Story: Ok...I Can Live Here

Moving isn't just tough on the kiddies... I love that Designing Mom Tori got her feet wet in their new town through a well-designed cafe. What were some of you and your family's first places of solace when you moved?

by Designing Mom Tori of Tori Higa

...because we found the coolest coffee shop. It's called the Little Building Cafe. Not only do they have wonderful coffee (roasted locally in Alabama), a creative (and yummy) menu, great service, fair prices, an eco-conscience commitment, friendly customers (we made friends with almost everyone in the joint - having a flirtacious baby and outgoing husband always helps with meeting new people), and fantastic design. I really love the design. It's full of work by Annie Coggan - you can read more about her impressive background here. The building definitely draws you in and the design coupled with the aroma of fresh baked goods make you want to order your coffee "for here" instead of "to go." We are definitely going to be regulars.

(photo above by Annie Coggan via the Little Building Cafe Blog - be sure to browse the blog if you get a chance; it's full of beautiful photography and I love their tag line: "handmade building, handmade food...a thoughtful life.)

Make: Loving Lowes

by Designing Mom Tori of Tori Higa

Last Saturday my three old and I met up with some friends at Lowe's for their Build and Grow Clinic. We had such a great time that I just had to share the information so that other designing moms out there can have fun encouraging their designing kids to build and create. Each clinic offers a different wood project that the kids can build themselves. The kids also get to wear an apron and goggles, use a real hammer (my son talked about that for days), and earn a badge when they complete their project. The best part of the whole thing (including all of the materials) is that it's FREE! Each Lowe's is different, but our local store offers their free clinics one to two times a month. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a fun (and free) Saturday morning activity.

Friday Fotos: New Arrival...

by Designing Mom Tori:
Here are a couple of pictures of our new little girl (born on 8-9-10). We are pretty happy around here and adjusting quite nicely to being a family of four. I used the "Newborn Hat" tutorial by Designing Mom Jenn - what a fun (and easy) project!

Shop: Cardstore.com

by Designing Mom Tori of Tori Higa



I just wanted to share a sampling of some of the new kids invitations and thank you notes that I have recently done for Cardstore.com. They just added them to the site...

Fathery's Day Fotos: Disney Days

above: Designing Mom Tori sent in this special pic of Dad and Kai in Disney

This is our favorite photo is from a recent trip to Disneyland. Our son NEVER wears hats, but wouldn't take his mouse ears of of his little head for the entire day. This shot is of him noticing his shadow and being mesmerized by his mouse ear silhouette while holding his favorite person on the planet's hand, his Daddy's. Branden said that this was one of the best days he has ever had with his son and so of course he will be getting this picture in a frame for father's day.

Shop: John W. Golden

by Designing Mom Tori of Tori Higa

I am getting ready to decorate a kid's bathroom and I stumbled upon some pretty great artwork via the John W. Golden etsy shop that I thought I would share. Wouldn't a grouping of these be adorable in a child's bathroom? He has tons of great work in his etsy shop that would make perfect accents in just about any room.

Giveaway: Mix Tape Zine

by Designing Mom Tori


I was thrilled to be able to contribute an illustration...more specifically, a paper doll kit...to the popular zine, Mix Tape . This maga(ZINE) is full of indie goodness and they have started to put out a kids issue (aimed at parents and carers) once a year. I just received my zine in the mail today and was very impressed with the 48 pages of content and high quality full color printing. I think it's exactly the type of thing that Designing Moms would love which is why I want to give away a copy to one lucky reader.

Just leave a comment below and I will happily send the winner a copy!

Shop: Lucky Little Leprechaun

by Designing Mom Tori of Tori Higa


I saw this by Sweet Pea Toad Tots on the etsy home page and couldn't resist sharing it here. This little one is the perfect model for such a cute little hat.

Friday Fotos: Wintertime Blues

From Designing Mom Tori :

Last Saturday, on a particularly cold day, my friend and I took our boys to an interactive art/education museum at the Frist Center in Nashville. The kids had a great time, but I'm sure that I had the most fun just watching my little guy create to his heart's content. It was the perfect solution for the wintertime blues.

Shop: Melissa and Doug Puzzles

by Designing Mom Tori My two year old is a man of few words but he can definitely make car noises for hours on end. That is why I love these wooden vehicle sound puzzles by Melissa & Doug. My mom picked one up for her grandson a few months ago and it has remained a favorite toy ever since. He loves to not only take the pieces out carefully and put them in their proper place, but he loves to make them drive and/or fly around the house on their own as he mimics the sound that each vehicle makes. I never tire of watching him play with this toy - it's definitely one of my favorites.

Make: Count Your Blessings Sheets

by Designing Mom Tori
I love the idea of having traditions around the holidays - I think that traditions are especially fun for kids. Now that we have a toddler, my husband and I want to come up with new family holiday traditions that our son can have fun with now as well as have fond memories of later. Thanksgiving is no doubt one of my favorite holidays and a great holiday for kids and grown-ups alike - I think it's the perfect holiday to start to integrate family traditions both old and new. Thanksgiving is all about family, friends, and gratitude which perhaps is why I love it so much. I try to live my life with gratitude and count my blessings on a regular basis - it's not always my first instinct, but it is definitely something I strive for because I think it is so important.


Remembering to be thankful is something that we want to teach our son (and any future kids we may have) so I think that a fun way to do that is to make it a tradition to keep a list of everything we are thankful for each Thanksgiving. I made these little "count your blessings" sheets and thought I would share them with you. Feel free to print some up (for personal use only) and have fun filling them out with your little ones. Wouldn't it be cute to have one of these at each place setting of the "kid's" table as sort of a place card?


I also think it would would be fun to have a gratitude brainstorming session with your kids and have them (or you if your child is too young) write down everything they are thankful for. You can then keep it in a special box or jar and refer to it the next time you or your child needs to remember to count your blessings.


To print your own "count your blessings" sheets, simply drag the the high resolution image to your desktop and print. I also made some longer sheets in case your kids are REALLY thankful.

Giveaway: International Sanctuary

This is a good one for you all, just in time for the week of Thanksgiving. International Sanctuary is an amazing non-profit organization created to help fight human trafficking. I am definitely going to be keeping them in mind for my holiday gift giving this year. Their pieces are all made by survivors and Designing Mom Tori and the organization are offering one lucky winner the chance to win:
Your choice of one bracelet or pair of earrings and three thank you cards.
Pretty special right? To enter: visit their online shop and site here and comment below on your favorite piece of jewelry and card.

This giveaway ends Friday and is open to all Designing Moms and readers alike. Help spread the word about this special organization!

by Designing Mom Tori

International Sanctuary is a non-profit organization that is near and dear to my heart. My good friend from college, Wendy Hicks, co-founded the organization with Stephanie Pollaro to help survivors of human trafficking get a fresh start in life through healing and positive opportunities. One of the best forms of both healing and opportunity is through their "Purchase With Purpose" program. Each survivor is trained in the art of jewelry making, which any crafter knows is a very therapeutic act in and of itself. Once the jewelry is made, it is sold in select stores throughout the US as well as holiday boutiques, home parties, craft shows, and online. I have had the exciting opportunity to sell my handmade greeting cards to benefit the brave survivors in the program. My handmade cards are currently sold through wholesale markets, but iSanctuary has recently added a select number of designs to be sold on their website.


To learn more about International Sanctuary, please visit the iSanctuary website and to browse their collection of jewelry and cards, please visit their online boutique, shopsanctuary.org. (I think their jewelry makes perfect little holiday gifts - they offer such great prices, too!)

Make: Thanksgiving Cards

by Designing Mom Tori
Thanksgiving has always been a favorite holiday of mine because of the emphasis on gratitude, counting your blessings, and spending time around a dinner table with family and friends. The cozy feeling of Autumn and the smell of comforting food always makes for a great holiday as well. We have recently moved out of state - far away from family and life long friends - so this will be our first Thanksgiving in a long time that we won't be spending it in the traditional way. And because our family is so spread out now, I thought it would be the perfect time for my two year old son to start his greeting card design career in order to keep in touch with all of his loved ones throughout the country. Because he is only two, the thought of making multiple "original" cards for everyone seemed a bit daunting. (He is a boy after all - in his "twos" - and would rather play with cars or run in the dirt than make crafts for too long with his mommy.) It was the perfect solution to paint his little hand (he thought it was hilarious), stamp it on white paper, scan it, add a few photoshop touches, and import it to Cardstore.com. We were able to make ten "handmade" Thanksgiving cards in one afternoon. Even if we can't spend Thanksgiving this year with our usual family members, they will know that we are thankful for them.

This is such an easy project to do with your child - I highly recommend it. It's fun, not very messy or time consuming, and the grandparents will love it!

Our Lists: Doe-C-Doe

by Designing Mom Tori


I simply love Gina's photography of Doe-C-Doe . I think her work would be fabulous in a child's room or playroom (she actually has a lot of work that grown ups would like for any room of the house as well) Who can resist her still life portraits of barbie shoes, matchbox cars, and other small toys that have been so loved by children over the years?


Have fun browsing through her Etsy shop and Flickr account . The good news is that she is willing to take custom orders, so If you see anything on Flickr that you want to purchase, just convo her through Etsy and she will make you a print. (Talk about great customer service...)


Be sure to check out her blog as well - she has lots of vintage embroidery patterns and free pdf downloads - I especially love the downloadable vintage children's book illustration tags.

Our Projects: What's in My Sketchbook

by Designing Mom Tori


I love sketchbooks. I love the imperfections, the layers, the smudges, the quick ideas represented, and all of the little details. Little did I know that I would build up such a collection over the years. I can look back on certain sketches and vividly remember particular times in my life.

My future grandchildren may not have many old journals of mine to read through, but they will definitely have a few (very imperfect) sketchbooks. I thought I would share a few sketches for my greeting card designs. I love to do several rough sketches until I get one that I like and then I scan it in and tweak it in Illustrator. When I first started my business I was much more comfortable with drawing by hand than I was with a computer so I have a lot more of my "early work" in sketchbook form. Now that illustrator is just another medium for me, I often create my card designs from scratch on the computer. I still start many of my designs by hand and scan them in though - to give it a certain feel that I just can't get with a computer program.

Story: A Sweet and Simple Birthday Party

by Designing Mom Tori

Last year when our son turned one, we went all out for a big birthday party. We had a “baby luau” which is a Hawaiian tradition for the baby’s first birthday from my husband’s side of the family. It was complete with out of town guests, tons of traditional Hawaiian food, and over 50 people! Needless to say, it was a lot of work and not very relaxing. We had a great time though and are glad we did it for his first birthday, but we knew that we would do something on a much smaller scale the following year.

This last week our son turned two and we celebrated in just the way we had planned – very sweet and simple. We went with a fire truck theme because our son LOVES trucks and especially loves fire trucks because of the sirens. I think that the siren sound was the first “word” he ever said.

We had a few of his friends over along with their parents who happen to be our friends as well. I printed out some fire truck coloring pages that I downloaded for free from our local fire station’s website for the boys and printed out some of the “girl” coloring pages from the Designing Moms coloring book for our female guest. I went really light on the decorations and chose to display his birthday cards on a string of ric rac with dollar store cloths pins attaching them. Because I displayed them on kid level, my son loved to help himself to the cards to “read” them.

My favorite part of the party preparation was the cupcakes, which of course had to be red velvet because of the fire truck theme. As a novice baker, I had so much fun baking and decorating them. It just kind of felt like a right of passage as a mom – to bake cupcakes for my son. I was already envisioning myself baking up a storm for his class parties and school bake sales in years to come.

Because I wanted to keep it simple and not spend a lot of money, I made my own cupcake toppers and nametags for the party favors. I found the firemen “birthday hats”, fire engine napkins, Red Hots candy, and mini firemen toys at the dollar store.

All in all, we had a very sweet and simple second birthday party for our little guy. I just can’t believe that he is already a two year old! Sometimes I wish we could freeze time, but I am so thankful to have so many happy memories and fun celebrations to date. Whether you choose to have an all out shindig or a small gathering, may it always be sweet and simple.

Make: Weekly Menu Planner

by Designing Mom Tori

I have never been great in the kitchen. My theory for this is that I truly believe that talented cooks are artists and because I consider myself a designer by trade, I just can’t bring myself to have the same kind of creativity and drive I have in my “day job” to make amazing meals for family, friends, and even myself. In other words, I have used all of my creative time and energy for the day by the time that dinner preparation comes around.

My new neighbor turned friend, Amy, is one of those people who definitely knows her way around the kitchen. It’s like her art studio where she can create the most amazing masterpieces - and I am so grateful to be able to benefit from her abilities. She artfully makes EVERYTHING from scratch and I have had the pleasure of being in her home when she has served everything from homemade wheat thins and cracker jacks for our kid’s snack time to a variety of homemade breads (her specialty) and big dinners for family and friends.

What is Amy’s secret? Other than passion, natural talent, and creativity? - Her weekly menu planner she has posted on the fridge, of course! When I first noticed it, I thought two things to myself: “People actually do that?” and “What a great idea – maybe I should try it.”

She has a cute and simple page from a scrap-booking tablet that is titled “Menu Maker” with room for each day’s meals and weekly shopping list. The page is placed in an 8.5” X 11” clear plexiglass magnetic frame. All she does is use a dry erase marker to write on the board each week and then wipes it clean as needed.

So I thought it would be fun to make my own “Menu Maker” to share with those who also might be in need or at least up for the challenge. Here are step-by-step instructions for this VERY easy project:

- Click on my design for the high resolution image and print on the paper of your choice. I like to use a thick white cardstock – but a light colored paper or even one with a slight texture would be pretty as well.
- Once your menu is printed, slide it into an 8.5” X 11” clear plexiglass magnetic frame . These frames can be found just about anywhere and you can even do a google search to shop online. If you can’t find one you like, you can either just glue a few magnets to the back of a regular clear plexiglass frame and make your own, or you can just print out several sheets and stick them on the fridge just like that.
- If you do use the plexiglass frame, be sure to get a dry erase marker to keep handy to write down your menus. I recommend an ultra fine tip dry erase pen.

I may not be mistaken for Rachel Ray anytime soon, but at least this tool might help me get one step closer to finding my inner-chef. Thanks for the great inspiration, Amy! And until I get my act together, you can make me homemade wheat thins anytime!

A Creative Life: Tori Higa Stationery

This is for those of you who've emailed recently inquiring about some of the inspiration behind designs of the "stationery" Designing Moms. Capturing sentiments within 4x6 windows calls for a certain balance between all out whimsy and restraint. And Tori's beautiful work always seems to possess the right combination of the two.


by Designing Mom Tori

On my handmade baby and motherhood line:

I was inspired to design this collection because I wanted to celebrate motherhood (specifically for new moms and moms-to-be). I know that I always want to send a pregnancy card or a new mom card to friends because it is such a fun and unique time in life. I also wanted to design traditional motifs for a new baby that have a vintage yet fashionable twist. All of my handmade cards are inspired by the vintage fabric that I collect. Sometimes I see a pattern and just know that it needs to turn into a greeting card accent.

Inspiration for baby announcements on Cardstore.com:

For the last several years I have been designing greeting cards that are handmade with vintage fabric embellishments. So I was inspired to try to bring some of those elements into my photocards for Cardstore.com. I drew inspiration from textile designs, cross stitch, and sewing. I also liked the theme that all children are gifts and sent from above. I tried to portray those sentiments as well. And lastly, I tried to design things that I personally would want to send to friends and family when we announce our next little bundle of joy.

Make: Diaper Cake

By Designing Mom Tori

I recently attended my friend's baby shower which had a diaper theme: the perfect excuse for me to make the diaper cake I have always wanted to make for a shower! Because this was my friend's second baby (and they are only 18 months apart), the hostesses thought it would be fun to request diapers and necessities since she already had all of the big things she needed. Her first child was a girl and she was now expecting a boy, so they made another request on the invitation which was to bring used boy items to donate to the guest of honor. I thought that was a really good idea - I wish I had taken a picture of the adorable baskets they placed at the entrance to the shower. Each basket was marked with a cute little sign reading "toys", "clothes", and "books" and filled with the appropriate items. Talk about a great way to recycle!

Anyway, ever since I saw my first diaper cake, I always wanted to try making one. So when the opportunity presented itself I went online and found lots of inspiration and tutorials. My favorite diaper cake tutorial is a very easy to follow video on youtube by Creativebabyshowerideas.com . I don't think my diaper cake turned out as cute as the one in the tutorial because I purchased diapers with a pattern by mistake which meant I was locked into a color pallet. I think the best diaper cakes are done with solid white diapers because it leaves room for much more creativity. I would have loved to have done something with less traditional colors and maybe a bold pattern on the ribbon for this particular friend. Oh well - you live and learn. It was only my first creation and I'm sure the next one will be more of what I want in a diaper cake.

I'd love to see what kind of diaper cake masterpiece Shinmin would create. I hope someone invites her to a diaper theme shower soon!

Coloring Book Part 4: Getting Crafty

I'm a little sad that this is the last of the series of our downloadable coloring book project. Major props to Designing Mom Tori for organizing this...thank you, this was so much fun and I hope everyone has made good use of the pages! And if any of you creative moms out there want to add to this coloring book please email me a jpg and we'll add it on. The more the merrier!
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Coloring Book Part Four: Getting Crafty
by Designing Mom Tori

I love coloring and doing crafts with kids which is why I especially love Liberty's sweet dresses that her daughter always has her draw so that she can color them in. Be sure to read Liberty's paragraph on her page and be inspired to help your little one blossom as a designer.

We all know that Jackie is a very talented photographer so I love the idea of taking a photographic image and turning it into something so your child can experience part of the creativity process with you. I think that this is a particularly fun image to try to color match or even just make up your own crazy color palette (which kids are so great at doing).

Lastly, I thought it would be fun to include a blank puzzle so kids can create something they can play with out of their own artwork. Just print the puzzle image (preferably onto a somewhat thick grade of paper), let your little one create a masterpiece with crayons or markers, cut around the edges, and store in a plastic bag or some other container. It would also be cute to print it on magnetic paper (as long as it's matte and not glossy) as a new way to mount your child's artwork to the fridge.

So that concludes our little Designing Mom Coloring Book series - I have a feeling that I will enjoy coloring these pages in as much as my little guy!