Old Skirt= New Clutch!

I wanted to title this post: Stuff to do while watching Vampire Diaries, but it was too long and I had second thoughts. Anyway, I've been wanting to do this for a while but I made a clutch! I had a super cute skirt from Banana Republic that was not really in style anymore and I didn't end up wearing it all summer and the guilt was killing me. I needed to do something useful with it because I really did love the fabric. So...CLUTCH!

First I put little magnets under the waist of the skirt, folded it down, secured it in place and reinforced it to make it stiffer.

Then I folded it and pinned the layers in place.

Woo! Sewing time. Luckily the skirt had a nice light grey lining which became the lining of my new bag.

Then I turned it right side out and put a huge button on the top as a cute accent!

Close up.

My fave thing was the really amazing pleating in the skirt and it showed up really well in the clutch too, right? This little guy will probably make his debut Friday night!


Alicia B.

the crop is in!

i am trying to make salmon cakes for dinner, still eating from the pantry and garden this week. went out to pick a pepper and realized the gourds wanted to come in! so i picked as many as were on our side of the fence, rushed in, arranged in bowl and took pic. i'm so proud of our crop! lab wants to go for walk, gotta run.

october- inside and out

in the home ,in the shop, in the garden, both the richness of autumn color and the decaying grandeur of october is so appealing to me. while the shop is filled with the reddest of rosehips, the brightest of berries and the newest of roses, the garden is full of fading glamour. in the house, a small vase with a new (to us) rose, "latina". in the shop. a beautiful fall arrangement created by betty, one of my co-designers. in the garden, october disarray. nice not to feel i have to keep it looking perfect anymore, nature is having her own way and doing it beautifully.

RIP La Ronda

Today is a very sad day for me, as a preservationist movement failed to save the Mizner designed mansion, La Ronda, outside of Philadelphia today.
Finally breaking through layers of secrecy, the owner, Joseph Kestenbaum,(biography of him as well as contact information, should you feel so inclined to contact him to let you know how you feel) finally came out claiming that he had been open to selling the mansion but no buyers came through. Really? This has been proven to not be true -1 serious buyer was desperately trying to reach him, Benjamin Wohl. Mr Kestenbaum, if you are not ashamed of your actions,why the big secret who you were?
Mr. Kestenbaum, our nation's buildings are our legacy. You decided to destroy this home (which you bought for some unknown reason) and are in talks to build a home which will undoubtably be of less importance and lesser quality. While you may not care about La Ronda, many of us do and this is a heart-wrenching day for us. I hope you enjoy your sprawling mcmansion - I'm sure many of your neighbors won't be bothering you with invites over for coffee or warm apple pies. I hope your home makes you very happy and you lose oodles of money when you go to sell it someday.

Read more about the end of the struggle online :
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Wikipedia
Save Ardmore Coalition
and the Philadephia Inquirer - again - where the owner laments the 'public circus' this has become. Gee, Mr. Kestenbaum - are you seriously surprised by this? I'm only the more depressed that I wasn't able to chain myself to the front gates of the mansion. I hope I never meet you in person and I'm guessing you probably feel the same way. I think the only thing more depressing than the tearing down of this masterpiece is this hokey picture of you. Karma is a bitch, please remember that. After you are gone, THIS is what you will be remembered for: your legacy.

Urn makeover

I have been wanting one of those huge iron or stone urns for my front yard. But the prices were WAY outta my pocketbook range- some were over $200!! So did I let that stop me- heck-no tech-no! I found these orange (I call them orange-they are suppose to look like clay) plastic urns at Garden Ridge- they were still a little steep for me $60. So I waited-and waited, well guess what?, they went on clearance and I got them for $14. I bought two and headed home to gather my spray paint. Cuz what else are you gonna do with orangey-fake-plastic urns? I loved the lines and the raised motif on these. The black spray paint really make them pop- at a distance they almost look like those old iron pots you see the Charleston area. Tip:fill the bottom of your large pots with foam peanuts-it will make the pot easy to move AND you use less dirt.

I then filled them with mums for the fall and will change them out for Christmas. I also plan on planting white tulips in them for the spring.

Inlaid Wood Love

Italian inlaid wood tea caddy from 1st Dibs. Only $1850? I'll take it!

I think inlaid wood is incredibly beautiful. You might even say exquisite. There are so many intricate patterns you can create on the floor, in a door, in a box, I could go on but it's starting to sound like a Dr Seuss book. One usually finds it it a traditional setting where it is a stunning surprise.

A large honeycomb pattern is here in this foyer using different tones of wood to make the pattern stand out. From Traditional Home.

Think you can only find inlay in a historical home? Not so! Stephanie Stokes (my kitchen idol) took the pattern of her family crest and had it inlaid into the small kitchen floor. Stunning.

If you don't have the resources for hiring a professional to do your marquetry work, this is actually a stained pattern made to look like inlaid wood. Incredibly gorgeous and I love the Greek key pattern on each side. Designed by Brown Davis Interiors.

Here is designer, Juan Montoya modeling for us next to a kicky inlaid wood door. It almost looks like parkay flooring but much prettier as it is framed out so nicely on this door.

I wish I could see the top of this table better but it has an inlaid pattern inset on it. I like the informal look of this as well. Gorgeous foyer by James Michael Howard.

I think I'm most drawn in by the craftsmanship that it must take to create these pieces. The craft of marquetry is quite rare I'm sure so it makes them even more valuable and special. I just recently selected an inlaid wood box for a client to use as a cocktail table (with legs made) and a glass top and it is going to look amazing. Have a fantastic Thursday because guess what! Tomorrow is Friday!


Alicia B.

The Queen's Theater

Marie Antoinette loved to perform. Before becoming the Dauphine of France back home in Austria, she actually took comedic acting classes to perfect the French language.In 1777 she asked her architect, Richard Mique to take inspiration from the auditorium at the Chateau de Choisy (built for her predecessor of the Petit Trianon, Madame de Pompadour) and build her a simple theater on the grounds of her little estate.The theater was completed in 1779 but the Queen stopped acting here after the death of her child in 1780 and remained in the audience.The entrance features a classic pediment, sculpted by DeDeschamps, supported by 2 ionic columns. I love the little randomly placed window here!The entrance is a very small vestibule, covered in blue silk, with a white sculpted doorway into the theater.

As this was a private space not meant to impress the public (and France was hemorrhaging money at the time), the decorations are all of paper mache and painted to look like finer materials.Looks like the real thing though!The theater lies right behind the very formal part of the garden near the French Pavilionand acts as a transition into the English GardensDirectly across from the entrance to the theater is the English garden arbour.

The thing I found most intriguing was the bootscrape of the theater though.

So simple and unadorned; Marie Antoinette scraped mud off her shoes here after walking to the theater and it hasn't gone anywhere.