Tell Us a Story!

Tell Us a Story!

When Lindsay Volle was growing up in early-90s Phoenix, her dad would wake her up early once a month for what they called Donut Patrol. “We would drive down to the local donut shop,” Volle remembers, “and buy anywhere from three to seven dozen from a local shop where they packaged donuts in beautiful bright pink boxes. Then we’d drive to friends' houses and leave a box on their doorsteps. I would get to ring the doorbell and run -- like ding-dong ditch but with breakfast. We didn’t leave a note or anything, so first-time recipients wouldn’t necessarily know who brought them. That was so exciting to me! My dad understood that because my dad understood fun. Donuts are fun. Surprises are fun. Surprise donuts? Extra fun.”

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Interview in new Knoll Newsletter, Shu!

Interview in new Knoll Newsletter, Shu!

Knoll has just introduced a seasonal online magazine, Shu, named after their founder, Florence "Shu" Knoll. (I just learned that she was nicknamed Shu by her childhood friend, Eero Saarinen!). Florence Knoll is, as she is to so many, a longtime design hero and I was thrilled that they popped by for a visit to see how we live and work amongst our favorite Knoll pieces. (This is *not* a sponsored post.)

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Recycled Craft Ideas from our New Kitchen!

Recycled Craft Ideas from our New Kitchen!

First, I should say that I’ve stretched the definition of the word “craft” in the title of this post. The items here, vases, planters, and organizing containers, are simply plucked from the recycle bin, so, no real crafting!! (Unless you count label-removal…and by the way, Goo Gone and very hot water work well for this!)

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Small-Space Solutions from our Kitchen Renovation!

Small-Space Solutions from our Kitchen Renovation!

My friend, Danny Seo (who many of you know from his fabulous show on NBC and gorgeous magazine, Naturally) came by a few months ago to shoot some photos of our recent kitchen and dining room renovations for a story in this month’s issue of Naturally. I’m super excited to share photos of some ideas and solutions that we came up with for improving our small and awkwardly laid-out kitchen!

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Fun Gingerbread House Kit Hack Videos!

Fun Gingerbread House Kit Hack Videos!

I recently worked with Bed, Bath & Beyond to make a series of gingerbread house kit hacks. We had so much fun coming up with different themes using the candy decorations from the kit and some easy-to-find extras like candy canes, pretzel rods, and marshmallows. I will update this post soon with the third video, a snowy palace!

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No-Bake Spooky Halloween Treats on the Today Show!

No-Bake Spooky Halloween Treats on the Today Show!

On Tuesday morning I had the pleasure of sharing some crafty Halloween treats with Al Roker on the Today Show. (We look very serious here but I promise we had fun!) They're all made using store-bought candy or donuts so no baking required.

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How To Throw the Ultimate Pee-wee Herman Party!

How To Throw the Ultimate Pee-wee Herman Party!

In honor of the soon-to-be-released movie, Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, I am sharing my son’s Pee-wee-themed 5th birthday party from a few years ago. We are all BIG Pee-wee fans and very excited for his new movie, which starts streaming on Netflix on Friday, March 18th at 12:01 A.M.!! Use any of these ideas to throw your own Pee-wee viewing party!

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Behind-the-Scenes Of Our New Book: Fun Chapter Openers!

Behind-the-Scenes Of Our New Book: Fun Chapter Openers!

One of my favorite parts of working on our two books, including our newest, Paper Goods Projects (coming out this Tuesday, August 11th...woohoo!), was collaborating with creative director/designer Robin Rosenthal on our photographic chapter openers. As I mentioned in this post, she knew that Amy and I wanted typography created out of the actual supermarket materials we used and crafted projects from the book and she conceived inspired chapter openers that did just that.  There are four chapters in Paper Good Projects: Coffee Filters & Cupcake Papers, Paper Plates, Bags & Doilies, Balloons, and Recycling Bin.

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Our New Book!

Our New Book!

Amy and I are thrilled to announce that our second book, Paper Goods Projects, is coming out on August 11th and is available right now for pre-order on AmazonBarnes and Noble, and Indiebound! We are honored that our foreword was written by the brilliant Jordan Ferney, founder of the gorgeous blog Oh Happy Day and her fantastic party shop!

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Our Fun Website Redesign!

Our Fun Website Redesign!

We are very excited to share the redesign of our website by brilliant designer and illustrator Robin Rosenthal. Robin, Amy Gropp Forbes (my photographer and book partner), and I collaborated to create this header design. It was so  much fun to play with all the materials that we used in our first book and mix in materials used in our second soon-to-be-released book. (More on that soon!)

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Easter Crafts on The Today Show!

Easter Crafts on The Today Show!

This weekend I shared a few fun and easy edible Easter crafts on the Today Show with Erica Hill and a few adorable kiddos (including her two sweet boys). You can watch the video here on the Today Show's website. Below are the how-to's for the four crafts that I presented!

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Muppet Party!

Muppet Party!

Last year, my younger son requested a Muppet-themed birthday party and, as a  lifelong Muppet fan, I was thrilled! Kermit is one of his favorite characters so the color green became an easy decoration theme. The first items that I bought werethese honeycomb balls, for color, from Target. As I stared at the packaging, I realized with a little snipping, I could make it into a Kermit head! (more photos and how-to below). His balloon body was inspired by some of the crafts in the BALLOON chapter in our next book!!!

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Cold Weather Candy Craft!

Cold Weather Candy Craft!

My friend Melissa sent me these great shots of her daughter and friend making lollipops, inspired by our book Candy Aisle Crafts. The lollipops are almost as cute as the girls! I love the rainbow and letter pops that they thought up.  Lollipop-making is the perfect stuck-indoors winter activity! 

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Crafts to Prevent the Winter Blues on the Today Show!

Crafts to Prevent the Winter Blues on the Today Show!

This morning I shared some kid-friendly craft and treat ideas to prevent cabin fever this winter on the Today Show. The ideas utilize a lot of leftover holiday stuff that you may already have around the house, like candy, empty boxes, and holiday cards. As always it is a lot of fun and everyone over at Today is super nice! Click here for the video and a how-to for one of the crafts.

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Parents Magazine Christmas Candy Craft Story

Parents Magazine Christmas Candy Craft Story

For some fun do-together Christmas candy craft ideas, pick up the December issue of Parents Magazine. I crafted and wrote the story "A Candy Christmas". Above are starlight mint garlands, shot in my studio while I was developing the story. They're super easy to make. Click here for the how-to on the Parents website.

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Caramel Apple Turkeys!

Caramel Apple Turkeys!

In case you've still got some Halloween candy lying around, specifically caramels and candy corn, you can make these chubby caramel apple turkeys for a Thanksgiving treat! I've been meaning to put up directions since I showed how to make them on the Today Show right before Halloween, in a segment about what to do with your leftover Halloween candy.

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Gummy Candy Chapter

Gummy Candy Chapter

As I mentioned in an earlier post about ourmarshmallow chapter opener, we were so lucky to have Robin Rosenthal design our book. Here is a peek at the gummy candy chapter opener that she designed! This chapter opener photo is composed mostly of spice drops (gumdrops' smaller cousin) with a few cut up gumdrops in there. Size is not their only difference between these two candies. Gumdrops are fruit-flavored and spice drops are, well, spicier with flavors like clove, anise, etc. Both make an excellent crafting material!

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An Introduction!

An Introduction!

I started this blog without really introducing myself, or Amy Forbes, my friend, photographer, and Super Make It partner-in-crime. My name is Jodi Levine and I am a mom of two boys, wife, lifelong crafter and designer-stylist-editor. For over 19 years, I was a craft editor at Martha Stewart Living and the editorial director of Martha Stewart Kids. I met Amy while working for Martha Stewart where she was a food editor. You can read more about her over here or check out her beautiful blog, Eclectic Mom.....

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