the the new ones:
A multi color tulle fairy crown

A  yellow fairy crown

A mint green fairy crown

A vintage rose fairy crown

and a peachy rose

I also have a brand new Dreamcatcher in my store with a new white dove which is so peaceful and lovely sitting on her little wire...

and finally a beautiful photo by my sister Miri of a field here in shelburne at the end of Summer

have a great week!

xoxo

My little village

....After posting some photos of Essex NY I realized that what I should really write about is my own little village ,Shelburne VT, so here are I am your own private local guide...

Shelburne is the home of the magnificent Shelburne museum, a heaven for crafters and quilters, I can never get enough of it, I must have been there 20 times!!! I saw the most amazing exhibition of quilts there by Rosie Lee Tompkins

Another wonderful place to visit is Shelburne Farms a working organic farm with a great store,bakery and the best cheddar cheese ever,they also have tractor rides for kids that take them up to the beautiful old farm barn where they can pet the animals and experience the daily farm chores, my kids practically lived there when they were younger...you can see the farm barn in this picture,isn't it beautiful? in the background you can see lake Champlain which is a minute away.

so let me take you on a little tour of the village, Saturday is market day with great  local farmers market

a cute little house and garden on the village green

the local bistro

my favorite yarn shop "Knitter's Laine" 

the best bookstore around The Flying Pig specializing in children books

The most amazing toy store "Jamie two-coats"

your best chance for good coffee in miles Village wine and coffee

and my personal favorite store  Shelburne Country Store they also sell online,
isn't this the best window ever?

and here are a few pictures of my own little house and street, I just love those morning glories on the porch, I thought I bought the purple but they turned out white!

I hope you enjoyed my little tour and hope you stop by Shelburne when you are in Vermont
have a wonderful weekend
xoxo

crazy crazy summer

It's been a crazy crazy two weeks, I am trying to keep a positive attitude dealing with a house full of teen agers (5 including my nieces) all pulling in different directions....the older ones are always wanting to go downtown or chill at friends especially very late at night and getting up at noon which makes it impossible to plan any normal meal ....the younger ones get bored if they are not kept busy every second of the day and they are ALL constantly hungry or hot or restless or annoyed ,oh boy!... It's hard to believe but I find myself wishing for fall again..
Ronen is busy working on a few film projects, and I am trying to get myself together and actually DO some work!!!I have a few new clients,I need to write  articles  for the paper and loads of work for Etsy, all very hard to manage these days...not to mention blogging....

I did  make a new dremcatcher for my etsy shop, this one is suitable for a  boys room (I had lots of requests for boy related things))

and one that is a little more glitzy and suitable for teens and adults

I wish I had more to time to just sit myself down and get the work done, it doesn't look like that's going to happen soon, I am shooting a big article on "Dorm Decor" for the "Burlington free Press" tomorrow, I found some great funky stuff on a budget, I hope it comes out well, will attach a link here when it comes out on the 16th of August, AND Monday my sister, my two nieces and I are going on a all girl trip to NYC for two days!!! I can't wait, I hope it won't be too hot.

We took a beautiful trip out to Essex NY on the ferry from Charlotte VT, Essex is so beautiful, it always looks to me like a great movie location, it sits right on the lake with gorgeous giant 19th century houses,this is one of our favorite trips in the area, we go down there, walk around, and get Ice cream at the only local Ice cream place in town.
Here are some pictures

have a great weekend
xoxo

house guests

This is the part of the summer I love, I have tons of house guests that include my sister, my nieces, my uncle and cousin with boyfriend, and my two big boys and sweet husband are arriving back home tomorrow!! yey!! can't wait! We all  live together like this for a few weeks in one big happy commune...not always so easy but luckily are neighbors are away this summer and we are allowed to use their house which makes life a lot easier and an extra place to run away too... I am stocking up on apple cakes and cookies,yummy quiches, cold soups and tons of fresh local Vermont corn and have been raiding the farmer markets this weekend,I especially LOVE the Burlington one on Saturday, if you are around you must visit it.

I will probably be a bit busy with this wonderful chaos for the next few weeks, not sure how much blogging I will be able to do...
I did manage to get some work done though, got a super-fun request from a secret magazine for a fall fairy crown which I made in a dusty brown with pink roses and a baby blue ribbon on the side, came out really nice, here it is is on my beautiful niece

and on the window

also made a new huge tote out of some pretty cabbage rose canvas fabric I found

I love this tote so much I might keep it...but for now I posted it on etsy
I have more fabric so I can always make myself another one, it's giant and soft and comes with a fabric flower pin which I made from red ticking fabric and some of the bags rose fabric remnants,also made a new dreamcatcher that's a bit more "grown up" and glitzy with a wild pink bird and black and white ribbon, check it out, also on etsy:

Well, hope you all have a great weekend and hope I'll find the time to write this week and tell you all about my wonderful silkscreen experiences that will include some photos! oh,one last word, I am reading a GREAT book "Eat,pray,love"  I love it !!!enjoy!
xoxo

New work

It's been two days since I am on my own, still holding on although I feel some cracks here and there, for instance I keep wandering into the kids rooms with no reason,so i try hard to keep busy and not think! I am sorry I sound a little pathetic but I am missing them so....
Last night I saw a movie I really loved called "once" something about it really touched me, and the music is beautiful, I wished Jonathan my 17 year old was with me, he would have loved it. came home and felt totally inspired, so, I sat down to work and made a fabric necklace I've been wanting to make for ages, I added beads to it, I like the way it came out, it's made of all the Liberty fabric scraps from the totes I've been working on, I used different patterns to make it funkier.

I have just posted it on etsy, I am making more today, it's tedious to make but a lot of fun.
Then this morning I finished the first Liberty tote and it came out all puckered!!!!! it looks great from afar, but when you come close and touch it the interfacing just ughhhhhh !!!
I Must have had the iron on to high when I did the final ironing!!
I hate when that happens.
Here are some pictures so you can see what I mean:

the flower pin came out nicely so I will use it for the next un-puckered tote I make...

Good news is that I was happy to find some more of this delicious fabric, so I can now make

2 more, it flew out of the store and that was a lot of fun!

summer camp

Yesterday I sent Mikey my 12 year old to camp Abnaki VT for 2 weeks,it's the first time he is away from home,I thought it would be very difficult but he was so strong,calm and so ready to start his adventures there that I left feeling surprisingly relaxed. The place itself is a beautiful old traditional looking turn of the century camp, to me it looked like something right out of  a J.crew catalog, I could totally envision myself styling a summer fashion article there, giant spaces, high cathedral ceilings, beautiful flags everywhere, and lot and lots of green, not to mention the beautiful lake...





so, being on my own for the next 2 weeks with all my boys gone I have about a gazillion projects I want to finish, lots of sewing I need to wrap up and post on etsy
and a million chick flicks I want to watch and can't with my male dominated household... ("mom,not a romantic movie again, yeach!!!!!!!" ).
Of to work...chiao XOXO

Mish mash post...

My boys are gone for the month, they are in Israel visiting for the first time in 2 years since we moved back to Vermont, it's so strange to be here with out them, I can't believe I won't see them for a whole month!!! but my little one is here with me, not so little any more he is 12!!! but I think the youngest always stays the little one. no? he is also going off to camp for 2 weeks soon, and then I am sans kids!!! oh my god! what will i do with all that time? hopefully work...:) and try not to think to much, I can't stand being away from my kids, I have to learn to let go...
I had a great sale today!! sold 6 of my recycled flower necklace to a soon to be store in Miami, very exciting, I love those recycled flowers line, will have to make more soon!

and... I bought the prettiest china I found on craigslist the other day, I couldn't believe my eyes- Roses everywhere!!!! and she gave me a little Cinnamon vase for free, how sweet is that?

that's it for today,
xoxo

new banner

I keep changing my banner, I can't decide which one I like better, actually I have 4 more designs to try, I would appreciate your comments, suggestions, anything to get me closer to my target.
here are some of my ideas:

this one with white or cream color text:

or this:

or this:

or this:

happy to hear your comments about this!
so, what's happening in my life these days? It's the end of the school year and I am super busy, my son Daniel is finishing 8th grade!!! It's all very exciting!! also I am participating in a trade show on the 16th for my Interior decorating business, I have a little table and I need to make it super appealing, I never did this before so I am a little nervous about it, also I have another fashion article coming up next Thu. this time it's on beachwear.
Very soon the boys are going away on trips and camps and I will be on my own!! scary but fun! It's the first time I will be without the kids for more then 3 days, i can't imagine how I will feel but I have a feeling it might very different now that they are so big!!! I must start learning to cope , Jonathan will be out of the house in 2 years!! yikes....

XOXO

I need to work

This morning I woke up with a sore throat...all this wonderful sunshine and I feel sick, so I drank lots of tea,ate healthy food, we try to buy as much organic as we can, and sat down to read my mail and check blogs...and you know what happened???? Decor8 posted my blog on her front page! what a wonderful surprise, I swear my sore throat got  better and my mood went from yeach to yeah in a second! Thank you Holly!!!

I did have a great Etsy day, sold a ton of stuff and I now need to work work work, I am running low on everything again and have to start establishing a routine where I enter my "studio" which is actually a corner in our tiny dinning room....ha! and work every day, or when ever I am not really working with my clients, actually I don't even know anymore which is my "real" work...This is a very Vermont thing, everyone you meet does so many different things for instance one person might write for the newspaper, teach yoga, and work as gardener, or one might be a teacher, a contractor and a swim coach or like me...a decorator,writer,crafter,stylist...not to mention mother,wife,gardener,cook,and laundry folder..sounds familiar girls???

Here is what I need to work on:

and almost out of this too

tomorrow I am working no matter what!

Cleaning day

Today is cleaning day,it's about time beacause i haven't gotten around to it for the longest time. I love it when the rooms are all dust free, aired out and sparkling....I totally cleared out the boys room ,turned over their closets and folded everything perfectly,to bad it's going to last about 2 minutes...ha!never mind as long as I feel good, that's whats important right? right!
The weather is so perfect I could actually open all the doors and windows for the first time this year,can you believe it? it's May!!!

I love the sun come in through the bedroom window...

I found these painting at the Christmas Tree Store!

This has nothing to do with anything but i love the photo of

Baby Morning Glories waiting to be planted.