A bedroom mystery

I've had some good intentions in the bedroom for a while. It started out with painting the walls a silky grey that pulls you in and leaves you begging for more of its soft, sweet touch. (What can I say? I love that color...)

But we're not done in there. Not by a long shot.

So today we're taking a huge step in making the room the kind of dreamy space that you could luxuriate in for days. I'm not telling you exactly what we've got going on, but here's a clue:

The inspiration for my dream grey bedroom

So, did you figure it out yet?

OK, I know I'm being super vague, but I hope to let you know more soon--definitely Monday at the latest.

Sources, from top left, clockwise:
Silk drapes, cane chair, ikat pillow, Waterford Ophelia bedding, nickel bed


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Best of Garden Kitchen Home 2011

It's the end of the year, so now is a great time to look back at all I've done. The blog kicked off in August, and has been keeping me entertained since then. It started out as a place to keep my thoughts organized for the house, but it's turned into so much more since then. And the best part is interacting with the readers. So thanks for all the feedback, and for coming along on the ride with me.

My favorite blog posts have been some of yours, too. Here's some of y(our) favorites:

DIY liquid soap dispenser
This was a project that I came up when I was getting antsy one night. It took about an hour to figure out and perfect, which is really, really fast--all things considered. I guess that's why it's been so popular--something necessary in every kitchen and bath, and extremely cheap and easy to make. Can't go wrong with that combo.

Ikea hack console table
This little guy was brewing in my head for months before I got the courage to try it. It required a little commitment from me--I had to essentially break the original  piece and buy some pretty expensive metal legs to make it work. But work it did.

Printable recipe cards
This is my personal favorite, because this is when I started realizing people were reading what I wrote. That's a pretty good feeling. And hey, who doesn't like a recipe card collection? (Mine is ridiculously large now...)

Linen napkins
These were another super easy DIY project. I made them for a friend's wedding, and I don't think the project could have gone more smoothly unless Martha herself was doing it. If you're new to sewing, I recommend this one to bolster your confidence.

Halloween printable
And how can you not love a little Halloween sign? It's fun and just required a computer. I can't wait to make more designs for next year.

A new year and a dirty little secret

Now that the holidays are over, it's time to turn my focus to everything else in my life--like my upcoming wedding (March 9th used to sound so distant...) and my New Year resolution. Not that it'll be getting any easier to pay attention. Over the next three weeks, I have some major commitments: my bachelorette party, my bridal shower, and an entire weekend dedicated to cook every recipe in an issue of Cooking Light.

Sound kind of crazy? It is. I'll fill you in with more as January progresses.

As far as resolutions for the new year, I only have one: Get more organized.

It's a fairly lofty resolution, because let's face it--organization is one of those things that affects every facet of your life. I have intentions for our closets, my calendar and all of my commitments. To keep me honest, I want to give you a peek in my deep, dark, dirty side.

Try not to judge me.

A shoe explosion in our hall closet

The medicine cabinet

Under the bathroom sink

OK, that's pretty traumatic seeing all three of these spaces here, all at once. Ugh. But I'm not hanging my head in shame. I'm hoping to get some real progress done in these areas over the next week or so. 

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Merry Christmas!

Hope you have a great day!

Last minute Christmas stockings

My latest inspiration came from this weekend, when I went to an ugly sweater party. I dressed up for the affair in a funky old cardigan made from absurdly thick, bright wool. While it made a hideous sweater, I knew this bad boy could be reinvented as something better. It was begging to morph into a Christmas stocking.

First thing I did was cut out a paper template. Then, I used it to guide my cutting the fabric. My secret time saver was to keep the fabric folded in half, which saved me from having to join a hem. 

The cuts translated pretty well, don't ya think?

See? So much easier than having to line up the pattern and sew that long side.

My goal was to sew the hems, but the wool was so large it wouldn't fit under my presser foot. Not to be deterred, I found another way: felting. The fabric was perfect for it. Only a few seconds in each spot was enough to really catch the fibers and lock them in place.

The sweater was large enough that I could make two of these babies. That's right two! From one sweater! Not bad, eh?

And it fits in perfectly with my purple and grey table runner that I also made from leftover cold weather gear. Starting to sense a theme? Maybe one of these days I'll get around to making a tree skirt, too...

An untraditional present

Happy Hanukkah!

I love this time of year. Last night we had our first of the many family get togethers for our 2011 Chrismukkah season. The pre-hubs and I went over to the future in-laws and kicked of Hanukkah with a beautiful dinner and lots of presents. (And maybe most important: lots of play time with their two bischon frise pups!)

This year we found it really hard to pick out presents for the pre-hub's parents, so we did something a little different. Instead we did something on their behalf. We took the money that would have been spent on them and bought as many toys and games as we could. And with sales at Walmart, that translates to two very large, very full shopping bags. Then we donated all the goodies to Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, which benefits foster kids who live right here in our neighborhood.

If you wanted to do something like this for the adults in your life, there are lots of great organizations out there that still have toy drives open. (JFGP's is already wrapped up for the season--but there's always next year!) Toys for Tots is the obvious choice, but there's also KIDS, or on a much bigger scale, the Toy Bank.

Live, from New York, it was Saturday Night!

The pre-hubs and I had a pretty exciting weekend: We got tickets to see Saturday Night Live up in NYC. And if you were in front of your TV on Saturday, you know how good of an episode it was. It was a reunion with Jimmy Fallon as the host, and surprise guest appearances from some of the best former SNL cast members: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Horatio Sanz, Chris Kattan and Tracy Morgan. Plus, super hottie Jude Law was there.

We even had a couple celeb sightings in the audience. Chris March from Project Runway was there. And three rows in front of us was Ann Curry--someone I idolized when I was in J-school many, many years ago. To be honest, I felt a little stalker-y: When we walked out of the studio after the show, we got kind of turned around, and once we finally got our bearings, we almost walked right into Ann Curry as she was trying to hail a cab. (Someone call People--the stars really are just like us!)

Believe it or not, almost accidentally crashing into a celeb wasn't the highlight of the night. This was:




OK, that's not true either. THIS was the real highlight:




And for good measure, here are some pics from our weekend:

Rockefeller Center was a mad house. This was at 9 p.m., and the crowd had been like this the entire day. You can forget about skating here--I don't even know how you'd get close to the rink.

Instead of skating, we hopped in line for the show. 

Left: the line for SNL; Right: Project Runway's Chris March about to head up to the SNL studio

We just got back into town (we stayed the night in town, and enjoyed a lazy Sunday in Manhattan), so I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. I'll have some fun updates for you soon.

Dreaming of a glam, blue bathroom

We're making progress in the bathroom with a few cute accessories, but it reminds me that I need to stay focused, and make smart choices for what comes next. That means no more impulse decisions.

So I put together an inspiration board of what I want the master bath to embody when it's done. Granted, we're not talking about any serious revisions, so you can forget that beautiful grey marble that's in all the pictures below. We'll be keeping the porcelain tile, thankyouverymuch. But if I can find a way to capture the spirit of these pics and translate it to my bathroom, I'll know I'm on the right track.

I want the space to feel glam--a place where a vase of flowers isn't odd, and a crystal chandelier in front of a mirror seems exactly right.

My muses are: Pinterest, a really random site, The Glitter Guide, The Marrakesh Collection by Ralph Lauren, and the Sophia glass shelf by Pottery Barn.

Holidays in a mug: The best hot chocolate

I'm having a very blissed-out holiday-inspired Sunday. (Did I use enough hyphens in that sentence for you?) Chrismukkah shopping is now officially done. Presents are starting to get wrapped. The tree is sparkling, and the White House Christmas special is on HGTV. But the thing that really seals the deal is what I'm holding in my mug:

The holidays in a mug.

Here's the recipe for the only thing I can call the Hands-Down-Best-Hot-Chocolate-Ever. (Even more hyphens!!!)

8 ounces of piping hot water
1.5 T cocoa powder
1.5 T sugar
1/8 T vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon

I don't bother with milk in an effort to reduce calories, but let's be honest--with 1.5 tablespoons of sugar, this is no diet drink. Still, I'll cut corners where I can. Wanna know something? I absolutely don't miss the dairy.  

Hope you find time to savor your holiday in a mug!

Decorated--Chrismukkah style

I made some ornaments!

Can I get a woot, woot?

Those bad boys were made with leftover felt from this project. I also used random embroidery thread I had sitting around (in purple, obviously), and some silver beads.

My favorite part of this project was that I had no *real* sewing. I used my felting needle anytime I had to join pieces together, which was pretty often because I added filling to each of the ornaments. What can I say? I like dimension.

I also made this one for the pre-hubs. I took a stray glove and cut a square from it. Then I framed it in white felt. Then I embroidered his first initial across the front. And because no ornament doesn't turn, I also made sure the stitching was at least legible on the back, too. But since you can see the front through the back, and some rogue stitches, this is DEFINITELY the back.

And that's been my Chrismukkah fun in the past couple of days. I've got some things planned for the weekend. Can't wait to share them with you on Monday!

Go big blue!

We've been having a bit of a paint renaissance here. It started in the bedroom, where Builder Beige got upgraded to Driftwood Grey. From there, I could hear the master bathroom calling my name. I have to be honest though, picking a new color threw me for a loop.

Here's the problem: Our apartment has some strong Italian themes, with tumbled marble in colors of the Amalfi coast to lighting that looks like either Mario Batalli or the Pope could have designed them. So I feel like I need wall paint that screams "Pasta!" or "Gondola!"And green or purple or gold would have worked really easily in the bathroom, except I couldn't find one of those that I liked. Not. One. 

So I twiddled my thumbs for weeks. Then one day, the pre-hubs and I were itching for a project, so we spontaneously went to Lowe's and decided to just grab a color. Now this is when things got really crazy. We brought Sawyer with us, so my husband-to-be volunteered to stay in the car and let me pick the paint. "I trust you," he said. 

At that point, my ego swelled and I decided to go with my heart. And my heart always beats blue--or at least toward the cooler colors. Our fate was settled before the search really began. My logic was that a bright blue would be great, because so much of the room is a cream tile, and that even if we went daaark, there'd be plenty of light. Seems sound, no?

So here's how the transformation went:

The original color

The new color

I still really, really love that blue. It's vibrant, and it sets my heart a fire. And if it's not Italian, then it's definitely Greek, which I kinda adore. But it's a touch bright for the bathroom. There's actually such an excess of light bouncing around that it's a little blinding.

Bright, no?

My new goal is that in the next month or so, I'd like to try a wash or a glaze to tone it down a little. The blue is close to being right--but "close" only counts in government work. This is an unfinished project in my book. I'll let you know how it goes once I finish it.

Chrismukkah decorating

In my house, we party nonstop from Halloween until Valentine's Day. (And soon the celebrating season will stretch even longer with our quickly approaching wedding in March!) For us, a huge chunk of the fun is divided between two December holidays: Hanukkah and Christmas. While we love having both traditions in our house, decorating takes a little thought. No blue/silver or red/green themes here. Instead, we go purple. And frankly, I think the icy color works through the winter, so we can take down the decorations whenever we feel like it, which works, cuz we are some laaazy people.

Despite our best intentions to sit around and do nothing this weekend, we managed to put up the tree and decorate a bit. Shockingly, all went well, despite having a new four-legged member of the family who felt the need to help redecorate the tree. (I imagine his inner monologue goes something like this: "No, that ornament doesn't go there, it belongs in my crate. And those lights are waaay too bright. Let me help by chewing the cord. Ah! Much better!")

Sawyer's help aside, we got the project done. Here's a little taste:

My favorite ornament. They were dramatically on sale last year. You know I bought three of them.

Also super lovely, also from last year after Christmas. Also, I bought three boxes of these.

A present from my sister. They came in a set of... three!

I think this one is gorgeous. Amazingly enough, I only have one,

 I also decorated the bookcase. I added some live garland, which I picked up at Whole Foods, and I spiced it up with pinecones, purple ornaments, and a ukelele for no real reason at all.

And I spiced up the entryway with some candles. I tried to vary the sizes and the holders as much as possible. It gives a really textured, sophisticated look that I like.

Felting for the holidays

I found myself with a slightly unexpected gift last week once my family left after our Italian food fest. My mom ever so sneakily left behind a few winter items she didn't want in her house anymore. (Yea, Mom, I'm on to you!)

One of those items was a grey, wool scarf. It was in decent shape, but not great. But frankly, I have enough scarves--too many for my own closet. So I decided I needed to do something else with it. I originally draped it across the coffee table, but it was a touch too short. 

See? That's not quite going to work...

So I started coming up with ways to lengthen it. I could have sewn lace to the ends, or even cut the pieces and put fabric in the center. But none of those really spoke to me. Plus, I wanted to keep the textural feel the same with more wool. So the obvious choice was felting. I knew it would require minimal skill, and have maximum impact. Besides, I'd been dying to try my hand at the technique.

Once I made that choice, things moved quickly. The color scheme was a no brainer; my Christmas tree is all purple, so I added the closest thing I could find: cranberry-colored piping. And to cover the length shortage, I finished the look off with white felt.

I'm happy with the way it turned out. The only down side is that Sawyer, my little devilish pup, has decided it's his new play toy. So far, the felt isn't any worse for the wear, but I'm afraid this "patina" could turn into old fashioned holes and chew marks. A puppy intervention might be needed.

Anyone have any good ideas on how to keep pups from chewing? I'm all ears!