It’s holiday party season – are you organizing one this year? I’ve been having a few friends over here and there, which I much prefer to one grand shindig. More quality time to talk and just hang out at the speed I prefer. I wanted to pull together a little takeaway for each gathering and came up with this candy buffet in my dining room as a sweet treat to end the evening.
I used the metallic tones I tend to gravitate towards during the holidays as a starting point. Lots of glass jars of different sizes, small porcelain bowls, gem-cut mercury glass bowls, a metal hammered gold bowl, and a few pieces that I already had tucked away round out the spread nicely.
Layering different heights adds visual interest that pulls you right through the buffet as you gather your goodies on the go. I stuck to a palette of silver, blue, red, and green candy and was sure to include lots of different types – chocolate, fruit flavored, chewy, hard – lots of different textures and flavors to satisfy even the choosiest visitor!
The main focal point is a group of three paper trees I made a few years ago, a sweet white ceramic stag head, and several tea lights in small mason jars to add lots of sparkle and shine to the surface. A flocked wreath hanging in the overhead in the window added some extra holiday spirit.
Of course we couldn’t forget the most iconic Christmas classics – candy canes and peppermints. Miniature candy canes are perfect for adding to a cup of hot chocolate. Use one as a stir until it dissolves for a twist on the old standby.
The buffet is easy to replenish as things run out between get togethers and looks pretty enough when not in use. Hope your holiday season is stress-free and sweet!
There is collage art, and then there is collage art. The latter uses different pieces of other stories to pull together their own version, and artist Beth Hoeckel resides firmly in that camp. I’m especially enamored with her Point of View series that’s rooted in outer space or on the moon itself. Retro and dreamy it all but takes you back to the space race!
A few years ago my family switched to having a Christmas Day brunch in place of dinner. While I miss the big dinner with all of the trimmings, this seems to suit us all just fine. It’s always at my Grandma’s house, but if it were at mine it might go a little something like this. Lots of brights and metallics and an air of fun about it all. Lots of carbs to pick at while each person opens their gifts. And of course dessert and some alcohol to lighten the mood. Wanna come over? (Imaginary Christmas 2013, Imaginary Holiday Appetizer Party)
This time of year it’s difficult not to daydream of running off to some distant locale where holiday stresses cease to exist. Cabins is full of modern architectural illustrations by Marie-Laure Cruschi and is making it all the more difficult to be present these last few weeks of the year. Wouldn’t you love to escape to one of these beauties for the holidays?
Kim Keever creates art that I’m insanely jealous of. The New York-based artist dilutes paint pigments in a 200-gallon aquarium and then photographs the intermingling results. Alien landscapes, gardens, fabric blowing in the breeze – I can see it all. These abstract creations are my latest happy place.
How in the world is it already December 11th?! This month is flying by at the speed of light, and to be quite honest I’m lucky my tree is up and a few fresh wreaths are on the windows. I’m dreadfully behind on my holiday shopping and haven’t had time to so much as think about creating any seasonal DIYs. Which is why it’s nice to have creative friends and an RSS feed full of projects to bookmark with the hopes of adding hours to each day next December.
Click on each image to go to the project. All photos copyright of their respective sites unless otherwise noted.
Brooklyn-based artist Liz Markus creates some pretty spectacular work using an incredibly unpredictable painting technique. Markus lays down acrylic washes onto unprimed canvas, which then spreads as it dries. So she more or less has only a rough idea what each piece will look like once she steps away. Talk about trusting in your medium and loving the unpredictable!
is full of modern architectural illustrations by Marie-Laure Cruschi and is making it all the more difficult to be present these last few weeks of the year. Wouldn’t you love to escape to one of these beauties for the holidays?
