Pepper Design Blog

Love = Heart Shaped Artwork

I mentioned on Monday that I’m on the hunt for new artwork for the home. Art is such a great way to add a pop of color to a space and to bring a little personality to a room! And our home could use more of it.

It’s fitting that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner because one such style of art that has caught my eye over and over again (from that initial four heart Lonny print below to the modern paper craft versions that were very popular last year) is a solo heart shape.

Inspiration 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Shoot, even pillows are all the rage:

Determined that I could create a solo heart painting myself without spending a fortune, I dug up some canvas paper from a giant sketch pad of Kevin’s (left over from one of his architecture classes) and my watercolors.

Instant bookcase update! The pop of pink is a great color addition against a dark espresso bookcase.

One of my favorite bookcase styling tips is to use art as a backdrop to add a ‘tall’ component to shorter decorating elements such as stacks of books, figurines, family photos, bowls and other featured knick knacks. It also detracts from a monochromatic bookcase and helps to add unexpected color.

Wish I had a straight on photo but there was a horrible glare while snapping these quick shots.

The frame is from Aaron Brothers (probably picked up during one of their penny sales) and used to house a remnant piece of brown and white fabric. I love the pink color, but I also really dig how the white helps to ‘brighten’ a pretty dark spot.

Here’s a picture from Christmas that gives a little glimpse of the matted remnant fabric (also an easy and inexpensive art idea).

When it came to painting this guy I began with a simple and soft pink heart and then began to add contrast and brush strokes until it felt right. The finished result is organic with obvious brush strokes and bits of yellow, red, coral and pink.

Plus, you can’t beat free art . Though I’m sure there are Etsy finds out there for anyone who wants to make heart art easy peasy!

Pink! It’s here to stay and it’s my new best decorating friend.

PS All living room makeover posts can be found right here. It’s been a long journey!

Liv’s 2nd Birthday: Paper Favor Pouches

One of my favorite, super-quick-to-throw-together ideas from Liv’s party was to create little favor pouches for gummy bears to hand out to all of the kids on their way home.

I didn’t get a very clear photo of the treat bags at the actual party, but here’s the gist on how we put them together:

The grey arrows indicate where a piece of double sided tape was added to adhere two sides together. The pouches were popping open after a while, so I might try something stronger than plain old sticky tape next time. Maybe even cute staples or scrapbooking tape + a dab of glue in a few key areas (such as the corners).

They were a cute and easy addition to the party! And we literally made them as people were walking in (and as it dawned on me that I had meant to put favor bags together but had completely forgotten about them… luckily I remembered a few variations of this idea on Pinterest - not to mention those cool popsicles that used to be sold out of similar pouches when I was a kid – and happened to have paper and pink candy on hand!). Big thanks to my brother and friend Trish (the invaluable party co-preppers) for helping me assemble.

More pictures from Liv’s 2nd birthday right here, and you can filter all party ideas posted on the blog by theme here!

PS this would be very cute for Valentine’s Day treats, don’t you think?

Liv’s 2nd Birthday: Let’s Celebrate!

We had a great weekend full of family and friends and celebrating. We hosted Liv’s birthday on our back deck on Saturday afternoon, and while it was a little prickly and cold outside, the outdoor fireplace and heater helped to warm things up.

I’ll try to get to more of the details of the party in future posts (like the easy little favor pouches a friend helped me throw together last minute and some of the ribbon/tissue paper details we’re keeping around to reuse in Liv’s future big girl room), but here’s a little wrap up of the event:

We served heavy appetizers, berry lemonade, and an overstacked strawberry shortcake for dessert. My favorites included my mom’s delicious potato and corn chowder soup in our white coffee mugs, cheesy homemade macaroni for the kiddies, BBQed teriyaki chicken & pineapple skewers, toasted ricotta and chive bites (with pomegranate seeds to look like little flowers), and roasted tomato, cream cheese & poppyseed bruschetta. All served atop pretty floral fabric that I found here.

I found adorable plastic milk bottles online for the kids to enjoy their berry lemonade (easy and almost spill proof). The invites and sweet little signs for the event were by this Etsy artist (I loved working with Katrina, I highly recommend). Oh and I cannot forget – this is my favorite source for paper lanterns! At roughly $1.30 a pop it’s impossible not to cover a room in a dozen of them (which it’s hard to see from the photos, but the outside patio is).

I snapped a few photos as everyone was arriving and before it got too crazy…

We purposefully scheduled the party for post-naptime for Liv and all of her little friends… but guess who didn’t nap all day? Good thing all of the excitement kept her busy!

One of Liv’s presents from mommy and daddy was a finished sand box! More details on this to come but we actually built it right into the deck. The kids loved it.

I opted for an easy dessert this year since we were hosting the party at our house and I knew there would be so much to do (thanks mom and dad for all of your help! We owe you). But the strawberry shortcake fit in great with the rest of the decor and it was a tasty treat for kids and parents alike. We even used these little cups and wooden spoons to serve up the cake in a manageable size for the little ones.

An awkward photo of my but a cute instagram pic of Liv getting ready to blow out her candles (and her little cupcake hat ).

Liv thought that the strawberries and whipped cream were most delicious (and amazingly, since it was so chilly, the entire dessert stayed assembled with no melting whatsoever).

By the time we opened presents, the sun had finally crawled out of sight and all children were decently tired out. But what a fun day!!

More on the invites and the inspiration for the party here and here. And just for fun, Liv’s first birthday linked right here (with my favorite red and white striped DIY tablecloth ).