Saturday, October 31, 2009

November Idea Spot...

Can you feel it? The crisp chill in the air, the smell of pumpkin spice, and the change in colors all signal that fall has arrived. For me, that means it’s time to pull out the fall wardrobe, slip on toe-covered shoes (bye bye, cute pedicures!), and decorate, decorate, decorate! I love autumn, especially the jewel colors that nature presents—and you can bring these natural colors to your own home with Uppercase Living’s exclusive seasonal color palette. It’s like bringing the outside indoors!

For this month’s idea (if you haven’t noticed yet, we are using the same space and altering it for different occasions), we’ve created an autumnal setting using our expressions and embellishments from all 3 of our catalogs—the Idea Catalog, the Holiday Edition, AND the Embellishment Catalog! There are so many choices, so why limit yourself to just one catalog?
For the wall, we chose the “Fall” expression (#14260, Soft Copper) and cut it apart to display it horizontally instead of in its original square design. Remember, just as we often design expressions in different orientations, feel free to cut your own expressions apart and experiment. It’s surprising how different an expression will look when altered from the original placement.

Trying to think of a centerpiece for the holiday table? Why not create one that can be displayed throughout the season and then transferred to the Thanksgiving table? We created this centerpiece by applying “Gather at our table” (#16585, part 1: Soft Copper; part 2: Soft Gold) onto our Clear Acrylic Block ($11.95; #300130). Since we didn’t want the stems of the branches and berries to interfere with the beautiful expression, we created a sandblasted look by placing a sheet of vellum (cut to fit) on the inside of the block and adhering it with vellum tape. We only did this on one side, but you can definitely do it to both sides. And since we didn’t want our centerpiece to fall over from the weight of the branches, we weighted it down with some all-purpose gravel (sand will also work—just remember this is not water tight, so don’t try this with water if you plan on using flowers instead).

Our lamp was looking oh-so-plain, and since this is the season to decorate, we thought we’d spruce it up with some elegant embellishments. (You can spruce up your existing décor, too! It’s a great way to save money, and the end result is often just as classy as any $40 seasonal piece.) We dressed the lamp base up with maple leaf embellishments (#4479402, Soft Gold; 2”) in a single border pattern. Simplicity is the key to this project: keep the motif simple, and the right touches will make the décor cohesive.
If you haven’t noticed, the majority of our expressions and embellishments are in a single color—all the other colors are provided by nature! I love color, but I take my inspiration from what is around me, at the time it is around me. When it comes to expressions, pick a theme and explore the options. Enjoy!

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