Just a Few Festive Touches

With holiday season upon us, it's the perfect time for entertaining, and a beautiful set table is the canvas for any meal. A few simple tips to keep in mind while arranging centerpieces & decor: 

Confidence and personality is key, don't revert to the store bought arrangements, find a local wholesale floral business for inexpensive beauties. The general rule is to keep arrangements low enough that guests can see and talk over them. 

The best part of shopping wholesale is they mostly only carry in-season flowers. 

No sense in tulips in November, or cranberries in spring. Trust your instincts. 

I love colors and texture, so my arrangements are usually a bit bazaar. 

Keeping the flower healthy:

Cut the stems on an angle before placing into the glass. 

Shave and leaves off the stem that will sit in the water- to keep it clear. 

Use small filler flower to spruce up and add volume. 

Leaves and greenery are your friend, they will add depth to your arrangement. 

Have fun! And don't be afraid to try something new.

A favorite blog post: Ultimate Holiday Table

Photo credit can be found on my PINTEREST page

Peppermint Pairings

It is not quite Thanksgiving, but let's face it, hot coco, vintage string lights, stockings and peppermint flavored everything is on your mind. Tis the season to indulge. Everywhere you look; velvet buckles & gold bangles from Black Friday specials, a cozy cup-of-jo filled with cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate and peppermint. Just enough to inspire this winter wardrobe. 

1. Chevron Silk Blouse 2. Wide Brim Felt Hat- Guess  3. Gold bee bobby pin set- Emily Elizabeth 

4. KiKAa chunk bracelet 5. Seamed Skinny In Crackled Leather-Like Black6. Confetti Wood Veneer Sunglasses- Tumbleweeds Handcraft  7. Carley Bootie- Tory Burch 

Combat the chill with Figue

A weathered trend maybe, yet one that seems to make appearances year round. Stiff and sturdy shapes in khaki and camouflage have been spotted in street styles and runways all around the world. Military influence has been molding fashion since the early 40's, but my recent trip to NYC has left me lusting over these uniquely tagged military layers. 

I stumbled into Figue on a complete whim, after hours of relentless searching fo the perfect fall wedding reception dress, Lily and I were struck by the Bohemian shop style, paired perfectly with an overflow of vibrant rugs and braided floor cushions. " Figue (pronounced “fig") is a new luxury collection for women created by Stephanie von Watzdorf. Defined by a global gypsy-meets-jet-set spirit—bringing together the urban energy of Paris and London with the natural beauty of the Mediterranean and Stephanie’s passion for travel." The Bohemian inspired boutique was filled with tunics laced with pom-poms and gold threaded beading, denim and bangles in colorful global inspired prints and of course the stunning embellished military jackets. The sweet shop manager gave us a little history of Stephanie's design process and inspiration. Many of the symbols referenced Egyptian hieroglyphs (pictured below) like the eye of Horus which represents the ancient Egyptian sky god who was usually depicted as a falcon. Many of the embellished sequin and bead designs were sourced directly from African craftsmen. 

Von Watzdorf tells Vogue “It could look hideous and Las Vegas, but it’s not." 

Lily and I both agree. 

ART WALK 2013 - KID-ZONE

It's not often I get to roll up my sleeves and create with 3-10 yr. olds. I cherish these moments. I have been creating and managing the art activities in the ARTWALK kids area for 3 years now. Working at the museum allows me the daily dose of inspirational images/artwork, dialogue and conversation to share with the ARTWALK kiddos. And of course my endless color-filled PINTEREST boards. 

A few goals I always try to incorporate with my art activities are: limitless creative expression & collaborative work. Too often children's "ART" is a 1.2.3 step process, concluded with a small takeaway piece to attach to the kitchen fridge. Let's go beyond that. Art allows kids a platform for creative dialogue and interaction with their peers about the process. These kids amazed me, yet again! 

DOT CARD INSPIRATION: 

DIY Wedding Crafts / Damien Hirst / Strathcona Stockings 

FOUND FEATHER INSPIRATION: 

Exotic birds & watercolor prints 

COLLABORATIVE COLOR-BLOCK INSPIRATION: 

Maya Hayuk / Cole & Son Geometric Circus Wallpaper / ChezBoheme

WonDerLust painted Photos

I give you photographer and artist Alexandra Valenti::

http://www.alexandravalenti.com/

Pick Your Jam

A sweet summer favorite, fresh fig preserves. I had been searching for months to find a suitable fig tree to pluck, putting a bug in friends ears, posting regularly to Facebook trying to find a tree. And then, it simply fell into my lap. I was visiting momma bee in Roebuck and she mentioned her neighbor posting on their community page about some ripe fig trees ready to be picked. In return, the owner simply requested a jar of fig preserves?! The trees had to be 30 years old, and it begins. 

This preserve uses whole figs that have their stems removed but I keep their skins because I like them. If you are not a big fan of the fruit's skin, then by all means peel them off with a paring knife. 

Ingredients: 
25-30 figs1 cup organic cane sugar 
1-2 long sticks of cinnamon broken into two (or a BIG pinch of cinnamon) 
Juice of one lemon and zest of one lemon
One lemon thinly sliced, with rind

It's just this simple: 
Wash the figs and then cut them in quarters. Place them in a thick bottomed pan, sprinkle the sugar and lemon juice over it, throw in the two pieces of cinnamon and keep it on a low flame for about 25-30 mins. Cover it for the first 10-15 mins, but keep checking on how fast it cooks. There is no need to add water (rookie mistake)  The lemon juice and sugar work well enough for this. You can go ahead and add the thinly sliced lemons at this point. Once the figs start to break up, stir them a bit, if there are very large chunks of figs, break it down gently with a fork and continue cooking it till it all done and there is not much liquid remaining.

Sterilise the jars that you will be storing the jam in (you can boil them). Once the fig preserve has cooled down, transfer it to the jar and store in the refrigerator. Eat every day for two weeks! Then make some more. 

- Carrie Fagan 

SuMMer SiZZles

Summer is unofficially/officially here! Sunny days, walks in the gardens, riding bikes for 

coffee on the weekend, and HATS! 

And I seem to find myself doing this: 

Handwritten Letters to Famil & Friends I miss TERRIBLY! 

Beautiful Cards from Local designer: LONDI Press

NEW Necklaces in my ETSY shop Reeves & Fagan.

Or you can purchase additional at Naked Art Gallery. 

Maple Bacon & Bourbon popsicle work breaks. 

YES please. STEEL CITY POPS 

Lots of online ETSY shopping. 

I found these beauties for a friend's b-day recently. 

Bamboo Silhouette Diamond Ring