I am so so sorry for my long absence of late, but I’m in the final days crafting for my book and even a spare hour to blog is impossible to carve out.

So…I promise I will be back in a few weeks with more great posts, and even some sneak peaks into the world of producing a 100+ project craft book!

Don’t give up on me…great things are on the horizon!

(Here is a photograph of my son Oliver “helping Mommy work.” His understanding of work is going to be very hard to clarify.)

{via I Spy with my Salad Eyes}

If you don’t love confetti, you don’t have a soul. Ok, maybe it’s a mess to clean up, but even the cheesiest of metallic confetti has a glittery, sparkly, ephemeral impact. Check out these surprising ways to use it….

Put a packet of confetti in your wedding invitation. I’m beyond in love with this one that I found on Pinterest!

How awesome are these tube confetti throwers from Oh Happy Day? Love love love…

I still love the confetti gift wrap that I blogged about two years ago!

Love the look but hate the mess? Try a stamped table runner (you can use a pencil eraser, a wine cork, or a sliced carrot) that gives the illusions of confetti like this one from Love Luxe.

Yes, you heard me. And yes, you are reading The Violet Hours blog. I know, decorating with fruit may sound super grandma to you, but after you look at this post, your mind will be forever changed!

Oh Happy Day always gets it right, and this fruit balloon garland proves it. I’m obsessed!

I specifically sought out a pineapple wallpaper because I won’t deny that I love it. And how perfectly crafty is this color-by-numbers one by Jenny Wilkinson found on Design*Sponge?

Call me crazy (Michael-husband, I hear you the loudest), but I could really get behind a glass fruit chandelier in my life one day. Found via Pinterest.

What is it with pears that make us love them so? I love all three of these lovely dolled up plastic pear crafts. Sources: Glitter pears, We Heart It; Chalk pears, The Empty Nest; Jute Pears, I Should Really Be Sleeping.

Oeuf never ceases to fail when it comes to their garlands. I’m in love with this crocheted cherry one.

If this pomegranate iPhone wallpaper were real wallpaper, it would be in my bathroom.

Almost as good as Willy Wonka’s lick-able wallpaper, these bananas from Flavor Paper are scratch-n-sniff. For real.

Are you inspired now? But just pick one. You don’t want your home looking like a giant fruit salad.

This quote has a way different meaning now than ever. I’m too glued to the New York Times to report on cute stuff today. I think we are all seeing some amazing human nature as the general public is banding together to help the city of Boston. Found on Steph Lawson Design Etsy page.

I am so not alone in my love for Instagram. It has definitely pulled ahead as my favorite form of social media. At this point in my life, I have time to look at pictures and not much else!

Some of my Instagram pics are among my favorite I’ve ever taken (like this one of my daugther Sommer at her first music class), and I’m desperate to free them from my digital devices and let them live in my world so I can actually touch them. Here are some great ways to do that…

LMNOP blogged about Origrami, a service that prints postcard-quality prints of your Instagram photos. And then packages them in that amazing box. I’m doing this. Even if I have to pay shipping from Australia.

I love the way A Beach Cottage arranged Instagram photos of a beach vaca on a wall in the shape of a heart. Because face it, who doesn’t love the beach? And Instagram. So if you are a shutter-happy photographer on one subject, this project will visually link the imagery and colors nicely.

Seriously, this is a dream of mine: a huge frame with hundreds of Instagram photos. If only I had the wall for it. Found via Because I’m Addicted.

Young House Love framed their Instagram photos in jewel cases. Always a fabulous, photograph vehicle. (PS…I’m so proud to share a book publisher with them! How on Earth did that happen?)