Pepper Design Blog

Decorating for Fall: More with Fall Leaves!

There are three trees in our neighborhood that change colors during the fall. Three. In the entire neighborhood. When Liv and I go for walks I stare longingly up at the branches willing those crisp green leaves to take on their yellow and orange shades.

When my mother-in-law was in town this past weekend it happened! Not only did the trees change color but they shed a good portion of those beautiful leaves to the ground. When she came back from taking Liv for a stroll she brought with her a huge bundle of these:

Naturally I pressed and framed them. I don’t know how long they’ll last but just maybe I can preserve them for the future. Waaaaay better than the fake ones I used over here.

Here they are sitting on a shelf in our dining room:

I first attempted to frame without flattening and the result was a bit sloppy, so my next approach was to organize them on my white sheet of construction paper, attach to paper with a double sided adhesive and then smoosh between two big heavy books.

Then I added the construction paper back into the frame and sealed it up.

I love the colors, especially against the brownish red frame.

I had quite a few leaves left over so I made a very simple garland by stringing the leaves through twine. Here they are on the other bookcase:

I think it’s a nice little fall detail, especially when casually strung up like they are here.

The process to make this guy was so simple and so quick: poke two holes in each leaf and string through – up and over for the first leaf, down and under for the next.

Just like you’re sewing a simple stitch.

Until you’ve finished the whole lot:

They’re perfect for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and I love how they bring just a little bit of the outdoors in!

Office Makeover + Pinterest Challenge: New Pendant!

I took on the Young House Love + Bower Power Pinterest Challenge and I’m excited to share my results!

So the room is no where near done (you can read about the progress here), but you might remember that it started as this:

Some major demo, a little bold paint and a few other fun additions later, and we’re left with this:

But back to the challenge… I wanted to make a chandelier for the guestroom ‘nook’ (aka the far end of the office with the Spanish rounded ceilings) and I decided to try my hand at a capiz shell pendant. I saved this beautiful Serena capiz chandelier by Oly in my ‘favorites’ folder a long long time ago, it’s so stunning!

Source 1 & 2

Actually, I had no idea who it was by or how crazy pricey it was (north of $1,500) until I began pinning similar styles on Pinterest.

So after much deliberation for how a not-so-fancy version could be DIYed, I set out to hunt down my main materials.

First, I needed capiz shells to line my new pendant with. I searched eBay, Amazon, online vendors… you name it. And then I remembered a shell shop near the beach in San Diego that was sure to have exactly what I was looking for. Best part? The shop is always 50% off. It’s funny, locals are on to the game, but when I stopped by earlier this week to peruse capiz shells, I overheard one of the owners tell a tourist wondering when the sale was going to end ‘Oh, you know… we never know. Maybe a few weeks?’ I wanted to whisper into the girl’s ear ‘Don’t worry, if you come back next year it will still be on’.

Nevertheless I found my best option. This chandelier was $39 and at 50% off it beat my online finds. If you’re looking for something similer though, this online chandelier or several of these capiz strands could definitely be used.

Mine on the left kind of looks like a super cheap version of the Laura Ashley chandelier on the right.

Now that I had my shells I set out to make the pendant frame. My initial thought was to hunt down a drum lampshade at a thrift shop, but I searched and searched… and then I thought that maybe I could build the frame from two tapered lampshades with the same sized bases (I was looking for about 18″). That turned out to be quite pricey because only the big box stores had them in stock. Finally, I ended up at Lowe’s searching for wire that I could shape into a circle and solder together. I realized I was taking on a huge project  when I sat there deliberating where the clamps might be put and how I could weld two perfectly straight ends into one long circle.

I decided to give HomeGoods one last shot late in the evening last night. I was hoping to find a drum lampshade period – no tapering, no fancy schmancys. Just one that I could take home, take apart and begin my project. Wow did HomeGoods come through in a big way! Not only did I find my lampshade (the Perfect shade!) but  it was coming apart at the end and I was able to get it and the base lamp for $15. Sweet.

The last piece of the pie was a basic pendant light from Lowe’s for $20. I found a similar one at Home Depot but it was $39, so that one will be going back.

Now it was time to get crafty!

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Capiz Shell Pendant Light

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Materials: pendant lampshade, 200 capiz shells with at least one hole drilled into each – preferably pre-strung (this number will depend on the size of your shade and the length that you’d like it to hang), white thread & needle, craft glue (any glue that will dry clear), pendant kit, paint (in the same color/finish as your pendant kit) & paint brush, spray paint (in the same color/finish as your pendant kit), light bulb, x-acto knife, Goo Gone (plus rag and gloves)

{1.} I began by disassembling the lampshade so that I had just the top and bottom frames. My x-acto knife really came in handy for this one – I started with scissors but quickly realized that a thin blade would be much better at pealing the outside right off. If you’re left with a gooey mess, try wiping down the frame Goo Gone and a rag, just be sure to use gloves.

{2.} I spray painted the metal top and bottom frames a dark brown to match my bronze pendant kit.

{3.} While the paint was drying I began to take the shell chandelier apart. I kept strands of five shells strung together and restrung (with white thread and a needle) any loose or shorter strands so that I had nearly 40 strands of five shells.

{4.} Then I slowly began attaching the strands of five to the top frame of the disassembled lampshade.

{5.} When all 40 strands had been tied to the top frame, I measured the length of the shells and tied the bottom frame directly to the top frame at the same distance with thread (fishing line would work great for this step as well). I wanted a ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ to the pendant so that it really did resemble a lampshade, but you could always forgo the bottom and just let the pretty shells sway.

At this point I found it helpful to hang the lampshade from a floor lamp (removing the previous shade) so that I could work with it while it was hanging.

{6.} Now it was touch-up time. First was gluing stray shells together so that the shade had a flat look to it (totally optional), previous to gluing the shells sort of ‘spun’ on their own.

{7.} Now that the pendant was upright and hanging, the next touch-up step was to restring and retie several of the shells that had come apart or out of order. I even tied several strands directly to the bottom frame so that some stayed taught.

{8.} Finally, I used brown paint and a brush to cover up the points where the thread wrapped around the now brown lampshade frame.

{9.} Depending on the lampshade that you chose, you may be able to attach it directly to your pendant light kit and wire ‘er up! We had to make the washer in the top frame of the lampshade slightly larger to fit our pendant kit.

{10.} I posted an ad on Craigslist for a licensed electrician (a good tip is to ask them to bring a copy of their license with them right in the ad to weed out anyone that could do damage and not be accountable) to hook the pendant to our existing light switch for $25. An electrician from our neighborhood responded and rewired the new light the next morning! When that was taken care of Kevin simply attached the new wires to the existing box. You can tell from this shot that we took out two of the three arms of the pendant kit so that it wasn’t quite as long.

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Here’s a shot at night to see how the shells make the pendant sort of ‘glow’, I love that. For this photo Bodie decided he was definitely not moving.

And there you have it! I’m linking over at Katie’s, Ana’s, Erin’s, and Sherry & John’s blogs… come check out all of the great ideas.

For more Office Makeover posts, check out: 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.

Decorating for Fall: Felt Flower Wreath

I recently saw a felt flower wreath here and decided that I would love to make one for the house, but with my own spin on the flowers. (The wreath by I Can Craft That is adorable by the way, you should definitely check it out if you have a chance.)

I found the a twig wreath at Michaels for $4.99 (a blank canvas for so many ideas!) and the sheets of felt were on sale for 5/$1. After playing with the felt to create a few different flower shapes, I settled on six that I loved. I generally work in odd numbers but for some reason this arrangement felt right.

Here’s a close up of the various styles. They all involve felt strips rolled up into the shape of a flower, but for some the strips were left with their raw edge out and for some they were simply folded in half before wrapping for a softer finish. The large purple flower in the center is three sets of circles stacked on top of each other from smallest to largest with a wooden button in the center.

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Felt Flower Wreath

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Materials: Any style of wreath, felt sheets, needle & thread, wiring or glue for attaching flowers to wreath

{1.} Cut felt into various sized strips.

{2.} For flowers with a softer edge (more rose-like), fold strips in half horizontally and add a quick stitch to hold. You could use dots of hot glue here as well to keep your sides together.

{3.} Beginning at one end of the strip of felt (which will now be the center of your flower), wrap remaining end around and around and around. With every wrap around the center I kept poking the needle and thread back through the felt at the back to hold the new shape, this helped to spread the petals out to a create a short, flat flower that would nest nicely in the wreath.

{4.} Using thin wire (to later remove the flowers for other purposes) or hot glue, attach your new flowers and leaves to the wreath.

Now she’s ready to display!

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More fall decorating ideas found here. Happy Thursday!