Natural Christmas Tree Projects

Simple Orange Pomanders

Make natural baubles by evenly scoring orange skins and slowly dehydrating the fruits.

Fruit and Flower Sprigs

For simple, stylish decorations, tie stems of rosehips to dried teazle heads with wire and finish with a loop.

Spiced Fruits

Attach single fruits and dried sliced chilies with colored wire to either end of a decorated orange slice. Even after they have been dried thoroughly, oranges retain enough of an aroma to fill a room with their citrus scent. Get step-by-step instructions for creating dried orange ornaments.

Frosted Christmas Lanterns

Thread a wire through a Chinese lantern and make a knot in the wire below the lantern. Wrap the remaining wire around a few wispy seed heads to give this decoration a frosted effect. Get step-by-step instructions for creating natural Chinese lantern ornaments.

Citrus Slices

Make a hole in the top of a dried orange slice, thread through a length of string, and secure in a knot.

Cinnamon Walnut Bundles

Secure several long cinnamon sticks in a bundle with an elastic band. Attach a walnut at either end of thin rope, wrap the rope around the sticks and glue on a star anise. Get step-by-step instructions for creating cinnamon spice bundle ornaments.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL1tg87n5xAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL1tg87n5xA

 

Cranberry Hearts

Thread thin string through dried cranberries using a needle, secure in a heart shape and finish with a loop.

Snow Clouds

Tie extra quantites of wispy or fluffy seed heads to Chinese lanterns with thin wire and finish with a loop.

Thanksgiving Table Settings

Personalized Pumpkins

Small details can make a big impact on your Thanksgiving table. Try tying handmade place cards to mini pumpkins for a personal touch that will make guests feel special. Design by Holly Mathis.

Candleholder Conversion

Try using items you already own in a creative and unexpected way when designing your Thanksgiving tablescape. Rate My Space user Baubles found that candleholders also make great pedestals for mini pumpkins.




Investing in a versatile set of china makes setting your table for the holidays a cinch.

Dressed-Up Basics

You don't have to buy brand-new dinnerware to create a beautiful Thanksgiving table.

Rustic Elegance

Don't be afraid to mix textures and patterns when setting your Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving Glam

For a chic fall table, try combining traditional and trendy pieces.

Soaring Centerpiece

If your table setting is simple, spice it up with a dramatic focal point.

Thanksgiving Table Settings

Add a Touch of Glitz

For a sophisticated but not over-the-top look, balance the sparkle of metallics with natural elements, like fall branches or fresh fruit. Erinn's Tip: "Metallics add a great modern touch to a fall tablescape. Deep copper and bright bronze are a lovely additional to a traditional table. I prefer to bring in natural, textured elements like these seed-beaded placemats so the table doesn't get too glitzy."

Contrast Materials

A humble pinecone adds an organic touch to each place setting. Have fun with materials; contrast ceramic with glass, wood and gleaming metal. Forgo the old standby tablecloth and opt for glamorous, polished silver chargers and chocolate-brown linen napkins.

Bountiful Centerpiece

Set the stage for an unforgettable Thanksgiving feast with a centerpiece that exemplifies bounty. A ghost-white pumpkin, chunky pillar candles and metallic-painted gourds add sparkle.

Simple Sophistication

This place setting layers basic elements to achieve an extraordinary effect.A set of white plates is a great standard to have for your year-round table. You don't have to get something special out just for the season. It's all in the presentation — a crisp linen napkin folded into thirds and laid under a bronze glass plate topped with a miniature pear sets each guests' plate off with style for very little money, time or fuss.

 

Gleaming Glass Accents

Golds and ambers pair beautifully with the traditional browns and oranges of fall. Glass vases can be found very inexpensively in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes at your local housewares store. They're fantastic for adding a splash of luminescent color to the room. So go wild! Bring a bunch home, try them out and return what you don't use.

Priceless Art Found In Paris Apartment Vacant Since 1939

Priceless Art Found In Paris Apartment Vacant Since 1939

In 1939, a Parisian apartment was locked up and abandoned. Seventy years later, an auctioneer stumbled into a mysterious glimpse of the past and a multi-million dollar work of art.

Leaving her lavish apartment must have been disheartening for 23-year old Madame de Florian. It was the beginning of World War 11, and she probably received word that the German soldiers were marching toward Paris.

Though she continued to pay rent for the rest of her life, this lovely lady would never return to her glamorous apartment again. She died in 2010, at the age of 91. 

It was after Madame de Florian's death that her heirs first learned of the apartment. They hired Olivier Choppin-Janvry, an auctioneer, to inventory the apartment's furnishings. Considering the years that had passed since the last time the apartment was occupied, Olivier and his team probably experienced some apprehension as the last bolt was unlocked, and they entered.    

 

The furnishings displayed treasures from the early 1900's. The dining area was still fully supplied with dishes, glassware, and other dining essentials. Works of art had been removed from the walls, as if they were being prepared for transport with the owner running short of time.

This intricately designed, ornate vanity table still contained brushes, makeup and perfume bottles, appearing as if it were still waiting for the return of it's elegant owner.

In a corner, original Micky Mouse and Porky Pig dolls were reflective of that historical period. Walt Disney would be pleased.

The most shocking and intriguing discovery was a painting of a beautiful woman in a pink evening gown. Further investigation revealed that the woman was the apartments previous occupant , Marthe de Florian, who just so happened to be Madame de Florian's grandmother. 

The artist was not immediately known. A later discovery concluded the work was painted by a well-known Italian painter from the Belle Epoque period - Giovanni Boldini

Marthe de Florian was a well know Parisian actress, living a very lavish lifestyle as a "high-society" girl in the 1880's. A collection of love letters, tied with various colored ribbons, was found in the apartment and evidence of her many famous suitors, including several Prime Ministers and Presidents of France.

The disarray left in the apartment was understandable - especially with the circumstances of WWII probably being the cause of her hasty departure. However, predominate questions remain. Why would she choose to never return? And, why would she methodically continue to pay rent for the next seventy years?  

Opening such a treasure chest of collectibles after such a lengthy time had passed must have been quite and experience. Hopefully, the family will release more information someday, but until then the answers for the rest of the story will remain a mystery.

French Decor

French Décor for the Bedroom


French décor’s presence in the bedroom is one of romance, luxury, large furniture and color. Be sure to draw some inspiration from nature and its likely you’ve achieved perfection. French décor allows you to introduce many features into your bedroom in bold ways that most other types of décor generally don’t. The trick is to not go overboard. My advice is to start your project by selecting your color scheme.

French décor uses a broad range of colors, including various shades of reds, blues, yellows and greens. Use one or two colors (at the most) for your primary colors and compliment them with a white or an off white as an accent color. Traditionally, French décor calls for lighter or neutral colors as the primary wall color. However, today it is very much in fashion to use darker colors. A shade of blue, such as blue toile, is a decent color for a French inspired bedroom because blue is a relaxing color which will bring serenity to your bedroom. You can also use a golden yellow or burgundy as your main wall color.

Once you have chosen your color theme, you should decide on the type of furniture, its size and placement that you wish to place in your room. Remember that large, bold furniture is part of what makes French décor so luxurious. Choose a large bed with big headboard that will be used as the centerpiece of the bedroom. While the rest of the furniture should also be large, there should not be too many pieces in the room. A chest of drawers or an armoire is a good choice. If your bedroom is big enough, you can add a rich loveseat as well.

The material that is used for the bed, as well as the rest of the furniture, should be wood. The wood that is used in French décor is either going to be of a dark color or painted in an off white color. The wood should have some sort of carving added to it. At times, you may also find some gold color metal in addition to the carvings. You can complement the dark wood with a dark wall color or white wood with a light color. Feel free to hand paint some flowers or sceneries on the chest drawers to bring some additional color and romance to the bedroom.

Mirrors are a good way to continue the tradition of going large in French Décor. Use a large mirror to make the room appear bigger.

When it comes to curtains, yours should reach from the ceiling to the floor and be made from a rich, thick fabric. Tie the curtains back to let light in and create a more dramatic effect. The color of the drapes should match your bedding and your furniture in order to maintain the color theme.

Add a couple of paintings to the bedroom. Rococo or Baroque themes work best with French décor. Ideal images include those that emphasize nature or people having a nice time.

The final touch to your French inspired bedroom is going to be dazzling bedding. Your bedding should have some shine and luster to it to create a dramatic and welcoming effect. Use white or cream colored sheets to set off a beautiful duvet. Gold, sky blue, white, burgundy and gold are popular colors to construct themes in French décor bedding. Use a lot of big pillows and neck rolls to complete the effect.

While French décor permits you an abundance of freedom to experiment using many variables such as color, texture and patterns in your bedroom, it is very important to not get carried away and be too excessive in your décor. This can make the room appear cluttered and overdone. Have fun decorating and enjoy your new French themed bedroom!

R. Jabbour & Sons first opened its doors in New York City over 80 years ago. Passed through four generations of family, R. Jabbour & Sons continues to be a trusted and highly knowledgeable resource for the finest bed, bath, and table linens. Its loyal following of customers rely on the utmost attention to detail and service.

Tusculum Residence

Description by Smart Design Studio

This exciting renovation and extension of a turn-of-the-century terrace house in Sydney’s Potts Point focuses on a grand and gracefully spiralling stair that forms the pivotal junction of the old and new parts of the house. The staircase, spanning the width of the building, features delicate fan-like steel treads cantilevered from the central steel post and winding their way past six split levels, offset between the old and new sides of the house. The stair was conceived as the element that grafts the contemporary and new minimal structure to the refined, trimmed and formal older portion of the dwelling.

Spacious living areas and private zones open out from each side of the stair with one area per level alternating between the old and new building. Formal living, dining, kitchen and informal living; master suite, guest suite, study and laundry: each zone maintains a natural sense of privacy from the other through the offset in level yet maintains a sense of interconnection in the openness and movement created by the stair.

Internally, finishes in the old portion of the house are contemporary and elegant in a stripped-classical style with deep flush skirting boards, mannered panelled doors and wide timber floorboards, all in gloss white paint and offset by richly coloured set plaster walls. In contrast, the mainly white extension with the same gloss white floorboards, features a black stained timber-boarded joinery element across three levels. Bronze window frames, ironmongery and trims unite both portions of the three-storey home.

Externally, the connection to the outdoors is accentuated through a 13 metre clear span wall of sliding doors that overlooks a pocket garden. An addition to this, the bi-folding doors are concealed by joinery to provide a seamless connection to the tiered rear garden with mature pepper tree. This house offers extraordinary spaces complemented by confident forms, understated design and exquisite detail.

Breathtaking!!!!!

This is totally a design I LOVE!!!!

Description by Horst Architects

Perched atop a rocky seaside promontory, this loft renovation is an efficient response to the problem of limited space with simplicity and restraint being the guiding principles of the design solution. The clients requested a design which would accommodate office work by day and intimate social and familial gatherings by night. The interior spaces have been completely reconfigured into an open plan evolving around a double height entry volume containing the principal stairway. Sliding partitions and fabric behind frameless glass have replaced traditional means of enclosure and spatial transition. A sculptural interplay of material, light and form define spaces, which are both intimate and communal, sheltering yet expansive. Indoor and outdoor living is integrated by frameless, bi-folding doors. Windows are positioned to embrace the view of the harbor, while second skin systems such as wood shutters mediate the late afternoon sun and provide privacy. The changing play of light on surfaces, the breezes that move through and around the structure, the touch and smell of walls and gardens, the play of colors, the sound of spaces all play a part in the reception of architecture as it is lived in, and are important determinants in our well being.