Pepper Design Blog

DIY Halloween Felt Treat Bags & Buckets

I made a little treat bucket for Liv’s trick-or-treating this Wednesday after seeing this cute project from Tarjay’s Todd Oldham. The entire tote is made out of felt! Adorable. (Step-by-step directions found here.)

His is much more detailed, mine is the 15 minute version.

I love Todd’s project because it’s a clever way to bring the family in on creating their own felt totes/buckets for trick-or-treating, and this is an easy one to put your own creative spin on (how about a felt black cat? Or a witch’s hat? sequins? puff paint? whatever’s around the house).

Liv’s bucket was super simple. A bit of felt (from my stash in the office), embroidery thread and a pint-sized green bucket that we usually store her chalk in. I simply traced my idea onto the felt, cut it out and did a rough embroidery stitch around the opposite side (so that my pen marks weren’t visible). Then a bit of Elmer’s glue to hold it all together.

Liv has been verrrry into purses and bags lately, she carries two or three around the house (in the crook of her elbow which is just adorable) all of the time, so I know she’ll really love this whole ‘treating’ part of the holiday. I’m suddenly much more aware of why some parents hand out boxes of raisins and bags of carrot sticks. Oh please let Liv collect more raisins than she does candy on Wednesday! Not going to happen, I know. Happy Monday!

Dining Room Update: The Tale of a Tree

So happy to share my recent find with you all today! I’ve been on a casual search for houseplants for some time. What’s challenging about indoor greenery is A. keeping is alive and B. finding something that is both attractive/functional/not dated.

When I came across the fiddle leaf fig in the last episode of Design Star two years back, I near crawled up to the TV screen to admire this beauty of a houseplant (tree?). Then I googled the heck out of it until I learned what it was.

Soon after, inspiration came pouring in! What a beautiful, structural indoor plant that was not quite tropical, not quite in the fern family and not quite immediately recognizable (ficus, I’m talking to you). Source for above images here.

So I called around to my favorite local nurseries and came across the unfortunate truth that such large, mature trees fall well into the $150+ range, not quite justifiable in my mind for a houseplant (piece of Craigslist furniture or new tree for the dining room?).

Then I came across a blog that suggested Craigslist as a source for fiddle leaf figs! Hadn’t thought to search for a houseplant on the site yet. But a couple of months later and still no one was looking to part.

Finally, I called up Lowe’s and asked about special ordering. Turns out they carry these large guys and my local store receives a shipment every Tuesday. Well, two or three Tuesdays later and they were always sold out by the time I had arrived. Who would have known they were so popular?

I gave up… until just recently! After picking up some paint and other supplies during a recent Lowe’s trip, I wandered through the indoor plant section as I usually do and came across one. last. beautiful fiddle leaf fig. At least I thought it was beautiful. The kind man at the register gave me 50% off without prompting when he noticed my ‘badly bruised and brown leafed’ tree purchase. But that left me with one giant tree for $22! I’ll take it. And I whispered to my new tree that she shouldn’t be offended and that she was not bruised at all.

Fiddle leaf fig, welcome to my dining room.

I had originally planned on placing you over here, where the large pile o’ sticks is. But you are too small right now and you interfere a bit with the door to the guest room.

For now, you fill this wall up nicely.

Such beautiful leaves! Here’s hoping I keep her green and pretty. I’m not sure this tree will get enough light over here… most maintenance websites suggest ‘good light’ so we’ll have to play with placement.

One day, fiddle leaf fig, you might look like this!

source

Next, I need to drill a hole in the bottom of this pot for drainage or switch it out into a new, nicer container pronto. Will keep you posted on my green thumb.

You can start from the beginning or jump in on any of the dining room posts here: new art illustrations, bench makeover ideas, choosing a rug, curtain call part 3,curtain call part 2, curtain call part 1, newly styled bookshelves, a buffet-over,upgrading the lighting, the before.

Office Makeover: Progress!

I went to bed last night thinking that the morning would bring a brand new Friday. But alas, that’s how long this week has felt (poor Liv had a 103 degree fever all through the night and day Tuesday and work has lately been getting the best of me). Instead though, it is a beautiful Thursday and one that I’m more than happy to embrace. Especially considering that tomorrow is Friday!

Before I share my latest room update, a BIG thank you to Kate for featuring me in her Best of the Blogosphere round-up at Centsational Girl! Her every-other-Friday posts are among my favorites because they share some serious talent and new bloggers to explore and follow. I near fell out of my chair when she linked a recent project of mine up, check it out here.

I have a little room progress to update you all on today! This room has admittedly become the hardest and most challenging room to get right in our house. And being that it’s my woman-cave, I’ve been working extra hard to make sure that it feels right, that it feels like a space that I would happily spend most of my day in (my company is up in Northern California, so I really do spend most of my day at that desk and on those computers).

The office was on a serious roll back in 2011 when we knocked down the old kitchen (rebuilt it on the other side of the house) and turned that space into my work zone. But then half way through the new office design process, my ideas and inspiration fell apart and the room came to a halt. For quite a long time. (I’ve never been a fan of finishing a space just to get it done, I figure that new inspiration will eventually come and I’ll be all the happier with a result that is right on.)

But I have made a few changes along the way! And I’m really happy again with how everything is coming together.

Among the new changes, a new bedding set from Target in a neutral, cozy tan, an awesome bamboo Craigslist chair find, amazing bookshelves (same Craigslist sale) with the most wonderful, original campaign-style handles ($100 for two huge bookcases!), moving my favorite Ballard Design gold medallions to either side of the window (plus one on the bookshelf in the above pic), and finally stealing a rug from the dining room and swapping out the below trellis version in the office (an all jute rug is the way to go in there – and doesn’t the organic shape in the above photo look much better than the rectangular one below?).

Often shopping is not necessary. A space can easily be refreshed with a bit of shopping the house! Amazing how moving one bright vase to a new room or exchanging accent chairs with another bedroom will give those accessories a new life.

The new white dressers are making a huge difference in the room as well. Previously, I had found a neat mid-century modern wood credenza that fit in the space, but I quickly out grew it storage-wise and have been on the lookout for something fun in a bright color. When these dressers popped up on Craigslist I went to check them out and knew they were immediately right.

That crisp white look makes all of the difference! And the original handles and pristine shape these vintage guys are in is perfect for this home.

All of that storage! It’s wonderful.

My desk (which is actually an old dining room table) is usually covered in notebooks and computer screens and glasses of water… but occasionally I put away all of the clutter and find this:

I’m still on the search for the perfect velvet to recover my chair in – perhaps a navy blue? and the rest of the wood could use a new coat of stain (in a non-cherry color). It’s worth noting that I love to be organized but am not a sparse person – I really, truly enjoy staring up at those tall bulletin boards (made back here) and finding dozens of pictures of Olivia, our family, my favorite tear sheets, work docs and a few quotes and prayers that help to focus me. Even if it means that above my desk might feel a bit crowded. A well-organized file bin is helpful, a stack of unsorted papers on top of that is usually the regular.

The room is slowly embracing my initial color palette as well, now it’s time to add a few pops of coral and pink (I’m thinking in the form of a bit of DIY art, a new lamp? and a few new pillows):

(Just for comparison’s sake, here’s what I first identified as these particular color plans in the room back in February):

Pretty close, right? I would have bet that my ideas would have changed quite a bit in the last six months, and while they did – they didn’t travel too far from the original.

Next up, art for these walls, a bright coral or pink pillow for that chair (might recover the cushion? Did I mention I scored it for $25?), a new fabric roman shade for the big window over the dressers and a reupholstered office chair. Maybe more? Time will tell.

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: a new tufted headboard for the guest bed, our floor plan, color inspiration, a new trellis print rug, stuck in a rut, designing and sewing the curtains, diy fabric bulletin board panels, handmade capiz pendant light, organizing the bookshelves, wall collage part 1, part 2, fabric bulletin board inspiration, (new) inspiration board, new lamps, wallpapering open shelves, finding the perfect credenza, new trim, dining table-to-desk, a new desk & bookshelves, installing remnant carpeting, grasscloth wallpaper, painting the office nook, finding carpet for the office, chocolate brown wall ideas, plastering progress, inspiration for a diy desk, back in action!, desking hunting for under $300, bookcases under $300,inspirational rooms, room layout options, demo part 1 & demo part 2.