I know that there are a few people out there just itching to add some red accents to my aqua kitchen. Any time it’s suggested that I add a pop of red I demur, but when I started brainstorming ideas for Canadian Tire, I decided I’d use this opportunity to add a little bit of red, just for fun – just for you!
My grandma is a serious crafter (I just helped her with a craft show on the weekend and there’s only about a hundred more this season). She makes many different things, including beautiful wreaths. In a strange coincidence, she gifted me one before my partnership with Canadian Tire commenced, and it’s made entirely from supplies purchased at Canadian Tire last year. It features prominently in a post later this week – I’ll be sure to point it out. She makes her wreaths from scratch: buying a metal frame and attaching each sprig of greenery with wire. Here’s the back of another one she made:
It’s time consuming and labor intensive, so when I saw that the CANVAS line included beautiful, modern greenery wreaths – calling out for a little personalization – I decided that I had to have one for the kitchen. I added a few sprigs of cranberry (for that pop of red!) to the square laurel wreath. I thought it made a festive place-holder for that spot next to the window that sorely needs some art. This is the cheater version of making a quick and easy holiday wreath – seriously, it takes minutes!
I turned one long CANVAS sprig into three smaller ones by simply removing the floral tape, but that’s pretty much the only prep work. I just attached my sprigs with hot glue, lifting up some of the faux foliage and affixing the sprigs directly to the wreath base so the leaves hide the glue. We all know hot glue isn’t always permanent, so it’s simple enough to remove these sprigs and re-use the square laurel wreath with completely different accent colours next year!
The tea towel, made in Finland, is something I put out during the holidays, along with the little felted wool joulupkkis I’ve had forever (you can spot them in this really old blog post). My Mom bought them for us at a local shop, but I just recently saw the same kind (made in Sweden) at Winner’s. I moved the red Iittala bird from the credenza and then cheated by snagging the little Arabia strawberry pot from the Etsy shop. It was hard finding red accents around the house but I did it!! There is RED in my aqua kitchen.
If you’re looking for ways to add some red (or red and aqua) holiday decor to your home, here are a few fun ideas:
- Red and aqua felted garland
- Red and white striped tea towels
- Red Iittala Toikka bird
- Red and aqua modern Advent banner
- Red and aqua holiday wrapping paper
Yay, I love the mixed in red. I'm one of "those" readers. Some of the images are broken, though. 🙂
Happy to deliver! I don't know what you mean about the images being broken. The photos all show up fine when I view the blog on my laptop and my phone…sometimes they take awhile to load, though.
Ooooo the red does look nice. I also like the little spider in the wreath. So cute 🙂
Thanks! We'll, ever tree needs a spider – according to German legend – so I figured the wreath needed one too. I just tucked it in there for my own amusement. Good eye!
I just finished a weekend craft sale with my mom. We do embroidered home items like tea towels, hand towels, ornaments, baby blankets, bibs etc and I have gotten into crocheting this year and started selling a bit of that. I love the red in the kitchen. Just enough to add some interest but not too much that it takes away from the turquoise. And those joulupkkis? TOO stinkin cute! I might need to take a trip to Winners.
I've seen your crafting sneak peeks on instagram. I'm so curious and want to see more!!
I love the red too. And I didn't have any problem with the images opening either.
I remember you liking a really old post of mine with aqua and red kitchens. I've always liked them, I just can't commit, lol.
Count me in with the others who love the pop of red, but my outdoor furniture is turquoise with red accents so it is my favorite combination. I enjoy reading your blog so much. You have talent in decorating and DYI but you write well and that makes it even more elegant. In looking at the photos of your kitchen, may I ask a question? It appears to me that your lighting is provided by the ceiling light fixture. I have a similar fixture and similarly sized kitchen. Does your ceiling fixture provide enouigh light, and if so, how many bulbs does it have and what type of bulbs do you use? I would love any lighting suggestions that you have. It may be that you discussed this a long time ago. I am a fairly new but very enthusiastic reader. Thank you so much for sharing with us.
Thank you so much for your incredibly kind words!! I appreciate you taking the time to say something so nice. But of course we'd get along if your outdoor furniture is turquoise and red ;)I'm happy to answer any questions!! Even if I've mentioned something before, I know these posts get buried in my archives so quickly.In the kitchen we have the overhead light you see (I mentioned it in this post: http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/2013/10/brightening-my-monday.html) and two pot lights over the longest stretch of the counter. The overhead light is from Ikea. We have two 13 Watt Fluorescent bulbs in it. We actually swapped out the boob lights in every room with this light. I hate overhead lighting and I hate fluorescent lighting but, if I remember correctly, this light requires fluorescent. Mostly, I loved the look of it (it's hand blown glass, I think) because in every other room I just turn it on for two seconds, walk over to a table lamp, then double back and turn off the overhead light, lol. In the kitchen, the pot lights take the edge off of the florescent. It's good for now and I have no complaints about the amount of light. I think when we do our full-scale reno, a light over the sink (ooo, and under cabinet lighting!!) would be nice, but not necessary. This might be the longest answer ever, but I hope it's helpful.
I really love turquoise and red for Christmas. I haven't used it yet but I am considering it. But I think it suits your kitchen- I like it when holiday decor meshes with the exiting colour scheme. I love joulupukki- I made some out of branches fashioned after some we saw at a Finnish Christmas bazaar. I love the felt ones so much- I have to make one and a couple tonttu this year.
You made your own?!? That's fabulous!! Now I'm dying to see…
Looks great! And I see your little handmade spider made a cameo. I remember him from last year!
I'm making them right now for my grandma's next sale and I'm overrun with them!!
I love Red & Turquoise together 🙂 Love your balls hanging from the window.
Thank you! The window ornaments are a favorite of mine too 🙂
Love the little red pops in the kitchen and your grandmother's wreaths are fabulous!!! Well done! 🙂
Thank you! She's so talented, my grandma. She has such a great eye and is such a perfectionist. She inspires me every day.
New reader here. I love the blog and think the red enhances the kitchen. Maybe a pop of yellow for summer?Spiders in a German tree? Tell me more. My father was from Germany but never talked about spiders in Christmas trees but he wasn't a big Christmas person.
It's great to "meet" a new reader :)The Christmas Spider is supposedly a legend from Germany (and possibly also the Ukraine). The tutorial for making these glittery guys is here:http://dans-le-townhouse.blogspot.ca/2011/11/diy-beaded-christmas-spider.htmlHere is the legend that accompanies them:A long time ago in Germany, a mother was busily cleaning for Christmas. The spiders fled to the attic to escape the broom. When the house became quiet the spiders slowly crept downstairs for a peek.Oh what a beautiful Christmas tree!In their excitement they scurried up the trunk and out along each branch. They were filled with happiness as they climbed all over the glittering tree. As they climbed, the tree became completely shrouded in their dusty grey spider webs.When St. Nicholas came with the gifts for the children and saw the tree covered with spider webs, he smiled because saw how happy the spiders were, but he knew how heartbroken the mother would be if she saw the tree covered with the dusty webs.So he turned the webs to silver and gold. The tree sparkled and shimmered and was even more beautiful than before.That's why we have tinsel on our tree and every tree should have a Christmas spider in it's branches!~Author Unknown (and the story varies – sometimes Santa Claus is the leading man)