Nov 12

Seasonal Wreath – Make Your Own – Have a Blast!

By pattisays In art as gift ideas, DIY design, seasonal interior design / 4 Comments

Do you sport a wreath on your front door? In some areas, seasonal door wreaths are an all-year decoration. Making them is easy and can be fun to change them with seasons or events…Sometimes “less is more,” but then there comes a time when less is just not quite enough and we want more! In this case, my mother had a seasonal fall wreath that I had made for her several years ago. It was modest and made of natural dried plant material. I show it here as the starting point of this blog’s topic, how to jazz-up a tired wreath.

The project started with the simple wreath of dried natural materials contrasting nicely against the white panels. Mom retrieved it from storage and hung it once again on her front door. Then the phone call, “I need you to do something with my wreath, it’s bland and tired and I need it punched-up.” “Punched-up”, Mom’s favorite phrase for having me come spruce-up a room, re-arrange contents on bookshelves, or generally make minor changes to her interior design.

I liked the warm, modest colors and natural textures of the wreath, but knew what she wanted. So I dove into my stash of crafty supplies and with glue-gun in hand, I went down to her house, removed the wreath from the door and began to clip my boldly colorful, fake flowers and berries to “punch-up” her wreath.

The density of the original wreath with its woven grapevine frame stuffed full of dried vegetation made it easy to insert the new additions practically without need of the glue. But to be sturdy and able to tolerate windy days and the door opening and closing, gluing was the best bet. Brilliant Black-eyed Susans, golden mums, orange berries and related foliage began to infuse and punctuate the wreath with shockingly festive autumnal color!

The entire process took about 6 minutes -seriously. This is not rocket science. The idea is not to be afraid, go for abundance, but stop short before you achieve over-load. The definition of over-load might be like beauty – which it is in the eye of the beholder. So I leave it up to you. If you do not have natural grapevines growing in your yard like Martha Stewart, go get a grapevine wreath at the local hobby store. If you do not have natural dried vegetation poking around heading for seasonal hibernation in your gardens or woodland property, again, the hobby store will have it all. I did the natural version, made a raffia bow and originally stopped there – which was fine at the time and for several years. Then with the same wreath, not removing a thing, I “punched it up” with a selection of hobby store flowers and berries that are available in all the wonderful colors of the season as the year progresses. So arm yourself with a glue gun and have a blast!

Jul 07

Design a Brunch – Alfresco Dining

By pattisays In DIY design, exterior - outdoor design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design, table dressings / 3 Comments

Brunch to me used to mean “blow the day.” I have always viewed brunches as over-eating buffets that require the balance of the day to recover. However, I am renewed with a fresh approach to brunch to start the day, gather with friends and celebrate, in this season, the pleasure of dining outside.

Fresh lavender and mint – both out of the garden. In the winter we long for the days when we can go outside and enjoy the warm weather and gather growing things to eat and adorn our tables. I love fresh mint – refreshing to chew – I like parsley too – everyone teases me when I eat everything right down to the garnishes! Dining outside is another one of those examples of expanding your living space in the summer months. Even if you have a tiny balcony – setting up a table with your morning coffee or a glass of juice is so relaxing and feels like a mini escape. Even if you don’t have a balcony – moving a small table to a space beside a window that you can open will provide a sense of that connection to outside that we miss for so many chilly months that force us to be encapsulated indoors.

In this photo you can see the lavender in full bloom in the background. The mint grows invasively along the side of our house. The luminous blue glasses, indigo placemats, large chartreuse chargers used as the individual serving plates punctuated with hot pink napkins dressed-up in silver napkins rings speak of all the colors blooming in the surrounding gardens. Local NM Gruet bubbly with fresh squeezed orange juice in these lovely little vintage cut glass stems, fresh seasonal berries, slivered almonds, fresh quail eggs raised by a friend…hard-boiled little delicacies laced with a light curry-cream sauce, plump sizzling brats just grilled, fresh asparagus roasted crisply, English peas, ripe tomatoes topped with a fried egg…a lovely way to start the day.

Mar 05

Plastic Infringing on Tradition – and The Lorax!

By pattisays In environmental, exterior - outdoor design, furniture finds, green design, recycle design, seasonal interior design / 1 Comment

Stacked in colorful layers on the sidewalk – an inviting statement of approaching spring – I came upon a brilliant inventory of plastic stacking Adirondack’s chairs! These classic designs in plastic rather than the traditional wood – although often painted brightly – will withstand the elements without decay and due to their light-weight, can be moved about for changes in placement around the yard and stacked for convenient storage! Sizes for children and adults – fun for all ages!

This display happened to be at an ACE hardware store in Goodyear, Arizona – but they’re out there all over the market for anyone inspired enough to want them! Funny how some plastic renditions of the real thing are quite acceptable – in a certain setting. Then today we watched the newly released movie, Lorax – the Dr. Seuss story about a place without trees – all the would-be growing things were artificial – inflatable plastic, metal, or other materials and yet, there was one young person (Taylor Swift) who wanted the real thing, and one older person (Betty White) who remembered the real thing. Lorax – nature’s protector, Dannie DeVito is defeated by progress but revitalized by peoples’ appreciation for what they have lost and stand to regain by restoring the natural world. Then Zac Efron is the kid who saves the day for all! And I thought about the colorful plastic Adirondack’s chairs and I pondered…

We dash and dart between the allegiance to natural, organic, and original things in our world and then celebrate the man-made polyester, acrylic and modern versions of so many. And so it shall be – in balance. We are destined to invent experiment and explore new things – while maintaining an awareness of what impact change might have. Yes, destined – because it is incumbent upon us to be aware – but not manipulative.

Global warming – maybe, maybe not…maybe for reasons not popularly explained – maybe for reasons of cyclical patterns of nature – maybe man-made…but we all must be sensitive to our impact on the state of our immediate environment (“toss no mas” and pick –up litter even if it is not your own) and cumulative effect on our planet over-all. There is a humorous but poignant “green” commentary circulating on the internet about how “back-in-the-day” they didn’t know about “green” but they received milk delivered by a milkman in a glass bottle which was returned for refills, drank from water fountains, taps and wells without using individual plastic bottles…it goes on…and the point is that we are embracing this GREEN initiative and rightly so – but are too self-important to recognize that much of what we are doing is just plain wasteful and NOT necessary and that the things that we romance as better are often not. Try sitting in a room with “green” linoleum surfaces and keep from passing out from the off-gasses – seriously.

But I liked the colorful plastic stacking Adirondack chairs – but would LOVE a wabi-sabi wooden version of that chair with or without layers of paint that had withstood the elements and brought joy, absorbed character and communicated silently the history that it had shared from years of affectionate use…

Oh progress! – when to embrace it with its colorful whimsy and ease of maintenance and when to sit back in a well-worn comfy chair and reflect…

Feb 20

Successful Design is Attributed to the Entire Experience – Rancher’s Club, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

By pattisays In food and interior design, seasonal interior design, table dressings /

Seasonal trends…seasonal cocktails, seasonal venues…I am a big proponent of seasonal things…I like context – have you heard that from me in the past? So in keeping with that embrace…I like dining indoors in a cozy setting in the wintertime and in the freshest of outdoors in the warmer scenes.

Tonight we visited a local favorite that for some reason does not stay on our radar – and for that reason, tonight was a special treat, a welcome change which made us feel as though we had traveled outside our norm to experience such a wonderful dining experience.

I almost ordered a Manhattan – exclusively a wintertime beverage for me, warm, rich in color and flavor…but opted instead for a Hendricks’s martini – extra dry with a twist, as we began our evening in the lounge of The Ranchers’ Club in Albuquerque. It has a most cozy interior, where the low-lit lounge offers several groupings of over-stuffed leather sofas and chairs with cow hide accents, zoned into seating areas around a live piano with vocal accompaniment and a handsome bar area. The classic ranch décor punctuated with taxidermy paired with Victorian touches, crisp table linens and full china presentation is quite welcoming. It is a manly, yet refined old fashioned dining venue that appeals to the most discriminating of etiquette practitioners.

The rooms are nicely lit – dim, warm golden glow, ample for reading the menu which is printed with a generous font size, but soft and sexy, intimate and comfortable. And the menu has offerings of domestic game such as bison and fresh catches as tonight’s special, striped sea bass with a curry cream drizzle. Other shellfish and fresh fish filets are offered as well as slow-cooked oso bucco and hearty stews.

When the entrees are presented beneath gleaming silver domes, the stage is set to anticipate the dishes that have been suggested all evening with the wonderful aromas wafting through the dining rooms since we first were escorted to our seats. The unveiling done in unison is a “ta da!”

The service is attentive yet not over-powering. The wine list has a wide range. The deserts are delightful as we experienced in the chocolate pyramid. And the dessert wines were well chosen.

The success of the design is attributed to the entire experience. An attractive dining interior without the proper service, quality of food and smart presentation is flat. A successful interior design has to have life. It has to breathe all of the elements that make the space function as intended.

Cheers to all who make a date a Rancher’s! Patti’s pick!

Feb 14

Kissing in Public – Designed for Spring!

By pattisays In environment, hearts and design, seasonal interior design /

Valentine’s Day is behind us…but the love continues…chilly February days making way for warming trends bringing new growth and springtime romance…the birds and the bees…reproduction and the cycle of life…Designed to heal, strengthen and move forward. Spring into Spring!!!
With that, look to the new hot pink design trends and perk up your palette with accent colors, fabrics, pillow splashes, accents or painted walls.
Don’t be afraid – take the leap and try something new. Be bold and daring.
Today’s photo – “kissing in public.” Some call pigeons flying rats…I prefer to look at each with their singular personality, color scheme, iridescent feathers, unique identity and their togetherness – mates so apparent. Beautiful if taken individually…but I would like to know how to safely remove them from my office roof as they do tend to gather and splat on my windshield in balmy weather…hmmm…the bitter and the sweet.
Spring is in the air!!! Think design and how to punch-up your interiors!!!

Dec 18

Festive Floral Arrangements Are Just Moments Away

By pattisays In design, design trends, DIY design, seasonal interior design /

Punch up your Pink Carnations with holiday greenery!

I wish that I was better organized and in my “new” approach to that end, I will be better organized in the coming year. But for now, suffice it to say I am slammed as usual preparing for Christmas! Having just returned from a tropical escape on the 12th and hitting the ground running to get caught-up at work, receiving a dear friend as a house guest as he visits for a few days on business, I am running out of time.
I have given myself a “bye” to NOT put up a tree this year, allowing the two wreaths on the front doors to honor the season, but inside it is not beginning to look a lot like Christmas. However, yesterday my dear husband arrived with a bouquet of pink carnations.
I now have pink carnations – not the bright bold poinsettia plants, the noche buenos of the Christmas season, but pink carnations. So what does one do? Get creative. My husband loves carnations. They are a very happy flower, sturdy and durable, long-lasting and come in a variety of colors and sizes. They might not say “Christmas” at first glance – but what does are the pine branches that grow in our yard. We have fragrant mugo pine, spruce and juniper. We even have a couple of holly bushes and the photinia that I enjoy using in every season.
So my point here is that if you venture outside, you might have just the right filler needed to create the perfect holiday centerpiece! If you don’t have a yard from which to harvest these treasures, go to your local Christmas tree lot and ask for scraps – for free or at small cost. Maybe approach a family buying their tree and ask if you could snip some of the lower branches – something most people end up doing when they go home in order to make room for the skirt and presents.
Don’t panic, festive floral arrangements are just moments away.

Dec 14

Caribbean Rum, Words, and Relaxation

By pattisays In context of interior design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design, travel and design /

Cruzan island rum with limes and mango – cheers!

As the white dots of cyber snow float across my wordpress screen, I realize that it’s telling me that its winter. Unlike real snow however, it does not accumulate lest it make it impossible to write the text necessary to post this blog. So rather, it dissipates as it cycles – nice. But it does conjure up cold and that’s when I long for the warmth of southern climes.
What says vacation…relaxation – some might say iced tea and a hammock -sounds awfully nice. As a foodie and partier I like the booze and food of the local environment to accompany my activities. The context of it all – like “when in Rome”…it’s blue agave tequila in Mexico and it’s sugar cane RUM in the islands and in this case, the US Virgin Islands. Rum punch or, for me, just rum and water – with a squeeze of lime if available…it’s much of the history of the Caribbean. Here our very own St. Croix “Cruzan” rum – along with that lime and a couple of ripe juicy mangoes on the side – just for good measure- and it certainly makes a gorgeously colorful photo op!
And BTW, that’s CARIB-BEEEEEAN – stressing the EEEEEEE! Yes, the Carib (Care-ib) Indians…have you read about them? Try Mitchner – a lengthy beach read. It was not a British affectation to start the Carib (accent on the rib)ean falling off the end. Actually, even in the BVI, back in the day, everyone clearly said Carib-beeean with that lovely accent.
No, at some point, it was decided by some to make the change. In the case of the Caribbean, was it Carnival Cruise Line and/or some marketing upstart behind some “new” pronunciation campaign to design the “new” image of the islands? Hmmm…thought it sounded British?! ”You say tomato and I say tomatto” as the song goes!
When you listen to Bob – Marley, that is – need I say? He sang and his recordings still sing today “In the heart of the Caribbeeeeean. ” He sang it loudly and clearly with his magnificent, melodic and authentic Jamaican accent – old pirates! Weren’t they listening?
So you go to the sun…feel the balmy breeze – “Christmas wind” – greet you as you climb into a cab at the airport and the question that has been puzzling you for some time in advance of this trip comes out…and you ask the driver “Down here do you say Ca-RIB -ean or do you say Caribbeeean”? To which he answers “We say West Indies.” Ha – what a great answer – to keep above the fray!
Perhaps you’ll put on some music and relax with your mind adrift – just design your holiday getaway around what is fun for you. Cheers!

Dec 05

Simple Ornaments Make Signature Style Design Statements

By pattisays In art as gift ideas, DIY design, exterior - outdoor design, seasonal interior design, travel and design /

We are greeted by a Caribbean Christmas season in the tropics! This is how one McDonald’s decorates for the holidays – their signature Happy Meal boxes dangle from a palm tree! What better ornaments than these happy red boxes – a brilliant contrast of eye-catching red marketing material and the fresh green of nature. Environmentally visual – those little cardboard art pieces dance in the breeze.
During the summer months, we created a play area beneath our large blue spruce tree. The low branches provided an eye-level decoration area just the right height for the smaller kids. So we drew images and colored them with crayons and cut them out and laminated them between two pieces of waxed paper – like you would when pressing fall leaves in autumn. We then punched a hole in each and tied them to the branches with a loop of ribbon. They created a lively, colorful personalization art exhibit in this secret hiding place and defied the weather there in the protection of the big tree for a remarkably long time.
We have wild gourds in our area of the high desert in New Mexico. They are nearly perfectly round and about the size of tennis balls. After the magnificent white blossoms have passed, the new gourds each harvest season are hard and fresh, but the previous years’ forgotten fruit nestled amidst vines are in varying stages of drying out. These dehydrated orbs are perfect for painting, decoupage, or applying decorative embellishment. I preferred to paint a simple red poinsettia on them –using fast-drying and easy clean-up acrylic paint – leaving the background color of the natural gourd exposed and then glossing them with gel gloss medium. Drill a hole in the top and glue in an eye screw and Voila! The finished ornament weights practically nothing and is quite durable. I’ve even used a hair pin – not a bobbie pin, but the old zigzaggy hair pins that when squeezed together and forced down into the drilled hole spring back with just enough tension and held by the zigzag of the metal make an even easier hanging mechanism! An ornament hook or a ribbon and you’re ready to hang!
What creative homemade ornaments might YOU create as your signature style?

Sep 18

Fine Art and Fun Art at the New Mexico State Fair

By pattisays In design, food and interior design, seasonal interior design /

Graphic inflated animation at the NM State Fair

Take your own fun art shots at the Fair!

Its Fair time and it’s a sensory extravaganza! See the sights, the colors and lights! The sounds of kids screaming with squeals of delight! From corn dogs to turkey drums and pizza galore it’s a feeding frenzy for all ages – check your diet at the door!
It’s really so exciting and with the weather cooperating – it’s a must! A combination of New Mexico’s finest, mixed with funky products and crazy food stuffs! The colors and products presented by the vendors create a tapestry of form and fun. There are fine art exhibits and walls of balloon cartoon characters for sale, Rastafarian bananas and white tigers to win. Signs, lights, graphics, music, barkers, animals, vegetables, minerals and more – the festivities are magical. The slogan tells us, “It’s like all the holidays rolled into one!”
The season’s end of summer’s bounty brings feelings of home and hearth as the air takes a turn toward the fall. Harvest time, Indian summer, its flowers and sky, pumpkins and cider. Cinnamon from the German nut roaster wafts through the air. International shows like the incredible flying Chinese acrobats and our own macho cowboys of the rodeo all present fine skill and athletic prowess – defying gravity and displaying artful dance. Big cats and little dogs the lions pace and perform and the dogs dash and leap for joy. It’s a wild time in the old town tonight and for the next few…you have through the 25th!
So get out there and eat a turkey leg and bite off some cotton candy, swig a brew and pop fists full of kettle corn then take some photos and blow them up! Wall art – here’s my example. Dora meets Sponge Bob and Spider man creating an animated, inflated collage – this colorful pattern of camp cartoon design! Suitable for framing!

Aug 16

Oil Cloth and Lots of Color!

By pattisays In DIY design, exterior - outdoor design, seasonal interior design, table dressings /

Table dressings priced right with plenty of color

Oil cloth – that vinylized – coated fabric with the brilliant colors – 50ish in nature, it is still available in running yardage! Yes – you can still buy it by the bolt, use it for upholstery, cut and hem the edges for placemats, use pinking shears for a no-sew solution to table toppers, etc…Here we have a festive table setting where the gerbera daisies pop with happy faces from their squat water vessels.
What once was a decidedly lower economic material – is now the fabric of choice for those folk-art, camp, tablescapes! Choose your favorite – will it be cherries or branches of apples, bouquets of flowers or spilled baskets of mixed fruit? Everyone of them will be bursting with fresh, crisp, bold color and opportunities for coordination with you flowers, plates, napkins and the entire scheme of the party!
So dash down to your local fabric store and inquire about these fabulous oilcloth treasures! Have your own fiesta!!!