Shaving Cream Eggs

I love coloring Easter eggs and I also love finding new and inventive ways of playing around with textures so I enjoyed this activity just as much as my children.  I think Caden (4 yo) loved getting messy and playing around with colors.  Porter (18 mo) played around with his shaving cream a little, but mostly enjoyed watching us.

SUPPLIES:

• Vinegar


• Food Coloring


• Shaving Cream


• Hard Boiled Eggs

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dip the eggs in vinegar to help the colors stick and brighten.


2. Put a little (or a lot) of shaving cream on a plate and add various dots of food coloring around the shaving cream.


3. Mix the colors as little as much as you like (we used a craft stick to mix it).


4. Roll your egg around in the color and set aside.


5. Let sit in the refrigerator overnight and rinse with water in the morning.  Voila!

Caden's shaving cream turned into almost a solid color and I worried it would make the eggs looks gross, but I was wrong.  His eggs are by far my favorite.  I was way too careful choosing my colors.



After we were all done with the eggs, Caden had a lot of fun playing around with the shaving cream.  Porter was a little unsure of it after I told him we couldn't eat it, so then he rubbed a little on his tummy.  The food coloring slightly stained their hands, but it was gone after bath time.

Note: I'm not sure these are okay to eat, but they sure are pretty.  We used expired eggs so I don't feel too bad about not eating them.

Color!

Yep, it's another color post!  I just can't help but love color.  I think that I would have no problem getting ready in the morning if my shower head was as colorful as this one from Grohe:

It comes in some great bold colors as well as some awesome neutrals.  I love how many companies lately are adding more color to their product lines.  Many times this isn't considered a safe move for companies as colors can invoke strong reactions from some people, whether good or bad.  It's nice to know that they are listening to those of us who love color and want to add it to rooms in ways other than paint and accessories.

Prism Color Wall

I sure love color!  I honestly don't have a favorite color as I'm in love with all of them!  Color makes me happy, excited, and energetic!  Imagine my delight when I saw the 1st Place winner of the Mind Blowing Color Competition.  Amirko, a Moscow based designer, designed a wall made of prisms that can be changed based on your mood, or favorite colors.  Isn't it fabulous?

Fall Colors Round Up

Remember my post in February about this fall's color trends?

Have you seen any of these colors around?  I sure have!

I see the Endive, Lagoon, Goldenglow, and some Oyster Gray in these Spanish Glass vases from West Elm.

I see some Purple Orchid and various shades of the warm Oyster Grey in these pillows from Etsy seller PipDesigns.



I see Goldenglow in this gorgeous plate from JennyBlasenPottery!  LOVE the lace design!



Accent pillow from KainKain with Coral, Endive and Oyster.

Benjamin Moore's Style 2010

Last night I had the opportunity to hear Mary Hoffman, a Color and Design Specialist for Benjamin Moore!  I heard a little bit about Benjamin Moore and their process for choosing their color palettes for the year.

This is one of their color palettes for next year.  I love the European feel to it!  Very clean, chic, and contemporary!

I absolutely love color theory and anything having to do with color.  I find it fascinating that they forecast the colors about 2-3 years out.  So yep, back in 2007 they forecasted that purple would be big this year...and sure enough, we're seeing purple everywhere now!

To choose the color palettes they come up with a theme (or a few themes).  The particular color palette above was based on Ingenuity.  They saw that designers would be using color in unconventional palettes.  Their other palettes were based off of New Luxury and Genesis.  The New Luxury color palette featured rich purples, yellows, oranges, and darker bronze neutrals.  Almost Eastern inspired.  Their Genesis palette featured a much more monochromatic palette which focused on colors found in nature.  Texture was a big factor in this particular color palette to provide some relief from the monochromatic colors.

She talked some about their paint (which I'll share later) but she hid paint chips throughout the store (Pottery Barn) and made it a game of finding them.  She was showing some colors that coordinated, and some new color palettes we would start to see next year.  Mary mentioned that along with more purple next year we'd start to see navy pop up again.  (You heard it here first folks!)  Here are some of the paint chips I found in the store:

We've seen a lot of yellow, grey, white color combinations, but pinks will be added to the palette next year too.

Love how this gorgeous green provides a soft feeling to all the dark wood tones.

Here's some more purple!  Love it with the neutrals and metallics!

Be sure to check out their site!  They've got lots of great resources and inspiration photos too!

Colorful Inspiration

I'm in love with this colorful art installation from Horst:

Even if these stairs were out of my way, I'd make sure to take them every day!  They are so happy!

Have a safe and Happy Halloween and we'll see you back on Monday!

 

Color Palette Generator

I wanted to share with you a great resource that I found to help you choose colors!  It can be very frustrating for an individual to see a picture of a space that they absolutely love and then have trouble finding the right colors to use for your own space.  This generator from Big Huge Labs allows you to upload an image (it can be from on your computer or even Photobucket or Facebook) and then it will give you a color palette based on the colors found in the images.  From there you can choose a few colors (usually 3-4) and build the color palette for your space around it.  Try uploading an image that's not an interior...maybe a picture of something in nature or a favorite piece of clothing.  It doesn't have to be an interior space, as long as it's a picture with a color palette that speaks to you!

Here's a few examples of color palettes created from pictures that I love:





Palette 1 image from MFree.

Palette 2 image from xJavierx.

Palette 3 image also from xJavierx.

Palette 4 image from Jek In The Box.

Monday Redesign-You Pick

Ok, I'm going to try a little something new for Monday's Redesign!  I need your input!  I'd like to use one of the fall color schemes I put together to do the inspiration board for Monday.  Which one would you like to see?

Let me know 1 or 2!  I'll do an inspiration board based on the scheme with the most votes!

Fall 2009 Color Trends

I LOVE LOVE LOVE color!  If my accountant husband was a little more of a risk taker my house would have lots of color, but right now our compromise is to have be neutral overall with accents of color.  While it's not my first choice I've found that in a way it also caters towards my need for changing out color fairly frequently.  Case in Point:  In the 5 years we lived at our last house, the kitchen was painted 4 different times!  Our current neutral scheme keeps everything coordinated and then I can easily trade out a few pillows and accessories to make the space totally different.  I've been thinking about which colors to go with this fall and checked the color forecast.  I'm loving the palette this fall, especially the brownish greys.  Based on the Pantone Team's predictions here are the colors:

Which one is your favorite?  I'm thinking the earthy scheme would work well this fall for me.

(And yes this is the fashion forecast but look for these colors to display themselves in interiors too!)  This is also your way to be ahead and talk like the pros!  Next year watch for these colors to be huge in interiors, as interior design follows closely behind fashion design.

Colorful Rooms

It's been a little gloomy around these parts with non stop rain and wind.  Fall is coming a lot sooner than it usually does for us.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons {along with spring}.  I love all the colors and change of scenery going on around me.

 

 

{images from sharpetka86, kimhas6cats, & TobiasMik}

I was peeking around on the internet and found some colorful rooms that immediately made me happy.  I love a little bit of yello in each room.  Doesn't it feel like a little piece of sunshine?

I hope everyone has a great extended weekend.  We will be around this weekend, and have a wonderful post for you on Monday. 

Ikea Inspiration

Have you seen the new Ikea catalog yet?  Here are some of my favorite images:

I Love, Love, Love the black and white "frame" around the door and how it contrasts with that green wall!  I think I could actually have a green wall in my home!

This kitchen doesn't even look like IKEA to me.  Love the contrast of dark wood and light floor and countertop finishes.  So clean and classy!

P.S. Have you entered our current design challenge yet?   You can win a 5' x 7' area rug from FLOR!

Children's Playroom- Redesign

Darcy sent over this wonderful redesign on her children's playroom.

Isn't it amazing what a little colorful paper can do to a room?

We love to see what you are working on.  It's so inspiring.  Send us your before and after pictures here.

Design Challenge Voting Starts

It's so fun to see what other projects our readers are working on. Who will win the Anna Toddler bed from Five Star Source? It's your turn to decide.

Here are the entrants below:

#1 Jennie- Dining Room

I wanted to add some color to the downstairs of our house, but all of the rooms are open and flow from one to the next. It was a challenge to choose a color that was bold enough to be interesting, but that would also look good with the other rooms. This deep red draws from accent pieces and window treatments in the adjacent living room.

#2 Jennifer- Dresser

I found this in the basement when we moved into our new home last year. It was structurally sound but in need of some sanding, painting and new hardware. This is the end result!

#3 Melissa- Console Table

I found this table at an antiques store in Utah and I fell in love with it's simple lines. The knobs are from Anthropologie and they inspired the blue color choice.

#4 Lynnette- Dining Room Chairs

Our dining room chairs were stained and beginning to fray on the sides. I put new fabric on them and then added plastic on top to protect from the kids spills.

To cast your vote, click on the poll below.   Voting ends Friday May 29th at Midnight! Feel free to leave your remarks in the comments below.

Good luck!