Happy New Year!

Starting to take down the tree and other Christmas decorations? Why not sift through all your

stuff and create a wreath like the one above. You will have a statement piece for next year! I found this

one at the Lamington General Store and it goes for $130.00! I thought that I could take the same

idea and make one just like it out of things I already have, for next to nothing. I do recommend a sturdy

fake wreath, a glue gun and good wire to attach all of your goodies. If you take a close look at

the wreath above, it even has a Santa mug attached to it...too fun! Get crafting, and just think, if you can make one really well the going rate could pay for Christmas presents next year!

I couldn't resist this New Years display. What a creative way to decorate for any New Years party! I am going to do this at my house. I'll post pictures of mine when I complete it!

House Tour: No. 2 The O'Gwen's

Sean plays in the Family room where the stockings are hung with care and the "kids tree" resides with big colorful bulbs.

Christmas cards are attached to a swag of fresh pine around the large doorway from the kitchen into the dining room.

The dining room, always read to seat 12 has a simple bowl of red ornaments and beautiful pillar candles with festive greens around the bottom.

The living room has a larger tree with a classic train set underneath. The beautiful picture window frames the tree from the street!







Christmas House Tours: No. 1

Stop back and take a peek every other day or so to see new photos of beautiful Christmas decorations for the home!

Stacked Wood: The element of natural sophistication

I've seen a lot photos in decorating books, window displays and online that show the simple use of stacked wood can create a punch to any room in your home. It just makes me smile...take a look at the photos below for some inspiration:)

Create a fantastic bar for your Christmas party!

No matter the space you have, you can create an amazing bar area for you guests at your Christmas or New Year's party. Above is a bar cart from potterybarn that packs a fantastic punch. Guests can mosey over and help themselves to a variety of drinks.
I use a small chest in my family room to create my bar. I start with a round mirror to set my ice bucket and shaker on and build from there. I set out a mix of glasses, old and new and an array of red and white wine, bourbon, whiskey, vodka, rum...to the side I bring out my vintage metal tub that is on legs, fill it with ice and add club soda, mixers, beer and champagne.
After I have the basic set-up done I add fun details. Fun tags for wine glasses, tags for the wine bottles, a fun vintage poster or banner to hang above the bar, tea lights etc. The possibilities are endless and adding your own flare is what makes it great. A party drink for the occasion is great too, like pomegranate or peppermint martinis are too fun to pass up!
Need some inspiration to get you going? Google vintage barware and look through some of the pictures.
Eat, DRINK and be Merry!

Hosting a Christmas Bash? Try these paper goods!

Hosting a party this Christmas season and don't want to use predictable paper goods? I found these great alternatives that deliver style and whimsy.
Above: Paper napkins from Anthropologie

Shatterproof cups from http://www.paperhouseonline.com/ tons of designs and custom orders as well...you can put initials or a fun Christmas message.

Faux birch 10" plates from http://platesandnapkins.com/

Fabulous fake plastic silverware from http://www.windycitynovelties.com/

Top Ten Christmas Gifts for Everyone on Your list!

For Mom - a lovely cable knit throw from Potterybarn

For Dad - iPod book doc from Etsy.com

For your brother - Return address labels from Felix Doolittle to encourage keeping in touch and sending birthday and Christmas cards to friends and family!

For your sister - a lovely charm bracelet from Anthropologie.

For Grandma - A traditional print on a glass plate from Kaas.com

For Grandpa- Whisky stones from paper-source.com

For a little boy - This angry bird hat from amazon.com will be sure to please!

For a little girl - an owl pin board with owl push pins. Etsy.com

For your babysitter - a bow and arrow bracelet from Anthropologie is right on target!

For your friend or hostess - a Paddy Wax candle or diffuser



Christmas Wrapping

Looking for awesome Christmas tags, stickers and cards? Look no further! Cavallini Paper Co. has the best designs around. A local shop carries them by me and I loaded up. They remind me of being a kid at Christmas time! I can't wait to adorn my presents with these tags and stickers and send Christmas cheer with their cards. I also got some to send a thank you notes for gifts received.
Go to http://www.cavallini.com/ to check out the whole line of goodies!

The Thanksgiving Table

There are a few things I love to add to my table to make it extra special for Thanksgiving.

Flowers that are of a fall hue...this year my wedding anniversary falls on Thanksgiving,

so I decided I want to get the fall color roses we used at our wedding on the table.

Another touch I love are festive place cards. The ones shown below comes as a kit from

www.paper-source.com I am going to have my nieces put them together and place on

the table while dinner is cooking and the adults are sitting around chatting.

The other thing I think adds a bit of whimsy to the table is the small chocolate turkey I place

on each person's plate. They can sit it next to their glass and save it for dessert time.

Lighting is always key, so I like to dim the chandelier, light the pumpkin candles and have the 

fireplace going with some soft music in the background. The perfect setting to give thanks

for all the amazing people and things we are so lucky to have in our lives:)

Place card pumpkins from Paper-source

Chocolate turkies...Pièce de résistance !

Getting ready for Thanksgiving!



It's been a couple of weeks since I have found the time to update my blog. With a freak winter storm hitting us last Saturday, we found ourselves without power for a few days. Lighting candles and sitting near the fireplace to keep warm, I know one thing I am thankful for...electricity!!!
After the Halloween fun I love preparing for Thanksgiving. It seems to be all about the food...there are no presents to give out, so no crazy shopping to do and no holiday parties to go to before hand. It is like the great meal before the craziness begins.
I can cook up a good meal when I plan for it, so that's just what I need to do for Thanksgiving. Cooking is a chore, not a pleasure for me and it's not something I have a flare for, but if I research dishes, make sure I have all the ingrediants and work out my cooking time table for the day of, I'm good to go!
If anyone has good receipes for Thanksgiving, please share them!
Naturally, my favorite thing is to decorate the house. I have my fall pumpkins out, fall foliage garland, my bushel of wheat and pumkin spice candles. The smell of fall is in the air at our house and I love it!

Barmbrack - An Irish Halloween Tradition

Barmbrack is the center of an Irish Halloween custom. The Halloween Brack traditionally contained various objects baked into the bread and was used as a sort of fortune-telling game. In the barmbrack were: a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin (originally a silver sixpence) and a ring. Each item, when received in the slice, was supposed to carry a meaning to the person concerned: the pea, the person would not marry that year; the stick, "to beat one's wife with", would have an unhappy marriage or continually be in disputes; the cloth or rag, would have bad luck or be poor; the coin, would enjoy good fortune or be rich; and the ring, would be wed within the year. Other articles added to the brack include a medallion, usually of the Virgin Mary to symbolise going into the priesthood or to the Nuns, although this tradition is not widely continued in the present day. Commercially produced barmbracks for the Halloween market still include a toy ring.

Usually sold in flattened rounds, it is often served toasted with butter along with a cup of tea in the afternoon.
Here is how to make it:

Barm Brack
1 Lb. of flour 6 oz Sugar. 1 lb. of mixed dried fruit. 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder 1 Egg. 1 Tsp. of All - Spice or mixed spice. A pot of hot Irish Tea
The trick to making a Barm Brack is soaking the fruit over night in the tea. While this makes the dried fruit softer and more appealing in general, one must be careful when mixing the dough not to over knead or the rehydrated fruit will break up and speckle the cake. Add the sugar and egg to the fruit mix the next day. Sift in the remaining dry ingredients. Mix gently. Use a 7" round baking tin at 350°F for 80 minutes. Cool on a wire rack and serve with hot tea.

A Vintage Halloween

BooooOOOOOooooo!

Are you ready for a spooky Halloween? At my house the decorations are up and the countdown has begun.
I have tall glass holders filled with eyeball bubble gum, candy corn and m&m's. Two pumpkin topiary adorn the front porch and vintage Halloween postcards images make festive art. There are so many fun ways to decorate for Halloween...I took some ques from potterybarn and added my own style. I can't wait for Halloween to come, when I can add embellishments to the front porch, like my "enter if you dare"sign! Any decorations with an aged look add to that creepy feeling.
I will be posting photos from my home that will hopefully inspire you! Check back daily!

Kaas Glass plates!

Burgdorf Goodman's next to The Plaza hotel in NYC did an entire window display of glass plates this fall. Little shops in my area have started selling this wonderful pieces of art you can use as wall art, jewelry trays, serving plates...the list goes on.
I fell in love with Kaas Glassworks on Perry St. in the East Village. Mary, the shop owner is super sweet and can take any paper product (an invitation, menu, playbill...you name it) and turn it into a beautiful plate/tray.
My sister Meg, above, poses in the little shop, packed with beautiful images on plates. See the Sea Horse on the chair next to her? I want that for my own collection. The only things I collect are Belleek china from Ireland and Since a little over a year ago, Kaas plates!
Check out their website at: http://www.kaas.com/

Equine Inspired Design

From handbags, to boots to leggings and accessories, our friend Mr. Ed, the horse has a big influence in design this fall. Equine inspired design is timeless and can be interpreted in many ways. You can have the literal big, bold horse print hanging on a wall in your home or the more subtle metal accents on a hand bag or shoe that hearken a horses hardware. Any way you slice it, our friend the horse is a fastionista!
My equine finds : A pair of Frye boots, a Michael Kors bag and quite literally some old horseshoes I have for luck!

Vintage Goods at Target

Who knew that Target would have such a diverse line of vintage inspired goods? Designer Sabrina Soto (of HGTV's Designed to Sell) has come up with a great line of items for teh home at Target prices. Visit Target.com and search Sabrina Soto and teh following items will come up...thery are my top ten picks from the site!
1. Decorative Agate Figural
2. Vintage Charm Wooden Stool
3. Colin Tuffted Club Chair
4. Vintage Charm Maize Rope Basket
5. Chenille Throw
6. Etched Glass and Brass Canister
7. Flour Canister
8. Fleur de Lis Jar
9. Shiny Retro Alarm Clock
10. Vintage Charm Burlap Lamp Shade

Sugarboo Designs

Can you tell my blog page is all things Sugarboo? I love everything this company makes, from their frames to papers. If you love it to, check out their website at http://www.sugarboodesigns.com/
Above is one of many adorable pillows they have. Some of their designs give me inspiration to recreate them using my own material. The "Love You" sign on the right side of my blog page would be easy to recreate with an old piece of wood, cut into a square, watered down white paint for a white wash look and letter stamps! You can create their wooden picture frames the same way...you can buy an inexpensive frame to use the glass for the frame you create and fasten holders to the back to keep the picture in place. Have fun loading up on ideas and shopping! P.S. Urban Cottage in Peapack carries a lot of their things!

Vintage Globes...a new design trend!

The past few months I have been picking up a new trend in decorating with vintage globes. I've been seeing them in magazines and on design shows. In one home I saw them displayed as a table centerpiece. In the picture above they are perfect on top of cubbies. I think they are great grouped together, all different sizes and make a bold statement. Who doesn't love looking at them, spinning them around and dreaming of a dream destination? If you love the idea of collecting old globes check out flea markets and online sites. Happy hunting!

English Cottage Interiors

Our good friends are visiting from England and I was inspired to blog about English Cottage Interiors! In the little village of Saxton, where our friends are from they have a small cozy cottage much like the one pictured above. What makes an English cottage so cozy and chic at the same time? The lower ceilings and floral accents, layered on upholstered pieces start the look. Adding in old finds and
repurposing pieces is another way to achieve that cottage feel. Lots of little lamps (no recessed or overhead lighting) and sconces add ambiance. Open shelving in the kitchen and an aga stove keep the feel cozy with distressed dining pieces. I hope you enjoy bringing a little English Cottage style to your home!

Anthropologie Shopping Trip

Couldn't wait to share some of my finds from Anthropologie today. The teal box is full of cloth covered push pins I couldn't resist and the mug with the M on it is for our friend Margaret who is flying in from England tonight! With that said, when my sister found this little Union Jack picture flag, I knew it had to sit up on my mantel. Capping off my finds were a metal V and two different glass jars I am putting in my guest bathroom. If you can get to an Anthropologie, their new goodies for fall are out of this world!

White on White Design: A heavenly colour pallet!

Using a white on white colour pallet can make a bold statement. In order to keep your space from feeling cold, layer on different shades of whites (creams and grays too) and be sure to incorporate a lot of different textures! The photo above is a great example of how this colour pallet can work well. High gloss floors and matte walls play off each other well, while an upholstered chair and settee complement a creamy wooden desk. Natural light from a large window and a large distressed mirror add drama. The chandelier adds a bit of sparkle and sophistication. If you like this design, but it is too much white for your taste, try adding in natural wood tones. A sisal rug and a piece of art work above the desk in the photo above can bring down the white without loosing the overall effect.

If you have a white on white room (or something along the same lines) I would love for you to share it with me!

Clockworks

A big, bold, vintage style clock can add quite the statement in any room of your home. My clock is from Ballard Designs and now finds it's home in my family room. These clocks are perfect on their own or group with photos or other wall accents. Try grouping three clocks together and setting to different times around the world...New York, London, Rome. Use vinyl letters to write the cities above them! If you have a clock you love let me know by posting a comment or sharing a photo.

Typography

How have I not talked about one of my favorite topics yet? Typography is a favorite decorating tool of mine. Here is the definition of typography:  "Is the art and technique of arranging type. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading (line spacing), adjusting the spaces between groups of letters (tracking) and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning). Type design is a closely related craft, which some consider distinct and others a part of typography. Typography is performed by typesetters, compositors, typographers, graphic designers, art directors, comic book artists, graffiti artists, clerical workers, and anyone else who arranges type for a product. Until the Digital Age, typography was a specialized occupation. Digitization opened up typography to new generations of visual designers and lay users.

Above, is a poster I had made for my friend's wedding that shows a number of different fonts. I love the way the whole look comes together to create a piece of art! I also love to collect different sized letters made from wood or metal and create a statement with them. If you look at my post about bedside tables, you'll see my massive letter M sitting on my table. Over my tv, that is hung about my fireplace, I have the word home, in uppercase bold letters. I also use the art of typography in some wall quotes in my mud room and kitchen.
If you google typography, you'll see an array  of ideas and inspiration!

Using old corbels in new ways!

I love taking pieces, like corbels, that were used for a specific design aesthetic and come up with different ways of using them! I love old, distressed pieces of wood and corbels are no exception. Corbels were traditionally used on Victorian homes to add a flourish to their porches. They were sometimes used as a decorative support under windows as well.
Being that they were mostly used outside, I first wanted to find use for them inside! The above photo shows them being used for open shelving in a kitchen. I love the idea from my picture of the day, to incorporate them into a doorway. Restoration Hardware is now showing a corbel desk. I have also used them as bookends. They make great ledges to put a pillar candle on or simple use them as a decorative piece on an accent table...the possibilities are endless.

Collections

Have a collection and want to displat it in a really unique way? Maybe you have bits of different things and need ideas for diplaying them. I found a great website, http://pinterest.com/ that will provide you with tons of inspiration for collecting the things you love and displaying them to give you that "wow" factor!

I've joined the site and enjoy creating my own "pin board" of things I love from all over the internet.

Warning: It can become highly addictive!

Taking A Breather



I'm taking a breather...check back next week for more design inspiration and trends!

Antlers are a big design trend right now!

Looking to add a unique design element to your room? I'm sure you have seen them in design magazines and it's true, decorating with antlers is very in. I found a small pair at an antique show and have been moving them around my house deciding where to put them. Then I had a great idea, maybe they should be moved around from time to time. I can start a new game with my nephews called find the antlers!

If you have some, try putting them over a mirror or mantel. You can also group them together, like in the photo above!

Industrial Storage



From lockers to wire baskets, industrial style storage is not only timeless but highly functional. I love all my wire baskets...some I use for display, but the others are for storing things, like the ones I have sitting above my coat rack. I have some big ones in the bottom of my coat closet for shoes and dog towels and instead of traditional baskets on bookcases I use wire or metal ones. The possibilities are endless with industrial pieces. Check out http://stores.homestead.com/hudsongoods/StoreFront.bok for more ideas!

Paper Goods (and we're not talking plates and napkins)

 

Above: Return address label from http://www.felixdoolittle.com/ 

Use paper products that have style! I love my mouse pad that also functions as scribble paper...it is pink a cream strip with a teal anchor on it designed by Alexa Pulitzer (http://www.alexapulitzer.com/).
My paper-pressed desk calendar is from http://www.paper-source.com/ and each month has a lovely design.
My favorite green and blue striped notebook is from Target and some of my favorite stickers are from Cavallini & Co. Another paper product I love are my return address labels from Felix Doolittle...they are little pieces of art. Sticky notes by Galison NY (http://www.galison.com/) are fun to mark off pages with and grocery lists on Kate Spade note pads make the task of writing that list, well less mundane.