my mission for spring has been to fill my house with as much greenery as possible. my cut flower obsession (while it still exists) is slowly being replaced by a hankering for potted plants i can tend to on a regular basis. i’ve been eyeing these woolly pockets for a while, which allow you to plant and hang flowers without installing something more heavy duty on the wall. i especially love the idea of painting an accent wall, like the image above, and using that to set off the plants inside. so i think i’m going to bite the bullet and try one of these suckers out. so as i head off to find some new plants for hanging, i thought i’d leave you with these beautiful woolly pockets- maybe they’ll inspire someone else to create an indoor garden this weekend. i’ll see you on monday- until then, i hope you have a great weekend and check out the links from this week’s highlights below:

• must-read posts of the week: outstanding in the field
• sneak peeks:rosetta santucci,  heather chontos, zoe of cloth clothing
• new city guide: milwaukee guide
• under $100: table lamps
• biz ladies: first time funding-what is it and how to get it
• living in: coal miner’s daughter
• diy projects: sewing notions display art, from inspiration to reality, pinecone fire starter, ikea blankö woven jute table, sewing 101: making a duvet cover
• before & afters: jayne’s chair + lara’s kitchen, maria’s chevron wall + liz’s fabric wall, nia’s desk + setteenia’s desk + settee
• we like it wild: stawberry/chocolate wreath centerpiece
• small measures with ashley: diy natural stress reducers
• in the kitchen with: stacy newgent’s apple dumpling recipe
• artwork: new: ashley g “i’d rather be” prints, playing with pictures: the art of victorian photocollage, MET security guard collages [update: by jonathan hull], the heads of state: travel posters
• misc: new: flowie 2010 tea towels, bell jar table lamp, steamline luggage

Grace stumbled across Indianapolis-based food photographer Stacy Newgent’s work a couple of weeks ago and we were immediately captivated by her portfolio.  We were even happier when she said she’d share her grandmother’s recipe for Apple Dumplings with us! We hope you enjoy this as much as we did- Happy Cooking! -Kristina

About Stacy:  Stacy is a freelance photographer living in Indianapolis, IN. Although she shoots a variety of subjects she am happiest photographing food and restaurants for cookbooks or editorial assignments.  Her blog can be found here: Swell Photo Blog.

CLICK HERE for the full apple dumpling recipe after the jump!

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[image sources, clockwise from top left: tongue in cheek, tourism bc, thorny pup at flickr, the daily green, join my candle team, prevention.com]

There are certain times in a person’s life that are characterized by stress. Waiting to find out if you landed that job you’re seriously hoping for. Going into labor. Wondering if the person you pine for returns your affections. Navigating morning rush hour traffic. Driving steeply, and precariously, downhill in the Badlands of South Dakota when your car’s brakes begin to burn and you find it very, very hard to keep from careening over a cliff (nothing like a cross-country road trip to provide a lifetime’s worth of thrills and almost spills!).

Lately, my life has been riddled with stress. It’s good stress, but stress, all the same. I’m closing in on the publication my first two books, I’m working through three days worth of photo shoots on the third, and I’m almost at the finish line of the fourth, due this coming Monday. I’m a bit stressed, frazzled, fatigued; so much so, in fact, that my left eye has been twitching, for, well, months. It has become my “tell.” If I reply when asked how I’m doing that I’m totally chill, feeling great, etc., and yet you witness my left eye twitch, you know I’m not giving it to you straight. The eye won’t lie.

To keep the right eye from also twitching, and to continue forging ahead until all of the jobs are done (as well as continue to be a lovable, compassionate, empathic, and engaged spouse in whose company my husband would like to remain-not to mention, be able to stay awake to make it all the way through Lost ), I’ve been partaking of a wide variety of do-it-yourself all-natural stress reducers. All of them tried-and-true, I thought that for today’s Small Measures with Ashley I’d share my tension tamers with you, in the highly likely event that you might someday encounter some stress of your own.

CLICK HERE for ashley’s stress relieving diy recipes after the jump!

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i’m a fabric girl, so i can rarely pass up a new fabric collection. this new series from mokum textiles in australia called ‘moderne‘ has a great mix of patterns inspired by the 20s. i’m really partial to the brown colorways in the collection, but you can click here to view the full collection (and read more about its inspiration) right here. thanks, rebecca!

ac was out with friends last night so i spent a good chunk of my evening geeking out on the web. and, as if i needed another reason to love the new york public library, i fell in love with it all over again last night while i poured through their digital galleries. i spent the majority of my time in the arts & literature section, oohing and ahhing over the ‘ornament and pattern: pre-victorian to art deco‘ gallery and was totally overwhelmed (in the best way possible) by the butterfly and pattern pages. if you’re looking for a little friday morning (or full weekend) inspiration, click here to check out the nypl’s digital galleries.

*you can actually buy the images in print form (framed or unframed) by clicking the “buy” icon above each individual image!

To celebrate all the warm weather we’re having and the beginning of Spring this week, we decided to make a living wreath centerpiece for a sunny weekend brunch party. This is also a fun project for DIY event centerpieces because you can make them well ahead of time. You can use any small plants of your choice that come in in 6 packs or 4″ containers available at your local nursery. We used Sequoia Strawberry plants, a viney chocolate mint herb, and petite clusters of our favorite honey smelling Alyssum in a “pastels” mix. Because of the way this wreath is planted (unlike hanging wreaths each plant is not individually wired onto a moss frame and given time to root) it is best used laying flat on a table as opposed to being hung from a ribbon. It should last about 4-6 weeks if watered every few days and gets bright indirect light. You may also choose to replant the strawberries and mint into pots or your garden when your wreath outgrows its shape.

CLICK HERE for the full wreath centerpiece how-to after the jump!

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i have a soft soft for worn wood painted in robin’s egg blue. one of the first antique pieces of furniture i ever really loved belonged to my grandmother and it was an old blue table that was stashed somewhere down in her basement. for some reason that color really stuck with me, so when i saw this beautiful desk makeover from nia at summerland style i was immediately transported back to that piece. nia recently made over her desk nook- and an adorable settee and was kind enough to send both of them over today. first up, nia’s desk nook (details below):

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your images!]

nia’s husband crafted a beautiful desk using reclaimed wood from their friends’ remodel of a 100 year old home. the new desk fit the nook perfectly!

robin’s egg blue paint was used to paint the desk, and the back shelves were lined in vintage wallpaper. a $12 brass chandelier (painted blue) was added to bring more light to the space- completing nia’s stylish office makeover.

CLICK HERE for nia’s settee makeover after the jump!

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wall makeovers are some of my favorite projects to post. i love a good chair, but something about totally changing a wide patch of wall is so gratifying and dramatic. d*s reader maria fe of layers of meaning wanted to make over her living room walls with a geometric print, but nothing too overwhelming. so she and her husband settled on a grey and white chevron. after two nights of diligent taping by brad, they painted the chevron pattern on in a single night and the next day- voila! a brand new living room wall. it’s a bold style, but sophisticated enough to fit with the rest of the room, which i love. great work you two!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your images!]

[during]

CLICK HERE for liz’s fabric wall makeover after the jump!

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without realizing it, i’ve been slowly developing a fondness for two-tone upholstery. when i was finishing up some edits on the book manuscript this weekend i noticed that a lot of the homes and projects i chose include couches and chairs that have different fabric used on the arms and back than the body of the chair. it’s not something i’m normally drawn to, but i think i can start to feel my interests changing or growing a bit as we speak. so when i saw this pretty chair makeover from jayne in lincoln, nebraska i was hooked. jayne used a mix of anna maria horner fabrics on a few recent chair makeovers and this piece was my favorite. i rarely think to upholster things using different fabrics, but this definitely makes me open my mind to multiple styles in one piece. great work, jayne!

[have a before & after you'd like to share on d*s? just shoot me an email right here with your images!]

photographer lara ferroni is a favorite of mine and kristina’s. i love her home as much as i love her delicious cooking and photography. so when kristina sent me a link to lara’s recent seattle photo studio makeover i was excited to see what she’d done. in addition to taming the space’s fire engine-red walls, lara added beautiful beadboard to the walls, painted the cabinets, and added a new fridge to stock with food and supplies for her shoots. i’d be just as happy to eat here as i would be to shoot photos. well done, lara!

since i’ve got travel on the brain this morning, i had to share these beautiful new travel posters from the heads of state. based in philly, the heads of state designed a brand new series of limited edition 14×24 screenprints dedicated to eight american cities. while i’m loyal to my home town, i’ll have to say that miami, chicago and san francisco are my favorite designs in the bunch. each three to six-color serigraph is selling for $30 and is available as part of a run of 100 limited-edition prints. click here to check out all of the cities and pick up your favorite. thanks, dustin!