Thanksgiving Flowers

This year we hosted two sets of parents and one brother at our house - our first Thanksgiving gig.  I had the fortunate task of preparing a few side dishes and the venue -- only.  No major cooking here!  

I always have grand plans to photograph my tablescapes (my favorite part of entertaining), and yet when the big moment arrives, I'm typically so busy with multi-tasking, that I don't even think of it. In fact, I'm barely dressed with combed hair by the time the guests arrive.

Since I prepared the flowers the day before to escape housecleaning for a few minutes, I did snap a shot or two of this simple arrangement(s), courtesy of the inexpensive floral section at Trader Joes.

Lots of extra stems laying around to insert in random vases and then place in the powder room, serving table, etc.

 

ps - please note the cool Christmas holiday tray above, a cheap and chic find during a recent trip to IKEA

Snow Day Diversion

A rare snow day took over Seattle (and surrounding areas) today.  Not only was it gorgeous and glistening in the bright sunlight, but SUB-ZERO freezing, too.  I tried to keep the kids inside as long as I could before we went sledding. 

This project provided a great distraction to the whoops of the snow-boarding tweens outside our kitchen window.  The munchkins were very patient as I "glued" the pre-fab gingerbread forms together with frosting, and then jumped into the decorating with much joy.  What a special morning!  And it came in a $8 kit from the local grocery store.

Is that a load-bearing wall?

I frequently check out the For Sale section of Craigslist to see what treasures I might acquire at a steal.  This morning I happened upon the following - someone in the general Puget Sound area is making interior barn doors (custom designed) due to popular demand for his/her friends and family.

I've been going crazy over these for at least four years - initially from a Pottery Barn catalog page that I tore out and saved in my "favorite things" notebook.  Such a great combination of industrial meets country cottage.

I'd be on this in a second if my great room had a different layout.  Some expensive tweaking would be required.  :(

I'm dying (not really)!

Just today Design*Sponge posted this amazing entry about another use for those vintage globes... ImagineNations turns each one into a gorgeous work of art through decoupage and lots of creative imagination.

Butterfly Globe -- 

Bon Voyage Globe -- 

Wild Things Globe --

(photos above from ImagineNations)

What an inspired use for these globes!  Thank goodness I haven't started on my pendant light project yet.  More options to consider now.  I love options.

Paper Crafts

My daughter celebrated her second birthday in September and one of the gracious guests brought a gift in this box, crafted with scrapbook paper. I immediately adiosed it away from the small fry and put it with my treasured possessions.


It got me thinking about all the amazing things that can be made with paper. I'm a deer in headlights when it comes to sewing and many other handycrafts, but I can brandish a hot glue gun or x-acto knife with confidence.

I made these little banners for Halloween (love the giant flat-screen, don't you?!? (yuck)) and immediately the toddlers became very excited for the upcoming holiday.


I also created them for my son's 3rd birthday (The Red Balloon Birthday)


However, I'd love to up-the-ante and make some other fun home decor items. I found Papercrafting In No Time while visiting our local Packaging Specialties, and since Christmas is still a little while away, I had to buy it for myself.

The others will remain on my Christmas list for Santa to put in my stocking:

Paper + Craft by Minhee Cho and Truman Cho

home, paper, scissors by Patricia Zapata

wallpaper PROJECTS by Derek Fagerstrom

Ten on Ten - November 2010

This was my second experience joining in on the Ten on Ten photography project. I'll admit that it was much more challenging both to remember to do it, as well as to feel inspired, when my day was so ordinary. But there is always beauty, charm, humor, and life in the ordinary.

Getting geared up...

... for Ten on Ten. Are you??? Join the gang and capture your day with a camera.

Let there be light!

I finally made a decision on our dining room lighting. After much consideration of various concerns such as size & shape, adequate illumination, cost, ability to adorn for celebrations, and the chance that we'll still like it in 5 years (at least), we bit the bullet. The following are the ones we placed in the running:

Restoration Hardware's Filament Chandelier:

Pottery Barn's Veranda Round Chandelier:

Ballard Designs Lourdes 12-light Chandelier:

CB2's Firefly Pendant:


IKEA's PS Maskros Pendant:

Okay. Drumroll..... and the winner is ... Ballard Designs Lourdes Chandelier. Now all we have to do is wait for its arrival, as well as find an electrician to install it. ;)

Recycled Globe Pendant

I've been carrying around this globe for at least a year and a half now (much to my husband's chagrin), waiting for the inspiration to re-purpose it in our new house. Last week I was fortunate to see a fantastic recycled object segment on the TODAY show while at the gym with designer Danny from the Daily Danny blog.


And voila! He cut his thrift store globe in two, split at the equator, and added a simple and cheap cord from IKEA. I'm still pondering whether or not I want to do this to mine, but I love Danny's out of the box creativity.