I’m struggling with the inlaws computer at the moment..it does NOT like blogging. I’m getting a bit too stressed about something so trivial, so I think I might call it a day for Pillar Box Post until the new year. 2009 was the beginning of Pillar Box Post and better than I could have imagined… I’ve been extremely lucky to become a part of your reading and inspiration and hope that I can come into the new year (and decade) refreshed, inspired and inspiring! Thanks to all and hopefully I’ll be seeing you in the new year. Happy Holidays!
The concertina thank you card above is from Typoretum.
I mentioned in the previous post that I found using the Aubin & Wills catalog useful for creating paper snowflakes. Well that isn’t where it stops…I just looked under the tree and realized I had also wrapped all the presents with store publications. Specifically a giant Cos lookbook, as it has giant A3 pages with no staples. Artwork, large dramatic imagery, beautiful typography, free and recycled…what’s not to like?
thanks to lolly girl for her image…I forgot to upload mine before I left home!
Ahh, Christmas is nearly here!! First, I’d like to apologize for my lack of presence lately. It’s been a busy month as it is for everybody, but there was some urgent family matters as well so I’ve been a bit more distant than usual. I’m currently without my computer/files/ pictures as we’ve headed ‘home’ for the holidays to Colchester England to my inlaws. I have a few photos uploaded already (but not the vital end product shots!!) I’d like to share, but I apologize in advance for crappy sizing, pictures etc. because I’m kind of stuck.
Today I thought I’d share this dead simple decoration idea that needs nearly no supplies other than some scrap paper, scissors, tape and stapler and could instantly fill a space with some christmas cheer. There are so many splendid ideas featuring on the blogs this year, but not necesarily always feasible due to time/budget/planning. I found this tutorial for paper stars/snowflakes a few years ago online and make a batch every year. They’ve been hung from the ceilings with ribbon to create a decorative curtain, used as christmas tree toppers, present bows…all sorts of things and they are basically free and recycled as well!
Ingredients
scrap paper
stapler (the smaller the better)
clear tape
scissors/x acto knife
View the directions and see more images after the jump…
With a last minute invite to the London Design Makers event for all things handmade, I dragged my flu recovering body out into public on Saturday. I am glad I did, as it was a lovely little show and I got to introduce myself to quite a few people (including the lovely Lynne from Tea for Joy), which I was very pleased about. Other bonuses included NOT having to step foot in the oxford/regent street area, and getting myself a little present for being so clever.
One of my favorite sellers from the day was ‘Love from Hetty & Dave’ which is a collection of these quirky handstuffed/sewn leather goods in the form of necklaces, brooches and gloves. I walked away proud owner of the fantastic ‘hello’ speech bubble necklace constructed from soft white leather encased cardboard, with black lettering/stitching…all for a modest £15 pounds. You can find more about their fabulous union jack hearts, personalized brooches, rabbit gloves and ahoy necklaces at their shop, or on their blog. Where else can you find badgers, bunnies and mexican sugar skulls in one place? Oh and their is a fox brooch too!
lovely image by sevenspoons*
Yesterday I received an amazing early christmas gift…I’m sure it’s a mistake, but the London Times have named Pillar Box Post as one of the 50 of the world’s best design blogs!! Number 47 to be exact. I was absolutely thrilled, honoured and dubious when I saw I was surrounded by so many brilliant bloggers. It’s especially crazy to see those bloggers getting excited about the mention as well, like design*sponge and swissmiss, and I’m thinking hang on, if you think it’s great, I should be doing somersaults down the pavement (which in fact I was).
Anyway, for all the great new friends I hope to make from this amazing opportunity, welcome to Pillar Box Post! I’m just a graphic designer girl, raised in America, transplanted into London town with a mischievous french bulldog and a charming Mister. If you stick around you’ll be privy to my obsessions with anything oversized, my Dutch bicycle Betsy, knitted necklaces, sweaters with something to say, colourful illustrations, leather camera bag projects, niave drawings, my quest for the “holy boots”, knitted fox scarves, Olive Juice (my minx of a french bulldog), moodboards, pastel beach huts, paper cuts & peeking in shop windows! Whew…sounds like a lot, but there’ll be even more, hope to see you back!
*Beautiful photograph taken by sevenspoons
Another look into the Christmas window displays of London’s stores…(Missed part 1, 2, or 3?)
First up today is the delightful little display from Pedlars. Cheerful, colourful and a bit quirky…lovin’ the little birdies sitting on the branch. It’s like a modern day version of all those stuffy cards that you still get from grandmas that have a snow covered branch with a red cardinal sitting on it…with some overdone script type.
Tip to take away: Use little woodland creatures to make a storybook christmas. Wouldn’t little foxes or rabbits peeking out of a tree, instead of ornaments, be adorable? I’m sure there has got to be a childrens book story out there about animals celebrating christmas in the woods. I bet it involves wood nymphs and birds making ’snow angels’ and other ridiculous fantasies.
And last but not least, Anthropologie has embraced the woodlands creatures theme as well. (by the way, it was pouring, my camera was dead and it was dark by the time I reached middle of town, so take what you can from these shots!) This is screaming out paper mache in some extravagant way…but I’m not sure a non Anthro stylist could tackle that with any real merit…
But you can embrace the casual use of natural goodies, like cinnamon sticks, berries (possibly plucked off your bushes outside?) oranges, etc. for a non cookie cutter look.
Tip to take away: to expand on the last woodland creatures area…how about utilizing little knitwear (like the knit hats from innocent smoothies ‘ the big knit’ campaign) and dress up the little birdies and foxes that by this point you have on a Christmas holiday. I mean if a rabbit is going to create a cake that looks that good from stuff he found on the forest floor the least you could do is keep his little head warm!
More from the windows of London…(Missed Part 1 & Part 2?) If you hate out of proportion things…you probably hate me right now. I’m getting all a bit too excited about this stuff. Like Santa’s Christmas list before…how about oversized christmas tags? This shop front from french clothing company Loft Design has some adorable tags. I’m torn between wanting to have them all in a line with giant letters on them…or having a christmas line on each..or a person’s name…or….
Tip to take away: Use tags to hang on the wall as a seasonal wall display or create a giant advent calender?
Okay, admittedly thise displays from Toast aren’t ground breaking…but maybe that’s a good point.
Tips to take away: leave all my crazy trends behind and just focus on a good old traditional tobaggan, ski, evergreen, colourfull knitted chrissie. Hmm, I think could handle that. Whilst you are keeping it traditional, check out Toast’s podcasts from William Blacker, Along the Enchanted Way. His voice is captivating..and its a nice soothing tale that is a nice break from all the obnoxious Christmas noise. I’m listening to it whilst I write this, with candles burning, twinkle lights on and I feel relaxed already.
Here is a few more of London’s shopping window displays ( view part 1 here).This first scandanavian theme from Daylesford Organic photographed horribly but was one of my favorites…not because its some elaborate display but because I loved what was in the window. Sadly, despite the fact that most items, (if not all) were sold by the shop, their online presence is appalling. All i can offer you are these wooden christmas decorations .
I have every colour of the rainbow going on in our christmas decs it seems, but would love one day to have this simple silver, white and wooden theme. I’ve been pestering my dad for some real antlers (he lives in the woods and is a source for all sorts of natural wildlife goodies)… I’d love to have them up all year round, but this christmas take on it has me even more keen.
Tip to take away: create giant pomanders (they are often created for weddings-here are two great tutorials, one from ruffledblog and one from martha stewart) but use whites/silvers instead for a giant snowflake/ornament effect. If you are lucky enough to have access to pinecones, a little hot glue and a styrofoam triangle would make an easy rustic tree. I love pinecones…the more the merrier.
This next creation really favors to my love of oversized…and for the theatrical limits of decorating for Christmas. This display from L& R bookshop in Notting Hill got me thinking…how great would it be to do a giant Santa’s naughty nice list that hung from the ceiling–flowing into the corners, behind and around a christmas tree. We used to have a Santa about 6 inches tall from Hallmark that was holding a scrolled list, and my mom had added our family’s names onto the ornament in the same style as the others. It was one of my favorite decs growing up.
Tip to take away: purchase a long roll of paper (or maybe fabric) and write names down for as long as you can…checking some off, relegating some to naughty etc. and Starting from the ceiling, drape your list around. Using fishing line or thin balsa wood or dowel rods to create creases at various points would really make this look fantastic. If you had a giant entryway, staircase or other area with tall ceilings this could be a cheap, yet dramatic decoration. And done carefully, could be rolled up and stored in postal tube for next year.
I love window displays…it’s all the practical arts all combined into one…crafts, typography, display, styling, messaging etc. AND it can be soooo good ( or as the east end of Oxford Street could suggest, very bad indeed). I trudged out into the rain a few days ago to try and document a few of the widows around London town. On my adventure I discovered that it is very hard to take a good picture of a window, because of a) the reflections and b) if you are too sensitive to the workers staring at you, you tend to blur photos whilst running away.
These shop windows are a great source for home decorative inspriation, because I feel at this time of the year you can do “displays” and a bit more theatrical with the decor. here goes..
First up, is Bonpoint, the french childrens clothier. Very simple, but very elegant. I love sticks, branches…well basically anything tree related, so this hits it for me. Its on the darker end of the Christmas spectrum, with nary a red and green in sight. It’s how I imagine the pixies in the woods celebrate Christmas, wearing their little cloaks of fur/leaves.
Tip to take away: Why not rustle up some fabric/paper and create a seasonal wall hanging. You could try a tree (perhaps more evergreen) and use it as a space saving tree.
Next up is a more traditional red/green/evergreen look …but with a dark theatrical twist from from Aubin and Wills. I think this look goes great with the gold lettering that is already existent on their shoppe…I feel like I could go back 100 years and see children running up to a shop like this looking at the latest dolls and ughm…what else did they have 100 years ago, wooden horses??
Tip to take away: Leave the green to the foilage, and concentrate colours on black, dark moody reds, and gold. Add white lights for a classic, but dramatic look.
This last window from Ted Baker is actually awful…BUT it does have polar bears in disguises which is pretty funny, so I’ll let it through.
Tip to take away: Have one of those front yard displays compelete with santa, reindeer or other christmas characters? Give everyone a bit more to look at than crappy peeling paint. Dress up the figurines as something else, whether its christmas related, like this polar bear as ‘the snowman’ or perhaps santa has gone under disguise to avoid the paparazzi.
Oh, I tried to resist posting something that probably has already made the blog round, but after I found myself taping this to the inspiration wall at work I felt I had to share (we are inspired by pictures of cats using screwdrivers that won’t work without a brief as well, in case you were wondering). I think the artist behind this, Gemma Correll, is fabulous. I am a huge admirer for her seemingly effortless ability to create artwork. I say it seems effortless because the amount of illustrating she creates (like her hilarious journals) simply wouldn’t allow any messing about. Gemma is a fellow Londoner with a penchant for Pugs…so I’m hoping that means she’d love a good french bulldog model, because let’s face it, they’re cuter. Soooo Gemma, in high hopes that you are out there reading this-fancy a fabulous frenchie on loan for inspiration? I can absolutely guarantee a pocketfull of personality in the form of a small gremlin, gizmo, clown, gargoyle puppy.
P.S. as i sit here typing one handed…olive is perched on my lap sitting like a human– on her butt, with arms in the air ( like said picture above)– and just slapped me across the face. Humiliating and yet hilarious all at once. Saucy minx.
