what's happenin' at S+S

S+S has been crazy busy lately. We are working on a few projects that we are DYING to share with you. Literally. Dying. All in due time. Until then, we will give you a little sneak peek into our day to days lately. 

We have been working on a feature for a magazine for some holiday festivities, S+S style. Here is a little hint of what you may or may not see. Obvi. Gorgeous china. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Gorgeous flower arrangement by Minglewood Flowers in Winston Salem. Margie, the owner, is the most amazingly talented woman ever. We give her an idea of what we are looking for, she makes it happen. She is like a genie, really. Here is wish 1. 

Here is wish number 2. We are dying over these carnation flower orbs. Super cheap and easy way to decorate a tablescape. Larve. 

We have been decorating our house for the fall season. Of course we are always obsessed with the monochromatic themes. Seen here, metallic pumpkins, birch candles, and mercury glass pillars. 

Shopping. Of course we have been shopping. You girls know us so well. Which color do you think we chose? 

Client meetings/projects. We are having the best time working on a project for a local client. She has the most darling little girl and we are in the process of designing her play area/work space. Here are the fabrics we have gone with. We cannot wait to show you the after! 

Bargain shopping for our clients at our local Habitat for Humanity. You have to have vision people. This chair was a steal and has amazing bones. A little paint and a little fabric and this is going to be a stunner. Same with the outdated brass lantern. We are going to pop those glass panels out and paint that baby. It is going to serve as a pagoda lantern. Cannot. Wait. 

The women, the myth, the legends right here. As you can see, our girls are hard at work here, folks. Sadie and Stella holding down the fort. Billie, seen below, is at least pulling her weight a little more. 

Well there you have it. There is a brief glimpse into our craziness lately. We hope its about to get even crazier. Happy Tuesday, loves!

monday musings: diy trims

Good morning loves! Today we are hanging out over at SavorNC Magazine. Go check us out for tips on  giving an old piece new life! Here is a little sneak peek...

s+s chow: gourmet caramel apples

T. G. I. F. Serious. ly. Do you think that the originator of TGI Friday's was a man that sat in a cubical working every week for the weekends and just decided to quit and open up a restaurant and name it after his favorite day of the week? Or do you think that I created the longest run on sentence, ever? Random. I digress, clearly.

Ummm so the quintessential fall food for us are caramel apples. Obvi. To add on to those fabulous caramel apples, are of course, all of our 5 food groups, folks. We wouldn't steer you wrong. We have the fruit, the caramel, the white chocolate, the Butterfinger and Oreos. A dietitians worst nightmare. These are amazingly simple and fabulous and are fantastic homemade gifts around the fall season. 

Here is the loot for these treats:

Supplies:

Apples (red or green, we prefer the tartness of the green)

Craft/Popsicle sticks

Caramel bits (not seen here) for 10 apples you definitely need about 3 bags

White Chocolate Chips

Milk Chocolate Chips

Butterfingers

Oreos

Heath Bar

Pecans

Cellophane Bags

Ribbon of your choosing

Step 1:

Make sure you wash your apples thoroughly. Often times, grocers put wax on apples and this will make it difficult for your caramel to adhere to the apple. Place the popsicle sticks into the top of the apple. Line your apples on a sheet of parchment paper sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Trust me. 

Step 2:

Melt the caramel down in the microwave. Immediately start coating the apples. This caramel cools quickly, so get on it! Coat the apples in the caramel by rotating the apple several times, coating it thoroughly. Once coated to your liking, let the excess caramel drip off of the side of the apple, as seen in the next photo. 

The apples in all of their glory. 

Step 3:


After coating the apples, if toppings are desired, immediately roll them in mashed Butterfinger, Heath bar, Oreos, Nuts or any toppings of your choice. (This was hard to capture in photo. I had to move too quickly and you all would have been confused by the frantic pictures. We may have gotten a few ceiling shots in there. Bananas.) Once you are pleased with the coating of the apples, return them to the fridge for at least 15 minutes. At that point, if you feel like adding drizzled chocolate, have at it! I melted mine down with a double boiler and added ample amounts of shortening to make the chocolate runnier. Trust me, you will thank me later for that. Using a fork, I just dipped and drizzled. The only goal I had in mind was making the largest mess possible for me to clean up. You will never guess...I destroyed that goal. 


Here is the finished product, again. 

Wrap them up in your pretty cellophane bags and tie them with some pretty ribbon and you are ready to go! This gets 5 Noms from us. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. 

what we're loving: equestrian chic

Good morning lovelies! Today, we are sharing one of our current style lusts: Equestrian Chic. We love the elements of preppy that this style brings into a space. Now, neither of us are equestrians by any stretch of the imagination (well maybe Sadie, Stella and Billie) but we do love horses. This certain space really got our minds ticking on how we could bring some of these same principles into our own home. Here, my friends, is what we arrive upon. 

1. Well you certainly need light fixtures in an equestrian inspired abode. No? How about this amaze Antique brass pendant? It adds the perfect amount of distress and gold to the space. Not to mention we love the preppy vibe it brings because it kinda looks like a chess piece. Just sayin'. To bring a little more texture, we are DYING, yes DYING over this scalloped Antique gold leaf pendant. You should be too. Maybe not a timeless piece. But hey, you only live once.
2. Love, love, love this chrome horse head bust. Did we mention that we love it? This could be the perfect addition to a coffee table or used as a bookend on your fabulously styled bookcase. It is the perfect amount of horse for those of you who are horse-shy. 
3. Fake it til you make it. So you aren't an accomplished equestrian. So what. This equestrian ribbons print  totally says otherwise. We love the color and pattern it brings to the space. Also for those of you preppy chic lovers, this is for you. Add some rich colors, maybe a little plaid and you got yourself a den. This makes us reminisce of this office that we featured in this post.
4. We love stylish objects to hold up all of our lovely bound literature and you should too. These iron horse bookends are just the perfect little horse accessory for your space. Not to mention, again, they look like chess pieces! Adore. 
5. It is our go to driftwood horse. We love this piece! It adds the perfect amount of earthy aesthetic to a space and is also just the right size for any coffee table or mantle addition. 
6. You are going to need some textiles to emulate the equestrian theme. Although not equestrian, this origami pillow brings the right amount of neutral and finesse to any space that you are looking to weave this preppy theme in. Now on to the real horse show, this horse pillow is a gorgeous neutral with an even lovelier horse silhouette. Understated equestrian chic.
7. Amazing wild horse print. We are obsessed with the drama that is in this photo. The horse that cannot be tamed was able to be photographed at just the right moment. This would be fitting in our homes. This is definitely the print for those of you who are not horse-shy. 


For those of you who would like to achieve this look in style form, here are a few fabulous options for you. You equestrians, you. 

{galloping horse print dress}

{trina turk}

{Tory Burch}

{gilbert riding boot}

{jw hulme}

{milly}

{The Madison}

And the winner is....

The winner of the Lily on Blue giveaway is...Cindy H! Major congratulations are in order to Cindy.  Cindy said:

Cindy H. said...

I like Lily on Blue on Facebook.

We cannot wait to see what design you choose! Lucky! Thanks to all of you readers for entering in the giveaway.

Favorite Room Feature: Name 5 Things

Today we have a very special guest! Emily from name 5 things is sharing her favorite space today which is her office! She has done some amazing DIY's and you will be amazed. This is such a great space and we can't wait to show you. Take it away Emily!

Hi everyone! I'm Emily from name 5 things. I'm thrilled to be sharing my favorite room (our office) with you! Even though my husband and I refer to it as the office, it is definitely a multi-purpose room. We not only use it for an office, but also as a guest room and home gym (and it's where our dogs hang our during the day while we're at work). It's still a work in progress, but it's currently one of my favorite rooms because it was previously our guest room, but we swapped the two recently and we like this set up a lot better.


This is the other half of the room. The room is pretty big -- 20' by 18'. Frankly, it's almost too big. We've really struggled to use the space in the best way. We are on the look out for some art, another rug, and either a comfy chair or a smaller couch for lounging.  (And don't worry -- the exercise bike is on wheels, so we can wheel it out in front of the TV when we use it. We don't torture ourselves by facing the corner while we work out!)
The last corner of the office is home to our mail center and the Ikea cabinet I jazzed up.

People who come over always comment about the desks facing each other.  We really like it -- we just peek around our monitors when we are deep in conversation!  And why is it that no matter how hard you try, the wires and cords on the desk always look so messy?! 

The chevron boards were a simple DIY project.     

I found the vintage dresser on Craigslist.  It isn't staying the yellow color forever, but oddly enough it doesn't seem too out of place.  I hope to paint it a muted teal color.  The framed Texas map is from the 1800's -- we found it at a vintage map store during one of our trips to California.  We are both from Texas and my husband loves old maps, so it's perfect! 

Thanks Lindsay and Lindsay for letting me share my favorite room!

diy: Thumbtack Fall Decor

Ummm...this is so major. So, so major. Can we talk about creative here, folks? Would you ever think to multipurpose your thumbtacks to adorn a wreath? We wouldn't. As you all know, we love and adore any nailhead and this is no exception to the rule. Go visit Shannon over at Madigan Made for the step by step tutorial. This looks like a simple one! All you need are thumbtacks, a styrofoam wreath and ribbon. Go crazy! We need to make this. Immediately. So do you!


Haven't you always thought, "I would love to have pumpkins covered in thumbtacks!" You and me both sister. Tada!

This girl is on fire. Serious. What glammy pumpkins. This is fall decor that we can get down with. See how Shannon tacked these pumpkins here.


More on the thumbtacking pumpkins front...this pumpkin is to die! Obviously using the same principles here, only this time we are using a white pumpkin! Darling. 

{oops I craft my pants}

Monday Musings: Fretwork

Happy Monday loves! We hope a fabulous weekend was had by all! We are exhausted, obvi, and could have used another day to catch up on sleep. Again, obvi. Today we are musing over fretwork. For those of you unaware of what fretwork is, it is an interlaced, decorative, geometric design. Fretwork contains a certain Asian aesthetic and we totally adore! In our round of examples this morning we have included one million fretwork Chippendale chairs. Why, you ask? Because we can and we love. Also up today, some other unconventional examples such as mirrors, doors and wallpaper. Fab. ulous. 

This dining room screams elegance. The detailed ceiling and and wall trimmings are to die for. It is such a simple and classic space, but it packs so much style. We are loving the chandelier as well as our fretwork Chippendale chairs. Adds a thoughtful yet understated design. 

{houzz}

More chairs! We love this industrial, romantic, glammy kitchen. Such a great marriage of styles shown here. Not to mention the Asian flare with the fretwork. I die. Adoring the white wing back chairs flanking the table, as well. 

{harmony and home}

Jonathan Adler elements at play here, what is not to love? Lime green fretwork accompanied by mid-century modern. Totally chic. The lime adds the perfect pop of color in this otherwise neutral space. 

{lily z design}

Gorgeous tablescape from the newest Adore Magazine - New York Edition. We love the romantic feel here with the pinks and the florals. The fretwork chairs bring interesting geometric lines to the space and also that Eastern flair. 

{adore home}

Ok. We love red. Adore. We are literally dying over this kitchen/dining area. Super traditional meets P.F. Changs. We kid. Absolutely dying over the pagoda chandelier, and again, those fretwork seats. The red is so strikingly beautiful in this white classic space. Gorg. eous. 

{caitlin creer}

Onto those fretwork accessories we have been speaking of. We told you fretwork exists in other forms than just four legs where you seat yourself. Look at this FABULOUS fretwork mirror styled directly over this fabulous bar. So much gorg in this space. Where to begin? 

{megan young designs}

Fretwork mirrored closet doors? Insane. This space clearly has an ethnic theme about it but is also quite romantic. We are loving the use of colors in the room and we are certainly loving those one of a kind fretwork closet doors. The look so elegant and so custom. 

Fretwork all up on your walls. Thats right. Fretwork wallpaper in a powder room? Luxe. Who is also dying over that sink? I am not sure what it was purposed from, maybe a desk in another life? We are not sure, but we adore its new life. 

{elle decor}

Another highly styled fretwork wall in a bathroom. This is the perfect design and zsush for a small space.  It adds the perfect amount of color and interest that takes the place of art in this bathroom. Who can forget that Dorothy Draper chest? Not I. 

{decor pad}

Lovely readers. Do not forget to enter in the Lily On Blue giveaway which ends tonight. You could win big. $75 to her shop to spend however you like?!? This is way better than allowance as a kid. Way. Good luck!

Lily on Blue Giveaway Reminder!

Don't forget to enter our incredible Lily on Blue giveaway! One lucky reader will win $75.00 to spend on pillows of choice in Lily on Blue's shop! What would you choose if you won? We are loving everything in her store, but especially these!

So, what'cha waiting for?? Enter. Now. 

To enter:

You must be a follower of S+S {if you already are, thanks! If not, just click the little follow button over near the top right column} Visit Lily on Blue and come back HERE to comment and let us know what you would do with the $75.00 if you won! 

For additional entries you can:

• Like Lily on Blue on Facebook
• Like Sadie + Stella on Facebook
• Follow Sadie + Stella on Twitter
• Tell your Facebook friends about the giveaway and link to this post
• Blog about the giveaway and link back to this post 
• You can also tweet about the giveaway, mentioning @sadieandstella and link to this post in your tweet!

 *Be sure to leave a comment each time you do one of the above! 

This giveaway ends Monday, October 12th at midnight.