Time to gather all of your friends and family around the tv next week for an Oscar Party. Even if you haven’t watched all of the movies it is fun to see what the stars are wearing (good or bad), listen to funny speeches (mute boring ones) and make bets on who is going to win (or should win). You can start off with a fun invitation or if you are out of time just go with an evite. As your guests arrive have them fill out their Oscar predictions. You could offer a gold Oscar statue to the guest with the most correct answers or set up a pool with various category winners. I think appetizers are perfect for this kind of party and allow guests to mingle more easily. Pick appetizers that are easy to put together before hand. You could serve sliders, small Caesar salads in plastic cups, chips and dip, veggies and dip, plus 2-3 other hot and cold items. You can have a fancy cocktail for the adults, I would go with the Mint Julep in honor of The Help and Shirley Temples are always fun for the kids. Make sure to have lots of gold and black plastic and paperware on hand. An old fashioned candy bar with retro movie candies and sodas would be cute and easy to set up. I also like the popcorn cupcakes another easy idea. You can even use boxed cake mix and frosting. As a final remembrance of a fun night with friends give each of your guest a burned cd with all of the Oscar nominated songs as they leave.
Here is the official Oscar site, listing all of the nominees and the history of the Oscars. Check out the funny video with Kevin Kline and Mike Myers, love the comb over!
Some recipe ideas:
-Popcorn Cupcakes
-Mint Julep Recipe
-Shirley Temple
-Sliders
We just got samples of our new CuddleBumps fabric line from Quilting Treasures. The colors are fun and bright and would look great as a quilt for any child’s room. We always loved stuffed animals as kids and even now it is hard to see my daughters’ beds sometimes with all of the stuffed animals on there. Growing up I loved my Raggedy Ann and Andy stuffed animals and was completely devastated when they were lost in a move. CuddleBumps, a line of charming critters, was inspired by the our love for animals and the knowledge that little ones can never have too many stuffed animals. We’ve created Cuddlebumps, NerdieBumps and MeenieBumps and each has an adorable name to match his or her adorable personality. I think the MeenieBumps are my favorite, but mostly because I am partial to black.
You can also see our Cuddlebumps on a variety of products at Frecklebox.com. There you can find lunch boxes, folders notebooks, etc.
In honor of our new color of the year, Tangerine Tango, I decided to take one of our popular patterns and adapt it using Tangerine Tango. I started with Mediterranean Dreams (click to see the original blue and green pattern) and adjusted the colors. It is amazing what a difference using new colors makes. The original definitely has a Mediterranean feel to it, soft and soothing, but with orange and pink I felt like I was transported to India with the colorful saris and fabric you see there. There are so many options with using this color and how the different color combinations evoke different feelings. It will be fun to experiment with Tangerine Tango this year.
The Pantone Color Institute just announced their color of the year and it is Tangerine Tango. Pantone is the global authority on color and the originator of the color matching system that established standards for the use of color in manufacturing and print. That means every time you pick a color it will match in fabric or paint. Pretty cool. Orange has never been a super popular color until lately when people have noticed that it pairs great with most other colors. Add it to gray to give your outfit, design or room a pop of color and a modern feel. It also goes great with colors like navy and even red. Add pinks and you get a tropical vibe. It has a friendly happy tone, an instant pick me up. As designers we have always loved orange and try to add it whenever possible. Now we have the proof that we were right all along! Here are some great ideas from home to fashion. I love an all white kitchen and adding just a pop of color or adding throw pillows with orange accents to brighten a room. Have fun adding some Tangerine Tango to your life this year!
For more ideas on adding color check out our Pinterest Boards.
I still need to paint the ceiling in my little home office because I can’t possibly live with the current color (cream). I started to paint it last night with a color I picked out solely because it was called “Burlap” and I had fantasies of burlap floor to ceiling curtains in there. In reality the color should have been called “Peachy Puke.” So I went for my 11th trip to the hardware store and picked a different warm grayish color and went to work on destroying my shoulders, neck and back.
I’m almost done with the serious grunt work and I get to do the fun part next. My biggest priority when I design a room (or yard) is how I want to feel when I step into it. I want to feel a little euphoric, ambitious yet relaxed, and like I’m in my own domain when I walk into my little home office. It doesn’t need to impress anyone but me, but I’m a tough customer. Here are some of the ideas I’m perusing (you can click on http://pinterest.com/simonkabuki/home-office-ideas/ to see close ups of these photos).
my inspiration board
In order to avoid buying furniture that doesn’t fit well, or moving stuff around until the floors are scratched and the freshly painted walls are scuffed, I always draw a scaled version of the room with pieces of furniture I’m considering putting in the room. I do this on my computer but it would be just as easy to do it with cutout pieces of paper. Here’s how the desk I want would fit it in the room:
same desk, two different positions
My desk used to be under the window on the back wall but it limited how I could use the flat surface. I like the idea of it in the center of the room so it can be a more like a work table when I need to wrap a gift or glue gun sew a dress.
Stay tuned for part three: I Finished My Effin’ Office, Now I Want to Host a Party In It
It all started with me cleaning out my art hutch. It was a smallish hutch with so much crap piled in it that things like ribbon and glue guns fell out when I opened the doors. The cute little hutch is in my cute little home office. Which I then decided needed to be totally re-designed to better store all of my art crap. So I decided to move the cute little hutch into the guest bedroom. But first I would have to get rid of the big corner hutch that was already in the guest room. Do you see where this is going? Soon I had not one, but two rooms looking like a shitstorm had blown through them.
my little home office - before...
This is what my little office looked like last week. After moving the hutch into the other room (and cleaning out and giving away the other hutch) I started thinking that the carpet needed to go. No connection between the hutch and the carpet, that’s just how my mind ricochets. So while my husband was at work I emptied the room (and left it all blocking a hallway) and took a big ass utility knife to the carpet to see what was underneath. To my great surprise it was shitty plywood held down by a million crooked nails. Too late to turn back, I started my carpet cutting in the middle of the room.
turns out it's easy to rip out carpet
Obviously an empty room with crappy floors must be painted, whether it needs a new coat or not. So I ditched my mess and went to the paint store to peruse color swatches named Fairy Dust and Moth Ball. I decide this room will be industrious but feminine since I plan to get work done in there but it’s attached to my bedroom. My other motive was to make it real girlie so that all my boys stay the hell out of it. I’m going to hide my power drill and toolbox under a basket of tampons so even if they find it, they won’t want to touch it. This is how my little office looked by Sunday night:
always wanted a pink room
Stay tuned, my next post will be the furniture and flooring ideas I’m pondering. Send my your suggestions (unless they are rude or fugly).
Since it is political debate season, year, month, whatever, I thought I would try to focus on something positive (stop laughing) about politics. No not the lies that are coming out of their mouths nor the attacks on each other, you would think they are all in middle school or high school, so cliquey! And are we not trying to teach our children to not bully? Hello presidential candidates and their PR firms lets cut the crap and lead by example. Enough with the he said, she said, you all need a time out. I digress… The real reason for this post was to take a look at some of the political posters over the last couple hundred years. It might be the one bright spot in the race for presidency. There are some pretty cool ones and it is fun to look at ones that were done so long ago. There are some good designers out there. I also like that lately people have come up with their own versions (as long as they are nice and tasteful. One great example of that is the Obama Hope poster.
Here are some additional places that you can view more posters:
Presidential Campaign Posters: Two Hundred Years
The Library of Congress
14 Fun Finds
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Time to start planning. I like to find unique items for my husband and kids. Even if you do not have a romantic Valentine in mind, giving Valentine’s gifts can be a sweet gesture. Just try to stay away from the mass marketed items or better yet put your own spin on a gift, even if it is for your dog! If you have more time than money check out the millions of crafting tutorials online and make your sweetheart something truly from your heart. Even a mix cd of your favorite songs makes a great gift. See below for purchasing links.
1. Rose Painting
2. Love Pillow
3. XO photo
4. Roses Terrarium Necklace
5. Gluten free treats
6. Sugar Cookies
7. Amour Necklace
8. Bicycle for 2
9. iPhone case
10. Custom Chocolate
11. Heart Earbuds
12. Swiss Army Knife
13. Heart Embroidery
14. USB Heart Key
