ABCD Design Sketch Book | milestones in life set the tone » Holiday Decorations

DIY {Do It Yourself} Festive Hanging Mercury Glass Candle Votives

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:28:10 +0000

Earlier this week, I told you about how I hung purple mercury glass votives from the Shaker peg board throughout our house for our Winter Solstice party. I realize very few of you will have Shaker pegs hanging all over your house -but rest assured- there are other uses for these festive hanging candle votives!They are easy to make and look fantastic hanging from tree branches in the back yard or in arrangements that you have inside. As you might recall, I first made them for the DesignTV Joss and Main Party and placed them in the branches of the largest flower arrangement. This look is great for wedding floral centerpieces, or for more intimate affairs. As a matter of fact, I have an old curtain wire on our screened in porch and hang the votives from that during Summertime evenings.I like to make each votive slightly different so that they all hang at various heights. This makes the look feel a bit more rustic and homespun. The first thing you do is wrap your wire around the base of the glass votive about three times. Wind the ends around itself to secure the loop.Next, make three pieces of wire about the same length. They need to be twice the length that you want the votive to hang down from the branch, peg, light fixture, Christmas roping, garlands, doorknob, or wherever you plan to hang it. Fold the wire in half around the votive loop you made and twist the three folded wires (now six ends) together to make the hanging hook on top.Voilà! Repeat as many times as the amount of hanging glass votives that you will need. If you decide to do this project at home: I beg you to use the battery operated LED flicker lights and not real candles. No one will know the difference – AND – you will insure yourself an evening without a visit from the fire department. Okay? Thanks!

A Winter Solstice Party {Cookies and Champagne}

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:08:13 +0000

Guess who found a use for the brass bar cart that she found at the dump? Yep! Right as our guests walked in the door, they were greeted by a champagne bar. The man at our local package store was out of the Pol Roger that I usually like to serve, so he sold me Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve. It was so very delicious, that I may have found a new house champagne. Ever since they served Pol Roger at the Royal Wedding, it’s gotten more expensive and harder to find…I recently purchased honey colored Perin Mowen tapers and had them scattered about the library in my collection of mix and match crystal candlesticks. We mainly lit the house with candlelight for the party. I used purple mercury glass votives wrapped in copper wire and hung them from the shaker peg board throughout the house.I fully intended to write a blog post this past Friday, but (as you can imagine) I was overwhelmed with last minute details for the Winter Solstice party that we threw this past Saturday night. Flowers needed to be arranged, I had hoped to bake a few loafs of pumpkin bread, and there was still last minute decorating to do.In the library, I mixed David Austin ‘Patience’ Roses with classic white Vendela roses, long needle white pine and apple green hypericum berry in my Baccarat Eye Vase. I also had another arrangement on the low table by the orange sofa. It was similar, but without the addition of the Patience roses.I had purchased bright orange felt with the intention of using pinking shears to cut table toppers for the dining room table, the homemade eggnog table, and all of counter tops in the kitchen. It added a nice pop of festive color to each of the rooms whose color palettes are decidedly neutral during the rest of the year. This is one of the benefits to decorating with neutral color – one can add accessories, change out the pillows or table toppers and the place will look entirely transformed!I decorated our range hood, used an extra shelf from our kitchen cabinetry on top of the Aga, and displayed the collection of Christmas cookies that I baked last week on top of the range. All the cookie baking paid off – it made for quite an impressive display.With the Winter Solstice party behind us, I have left this week open to get my holiday shopping finished and wrapped beautifully. Who else hasn’t started their shopping yet – am I the only one?

{What does ABCD stand for?} Amy Bakes Cookie Dough wink

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:01:45 +0000

Tonight on DesignTV we have a special holiday edition complete with Christmas Prizes! Not only will we be announcing The New Traditionalists Desk No. 211 winner, but we’ve also got The Find by Stan Williams The Elegant Thrifter and three copies of The Collected Tabletop by Kathryn Crisp Greeley to giveaway! Join us by clicking here at 5pm ET, 2pm PT for all the fun.

NYC Black Christmas Tree with MOMA ornaments

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:59:41 +0000

I purchased our MOMA Christmas Tree ornaments back when the Mr and I were engaged. He wanted to put a tree up in his apartment and didn’t have any sort of a collection to speak of. Since I was decking out my own place with my decorations, I purchased a few sets with the idea that I would add to our ornament collection once we were married. Each year the MOMA store changes the designs slightly, but they are always colorful and coordinate with the MOMA ornaments from years past. They look pretty wild on a black Christmas tree, don’t they?Why a black tinsel tree, you ask? It’s so infrequently that I am in the City on a regular basis that I wanted to only be responsible for watering the tree in one location. Since we’re spending our Christmas Holiday at The Country House, I wanted the fresh tree to be there. I figured if I was going to bring an artificial tree into The City Apartment, that I might as well embrace the fact that that it’s fake. What better way to do so than pick a color that doesn’t exist naturally? With the colorful ornaments in mind, I went for a black tinsel tree since every color truly pops on a dark background! Please help decide which lucky ABCD Design reader WINS Desk No. 211 for Christmas! Vote til noon on Thursday here.

How to Make a Holiday Bow {Christmas Decoration Tutorial}

Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:29:51 +0000

When I posted a sneak peek of my Christmas Decorations yesterday, it reminded me of the how to make a wreath tutorial I wrote last month and the fact that I promised to teach you how to make a holiday bow. Without delaying this any longer (Christmas decorating is likely almost over for many of you!) I thought I would share a how to make a holiday bow tutorial tout de suite here on ABCD Design. First, get your tools out and ready. You’ll need wire cutters, wire, scissors, and ribbon. I prefer to use wire-edged ribbon, it makes for a prettier bow in the end. Remember: that you shouldn’t cut wire-edged ribbon with the scissors that you prefer to keep sharp, so a dedicated pair for bow making is a good idea. Next, decide how long you want the tail of the bow to be. Always leave a wee-bit more than you think. Keep in mind: you can always trim it afterwards, but you can never magically make the tail longer after the bow is finished. Got it? Moving on…Now, decide what size your loops on the bow will be. Hold everything in your left hand and adjust the loops with your right. Make the loops on both sides of equal length and volume. Switch back at least four times. I like the way odd numbers look, so I usually do five loops per side.Lay a piece of wire about a foot long across the center of the fold. Give the ends a good three twists to secure the loops. Now, cut the ribbon off at the end of the second tail on the bow. Make this one a bit longer than the other tail, because you are going to make the center part of the bow with it. Decide what is going to be the bottom of the bow. Pull both of the tails to the bottom of the bow. Leave the shorter tail alone for a minute. Take the longer tail and loop it through the center and secure it in the back by twisting the wire in the back around it the same way you secured the loops earlier. Phew! Did you do it?

ABCD Design Sketch Book | milestones in life set the tone » Holiday Decorations

DIY {Do It Yourself} Festive Hanging Mercury Glass Candle Votives

A Winter Solstice Party {Cookies and Champagne}

{What does ABCD stand for?} Amy Bakes Cookie Dough *wink*

NYC Black Christmas Tree with MOMA ornaments

How to Make a Holiday Bow {Christmas Decoration Tutorial}

{What does ABCD stand for?} Amy Bakes Cookie Dough wink