Anthropologie Holiday Workshop: Corona 2013

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I loved this workshop. The girls (Amber and Carly) that ran it were two of the sweetest girls I have ever met. They really liked their job. They liked the customers. They were just awesome!

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I wore my Free People thermal oatmeal sweater dress that I found at Nordstrom Rack and my Anthropologie Heirloom necklace with the bee embelishments. I also snuck in some colorful tights, because I was cold and I thought no one would notice. Unfortunately, I tried some clothes on for reviews (coming Sunday) and they are the most prevalent thing in the pictures. Again, what can you do?

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This workshop was more interactive than the San Diego Workshop I had gone to early that week. At this one, we all sat at a communal table. We introduced ourselves and told a fun fact about ourselves. Mine was I am double jointed. My favorite share fact was from a lovely woman whose mother and grandmother were doctors. They grew up with baby monkeys in their home that were from the research hospital her family worked at. It sounded like a fun childhood.

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We ended up making a rubber band art installation made to look like string art. How cool is that?

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We just took a circle of cardboard that they had precut (they had glued two pieces together to make it sturdy and thick) and wound our rubber band around it.

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We started in the center and then each rubber band placed after that went crossed over the next to the right. It ended up looking like this.

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Some of the girl’s crafts were perfect. With the center being, well, in the center. Mine, not so much. It took a curve at a weird angle. Kind of like their creator. ; ). Both of mine did this. I still think they look okay. Imperfect, like me.

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After we were done they were going to spray paint them gold. Starting at the edges and going towards the middle. They were going to leave the middle bare. They wanted the rubber band center to shine through.

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I cannot wait to make some of these with my kids. I think it is a super fun easy holiday display idea.

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I am so happy I got to go this workshop. It was incredibly fun. The vibe was relaxed and welcoming. I am pictured here with Amber and Carly. They were unbelievably sweet. Just lovely and kind. The ladies attending the workshop were also so nice. I met Karen who has a blog, also. It is called Elderberry Street. She also did a blog post about the event there. Her pictures turned out fantastic!

Have you done one of these workshops? Are you looking forward to doing some crafts this holiday season?

Rhode Montijo

As many of you know, I love art. My family and I collect whimsical surreal pieces in our home. One artist I have had the pleasure of meeting is Rhode Montijo. We own four pieces of his fun art. He is the creator of a comic called, “The Halloween Kid.” I believe a special is supposed to be airing soon. He has been hard at work on it. It is based off of the children’s book he wrote (he also wrote “Cloud Boy”). I figured with Halloween here it is a perfect time to showcase his art.

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Our first piece by him is my favorite. It looks like two gnomes playing in a tree. But there is a creature shambling towards them. I think it looks kind of like Ollie.

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This is such a whimsical little creature. I liked the scale of him on the page. In a few weeks I will be doing a post about how to save money on your framing. I definitely used those tricks for this piece. Isn’t he cute?

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I like this collage of creatures. It is interesting. I like to mix pencil drawings in with more colorful pieces. It allows the eye some rest.

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A fairy king perhaps? Rhode’s imagination and drawing technique is fantastic.

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Here is Rhode Montijo and myself at Comic Con in July. I wish I would have gotten a picture of him with his lovely wife, too.

Rhode Montijo loves Halloween. I remember reading once on his blog that he leaves door hangers he created on homes he feels truly got into the fun spirit of Halloween. He really is a sweet man with an imagination to match his talent. I have met him three times and he is always smiling. We love to have his art in our home.

Embroidered Bird

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I like to search for vintage crewel on Etsy. I sometimes find some great unique pieces. Once you start looking, you will generally start seeing the same pattern over and over. So, you will know which pieces are pretty common.

A bit ago, I spotted this guy. And I knew. He was going to be perfect in our hallway bathroom. I had never seen one of his kind before. He reminded me of those pencil and hammer birds in Alice in Wonderland. That was my favorite part when I was little. My least favorite part was the broom dog. The one that had the broom for a head and a little one for a tail. It would shake me to my OCD core.

Okay, wait. Look how cute that dog is. Oh, he’s erasing the path. No. You missed a spot. There is a part of the path not erased! Hey, dog. You cannot leave with a giant spot just sitting there. Come back! Aaaah!

Anyhoo.

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Our mirror has been transformed into a bright green creation. I think it looks amazing. One of my favorite things we’ve had done to the house.

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But the bright green mirror had nothing to compliment it. I thought I was fine with that. Until I saw this wacky character.

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Doesn’t he look perfect for an Alice In Wonderland themed house?

No broom dogs allowed.

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I shared this on Savvy Southern Style

And My Romantic Home

Hung Up On Pink

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Our pink door finally got hung up!

Remember my post about that old pink door we purchased? Well, we finally got around to hanging it up a few weeks ago. It now hangs in our hallway. It actually looks really cool where it is.

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We hung three paintings on it.

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The alien painting is by Gloria Muriel. The gnome riding a dragon was a Christmas present my daughter painted for me three Christmases ago. The black and white dragon is by Becky Dreistadt.

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We are very happy with the look of the hallway now. It is decidedly fun!

What is the most outrageous thing you have done in your home?… decorating wise. ; )

Please tell!