I’m always trying to think of healthy ways to spice up lunch, even more so now with summer, long hikes, and beach days around the corner. (You may remember this quick wrap or this healthy egg salad.)  I decided to give chicken salad a facelift, inspired by one of my favorite arepa’s at a shop in Chicago. It’s a simple chicken salad recipe, perfect for spring’s fresh produce. Held together by greek yogurt with added creaminess from the avocado, wooing even the mayonaise lovers.

—Melissa

Spring Chicken Salad

serves 4

1/2 c. potato, peeled and diced
1 1/2 c. (12 oz.) shredded cooked chicken
1/2 c. peas, thawed if frozen or blanched if fresh
1 large carrot, peeled and diced (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 c. plain greek yogurt
squeeze of honey
sea salt
1 large avocado
lettuce

1. Add potatoes to a small sauce pan and barely cover with water. Add sea salt. Cook on medium-high heat until just soft, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, mix together chicken, peas, carrots, and greek yogurt. Season with a squeeze of honey and sea salt, to taste.
3. Once potatoes are cooked, drain and run cold water over.
4. Carefully fold potatoes into the chicken salad. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
5. Serve on a wheat wrap, toasted bread, or a pita. Top with avocado and lettuce.
6. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week, stirring well before serving.

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Cute maternity swim suits are a little more challenging than regular suits, but there are still some great options out there (also be sure to check out Old Navy for inexpensive basic suits… I bought the black halter tankini and black cinched bottoms this Spring and loved them). Here are a few of my favorites:

1 / 2 top & bottom / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 top & bottom / 7 top & bottom / 8 / 9

You can also save by buying a basic pair or two of bottoms and switching up the tops… several mix and match suits for less!

—Ellie

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It’s summertime and the living is easy.

1. tank / 2. sunglasses / 3. pouch / 4. shoes / 5. shorts

—Maddy

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I get asked this question a lot – so I thought I’d share – my number one tip for setting up a baby’s room.

You don’t need to buy a changing table. Take any dresser, add a changing pad, and when your little one is finally potty-trained, get rid of it as fast as you can. (Keep the dresser, of course!) To be safe, I recommend using velcro-strips to secure the changing pad to the top your dresser).

-Chiara

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Days seem to be flying by lately. Now that I’m down to the last couple months in my pregnancy, there seems to always be some kind of doctors appointment or baby-related to-do list item that needs checking off, and of course work and keeping up with the house is keeping my husband and me busy as well. Today I’m cleaning up my Golden Belt studio for tonight’s 3rd Friday open house (stop by, if you’re local! I’ll be around from 6:30-8:30).

The above is one of the many beautiful photos of Aurélie Lecuyer’s home in France, found courtesy of Bloesem.

Weekend Event Picks for Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill: Durham’s free summer music series has moved to DPAC’s front lawn, and kicks off tonight with Solas and Kenny Roby // Third Friday in Durham, including live music at Goldenbelt // Grand Opening of Spectre Arts in Durham, also tonight // Roman Holiday screening on the lawn of NCMA, 8pm // 44th annual Bimbe Cultural Arts Festival on Saturday afternoon // Parents looking to engage their children in art, check out blogger and author Jean Van’t Hul at The Regulator Bookshop Saturday night // The Rite of Spring Centennial from the NC Symphony // Head to City Plaza in Raleigh for Artsplosure, all weekend

Have a good weekend!

—Ellie

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I was so happy to hear from Lee, a bookbinder living and working in central New Jersey. She has a new collection (first two images) of hand-bound books which use simple, strong geometrics and a beautiful neutral color palette with pops of color inspired by detailed tile work and woven rug designs. Says Lee:

“You can image the entries, full of backwards letters and misspellings, and of course compelling story lines: “Today I jump roped” “I had school today” and so many more. The fact is, there is something important to me about recording my life. Even if the topics are mundane, when you look back, your handwriting, your writing style and the sense of place you communicate are so telling.

After graduating with my degree in Art History and Studio Arts concentrating in Graphic Design from Indiana University, I moved to New Jersey a newlywed. My books and journals became closer to me than ever, and when I finally made my first case bound book, I was thrilled.

My goal in bookmaking is to make a beautiful, meaningful vessel for you to fill with all your thoughts, drawings, bits and pieces that represent your current self. My books are thoughtfully made and meant to last a lifetime.”

Each of Lee’s books are hand sewn and bound with a different Coptic binding technique. They’re filled with paper from French Paper Co. in Niles, Michigan, powered by fully renewable hydroelectric generators and family owned. You can see more books in Lee’s Esty Shop, Read Write Books, or on her blog.

—Ellie

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The entryway is the oft forgotten space in a house, so when I saw that Glitter Guide Editor, Caitlin, had come up with some entryway inspiration I knew I had to figure out how to make such a small space with big impact my own. Don’t shy away from mixing textures – if you have a lot of white, mix in some metallics and fun fabrics to give it some punch. Try to avoid over-cluttering the surface if you can. Find a table with drawers, or grab a couple cute containers to store unsightly items. Here’s some inspiration on how to make this entryway your own:

Parsons Desk / Ovo Table Lamp / Melina Wall Mirror / Parlour Atomic Orange Ottoman / Fake Deer Head / Design*Sponge at Home

– Natalie

The post Make It Your Own appeared first on mint.

PROJECT B is the brainchild of three art and design veterans who have scoured flea markets and yard sales for years, collecting the most intriguing, offbeat, and unusual vintage photographs they can find (all by anonymous or amateur photographers). Their favorites are now being offered as large limited edition archival prints, starting at $95, and sized to fit standard frames.

—Ellie

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I buy, hoard, and freeze as much rhubarb as possible this time of year. I think I’m making up for lost time not having it growing up. We took a quick trip to NYC this weekend for my husband’s birthday and had the most amazing brunch at Tipsy Parson. Of course, I ordered the Strawberry Rhubarb Belgian Waffles (with a hint of ginger in the compote). Still can’t get those flavors out of my head, which leaves me bookmarking more rhubarb recipes this morning—Strawberry Rhubarb Meringue Tarts by Completely Delicious and Browned Butter Crepes with Rhubarb compote from Kiran Tarun.

—Melissa

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So Pretty! Felt by Amy Palanjian (a former editor of ReadyMade magazine) is a beautiful book with 24 simple projects including felt flowers, headbands, jewelry, garlands, and more.

One of my favorite projects from the book is this Graphic Table Runner (below) from designer Lindy Cline of Plytextiles. A big thanks to Chronicle Books for allowing us to share the project here! Just click the link below for the full step by step instructions.

GRAPHIC TABLE RUNNER

Materials
3 recycled wool sweaters in 3 different colors or three 9-by-12-in/23-by-30.5-cm
Sheets of wool felt in different colors
Sewing thread in coordinating colors
5 ⁄8 yd/60 cm fusible web,
17 in/43 cm wide
1⁄3 yd/30.5 cm of wool-blend felt,
36 in/1 m wide, for backing

Tools
Graphic Table Runner Template
Ruler
Scissors
Rotary cutter
Cutting mat
Sewing machine
Pencil
Iron and ironing board

Step 1
Decide on colors to use for the table runner. If using old sweaters, felt them. (Note: you can read Amy’s felting tips on Amazon. Just click “look inside.”)

Step 2
After the sweaters are felted and dry, cut them apart: Cut the sleeves off first in a straight line, then cut the side and shoulder seams of the body, then the seam of the sleeve. Depending on how much the sweaters shrank, you should have 4 good-size pieces to work with.

Step 3
Cut 1 1⁄2-in/4-cm strips of the felt. Use the Graphic Table Runner Template to cut out the diamonds. Line up the template with parallel sides of the strip and use a rotary cutter to make angled cuts. Cut out a total of 48 diamonds, 16 in each color.

Step 4
Lay out the diamonds in a pattern you like or follow the one pictured. You can play with the pieces as if they were tiles. Remember: The pattern is meant to look deconstructed. After you have selected the pattern, take a picture so you can refer to it later. The following directions explain how to piece the table runner that is pictured; it can also be used as a guide if you want to sew the diamonds together in a different pattern.

Step 5
With 1 diamond of each of the 3 colors, sew the 3 diamonds together to create a hexagon using a wide zigzag stitch on your sewing machine, like this: Lay 2 pieces flat, right next to each other, and sew them together using the zigzag stitch through both pieces. Then sew the third piece to the joined pieces, by fitting one of the shallow points into the V created by the joined pieces. Zigzag the abutted edges. Repeat with the other diamonds until you have 16 hexagons.

Step 6
With all the hexagons facing the same direction, start to zigzag the sides of the hexagons together to create strips. For this runner, create 3 separate strips of hexagons: one strip with 3 hexagons, a second strip with 5 hexagons, and a third strip with 6 hexagons. There will be 2 hexagons left, which will be used in Step 7.

Step 7
Place the strip with 5 hexagons on top of the strip of 6, and offset the top strip so that it hangs over the edge of one end of the bottom strip. Abut all the edges that fit together and join them with a zigzag stitch. Place the 3-hexagon strip below the strip of 6, offsetting the smaller strip so it sits toward the left edge of the longer strip. Abut all the edges that fit together and join with a zigzag stitch. Place one of the remaining single hexagons along the top edge of joined pieces, in the second V from the left. Zigzag in place. Then place the last hexagon along the bottom edge of the joined pieces, in the second V from the left, and zigzag in place.

Step 8
Lay the runner on a piece of fusible web, and trace around it. Cut the fusible web slightly smaller than the runner and place it onto the felt for the back of the runner. Then place the pieced runner top over the fusible web, making sure that all of the fusible web is covered and sandwiched between the top (pieced) layer of felt and the backing layer of felt. Following the fusible web instructions, use an iron to fuse the pieces together, taking care not to singe the wool.

Step 9
Use sharp scissors to trim the felt backing to the same size as the pieced runner top.

Step 10
Run a straight stitch along the border of the runner, about 1⁄8 in/3 mm from the edge

And you’re done! Thanks to Chronicle Books for the review copy.

—Ellie

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