Color Buzz

And the Winner is...

by Veronique Habermann

Gray Expose 5007-2A	Lincoln White Sash 7004-14

What a night it was! After an endless pass of one gorgeously gowned star after another, Kathryn Bigelow, beautifully dressed herself, wins both awards for best director and best movie. There were a lot of blue gowns—perhaps Avatar influenced? But, here are my favorite dresses of the evening paired with some room ideas and color swatches. 

Friday Project Series: Recycled Gift Wrap

By Veronique Habermann

In these times of economic hardship and awareness of the environment, I thought it would be nice this year to wrap my gifts in the recycled boxes and bags I have been saving for a while. Here is what you need – but be creative. There is no limit here:

• Assorted sizes of recycled shipping boxes (with online shopping, we all end up with so many!)
• Assorted packing material
• Recycled ribbons (any color)
• Raffia strings (50 cents at craft store)
• Recycled jewelry boxes
• Assorted sizes of recycled paper bags
• Valspar spray paint in metal silver
• Valspar spray paint in glitter gold
• Valspar spray paint in metal glitter copper

Make sure you tear off all shipping labels on boxes. Also, work in a well-ventilated area and unlike me, wear latex gloves!

Let your creativity guide you and spray paint your gift wrapping and packages in solid colors or use our stencil templates from last week’s DIY holiday cards post to create a design. Add on bows, raffia strings and ribbons for extra flair. And remember, be sure sure to let everything properly dry before wrapping all of your presents!

 

 

Voila! Have fun!

Chocolate Passion

Chocolate is one of my all time passions.  I absolutely crave it at least once a day so coming up with one particular chocolate color was really hard.  There are so many of them; it's like opening up a sampler and looking at all those luscious browns.  Working with brown is very easy.  It's a gorgeous backdrop for most other colors.  My dining room is brown with a creamy white trim.  It's elegant, but still very soothing.   Cafe Miel 2008-7C is the chocolate I ended up wanting to take a bite out of.   It's a creamy, toasty medium brown.   You can take this color in so many directions.  Try it with a warm pink like Sweet Sixteen 1006-2A or with a gray like Modest Silver 4002-1A.  You can use Cafe Miel on all four walls, or pick just one as an accent.  It would also make a nice color on a ceiling because of its warm nature.  Whenever working with chocolate, remember: have fun!  It's a delicious color.... Let us know what your favorite flavor is...

                    
     Cafe Miel 2008-7C         Sweet Sixteen 1006-2A     Modest Silver 4002-1A

Holiday Silver

By Michèle Coppin

Now that we are in the midst of the holiday season, I thought it would be a good idea to explore the majestic qualities of the color silver. This shimmering color is seen frequently this time of year in everything from freshly fallen snow to traditional holiday accents, like a menorah or sleigh bells. My favorite is old fashioned silver tinsel on a Christmas tree. Tinsel was invented in Nuremberg, Germany in 1610, and comes from the old French word 'estincele,' meaning ‘sparkle.’

We have the Victorians to thank for many of our current Christmas and holiday customs such as carols, Christmas cards and elaborate tree decorating. Back then, trees were decorated with toys, miniature drums, candy canes, ginger breads, gilded nuts, colored glass and paper ornaments. Lastly, strands of sparkling tinsel would accent the glow of lit hand-dipped candles. Of course today tinsel is no longer made of genuine silver, but it still brings trees to life with its shimmering reflections and glitter.

The color silver is not only found in home décor this time of year, but it might also show up in your wine glass. Celebrities like Madonna indulge in a silver wine from Spain each holiday season, which is made with tiny specks of the precious metal. What a festive and delicious way to celebrate the holidays and this metallic color!