Pretty Tables: Thanksgiving

I’m sure you’re thinking this (as I certainly do every year!), but I can’t believe it’s already Thanksgiving. This year it’s probably even more unbelievable to me since I’ll be spending it in 80 degree weather on the other side of the world. No matter. It's still Fall in my heart and I'm glad to share these lovely table decorating ideas. What will you be doing this year?



Images from: MySticKitchen // BlogNTell // Anne Sage // Kitchen Daily // Sunset

Capote's Black and White Ball

Truman Capote was a strange man: eccentric, selfish, talented and obsessed with high society. In 1966 he decided to throw an amazing and (ahem) bitchy party for a little over 500 guests—those he deemed the most important at the time. Apparently he had enough clout to be taken seriously with this shenanigans and people went bananas trying to get invited. Among those he did invite were Frank Sinatra, Candace Bergen, Mia Farrow, Andy Warhol, Sammy Davis Jr and Harper Lee. The following are pictures of the night (set in NYC at the Plaza on Park Avenue). The ladies were instructed to wear black or white dresses with white masks and gentlemen in black tie with black masks. Amazing.


I got most of my information from a great article on the hub pages website. Read it. And I got some of the images from Fashions Most Wanted blog. (PS. One of my favorite things I read was that while so many of the guests purchased couture masks that cost a fortune, Capote's black mask was purchased from FAO Schwarz for 39 cents.)

The Finders Keepers Market

This past Friday I helped set up the Finders Keepers Market here in Brisbane. This means that I spent five hours fluffing tissue paper flowers, tying said flowers in clusters with fishing line and hanging (or at least watching as they were hung) said clusters from the ceiling of the Old Museum. The result was very rewarding and I consider the afternoon well spent indeed.
The Finders Keepers Market is a delightful display of 65 crafters peddling their creative wares. I saw everything from clothing to letterpress to jewelry and if I had a scrap of extra money I would've for sure spent it. My sister-in-law bought a fun ring and an amazing cloud necklace and I was excited that at least one of us was being supportive! Here are some pictures from the event:



The Old Museum and grounds made an unbelievable venue. Inside and along the side veranda were beautiful craft stalls, outside was a live music stage, food and coffee area. The talent was overwhelming. Speaking of: Brisbane-based illustrator Natalie did the gorgeous poster for the event. She has some stunning work on her site and her Flickr provided me with some of the photos from my collage. Visit her and say thank you. Other images are from the Finders Keepers site and from the Flickr tagged stream. Did you see the flower creations? Yep, pretty proud of myself. Of course it wouldn't have been possible without the dear Alischa of Bespoke Press (don't worry, more about her later) who was one of the ladies in charge of the event. It was a great weekend!

Meet Ashley Meaders

Ashley seems to be one of those girls you instantly want to befriend. She's adorable and quirky and spends her days making amazing events. I've loved her event details even before I knew they belonged to her, so when I came across her website and saw all of the gorgeous things she's crafted I became enchanted. And jealous. And inspired. And I had to share these images with you. You've probably seen some of them already, but you can never have too much beauty in your life so look again. And then go to her site to see even more.

Sydney Picnic Company

Don't you wish you could just make picnics all day? And people would pay you for them? Well, I do. And so did the cutest couple around: Simon and Natalie. They've started a picnic-for-hire company in Sydney (Australia) and for a smallish fee you can enjoy gourmet food (they try to be as local and organic as possible) packed sweetly in a wicker basket with cutlery, dishes and lovely little extras like handcrafted menus and banners. You can also get blankets and cushions. Geez. Maybe they franchise.


Visit their site to see more pictures and learn more about their sweet company. Be warned, if you weren't hungry before you visited their site, you're going to be once you read all of the delicious foods they offer!
Through the Sydney Picnic Co blog I discovered these vendors for traditional wicker baskets and adorable vintage plate cake stands, and these super fun and super eco-friendly picnic boxes.


Baskets and cake stands are from Life's a Picnic and the boxes are from Boxsal.

Halloween Party

I told you there might be another Halloween inspired post headed your way. Here it is! If you're having a party this weekend or simply love to look at party ideas to store away for later this is for you. These images came from Good Housekeeping, Country Living and Martha Stewart and there are tons and tons more ideas from each of them: recipes, crafts, costumes, anything you can imagine. And the two invitations are from the incredibly talented Rifle Paper Company and Hello Lucky.

A Little Bit of Autumn

I love fall. I miss fall, but at least it's been a little cool here lately so I've been able to close my eyes on occasion and think about hot cider and scarves and the orchard. Soon enough it'll be steamy and hot and thoughts of cool autumn breezes will seem so far away. In the mean time, I thought I'd embrace it and put together a mood board to inspire you and remind me.



So many sources! Mikkel Vang // Scrapstudio // Elizabeth Anne Designs // Dandelion and Grey // Mary Ruffle // Bunny Victorious // Studio Choo Flowers // LL Bean Signature // Black Eiffel // You are my Fave // Mi Vida Bonita

Oh Amelie!

There's a sweet french movie called "Amelie" that you + I really love (or at least I do and you will). It's subtitled but a delight to watch and listen to and the soundtrack is gorgeous. As is the cinematography (how could it be anything but with Paris as it's backdrop?). Design*Sponge does a fun feature called "living in..." where they take screen captures of different films and then feature different housewares and fashion items that represent the film. They recently did one for "Amelie" you should definitely have a look.
Obviously the movie has inspired quite a few talented artists and in the June 2010 issue of Nonpareil magazine, a handful of creatives got together to create a party based on the movie. It turned out really nicely.



See a fun little video of the party here.
I've been waiting for the perfect post to incorporate these lovely designs from Emerson and I think they have that certain je ne sais quoi that goes quite well with this French party. They're really fantastic and Emerson herself (the blonde is her) is really quite funny. Go visit her.


Darling aren't they? I love the stripes with that big red flower! Perfect outfit for croissants wouldn't you say? Oui!

Rustic Party Decor

Even though technically I'm in Spring and not Fall, my head is still back in Illinois with the changing of the leaves and the hot apple cider. My parents had a bonfire a couple of weekends ago and although I'm sure it was lovely, I'm also sure it didn't look anything like this. But if you were Martha Stewart (or someone paid to make it look like you were Martha) you may create something like this to drink your spiced drinks and listen to blue-grass.




Doesn't it just make you feel so autumnal? Nothing like it. And actually there are some really cheap and easy ideas above. So call some friends, put on a pot of chili and make some bunting. I'll be with you in spirit!
Images from: Bloomerism // Country Living // Modern Prairie Girl // Green Wedding Shoes // Counting Your Blessings

Rifle Design

Rifle Design is graphic designer and artist Anna Bond from Florida. I've been in love with her stuff for years (well, at least more than a year) now. I love her funny paintings and wonderful typography. You'll surely agree.

Love is a Big Deal

If I got married tomorrow (ok, with the way I fall in love, let's say today just to be safe), I'd want it to be this. Nick and Surya got married on a mountain top. They had an awesome sign at their altar (that will be simply stunning in their house). They were married by the most beautiful man ever (that's him in the sunglasses below). The groom cried (my favorite). The guests were comfortable and taken care of (flip-flops and blankets were available). The flowers were gorgeous and unpretentious. The brides sister sang an enchanting song for their first dance. The bride sang Ingrid Michaelson's "You and I" during the ceremony. The bride and her ladies got ready in an Airstream trailer. Goodness me. Does it get more lovely?




So good.
Of course, a wedding (at least to those uninvited) is only as good as it's pictures and these photographers did an amazing job : Jonas Peterson (you can hear the brides sister singing the song she wrote for the couple on his site) and Poser Images. I also got pictures off of the couples wedding site (of course, amazing) and Once Wed.

Sweet sweets

I have always loved a beautiful table. One of the first things I really remember admiring in a Martha Stewart Weddings issue was this gorgeous photo shoot that centered around an amazing strawberry cake table. I couldn't find the image to share with you, but I found plenty of other inspiring dessert tables. This is such a great idea for a wedding or a shower or an afternoon tea with the ladies.

Aren't they so fun? I love the vanity with the tiny fruit desserts and the wedding cake with the paper banner and macaroons. I think it's such a good idea to do a dessert table for your wedding instead of just the one cake. Then people can enjoy their favorite dessert - not everyone loves cake you know!

Images from Hip Hip Hooray // Swanky Tables // Amy Atlas

Little Drifters

This story starts with a man named Lenny who builds these little wondrous boats out of random pieces of nature he finds (leaves, sticks, flowers... you remember nature right?). Anyway, from what I can gather he's been doing this for years and has a lovely gallery on Flickr to inspire you and I to do the same.



Amazing and gorgeous right? Can you imagine sitting by water already feeling happy because you're sitting by water, but THEN floating towards you comes one of these little beauties? Ecstasy. The picture just a little bit above on the left with the little boy stooping reminds me of Where the Wild Things Are. They're that kind of magical—don't you think?
The story then continues with a man named Jeff who has a rather amazing blog called Booooooom. You're probably much cooler than me and have heard of this fun art community (since apparently there are over 2.5 million page views a month - dang). But I came across it through my love for you is a stampede of horses (another amazing art blog). Anyway, back to the story of Jeff. He was inspired by Lenny to coordinate a world wide event asking people to build their own little drifters and send in photographs that he would share on the blog. He's in Vancouver and thought it'd be fun to invite the area to a picnic and day at the water where people could admire each others lovely creations and meet new friends and enjoy the summer. What a good idea! Here are some of my favorites that were submitted to the site.


Fun huh? There are some really lovely pictures of the Vancouver picnic that you'll for sure want to check out. Sorry I didn't find out about this sooner or you could've submitted your creation as well. Go make one anyway - send me the picture! You and I can admire it.

A Few of my Favorite Things

Sigh. This is one lucky lady. Not only does she live in one of the most beautiful, charming and romantic cities in the States (Savannah, Georgia) but she spends her days doing prop styling and event design. It's kind of my dream world. Look how talented she is:

She works with publications such as Country Living, Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living. (all images on this page are from Liz's Flickr, except the first image from Design*Sponge)


LOVE this circusy wedding! The striped curtains in the barn, the kissing booth, the pom-poms, those HUGE, glorious balloons! All of it is so fun and somehow manages to not be over-the-top obnoxious. She's truly talented.


I love that she re-purposes so many items that others may just put in the trash can: broken fruit crates, rusty flower arranging inserts (used cleverly as a pen holder), musty suitcases, random (but oh-so-lovely) drawers. Her detailing is so fun and clever and inspirational. The only problem I have with looking through her portfolio and noticing all of the interesting items is that it gives me one more excuse to collect and hoard random items. And believe me, I don't need another excuse! But you see how it all comes together? Let's go garage sale-ing!