Birthday Bash

It's my sister Rosie's birthday today and us sisters are having cocktails and dinner tonight to celebrate the lovely gal's hopskotch milestone.

(image via all the best)

See you in a bit everyone!

x's and o's,

sharon

New Work by Julie Blackmon

In addition to my photo shoot last weekend, my sister, Julie Blackmon held her own photo shoot with the nieces and nephs in a Line-Up. Jude, Mabel, Goldie, Hank, Ralphie, Birdie and tiny baby Syl.

This past summer, Julie took on a new project and decided to roll some video footage. This is a short film of a day in the life of Millie (my other sis) and her three kiddos...Mabel, Ralph, and Birdie.

I have more great halloween snaps to share coming up!

Snippet of Mod Gypsy Blitz

The mod gypsy blitz photo shoot was a success and I can't wait to share all of the fun that was had that night. I did several different sets underneath an amazing walnut tree that is registered on Missouri's historic tree registry.

This tent shot was taken the following morning after the shoot. It's a German 15th century tent that was hand-sewn over a period of six months by an interesting couple who wanted to test or gauge their compatibility factor before marriage. They are a happily married couple fifteen years later.

They were very gracious in sharing their stories and their beautiful historic property with us.

Last night I found a dress from Emersonmade that would've been perfect for the photo shoot (After-the-fact Drats!). Emersonmade is homemade happiness mixed with clever stylizing + a posy a day.

amazing inspirational snippets from the following:

Thoughtfulday goodie bags from Sunday-Suppers. Interior shot by Saipua.

I'll be posting some costume/children snaps a bit later!

Good day!!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Good Bones with a Lotta Heart

My client's bedroom is still four to six weeks from full installation. But...I just had to share this sweet little candy-cane treat with you that is sure to be The statement piece when you walk into her room.

These theatre seats are going to be for a young gal who lives, eats, and breathes theatre. She's fifteen, hip, stylish and fun.

When I found these conjoined twin seats at the local flea market, they were in green muckiness form with a whole lotta rags-to-riches potential.

Statement Piece: (It's the one thing that I build a room around and it's usually where I start the process) What does a statement piece have to have for me? For me, it must have great bones aesthetically and structurally. Unusual or uncommon lines in a piece can really add to the Wow Factor that every room needs and should have. Coincidentally, these theatre seats not only have a distinct and unusual frame, but they also happen to have great meaning and symbolism for my client as well...which makes this an even stronger personal statement piece for my client. ( I call this good bones with a lotta heart). I cannot wait for the moment she walks in to see these chairs in her finished bedroom!

I decided to lacquer them in a high gloss white to make them more current day/modern. The red velvet was found at a local wholesale fabric store and then I used my great upholsterer who always does a superb job for me!

I now need to top off this post with a run to the coffee ethic to grab something else that has my heart. I'm needing one of their lovely lattes. Please take a moment to read about their sweet renewal and reusing ethic... even if you don't live here, it's worth the stop. They definitely fall into the category of good bones with a lotta heart! Currently they are in the works to open up shop in other larger cities.

Have a lovely start to your week!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Friday's eat, play, love.

Eleanor, my daughter, is going to the homecoming dance tonight with her very first date ever. I wonder if she'll lose her date at the dance and run off to have giddy girl time?

We're heading to a neighborhood block party this weekend, which means I'll need to bring a treat. I wish I could make something fabulous like this cake. Darling! And darling silhouettes beside the cake too, aren't they?

Loving hot pink, cobalt blue, black and aqua. (first image from ?, interior image from Domino Magazine, and the cake is Angele Parlange)

Have a lovely weekend all!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Baby Costume

Thinking on costumes for baby Syl this year. The neighborhood parade is always filled with the best costumes around. If you have any pics from that parade last year, please e-mail them to me and I'll post them on here. Here's baby Syl on her Friendship plane (my mom found this plane a few years back along the curbside).

"You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life: and the procedure, the process is its own reward." Amelia Earhart

xo

sharon

Fall Must-Haves: Book-Nook, Sofa, & Tights

Do you have a good book you're reading? Do share. It's cold and rainy and I would love to get lost in my very own little book-nook with a real good book. The bookshelves are genuinely fake (tromp l'oeil) by artist Deborah Bowness (decor amor) The sofa--Is it not pure classic elegance?! (also found on decor amor)

I just purchased tights for Sylvie, Eleanor, and myself. black, black and black. (Willow Ships image).

Have a sweet Thursday.

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Under One Umbrella of Design

Under One Umbrella of Design:

We're busy today. We are probably busy doing a dib or a dab of the following...

interior decorating, wedding planning, party decor, table-tops, seasonal decor, stylizing, theme concepts, window installations, mural paintings, upcycling furniture, DIY projects, or sourcing for our clients and shop.

That's Will, and that's me.

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Classic Meets Edgy {Red+Black+White)

13 more days til Bright Star shows at the Moxie!!! Can't wait to see the movie based on the romantic poet, John Keats' life. The tale of love entwined with death and rapture with sorrow, will surely be one that is filled with beautiful, rich, and "dark-chocolaterie" imagery. I am so drawn to this Classic Meets Edgy look for fall right now.

I've been procrastinating on getting started on painting silhouettes for one of my client's bathroom installations...here's where I've lost myself today instead: another artist's work where Classic Meets Edgy: designer M.S. Corley. He recently created some book covers for the Harry Potter books, along with several other series, i.e. A Series of Unfortunate Events, among others. These books are sure to become classics, but before they do, I guess so many years have to have passed before they are classified as such. M. S. Corley is an artist ahead of the game and so he made the covers to look like Classic Penguin Books. Time will tell if the publishers will use these. But I have to say that I fell in love with their classic, yet edgy look. What do you think?

I found a sweet little blog which was recently launched... bird and banner. It offers custom event invitations for weddings and such. That's where I found the cute window image that was taken in Copenhagen.

The mailbox and canoe paddle are ours. Will placed the canoe paddle right by the front door a long time ago (right before summer)...which was so cute to me that he did that. I captured it today on camera before fall/winter come 'round and then the paddle will become a rake, then snow shovel. (Seasons changing cause pause)

Here's one of my stumble/rumbles I had over the weekend:

While I was out East of town last weekend, I drove past a yard sale that had a few french-looking chairs outside...I did a quick u-turn to discover twelve red, velvet-cake like chairs in pretty darn good shape. Before I could even ask the owner if he would take less than the asking price, (I usually always do this)...he offered them to me for half price @ $10 a piece if I would take all of them! Well, not having any cash on me, I tried to offer my gps system as collateral because I knew if I didn't secure them, that someone would come along while I was fetching cash, and offer full price, if not more, for these little red dream cakes! He said it wasn't necessary, but I still sped away with a coffee-gurgling body to the bank and back.

Sure enough, when I got back the guy said he could've sold them and asked me if I had a sister! (in my head I'm rolodex-ing my sisters and/or cousins who have very similar tastes to mine). He told me that while I had run to get the cash, a gal who looked a lot like me, was fifteen steps behind me, and wanted these exact chairs BADLY. He said "The gal" quizzed him a bit on who was purchasing, and they both came to the conclusion that the "purchaser" (me) HAD to be one of her five sisters. We had a small goose chase of phone calls to match up sister to sister to chair fiasco. It was sister Lizzie.

We had a good laugh/rumble too. Love your style, Lizzie!

Baby syl in her new striped shirt from the baby gap.

Have a great week everybody! I'm ecstatic about having 10 followers now! Others, oh won't you please jump on board this ro-ro-row your boat?

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Friday's eat, play, love: musical chairs

I pulled together a 'stachio of chairs for tonight's game of musical (hoot) chairs. Baby Syl's assistance always helps. She's a rearranger and a rearranger like me.

Do you like the gothic grunge chair I pulled aside to accentuate my nephew's grafiti? This chair is one of six...a flea market find from the 70's that I had lacquered in black and recovered in white vinyl. Loved the bits of green and grey that are posted over on Snippet and Ink today.

Will post this full-fledged shoot and hoot-of-uh-musical chairs soon!! eat, play, love!!!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Carameled Apple Tree Instructions

Here are the instructions I promised, along with another carameled apple tree I did recently. I think this project would make an excellent alternative dessert bar for a fall party. You could also use this mural as an escort card station for guests. Just add the guest's table number on the bottom side. (This project is currently being showcased in Staxx Apparel fall window installation) Carameled Apple Tree on Cellar Door You will need the following items for this project: One piece of chalk. $2 Exterior high-gloss, oil-based paint (one gallon Black and one quart of White) Rustoleum Brand paint brushes. Cost: $40 Paint brush (large,all purpose from Lowe's) cost: $5 Artist's paint brush kit from craft store. Cost: $5 A cellar door or any large smooth surface. Image of tree ( I googled the image of The Tree of Gondor) Projector (rentable) Laptop Computer Green apples. Cost per bag: $5 Carameled apple kit (includes the caramel, and sticks) $5 Ink pen. Cost: $2.50 Spool of twine. Cost: $3.50 Roll of wax paper. Cost: $3.50 Hot glue Gun. Cost: $4.00 Hot glue Sticks. Cost per bag: $3 1. The cellar door was first painted black and left to dry for 48 hours. 2. Before painting the image of the tree, I traced the outline I wanted with white chalk. I free-handedly painted this, but a projector could easily be used with an image of your choice...(For this particular one, I used the Tree of Gondor). 3. Granny smith apples were then caramelized using a carameled apple kit purchased at the store. 4. Pop-sicle sticks were personalized with each guest's name using a fine black pen. 6. Short pieces of twine were tied around each stick. 7. Each apple was adhered to wax paper and then hot-glued onto a branch. Table numbers could be written underneath as well (to use for guest escorts) ta-ta 'til tomorrow! sharon

Sharon Taylor Designs Featured On Style Me Pretty!!!

Good news yesterday had me putting an extra hard spin move on my living, dining, and kitchen chandeliers. At least 1/2 an inch of dust and dirt came flying down off of the crystals after I received an e-mail from the lovely Abby Larson, of Style Me Pretty, asking if she could publish my designs today!

Cheers to my people (also to Will's inspiration and Janae Hardy photography)who made this happen!

I couldn't be any more tickled-with-caramel than this. Style Me Pretty is the parent of wedding style and positively my most favorite wedding site ever!!

Check out today's feature and let me know what you think...and Cheers to Trees!

I'll post instructions to this project a bit later after the dust settles here and all the kids get situated with full bellies.

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Project: straw pot holder place setting

I created this table scape using straw pot holders, wicker bamboo paper plate holders, vintage ribbon, and blue flowers from the garden. My goal was to be as thrifty and nifty as I could get with under $10 in my pocket at one flea = (one table scape, one flea market, one-digit budget).

It ended up costing six dollars for everything (except the table).

I think this would be great for a luncheon, garden party, or girly recipe exchange.

Hope you like!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Loading Up on the Goods

Busy day today. I'm loading up the truck this morning with my collection of props and furniture to be used for stylizing an all day photo shoot.

While I'm excited to be stylizing today, I'm also dreaming of loading up home goods from the Merci store in Paris. It's been featured in Town & Country, Australian Vogue Living, American Vogue and also featured on Habitually Chic.

Need any DIY decor and design advice? Ask away or ask me away to your house for a free consult!

Have a lovely start to your week!!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

My TGIF Eat, Play, LOVE list:

It's Friday! What do you have planned for the weekend?

My TGIF Eat, Play, Love list includes:

1. Soaking up these last few nights of cricket and cicada music.

2. Bike ride around town with my lovies.

3. Planning my own fall party that's as sweet and simple as sprinkled cupcakes! mmmm!

Have a fabulous weekend!

x's and o'sies,

sharon

Sneak Peak at Rosie Winstead

I'm so excited to share a snippet of a an amazing author/illustrator's home, that happens to be my sister's.

As many of you know, I'm the fourth of nine children, with a sweet bouquet of sisters by my side (my brothers are another story). In that bouquet, is my sweet, amazingly talented, giving, inspiring, cute, funny, stylish, and I could go-on and-on-sister, Rosie. Rosie Winstead. She's good as gold at everything she does, but most notably, she's an author/illustrator, flea market maven, interior decorator, sister, wife, and mother to one of the cutest little girls in the world...Goldie.

Rosie has recently refurbished an old bungalow home here in center city Springfield, MO. It has taken her no time at all to make a once-ragged home into THE coolest story-book house ever! It's not completely done, but she was kind enough to let me take a few snapshots of her sweet little abode that's filled with the same decorating sense that carries over into her playful illustrations in her books.

The rest of her home and studio is sure to be a spotlight here in the very near future. I can't wait to show you her kitchen that's outfitted with a viking stove and fridge that I covet. Meanwhile, she is busy being mom and working away on her latest book due out 2010.

The bludot dining table is paired with lacquered black antique chairs. Her chandelier is usually trimmed with her fab "Rosie-Made" creations. I love how she cut out vintage magazine dew drops to hang for her husband's birthday party. Goldie is pictured above with her cat named, Carl. I'm pictured on the left, and Rosie on the right.

And, as my nieces and nephews always say..."I love you Ro-Ro!"

Enjoy!

x's and o'sies,

sharon