Monthly Archives: November 2009

Coming Up: In Conversation With Nina Garcia

November 30, 2009

Preston with Nina Garcia(Photo via)

Now that Thanksgiving’s over, it’s back to work work work… I actually did a special event this past weekend that I can’t talk about yet, but maybe I’ll share some info about it later this week. For now, here’s one thing that’s on my mind: next week, I’ll be having a discussion with the exquisite Nina Garcia to discuss my new book Celebrations.

Nina is one of my favorite people in New York and when she’s not taping the fabulous Project Runway, you can find her hard at work on Marie Claire. She attended the luncheon for the launch of Celebrations about a month ago and we began a thoughtful conversation about why I wanted to create the book and the inspiration behind it. It was such a great talk that we wanted to bring the discussion public and share these thoughts with everyone—why not, right?

So, that’s exactly what we decided to do. I’ll be talking with Nina at the Barnes & Noble in the Upper East Side on December 8th at 7:00pm. If you’re in the New York City area, I hope you’ll stop by and check it out. The address of the Barnes and Noble is: 150 East 86th Street New York, NY 10028.

Within all my books, we include a picture of my incredible team. Here’s the latest picture from Celebrations of everyone who created what you see in the book. As you flip through the pages, you’ll get to see in more detail what we created together.

I’d also like to hear your thoughts about the book and any questions you may want us to answer during our discussion. Who knows? Nina might pick one of the questions you ask to include in her Q&A. Let me know your thoughts and questions in the comments!

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My Thanksgiving Table—After Pictures

November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving with my family and friends is one of my favorite celebrations. It’s a rare chance I have to spend time with all the people I care about in one room—which is very important to me. I also think of Thanksgiving as the official kick-off to the holiday season, so it’s important to get things started on the right foot!

I spend a lot of time creating transformations for my clients throughout the year, so it means a lot to me to get to do it for my family. Just like surprising my clients, I like to surprise my loved ones with my design and transformation. Like I said in my post earlier this month I love seeing the look on my family’s face when they walk into the room I decorated just for them. Not only that, but I get to relax, eat great food, talk and laugh with all the people I care about in the world.

My family is so big that each year we empty out my studio to make room for our Thanksgiving table. I showed you the empty space in the before pictures, here’s another picture of the finished table:

I also use this time to hand out my Christmas presents (I’m usually traveling around Christmas), along with little giveaways for each guest. Here’s a picture of one of the giveaways:

Thanksgiving is always a time of abundance, so my table this year is only decorated with fruit. Besides leftovers and presents, everyone is also taking home a basket of fruit:

One design tip I want to share, which I may have mentioned earlier, is that you shouldn’t overlook everyday materials you have laying around the house when planning on what to decorate with for Thanksgiving (or any event!).

I focus on using and re-using readily available, accessible materials for all my personal events. Whether that means going into the archives of my studio and finding leftover materials we can bring back to life, or walking down the street and being inspired by nature’s offering (leaves, twigs, flowers), there’s a lot that can be tapped into to create a fabulous design. Don’t think you need to break the bank to decorate your space, you just need to think inventively about the materials you already have access to.

With that, I’m going to put one last picture of all of us at the Thanksgiving table. We enjoyed a Panamanian feast and I’m still stuffed!

Hope you had a wonderful holiday too.

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Getting Ready For Thanksgiving: Before Pictures

November 24, 2009

Thanksgiving is only two days away (not that I need to remind you!) and there is so much to do before my big dinner for friends and family. I want to make this post quick, so why don’t I let my pictures do the talking? Here’s a picture of my studio space emptied, and waiting to be set up:

Here’s the undressed table:

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the decorations I’ll be using. My assistants, Samorn and Primrung helping me create the fruit topiaries:

A picture of one type of the giveaways (don’t tell anyone–these have candy inside):

The piece de resistance: the turkey (not done baking)!

How will you be decorating your home for Thanksgiving? Let me know. (And share some pictures if you have any.)

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DIY Thanksgiving: Napkin Décor

November 23, 2009

If you’re tired of using plain white napkins every year for your special dinner, try adding a little color and surprise with this simple napkin decoration. You can keep it monochromatic like we did, or you can layer different complementary colors to add a rainbow to your table.

Materials:

White napkin (cloth or paper based on how casual or formal your dining table is)
Hot glue gun
Colored Paper
Scissors
Small colored poofs (These can be found at any local craft store)
Colored ribbon

Instructions:

1. Cut your colored paper into any shape you’d like. We used hearts here. Cut two pieces for each napkin you’ll be using (e.g. 16 pieces of paper for your table of 8). After you’ve cut all your shapes, take half of the pieces of paper (e.g. 8 of the 16) and set them aside. With the remaining pieces, take your colored poofs and hot glue them neatly on to the paper. We started by gluing the poofs along the outer border of the heart and worked our way inward. Set pieces aside to dry.

2. Fold your white napkins neatly into a rectangular shape. Take your colored ribbon and wrap each white napkin. Secure the ribbon by hot gluing the ends together behind the napkin. Take the pieces of paper you set aside and place them inside the ribbon of each napkin.

3. At your dining table, place your napkins down next to each plate and add the decorated paper (with the poofs) on top of the ribbon, a little offset, so you can see the other layer of paper beneath it. Finish off with silverware and you’re all set.

As always, please don’t forget to share pictures of your creations. Email them to my editor: Karell@prestonbailey.com, or post on your blog and leave the link in the comments.

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Solos and Song: Theo’s show

November 20, 2009

The quiet stage before the show began

Last night was an evening full of song and emotions. Hearing Theo Bleckmann’s voice always strikes a very specific chord in my heart, but last night was made doubly special because I had a chance to be part of it by designing the environment for the entire show. It was a busy day with a lot to set up and small details to get right, but the minute Theo set foot on the stage and began, I forgot all about that and just became entranced with the music and his voice. I wasn’t alone. As I looked out at the sold out crowd in Roulette, I could see people reacting with joy, understanding and many times laughter (Theo tells some great jokes).

He played a diverse amount of songs from his discography, ranging from his newest record Schumann’s Favored Bar Songs (out today from Winter and Winter) to his first record ever released. For his encore, he even played a German version of the famous Beatles song, I Want to Hold Your Hand, with the audience clapping along.

Lighting was the biggest component for décor of the set. Ira Levy helped me design the lighting for the night. As Theo played from song to song, we coordinated the lights to change colors from purple to green to blue and so on. A major part of this was a large canopy I created out of fiber optic strands that twinkled above the stage. Theo’s next performance will be in Munich, Germany in January. If you’re interested in attending one of his shows, check out his tour page for more information.

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