Tell Me One Good Thing That Happened....

When I pick my kids up from school, I ask them, in an annoying mother voice, "What's one good thing that happened to you at school today? And what's one bad thing?" So I'm turning the annoyingness on myself...

One GOOD thing that happened this weekend...
I got a message from the producer of Movie and A Makeover on TBS and they want to use The Bertie Box in the makeover portion of an upcoming show! WOOHOO! My box is going to be famous! That sounded so wrong in my sick little head! Thankfully, the box is an actual box.

One BAD thing that happened this weekend...
I mixed a prescription drug called Metformin (used to treat the PCOS I have) with wine and had a VIOLENT reaction. In all fairness to me, it only says to TAKE WITH FOOD on the outside of the pill bottle. Note to self and anyone else on this medication. Be very cautious when mixing the two - don't even think about going for that third glass! Unless it's a really good bottle of wine then ditch the pills and pour the vino!

Read More

Sign of a true craftsman...er woman

I looked down at my computer mouse to see it covered in a nice dark walnut stain. Some people would wash their hands after staining. But not me! I just dart in, check my email, and dart back out to finish.

You can only imagine what our cordless phones look like.

Read More

Crazy Builder Girl

I'm a crazy builder girl today and I'm going back out for more! I'll get back to posting tomorrow after I've had a nice shower and a glass of Red Zin. :)

Read More

Noah At Minor Details!

One of my absolute favorite design bloggers, Jenn from Minor Details, featured the Noah Owl Toy Box today on her site! Jenn finds the coolest child/baby gear from around the world. I really don't know where she finds it all but her site is a fantastic resource if you're trying to outfit a kid's room or playroom.

Here's the link: http://minordetails.typepad.com/md_weblog/2008/09/meet-noah.html

Read More

Etsy's Handmade For Kids Contest Finalist

Happy Labor Day!



I wanted to mention that the Owyn Toy Box was selected as a finalist in Etsy's Handmade For Kids Contest. Check it out here! Vote for your favorite items from the Handmade Kids Challenge and win one of fourteen $350 Etsy Shopping Sprees! Voting ends on September 8th so if you feel like you're in a voting mood, click the link and vote for your favorite item in several different categories. If you vote for Owyn, it (and I) thank you!

Read More

The Noah Owl Box

My poor first born son finally has a toy box named after him! The first one (Noah Building Blocks table) I stopped offering about a year ago. Guaranteed, there will be lots of therapy for Noah in is coming years!!!

Anyhow, I designed and built this owl box for my excellent web designer. She has a Bertie but I thought two Bertie boxes might be a little boring so we decided on the owl.

I'm calling it "woodland mod" because I think it's a bit of arts and crafts style mixed with modern and would fit nicely into a room with a very natural, earthy modern look. And because I have to make up dumb design names now that I'm a designer in a British design book. :)

The owl eyes act as the handle on the lid. Children can put both index fingers into the eyes (like they're poking them out which is even more fun!) and pull back towards their chest and then throw the lightweight lid somewhere on the ground for all to step on. It's a brilliant system!!

The piece is 17 x 18 x 15 1/2 so it provides ample room for storing kid stuff...or wheeling a younger brother or sister around the house with intent of running over the lid that was thrown on the floor! Oh, the fun they will have!!!

I'll get this up on my website and online store soon! In the meantime, if you have questions, just email me(Kiersten@modmomfurniture.com) about it and I'll give you all the details.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!!



Veneer cut-outs make the circles surrounding the eyes, the nose, and the branch and leaves


(Can you see it? It's hiding in the "woods" since it's a "woodland mod" owl. I know...I know..)

Read More

Mushrooms With Expressions, by Patrick Gottlieb

I had some help on this next toy box/keepsake box! Patrick Gottlieb is my son's self-proclaimed best friend and a talented artist. He's been drawing mushrooms with expressions for about a year now and we talked awhile back about turning one of his mushrooms into a toy box. At last, it's finally done! Patrick's brother's, Eamonn and Sam also joined in by helping to color the many sketches of mushrooms with expressions to give me a better idea of what the final should look like.

On Saturday, Scott and I decided on which style we would be able to turn into a box. He copied the mushroom shape on the wood as well as add some input about circle colors and placement, and I happily started cutting the wood. By the end of a few hours, the mushroom with expression was born.

Check out Patrick's fantastic sketches of mushrooms as well as photos of the plus the completed box.

Patrick with the mushroom box

Inside the mushroom


Patrick's sketches

Many thanks to Patch for sharing his artwork with me and inspiring me to keep pushing artistic boundaries. By far, this is one of the coolest boxes I've built to date.

Read More