{image via pinterest}

I’m not sure that there has been an invention of a craft material in my lifetime as monumental as washi tape. I can’t get enough of the stuff. I’m hard-pressed to find a tacky washi-tape project. If I see it in a store, I can’t not touch it. Should I see a doctor? Maybe. There are a gazillion awesome uses for the stuff; here are totally clever (and simple) ways to use washi tape on your walls.

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Image via Plenty of Colour.

Image via Objects & Use.

Image via Design*Sponge.

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Image via At Home In Love.

Image via Stylizimo.

Image via Studio Tout Petit.

Buy washi tape to your heart’s content here at happytape.com. And find the new giant washi tape here! I need some!

I thought I’d just finish out this week of family/photo love with a little post about creative ways to preserve keepsakes. Right now, I have 2 boxes, one for each kid, where I toss all of the little meaningful objects from their short lives…their hospital bracelets, their Welcome to the World cards, their sonogram photos. At some point I’m going to need a new solution. Here are a few thoughts…

I’m so crazy about the lovely shadow boxes pictured above. They are just the right amount of delicate, with their soft colors and simple white edging. For the life of me, I can’t figure out where they are from (if you know, leave a comment!), but I think they are pretty DIYable. Image via Pinterest.

Have you ever seen Darcy Miller‘s (from Martha Stewart Weddings) scrapbook shadow boxes? They’re amazing.

I love the idea of this sweet book keepsake box for love letters, gift tags, or photographs. Image via One Sunny Afternoon.

And for the most nostalgic (read: sappy), I can’t get enough of these clean and modern, enamel lockets. I’d love to wear a few together. (Husband, if you’re reading, bookmark this.)

I guess I’m continuing the preservation-of-memories theme of the week with this post about cool ways to display photographs on fabric. I think choosing black and white photographs is a good idea because it will make a less chaotic statement in the midst of the other décor items in your home.

This stitched embroidery hoop project that I found on Pinterest inspired me to find more lovely examples. Image above via the German website, Brigitte.de.

Marie Claire Idées is by far the best craft magazine ever. They take every theme, idea or motif to new levels. How cute would it be to make chair-back covers with your family’s black-and-white faces on them to label the chairs around your dinner table?

Pillows are a classic vehicle for the black-and-white photo transfer. I love how Martha Stewart mixed these vintage photos with lovely bright pillows.

Allergic to cats, but craving a curled-up fur ball at the foot of your bed? Snurk invented the best solution—no Zyrtec required.

I feel like this is an appropriate follow-up to Monday’s reflection post. I saw this on Design Mom today, and it literally made my eyes well up in loveliness. You Are My Wild is a weekly portrait project that brings together 14 photographers to document how they see their children. Here are a few stand-outs for me… (There are so many amazing ones…you have to see for yourself.)

photographer: Anje Marie

why i love it: the post-mortem joy of the celebration, the parade, the party…all taken in with studious black glasses.

*****

photographer: rebecca zeller

why i love it: you can read two different personalities of these children from above and below the table. the purple tights and the crossed feet speak volumes.

*****

photographer: brooke schwab

why i love it: this photo truly felt like a moment in the day of this family. there is no sense of performance at all. just the transference of pure love in the grasp of her ponytail.

*****

photographer: shelby brakken

why i love it: he is looking out the window, plotting how buzz will make it to infinity.

*****

photographer: kati dimoff

why i love it: the band-ade’d knees and sidewalk chalk scribble make me think this girl is a fearless artist.

As a photo major in college, I always imagined that my kids would only know me with a black box in front of my face, but little did I know that the iPhone was to be invented just 15 or so years later. So instead of the black box, there is this little rectangular, deck-of-cards sized object that can sometimes capture a moment on the fly. How lucky am I that not only do I get to preserve my kids’ moments constantly, but I can also see the light of day.

It’s totally mind-numbing that my daugher is turning 1 in a month. I guess we as parents all have that feeling that the days are long, but the years fly by. So on top of the emotions that surround this milestone, it’s time to plan a party. Fortunately, I just did this story for the March issue of Parents magazine (on stands now)!

One certainty of becoming a parent is the enormous amount of photographs that you take of your baby—from the first sneeze to the first time he stares at a toy. Riveting material. Here’s an easy decor solution: use your baby’s precious face to decorate the party! Find the how-to’s on Parents.com. {Edit note: baby-in-hat garland is my little Sommer Alice!}

I don’t know about you, but I have the hardest time throwing away baby food jars. Here are 3 cool ways to resuse them—favors, vases, and votive holders—for your baby’s first birthday party.

Running 72 errands and buying 34 different craft materials is the last thing you want to do when DIYing your baby’s first birthday party. I have such a crush on the crepe paper from Cartefini.com that I designed an entire party using that solo material!

The handprint is such an icon of babyhood. Make a stamp of your baby’s hand and use it to decorate napkins. Click here to learn which ink pads are best for napkins. Plus you can watch a video too!

(Gorgeous photos by Tara Donne and genius styling by Martha Bernabe)