blove: my life at playtime

Another Alt Summit story:

As I was standing with some friends at a party, I was introduced to this stunning woman.

all images courtesy of Deborah Harju

As one does at Alt we immediately exchanged business cards. And she immediately exclaimed, “Oh! YOU’RE Donuts, Dresses and Dirt!”.

Seems she “favorited” my card on this ginormous bulletin board they set up at Alt – where you can pin your card and put those you like in a “favorites” frame. I noticed someone had pinned mine and was frankly thrilled to meet the person who did it!

And so another bloggy friendship was born.

My Life At Playtime is a lovely place where Deborah shares her family, her dreams and her many many talents:

“I have a weakness for house projects and ‘do it yourself’ items, I love clothing, flea markets, vintage treasures, food, and decor of all sorts. I love throwing parties, reading books, and of course Instagram-ing.”

Deborah’s blog is a self described “little of this, little of that”, which I love, as you never know what you’re going to find when you click over. It could be a photo project, fabulous entertaining idea or an easy, kid-friendly art lesson.

I couldn’t wait to see what favorite posts Deborah would share with us, and needless to say she did not disappoint.

Shall we?

This post is a perfect example of Deborah’s inventive DIY’s. It’s not easy to execute a do-it-yourself project that is accessible and actually looks good. I mean, how cute would this be in a kid’s room?

Hanging Triangle Garland

“This post is one of my favorites – it’s received so much love both here in the States and overseas. It was really inexpensive to make and such a fun statement piece for Greta’s room.”

This post combines two of my favorite features of Deborah’s blog – her stunning photography and fabulous recipes.

Farm to Table Bruschetta

“Living in L.A. doesn’t allow us to have a huge garden, but we make use of our little backyard as best we can. Taking food from the garden and eating it for dinner is one of the greatest joys for me!”

True story – I pinned this so long ago that I had completely forgotten about it till Deborah sent me the link. My love for all things s’mores has been well documented here, so it was most fitting for her to include these adorable baskets!

S’mores Baskets

“These s’mores baskets are one of my all time favorite ideas!”

As seems to be with this series, my very favorite post is always among the posts that are selected by the blogger. I probably would have cried reading this account of her daughter’s recent health scare no matter what. But there were so many similarities to the post I wrote 3 years ago about Noah, that it hit me like a ton of bricks. When he had his seizure only a few weeks after Deborah posted, I went back and re-read this beautiful account of every parent’s worst fear.

Grateful

“This piece is about our experience with my daughter’s health this winter and it helped put so much in perspective.”

Deborah gets around too! You can find her as a contributor to another “blove” – Classic Play (her botanical bookmark tutorial is one of my favorite DIY’s ever). And she is part of Creative Mamas – the talented group responsible for Handmade Winter (you can read my review of the book here).

Deborah’s hosting an amazing giveaway right now too! One reader and a guest get to go to New York with a $5,000 shopping spree! There’s a few days left so hurry and enter!

And with spring  just around the corner (I swear, it really is), Deborah wanted me to let you know that she has a bunch of fun backyard gardening posts coming up – potted trees, raised beds, composting and more (and I’m sure some delicious recipes to accompany)!

Thank you so much Deborah!

Wanna know what “blove” is?

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