A few weeks ago I spotted these bowls near the register at West Elm and allowed myself an entire minute to consider buying them. Team HCG was in the finishing stages of an incredible photo gallery wall, and adorable bowls were not on our shopping list. That doesn’t usually stop me, but I’m on a half-ass spending slowdown, so I was trying to be fiscally responsible. With more than a hint of hesitation, I passed on the bowls and left the store feeling unsettled. They were so cute! And not expensive! Why must life be full of such tough decisions?

That weekend, while eating full fat Cheez-its (anyone who claims the reduced fat Cheez-its are better is delirious) and catching up on the season finale of “The Rachel Zoe Project”, I wished I was plucking my Cheez-its from one of those lovely West Elm bowls. So I said to myself, “F IT. DON’T BE A LOSER. BUY THE DAMN BOWLS”, and I hustled back to West Elm the next day and swooped them up. I wanted to buy eight bowls but Joe talked me into buying only four – two of each on the right hand side above (gray/light blue and orange/light blue). The varying patterns between the inside and outside of the bowls get me in the gut every time I take one out of the cabinet. When presented with treats in these bowls, guests at your house will no doubt react with “Oh my God, look how fun the insides of these bowls are! This girl thinks of EVERYTHING.” Long live HCG.

Hate huge bowls? You’re in luck. These babies are smaller than typical cereal bowls (which are enormous), so they’re perfect if you like just a little cereal. They’re also great for limiting your ice cream consumption (not HCG’s style) or allowing yourself to have a second serving of ice cream because the bowl is so tiny you couldn’t have possibly eaten that much (definitely HCG’s style). Obviously, snacks of many variations - M&Ms, pretzels, popcorn, nuts, grapes if you’re feeling crazy - are right at home in these colorful bowls.

Just don’t waste these bowls on reduced fat Cheez-its. You’re better than that.

Modernist bowls, $8 ON SALE FOR $6 each (guess who’s buying more?) at West Elm

After watching the final episode of Oprah Wednesday night, our heart felt very sad. We had
trouble getting out of bed Thursday morning knowing we were awaking to a world that exists without the daily dose of O we’ve known almost our whole lives. Each time we hear “twenty fiiiiive years”, our eyes well up with tears. We know Oprah is moving on to bigger and better prospects (and yes, we did call Comcast a few months ago when we couldn’t locate OWN in our cable system), but we’ll still miss her traditional format. If our mom sees Steadman in Cape May again this summer, we will ask her to hug him so he can hug Oprah for us.

In honor of Oprah, we are dedicating today’s post to something about which Oprah has always spoke passionately: home interiors and decorating. As Oprah has memorably stated, “Your home should rise up to meet you.” As much as I love my home, I didn’t feel the place was living up to its end of the bargain we made when I bought it. Some improvements to the entryway – the first chance my home has to get up on my level when I come home – were in order.

Our entryway is small, but I knew it was an opportunity to make a statement with color and a great light fixture. First, I convinced Joe that a fun color would make our house more awesome, and, after some initial hesitation, he agreed to paint the top half fuchsia (Ralph Lauren Racer Pink) and the bottom wallpapered half navy.The brightness of the pink took some getting used to, but we now love how it contrasts the navy and greets everyone who comes to our house. I hope it says, “Check out these young, fun cool people who live here! They are so awesome!”

Once we painted the space, the old traditional light fixture looked ridiculous in a “check-out-these-losers-who-tried-to-use-cool-paint-with-a-lame-light-fixture” kind of way (yes, my brain really functions in these sentences). An immediate update was necessary, and I was ready for the challenge. I absolutely L-O-V-E light fixtures, especially sparkly chandeliers. Any sparkly light fixture, really. When I walk by a house and spot a twinkling light fixture inside (which, in our neighborhood populated with typical Philadelphia federal-style row houses, is pretty frequent), I usually stop and creep in the window on my tip toes saying “ooooohhh loooook faaaannccyyy” until Joe tells me the owners are going to call the cops. I knew I wanted something sparkly, small and special, but I didn’t want to spend a ton of money. MR suggested I check out Ikea, and SCORE! I found this $40 mini chandelier and it’s perfect:

If you have any use for a small chandelier in your house, HCG highly recommends this Ikea fixture. It’s insanely affordable, offers just enough sparkle and works in so many spaces. It’s just the right size for our small entryway, and I only wish (1) I had another place to hang this somewhere else in my house, and (2) it wouldn’t be weird to have the same Ikea fixture hanging two places in your house. It would look adorable over a corner chair in a guest room or above a bed or crib in a child’s room. Joe’s mom admired it in our house so much, she picked one up to hang over her kitchen sink. At $39.99, I don’t know how everyone doesn’t own this thing.

Oprah would be proud to know that now at Casa de HCG, the entryway dazzles and rises up to meet us each time we enter the house. We will love you forever, Oprah.

Kristaller 3-armed chandelier, $39.99 at Ikea

Until Team HCG moved into our first home last summer, we never hosted traditional dinners (you know, the kind with an actual table and more than four total guests). We always yearned to throw more dinner parties while living in apartments, so during our house hunt we immediately ruled out any place that didn’t have enough space for a large dining table. Our first home has sufficient room to host dinner guests, and while we haven’t yet found the perfect dining table, we’re making due with a temporary table and are experimenting our hosting skills on the people whose judgment we’re well equipped to handle: our families.

We’ve quickly learned that hosting dinners helps you realize which essential entertaining pieces your home lacks. Neither Joe nor I are coffee drinkers, so we had no idea we needed cream and sugar containers. We were wildly impressed with ourselves for (1) owning a coffee maker (we begrudgingly registered for one) and (2) remembering to buy coffee to serve to guests after dinner. But when we hosted Joe’s family for our first official dinner in our home, we realized we were missing the stupid coffee accessories owned by everyone else in the free world.

You know what’s embarrassing? Whipping out a half gallon of milk and an entire bag of sugar when serving coffee to dinner guests.  I know because that’s what you have to do when you realize you don’t have proper containers for these things. Joe even poured the milk in a measuring cup for easier pouring. Very clever, but not the vibe we were trying to give at our home. I mean, come on, we’re the kind of people who serve chilled Andes mints after dinner. Obviously, a trip to Crate and Barrel for all kinds of stuff we didn’t know we needed was in order. As soon as I spotted these incredibly cute cream and sugar cartons at C&B, I knew our days of living as inexperienced hosts were numbered.Perfect, right? We’ve heard people who drink coffee like Splenda, so we picked up a sugar packet holder, added one of our porcelain Crate and Barrel condiment spoons (which we love and use all the time with these adorable and useful condiment dishes) and placed it all atop a rectangle platter.

Coffeee drinkers no longer need to fear dining at the House of HCG. Well, at least not because we lack the appropriate accessories.

Embossed Cream and Sugar, $16.95 at Crate and Barrel
Sugar Packet Holder, $2.95 at Crate and Barrel
Staccato Rectangle Platter, $39.95 at Crate and Barrel

We know we’re not the only people who wish our home resembled an Anthropologie store in at least some fashion. While we can’t quickly master the Anthropologie aesthetic of the haphazard yet intentional placement of antiques and colorful accessories, we can master the scent of an Anthropologie store.

The particular scent of an Anthropologie store has always appealed to us - it’s inviting, fresh and never overpowering or offensive. We decided we wanted our home to smell like Anthropologie, and we would stop at nothing to achieve this goal. We set out on an intense mission to decode the secret behind the store’s delcious scent.

Our mission was an embarrasingly short one. We feared Anthro’s signature scent may be some crazy concoction not disclosed to the average customer and available only in tiny parfumeries in southern France, but we we wrong. It took only one direct question to the sales associate who greeted us upon entry to yield the answer: Voluspa candles are burned all day long in Anthropologie, giving the store its signature scent. I know, we’re lame.

This was my first foray into the world of Voluspa candles, so I took the deliberation process seriously. After an hour-long scent test with my trusted advisor MR, I chose Fleurs De Fete, a light, clean scent that didn’t overwhelm or give off that “Look who’s burning a candle scent.” Whenver I burn the candle in my home, someone compliments the scent, and I feel happier about the general quality of my life. Sometimes it’s the small pleasures that make a difference.

At $18 each, Voluspa candles are reasonably priced for their size and quality. Each candle boasts an 80-hour burn time – that’s only 23 cents an hour! If you wouldn’t pay 23 cents an hour to make your home smell awesome, you are straight crazy. I’m hoping to pick up the Frosted Pinecone scent before Christmas to make up for our faux Christmas tree (which I love except for its lack of scent). I wonder if I can squeeze in 80 hours of burn time on that bad boy before the holidays are over…

Voluspa Seasons Candle in Fleurs De Fete, $18.00 at Anthropologie

The weather in Philadelphia is turning quite chilly, and, as much as we adore cold-weather clothing (tights, dresses, boots, oh my!), we’re having a tough time adapting to the change of seasons. We usually spend the first few weeks of late fall/early winter freaking out over the cold weather and overdressing in countless layers. And we never – EVER – watch TV without a blanket of some sort. Our need to enjoy our favorite shows with an additional source of warmth is practically debilitating.

So when we recently happened upon this amazing throw at Restoration Hardware, the store where normal prices go to die, we blinked back tears of happiness as images of Chips Ahoy cookies + a DVR full of Oprah’s farewell season and “16 and Pregnant” raced across our brain. The softness and weight of this throw is like nothing we’ve ever felt, and we were desperate to take one home. Ah, the shows we would watch and TV milestones we would enjoy while snuggled under that little number!

The story only gets better; the throw, originally priced at $59, is currently on sale for only $29 – the lowest Restoration Hardware has ever discounted this item. We overcame our disbelief and started debating which of the seven colors we should choose. We settled on graphite, a dark gray, and we’ve already put the blanket to good use. As expected, it is super warm and large enough to share with a friend or spouse. I was tempted to buy 10 additional throws as gifts (the words “luxury” and “plush” are triggers for me), but the overpriced couch we ordered didn’t leave much spending money for others. Apparently I’m not the only one excited by this sale; the store where I purchased my throw last Saturday sold over 50 blankets that day alone.

If you’re like CF and are determined to get your Christmas shopping done early this year, we can’t think of a better gift to get you started.

Luxury Plush Throw, originally $59, on sale for $29 at Restoration Hardware

Editor’s Note: Yes, “plushiness” is a real word. We looked it up.

New year, new DIY project!  HCG has had success with a super easy DIY project before, and, although this endeavor is definitely more involved than our last one, it’s still extremely simple (believe me – HCG does not attempt to tackle complicated DIYs.  Life is too short, and there is too much DVR to catch up on).

Disclaimer: this isn’t the first time Team HCG has made a fabric headboard.  Joe and I tamed this beast when I first moved into my law school apartment, and we learned many lessons from that inaugural DIY including: (1) what type of fabric works best (upholstery), (2) how much padding is needed (the more the merrier), (3) that fabric covered buttons are more effort than they’re worth, and (4) that making a headboard in the middle of the night at the end of August in an apartment without AC can cause tensions to run high.

We gave it five years and decided to jump back in.  Because we haven’t taken the plunge into home ownership yet, we’re hesitant to purchase furniture to fit a temporary space.  But we were also sick of living like nomads without a headboard.  A fabric headboard is an inexpensive way to add polish to a bedroom without having to invest in a large piece of furniture.

Both times I’ve made fabric headboards, I Googled the subject to death and was disappointed at the lack of practical information available.  Hence, the HCG guide to DIY-ing a fabric headboard!

Step 1: Load your weapon.  If you think making a fabric headboard sounds like an intimidating task, take comfort in this: only ONE tool is required for the entire project – a staple gun.  Team HCG doesn’t own a staple gun, but our dad does.  Fortunately, he provided a box of staples, too.
Step 2: Gear up your supplies. There are four essential materials required to make a basic upholstered headboard, all of which are shown below:

a. Plywood: The size of your plywood depends on (1) the size of your bed, and (2) how high you would like your headboard.  A standard sheet of plywood is 80 inches (about 6 1/2 feet) wide and 48 inches (4 feet) high.  We have a king size bed and a relatively high pillow top mattress, so a four-foot high piece of wood was fine with us.  If you have a lower bed, you may want to get the plywood cut down a little.  We decided on the width of the wood by measuring the width of our bed and adding a few inches on each side.  The final measurements of our plywood were 80 inches wide and 48 inches high.  Also, we wanted a relatively thick piece of plywood so we went with plywood that is 3/4 of an inch thick.

b. Foam padding: Padding is a critical component for a fabric headboard.  It adds depth and prevents the finished product from looking homemade.  We erred with the first headboard and used foam padding that was only half an inch thick, and I always wished it was thicker.  This time around, we went with one-inch thick foam padding.  The  foam padding we purchased for this project was only 41 inches high, so it didn’t go all the way to the bottom of the plywood – there were about 7 inches of the wood that were not covered by the foam.  I thought this would look weird, but it really didn’t make any difference (read below for more).  The dimensions of the foam we purchased were 41″ x 85″.  In retrospect, we should have purchased foam that extended further on the sides because this didn’t leave us enough extra foam to pull around the back of the wood.  You’ll see what I’m talking about.

c. Polyester batting: Polyester batting is used to cover the foam and add another layer of material.  You definitely want the poly batting to wrap all the way around the entire piece of wood, so it’s best to buy it slightly larger than the plywood.  The dimensions of our poly batting were 54″ x 85″.  We bought both the foam padding and poly batting at Adler’s Fabrics on Philadelphia’s Fabric Row.

d. Fabric: For obvious reasons, the fabric you choose for your headboard is the most important piece.  Upholstery fabric is sturdy, easy to work with and looks the nicest.  We found the winner in an hour’s time on Fabric Row: a chocolate brown and light blue flowered upholstery fabric at Jack B. Fabrics.  Upholstery fabric usually comes 54 inches wide, so that was enough to fit the entire height of our headboard.  We bought 8 yards (96 inches) so we would have extra fabric to pull around the sides of the wood.  The final dimensions of our fabric were 54″ x 96″.  I’m pretty obsessed with the fabric we chose.  See how soft and luxurious it looks up close?Step 3: Foam first. Now that you have all of your supplies, it’s time to get cooking.  Note: You will definitely need a partner for all of the following steps. First, stand the plywood upright and position the foam against the wood a few inches higher than the top of the wood.  Pull the foam taut on both sides of the wood making sure it is smooth across the front, and pull each side around to the back side of the wood.  Begin stapling about one inch apart.  Once the sides are stapled, bend the foam that extends above the top of the wood over and staple again.  Make sure you fold the corner down smoothly so they resemble a regular corner as best as possible.Once the entire foam is stapled around the plywood, it should look like this from the back (as you can see, we really didn’t have too much extra foam to work with on the sides):Step 4: Poly batting goes next. Do the same thing with the poly batting: position it against the foam-covered wood, pull taut and staple one inch apart around the back sides and top.  You’ll need to be a little more careful when pulling the poly batting taut against the wood because it’s relatively delicate and may tear.  NOTE: the poly batting should wrap all around all sides of the wood including the bottom.  This will smooth out the bottom of the foam that doesn’t extend all the way to the bottom of the wood.Step 5: Finish with fabric. Finally, the pretty part: securing your fabric.  Now that the entire piece of plywood is covered in poly batting, do the same thing with the fabric.  Pull it taut, begin stapling one inch apart, and make sure the corners are folded down smoothly.  Don’t worry about what the back of the plywood looks like – no one is ever going to see that.Step 6: Tie the extra fabric around your head and waist and practice ninja moves in your living room (recognize the sweatpants?  I told you I wear them every night.  FYI, this photo was taken the night before our Halloween party at 2:00 a.m.).The finished product:Feeling adventurous now that you’ve read this?  Give it a shot!  What else were you planning on doing on MLK day anyway?

Breakdown of expenses:
- Plywood: $32.50
- Foam padding and poly batting: $44.13
- Upholstery fabric: $57.78

Total cost: $134.41

]]> http://herecomesgina.com/index.php/2010/01/12/diy-fabric-headboard/feed/ 8 http://herecomesgina.com/index.php/2009/11/04/diy-ribbon-frames/ http://herecomesgina.com/index.php/2009/11/04/diy-ribbon-frames/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:34:39 +0000 gina http://herecomesgina.com/?p=1229

HCG loves a good DIY project (at least the three DIYs we’ve ever done).  Joe and I moved into a new apartment a few months ago, and our stairway is outfitted with four silver hooks leading upstairs.  I love the look of photo frames hung by ribbon, and these hooks were practically made for them.

I looked around for what seemed like forever thinking I would find the perfect ribbon frames.  No luck.  Eventually, I decided to take control of the situation and attempt a DIY.  Guess what?  It worked, and it was incredibly easy.  Want to give it a shot?  Here you go:

Step 1: Buy some frames. I chose the Ikea Ribba Frame because I wanted a clean and polished look to contrast the wood against which the frames would be hung.  The Ribba comes in different sizes and colors, and it’s mad crazy cheap (like everything from Ikea – who doesn’t love that place?).

Step 2: Buy some ribbon. This process took me a little longer than it should have.  Joe and I hit up Fabric Row on Fourth Street in Philadelphia (an amazing resource), and the possibilities were endless.  For the non-Philly dwellers, Michaels and A.C. Moore both have great ribbon selections as well.
I debated using a colored ribbon but finally decided black would look the most sleek.  Grosgrain ribbon was an easy choice: it’s one of the stiffest and sturdiest ribbon fabrics.

Step 3: Thread the ribbon through the hooks on the back of the photo and tie. This part is super simple.  The Ribba frame comes with wire that can be stretched across the back of the frame to hang it on a nail, but it was easier to ditch the wire, slip the ribbon through the hooks and tie in the middle.

Step 4: Choose your photo(s). My favorite of the bunch we chose to hang is this photo of the world’s cutest nieces, Madeline and Jane:

Step 5: Hang your ribbon frames and feel proud. I know I do :)

Breakdown of expenses:
- 2 yards of black grosgrain ribbon ($0.85/yard): $1.70
- 4 Ikea Ribba frames ($4.99 each, on sale from $7.99): $19.96
- 4 5″x7″ photo prints ($1.69 each and printed within an hour at CVS): $6.76
Total Cost: $28.42