Friday {postscript} / Offers, Crafts, Videos

Order up a chair and a sofa for me, please!

Two blogs I follow offered TERRIFIC giveaway promotions this week, and there’s still time to opt in if you act by Tuesday, Nov. 3. Be sure to read and follow specific instructions on each blog site.

Good luck to all who enter. (Though I’M hoping to win at least one!)

Ellen’s other love leads to Home

No, I’m not talking about Ellen DeGeneres’ partner Portia. Ellen’s just-out book, Home, showcases her other love–buying homes, reinventing them, and selling or renting out. She recently sold one of her homes to Ryan Seacrest, and singer/songwriter/actor Nick Jonas rents another.

In an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show Tuesday she gave details, including how someone invited her to dinner once and she bought their home, as well as how her addiction eventually led to the book. She said she enjoys transforming the homes and would most definitely go into real estate if and when she stopped having fun in her current gig.

Follow the link to buy Home and other books by/about Ellen DeGeneres:

New fun you can DENY

DENY Designs introduced 299 new patterns of original art for its home furnishings product line Wednesday. DENY commissions patterns from independent artists, and items purchased benefit the artist.
Clockwise from upper left: Birch Trees by Allyson Johnson, Nala by Holli Zollinger, Red Fan by Cora Dantini, and Praises by Rebecca Allen.

My four favorites are pictured above, with patterns and links to respective artists listed in the caption. Knowing the artist and starting to recognizing his/her work is part of what makes DENY pieces so much fun—that and all the terrific color and pattern! I struggled to choose just four, and if you ask me again on another day you might get four very different answers.

I happen to be a geometric/abstract pattern nut, as you can see, but the line also includes seasonal, photographic, representational, and ethnographic art. Check out all 299, pick your own must-haves, and order everything from sheets to phone cases to clocks on the DENY Designs blog.

More flora and fauna

Design Sponge

If you enjoyed my Oct. 19 post, “Falling for flora and fauna in a BIG way,” (and the stats say many of you did) this photo will give you some extra design inspiration. What I really like about the display is the homeowner made no attempt to disguise that she tore these prints from a book. She’s left the torn edges exposed, used cardboard backing for the mounts, and chosen identical, value-priced poster frames to unify the grouping.

Notice that all are the same size (since they came from the same book), but some are oriented horizontally and some vertically. The overall shape of the arrangement is a modified rectangle, but you could certainly do it any number of ways. All in all, it’s a thrifty and creative way to bring color and interest to the rustic casual leanings of the room.

See/read more about this 1925 craftsman-inspired bungalow in Richmond, VA, on Design Sponge. And if you’re looking for some books to tear up, check out BoHo Home Boutique’s Flora & Fauna shop. Shopping links for all the books, prints and posters from the original article are located there, as well as some additional themed gift items and home goods.

Go to the head of the crafty class

If you read my Oct. 22 post, “A show of hands, please,” you know I have a thing for body parts décor. Sounds more gruesome than it is, and I draw the line at actual human skeletons (or look-alikes) and kitschy zombie stuff (no skulls or organ models for me, please). I’m thinking more along the line of wooden artist’s mannequins and ceramic reproductions of vintage glove forms.

The House that Lars Built

So imagine my delight when I found this “flower head vase” DIY tutorial on The House that Lars Built. It uses a Styrofoam head from a craft store, but what you end up with looks like anything else but. The tutorial includes links to a face template and instructions for making the paper tulips shown. But feel free to search out your own face template on-line, as well as different flowers or materials for the “hair.”

This would be a fun and inexpensive table centerpiece for an event, and it could be given any number of seasonal looks as well. At the least, it’s a cute and original gift that would perk up any bookshelf or desk.

5 fall crafts carry through to Thanksgiving

 

(It doesn’t get much simpler than this, folks.)

 

 

 

 

Last call for Halloween

  • Nine more makeup video tutorials…

Still at a loss for a costume? Check out these links to nine more makeup video tutorials rounded up by Bloglovin’. (Here’s the link to the 10 I ran last Friday, in case you missed them.) This batch includes:

  1. Cleopatra (shown)
  2. Lion
  3. Glam zombie
  4. Snapchat costumes
  5. Edward Scissorhands
  6. Nebular from Guardians of the Galaxy
  7. Maleficent
  8. Marie Antoinette
  9. La Catrina

 

Apartment Therapy

You’ll find links to photos/articles about…

  1. UFO crash site (shown and my personal favorite).
  2. A yard display with more than 3,000 pumpkins.
  3. Ghost maidens (includes a tutorial)
  4. Steampunk drill
  5. Giant tentacle monster (my #2, includes instructions)
  6. Since it’s too late to try this, sit back and enjoy

If this doesn’t get you in the mood, nothing will. But don’t worry, it’ll all be over for another year in one more day (though the sugar high your kids will have will last another month or so).

And finally, a reward for those who read this far

I hesitate to bring up anything Christmas-related until at LEAST after Nov. 1, but this is too cute to resist, and I wanted you to see it here…

Yes, it’s a gratuitous ad for West Elm, and one they did NOT pay me to run. It just showed up in my inbox one day and charmed me. They made it so darn cute I couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Animals and babies are always a safe bet, right?

Have a spooky, safe and fun Halloween

May all your treats be sweet and any tricks be neat!

 

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