O.C.D. "october chandelier decorating" pt 2

Thanks for hanging in there with me-

no pun intended!

I'm trying to be clever with my post titles, which I hope will not translate to "annoying".

Last week I posted a picture of my entry way chandelier which I had begun decorating for autumn, 

thus the title "A.B.C." (Autumn Boas and Chandeliers). 

The only problem is that once I had finished, 

I wasn't quite happy, 

which lunked the whole thing into the "work in progress" category. 

I really wondered if I'd finish it up considering 1) I don't care for Halloween much, and 2) it's a bunch of effort for a short run. October is already in full swing.

However, I had ended my post with something along the lines of "I'm creative, I'll think of something for those candle sticks" and that little thought kept nagging me. I didn't realize that I had challenged myself and the 2 % of competitive spirit that I have within me would rise to the occasion and 

would not be satisfied until I addressed 

the situation, 

or I should say "dressed the situation" since it's all about 

dressing up this beautiful chandelier that is the very first thing you see

(if you look up)

when you enter my home.

So, I'm delighted to say,

 I did it!

I used my creative juice

and without spending another penny on this thing,

I did come up with a solution.

I think it's simple, fun, and applicable to any traditional style chandelier, 

so I've attempted to walk you through what I've done,

in the event that you might want to dress up yours some day.

With Thanksgiving around the corner and Christmas down the street,

the possibilities are present. 

The right side of my brain is already dreaming up what kinds of amber glitz, spraying twigs and burlap bows I can add for Thanksgiving and the left side of my brain is saying, "slow your roll!"

Anyways, speaking of "rolls" I had a few rolls of orange and black tulle ribbon left over from last year and from the shopping spree last week, along with the pipecleaners. Also there was a bit of black tissue paper in the laundry/craft room. 

I have taught art classes, Sunday School, and done countless tissue paper flowers in my life time. We've  used them for Mother's Day Gifts, handed them out at nursing homes, pinned them to sweaters, tied them as gift toppers, made centerpieces out of them, but it had never occured to me to use them on the chandelier-until now!

Then with all the leftover orange tulle I decided to wrap the lampshades. 

Two of the easiest projects on earth!

EASY!

(Seriously easy. If a project is hard I don't usually do it. I need quick execution and instant gratification. So please trust me that when I say "it's easy", it's EASY!)

So first lets tackle the tissue paper flower.

Here's what I used for each one:

(1) 2 in. square of orange tulle

(2) 2 in. squares of black tulle

(1/2) orange pipe cleaner 

about (8) 1 1/2 square pieces of black tissue paper

(1) 1 in. square orange tulle (optional)

scissors

(I am guesstimating on the measurements but the size depends on your preference and design project and the squares do not need to be perfect.) 

You can change the effect of your flower petals by using pinking shears or scissors with creative tips.

I went basic because I had time constraints.

The tulle is for a little floofy bit for the rosette to rest in, sort of a reference to leaves. 

So I started by taking the orange square and folding it in half.

Then in half again.

Again, not perfect.

Each one should be like leaves in that no two are exactly the same.

(or is that snowflakes? or both? yeah, both!)

Then holding it in my fingers like that,

I folded it like a triangle, like this:

Where I am pinching it to hold together, I folded that little tip back up just enough so that I could snip

a hole just wide enough for the pipecleaner to poke through. A very little snip. I held it still so that the layers would not get muddled up while poking with the pipecleaner.

Now, see in the above picture, the tip of the pipecleaner? It's a prickly little devil and will drive you nuts and puncture you if you don't bend it just a hair. You want to poke through the fluffy tip of the pipe cleaner because it will slide right through the netting.

At this point you can trim the netting to look like a leaf, if that pleases you. I like to wait until the whole unit is finished before I make those decisions. So I left mine. 

Next, do the exact same thing with the two black squares, one at a time.

In the picture above you'll see my stack of black petals. I just scooted each one around until the corners alternated to my liking. That floof on top is the optional orange small tulle. I thought it would make a nice stem in the center. It did but I'm calling it optional because it took much more finessing than I'd like to admit and didn't show well on the finished product. I did one without and it was o.k.

I took the whole stack of shifted petals and softly folded in half just to get a snip in the center for the pipe cleaner to go through.

The optional stem, I just wadded up and folded in half, trying very carefully to get a snip in all the layers for the pipe cleaner.

Ok. So all I can tell you at this point is to have fun with it and find out what works for you. For my flowers, I like to start at the top layer foldsmooshpinchandfluff (I made up that word and it's the best word for what you are to do.)

The folding is loose, the pinching is tight and at the middle of the petal. You pinch around the stem. You don't want creases, but the pinching will give a little bit of body to the tissue. The smooshing and fluffing is what you do, just  a little as you go to get the look of a flower. That is the best way I can explain it. It is one of those things that you will see as you go. It's super fun. Don't expect it to be perfect and don't expect each one to be the same. Flowers in nature are each unique and these will be too. Just have fun manipulating the paper and be thrilled as you see a little flower start to bloom in your hand.

This little step is similar to the petals in that it's difficult to explain. I have attempted to explain and show you what I mean. Once all of the petals are floofed, you will need to "tie up" the florette so that it stays put. You need to be the boss of this tissue or it will naturally try to resist you and "stretch back out".

I softly wrapped my hand around the base of the flower-tulle and all- and gently squeezed it in my left hand. That is the above picture.

Carefully with my right hand I firmly grabbed the top of the pipe cleaner and began to "tie it off". With my flower hand turning toward my body and the pipe cleaner hand wrapping away from my body, I just wrapped the pipe cleaner around the base one good, super tight, tiny lap.

See:

The object is to keep the composition held together and the pipe cleaner works geniusly (made it up) well. Don't do more than one lap around or you may not have enough pipe cleaner to attach it around the candle stick.

Now turn it over and see if it needs any more floofing. This one does. Not much though.

Now I'm going to show you how to cover the lamp shades.

hahaahahahahahaha

I'm laughing because all I need to do is tell you that I took a really long strip of orange tulle ribbon and threaded it through the lamp shade, making sure the loose lends were underneath and "pinching" the ends with a little tiny pipe cleaner.

But if I stopped there then you wouldn't get to see all the pretty pictures. 

So here we go.

Just pretend as you're reading that this is complicated and that I'm speaking in a calm, smooth, yoga teacher style voice. 

Now class, 

streeeeeeeeeetch that tulle O-ver the top of the lamp shade.

 Thaaaaat's it. Yeaaaah. Now feel the tulle slide through your fingers, not tooooo fast, breathe, that's it.

 Now back up around pulling geeeeeeently. GEEEEntly. Breathe. 

Now UUUUUP, OVer. Tuck it in. Tuck it in. Nice job ladies.....

Now exhale.

wwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgghghghghgh!

Now relaaaax.

You've done great work ladies.

Now back to normal voice. Wasn't that fun? I thought it was. I got myself so relaxed I forgot what we were doing here. Then I remembered the yoga class I took when the very cute SaraJessicaParkerLookingInstructer stretched down to put her palms on the floor and farted a very loud squeaker and now I'm not so relaxed. It's o.k. to laugh. She did. She totally laughed out an apology something to the effect of she'd been doing that all day.

Back to pretty things.

Now you have a shade to hang up.

Now I will confess another thing.

I don't THINK this is a fire hazard.

The candle bulbs are very low wattage and if it's starts to smell weird I'll just turn the thing off. I'm pretty sure that lots of lamp shades are fabric and they don't burst into flame.

All I'm sayin' is that,

I'm not sure.

But isn't it pretty?!

Now hang em' up!

I'd show you a picture but remember that I'm afraid of heights so that means that the 3rd step of the ladder brings me great anxiety and I can not possibly stand precariously up there, with expensive camera in hand, hold on for dear life and with the other hand hang the pretty things.

That would take 3 hands, I have two, so... you get the picture.

And this picture.

I'm so happy.

I'm so happy that I'm going to send it over to Skip to my Lou for a little blog party.

To attach the rosette, just hold it in place while wrapping the pipe cleaner stem tightly-tightly around the candle. When you come back around, tuck it behind the flower and bend-twist-fold (pick your word) so that it stays put. I think "twist" is the best word.

Now repeat 7 times, or however many arms you have on your chandelier.

I couldn't decide which pic I liked best so I plugged them both in.

They just look so soft and warm.

It's fun because now the whole entry way is filled with the subtle warm, orange glow.

I'm so much happier with the outcome since I accepted my own challenge to do whatever was lacking to the candles sticks. I didn't realize that the shades would get a little up-do as well. 

Now it's finished!

But then I got a great idea for the table underneath.

I'll save that story for tomorrow.

Please come back.

And give me a comment to let me know you're there.

!

Zachary's Winner!!!!

Wooooohoooooo!

Calli's a winner!

This summer Calli entered the Annual Zachary's Chicago Style Pizza Art Contest.

One of her teachers suggested that she and Jake enter this contest.

It was easy to enter.

Zachary's gave you the paper, the entry form and the rules.

Any age could enter.

Any skill level.

Both of my kids worked very hard for a few weeks on their entries. Jake did a fabulous Green Lantern and received Honorable Mention and a few slices of free pizza.

However, to our surprise, Calli won the honor of being one of the winners who would get their entry framed and displayed in a Zachary's store, 

along with a $100 gift certificate to Zachary's,

and two T-shirts!

So fun!

So proud of my artist children.

There's TrueLove and one of our AmazingIllustratorFriend's Cathy,

and Calli way back there.

I like this picture because you can see some of the other winning entries in the background.

You must know that TrueLove and I have been frequenting Zachary's Pizza since we were little high school punks. We've had so many great memories waiting for hours, squished in like sardines, in the College Avenue store. One of my friends bachelorette parties started at Zachary's. Then Zachary's moved into suburbia and I do believe that Jake had two birthday parties here. I have one fine memory, I must have been 17, of convincing my dad that it was worth the drive AND the wait in Bezerkly to eat this pizza. I begged him to let me treat him to this dining phenomenon. There was nothing like it I promised him. He conceded and we stuffed ourselves into the craziness, salivating at the garlicy-tomato aroma that hung in the air the whole time we waited, ordered-hungry and exhausted with the site of all the other happy people (who had waited out their 45minute bake time) indulging in this pizza fantasticness, and FINALLY our pizza arrived. Insert the sound of shattered dreams falling all around. I had accidently ordered a thin crust, regular pizza! You only make that mistake once! I've hardly forgiven myself and it's been about 20 years.

Ah the sweet memories!

All the memories are brightly enhanced by the fun of enjoying all the wild and zany art adorning the walls. They were funny, creative, colorful, and they honored the star of the show-

the deep, dish, Chicago style pizza pie!!!

The magic is in the deep dish!

(Which is why my flat pizza order with my dad was such a monumental mistake. I never got him to go back.)

That's Mike behind me. Cathy's hubby.

If you haven't experienced this pizza, you may not have lived yet.

You must go.

Well, I'm not quite done bragging about my Calli Girl.

When she was choosing the subject matter of this contest, she knew from the beginning that she wanted to do Garfield because "everyone knows that Garfield likes to eat a lot."

Cover your ears folks! 

I tried to talk her out of it.

"Garfield's so out dated. No one's into Garfield. Do a fashion thing. You're so good at that."

But she stuck to her plan. She did not waver. She went with her gut.

And it payed off!

The caption reads

"Good-bye Lasagna,

HELLO ZACHARY'S" 

When TrueLove made the reservation requesting we sit under her picture so we could get some good family pictures, the hostess said that the Garfield was one of the fan favorites.

It received a lot of traffic from the kids and everyone thought it was funny that Garfield had discovered Zachary's.

Hey! Jake gave me bunny ears. 

Maybe they say that to every winning family that calls and requests seating next to their art, but even if that's so,

it doesn't change how much I love hearing it.

Congrats Calli!

Olie's Pumpkin Smoothy

Day three of my Pumpkin Mania.

I am taking October head on this week and indulging in some of my

favorite pumpkin recipes. Today you get my spin on the 

Pumpkin Smoothy.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 C of milk of your choice 

(I used Coconut Milk)

1/2 C of Pumpkin Puree

2 scoops of Arbonne Vanilla Protein Powder

1 tsp of Almond Butter

1 sliver of fresh ginger

1/2 tsp of Pumpkin Pie Spice (adjust to your liking)

1/2 C ice ( I actually used 2 handfuls) 

Coconut Palm Sugar Crystals for garnish-

Directions:

Whirl it all together until smooth and until the ice cubes stop knocking around in the VitaMix container.

Easy.

Of course you could garnish with Nutmeg and that would be wonderful, but I thought I'd like a little sweetness to hit my lips when I took my first few sips, so I sprinkled the Coconut Palm Sugar Crystals on top. They have a molasses/brown sugar vibe to them, so I enjoy using this ingredient. It's a relatively new item to my pantry, but I love it! It is unrefined and has a super low glycemic index. Reading from the back of the container: "For comparison, regular sugar has a GI index of 100, coconut sugar is approximately 35."

Luxurious Pumpkin Oatmeal

Mmmmm.

Healthy.

TuesdayMorning Friendly.

Delicious.

Easy!

Can this be true?

All these things?

Yes they can!

How so?

Well,

you bring out one of these bad boys!

Ok. I must whine for a moment. Everyone one of my bad boy appliances is broken. My food processor, my VitaMix, and now my slow cooker. RRR!

Well, thankfully they are all broken in cosmetic ways, but I'm starting to take this a little personal. Last night when I pulled this guy out half the handle fell off.

Anyways,

hahahahahahaha

(laugh it off).

Now, we will collect the things we need for this very simple luxurious autumn breakfast.

Ingredients:

1 can of Pumpkin

5 C water

1 1/2 C oatmeal

1/4 cup raw honey

1 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie spice

couple pinches of Sea Salt

optional decadence:

handful of chocolate chips to stir in when serving

and a teaspoon of coconut oil

Put everything in the slow cooker.

Stir.

Then set to low (I don't even want to say "cook" since it seems unfair to the slow cooker that's doing all the work), all night long, 8 - 10 hours.

As soon as you wake up, 

you can go in there, 

stir up that velvety pumpkin oatmeal which is filling your home with comforting fragrance, 

scoop it up into a bowl,

toss in some chocolate chips-

YUMMMM-

top with a teaspoon of coconut oil,

and

enjoy!

TuesdayMorning friends might like to know that a 1 C scoop of this goodness (before chocolate chips) is only 3 pts.

I like to bring this to school brunches when I want to bring something warm and healthy and I know that I won't be able to spare a minute in the morning. You know those brunches where everyone brings donuts, pastries, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and a fruit tray from the supermarket? Yep. And if you don't plan ahead I'll have no choice but to eat all of that tasty stuff-I convince myself-and then need a nap 30 minutes later, feel all spacey, and be 5 pounds plumper? 

I show up with this and everyone is very happy.

Don't forget to have some mix-ins in little containers ready to go to:

dried cranberries, golden raisins, nuts, or just take it over the edge like me and set the chocolate chips out for the ladies.

It is autumn luxury in bowl.

Apple Peaches Pumpkin Pie

Except without the apples and peaches.

It's October and we're ready. I've been embracing the PUMPKIN!

In fact, I think I can pumpkin-post myself silly this whole week.

Starting Now!

Oh yes.

Pumpkin Pancakes!!!!

Autumn deliciousness on a plate.

And HEALTHY! 

Oh yes.

Gluten Free Baby!

Ingredients Wet:

2 farm fresh eggs

1/4 C Coconut Milk

2 tsp melted coconut oil

1/3 can of pumpkin puree

Blend the above ingredients together in a bowl.

Ingredients Dry:

2 TBSP sifted Coconut Flour

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp aluminum free Baking Powder

couple pinches of salt

Wisk the above together in a bowl.

Heat up your griddle pan and melt a small spoonful of coconut oil.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Drop by spoonful onto the hot griddle. 

In a few minutes they should start popping little bubbles on the top. When that happens flip them over.

Unless, you want to be adventurous like me. Right before I flipped mine over, I stuck two thin ripe banana slices in the soft side. Then I flipped it and it got hot, carmely, and crazy good on the other side. Next time I'll put some chocolate chips in with the banana. I do think you could put any thing fabulous and fruity in there. I bet cranberries would work too for a Thanksgivingish spin. Pecans, golden raisins, blueberries, raspberries, go ahead and experiment. 

Just a few more seconds and they are done. 

I like to set up a little "fixins" platter for my kids.

(pft! "for the kids?!" for ME too! It looks prettier.

After all, we eat with our eyes first, right?"

Same pic as above without the fancy color adjustments

Warm maple syrup, sliced bananas, chocolate chips, powdered sugar, and any other scrumptious topping you like on pancakes.

Oh yes.

Pumpkin pancakes with the fixins! 

And a cup of strong coffee.

Oh, we're ready October.

A.B.C.

"A" is for Autumn

"B" is for Boa's

"C" is for Chandeliers

and 

Chandeliers are for Decorating!!!

So I have me one of these!

Which I love.

Believe it or not,

it was a hand-me-down!

When my friend bought her home in Marin, this beauty was hanging in her dining room. The only problem was that her dining room was not much bigger than my entry way and had a low ceiling. It basically took over the whole space. So this beauty made a trip across the bay and moved in with us. It was so appreciated because it replaced a hideous, with a capital "H", chandelier from the 80's that belonged in a bin with acid wash jeans, stirrup pants, and troll dolls. Whoa, I got off track there.

Anyways.

It was just an ordinary, beautiful, eight arm chandelier in an entry way.

A long time ago I decided that it was not just an object of beauty, but it was a platform for decorating. It was possible for it to be even more beautiful, and it was my duty (code "pleasure") to make it so.

I had been to Gardenseed in downtown Danville and was inspired. If you have never had the treat of meandering through this store, then you are missing out on one of the Bay Area's best kept secrets.

Anyways, I could go on and rave about this place but I think I'll save some of my raving for another post. The gist of my decorating story is that there are chandeliers dangling down from every possible spot on their ceiling. Each one is adorned and decorating to the hilt. So as I admired them in all their splendor, I decided most emphatically that chandeliers were decorators dreams and few crazy souls would take the opportunity to explore this.

So I decorated mine for a wedding shower I threw my best friend several years ago and I never took down the paper petal garland or brown satin ribbon. It's funky, frilly, feminine and fresh. I never tire of it. I love the chandelier so much more with this soft, full, and tactile embellishment that I just continue to work around it.

So here's something funny!

It's October, that spooky time of year, when decorating gets dark and creepy.

That's not decor. That's dust! Keepin' it real.

Could leave it and call it Fall decorating.

Pretty amazed at how cool and creepy my dust looks. I thought I'd share it with you. I told my blogging audience in the beginning that I am not a perfectionist and here's a visual on that. I better get back on track.

Enter story,

a trip to Richard's, my favorite craft store,

mainly because it's about 4 minutes from my digs,

it has the Ribbon Wall that I'm in love with,

there's a coffee shop almost right next door

(what's not to love?)

and I picked up a few things.

So another thing about myself. 

I hope I don't offend anyone out there, but I'm keepin' it real.

I really don't like Halloween. I don't like scary things. I don't like spooky things. I don't like creepy things. 

I do love October, pumpkins, orange and black, and decorating with all my neighbors, so here's what I came up with for some fall fun without the dark death factor.

It's still a work in progress. I feel like it needs some roundness and oomph on the candle sticks so hang with me and we'll see how it evolves. I must do it quick though because I'll need to change it all up for Thanksgiving. 

If anyone is interested in how this happened, here's a quick sloppy tutorial on the madness that whipped up this big mess of Octoberness.

First the wired netting material. You just bunch it up, finesse it, and twist it. When you get the body you want, pinch tie it together with orange pipe cleaners. The pipe cleaners work splendidly and are easy to remove later too.

It's a lot like T.P.ing (although I never really did that because I was always too scared of getting in trouble and remember I don't like "scary" things). I took this pic so you could see how much I was working with. The netting came in a 10' roll. Just drape it and weave it through the chandelier finessing until you are happy with the look.

I know it's blurry. It was a cloudy dark day that I did this, I just wanted you to know that I was working with it in one looooooong roll.

Once I got it all up there I decided I had enough to add a second ring. I'm glad I added it because with one it seemed a little flat. By the second ring I figured out what I was doing.

Once I got all of that up I decided to work in the black (not blue like they look in that picture) silk flowers.

Now these were a compromise, I wanted black silk roses, but they were pretty pricey and I needed eight. So I picked out these guys which were like $1.50 a piece, and I bought three. They definitely are NOT silk. Crappy polyester maybe. Super cheap and they look even cheaper, so I decided to spruce them up a bit. I knew that I had some orange spray paint in the garage. TrueLove dug it up. 

Here's what we got.

So pretty. And so fun. I have to say that even though it's toxic and torturous to smell, it's so intoxicatingly fun to wave around a hissing can of spray paint. Fuuuuuunnnn!

In 10minutes they were dry. I cut each one into three parts. I grabbed a bit of the black tulle ribbon, black pipecleaners, and turned the pieces into little "nosegays"? Really tiny ones.

All I did was simply take the tulle and tie a knot around the bottom of the floral bit. Then the tails that were left I drew up behind the twigs. Once I had what I liked, I climbed back up the ladder and fixed them to the front of the candle arms, attaching with black pipe cleaner.

Once those were all in place and TrueLove had found the box in the garage with all of last years' embellishments ( I love him so much! and not just because he finds things), I dug out the black feather boas and got busy attaching them with black pipe cleaners to the bottom of the little floral bunches. I just let them hang like weird fluffy tails. Then I took what was left and tried to cover the brass body of the chandelier.

I had some black feathers left over from last year that I poked into the florals so they would fan out. That was fun. They just stuck right in.

While I was up there I tucked in all the brown ribbon and paper petals. I just tucked them into the arms to clean up the profile a little bit.

Today this baby is showing off it's feathers at It's a Blog Party.

Overall, I'm pleased. 

Again, I think the candles need a little more body. I'd love to put black crows on each one but honestly I won't spend the money for them. Little black skulls would be great but I hate them. So stick with me and I'll see if I can find the right thing to finish it off. This trip to Richard's cost me $39, well I did get a few other things- striped candles for some table scapes-little orange lights, etc, but honestly I don't want to spend another penny on something so temporary. 

Even if all the Halloween stuff is 50% off.

So I'm creative, I'll think of something. I'll keep you posted.

Wow! Now I'm depressed. I could have saved myself thirty-nine bucks by going with the natural, creepy, dust theme.

Oh well.

Sunday Surprise

I had no intentions of blogging today because it's Sunday and everyone needs a break. As I was sitting on my computer checking a few things-yes on my blog-putting up a few recipes, checking stats, trying not to be obsessive-here comes this beautiful plate!

Calli made me a really delicious breakfast! Don't we as moms dream of the day when our children would do these things? I sure did! I remember those days when the kids were little, very little, and I celebrated the day when they could just self feed. The first time we'd be at a coffee shop and our baby would put the muffin to his/her own mouth and not choke to death. Remember when we were so thrilled that they could use the fork, drink from a real cup that didn't come in several pieces, and even when they could get up early and toast their own bread? All of those milestones were so special and celebrated. 

And now, breakfast!

Just so you know, this is not the first time my daughter has made me something special. She shows love by serving and giving, so this happens from time-to-time, but today it just delighted me all over again. For one reason especially, is that her cooking chops are really blossoming. She used a wheat-free & gluten free Baking & Pancake mix that TrueLove bought to try, but we haven't used. She just busted out that bag and made these fabulous pancakes. She drizzled them with Maple Syrup, dropped a dollop of Almond Butter to drag each bite through, and topped the cakes with chopped-yes she chopped them-Fontana Farms Butter Toffee Almonds! Wow! 

Yes, we hit the Farmer's Market in Danville yesterday and bought these yummy babies.

We bought the 2 bags for 6$ which was super smart of us

because we almost ate a whole bag on the ride home.

And it's about a 7 minute drive.

They are like candy!

Yum!

And she topped my pancakes with them! 

Then she filled a little ramekin with scrambled eggs that she made. I asked her how she scrambled the eggs and she rattled this off: 2 eggs, coconut milk, basil, Sea Salt, pepper and tomatoes.

Seriously.

I couldn't not post about this. My eleven year old is growing up, concocting amazing recipes, thinking of others first (we're still working on that with the 14 year old-oh confessions-confessions- I'm always working on that with ME), and just pleasantly

surprising me!

It was worth sharing!

So I'm going to finish up this fabulous Sunday Surprise

so I can get in there and clean 

all the dishes

she left.