Pepper Design Blog - Page 232 of 358 - A Little of This & That... Renovating, Decorating, DIY Projects & Family

“Christmas is Coming…”

December 20, 2010

Do you remember singing that song in grade school? It went something like “Christmas is coming the geese are getting fat…” – that first “Christmas is coming” line has been playing again and again in my head all week! Odd Christmas carol to be singing, I know.

We dressed up the home as usual this year and I thought I might take a couple of quick pictures to share what the holiday spirit looks like at the Spenla house.

This year we added a new baby stocking to the mantel! We’re expecting baby S any day now (my official due date is the 29th). We put up our tree the first week of December and my love of all things bulb ornaments quickly took over. This year I added lime green, hot pink and baby blue sets to the mix but we usually keep it pretty classic in terms of the ol’ green and red theme.

A few of my favorite new details include manzanita branches with mini ornaments (next to my diy sweater vases which are staying for winter) and a great Kohl’s ceramic deer head find (he resembles a reindeer for now but I think I’ll keep him out all year long).

I found these two red bulb candlesticks on the 90% off shelf last year at Von’s – surprisingly their little floral department has the neatest holiday decor and it’s always heavily discounted the week after that holiday (be it Easter, Valentine’s Day or Christmas). Here are my white feather trees again and a red beaded garland strand (cranberry-ish) hanging from a window and full of our Christmas cards from family and friends.

Sorry for the poor lighting – I love how the room looks lit up at night but I realize that it doesn’t capture too well on film.

One of my favorite pieces to pull out each year is a thrifted gold star that I use for the top of the tree. I also made a simple tree skirt out of faux sheepskin fabric from the local discount fabric shop (inspired by this awesome duo), kind of reminds me of snow (especially since we don’t get a white Christmas in San Diego) at the base of the tree.

Feeling inspired to crash a few more holiday homes? Check out this link party by Nesting Place. Just five short days until Christmas!

Jazzing Up Ikea Curtains

December 17, 2010

When I was working on the inspiration board for our bedroom I had my heart pretty set on simple drop cloth white curtains. What could be a cheaper material and a more classic look than basic white canvas?

Ahhh if they only sold basic white canvas drop cloths. I checked five hardware stores (which sort of takes away from the low-cost mission) and came up with tan/natural options only. I even considered a) ordering online and paying to have the canvas shipped to me or b) purchasing canvas fabric from the local discount fabric shop and hemming them myself. Both seemed too time consuming for what was supposed to be a basic project…

DIY, handmade, dropcloth, drop cloth, canvas white curtains, Ikea

Thankfully a recent trip to Ikea revealed white panels for $14.99/pair. Perfect! Drop cloth canvases from Lowes were roughly the same price for a similar amount of material.

Drop cloth curtains would require curtain clips, so I modified my Ikea panels to create a look slightly more jazzed up look by trimming each tab off of the top of the curtains.

DIY, handmade, dropcloth, drop cloth, canvas white curtains, Ikea

Then up went the rods and bamboo roman shades!

DIY, handmade, dropcloth, drop cloth, canvas white curtains, Ikea

I like to hang rods slightly higher than the window frame to add a little drama.

Each curtain panel received a set of curtain clips (you can find these at your local home improvement store or home decor store) and a very thorough ironing.

DIY, handmade, dropcloth, drop cloth, canvas white curtains, Ikea

I wanted the curtains to pool a bit at the bottom so I didn’t bother hemming them (that’s not a pretty pool job above, but you get the idea…). A quick application of iron-on hem tape would take care of raising the length if need be.

DIY, handmade, dropcloth, drop cloth, canvas white curtains

And there they are! Not much to holler about but a clean, basic, affordable solution to what were empty and boring windows. It also has always bothered me that the window behind the bedframe was so much smaller than the actual headboard, now the curtains help to balance out the proportions.

One more project for the master bedroom down!

‘Tis the Season’ Red & Aqua Party Inspiration

December 15, 2010

Red Aqua Teal Turqoise White Holiday Christmas Table Tablescape, Placesettings, Modern, Design Decor Decoration Inspiration

Melanie of Inspired Events sent over this darling Christmas tablescape and dessert bar – I’m loving the emerging red and aqua color scheme this year!

Red Aqua Teal Turqoise White Holiday Christmas Table Tablescape, Placesettings, Modern, Design Decor Decoration Inspiration

All of the litte details are beautiful. I especially love the look of hanging Christmas ornaments – be it in the window, doorway, above a table or over a mirror. Melanie decorated the dessert table with reusable apothecary jars, cake stands and glass pedestals from local home stores and filled them with delicious candies ordered from Candy Warehouse.

The candy cane martini’s were made with rum, peppermint schnapps and a splash of grenadine. Oh yum!

Candy Cane Martini

Ingredients
* 3 fluid ounces rum
* 2 fluid ounces peppermint schnapps
* 1/2 fluid ounce grenadine syrup
* 1 small candy cane

Red Aqua Teal Turqoise White Holiday Christmas Table Tablescape, Placesettings, Modern, Design Decor Decoration Inspiration

The candy cane brownies, marshmallow lollipops, white chocolate pretzels rolled in candy cane and German chocolate fudge were baked from scratch – the little holiday penguins were purchased at LA Burdick’s and are made of hand-piped dark chocolate and lemon ganache (perfect to have as favors). Thank you for the wonderful inspiration, Melanie!

Vendors:
Decor and Design – Inspired Events of Boston MA
Stationary – Allure Invites
Rentals and Linens – Be Our Guest
Photography – Mike Diskin of Mike Diskin Photography (formerly of Stuff Magazine)
Venue – 5s pr space
Gingerbread House – Ginger Bettys