K Sarah Designs

Perfect Pairings // Pastels & Brights

room / art via

I'm a huge fan of mixing brights with more muted colors. Though I haven't always been drawn to pastels, per se, they can add just the right amount of neutral backdrop for brighter, more dramatic color. Rather than going with the typical off-white, beige, and greige neutrals, layering soft pastels can make for a prettier, more interesting space.

Interiors i love // Staghorn Fern Wall Displays

When it comes to bringing plants inside, my philosphy is the more the merrier. Adding tons of green plants makes a space feel so much more cozy and welcoming, in my opinion. Not to mention, they add some great natural textures & pretty green tones to a room.

For a while now, I've been loving the idea of plants as a wall display. I think this succulent wall garden was what first convinced me of the brilliance of this idea:

Anyway, lately I've been drawn to plant displays with Staghorn Ferns, which is a variety of fern that shares an uncanny likeness to antlers. I sort of love the idea of displaying these ferns exactly how you would display real antlers - mounted on a plaque. Not only does it look pretty cool, but it also adds some tongue-in-cheek humor to a space, and who doesn't love that?

Below are some of my favorite examples of Staghorn Fern wall displays:

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

I think they work particularly well displayed in a group, but one large fern would make quite a statement centered over a fireplace mantle, too. What do you think about plants as a wall display?

Thirsty Treats // Blackberry Agave Margaritas

Happy Friday!

Sometimes there really is nothing better than a homemade, fresh-squeezed margarita. This version is a simple mix of fresh lime juice, agave nectar, tequila, triple sec, and muddled blackberries. The berries add just a bit of a sweet fruit flavor, and the result is a refreshing, not-too-sweet margarita in a vibrant purple color.

What's also great about the base of this margarita is any kind of fruit can be added to it. If you don't have blackberries on hand, just sub in strawberries, blueberries, mango, or kiwi, to name a few! They'd all be delicious!

Blackberry Agave Margaritas

- 8 fresh blackberries
- 2 lime wedges
- 1 oz. fresh lime juice
- 0.5-1 oz. light agave nectar (depending on how sweet you like yours)
- 2 oz. silver Tequila
- 0.5 oz. of Cointreau or Triple Sec (optional)

In the bottom of a glass, muddle 5-6 blackberries with 1 of the lime wedges. Fill the glass with ice. Next, fill a cocktail shaker with ice, and add the tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and agave nectar. Shake well, and strain into the glass over the blackberries. Give it a stir, and garnish with the remaining fresh blackberries & lime wedge. Enjoy!

*Recipe adapted from Camille Styles

Cheers to a long, holiday weekend!

DIY // Striped Painted Table Runner From a Drop Cloth

That title pretty much sums it up, so why don't we get right down to it?

Remember the bridal shower I threw a couple weekends ago with the striped table runner?

Well, I made that out of a drop cloth, and now I'm going to show you how to do that, too!

First, materials. You will need the following:

Material List:

- a metal ruler
- a rotary cutter (or good scissors & the ability to cut straight!)
- a drop cloth in your desired size (I used a 6 ft x 9 ft. cloth)
- painters tape (I swear by Frog Tape)
- a paint roller or brush
- fabric paint (I used Tulip soft matte fabric paint in dark blue)
- a sewing machine

Step 1:

After obtaining your drop cloth in your desired size, you'll want to wash & dry it to get some of the stiffness and weird smell out of it. Be sure NOT to use fabric softener (fabric paint doesn't stick well to cloth that has softener).

Once the drop cloth is washed and dried, lay it out and iron the portion you'll be using for the runner. Next, measure & mark your desired width along the whole length of the drop cloth. For example, I wanted my runner to be 9 feet by 20 inches, so I measured & marked off 21 inches along the whole 9 foot length of cloth (I allowed a 1 inch allowance for the hem). With the metal ruler and rotary cutter, cut along the marked guides you just made on a cutting mat or other cut-safe surface. 

Step 2:

Once you've cut along the whole length of the drop cloth, you're ready to sew the hem! On the side you just cut, fold the hem over 1 inch and iron along the edge. Then, fold the hem in half, tucking it underneath itself so that you can't see the unfinished edge, and iron the edge again. You should have a crisp, even edge, with none of the stringy, unfinished edge showing. Next, just sew along the fold, making sure to back stitch at the corners. You should end up with a nice, straight hem.

Step 3:

Now you're ready to paint! If you do stripes like me, just figure out how wide you want yours. I wanted 4 inch wide stripes, so I taped off where they should go. Tip: the cutting mat actually came in very useful for this - I was able to use the guides on the mat to measure out & ensure straight strips of tape. Just make sure your runner is perpendicular to the mat, and use the measurements on the mat to place the tape. Also, make sure you take into account the inside vs. outside edges of the tape - for example, each stripe I painted had 4 inches between tape edges, but the stripes I left blank only had 2 inches between edges, since you have to take the tape thickness into account... Or if you're feeling brave/impatient, you can really just freehand here and eyeball the width of the stripes :)

Once you've taped all of your stripes, start filling in the stripes with paint. You might have to go over certain areas a few times for good coverage, but this part is pretty quick. I purposefully left some areas with lighter paint coverage so that you could tell it was painted on - I wanted it to look a little imperfect. Once you finish the stripes, you're done! It just needs to dry for a few hours, and then you're good to go. You've made a painted, striped table runner out of a drop cloth! So simple, right?

I love that the paint is a little imperfect, which I think adds some nice texture to the table. And the simple stripes add a fun pattern as well.

The best part though? The dropcloth was $12, so using less than 1/3 of it translated to about $4 of fabric. I think the fabric paint was $3, and I had everything else on hand, so the total cost was $7! And I still have a bunch of drop cloth fabric that I can use for other projects now, pillows, napkins, or more runners!) I'm excited to experiment with some different patterns, or possibly try out some stamp & block prints!

Interiors i love // The Peacock Mirror

It's no secret that mirrors play an important role in many spaces. Though they may seem like a minor design element, they actually have the ability to completely transform a room. Besides the obvious benefits of brightening & opening up a space, they can actually make quite a statement & become a focal point in a room.

Sunburst mirrors are one of my favorite examples of this (afterall, I've even made a couple of them!). But Peacock Mirrors are another style that I'm completely smitten with. Take a look for yourself:

 via Apartment Therapy

 via Desire to Inspire

via Wisteria

Jonathan Adler via Domino, via Little Green Notebook

via Wisteria

Southern Living via Little Green Notebook

 via Young House Love

Aren't they pretty? I love that they add a bit of a bohemian vibe, while also adding great texture & visual interest.

What do you think? Are you a fan of Peacock Mirrors, too?

Tasty Eats // Cucumber, Corn, & Tomato Salad

Okay, so I know I might say this a lot, but I really do think this is my new favorite salad recipe. While in Napa this weekend, I had lunch at Rutherford Grill, and enjoyed this delicious dish (along with many other tasty bites). But the salad in particular was stellar - simple, flavorful, and refreshing, and I was determined to duplicate it as soon as possible (ie: as soon as I got home!). And I have to say, I think it turned out pretty darn close to the original.

This salad is perfect for summer, when all of the veggies are in season and are at their most flavorful. You get the crisp crunch from the cucumber, the juicy tomatoes, the sweetness from the corn, and some other awesome flavors from the bell pepper, onion, calamata olives, cilantro, and a sweet, tangy vinaigrette dressing. And to top it all off, you sprinkle a bit of soft, creamy goat cheese on top - heaven!

 

Cucumber, Corn, & Tomato Salad

- 6 small Persian Cucumbers, or 1 large English cucumber (peel off alternating strips of the skin, and cut in 1/2 inch chunks)
- 1 1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 ears of sweet corn, cut off the cobb
- 1/4 green bell pepper, very thinly sliced
- 1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced in half
- 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 small wheel of a soft, mild chevre

For the Dressing:
- 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. light agave nectar
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper, to taste

For the dressing, whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl, making sure to add plenty of salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients, except for the chevre. Add the dressing to the salad and mix well. Refrigerate the salad for a couple of hours before serving, and when ready to eat, generously sprinkle pieces of the chevre over the salad. Serve and enjoy!

i love // Amy Sia Scarfs

Happy Monday! I hope everyone is having a great start of the week.

Today I have some serious eye candy to share. I've featured Amy Sia's art before, and have to say her work is among my favorites. Her vibrant use of color is fantastic, and I love that her art is graphic, yet flowing at the same time. Her designs are often created using a combination of painting, drawing, photography, and computer aided design, and the results are truly beautiful.

Anyway, Amy contacted me a few days ago letting me know about her new line of printed silk scarfs, and I was delighted to see that they were every bit as gorgeous as her art prints:

Aren't they beautiful? And really, who doesn't want to wear a scarf that doubles as a work of art? I'm having a really hard time deciding which one is my favorite!

All scarfs are available for purchase on her website, and are (at this point) being made to order. Hop on over there to check them out!

And, in the event you haven't seen her other work, her gorgeous (and affordable!) art prints can be found here (along with her iphone & ipad cases). Again, it's seriously hard to pick a favorite, because they're all so darn good.

Bridal Shower // The Details

So, yesterday I shared our idea board for my friend Hillary's bridal shower, and today I'm sharing some details & photos from the day of!

But first, I wanted to show the invite I made, since it also included some of the elements from the idea board:

I created this invite in Adobe Illustrator using the succulents that I had already drawn for my custom stationary, and added some stripes in Hillary's wedding color. Easy peasy.

And now for some photos of the shower!

It was such a fun afternoon, and was wonderful celebrating Hillary & her upcoming nuptials! Also, special thanks to Hillary for the photos - I forgot my camera at home like a dummy.

Some of the details, for those interested:

Flowers // We picked up a bunch of bouquets at good ol' Trader Joes and arranged them into 5 glass vases from Ikea (I think they were $2 each). I think the key with making your own arrangements, at least for us, is to only buy bouquets that include a single flower variety - that way you can be picky about the color & type of flower you want. For example, we were able to pick out 3 different shades of stock (one of my faves - they smell so good!), a big bunch of carnations in a vibrant magenta, a couple bunches of purple mums, and mini white "snowball" hydrangea... None of which are particularly fancy or expensive flowers, but together they were a good mix of textures, and were also in the colors we wanted. If we had bought mixed bouquets, we would have ended up with a lot of flowers in colors that we didn't want. Plus, it's fun arranging your own flowers!

Succulent Favors // We picked up small succulents at a local nursery, and found some adorable mini craft paper bags at Michael's that were the perfect size for the succulents. I made some quick nametags in Adobe Illustrator and printed them on cardstock, which we just cut out and taped onto the bags. So simple. We loved the idea of using succulents as nametags because not only did they look cute on the table, but everyone would be able to take them home as a favor, and who doesn't love getting a succulent?

Striped Table Runner // This was the way we incorporated some blue, one of Hillary's favorite colors. I made the runner out of a canvas dropcloth, and painted on stripes with navy blue fabric paint. This is super easy and inexpensive to do - I'll be posting a tutorial next week.

Games // It seems no shower is complete without some games, so we chose to go relatively low key with these. The first was we put together an "entertainment basket" with 15-20 items that would be useful for entertaining. This was anything from cocktail napkins, to crackers, to a decorative wine stopper, etc. Everyone can take a look at the basket in the beginning of the shower while everyone's arriving and mingling, and then later on, are asked to write down all of the items they remember. Whoever remembers the most items gets a small gift, and the guest of honor gets to take home the basket full of goodies. The other game we played was a little question & answer game of "who knows the bride and groom the best?" We came up with 10 questions about the couple, and asked everyone to write down their answers. Hillary answered them, and whoever wrote down the most correct answers got a small gift. Both games ended up being really fun!

The Rehearsal Bouquet // It's always fun making the rehearsal bouquet out of the ribbon & tissue paper from the shower gifts. Hillary's mom made some awesome tissue paper flowers to go in the bouquet, and it turned out great!

Whew! That was a bit wordy! If you got through that, thanks for sticking with me :)

Oh, and Happy Happy Friday!

Bridal Shower // Idea Board

This past weekend, I had a blast throwing a bridal shower for my wonderful friend & college roommate, Hillary (she also happens to be the one I got the the faux capiz chandelier idea from!).

Anyway, my mom and I co-hosted the shower at The Rotunda in Neiman Marcus, San Francisco. We had so much fun celebrating Hillary & her upcoming wedding, and of course planning all of the decorations & details was an added bonus!

Since the shower was at a restaurant, we couldn't really go crazy with streamers and balloons or anything, so we focused more on the table decor & favors. We wanted to keep it simple with the flowers by sticking with Hillary's wedding colors, which is a gorgeous mix of vibrant pinks & purples. We also wanted to add in one of her favorite colors, blue, and incorporate succulents as both the nametags and favors.

These were some of the ideas we came up with:

image sources: flowers / striped runner / succulent nametags & favors

The shower turned out great, and was so much fun! I'll be sharing some photos & more details tomorrow!

I love // Tie Dye edition

In most cases, a little tie dye can go a long way, but when it's done right, I think it can really add just the right amount of interest to a space or outfit. In an otherwise neutral backdrop, adding a fun tie dye accessory can provide that unexpected element that helps complete a look:

1 // Dip-Dye tassel earrings - Dark Horse - £19

2 // Tie Dye Maxi Dress - Top Shop - £35

3 // Tie Dye Rug - CB2 - $249

4 // Tie Dye Shibori Pillow Cover - Sea & Stone Studio - $60

5 // Tie Dye Hair Ties & Bracelets - Mane Message - $9.45

6 // Rope Dye Pillow - Mercado Global - $50