Target's Christmas Fabulousness - DAY TWO

Knit Glitter Reindeer Figurine  - $8, 

I cannot even begin to explain how cute these reindeer are  in person. I've posted a photo so you can see the depth and breadth of color combinations. And they are $8 each. Sorry to say you can't order them online but get yourself to Target. I can imagine a row of them across your mantle. Or on the bar. Or marching across a coffee table.

Target's Christmas Fabulousness - Day ONE

I toured Target's Christmas fabulousness in person so you can safely order from your desk knowing that it will all look amazing when it arrives at your doorstep........My decorating recommendation is MASS, NUMBERS, VOLUME. Here are my favorites from the trip:

Holiday Christmas Ball Wreaths -  $20.00 

Use these for the door, the walls, or flat on the table with pillar candles in hurricanes in the center.  They are shatterproof but don't look cheap or like plastic. The red, white, and green is darling but also consider the multi-colored option. Three flat on dining room table would be fabulous. Or two on a coffee table. Or one on your door. Or 10 down the wall. Ole!

Shop ZaraHome .... From the USA

You can only shop Zara Home in Europe, the Middle East, Asia...okay, everywhere but the United States of America. That is, Zara Home was only available everywhere else. 

Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 9th, Americans can shop the amazingly affordable chic home wares online. This is speaking as a lady who hosted a black tie breakfast dinner party on Friday night and set the table with her favorite faux-vermeil silverware from Zara Home. 

I bought 12 settings of the silverware in London, carried it (read lugged, complained, and moaned) through Berlin, Copenhagen, Bern, and back to London before it found its way to my home. Five years later, it's still my favorite.

This is big. I'm ecstatic.

ICFF - Richard Watson Pizza highboy

The 2012 International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York was apparently all about "craft, craft, craft" or so said the NYTimes.

From the selection, I love this Richard Watson highboy. Beautiful proportions. Delicate but sturdy. 

Refreshing design since so often highboys can look top-heavy and awkward like a roly poly fat man with stick legs. 

This one sits delicately, almost politely. I like too its Amish-cleans-up-Queen Anne look. Fresh.

Richard Watson professes to create "modern heirlooms." More info on the furniture line here.

Here's a New England-made Queen Anne highboy from 1st Dibs. Beautiful but a little roly poly and sporting a very fancy toupee.

More info here.

How to -- Lazy Plant Watering

Water household plants and outdoor succulents with ice cubes*.

Pros:

Prepackaged in convenient sizes for portion control. 

No vessel necessary and can be carried in bare hands. 

Cons:

Temporary chill on hands.

Taking efficiency and laziness to a new level.

*this takes creative liberties. I applaud.

I Want, I Need, I Have to Have -- Wallpaper

Love love loving this Colefax and Fowler print wallpaper mixed with all white bed linens in Gucci Westman's Manhattan home.

More Needlepoint - August Morgan

Turns out there's an Austin, Texas needlepoint pillow alternative to the wonderful-but-seen-everywhere Jonathan Adler. 


Hi, August Morgan. 


Product photography is not as fabulous with JA, but then you know your pillow price does not include a fancy photographer's fees.


Carried in Austin at Prize (check out during SXSW).

Black and Yellow Bargello

Price: $160.00

Flowers and Bee

Price: $140.00

Crewel Floral Pillow

Price: $200.00

Take Note, Jonathan Adler

I think Jonathan Adler should create a needlepoint pillow that says: 

I like your imperfections.

I would buy it.

Here is a link to his store and below a sample of his riff-on-traditional offerings.

*Which explains why I spend so much time in bed.

Target Tuesday -- Valentine's Ideas

You don't need all of Target's Valentine's flair, but one holiday accent could be fun. Below are my favorites.

$12.99 Online Price

Multi Hearts Cookie Bin Set of 2

 

$9.99 Online Price

Multi Heart Apron

 

$11.99 Online Price

Red Felt Fabric Placemat 

$14.99 Online Price

Pink Glitter Heart Cereal Bowl Set of 6 *

*Also in red and overlapping hearts. In-store, you can mix and match options.

 

 

Eva Zeisel and Helen Frankethauler

Goodbye, with love from 2012.

Eva Zeisel, Ceramic Artist and Designer, Dies at 105

“Men have no concept of how to design things for the home,” she told a writer. “Women should design the things they use.” 

Helen Frankenthaler, Abstract Painter Who Shaped a Movement, Dies at 83

 “Helen loved to entertain,” said Ann Freedman, the former president of Knoedler & Company, Ms. Frankenthaler’s dealer until its recent closing. “She enjoyed feeding people and engaging in lively conversation. And she liked to dance. In fact, you could see it in her movements as she worked on her paintings.”

 

'Tis the Season -- Flannel Sheets

Flannel sheets are a super affordable way to cozy-up your bed.

Fun:  Garnet Hill Dot to Dot Flannel Bedding

Mix N' Match: LL Bean Flannel Bedding

Floral:  Laura Ashley Flannel Bedding on Overstock.com

Fanciful:  Company Store's Bear Facts

Plaid: Cumberland Flannel Bedding from the Company Store

An Idiot's Guide to Gardening

Succulents -- Water, occasionally. Sun, sometimes. Fertilizer, not really. Varieties, many.

You can buy them at any nursery and sometimes even the grocery store. Go on....buy one, two, or a few.

I like, I want, I might need....A Zulu Basket

Just ended up on the loveliest British site, Ben Pentreath. If I were over the pond, I would stop in but perusing through the online site, I found this Zulu Basket, about $40.

For magazines? laundry? a pile of shoes?? A chic solution for those of you who stash shoes underneath your desks at work.