StyleCarrot

Sunday Bouquet: Winter Whites and Evergreens

Photo by Claire Giffen for Sacramento Street

This winter floral arrangement by San Francisco-based florist Natalie Bowen Designs mixes branchy greens with tiny pinecones, anemones, paper whites, and ranunculus .

Saturday Say It: You Feel Fabulous?

words to live by

Shopping Trip: Paying It Forward From TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods

I’m a longtime fan of off price retailers like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and Home Goods. I suppose it’s the thrill of the hunt and satisfaction of a bargain. While I adore a perfectly curated selection, as a shopper I also think that scavenging racks and bins is fun. So when a marketing exec from these stores asked if I’d participate in its Holiday Blogger Challenge I said sure.

My mission was to shop for presents (using the gift card they sent me) for people who weren’t necessarily on my holiday list. Friends and acquaintances that need extra lift this season; a pay it forward concept. Yesterday I hit the strip malls with the off price retailers, to see what I could find.

First stop, Marshalls. The home section had a some really cute mirrored jewelry boxes, but ultimately I went with these fab faux fur throws. There are lots of different styles, some are gift-boxed already, and most are silky soft. I have a friend who just had a medical procedure and is recuperating at home. When I visit, I’m going to bring one to her as an early Christmas-cum-get-well-soon treat.

Second stop, T.J.Maxx, where I headed to the men’s section to shop for a cousin who just broke up with his girlfriend and is planning a rugged guys adventure. The brightly colored, lightweight nylon toiletry cases caught my eye. To it I added a sports watch (love the yellow), protective iPhone case, and an orange rain poncho, because really, what guy would ever buy a rain poncho?

Last stop, HomeGoods. I was immediately lured by the enameled, cast-iron French cooking pots, but alas, they were just a bit out of my budget. (I may go back and get a cobalt blue one for my mother-in-law though.) I was shopping for a neighbor who recently lost her husband. I remember she had mentioned she was baking a lot. I’ve definitely heard baking can be therapeutic. I often find fun kitchen tools for myself here so I scanned the shelves and spotted this colorful, nested mixing bowl set. They’re even microwave safe and are cute enough to use on the table. Bingo.

Done, done, and done. If you shop at T.J.Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods, share your holiday gift finds on social using #bestgiftever. One winner will receive a $100 gift card.

Scheming: Setting Up My Home Bar

I’ve been saying that I want to set up a home bar for my husband forever. Last month, I updated my post 50 Bar Carts, Serving Carts & Trolleys for inspiration. (Of course, we can’t actually have a cart on wheels in our house or our son would be taking it for a ride all around the condo.)

Unsurprisingly, I haven’t had a chance to move forward on this. (So many gift guides to write, so little time.) But then I got a message from folks at Absolut, offering to send me the new Limited Edition Andy Warhol Absolut Vodka bottle, a lacquer tray, and an Amex gift card so I could style a festive holiday bar. As you can imagine, I told them to send it all right over! Motivation? Done.

The bottle, which is fun, colorful, and sure to be celebrated hostess gift to bring to holiday parties (though I’ll be keeping mine on my newly styled bar tray), is a new creation based on Andy Warhol’s depiction of Absolut’s iconic bottle that he painted back in 1986. This year, Absolut transformed that artwork into a three-dimensional bottle, using the tagline “Make the Holidays Pop” as the inspiration behind the collaborative campaign.

Since I don’t have an unused corner for a full-on bar, a bar tray is the perfect small space home bar solution. While I’m not sure the new tray is styled to perfection yet, I did pull together some must-have bar accoutrements—copper shaker, stainless steel strainer, wine glasses, martini glasses—plus the Absolut Warhol bottle, gin, and Twenty Boat Spiced Rum from Truro Vineyards on the Cape. To prettify, I added a stalk of bamboo, green button mums, mandarin oranges in a Jonathan Adler dish, and a silver dreidel, set beneath my new swimming pool photograph from Gallery. (Scroll down for all the shopping links.)

Create a bar in a cleared out section of a bookshelf, on a lacquered tray atop a console table, a tray table, an armoire, etc. If I did, you can too. Of course, I admit, sipping that Absolut Warhol helped get me in the mood.

Bar tray styled & photographed by StyleCarrot

S T Y L I N G M Y B A R T R A Y

S H O P P I N G
1 Splash by Joy Mckinney Framed Print, $370 at UGallery.

2 Aalto Vase by Iittala, $155 at Horne.

3 Orb Copper Shaker, $24.95 at Crate & Barrel.

4 Twenty Boat Spiced Rum, $44.99 at Truro Vineyards.

5 Absolut Vodka Bottle by Andy Warhol.

6 Preston Martini Glass by Libbey, $18.85/four at Amazon.

7 Oak Mug Coasters by Sagaform, $24.95/six at Burke Decor.

8 Stainless Steel Cocktail Strainer, $9.95 at Sur La Table.

9 High Gloss Swoon Tray, $29.995 at CB2.

10 Copper Plum Tongs by Tom Dixon, $50 at A+R.

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ARTmonday: 20 Fun Food Artworks

With all the food art I perused to put together last week’s 20 Autumnal Artworks in honor of Thanksgiving along with the post I did for Matouk, Appreciating Autumn Through Art, I noticed there were quite a few examples of humorous, fun food artworks. You may not want to eat anything after this weekend, but there’s no harm in looking. Some of it may even inspire you to try snapping fun food artworks yourself, at least on Instagram.