Loretta's Top Ten APPLESandRUBIES Posts of 2011

Looking back at 2011, here's my favorite TOP TEN APPLESandRUBIES posts:
(click on the links to view the posts)

 

#1 January 2011:  APPLESandRUBIES Pure Style Home Inspired Lunch post. Creating a winter tablescape based the color palette of Lauren Liess's star turn article in Better Homes and Gardens. Thanks for the inspiration, Lauren! (and it gave me the kick in the butt to finally hang curtains in my dining room!)

 

 #2 April 2011: APPLESandRUBIES Wishes For Charlie post. How could I forget this beautiful and moving interview I did with fellow blogger Sarah Greenman of La Maison Boheme about her son's upcoming surgery? This charming boy is doing so well now! See an update on Charlie here.

#3 January 2011: APPLESandRUBIES Dreams and Dragonflies post. One of my favorite pieces of jewelry,  based on Loretta Fontaine Jewelry's sterling silver Maria necklace. I enjoyed researching, sketching and painting the delicate dragonfly for this custom piece.

 #4 May 2011: APPLESandRUBIES A Letter To Vern Yip post. What a pleasure to get together and have a GREAT design consultation on my home from HGTV's iconic interior designer Vern Yip.

Stacey, I'm still waiting for those photos of Vern and I... I know you took, like, a hundred photos!!!

#5 June 2011: APPLESandRUBIES "A Beautiful Windowseat" Post - This was the MOST POPULAR post of the year. (Seven months later it still gets dozens of hits a month... Unbelievable!!!)  A tale of how I envisoned my dream windowseat, and the random Google search that lead me to Lauren Liess's blog Pure Style Home.

 

#6 June 2011: APPLESandRUBIES A Little Custom Can Make All The Difference post. One of my favorite things - customizing my jewelry to perfectly fit the client! This is the Loretta Fontaine Jewelry sterling silver "Theresa" necklace with the miniature original photograph "Reaching Boxwood."

  
#7 August 2011: APPLESandRUBIES Labeling: My Dad and A Sharpie post. Dad, I love you and you crack me up, always!

 #8 September 2011: APPLESandRUBIES More Paper Model and Demo is Done! post If you've followed my blog this year you'll see the slow progress of my windowseat construction as the year went on. Making this paper model was a blast. (You can see the latest windowseat update here.)

 

 #9 September 2011: APPLESandRUBIES Our Backyard Flooded From Irene post. Yes, this is our backyard creek. Looking more like a small pond. What a storm!

 

#10 APPLESandRUBIES Best and Brightest For Nate post. Yes, I picked the outfit on the left, and yes, I will post soon on the trip to NYC to see the show taped. And yes, I am so SAD The Nate Berkus Show was not picked up for next season!

What a fun trip down memory lane to make this list. I put my top ten list in chronological order, because, honestly, I could not rank my favorites within this bunch.

Happy 2012!
Loretta

A "Beautiful Window Seat" by Lauren Liess For The DC Design House

Remember my post that mentioned the progress of Lauren Liess's room in the DC Design House? Here's the finished room! What an amazing difference!

{"The Hideaway" at the DC Design House, photo:Helen Norman}

Now, how did I ever find Lauren's wonderful blog Pure Style Home in the first place? 

It was back in Spring of 2010 when I was using Google Images to search the words "Beautiful Window Seat" as I was doing research to design my own window seat. I came upon an image of a  window seat in an old April 2009 post by Lauren called "Icons of Home" describing how she had just bought a home, and was using photographs to illustrate what would be in her dream home. 

Of course, her home was so similar to the one I had just bought, ( a '70s home with a walk-out basement, creek in the back and a so-similar first floor plan) that I had to keep reading a year's worth of past Pure Style Home posts to catch up.

{so charming! photo: Helen Norman}

So I have to sigh with happiness when I see this room in the DC Design House. Let's just focus on this new "beautiful window seat," shall we? There's the Peter Dunham Fig Leaf fabric on the pillows. Luscious! As well as two pillows with fabric from Lauren's new collection Lauren Liess Textiles - Wild Chicory in black, and Magnolia in true. Don't you want to curl up and spend the day?

{photo: Helen Norman}

With a Princess and the Pea fairy tale twist, Lauren has three real mattresses stacked up. Heavenly! Such an innovative and creative space. Even though the room is dismantled as the showhouse is over, I know the photographs of this room will live on and be referenced time and time and time again, happily ever after.  Congratulations, Lauren!

{my sketch - construction has been delayed yet again - will start late this month}

Here's the latest drawings of my windowseat project...

{interior - pillows will be added, promise. This is a "working" drawing!}

...and did you know that I always invisioned a cozy "real mattress" in it, not just a thin piece of covered foam? A real mattress in a window seat is something I rarely see, so I was SO excited to see it in Lauren's project!

{from Pure Style Home, image from Cottage Living}

...let's go back to that image I pulled out of Google Images so long ago, and you can read Lauren's April 2009 post "Icons of Home" here. One of my favorites!

Loretta

p.s. For an update on my own "beautiful windowseat" click here!

Part 3 Behind-The-Scenes: The Buffet

 Part 3: The Buffet

Here's the third and final Behind-The-Scenes from my December 22 post APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Holiday Inspired Lunch. My inspiration for this lunch came from Lauren Liess' Better Homes & Gardens article "Christmas Present."

{the sides are chip-carved in Tramp Art style}

 I hoisted this treasure onto my kitchen counter for the background of the buffet. Lauren Liess's love of warm aged brown woods (read her post on it here) has me appreciating even more the carved wooden church made by my great-grandfather Michael McQuade.

I was told he carved it in a day when pregnant women were not expected to be seen much outside the house. So he stayed inside and carved to keep his wife Lucy company, and to wait for the birth of my grandmother, Mabel.

{love this color}

Now, a funny thing about this lunch was I couldn't find the magazine with the "Christmas Present" article in it the day I was getting everything ready! (I may have left it in the fabric store when I bought the fabric for the table runner.) This was probably for the best, so I could just focus on the palette and mood in my head. 

{fold the ribbon in the middle twice for a tight knot}

Aren't these coppery pears so sweet tied with simple citron green grosgrain ribbons? Really easy.

 There was nothing fancy at this lunch, just sandwiches, fruits and nuts, and my little Brown Sugar Coconut Cake. Half of the guests were preschoolers!

That's the end of my three part behind-the-scenes! Read my original December 22 post for this lunch at APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Inspired Lunch.

Thank you, Lauren for the inspiration!

Loretta

Part 2 Behind-The-Scenes: The Dessert

Part 2: The Dessert

Behind-the-Scenes Part 2 is the Brown Sugar Coconut Cake from my December 22 post APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Holiday Inspired Lunch. My inspiration for this lunch came from Lauren Liess's Better Homes & Gardens article "Christmas Present."

{two 9" round pans}

A bite of coconut cake always remind me of the holidays. (My Aunt would bake a towering multi-layer coconut cake on Christmas day when I was a child.) This is a much smaller and simpler version. The batter is a variation on a classic yellow cake - but with all brown sugar so the cake comes out very flat!

 I baked the cake in two round pans, then cut them into smaller squares, and used the scraps to "puzzle" together even more layers.

I was able to stack six layers in all, and put it all together with a sweet white buttercream frosting.

A sprinkle of coconut finishes it off, and reminds me of a gentle dusting of snow. Grated, unsweetened coconut is my favorite.

I'll add the recipes in the comments below!

Hope you enjoyed my behind-the-scenes of Part 2: The Dessert. Read my original December 22 post for this lunch at APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Inspired Lunch, and come back soon for Part 3: The Buffet!

Loretta

Part 1 Behind-the-Scenes: The Table

Part 1: The Table

Here's the promised Behind-the-Scenes Part 1 from my December 22 post APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Holiday Inspired Lunch. My inspiration for this lunch came from Lauren Liess's Better Homes & Gardens article "Christmas Present," click the link, as Lauren has just posted the full article on her fantastic blog Pure Style Home.

{My son's little wooden animals were the first things I knew I wanted on the table}

 I'm not claiming to have an amazing home like Lauren's, but it was fun to be inspired. For the table, to start, I dragged out all the items I could find in my house in shades of green, silver, copper, whites and warm woods. Now, note the bare windows, because...

{hanging to dry in the sun before they go up}

 Yes, I FINALLY hung curtains in the dining room! Why this took me almost three years astounds me.

{look at that face - so fun to help Mom!}

Son H and I foraged the back yard by the creek for evergreens and twigs, (wasn't it neat how Lauren had them shoved in her Christmas tree?) We even foraged the Christmas tree limbs neighbors had put out on the curb!

{I like both sides of this fabric!}

In advance I bought some ribbon and fabric. I've always been intimidated by the variety and sheer number of fabric bolts in the upholstery section, but with my mantra "green and vintage-looking" I had just a few choices, and quickly bought a half yard of this pretty sage green damask. No time to sew, I just cut a straight edge and used it as a runner.

{Warming by the Jotul wood stove...}

 I just loved the images of buckets of voluptuous white flowers when Lauren showed us the prep for the BH&G article back in February 2010, so I bought a dozen white roses. The florist told me they would open up with some heat, so I put them near the wood stove. You can see where this is heading...

{...ugh!}

Yes - I burnt the roses. So sad! Only a half dozen were usable when I peeled off the outer petals!

{long stems became short stems}

A bit of a mess working on the arrangement in a squat double-walled glass vase that I wrapped with a simple band of white paper to hide the stems.

{I cut the overgrown part right off - ruthless!}

 What else to add? On the lookout for bright green things in the house I spied this aloe plant.

{Just a little gooey!}

So green spikes were added. Here's the fabric runner down, with three candles and a silver mercury globe.

 I love a little unexpected touch to the table, and a vintage green spool of thread was perfect.

{Lots of little kids over for this lunch -and they played with the animals at the table!}

The spool of thread was so colorful keeping company with my wooden menagerie!

I officially have a serious crush on all colors of green now.

{a peek of our Christmas tree in the background}

Hope you enjoyed my behind-the-scenes of Part 1: The Table. Read my original December 22 post for this lunch at APPLESandRUBIES: Pure Style Home Inspired Lunch, and come back soon for Part 2: The Dessert!

Thank you again to Lauren Liess and her blog Pure Style Home for the inspiration!

Loretta 


sources: curtains: JCPenney, fabric:JoAnn's, vase and silver globe: Pottery Barn

Pure Style Home Holiday Inspired Lunch

{the awaited issue!}

Have you seen Lauren Liess's home in the latest Better Homes & Gardens?

Everyone following Lauren's blog Pure Style Home had been waiting patiently for the issue to come out. Her stylish house is featured in "Christmas Present" on page 66, written by Joanna Linberg, produced by Jessica Thomas, and with luminous photography by Helen Norman. Back in February Lauren gave us all a fantastic peek behind the scenes at the photoshoot. Now, we finally see the results!

{Santa, come on over! (photo: Helen Norman)}

Of course, her home looks GORGEOUS decked out for the holidays! Lauren's interior design philosophy of "Pure Style" is based on keeping things simple, happy & beautiful. Her decorations are nature-inspired and kid-friendly - she has two little ones at home!

Lauren's holiday palette inspired a lunch at my home last week... It's not as gorgeous as her home, I know, but I had a great time putting it together:

{My dining room - real snow on the evergreens outside the window!}

I had some friends and a sweet bunch of preschoolers over on a Wednesday. My Pure Style Home inspiration was moss and citron greens, silver and copper, whites, spheres, vintage-look fabrics, warm brown woods, natural objects, and a touch of whimsy.

{my son's toys}

How cute and whimsical are these little wooden toys at the table? Lauren had adorable white polar bears at the holiday place settings in her home.

{A wooden church carved by my great grandfather behind the buffet.}

Pears tied with citron green grosgrain ribbon sit at the buffet. I served kid-friendly food, but I still went with Lauren's colors - coppery brown nuts and pears, bright green grapes and a snowy white coconut cake.

{centerpiece detail - white roses, aloe spears and evergreens}

Pulling off this lunch was so much fun. I started by gathering up all the objects around my house reminding me of Lauren's holiday look. Her style is so natural, effortless and charming, you don't worry about perfection. I know I'm not even close to how stunning Lauren's decorations look - but it was a ball (bad pun- sorry!) trying!

{"...I'm running off to join the others!"}

I never did get the photo of my cute little guests and their parents around the table I envisioned. The kids and my son scarfed down their food then ran off to play with Legos before my camera came out. And they would not come back to pose!

{David, Lauren, and their adorable sons Christian and Justin (photo:Helen Norman)}

A Happy Holidays and huge Thank You to Lauren Liess and her blog Pure Style Home for all the inspiration! In the next few days I'll post on how I pulled everything together: 1.The Table,  2.The Dessert, and 3.The Buffet, so stay tuned!

Loretta

(p.s. - Don't forget to enter my Fantastic Holiday Jewelry Giveaway  this month! Winner drawn on December 28!)