Plant-a-colada!? Yes please! The coconuts cost me $1.89 each at my local Asian grocery market. I had all the tools, fabric and string in my craft closet–so these planters cost me less than $2 to make!  Cheap, eco–and fun to do with kids (provided you do the saw part) this project is perfect for adding a bit of green in the home–and the table-planters can easily be personalized with names or table-numbers for special events (think weddings, showers, graduations, birthdays etc.)  Perfect summer project, yes?

COCONUT TABLE PLANTER

MATERIALS
-One young Thai Coconut
-Potting soil
-Plant
(Succulent used here)

TOOLS
-Drill
-Serrated Knife or saw
-One Sharpie

1. Drill three holes in a triangular shape on the bottom of the coconut for drainage holes. Drain the coconut water out. Drink it. It’s delish.
2. Saw the top of the coconut off leaving one inch of ‘ridge’ on the top of the coconut.
3. Clean the ‘meat’ out of the coconut with a spoon. Make a smoothie from it while you let the coconut dry out in the sun (may take a few hours) #Yum!
4. Once coconut is dry, draw a simple, repeating pattern all over the coconut. (not the bottom).
5. Place potting soil into the coconut and plant your choice plant into the coconut.
6. Place in appropriate light for chosen plant.

COCONUT HANGING PLANTER

MATERIALS
-One young Thai Coconut
-1.5 ft. thin, patterned fabric
-Cord or string
-One S-hook
-Potting soil
-Plant
(Staghorn Fern used here)

TOOLS
-Scissors
-Drill
-Tape
-Hot glue gun and glue
-Iron
-Serrated Knife or saw

1. Drill three holes in a triangular shape on the bottom of the coconut for drainage holes. Drain the coconut water out. Drink it. It’s delish.
2. Saw the top of the coconut off leaving one inch of ‘ridge’ on the top of the coconut for hanging holes.
3. Clean the ‘meat’ out of the coconut with a spoon. Make a smoothie from itWhile you let the coconut dry out in the sun (may take a few hours)Yum!
4. Drill three holes into the ‘ridge’ on the top of the coconut , equadistant from one another.
5. Measure coconut circumference and height. Cut fabric height and length accordingly leaving and extra 1” on each side for seam allowance.
6. Fold 1” of fabric over all the way around, and iron flat, creating a “hem” on all four sides.
7. Using the hot glue gun, glue the fabric all the way around the coconut.
8. Cut three pieces of string 2.5’ long. Wrap tape around the end of each of the pieces of string like shoe laces, and thread one piece of string through each of the three holes. Tie each string in a double knot to fasten it to the coconut. Tie the strings in a knot together at the top and tie to the S-hook.
9. Place potting soil into the coconut and plant your choice plant into the coconut.
10. Hang in appropriate light for chosen plant.

Enjoy!

Projects and photos by Justina Blakeney

So many ‘firsts’ this week…the first time we took Ida to the beach, the first time she rode on a train, the first time she tasted porridge, the first time she visited a contemporary art museum, a modern art museum and a history museum all in one week! She is such a trooper. She just looks around, smiles at strangers, laughs and takes it all in. I’m so thrilled that she seems to love traveling as much as we do…because, god willing, we will be doing a lot more of it in the future.    

Had some fun stuff come out this week–
An oldie but goodie was featured over on Marie Claire Maison
Check out my feelings on Ida at six months over on one of my favorite reads, The Littlest
Learn about my hair regimen on The Good Hair Blog
Thanks y’all!

Wishing you all a weekend full of smiles and plenty of ‘firsts’!

What do you think? Would ever paint your door a crazy bright, bold contrasting color to the rest of your home?
All photos by J. Blakeney

One thing I get asked really often is how I manage to ‘pull off’ mixing so much pattern and color in my work, so I thought today I’d share a few secrets that I use to make abundance of color and pattern work in any space.

• When choosing accessories with prints, work in the same color palette for all of your patterned accessories. I like to start with curtains. So, as I browse through a wide range of curtains,  I look for one specific color. For this exercise, I chose to work with blue.  I found this sweet blue patterned footstool and a blue patterned pendant lamp to add to this room. The three patterns are very different from each other, but because they’re all in the blue family, they get along really well together.
  
• Add neutral colors, to help the eye rest. I always include neutral colors so that things don’t get *too* hectic. The mellow color of the couch, the simple jute rug and the natural wooden cabinet do the trick in this space.
• While shopping for home accessories like plant pots, curtain rods, and lighting  (the Argos shop has many lighting options,) make sure the colors of the accessories recall one another. Look at the kelly green floor lamp,  the adorable colored buttons on the settee, the cacti pots, the mustard occasion table and the Matisse print, you’ll notice that certain elements match. This is done on purpose to recall different shades around the room for cohesion.
• When picking the wall colors consider the art, drapes, and other wall decor–all of things that are going to be placed at or on the wall–don’t you think that the ikat curtains look good framed in the dusk color? And that the Matisse print looks pretty on the orange?

Once you get the colors and patterns working together they no longer compete with the eye for attention.

This post is created in partnership with Argos. Take a minute to look through their HUGE selection of home goods. I was blown away with all of their options for lighting, curtains, and other home accessories. Thank you for supporting the brands that make this blog possible. (All words and ideas are my own.)

Succulent image via here. Matisse print image from here. All other item images via Argos.

 
Been noticing all of these box and crate shelves around here–in shops, homes, restaurants and museums. I love this idea because it’s a super easy DIY (I always see crates at the flea markets in L.A.) and I love that you can arrange the crates to fit your needs–plus the way that objects are framed when inside the boxes make objects and books really stand out. Love the idea of painting the inside of the crates/boxes different colors, too.  It turns the shelves into a kind of installation art. A single box, four boxes all in a row, or boxes stacked on top of each other every which way, either way I think they look super cool. Another thing I like about these box shelves is that I can picture them being useful in pretty much every room in the house–and in homes with different styles–modern, rustic, boho, minimal and maximal!  What do you think? Would you do box shelving in your pad?

Also, this is a bit of a non-sequitur but I wanted to mention that if you are in L.A. this week you should check out Create + Cultivate--an event that “consists of 5 amazing workshops, 1 inspirational creative seminar, delicious food, happy hours, mixing, mingling and more.” If I was in town I would be there. Some good friends of mine including Jessica Comingore will be leading workshops, and if I weren’t abroad–I’d be leading one too. Anyway, it’s May 18th at the Downtown Standard and the folks over at C+C have been kind enough to offer JB Est.1979 readers a discount code, so use the code CCVIP at checkout to save a little somethin’ somethin’.  It absolutely glorious here in Cph, but thinking about missing this does make me miss home a bit.

Box and crate photos by J. Blakeney

While browsing Etsy today, I think I may have come up one a solution to my clothing conundrum so since many of you are dealing with similar issues–I thought I’d share. I think  Clothingshow on Etsy could be the solution to all of my clothing problems? How PERFECT are these clothes?? Comfy, loose, prettiest palette and surprisingly affordable. Just deciding on which pieces to order first. Swoon. Big time. So me. So, so good.

When I moved to NYC after living in Italy for seven years, it was a tough transition. When I left Florence, I longed to live somewhere bigger and with more action. But when I got to NYC, I had a hard time meeting new people and creating meaningful relationships, there was fierce competition in the work world–and to top it off sh*t was EXPENSIVE. Everyone told me to ‘give it a year’. Friends and new acquaintances alike said that the first year in NYC is hard for everyone, but that after a year I would LOVE it for sure. A year passed and I still hadn’t found my place. Next, everyone was saying to give it two years, and that after two years I would LOVE it for sure. So I gave it one more year. So two years had passed and I still wasn’t feeling it. So I moved to Los Angeles, this time, without asking for opinions about how long I’d need to stay before I started loving it.

It is with that memory that I write this post, because it has been nine months, and despite what many people have said about it taking ‘nine months to gain the baby-weight, nine months to lose it’ my body still looks and feels…well, bleh. Part of me thought that just by eating pretty healthily and walking around the reservoir a few times a week, that after nine months, my body would be like it was before. My truth-telling nieces who periodically ask if ‘there is another baby in my belly’ have spilled the beans: I still look pregnant. Somehow, when Ida was tiny I felt like I had the I *just* had a baby pass–but now, nine months later, I feel like I should be back to feeling normal.

And I don’t.

Since being here in Cph I have been walking a TON, like around 5 miles a day. I get home and my legs are tired, feet are sore–but it feels SO good to walk this much–and I feel bummed that I didn’t push myself to walk more while I was pregnant. Without beating myself up too much about it, I can’t help but wonder if I had been more active during my pregnancy if that would have changed the complicated birth and emergency C-section, which I feel like is one of the main causes of my body-issues right now. That f***king flap is still ever-present and, the worst part is, as I do lose a bit of weight here and there the flap just hangs further down. I mean, what?? And when I’m getting dressed in the morning, I think about how to hide the flap–a sad juxtaposition to my pretty round belly that I loved to flaunt while prego. Not to mention that the only comfy nursing bras that actually fit my BOUS (boobs of unusual size) make my breasts look more like one big inner-tube, than anything resembling the buoys of yore.

Saturday I went out shopping–still on the hunt for a pair of jeans that fit. I found myself wandering through H&M and made my way to the maternity section, which they intelligently call the ‘mothers’ section here in Denmark–which made me feel a little less lame for shopping in the maternity section when I am, alas, not at all pregnant. As I was browsing through the jersey-top jeans and elasticized balloon tops, I was being stared at by huge posters of Beyoncé on the beach, in a bikini, looking damn hot, I might add.  It took pretty much all the will-power in the world for me to not lose-it right there at H&M. WHY DOESN’T MY BODY LOOK LIKE BEYONCE’S? Afterall, we had our babies just a few months apart. Damn that C-section.
Ugh.

(I did find some cute pants though. So, there’s that.) I’m kinda kidding about the Beyonce thing–but kinda not. She’s considered ‘thick’ in many circles. I was searching online for high-waisted bikinis this morning for a summer trip and paused for a while trying to imagine what this suit would look like on me. Not that the size ‘L’ would fit me anyway.  But really?!

I’m pretty good about not thinking about it too much.  Or I just focus on the good stuff–like Ida, or the fact that even when I’m at my heaviest my face tends to stay pretty thin–lucky me. But when I do think about it, or look in a full-length mirror, or look at huge pictures of Beyonce in a bikini while I’m shopping in the maternity section even though I’m not pregnant, I get bummed out.

So I’m not going to ask you how long it took you to ‘get your body back’–and even that type of rhetoric is bumming me out these days. Get your body back from where or from whom? My body never left, she’s been here all along. What I need to get back isn’t my body–but my comfortability in my body, my confidence, my f*ckitedness. Truth is, I never had Beyonce’s body–not when I was fourteen, not when I was at my skinniest, not before I had a baby.  I had my body, and I still do. Now I just have to figure out how to love this body a little better. This body that has been like a really good friend to me and I’ve been embarrassed to take her out with the cool kids.

What I am going to ask you is to share, if you’re up for it, is one thing that you love about your body. I’ll start. I love my skin. The olive shade, the softness. I don’t even mind the stretch marks so much. My husband calls them war scars. Huzzah!

Now you go.

Juices are really big here. There is a juice shop on every corner. I tried a mint-mango juice–it seemed like an unexpected combo but it was SO good that I immediately went home to create my own version. It’s wildly refreshing, tangy sweet and…minty! The perfect summer drink–a real tropical treat…

Here’s how I made it. (Serves four).

1. Put the meat of two mangoes with a handful of fresh peppermint leaves and three cups of water in the mixer/blender.
2. Add a tablespoon of honey.
3. Add lemon to taste.
4. Blend, pour and enjoy.

My family, circa 1982 (I’m on the left) and how beautiful is my momma?
I have been EXTRAORDINARILY blessed to have grown up around incredible mothers my whole life. My mother, my grandmothers and great-grandmothers, aunts and now my mother-in-law–so much to learn and so many people to learn from. Also all of you mothers who have chimed in here on the blog to share your experiences with me. I am truly overwhelmed by all of your generosity. Thank you!

To my mom.  Now that I’m a mom myself I love and appreciate you even more, which I did not think was possible. You lead by example, you are the most sagacious person I know. I love you more than anything.

Also want to wish a happy mothers day to my grandma Bette, to my MIL Mary, to my big sister Faith, my sis-in-law Emily,  to my mommy homegirls Natalie, Sof, Joy, Josie, Elizabeth, Bonnie, Kelly, Jessica, Vanessa and the soon-to-be mommas too, who I won’t name by name (yet) but know that I’m SO excited to see you both become moms. I love you mommas! I look up to you. I can’t wait to watch our little ones grow up together. More power to us!

  It’s just really refreshing to be somewhere different, you know? (All but the top photo are from Christiania)
Photos by Justina Blakeney