Happy New Year, Time to Simplify!

Although I LOVE Christmas... the New Year is one my favorite times. 

My melancholy personality gets OVERLOADED with 

the clutter of Christmas Decor, Gifts, Goodies and Cards. 

So... 'Tis the Season' to simplify, de-clutter and purge! 

I'm embarrassed to say, this is what our house looked like on Boxing Day.
Lots of toys and clutter! 

So... the first project to tackle is our Living Room. Obviously! 

Removing the tree aways makes our home look bigger and brighter. 

It feels like an instant makeover. 

FYI - The cute kid at the bottom of the picture is NOT for sale! 
I decided to go with a neutral, simple theme.
Using lots of white, cream and silver.
 Also, I used "Stars" as my decoration focus.
It's a symbol for the celebration of the New Year! 
I purchased these stars from Pottery Barn a couple years ago.
Unfortunately, they went from REALLY sparkly and silver,
into more of a dull, bronze color.
Still, I love the look and shape they have.

I LOVE my book wreath! Havilah made it for me for Christmas last year and it's one of my favorite things. You can see how she made it HERE.  Also, she made a BEAUTIFUL book tree HERE.  I usually hang it on my front door and decorate it seasonally, like HERE. 

Although we added all the "picture" Christmas cards to our fridge,
all our traditional Christmas Cards were added to a small French Bulletin Board.
Most of these elegant , traditional cards were sent from our UK friends and family.
I had to have them up at least one more month! 

I was given a Jamie Oliver cookbook for Christmas.
It was truly one of my FAVORITE gifts
and I'm excited to learn to cook traditional ENGLISH food for Mr. Giles. 

Lastly, I LOVE this saying on our shelf by our front door!
I believe it truly represents our life and all that we are....
(Sometimes... when our life is REALLY crazy, I point to this sign and smile at Mr. Giles.)
Below it is our little French coat rack.
We stayed at the "Hotel De Ville" in Paris on our second honeymoon,
after our blessing service in England.
Every time I look at this sign, it brings back fond memories. 

 So... this is the beginning of our New Year. 

What's on your checklist? Any fun, creative ideas? 

I would love to hear what you're doing and see pictures of your home and your projects! 

Cheers and Happy New Year,

Debsx

Gabriella's Room - Final Design

It's taken A YEAR to design Gabriella's room! 

I've been tripped up by a few dilemmas and (being a Perfect Melancholy) 

I've had to mull it over and over and OVER.  

I FINALLY found the PERFECT fabric, made some hard decisions 
and it's all coming together! 

Here were a few of my looming dilemmas:

ONE

Gabriella wanted a RED, WHITE and BLUE room. (Her favorite colors) I really wanted to give her the color choice, but couldn't get over the 'Patriotic' theme. I looked and looked for ideas but nothing clicked. Plus, I'm using that color combination for the boys room and wanted something more girly.

TWO

I had a hard time figuring out an 'age appropriate' design. Any fabric or pictures I found were too young or too old. I didn't like the typical 'pink or purple' girl's room.  

THREE

I wanted to combine patterns, without making it too 'busy'. Trying to find fabrics in the same color family, that weren't too modern or mature, was really difficult.

So... here is the FINAL DESIGN for her room. 
I'm hoping to start the project in January.
Stay tuned for LOTS of pictures. 
I love 'before and after' pictures... don't you? 

THE BED 

I LOVE how the headboard and dust ruffle match!   

I was given a headboard by my next door neighbor 

and I'm going to recover it with the fabric below.

I'm going to make a matching dust-ruffle to create the effect.  

Fabric by Amy Butler Lotus (Cherry)  

Since my kids are messy 

To add more color,  

I'm making (one side of her duvet) with this fabric.

Fabric by Sandi Henderson - Secret Garden (Toffee) 

The other side of the duvet with this fabric.  

Fabric by Sandi Henderson Secret Garden (Modern Meadow Moss)

CURTAINS:
I'm going to make curtains like these.

This is made out of coral and cream solid fabric.

 Cut in strips and sewn together. 

(If I can afford it, I'm going to use Dupioni Silk) 

I'm going to add these to the tops of the windows. 

PILLOWS: 

Also, I want to add some fun pillows to the bed like these: 

Picture by Purlbee 

DECORATIONS:

I might add these to the ceiling, for a bit of whimsy.

Add this to the lighting.

Create storage for her books with this. 

(I think Mr. Giles can make this.)

As you know, design is a work in progress and it will change as I go along. Depending on sales, prices and what I find on Craigslist, eBay, ect. 

So... I'm figuring out the fabric dimensions now

and ordering the fabric online this week. 

Hoping to start the project in the New Year. 

Can't wait to see it all come together! 

Cheers, Debsx 

Vintage Glam Christmas Party

For the second year, I was honored to cater  

The Rock Worship Department's Open House. 

I love Ben and Havilah's home!

 It's so charming and has so much character. 

Honestly, you could just set food on a table and it would look amazing!

 Check out B Street Bungalow to see the rest of their home.

I decided to go with a "Vintage Glam Christmas" theme. 

I wanted to use lots of silver, white and sparkle. 

Items that blended with their home and 

looked like it was part of their Christmas Decor. 

SETTING THE TABLE:
 Since the table was set against a window,
I decided to use a neutral curtain panel for the backdrop.
Although I wanted it to cover the window,
we needed some natural light, so we left it in a panel.
Looking at other party blogs,
I've noticed they use backdrops for their food tables.
It really incorporates the overall design and color scheme.
 It's high impact for little cost!
(I'm going to have Mr. Giles make me a backdrop frame,
so I can use it for my parties.)

I like setting out the platters beforehand and get a 'feel' for the table.
However, I usually find out what platters I'll use, when I start plating the food. 

BROWNIE DELIGHTS
I made these at my last party and they were a hit!
They are mini brownies, with homemade whipped cream,
fresh raspberries and spearmint leaves.
I covered my plain plastic tumblers with paper medallions,
attached with hot-glue.
Thanks 'Hostess with the Mostess' for the FREE downloads. 

The labels for the food didn't work, so we decided to add a menu to the table.
Thanks Havilah... great idea!

CAPRI KABOBS:
I used heirloom cherry tomatoes, mozzarella balls and basil leaves.
Also, I substituted the cheese for black olives, for those who are 'dairy free'.
The color combination was gorgeous!

After thinking about it,
I would love to make a 'Greek' version with feta, black olives and mint.  

TOMATO BISQUE WITH MUSTARD & GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICHES:
These are my FAVORITE!
The soup was SO good with the sandwiches.
I made the sandwiches with a spicy brown mustard and they were over the top!

Side note: I liked to dip my sandwich in the soup and drink the leftovers.
I may (or may not) have had four! 

MEXICAN BITES:
I used Tostada Bite Cups topped with beans, cheese, sour cream and olives.
Fresh out of the oven, they were really good!

SMOKED APPLE CHARDONNAY CHICKEN SAUSAGE WITH SPICY MUSTARD 

Need I say more? 

All parties need some sort of meat... trust me... the men LOVE it! 

WINTER CUPCAKES
For lack of time, these cupcakes were store bought.
However,  I did make the little flags with ribbon, food sticks and hot glue.
It's the little things that make the most impact! 

FINISHED TABLE
(Minus the lit candles, which totally frustrates my melancholy!)

A few more food items:
LEMON MOUSSE WITH FRESH RASPBERRIES & WHIPPED CREAM.
JALAPENO POPCORN IN PERSONAL PAPER BAGS
I found the design for the bags at Jones Design Company
and made them by printing the paper and using hot glue. 

THE DRINK BAR:
We had a simple drink selection, including Coffee, Egg Nog and Water.
The water was seasoned/decorated with lemon slices, mint and cranberries.
Remember, it's the simple things!
(Last year, we made Tree Ice Cubes with cranberries and mint, frozen inside)  

SPICED EGG NOG

Friends at the party!

Good times had by all!

Wish I'd taken pictures when the house was full of people.
Oh well... I can't do it all!
Maybe I should hire a photographer to follow me around?
It may be a bit too ostentatious.

So... that's the last of the Christmas Parties.
Now... on to planning our New Year Eve Dinner Party! 

Cheers and Merry Christmas,
Debsx 
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