{what the hack}

Saying that we, as a family, are IKEA-crazy is the understatement of the century. I can look around your living room and point out the Swedish flat-packed furniture (though maybe you wish I wouldn't). I can probably even give you the unintelligible name for it all, too. POANG, EKTORP, EXPEDIT; growing up as the daughter of an IKEA employee, that was the language of home. 

So, as you might imagine, IKEAHackers.net is the New Yorker of my world. And though they classify it as a 'minor' hack, (which, let's face it, is true: the Vimpel has returned to its life as a duvet cover already) I am absolutely over the moon about seeing our handiwork (and Justin's pajamas) on their site. Check it out here.

And, if you're feeling the excitement, too, why not go ahead and 'like' it, and we'll see if we can be a top hack of the month!

{under the covers}

When we bought Tilly her bedding, many many months ago, I insisted we just buy her one duvet cover. I mean, two rectangles of fabric stitched together -- how hard could that be to sew myself?

It turns out, the hard thing isn't the design. It's getting round to actually making it. Many many months passed, and finally, looking for a new excuse to patch fabrics together, I came up with this design.

A reversible duvet cover, with a thin strip of patchwork near the top, to make it pretty. Finally, putting to use some of the beautiful fabrics my Mum bought for Tilly in Beijing's fabric market.

And how nice it is to have two duvet covers for Tilly. Trying to get one washed and dried in between naps is just too tight of a time frame!

P.S. I'd be happy to post a little how-to, if anyone's interested, with the measurements for an infant duvet cover. Just let me know. I'm also planning on making a cover in a similar design for our bed, if I can find two cheap flat sheets to play with.