Hello, Wild Things: 2021

Magical Creatures Book Basket

Friday, February 26, 2021

This book basket comes from the bottom of my fantasy adoring heart. It's a love letter to Dungeons & Dragons but in book basket format. Because the theme of this book basket? It's all magical creatures.

Each of the books I selected for this basket features imaginative creatures: either from folklore or just plain made up. There are stories for a wide age range, and a few non-fiction books thrown in that just have really pretty pictures.

The activity we did with this basket was to change some of our animal toys into magical creatures. With paper, tape, and pipe cleaners we gave a hippo a scorpion tail and an alligator a lion's mane. We also turned this giraffe/zebra into a winged beast, but let's be honest that one was kind of a magical creature before we started. Why does this zebra have such a long neck!?!

Books I included in this basket:

If I Had a Gryphon by Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Cale Atkinson

Miss Turie's Magic Creatures by Joy Keller, illustrated by Richard Watson

Julia's House for Lost Creatures, written and illustrated by Ben Hatke

The Odyssey: A BabyLit Monsters Primer by Jennifer Adams, illustrated by Alison Oliver

Jabberwocky: A BabyLit Nonsense Primer by Jennifer Adams, illustrated by Alison Oliver

Mr. Pepper's Perfect Pet Shop by Erica Jane Waters

The Foggy Foggy Forest by Nick Sharratt

Magical Creatures by (Man-eating) Meg Clibbon and (Loch Ness) Lucy Clibbon

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them by Newt Scamander, J. K. Rowling, illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill

Harry Potter: The Ceature Vault by Jody Revenson

Not Pictured:

Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You by Holly Black, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi

Bathroom Refresh Mood Boards

Monday, February 1, 2021

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My bathroom is sooo close to being "finished." I really just need to add those last final touches. While on a hunt to find those last few perfect items, though, I fell down a rabbit hole of bathroom decor and found some seriously amazing decor pieces.

The idea behind these mood boards is that if you have a bathroom that is a neutral color (seafoam blue is a neutral color, right?) you can drastically change the feel by just switching up a few key items. All of the boards are a little funky and vintage-inspired while still being trendy.

This first board is the feel my bathroom has currently. It's such a warm and inviting vibe, and I've had a lot of fun thrifting little yellow trinkets to put on my shelves. That big yellow towel with those beautiful details is on my wish list for sure. It's practically a piece of art.

"You Are So Cool" Mirror Decal from Daisy Natives

Janni Velour Bath Towel from Anthropologie

Sunrise Trinket Dish from Anthropologie

Rise and Shine Bath Mat from Urban Outfitters

Salt Quick Dry Towel Set from Bed Bath & Beyond

Brown Glass Candle Holders from SilcStuff on Etsy

There's something about a cheeky bath mat that always gets me, and with this one's fun color palette I couldn't help but build a whole mood board around it. There's a huge trend of candles that look like Greek sculpture right now, and while I chose a head for this board you could easily swap it out with a body to contribute to the "cheeky" (ha!) feel.

Lilja Bath Towel from Anthropologie

Get Naked Floral Bath Mat from Urban Outfitters

Hello Gorgeous Mirror Decal from HerParade on Etsy

David Bust Candle in Forest Green by NovaDrip on Etsy

Rose Bath Salt from KayaSoaps on Etsy

Dusty Green Towel Set from Bed Bath & Beyond

I saved this last one's graphic as "chill Tiger King" because I felt like that encapsulated the mood. This board has more of a retro funky vibe, with the stars of the show being the simple but well-designed accessories that pack a big punch, like that candle and the soap dish.

Mid Century Shapes (no. 8) by Show Me Mars

Tiger Bath Mat from HomeDecoratif on Etsy

Blue Terrazzo Concrete Soap Dish from MicaRicaShop on Etsy

Pillar Candle designed by Lex Pott for HAY

Bath Bombs from Happy Dance

Cobalt Towel Set from Bed Bath & Beyond

Book Baskets

Knitting Book Basket

Monday, January 25, 2021

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Every January I question my choice to remain in Illinois. It's just so dang COLD. This year I told myself I would do everything I could to make my winter warmer. I bought slippers, a good coat, and tried to think of warm thoughts.

Keeping in the spirit of warm things and warm thoughts, when it was time to put together our next book basket I knew just what theme I wanted to use: knitting! I grabbed some props from around my house (knitting needles, yarn, small knitted objects) with the intent of giving Ronan some tactile examples of the things we were reading about.

For our activity, I put together a tp roll loom and made him a cute little bracelet! He liked watching the knitted cable come out the end of a tube. Here is a link to a tutorial so you can make your own!

I really loved the books I chose for this basket. They were sweet, silly, and inspirational. And they were especially beautiful. Jon Klassen, the illustrator for "Extra Yarn" is one of my favorite children's illustrators. Links for the books are below the pictures!

Ned the Knitting Pirate by Diana Murray, illustrated by Leslie Lammle

Three Balls of Wool by Henriqueta Cristina, illustrated by Yara Kono

Edmund Unravels written and illustrated by Andrew Kolb

Cat Knit written and illustrated by Jacob Grant

Lester's Dreadful Sweaters written and illustrated by K.G. Campbell

Leave me Alone written and illustrated by Vera Brosgol

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen

Made by Raffi by Craig Pomranz, illustrated by Margaret Chamberlain

A Hat for Mrs. Goldman by Michelle Edwards, illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Bertolt by Jacques Goldstyn, translated by Claudia Zoe Bedrick

If you would like to find more book baskets check out the tag here!

Mood Board

My 12 Mood Boards of 2020

Monday, January 18, 2021

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This project wasn't born to be a blog post. Heck, it wasn't even born to be a project. It was born out of a need to organize my OVER 15,000 PINS on Pinterest in a better way. (Maybe I have a problem, but I'm a visual person through and through... so I make myself feel better by telling myself that.) At the start of the year, I created a board for just that year, then added sections divided by months (and projects.) By the time March rolled around I realized that both January's and February's sections had a distinct FEEL to them. As an experiment, I tried to keep the trend going. And lo and behold, here we are, 12 months later, with 12 different mood boards. It's so cool to see a visual representation of how my mind worked (especially THIS specific year.) Some months flow into the next nicely, while a few stand out in high contrast. I love them all, but February and September are my favorite. There was something about those months that just really felt... right.

Source links are below the photos, starting from the top left. I hope you enjoy this little journey through my mind!

January:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

February:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

March:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

April:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

May:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

June:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

July:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

August:

1 - 2 - 3 (mine) - 4 - 5 - 6 (mine)

September:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

October:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

November:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

December:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

Podcast · YA Gotta Read This

YA Gotta Read This Episode One

Saturday, January 16, 2021

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I never wanted to make a podcast. I love listening to them, but I didn't think it was something I'd be interested in. Then I realized that I could use it as an excuse to force my sister to talk to me about books for an hour. I proposed the idea, and she was just as into it as I was. So this little podcast was born.

YA Gotta Read This is a podcast where my sister I discuss Young Adult books and things having to do with YA. It was born out of a need to have time to talk about silly things and serious things and everything in between. Both of us are heavily involved in the YA literature world (she is a high school English teacher and I am the Young Adult Coordinator at our public library) so it is really just a natural fit.

In this first episode, we thought we would introduce ourselves in the best way we know how: by describing our favorite books, the ones we come back to again and again.