Pretty Prudent Home Sneak Peek: Jacinda’s Bedroom Hideaway

IMG_4767Jaime and I have been hard at work wrapping up our upcoming book, Pretty Prudent Home (Abrams, Spring 2015) and in doing so have created some lovely, cozy, and yes prudent spaces to share on its pages. We are forcing ourselves to keep it all top-secret so that the book feels 100% new, fresh, never seen before (you get the idea) but as you know we are sharers so that is all very difficult for us. LUCKY for us, we promised our friends from Lamps Plus that we would give a  sneak peek at the beautiful products which we have personally picked out to feature in our own home tours for the book.

We will get to the Lamps, ohhh there are lamps but first let’s talk about the “Plus.” In this case accent/end/side tables. There are many. They are gorgeous. Head over to Lamps Plus for a browse and then tell us which is your favorite end table in the comments, or pin it and tag @prettyprudent and @lampsplus! Here are a few of my favorites…

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a. Cheree Mirrored Accent Table ($249.99) – I have been coveting this designer darling for so long. It feels modern and sophisticated and its mirrored angles juxtapose beautifully with rustic decor but I’m personally partial to the way it mirrors (heh) the angled lines in the fabric which my friends at Spruce Upholstery used to recover my precious, comfy, (and formerly hideous) chaise. The “before and after” will be in the book. It’s. pretty. crazy.

Read on for more details on these gorgeous tables and more pics of my cozy new bedroom reading nook.

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DIY Colorful Camera Strap: The DIY Challenge on the Mom’s View

On this new episode of DIY Challenge on The Mom’s View I’m having some fun with leather. I’ll show you how to make a colorful camera strap with scraps of leather for only . How cute are the tassels and beads? Check out the video to see how simple it is to make, and don’t forget to share a photo of your colorful camera strap with us on our Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest board.
DIY Colorful Camera Strap: The DIY Challenge on the Mom's View
Check out more episodes of The DIY Challenge at youtube.com/themomsview.
DIY Colorful Camera Strap: The DIY Challenge on the Mom's View

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Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

If GQ Magazine is your go-to while you get your nails did, you would have seen that the newest issue declared Downtown L.A. as America’s Next Great City. It’s kind of a big deal since for a good many years Downtown L.A. was anything but glamorous. In fact, you were probably a whole lot better off just avoiding it.

I’ve been living here for about four years now (fun fact: Jaime lived in an amazing warehouse in the Arts District pre-Scarlet. There was also a bathtub in her living room. Jealous.). Throughout the last few years Downtown L.A. has gone through a major transformation. It seems that every day there is a new shop to explore, renovation project in the works, and a gourmet restaurant to try. While these are all things that get my gears going, it’s not every day you overhear a child saying, “Mom, I’m dying to try the roasted marrow with mushroom croquette at The Gorbals.” And yes, it is incredible.

The Downtown LA City Guide for the Family covers all things you and the kids can enjoy together. It’s a walkable loop you can do in one day or space out over your trip. Find out the best place to soak up the sun,

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

try a tasty treat,

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

see a stunning view,

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

stop to smell the flowers,

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

learn a thing or two,

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

and where to end the day in a cozy bed.

Downtown LA City Guide for the Family

Check out the Downtown LA City Guide for the Family and get the link for the downloadable map after the jump…

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How to Stencil on Fabric + Elastic Waist Skirt Tutorial

How to Stencil on Fabric + Elastic Waist Skirt Tutorial
Julie from Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss is here today with two fun tutorials. First, she will explain how to sew a double-layer elastic waist skirt. The two layers help keep it from being see-through. Second, she will show you the steps for how to embellish your skirt with a stencil. Speaking of stencils, have you entered for the chance to win a Silhouette Portrait yet?

Head on over to Less-Than-Perfect Life of Bliss to check out Julie’s antique trunk turned bookshelf project and faux marble tabletop tutorial. If you’re in need of some home decor inspiration, check out her screened porch makeover.

Find out how to stencil on fabric and make an elastic waist skirt after the jump…

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Jaime and Jacinda Keep it Weird: Austin, Texas

wishAfter a highly productive book writing trip to Palm Springs last month, Jaime and I planned to regroup in Austin for another session before the holidays. With a motto like Keep it Weird, Austin was an obvious choice for Jaime and I. While our intense self-imposed schedule didn’t allow much time for me to show Jaime around my beloved home-away-from-home, we were able to sneak in a fabulous dinner at Trace courtesy of the W Austin Hotel, drink many delicious lattes at Jo’s, and treat ourselves to a few hours of shopping (a-hem book research) including a stop at my favorite Austin vintage emporium, Uncommon Objects.
austin collageOn our first night in town we stayed in a gorgeous corner suite at the W Austin Hotel in downtown. The hotel was decorated beautifully for the holidays with tiny succulent and glass bulb arrangements.
W Hotel AustinRefreshing Orange-Cinnamon-infused water was waiting by the front desk, where they feature a different flavor each day. That’s one way to get inspired to drink more water in 2014! Jaime and I met up in the room, had a sip of champagne (obviously) and headed downstairs for dinner.
Interior from Mark KnightIsn’t Trace beautiful? After being treated to a gorgeous charcuterie plate featuring house-made artisan meats, we feasted on Crispy Crab Cakes, Seared Diver-caught Scallops, Tuscan Kale Salad, Mac & Cheese, Brussels Sprouts, and a scrumptious House-Made Pasta with Rabbit Ragout. In addition to a Chef de Cuisine, Trace employs a professional Forager (I think this will be my next career) who sources local ingredients from nearby farms, and cheeses, cured meats, jams and even hot sauce from artisanal producers. (more…)

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Most Popular Posts FROM 2013

Pretty Prudent: The New Prudent Baby

My 2013 proved pretty mellow by comparison to Jaime’s wild surprise adoption year but memorable none-the-less. In addition to working on our Pretty Prudent Home book with Jaime, Clare and I fell in love with South Dakota, Rick and I celebrated a big birthday in Seattle, the kids and I spent almost a month with my family in Rhode Island this Summer, and three tiny kittens found their way to Texas from a Louisiana ditch! Yesterday Jaime shared our most popular posts in 2013 from our entire history of tutorials. Today I’m back to share the 10 most popular posts (page views) of the year FROM this year, that’s any post published January 1, 2013 and January 1, 2014.

It’s not very surprising that our readers love sewing, especially comfy, casual, and cute clothes for themselves or some cute kid they know. Oh, and our readers also love cinnamon rolls and cheese cake. Obviously our readers have excellent taste.

If one of your resolutions is to spend more time at the sewing table, why not tackle one of these lovely and surprisingly simple tutorials? Take a look at our How to Sew Knit Fabrics post for a refresher course first. If your resolution is to eat healthier, #8 is for you. If your resolution is to eat less healthy, we have you covered with microwave single serving sweets at #9&#10. Any guess what #1 was??

Here are the 10 Most Popular Posts FROM 2013… (more…)

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Our Most Popular Posts of 2013

Jaime and Jacinda: Most popular pretty prudent posts of 2013
Jacinda and I are nerds, obvs. Also, we just had the craziest year. I found out I was adopted, went to South Africa, worked on our Pretty Prudent Home book with Jacinda, and made a bunch of stuff. I hope your year was less crazy but equally as fun. In honor of the New Year, and just because I find it interesting, I pulled together our most popular posts in 2013. This list includes posts written anytime between December 31st 2013 and September 2009, when we launched the site (as Prudent Baby), that received the most page views in the past year (from 1/1/13-1/1/14). Some have more than half a million pins! I had fun revisiting these posts and I hope you do too. So without further ado, please allow me to present the most popular posts of 2013…

10. How to Make a Wristlet Key Fob

9. How to Make a Bow Tie

8. April Fools Prank: The Fake Parking Ticket with Free Downloads

7. DIY Fox Scarf with Free Pattern

6. One Minute/One Cookie: How to Make a Single Microwave Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Minute

5. Snappy Toddler Top with Free Downloadable Pattern

4. How to Make Cement Garden Stones

3. DIY Pillowcase Baby Dress Pattern

2. A Cup of Coffee Cake in Under 5 Minutes

And the #1 most popular post of 2013, with over 1/2 a million unique views, 26,000 pins, and 4,600 likes is… (more…)

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