to enter for a chance to win, please comment below, sharing your favorite organizational tip by friday, february 5th, and we’ll select a lucky winner by tuesday next week, february 9th. please remember to include a link, or way to contact you. thanks for entering, and thanks so much to amy butler for the great giveaway!
i’ve become kind of addicted to once wed. i seriously cannot get over the creativity and thoughtfulness that goes into some of the weddings they showcase. almost makes me want to plan a wedding (oh, snap, i gotta find that boyfriend, first!). anyhow, i digress. i couldn’t help but share some of the beautiful table arrangements and party decor diy ideas i’ve soaked up from once wed. yes, indeed, i do!
Stephanie from N.E.E.T. here! Today, my N.E.E.T. Finds for your Nest are inspired by the shades, shapes and scents in the last rays of sunshine of summer.
today, the lovely and talented katrina from pugly pixel is sharing a fun diy — clips to pins. make some! have fun! for more of katrina’s awesome tutorials and diy projects, visit pugly pixel.
I love Project Runway. Season 5 with Kenley Collins was one of my favorites. Kenley was a firecracker, surely, but I loved her retro style, her bangs, and most of all, I loved her fascinators. I had never seen anything like them before except in some old black and white movies. I didn’t think I could carry off huge feathery chiffon bombs like Kenley’s, so I ordered some of the small, more conservative hair accessories that JCrew and Anthro were selling online, like these cute pom pom clips. But, it’s been a long time since I’ve worn them. My love for hats has superseded my fascination for hair accessories, so my pom pom clips have taken a back seat until recently, when I found some cool safety-pin backs at The Hobby Company. I figured that I could replace the hair clips with the pin backs, and make myself some pom pom lapel pins instead. It’s such an easy and cute project that I want to share it with everyone who has an unused fascinator or hair pom pom resting in their closet. This is really simple, guys… ;)
Some supplies we’ll need: Fabri-Tac permanent adhesives, pin backs and some fascinator/pom pom clips.
Step 1: Remove the clip.
Step 2: Apply a strip of Fabri-Tac. Fabri-Tac is gummy and dries really fast so attach the pin back right away! Let the glue dry for a couple of hours and you’re done. Yay!
i recently shared my patio makeover with you, but what i’ve only shared a few glimpses of here and there on instagram is the rest of my yard — which consists of a very large and daunting hillside i need to landscape. i’m getting to that, but then at the very top of the hill is this plateau, where i’ve been thinking a little greenhouse type shed might be fun to build. these photos really inspired me to look further into the idea. especially brian w. ferry’s photographs of edible gardens L.A. — i may have to look up founder Lauri Kranz and see what her services are like. i’ve also seen where people DIY their own greenhouses from piecing together salvaged windows — that could be really cool, too. regardless, i hope these images inspire you as much as they did me.
brown can get such a bad rap, don’t you think? it’s often labeled as boring and sometimes gets lumped in with beige and bachelor pads — and not in a good way. and yet ‘brown’ is all around us — it’s everywhere we look in nature: beautiful big oak trees, endless prairies and rolling hillsides. and then there’s classic hardwood floors and furniture — wood is brown, darn it, and it’s very beautiful. brown glass is quite lovely, too and very often ignored. you drink your beer and never consider the beauty of the amber bottle. i found some real brown beauties this weekend and thought i’d share. you can find these vintage brown babies at flea markets, and online on ebay and etsy. and loads of new beauty products are being bottled in brown these days too. let’s bring back the beauty that is brown!
i’ve always held a super secret desire to own a restaurant — no, really! and friends have come to call my house their “favorite restaurant” — victoria’s restaurant, and that may be as close as i actually come. but i love to cook and have a few signature recipes i often get requests for. so when i was invited by CNBC to take a stab at creating my own pop-up restaurant, i was intrigued and excited! their third season of CNBC’s show Restaurant Startup starts this wednesday, january 6th at 10pm est and to celebrate, i’m designing my own pop-up restaurant! we’re also giving away a Restaurant Startup themed pack to one lucky reader — if you’ve ever wanted to start your own restaurant, then this is the ideal package to inspire your restaurant dreams.
if you’ve not seen the show, Restaurant Startup pits restaurant moguls, Joe Bastianich, Tim Love, and Elizabeth Blau against each other to invest their own money in restaurant concepts they think can make big profits. Contestants have 36 hours and a $7,500 budget to create a pop-up restaurant — putting their concepts to the test, creating a business plan, a branding campaign, and finally, launching their dream restaurant and testing the food and concept on the public. In addition to the two investors, celebrity chef Antonia Lofaso consults the contestants on the best way to showcase their food, design, and overall idea. i wonder what she’ll think of mine?! here goes…
one whole wall will be covered with a black & white cactus mural. and a bright white ceiling will be lit up with mint green Ivanhoe Sky Chief Warehouse Porcelain Pendant lamps with red cords. i’m also going to string bright lab lights in custom colors from the ceilings. on each table i’ll place cute cacti planted in re-purposed, colorful vintage cans.
so, let’s say I have 36 hours and $7,500 to spend on food and interior design — what would my overall food concept and interior design look like? i gave it a lot of food for thought, and for me i think my signature fresh fish tacos are likely to be my most popular dish, and a really fun concept to design a pop-up restaurant around. thus, tori’s tacos it is! my pop-up will focus primarily on my signature tilapia fish tacos, encrusted in bread crumbs and lightly fried — topped with fresh chopped cabbage, cilantro, avocado slices, my homemade pico de gallo salsa and my special ingredient – my special sauce! and of course, a squeeze of fresh lime. along with that, i’ll have homemade chips and guacamole on the menu, as well as aqua frecas and cold beer. that’s it — just a simple taco stand pop-up with the only the freshest ingredients.
i think my pop-up taco shop will look festive and just a bit kitschy with wood & red trimmed picnic tables covered in mismatched floral oil cloth with matching benches, giving the space a communal, friendly vibe. and my famous fish tacos will be served in cute red baskets with red checked paper liners.
to enter to win this restaurant start-up kit from CNBC, simply:
• comment below letting us know you the kind of pop-up restaurant you’d create with $7,500 in 36 hours.
• please comment by monday, january 11th, 12pm PST.
• as always, be sure to leave a way to reach you via twitter, facebook, email or your website.
• sorry, this time the giveaway is for U.S. residents only.
• we’ll announce a winner selected by random number generator on my twitter account the week of January 11th, so be sure and follow along.
• remember to watch the premiere of Restaurant Startup wednesday, january 6th at 10pm est!
• Grilling Set Flavors by Chef Tim Love. Investor Tim Love is known for his masterful skills on the grill. Channel your inner ‘Love’ with the Chef’s grilling set, featuring a salsa, rub, and BBQ sauce.
• Joe Bastianich’s cookbook Healthy Pasta. Investor Joe Bastianich is also well-known for his Italian cuisine. Impress the investor with your take on his classic meals.
• Antonia Lofaso’s cookbook The Busy Mom’s Cookbook. Consultant Antonia Lofaso knows that life is a balancing act and that it takes a bit of time and effort to make a great meal. Cook like Antonia and impress the investors.
• Table Reservation Book — Every restaurant needs to keep track of its upcoming reservations. Use this book to track who will be dining at your table or as a daily planner.
• Wine Pairing Towel Set — A good meal is made even better with the right wine. Use these towels as not only decoration for your place but as the ultimate guide to wine pairing.
• Premium Popcorn Gift Set — Watching TV means needing snacks! Take your TV snacks to the next level to impress our Startup crew with this premium popcorn set.
• Chef Works Basic Coat — Are you ready to make it on Restaurant Startup? Every good chef needs to look like a pro – start with this basic chef’s coat!
this is a sponsored post in partnership with CNBC Prime and all words and opinions are my own. thank you for supporting the brands that help keep sfgirlbybay going with fresh content every day.
have you ever seen the whimsical work of artist nathalie lété? you may have, but just not realized it was her lovely work — because nathalie has a line of dishware, aprons, kitchen accessories, and even mushroom forest wallpaper at anthropolgie and has collaborated in many other art forms throughout her years as an artist and designer.
Nathalie Lete lives and works in Paris, and works in many ways, mixing different techniques and mediums, illustration, ceramics, textiles and painting — Inspired by her travels, and also by the mixing of vintage toys and old engravings of flowers and animals. Her work is colorful, naive and poetic, sometimes strange, and loveably eccentric and unusual — like alice in wonderland with a bit of psychedelic thrown in for good measure. Her world is nurtured by popular and folk art from her both origins (her chinese father and her german mother). and nathalie is so prolific — producing everything from children’s and graphic’s books, knitted and stuffed toys, patterned dishes, but also postcards, ceramic sculptures, silkscreen printed t-shirts, rugs and jewels in limited edition — both for herself and for commissions, and you can also order her digital and silkscreen prints from her online shop. i find her work most playful, inspiring, and really, really fun. have a look.
i’m delighted to take you inside the brand new san francisco-based home of floral design studio, tulipina. regarded as one of the most sought-after floral designers in the u.s. and beyond, owner kiana underwood recently moved her workspace from her home in nearby burlingame to this light-filled loft in sf’s potrero hill. her signature garden-style combines plenty of color, texture and a medley of floral varieties, including fun pops of fruit and foliage. you can see why her arrangements are coveted for every wedding and event! she further extends her passion through teaching, hosting both local and destination workshops for fellow floral enthusiasts and professionals. in fact, she’s teaching a course in indonesia as we speak.
i’ve seen kiana’s work up close at a number of events and workshops and i’ve admired and loved every installation—from lush tablescapes to hanging chandeliers. the moment she shared a photo of her new studio, i knew I had to pay her a visit.
love at first sight the moment i walked in. i mean, those stairs!
her white medicine cabinet of candy colored vessels waiting to be filled.
the main floor is her workspace.
and the loft above, for meetings and gatherings.
for some daily floral inspiration check out kiana’s instagram. and for more information about her services, workshops and also prints of her work, visit here.
one of my favorite foodie websites, food52 is also a great resource for entertaining and decorating. everything food52 styles and shoots i find most inspiring, including three blog posts they just published on easy spring floral arrangements, including tips on trimming your flowers so they last longer and arranging like a pro (always helpful!). these are super simple, but so pretty. i’m also a big fan of their ‘one of a kind’ shopping section, where i’ve found great vintage pieces, like these french preserving jars and amber apothecary jars, which would make for nice floral vessels, wouldn’t they? spring has sprung!
and now for a little something different this friday finds — one of my favorite instagram feeds to follow: @thegaybeards. if you’re not following these two best buds from portland, oregon — well, you should be. the stuff these two get all up in their beards will always put a smile on your face and a little swing in your step. here’s a sneak peek. you can find the gay beards on twitter and facebook, too. happy friday, y’all. xo victoria
it was the crazy bright orange smeg that first caught my eye and led me to the fabulous stockholm flat of elsa billgren. elsa is a Swedish television personality, blogger and vintage aficionado and writer. it would appear she also has a keen eye for decorating because her home is just lovely. eclectic, fresh and full of life (that smeg!) and cozy as all get out. i could curl up here easily and hang out with her cat, who seems to have the run of the place. maybe i could borrow a few of those frocks while i’m at it. what a fantastic space! head on over to her blog on elle to see some inspiring before and after photos of her charming flat, and follow her on instagram, too.
sometimes it’s just tricky to find the fabrics you have in your head when it comes to decorating. i often wish i could design my own patterns from my imagination, or bring back to life some of the gorgeous vintage prints they used to make. it’s kind of a lost art i often imagine recreating — i miss those cool floral prints of the 50’s and 60’s, but Shutterfly actually gave me the opportunity to do just that. not only did i get to do some spring cleaning and clear out my closet of some vintage skirts i treasure, but no longer wear, but i was able to photograph the fabrics, upload them to Shutterfly’s personalized home décor product site and using their simple tools i got really creative and made my own bedding from the prints. you can literally recreate a pattern from a coveted old skirt and turn it into a pillow with Shutterfly. my favorite skirt may no longer fit, but repurposed, a pillow is one size fits all and gives your favorite prints a whole new life.
Shutterfly’s personalized home décor products are stylish, well made and unexpected. they add unique texture, character and personality to any space, and you can customize them any way you like. you can easily take any pattern you have and turn it into fabric or a print. i made pillows, shams and duvet cover — even journals. i was also pleasantly surprised at the thread count on the shams and duvet — super soft and i’m a stickler for soft bedding. you can get really creative with Shutterfly’s home decor personalization, and i have to say, seeing your creation come to life is really quite rewarding and a special part of the decorating process. go make something all your own!
spring is in the air and it’s time to get my urban garden growing again. and a recent trip to the legendary petersham nurseries has provided much inspiration. oh how i’ve dreamt of visiting this magical place and it turned out to be even more dreamier than I expected! i have to thank my new florist friend (and local london gal) chikae of okishima & simmonds for taking me. situated just outside london, it is the perfect sanctuary to escape the daily hustle and bustle of the city.
the nursery and garden shop provide a bounty of seasonal indoor and outdoor plants throughout the year. you’ll also find all the pots, seeds and tools to create and nurture your container garden or larger green space.
after perusing the garden centre, it’s time for a bite. the café offers a seasonal lunch menu from 12:00-3:00 and the teahouse serves lighter lunch options plus a delectable selection of homemade cakes, coffee and tea from 9:00-5:00.
inside the main greenhouse was the most magical part for me. so many exquisite antiques, furnishings and home goods to choose from! my suitcase would only allow for so much so i settled on some small sturdy pieces to survive the long flight home.
next time you’re in london, a visit to this heaven is a must. be sure to explore the surrounding fields and stroll along the river thames while you’re there, too. have a lovely spring everyone!
from the lovely folks at found vintage rentals, my go-to prop rental shop here in L.A., comes found home, an online shop for vintage finds, wonderfully well-curated by founder jeni maus. just like their sister company, found home offers a meticulously crafted home collection — and that translates to carefully layered vintage finds, handmade objects + custom goods. after years of chasing her dreams around the globe, hunting down one-of-a-kind pieces, jeni is thrilled to offer her eclectic and unique vintage finds to you, not just to rent, but to keep for your own home. found home also offers hard to find antiques — like a deconstructed french settee revealing original muslin fabric and the prettiest handmade pillows and poufs. so next time you’re hunting for vintage and there’s not a flea market in sight, think of found home.
paris never gets old, so bear with us while we share yet another one of our favorite locales français. hotel henriette is a design mecca giving us serious gucci spring 16 vibes. the splashes of brights span from bed chambers to lobby — the perfect spot to spend a heated summer getaway. the tiny boutique hotel of just 32 rooms welcomes you with open arms and insta-worthy spots around every corner. for a day of meandering through the small shops of st. germain, stopping in for a croque monsieur and cappuccino — we suggest this crochet mini and an attitude of je ne sais quoi. ~ michaela d’artois, vérité published.
i’ve been pretty reserved thus far this week, sharing loads of neutral looks. but, it’s time to go to funky town. uniquely creative rooms that pair quirky colors and patterns — unexpected layered looks that take quite a bit of bravado to pull off. can you do it? i’d love to try and i’ve been thinking maybe i just go nuts in my guest room. i thought about painting the ceiling a bold color and hanging an unusual chandelier and then adding some seriously mismatched prints on the bed. not sure i’ll ultimately be able to pull it off, but these decorators certainly have nailed it — it’s a very gutsy dorothy draper-esque kinda look. one great way to get this look going is to start with a wallpapered wall and build layers with textiles like rugs and pillows — from there the sky’s the limit. i’m seeing a lot of mixed prints in fashion, too (like the latest collection from gucci), so as often happens in the design world perhaps it’s filtering on down to decor.
mother’s day is just around the corner. i never forget, because i was actually born on mother’s day — such a nice gift, eh, mum? this year i thought it might be nice to create some DIY bouquets myself, for so many of my deserving, hard-working mom friends out there. i was invited by flower muse to offer you some special deals, a reader discount, and to select some of their farm direct flowers. since in my next life i’d like to be a gardener-slash-florist i immediately said, “yes, please”! What makes Flower Muse so special is that they send the farm fresh flowers directly to you, without fillers — Just a big box of gorgeous flowers that arrive directly from the flower farm, which means you are getting the freshest flowers possible. And because they are super selective about the farms they work with, they’re the best quality flowers. just look at these beauties — each type of flower arrives carefully packaged and it was so much fun putting these beauties together into one giant bouquet to show you how creative you can get!
Flower Muse carries an amazing variety of unique, hard to find flowers, including the covetable David Austin garden roses. i picked out some of those, and then i added my very favorite flower — peonies in a few different shades, from hot pink, to white, and coral. and to add a little bit of a wild look, i included some lavender lilacs, sweet peas and astilbe in a few different shades. i gathered up bundles of each flower into sweet little bouquets, wrapped them in gift wrap and ribbon and they were ready to deliver to my favorite moms. so easy, and it felt nice and really personal to hand deliver as an early happy mother’s day.
so whether you decide to put together your own bouquets, or order some of Flower Muse’s wonderful boxed farm fresh flowers, they have some special deals in place for Mother’s Day — like peonies starting at $99; a garden rose sampler starting at $79; and roses starting at $59 — and delivery is always free. but please note — In order for delivery before Mother’s Day, anything at Flower Muse must be ordered by May 3rd. There’s a slightly later date for peonies — they can be ordered by May 5th. After May 5th, Flower Muse will have some select options available for procrastinators on Friday, May 6th for Saturday delivery (in which case there is an extra fee). oh! and they are also offering a buy-one-get-one-free deal for garden roses for $79 — buy one box of garden roses for $79 + free shipping and you can send ANOTHER box of garden roses (to the same person or someone else, like your mother-in-law, or even yourself) at no charge. It’s a pretty sweet deal, but it ends tonight — so if you place the order this friday, april 29th before midnight PST, you’re still good to go!
Flower Muse is also kindly offering a 15% reader discount good through December 31st, — which is good on only on full price items (sorry, not valid on any discount or the buy-one-get-one-free offer above) — simply enter SFGIRL at checkout. they also have gorgeous monthly flower subscriptions, like peonies every month, fragrant flowers every month, and garden roses every month, just in case you’d like to treat yourself, or someone you love. happy mother’s day, everyone!
This is a sponsored post in partnership with Flower Muse and all words and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that help keep sfgirlbybay going with fresh content every day.
i must confess, this week’s edition of friday finds was inspired totally by this image above by photographer kate sears. isn’t it stunning? i’m not even much of a fan of rose red, when it comes to decor at least, but this photo changed my views. so this week, i’m the lady in a rosy red state of mind. have a colorful weekend, everyone. xo, victoria
kates sear’s beautiful image of a fuzzy red throw.
these gemstones are just so pretty. i’d like to display them on a coffee table tray.
what happens when one of your favorite floral designers and the co-founder of remodelista team up with one of your photography idols? a beautiful new book: Foraged Flora: A Year of Gathering and Arranging Wild Plants and Flowers by Louesa Roebuck and Sarah Lonsdale and gorgeously photographed by Laurie Frankel. i’m so inspired by this kind of rogue flower arranging that uses local and foraged plants and flowers to create beautiful and somewhat wild looking arrangements — roadside fennel, flowering fruit trees, garden roses, tiny violets; ingredients both common and unusual, humble and showy are growing everywhere around us. this lovely new book inspires us to forage!
i first meet louesa at a charming but tiny flower shop she once ran in san francisco and was instantly drawn to her unique sensibilities. she shared with me how she would literally scour hillsides and even freeway onramps for beautiful blooms. Foraged Flora is a new vision for flowers and arranging. It encourages you to train your eye to the beauty that surrounds you, attune your senses to the seasonality and locality of flowers and plants, and to embrace the beauty in each stage of life, from first bud to withering seedpod. Organized by month, each chapter in this inspiring book focuses on large and small arrangements created from the flowers and plants available during that time period and in that place, all foraged or gleaned nearby. Foraged Flora reflects on surprising and beautiful pairings, the importance of scale, the scarcity or abundance of raw materials, and the environmental factors that contribute to that availability. Whether picking a small tendril of fragrant jasmine, collecting oversized branches of flowering quince, or making a garland of bay laurel, Foraged Flora is a stunning book — an invitation to seek out the beauty of the natural world.
• photography Images (c) 2016 by Laurie Frankel. Reprinted with permission from Foraged Flora by Louesa Roebuck and Sarah Lonsdale, copyright (c) 2016. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc.
