Fall with Flair! My Event with The Pierce & Makers Market

Last weekend I had a ball doing 2 super fun Fall entertaining events! One with The Pierce in San Jose and the other at Makers Market on Santana Row.   At the events I shared ideas on creating fresh and vibrant table settings for the season and did a live demo on how you can bring flair, color and a story to your holiday entertaining this year.  Be it a cozy meal for 4 or a lively dinner for 20!

I had a blast sharing design ideas and styling secrets with the lovely ladies that came! For intros, I asked everyone to bring / share something from their home that they absolutely love, and it was great seeing people's favorites - from an iridescent blue Buddha statue given as a gift,  to a vintage Moroccan armoire passed on from mother to daughter!

I had the best time designing and creating this festive, layered table setting. Here's a glimpse into it and some of the ideas I shared! The pictures are a mix from both days.

The perfect setting for our get together - under a canopy of trees!

A standout table starts with a vibrant table cloth! You can get totally creative with your tablecloths - go with fabrics that inspire you. This here is a modified duvet cover. I loved the deep Hermes orange and the pattern, and felt that it had great potential for a fall table.

Next, I added a pair of turquoise candles on vintage brass candlesticks.  Candles are SUCH an easy way to bring fresh color to your table. Experimenting with offbeat colors like turquoise, lilac, lavender, a deep pink, or even black brings that extra something to the setting.

You can change the look of your table with small adjustments! For instance, I switched the place setting on this table to take it from modern to country. I switched the pleated white plates & ruffle soup bowl from Crate & Barrel,  with vintage Perkin Hammer country-style salad plates & beautiful turquoise dinner plates!

Going from country to a more formal, luxe look: These vintage Italian salad plates that I found at an estate sale looked amazing and totally complemented the setting.  Starburst napkin rings bring in an extra element of festive luxury  (found these super pretty ones at Z Gallerie for an amazing price!)

The idea here is to MIX. Mixing a treasured vintage find with a newer purchase. Pairing brass flatware with silver or lucite napkin rings

It's all in the details!
- adding something fun & offbeat to your table makes it uniquely yours! I added this elegant Chinese figure playing an instrument that I'd found at a vintage shop. 
- little favor boxes for your guests with a delicious truffle in it? :)
- footed candy bowls to reinforce color & also have something for your guests to munch on. Fill 'em with little pieces of candy or fruits and nuts.
- glitter pine cone place cards bring in a personal touch & some seasonal charm!

Some more place card ideas... a dandy turkey place card or small white pumpkins with the initials of your guests !   

Acrylic napkin rings are great when you want a contemporary feel.

Speaking of something unique for the table, these candles that I found at Makers Market, are made from recycled bottles. I was told that the makers can make a personalized momento too, say using a bottle from your wedding. How cool is that!

The winner of our "bring your favorite thing!" contest - wonderful Schanelle. She brought this beautiful iridescent blue buddha which was given to her as a going away gift and as a harbinger of good luck. She won the footed candy bowls! :)

Me concentrating as I set and test it all out on day 1. Also, can I just say - I LOVED the lobby of The Pierce. It was open and bright and well lit.  The framed art on the walls were the original plans for Firestone Tire's first tire center from the early 1900s - which is what this building was many years ago. How cool is that!!

We got super lucky with our location on day 2 as well. At the last minute we had a snafu and couldn't do it in our original spot. But then we ended up HERE!  This gorgeous urban oasis style setting in the midst of Santana Row. A huge shout out to the generous manager at EMC for making this happen. We ladies had a blast!

And that's a wrap!

Drop me a comment below and let me know if you enjoyed that!   Anyone else getting creative during the holidays? How?!

Christmas in July!

Last weekend I did a "Christmas in July" event at the fabulous Ascent Apartments in San Jose. It was such a fantastic evening with a great crowd and some really nice staff!  The property was gorgeous with this very relaxed, airy vibe to it. We did the event in the lounge that had these big, beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows that we threw open, to let the outside, inside. It was amazzzing.

I wanted to put together something special for the event and decided to go with a bold summer table setting.  When you think BOLD, you think Eddie Ross :)  You think color and mixing elements.  I decided to go with blue & white (of course!), with pops of magenta. And I had some print on print action in there too - stepping outta my comfort zone, but why not?!

Something else I wanted to do was mix traditional and modern elements. Gold-rimmed hurricanes & scalloped salad plates (which I'm thoroughly obsessed with by the way), mixed with dotted dinner plates and ikat print napkins.

Here's the reveal!

Scalloped salad plates -  from Crate & Barrel, and I saw yesterday  Target's brought em back too,
Pacific dotted dinner plates - I used these Royal Doulton ones (I got 'em at a discount!), a similar style available at Target 
Gold flatware - love this set from CB2 and this one at West Elm (well-priced).  I went with these.

Next, the napkins. I was thinking of keeping them solid since the tablecloth's printed (Ralph Lauren blue & white). But these ikat napkins at World Market instantly caught my eye and they turned out to be the right choice!  I alternated solids & prints to balance it out.

Here's a super easy trick to jazz up your napkins!  If they're looking a bit flat lying on the plate, have a little fun with 'em & fan 'em out - here's a video !  It really adds to the overall effect of the setting and it's a treat for guests.

Hands down my favorite find of the week were the hurricanes!   I love them so much. They bring a traditional-meets-modern feel to the setting and some height to the table!

Finally, I added on these pineapple salt & pepper shakers as accents. A lot of people asked me about them!!  They're adorable. One lucky lady got to take 'em home! :P

I had a blast talking to the residents!  Folks telling me about their own spaces, and I was asked questions around decorating rentals / apartments that I'll share in future posts. Things like what's a good alternative to a coffee table? where do I find nice curtains? what should we save on and what should we invest in when decorating our place? I loved all of them & I'll sharing answers in future posts - stay tuned!  They were a very engaged community & I was glad for it!

And finally,

There was a nook next to my area where I put a simple scheme together. Black-n-white with dusty pink. Great for a teenage girl's bedroom or maybe even a funky feminine living room. You can mix stripes with texture. Everything's from Target - zebra print ottoman ,  faux fur pillow ,  monogrammed mug

By the end of the night I was totally ready to kick up my feet and hang out in one of those fabulous poolside pods they had on the property! :) :)

Overall it was an absolute BLAST. Thanks so much for having me Ascent! And I can't wait for the one we're doing in November!