It’s been quiet around here, I know. In light of my mom, I’ve been savoring every minute with my lil guy, Oliver. Many of you know I stay at home with him and work on White Nest during naps and in the evenings. The last month has been a tough one for me but I’m trying to Be Present and enjoy the days with Oliver. Even through his growing tantrums (patience, lots of patience), his personality is getting bigger and bigger. It’s truly amazing to watch this guy become a little human being. If you follow me on Instagram (whitenest), then you’ve seen these photos…but they are my favorites and makes my heart swell every time I look at them.

Instagram Images from Left to Right, Top to Bottom:

1. My two men. (Oliver’s reason for existing these days is to walk…OUTSIDE. If he could live outdoors, he would. Hands down, no questions. Just ask anyone who has seen him in the last few weeks…he trys to charm perfect strangers and then tries to get them to take him outside.)

2. The first time Oliver had spaghetti. I know, he’s 16-months and it was his first time…we’re just not big spaghetti people but we will be now because this kid. loved. it. Can you tell?

3. My recent flea market find! Love these old school chairs…they need a bit of work (or a complete overhaul) but he approves.

4. Another favorite…peek-a-boo! Love watching my dad and him play together.

5. Oliver is all boy and all energy. He rarely sits still, especially laying down. He was being silly yesterday in his crib…long enough for me to take a photo. Adorbs.

6. I’m telling you…..Outdoors + Oliver = Bliss.

7. It’s becoming a tradition to put silly hats on Oliver at Target. It’s hilarious. It makes me happy.

8. Just the two of us. (Who’s got the Will Smith stuck in their heads now?)

And I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you…today is a special day in our home. Five years ago today I married my best friend. (FIVE years…where has the time gone?) He is by far my biggest supporter and the love of my life. I love watching him be a dad to Oliver. He’s pretty amazing. Happy Anniversary Nathan! xoxo, meg

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UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed! Thanks to all that participated!

Now, for the exciting news…the winner is: Amy M. who said: “Hey! LOVE these! They remind me of summery/cheery jack’o’lanterns. I know that’s weird, but they’re gorgeous. Would go excellent with my mustard colored honeycomb pillow…
ps I also shared on my fb wall.” Thank you Amy! Give me a shout out at megstevens at whitenestshop.com with your information and I will get it out to you soon!

Thanks again everyone!

With Memorial Day being the “unofficial” start of summer, we can finally shout from the rooftops and say (or yell!) that our summer collection is finally here…I’m beyond thrilled to introduce our Dip Dyed Stripe Pillows!! Phew, I wish I could fully express how so so so excited we are…this collection has been in the works for months. (And actually longer…we tested out a version at last year’s Renegade Craft Fair in September…September, people. That’s a long time. :)

I’ve actually been playing with dying fabrics for the past few years and it’s definitely a labor of love. It requires many steps in order for the fabric to take the dye well. I’m in love with the end result of dying fabrics and how casually imperfect they are. They are made of 100% cotton fabric, are lined with a coordinating fabric on the back and each come with a down feather insert. They really scream summer to me…now, where is my cocktail on the beach? Seriously.

As always, you can find the pillows on my website or in my Etsy shop.

Because we are so excited about this collection (and because we’re almost at 600 likes on our Facebook page…whaaaaa?), we’re doing a GIVEAWAY!! One lucky winner gets the pillow of their choice…Square or Kidney, in any color from the collection!

The Nitty Gritty Deets

Prize: One Dip Dyed Stripe Pillow of their choice (color and size!)

Rules: You must be at least 18 years old and have a U.S. shipping address {no P.O. boxes please} to enter. One entry per email address.

To Enter: Be sure to ‘Like’ White Nest on facebook, then come back here and leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite thing about the new collection! (color, design, what it reminds you of…anything!)

Bonus Entry: Share White Nest on your facebook wall and come back here and let me know that you shared the giveaway. That’s it. That’s like 2 free entries with just a few clicks (so easy, right?).

Deadline: Enter before noon on Friday, May 31st. One random winner will be announced that same day.

Have fun and good luck! (And enjoy some eye candy below ;)

xoxo, Meg

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There is no easy way to transition back into regular postings after the post about my mom, but I thought sharing some exciting news with you would make things a little lighter and brighter. But before I jump into the news, I wanted to say thank you for all the sweet and sincere comments about my mom. Everyday gets a little easier and your comments definitely helped. So thank you!

Now, onto some fun news…….

So why am I telling you about the Etsy Pop-up event in West Elm?? Because White Nest is participating!!!! (Can you tell I’m a little excited, not to mention honored?) It’ll take place on Saturday, June 22nd and a handful of local artists will be setting up a small vignettes in the Lincoln Park store. There will be drinks, snacks and tunes. I went to the event last year and it was really fun…great energy and helllooooo, West Elm goodness everywhere!

Feel free to check out the rest of the artists on the West Elm blog and you can RSVP at their Facebook page. I’d love to see your pretty faces so swing by and say hello!

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This post is going to be hard one. I even contemplating not saying anything because I’m hurting so badly but I thought it only fair to explain my absence. It’ll be short and sweet and I hope you can understand.

A little over two weeks ago, I received a phone call that my mom had passed away in her sleep. Out of the blue. I wish I could tell you what happened, but we just don’t know. My shock and hurt and grief is still so real and present. It comes in waves…good moments and bad (I’m quite there yet to say good days and bad days). But working on White Nest helps. A lot. So please know that we’re still open.

In many ways, she was my strength, the person I looked to for advise and my friend. I will miss her more than words can explain. Please give your loved ones (and especially your moms) and big hug and smooch for me because you never know when they’ll be taken away from you. xoxo, Meg

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Happy Monday! How was your weekend? The weather here in Chicago finally cooperated and we had some lovely weather! We Chicagoans love to talk about our weather which usually leads to a complaining session but we didn’t have anything to complain about this weekend. We spent a majority of it outdoors with a belated birthday lunch for Hubs, long outdoor walks and trips to the park for the little guy and dog. It was awesome and just what we needed! (happy sigh…)

As I promised (a few times…) on Facebook, I’m soooo excited to introduce our latest collection to you…..Neon Felt Storage Baskets!! Continuing my love of all things home-related, I wanted to expand on my love for home accessories. Using the Felt Pillows as inspiration, these storage bins were a no brainer. They are made of a heathered charcoal grey wool felt and lined with a brightly colored fabric (and these photos don’t do it justice, when I say neon felt baskets, I mean it. I heart the super bright contrast against the cozy grey felt). I’m a total sucker for a good basket or storage bin.

And these guys are so great for so many things…they would look cute in an office for office supplies, on top of a changing table for diaper organization, in a bathroom with rolled towels or in a craft area corralling allllll those craft supplies (obviously my favorite option since my studio is a little out-of-control, seriously).

You can find the baskets here and here. Happy organizing and spring cleaning! xoxo, Meg

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Happy Monday guys! Hope everyone had a great weekend…mine could have been better since I was laid up in bed all weekend with a nasty cold. Thank goodness I happened to be sick on a weekend though because my lovely hubby was able to take care of our little guy while I rested (thanks hubs!).

I wanted to share some VERY exciting news from White Nest-land! I couldn’t be more excited to share that we were featured in the April issue of Australia’s Home Beautiful!! It’s an amazing magazine, guys. Amazing articles featuring Australia’s best homes. What a complete honor. Check it out (while we do a little dance…this made me feel much better)!!

Thank you Home Beautiful for including us in your gorj magazine!! I’m feeling the love half way around the world. ;)
xoxo, Meg

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Hi guys! As I promised, I wanted to follow up on my last post about the Baby Shower and give some tutorials on some of the decorations, sources and even some free printables (because I would have looooved these when we were planning the shower!).

Cake pops are my new favorite dessert to make for parties…easy for people to eat, easy to clean up and oh-so-good. Seriously. To make them, I followed the recipe over at A Beautiful Mess.
My two tips:
1. The recipe calls for 2 cups of frosting which is about 1 container of frosting. I found this to be too much and it was really messy. Use about 3/4 of the container.
2. Make sure to keep the balls of cake frozen or near frozen. Once they start thawing, they fall off the stick when you dip it into the melted chocolate. When I found my groove, I would take a few balls out of the freezer at a time and it was waaaay easier.

“It’s a Girl” Flags…who doesn’t love these around cake pops or drink straws or favors or or or…?? Download here to print off your own flags. And don’t worry future-moms-to-boys (I happen to have a VERY soft spot for boys), I included a flag with “It’s a Boy”!!

Party Pom-Poms…anyone that knows me, knows that I love making these. Big impact, little work and better yet, little money. I rely on my BFF Martha Stewart for this tutorial. (She doesn’t realize that we are BFF’s because we’ve never actually met, but we are.)

“Oh Baby” Banner…feel to download here. Again, future-moms-to-boys…I got you covered!

Chevron Wrapping Paper…and while we’re at it, let’s talk about the grey and white chevron paper in the background. I would love to tell you that this was super easy to find my friends, but I would be lying. We were hell bent on finding this pattern to use for the table runners and only one person makes it (whaaaa?? isn’t chevron on everything??). (We entertained making them out of fabric but this was just as much money and twice as much work…) We ordered the paper from The Splot Shop. It comes in a huge roll (35 feet x 24″ wide) which we cut down the middle and made 6 table runners with plenty left over.

Frosted Animal Cookie Favors…we had a very subtle theme of animals. It was a known fact that our mom-to-be loves frosted animal cookies so it was natural to have these be our favors. Adorbs, right?

Faux ceramic animals…these were a hit at the party and so easy to make! I spray painted rubber animals that I found at the dollar bins at Michaels with a few light coats (light coats are key!). The animals didn’t have enough shine when I was finished so I coated them with a Gloss Varnish (mine was made by Plaid that I also bought at Michaels). Cuteness!

Hope these help for anyone throwing a baby shower…we had so much fun doing this!! Let me know if you have any questions otherwise, happy planning! xoxo, Meg

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How as your weekend?? Mine was awesome. (Of course, I can’t believe it’s already Monday and want to re-do the whole thing again.) I thought I would go a little bit off-course today and not talk about the shop or my number one man Oliver (sorry, hubs…:) because although those are uber important in my life, they aren’t ALL of my life.

There are some very important people in my life that I don’t get to chat about often…my three besties. The four of us have been attached at the hip since high school…some of us even longer (one my friends and I go waaaaay back to the first grade…that’s hard core people). I consider these ladies more than friends…they are my sisters. We’ve all taken different paths but always make an effort to be in each others lives. In a few short weeks, it will be the first time since we graduated high school that we’ll all be within an hour of each other (!!!! Erica is coming home !!!!). Anyway, I digress…I could talk about our friendship for days. :)

One of my besties, Whitney is having her first little girl!! We couldn’t be more thrilled (me especially because Oliver needs a girlfriend. STAT.). So this past weekend, we threw her a baby shower…my other bestie Lauren and I have been preparing for weeks…you could say that maybe we over prepared but we are THAT excited. (Plus, anyone who knows me knows that pink and I go together like coffee and creamer. We’re just supposed to be together.) We had it at a party room at one of Whitney’s relatives condo building downtown. It was an amazing afternoon…

We didn’t actually play games (sorry, folks we aren’t baby game people) but we did put this fun little collage together. We gathered baby pictures of all the relatives…Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents and guests had to match the photo with person. It was fun to listen to people try and guess who was who…

If you follow me on Instagram (@whitenest), then you may have seen a glimpse at me making these bad boys. Cake pops are my new favorite thing to make for parties. Everyone loves them. without. fail. They are a little time consuming but completely and totally worth it. Seriously. (And super bonus is that they make a ton and I have 20 extra sitting in my freezer as I type this.)

Holy frosting. Holy happiness.

Milkglass vases + painted animals + flowers = our centerpieces

Frosted animal cookie favors…mmmm…I ended up making the entire favor including the box because my perfectionist self couldn’t find a box that I liked. :)

And my besties…Whitney and Lauren (our fourth friend is literally traveling the world but we can’t wait when she comes home!!). This party wouldn’t have happened without Lauren since she was my partner-in-crime. And Whitney! We can’t wait meet her!!

There were so many things that we DIY’d that I thought I would pop back later this week and share how we created everything, sources and even include some free printables! See you soon! xoxo, Meg

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I’m soooo excited over here to introduce one of the new designs I’ve been working on…the Honeycomb Pillow! I’ve been wanting to create a coordinated partner-in-crime for our Geometric Felt pillow for some time. This design came out of my still strong love of geometric patterns (!). I love how he is gives a nod to the trendy geometrics while still maintaining his sophisticated and subtle texture. (And yes, I believe pillows should be a “he” or “she”…this one is a “he” in my mind……I can feel you guys shaking your heads at me. :)

As with the Geometric Felt pillow, I use the same technique where every piece is cut out by hand and individually sewn on…it’s a work of love. And I heart doing it.

You can find the pillows here and here. I hope you’re crushing over this guy as much as I am! Happy Monday!

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Happy Monday guys! As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I am busy busy making new products and developing a few new collections. I canNOT wait to show you! In anticipation of making room for new products, we’re cleaning up shop…literally and figuratively. With that being said, it’s time we say goodbye to one of our original designs: the Ruffle Pillow (find them here or here). So for any of you that have been secretly coveting it, we’re running a last-chance sale…40% off all Ruffle Pillows until March 22. They will all be made to order and we have limited yardage on a few of the colors so grab them before they are gone for good!

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