Fresh & Green Holiday Decor Ideas!

to follow up the fabulous SnoWONDER-ful Giveaway last week,

i thought you'd like to see a few more ideas for using it in your Holiday decor!

above, a vintage glass pie plate is filled with sno-balls made from the magic SnoWonder faux snow. 

yes, they hold their shape like that - and are still wet and 'cold'!

they look absolutely real - except you can't do THIS with real snowballs:

 what else can you do with SnoWonder faux snow?

one year for Christmas Eve dinner,
i placed a scoop of sno inside my collection of vintage Santa mugs

and used them at each placesetting:

 i like the simplicity of the sage green ornaments hanging from the chandelier on spiraled pipe cleaners, too.

btw, my spiffy white Santa mugs started out just like the ones you see in antique shops - red and white. 

i just soaked them in hot water and soap, then used an old credit card to scrape off the softened red paint.

it was an easy fix to stay true to my own style!

i am a big proponent of using ornaments all over the place - not just on the tree.

[when the tree is full, you gotta' stop.
but when you fill other containers with them, you can keep going!]

in the photo above, you see a HUGE aluminum pedestal punch bowl filled with a mound of SnoWonder,

and various ornaments nestled into the snow. 

TOP TIP!

see the white, chartreuse, and silver bell in the photo?

it has no back. really. it was broken when i bought it. 

nestle broken ornaments or figures into snow, or glitter, or greenery,

and no one will ever see the back and know that it is not a perfect vintage treasure.

 a clear glass footed bowl also plays host to SnoWonder and some ornaments.

mixing up the ornament sizes, patterns, and shapes makes for an interesting display.

the monochromatic palette of white, silver, and clear neutrals

is invigorated by the shades of green: evergreen, celadon, sage, and chartreuse.

 

 a white ironstone platter with a huge crack in it 

is still able to serve up a healthy serving of ornaments on a bed of fresh Sno!

since SNOW was the major theme of my Christmas decor that year,

it carried into other ways to bring wintery delights inside.

i mixed clear glass, silver, and white neutrals

with some fresh green colors for simplified style...

 with a soft color palette and not a lot of 'stuff',

the whole look is clean, spare, simple, and spacious...

in a 900 square foot Cottage, keeping it spacious was important! 

i used a fake tree, with mini white lights and strands of large white light bulbs.

sadly, the large bulbs ended up BLINDING anyone who looked at the tree at night!

so I took some polyfil stuffing and placed a 'pouffe' of it as 'snow' over each bulb to soften the brightness.

[NOTE: these were NEW bulbs and burned cool - 

please DO NOT place anything over old or hot light bulbs!]

 i also used large plastic glittered snowflakes on the tree [with one as a topper]

an abundance of white and silver glass ball ornaments in various sizes and finishes

and some funky paper ornaments with glittered designs....

they were gift tags that i bought at a paper supply store on clearance!

[if i were to replicate this look NOW, 

i'd use manilla tags stamped with a green inked design instead]

 on the mantel, glass and silver containers were grouped on either side

and filled the glass vases with MORE ornaments in green, white, and silver - 

i love doing this - it's so easy, and keeps ornaments from breaking!

some pine boughs and white mini lights finish it off.

i also made some fun poinsettia-like flowers

from vintage pipe cleaners and silver resin mini-ornaments.

[i am looking for more of those shaped pipe cleaners
and will put together a tutorial for you soon...]

the flowers sit in a tall silver florist's bucket, with some greens, a large ornament, 

and some dripping silver glass garland.

i like them a lot better than real poinsettias, but those would look lovely here, too.

especially the 'Limelight' variety with bright lime green bracts. 

it didn't take a lot of 'stuff' or money or even time to put this look together - 

just a fresh idea, the color green, and Snow!

 click HERE to visit the SnoWonder website

BROADWAY+THRESHER Magazine

debuting today is the new BROADWAY+THRESHER website and blog

this new publication (premiers in 2013)

will focus on the blend of urban sensibility and rural lifestyle, 

exploring the cutting edge of architecture, art, fashion, food and artisanal manufacturing 

and the untold stories of the people who have made it possible.

this publication was developed by a talented and hardworking team of writers 

whom I have had the pleasure to meet and work with on another publication:

David Gobeli and Andrew Kohn.

their staff of expert curators and contributing writers reflect the diversity of city-meets-country style.

this promises to be a sophisticated rural perspective like nothing you've seen before.

it's literally a crossroads of downtown and down home

this vintage street sign was the inspiration for the magazine's name...

head over to their website to read the whole story!

visit BROADWAY+THRESHER online

NOV 14: a guest blog post by 

Debi Ward Kennedy of HOMEWARDfound Decor

on the BROADWAY+THRESHER blog

Also in November, a guest post by BROADWAY+THRESHER 

here on HOMEWARDfound

Pumpkins on Parade!

I spent Thursday on the road with a van full of Sweet Sweater Pumpkins,

 delivering them to two of my FABULOUS local retailers here in Southern California - 

let me share them with you!

 One was A Beautiful Mess by Kymberley Fraser, located in Agoura Hills.

Her daughter took one look at the orange pumpkins and declared that the front window needed one...

I think she found the perfect place for it!

[although if it were ME, I might have tucked the pumpkin under his ribcage, in the place where his heart would be....'cause, well, these babies are the heart of my business right now!]

Kymberley's store is beautiful, and the neutral pumpkins fit perfectly

with all of her soft, warm, colors and the elegance of rustic industrial style.

I love how she has them displayed in this old wooden goat cart on a harvest table...

Kymberley has a selection of pumpkins in a neutral palette in sizes from mini to Extra Large
[the Extra Large size is ONLY available from these two retailers]

and now, she has some very special pumpkins made from Angora and Cashmere sweaters!

I delivered 12, and half of them sold before they even went into a display!

I so enjoyed meeting Kymberley's husband and daughter,

her store manager Amy,

and her really sweet customer Heather and daughter

(thank you so much for your enthusiastic support of my little product!)

_______________________

I want to let you know about a VERY special event this weekend

over at Julie O'Keefe Home & Garden in La Canada

[um, that's pronounced "Lah Can-yah-dah" for those not from the Southland. It has nothing at all to do with our neighbors to the North!]

Julie is hosting a party on Friday & Saturday, and Sweet Sweater Pumpkins were invited!
She's all stocked up and even has some new colors and sizes to offer,

please click HERE for information about her event.

Her shop is as lovely as her booth at the Remnants of the Past show was... 

speaking of which, here are a few photos from last weekend!

 Julie is an incredible floral designer with applause-worthy original ideas,

like these darling vintage linen flower pockets...

I can just see this on a doorknob, a doorknocker, an armoire handle, 

or filled with flowers as a sweet hostess gift for ANY season!

 The Limited Edition 'Luxe' collection Cashmere & Angora Pumpkins were very popular,

and perfectly presented some one-of-a-kind artisan button bracelets...

The regular Sweet Sweater Pumpkins nestled into several displays, 

showing how they coordinate with many kinds of decor:

 All of the vintage linen accessories you see here are handmade by Julie...

beautiful lavender sachets, cell phone purses, tote bags, aprons, flower pouches,

pillows, tea towels, tree & gift package ornaments.... I don't think Julie ever SLEEPS!

I am just so very grateful that Julie had my pumpkins in her booth at this wonderful show, 

and allowed me to come and be her booth helper.
We had so much fun working together to set up the booth, and then during the show!

This is the very best part of being in business - 

the amazing people I meet, the support I can give AND receive, 

and the wonderful experiences & opportunities that come my way.
______________________________

and just think...

it all started with a pumpkin ;0)  my grandpa would love that! 

I've been collecting pumpkins my whole life, and I love to decorate with them in fall.

my grandpa used to call me, his first-born red-headed granddaughter, his 'Little Pumpkin Eater'.

his nickname for me started a collection that my mom and I have been adding to for decades.

that's what seasonal decorating is to me: meaningful.

Inspired by Charm likes Sweet Sweater Pumpkins!

 in the last few weeks of september, i was on a pumpkin-making mission

(i called it pumpkingeddon!) to prepare products for a huge corporate order.

but it was very 'hush-hush' and i couldn't share what it was for.

so i cut and stuffed and tied and tagged a few hundred pumpkins

and bagged them up in sets of three, one from each color palette (Light, Bright, and Neutral)

it was a special package created just for this company...

loaded them into boxes

and then shipped them off to chicago on a wing and a prayer.

from the corporate office, they would be re-boxed individually 

and sent off to customers who had ordered a 'grab bag' sort of offering.

yes, sight unseen!

i was finally given permission to share the news today:

my Original Sweet Sweater Pumpkins are featured

in Michael J. Wurm's 'Inspired by Charm' October offering for 

LOST CRATES !

Michael and i 'met' when we were both contributing writers for FOLK Magazine

[not in person, just in lots of word-y posts, comments, and emails]

and he has been very generous in sharing word of HOMEWARDfound with his fans.

[the man has over TWO MILLION Twitter and Pinterest followers!]

he's a 'style spotter' for Better Homes and Gardens Magazine,

 a contributor to home decor and design websites and resources, 

one of his bffs is Kim Myles (yes, the DesignStar winner!),

so he's truly a design STAR himself...

and I am so honored that he chose my product for his Lost Crate offering. 

Thank you, Michael at Inspired by Charm!

Thank you to Jack at Lost Crates!