HomeTutorialsHand PaintedTablescapes

Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Biltmore Hotel

Each year around Christmas I try to celebrate at least one special tea with friends or family and this year I was invited to attend a Christmas tea at the magnificent Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.
The hotel was built in 1923 in the Spanish Renaissance style.  It was built with beautiful frescos, fountains, columns and crystal chandeliers.
The hotel is a magnificent example of historical architecture and every time I visit their I am in awe of its beauty.
It is the hotel where John F. Kennedy accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in 1960.
The holiday decorations are more beautiful each year.
Can you imagine having a wedding in this venue?  I am sure many a bride has been escorted down these staircases.
If you look closely at the bottom of the next photo, you can see the ice skaters at the rink in Pershing Square.  It was a magical afternoon.

Please pray for the families and the community in Connecticut who have been stricken by yesterday's terrible tragedy.  I feel like a veil of sadness has rested on our nation and we must place ourselves in God's hands.  May he bless and give strength to these grief stricken families.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Old World Flower Pots


The holidays have been crazy busy this year and I have many projects I want to share but they don't seem to be getting done.  Last week I worked on two different new flower pots using my reverse decoupage method.  I like the coloration of these, but I wish I would have trimmed around the pattern a tiny bit better.  Other than that, I love the way they turned out because I love this antique map graphic.   I don't remember where I got it, but I included it at the end of this post.
I used an aqua craft paint on regular terra cotta pots and then went over them with gesso and a washy coat of terra cotta craft paint.  Then I applied the image and did a reverse decoupage.  This project has a nice old world feel.  Tomorrow I'll show you two more I did using Annie Sloan's graphite.  Thanks for stopping by.



I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Pumpkin Stuff by Somewhat Quirky

Yesterday my friend Karen of Somewhat Quirky posted a recipe for a fabulous desert she calls Pumpkin Stuff.  She posted the recipe in my honor, so to show my appreciation I whipped up the recipe today to share with my family.  Doesn't this look heavenly?  I am a real pumpkin fanatic and this Pumpkin Stuff is really wonderful.  I only had to make one slight variation because my daughter will not eat nuts so I just sprinkled the pecans over the whipped cream when it was finished.  I also added a few chocolate chips to the mix.  Hop on over to Somewhat Quirky for this wonderful recipe.  Here is the link to Karen's blog for Pumpkin Stuff.

Thanks so much, Karen.  This recipe is a keeper!

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best


Monday, December 10, 2012

Antique Medical Cabinet

It's that time of year when things are difficult to find, but I managed to scoop up this adorable antique medical cabinet.  This is the real deal, and I instantly fell in love with it.
It still has the original beveled glass cabinet door, lots of fabulous crazing and the perfect amount of patina.  This little beauty is all metal and has retained all of its lovely parts including this drawer to hold vials.
It's definitely been around for a very long time.
The lid is removable.
It probably started life in a small doctor's office.
Pure industrial strength beauty, don't you think?

Thanks so much for taking a peak.

I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best


Sunday, December 9, 2012

Book Page Poinsettia

This is a reprint of one of my very first holiday posts which I'm sure only a couple of you saw.  These are very easy to do and I'm sure if you took a silk poinsettia and made a pattern from the leaves you could easily recreate these in a smaller version.  The ones I made last year were really large and a smaller size would be fabulous for Christmas packages.

 I love things made from book pages.  I recently went to a cute little shop in Orange County and saw a wall done with paper book flowers.  They were more springy looking.  Since it is time to decorate my space at Aubergine Emporium for the holidays, I decided to do my own rendition of a book flower.

Poinsettias by the Bunch
I started with a box I had laying around the house.  I used  a normal sized bread plate and traced it to make a back for the flower.
 I cut burlap circles larger than my cardboard and attached a ribbon on the back for hanging.
 Then I took spray glue and sprayed the burlap.  I cut slits in the excess burlap so that I could fold it over the cardboard neatly.
 Then I cut three sizes of poinsettia petals all in the same shape.  The actual largest petal was about the same length as the card board circle.  Then I made a slightly smaller petal and then a smaller petal still.  I put the patterns on book pages and cut them out.  I cut out five of each size petal for each flower I wanted to make.  Then I fan folded the base of the petal and taped it.  When I say fan folded, I first folded the base of the petal in half and fan folded out to each side.  Then I made the base of the folds flat and taped them so that I could glue gun them flat onto the cardboard.  You need to tape them so they stay flat and are easy to glue.  I laid down the largest petal first all the way around on the unfinished side of the cardboard.
 Next I took the middle size petal and folded them the same way at the base of the petal and then I glued them in between the large petals.  Be sure to leave a small circle in the center to put the center of your flower.
 Next do the same fan folding with the smallest petal and glue them in between the middle sized petals.  As you can see, I stayed in a pretty even circle in the middle.  Each layer goes directly in between the previous layer of petals.  You are still leaving that circle in the center.

Next take a little custard cup and cut circles like you did the larger back piece.  After these were cut, I took tissue paper garland (ivory color) and went around in a circle starting from the outer edge and working into the middle of the center piece of the flower.  I just used Tacky Glue to glue this down.  When that was done with the garland, I glue gunned the small circle into the center of my petals.
I purchased a sprig of red berries at Joann's Craft Store and cut off the little berries.  I glued them randomly over the center of the flowers to give them a little color.
When they were all finished, I cascaded them down my wall like a vine.  These would be beautiful on gifts at Christmas or also can be used as ornaments on the tree.  Thanks for visiting.  






I'm partying at...


Mondays          Le Chateau des Fleurs       The Graphics Fairy    
                                      Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday
Tuesdays          Knick of Time       Coastal Charm  
                                      Boogie Board Cottage    A Stroll Thru Life   
                                     Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday
Wednesdays     Savvy Southern Style
                                           
Thursdays        The Shabby Creek Cottage    No Minimalist Here 
                                     Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday    
                                     Rustic Restorations Homespun Happenings
Fridays            French Country Cottage       My Romantic Home        Miss Mustard Seed
                                    Potpourri Friday     Common Ground
                                    The Charm of Home    Rooted in Thyme
Saturdays        Funky Junk Interiors

Sundays           My 1928 Charmer Sunday's Best