I like random silly holidays like Pi day, and I have a sweet tooth, so I like pies, too. For fun, I thought I'd share the recipe for my most favorite pie of all: the grasshopper pie. If you never had it, it basically tastes just like frozen Thin Mints. Read: Amazing. I've been making this recipe since 6th grade and it's delicious and easy to make. Enjoy! grasshopper piecrust: 1 1/4 cup fine chocolate wafer crumbs 1/2 cup of butter, melted OR 1 premade Oreo cookie pie crust (I've done this the last few times I've made it) filling: 1/2 cup milk 1 cup heavy cream, whipped 20 marshmallows (regular size) 3 tablespoons creme de cacao 3 tablespoons creme de menthe green food coloring -If making the crust, combine wafer crumbs and butter. Blend and shape to pie pan, chill in pan till solid. -Heat milk in double boiler, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Cook thoroughly. -Combine whipped heavy cream, creme de cacao, creme de menthe and a few drops of green food coloring. -Fold into cooked marshmallow mixture. -Pour into chilled crust and chill pie until firm. Serve cold. I don't usually add anything to the top, but before it's chilled completely, you could add cookie crumbles, or if you want to be fancy, drizzle or shave chocolate on top. image via simply recipes Xx a
0 Comments
Noticing a pattern? The weather on Tuesday was such a tease. Maybe if I double down continuing on the floral theme, Mother Nature will be beneficent. So! Using florals indoors via wallpaper. Floral patterns are great because they can run the gamut from chintz, to vintage, to modern and feel so different. They mix well with stripes, checks, ethnic patterns, and obviously solids. Some florals, like Oh Joy's pattern for Hygge & West, you've probably seen in lots of online magazines and blogger's houses. You may remember this lovely vintage paper from a previous post. Here are a bunch of really fun florals, mostly on the more graphic, medium-to-large scale side. The scale of course also plays a big part in how traditional or modern a pattern can read. How do you like your florals? images via designers guild, flavor paper, twenty2, schumacher, hygge & west, osborne & little, graham & brown, farrow & ball, anthropologie Xx a As I was perusing gardens, backyard and otherwise, yesterday, I came across TerraTrellis products. I really don't have a green thumb, but I like the idea of adding some geometric shapes to the more freeform flowers and plants. It always interested me how plants adapt to a trellis and take it over, winding their way in and around it. The colors these trellises come in seem to complement the hues of the flowers really well, too (see the image below with the artichoke).
The powder-coated frames are built and painted by hand and come in seven colors. I'm more of a fan of the general trellis pieces but if you're also a bird lover, a selection of the pieces are topped with a birdhouse. A bee nest (for the brave, I think), is also available, which encourages pollination throughout your garden. The pieces are functional art and bring a different, modern, element to a garden in addition to the practical application of adding support and structure. I'm not sure if I shared this already, but on top of freelancing, I've also been working part-time on social media and marketing for a local events company and the brand new loft-style event venue the company's owners are building (part of why my posting here has been less frequent). As you might expect, in addition to corporate and social events, galas, and bashes, the company plans and designs a lot of weddings. I've always loved weddings, not just because I'm a romantic, but because of all the insanely great decorating ideas, stationery, and fashion. I've reached the age where most of my friends are married so I'm not attending a lot of weddings. Being at this job gives me even more of an excuse to fritter my time away on Pinterest (as if we needed more excuses for that, right?) and look at pretty ideas, which is how I came across this gorgeous cake. The thing about this cake is that it is fashion-forward and could easily inspire both an outfit and decor, mixing stripes and floral with hits of gold. I know it's probably over by now since everyone did it years ago, but I still want to paint an entryway with vertical black and white stripes. I was supposed to do this in my last house, but as you may have gathered by now, I didn't pull the trigger on too many decorating projects, mostly for financial reasons. The plan was black and white stripes, a floral-upholstered bench, and I bought these great red coat hooks from Anthropologie. I really love this Hana floral pattern from Kenzo/Lelievre which I first saw several years ago when we used it in another colorway for a Traditional Home story. I couldn't decide on a colorway and now I'm worried that it's been discontinued. So the search continues. But it's not like good floral elements are scarce: How about a classic Cecil Beaton fabric? I actually really like florals on a black ground, like this fabric from Osborne & Little. Or another print from Manuel Canovas with more of a hand-drawn quality. These could each work well with a bold stripe and metallic accents. Do you have a favorite floral?
images via pinterest 1 & 2, aitch interiors, osborne & little, cowtan & tout Xx a When you're adding global or ethnic touches to your decor, as many are wont to do, it's always nice if the pieces have an air of authenticity. Antique pieces often have a lot of personality, but new pieces can also bring great style to a space. Noted interior designer Sara Bengur recently debuted her newest products, which are inspired by her Turkish background and upbringing, as well as her extensive travels. Sara has been in business nearly 20 years; her eponymous firm is located in New York. After hearing her name and seeing some of her work in publications for years, I finally had a chance to meet her at the gift show last month and she couldn't have been lovelier. A lot of times when you ask designers what prompted them to create their own product line, the answer is that they couldn't find something they were looking for to use in their projects. "I often design custom pieces for my clients that have been inspired by either my Turkish roots or the location of the house I am working on at the time," she says. After increasing demand that she create her own line of products, she finally has. Sara has spent a great deal of time studying and immersing herself in Ottoman designs. "The patterns have an organic quality and I love the idea of giving a new life to them in a different scale, form, and texture." Most of the products are made in Turkey, though the stoneware comes from nearby Malta. The collection features plenty of color because Sara believes rooms don't have to be neutral to be serene and cozy and she tries to encourage clients to follow suit. Check out more of the new products: Sara's favorite products are the peshtamals, more commonly known as hammam towels. "I call it my favorite travel accessory. You can use it as a shawl, scarf, towel, pareo, or blanket on the beach!" The peshtamals are woven by an all-women's cooperative in Southern Turkey.
My personal favorites are the covered bonbon dishes—love the scalloped edges—and the kilim runners shown at the top. A larger area rug incorporating the runners' designs is coming soon. Sara and I both share the opinion that the details and the layering of accessories are crucial to making a home more personal. "My passion has always been to create the unexpected in interiors, something nobody has seen before. My hope is that through this line, people feel they own something unique and made just for them," Sara says. I've been thinking for a while about trying to switch us to a shoes-off household. We mostly end up barefoot while we're home anyway, but coming and going we have our shoes on and track in the usual dirt and leaves. We usually let friends leave their shoes on, too. In our last house, we had the perfect entry space to accommodate a bench but my inability to decide what bench I wanted was holding up the process. It was mostly about trying to find a fabric that I loved and that I would continue to love for a long time. We don't really have the space for a bench now, but we really need something near our garage entry for putting boots on and taking them off. It's going to end up just inside the kitchen so it can't be too large. Since the slush and snow don't seem to be going anywhere and we need a place to take off our boots, we're looking more seriously again at benches. Do we want one with storage, and how do we keep the inside from getting junky? Should I pick something neutral that can go with potential future decor in the next house we live in, or just buy something I like now and find a way to make it work later or reupholster it? I love this reclaimed wood and powder coated steel bench from ABC, but it doesn't quite fit into my budget right now. Here are a couple options I'm looking at. I have to keep practicality in mind since two little kids will be using it, too. I'm a little late in sharing, but the March issue of Redbook magazine features two stories I worked on. For tips from top interior designers on decorating with a little and a lot of color, see the slideshow from the article, featuring the room above, designed by Melissa Warner Rothblum of Massucco Warner Miller. I'm a little obsessed with that royal blue console in the corner. The other story is a cute matchup of great, totally affordable armchairs and throws I found. This isn't online but it's the back page of the issue. Hope you like! images via redbook, photographs by philip harvey and alison gootee
Xx a I have this attraction to knit items, things with cable knit patterns, anything chunky and wooly looking. I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but I'm basically allergic to wool. I can't wear sweaters with wool, even 10% wool content, for more than a miserable hour or two and cashmere is like sandpaper (truly) to my skin. I'm always drawn to clothing and home goods that incorporate chunky, woolen textures—I'm sure there's a psychological term for this. So of course when I saw these big, bright throws, I had to stop. Loopy Mango, which also has a brick-and-mortar shop in Soho, was founded by two women who met at FIT. All the yarn is produced at the company's mill in Massachusetts and all the finished knitted products are handmade in NYC. I love the Aspen Crochet Round rug, which unfortunately for me, only seems to come as a DIY kit currently. The kit is available in 20 individual colors but they also sell yarn on their website so you can choose additional hues if you wanted to recreate something something more mult-colored like this rug I saw at the gift show. The solid colored rugs are really chic and gorgeous, though. The super-chunky finished throws come in eight colors, but again, you can buy your own yarn. They also offer custom sizes and designs upon request, so you can likely ask for a throw in any of the colors they offer. In addition to various DIY kits, Loopy Mango also offers several free patterns on their website, in addition to links to their YouTube tutorials.
images are my own Xx a I love this bright open bathroom by Tamara Mack Design. When we moved a year and a half ago, we went from a large master bath to a retro pink wonder that the two of us can barely fit in at the same time: While we search for a house to buy or try to decide if we should buy this house and renovate it, I can fantasize about a new bathroom with a more modern look and such fancy amenities as a fan or a window that actually opens, and my true dream: double sinks and heated floors. This year's bathroom trends include upgraded fixtures and features, and a move toward greige and pale gray tiles, a trend I am squarely behind. I am obsessed with gray. Wallpaper and hardwood floors are huge for powder rooms, specifically, over other bathrooms. Some remodeling-related bathroom trends for 2014 as determined by Houzz's survey of 7,645 homeowners:
I'm with the more than four on that first point: I had a great big tub in our last house (which you can't see in the above photo because my husband was standing on the ledge of it to get that angle), and in the nearly five years we lived there, I used that tub zero times. I'm just not a bath person, and rarely do I have the time to really enjoy it (though there was this one time I took the most amazing and relaxing bath, but it was at a resort). I'm mixed on the rain shower vs. hand shower, but as long as it's not the chest or stomach level jets, I'm fine. I definitely agree with lots of light; the more natural light the better. A great deal of available natural light ties in with having a glass shower, which I love. The frameless is key, too, because keeping the frame clean was a pain. One quarter of homeowners are enlarging their master bath but three-quarters of them are creating en suite masters. In each home I've owned with my husband, we've had an en suite bathroom, and I prefer the privacy of it. Something that people are split on is having the toilet separated from the rest of the bathroom as opposed to exposed as it is in both bathrooms above. Ideally, my husband and I would love to have the toilet in a separate room. It's more private, and it means the other person can be getting ready for the day or for bed without having to wait. When it comes to cabinetry, white (36%) edged out dark and medium woods which were equal in popularity (21% each). I was a little surprised that lightwood (6%) was so unpopular. I really didn't like how dark the vanity was in our old bathroom, but when it's in a more modern setting, like the Kohler vanity below, I don't mind it as much. Even though gold and brass are gaining in popularity, silver-tone faucets were the clear favorites. More dreamy bathroom design:
While going through the Handmade section of the gift show, I found Philly area-based Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes, founder of MKC Photography. She offers a variety of products including digital collage prints, pillows, and table runners, but the product that most caught my eye were her growth charts. There are five different styles available: boy sneakers, girl sneakers, boy alphabet, girl alphabet, and little poems, which includes whimsical gender-neutral images. Each growth chart is printed on removable and reusable vinyl so if your child changes rooms or you move, you can take the chart with you. Whenever I see other people's growth charts marked in pencil, or lines in someone's door frame discreetly marked, I always feel guilty that we don't have a growth chart. As I wash, fold, and pack away a size of baby clothes now too small, I feel the passing of time and my heart feels a little heavy. I think that's why the chart with the little shoes in ascending sizes hits so close to home. I think it's just one of those times you go through as a parent where it all seems to be going so fast (I know it always seems like that), and it catches you off guard. We're looking into early intervention for Sunshine because she's 15 months and still not standing, cruising, or walking, though she's made a lot of progress in the last two weeks. At the same time, we're starting to register Cupcake for Kindergarten and it seems as though she's the one that just started walking. These little reminders of the passage of time: the increasing sizes of shoes and shirts, the lines on a growth chart, transitioning from bottles to sippies and utensils, they're tangible markers of the (truly remarkable) changes and progress these little people are making every day, and how they're changing us too. And how we hope our best is good enough. I know being a parent isn't for everyone and I can understand that, but I sure am glad I am one. |
#checkout this blog with shop-themed puns
archives
August 2014
categories
All
© 2014 | mrkt
|