Flower-less Wedding Bouquets

Alternative wedding decor has become increasingly popular in the past few years. One noticeable trend is the flower-less wedding bouquet. These bouquets can be a lot of fun, are perfect for the environmentally friendly event, and will keep much longer than your traditional cut arrangement. This bouquet also provides additional opportunities to add personal, family touches to the wedding. In the vintage brooch bouquet one could easily include an heirloom family pendant. You could also make some of the fabric flowers out significant family pieces like your grandmothers left over quilting patches or old family clothes. To commission a flower-less bouquet one of the best resources is etsy.com. Otherwise, you can rely on your wedding planner or a crafty friend to help construct your vision! Below are a few inspirational images.






























































From top to bottom these arrangements can be found at Marthastewart.com, ruffledblog.com, onehappygirl and Milkpodstudios.

Best,

Ellenor

Cake Pops!

Ah, Bakerella, we love you! Thank you for introducing us to the wonders of cake pops!

These delicious little pops are fun to make, wonderful to eat, and provide a generous amount of creative outlet. Just look at all that you can do with these gems of the dessert world:

all photos from Bakerella

If you are not familiar with cake pops, let us explain, they are literally a piece of cake rolled up and placed on a Popsicle stick. They are a true delight to eat and make! The creative options for these little treats are endless. The flavor combinations are whatever your heart desires, and the decorating can range from simple to "oh wow!" as you can see from above.

Here is a simple recipe for you to follow. Of course, you can improve on this recipe by making as much of this from scratch as you dare. But to begin, we started with simple.
1. Prepare and bake a boxed cake recipe. Once the cake cools, crumble it into a large bowl.
2. Add a can of pre-made frosting to the crumbled cake and mix it all together with a fork or your hands.
3. Lay wax paper over a cookie sheet and roll the cake/frosting mixture into little bite size balls. Place on the wax paper and freeze overnight at the least or up to a few days. You can place the sticks into the balls at this point or before dipping into the chocolate (next step).

Next day...
1. Prepare your counter top with everything that you will need to decorate your pops. Get your sprinkles, candy, nuts, cookie crumbs, etc. ready because once those pops come out from the melted chocolate you must decorate asap while the chocolate is still hot!
2. Melt chocolate over the stove. For this, we used a bag of chocolate chips and a bit of canola oil. (For melting chocolate, most recommend a double burner. If you don't have this use 2 sauce pans, one slightly large than the other. Fill the larger with water and place the smaller inside... don't let any water get into the smaller! Pour the chocolate chips into the smaller and bring the water to an almost boil. Once the chocolate chips appear glossy, stir them and add canola oil until the chocolate is smooth and fluid enough to dip).
3. As the chocolate is hot (keep the burner on while you do this), dip the pops into the chocolate and cover as desired.
4. Decorate!
5. Place off to the side to cool and let the chocolate harden. We found that if you hold the freshly dipped and decorated pops in the freezer for about 45 seconds to a minute, the chocolate hardens enough so that you can then place the pop down and you won't get a flat edge on your rounded pop.
6. Serve! We placed ours in mason jars with a bow around it. They were cute and delicious center pieces to our dinner table :)

Enjoy!
The ladies of Ellenor

Bridesmaid Gifts- fun, fancy and FUNCTIONAL footwear!

Purchasing gifts for bridesmaids can either be a lot of fun or very stressful for a busy bride. Several factors should be taken into consideration when buying a gift for many, sometimes very different ladies. Another question is how much to spend? When considering the cost of your gifts, ask yourself the following questions:

1) What fits into your wedding budget?
2) Are your bridesmaids doing a lot of travel for your wedding?
3) Are they buying their own bridesmaid dress?
4) Are they involved in many of your showers and pre-wedding parties?

After all the pre-wedding event costs, travel, gifts, lodging etc. a single bridesmaid can easily spend over a thousand dollars by the time the actual wedding comes around. In that case, it is proper for a bride to splurge for a nicer gift. However, for lower budget weddings with less spending involved, sentimental and thoughtful gifts are all that matter. Many budget brides go for the "Do It Yourself" option, utilizing their hobbies or skills. Others spend a lot of time researching and shopping for the most fitting gift at a price they can afford.

One of our favorite bridesmaid gifts are fancy, functional footwear! This gift is great because after your ceremony, the ladies can substitute them for their heels to dance your wedding night away. They can also use them again and again once the party is over. Depending on your budget, you can find shoes/sandals at every price. Below we have highlighted a few of our favorites.

First are Tom's gold glitter shoes. Not only are Tom's shoes incredibly comfortable but each pair sold funds another pair of shoes that goes to a child in need. They come in black, gold, silver and pink glitter! Second are adorable glitter flats by Steve Madden. The shape of these flats are a bit fancier than the Tom's but would still make great dancing shoes! Third are metallic Havaiana flip flops. Havainas are arguably the most comfortable flip flops out there. They are incredibly durable and come in metallic colors that could provide a comfy compliment to bridesmaids dresses. The final pair of shoes are rhinestone sandals by Naught Monkey. These are fancier than the Havainas but again, more comfortable than the heals worn by your bridesmaids during the ceremony. These are a few favorites but shop around and find what suits your bridesmaids best!!








Love,

Ellenor

A Winter Wedding Wonderland

While warmer seasons are statistically more popular, winter can be a truly magical time for a wedding. The season is already filled with feelings of warmth, love, lights, and family. Below is a beautiful winter idea board from the popular blog spot Snippet & Ink.






Stay warm and keep cozy,

Ellenor

Furry Family Wall

Most of us are familiar with the modern “Gallery Wall” in today’s homes. It is the personal gallery that showcases one’s beloved photos, paintings, life mementos, art, and collectibles in a creative and artistic way to create a single visually striking piece of art. Gallery walls have moved out from the hallways into more prominent rooms of the home to become both a conversation piece and a personalized backdrop to our lives.

At Ellenor, we believe that today’s gallery walls should not only showcase photos of dear ol’ mom and pop, grandparents, siblings, etc. but they should also include our “furry families,” i.e. our beloved pets. Because they are as much your family as the two-legged kind!

Even more daring would be a complete Furry Family Wall! A gallery wall dedicated to those photographs of the member or members of your family with the most personality... the one wagging his or her tail at you right now. We recently met up with Kim and Sarah, founders and artists behind Bark Pet Photography. Bark Pet Photography does a brilliant job of capturing the personality and essence of our furry loved ones. These unique images are the stand out pieces that will push your gallery wall from good to fantastic! Just look at some of these incredible images!



Creating any kind of gallery wall can seem daunting, but with the right photos it can be stunning! What are the “right photos” you ask? They are the photos that make you truly happy. You should select the photos that speak to your personality. Without personality to your photos, your family wall will fall flat, so fill your wall with things you love... Your pet included! If you do this, your family wall will be something that makes you happy every time you see it.

With that being said, a few key rules do apply to gallery walls. Whether it be a Furry Family Wall or not, here are the most basic guidelines to creating a fantastic gallery wall:
• Having a good balance between staged photographs and artistic or candid photographs on your family wall is key. Mix in a few non photographed items as well (framed or not).
• All photos should be hung in close proximity to one another, 1 ½” – 2” is best.
• Mixing different frame styles is fine, but don’t select too many frames with “stand out” features (i.e. something very ornate, or colored should be kept to a minimum, otherwise the wall becomes too busy)
• Have fun with it! Lay all your photos/items on the ground in front of the wall and play around with the layout. Something will catch your eye and you'll know when it's right!

Take a look at these great gallery walls…



What makes these galleries so great? Where they all read as a single statement, each wall has those few “wow” pieces amongst the rest. You can achieve an equally stunning family wall by making one or more of your photos into a piece of art. This can be done by printing certain photos on a canvas, taking a particularly artistic photograph and printing it in a larger format, or even varying the balance of colored photographs to black and white.

Bark Pet Photography is able to make these special pieces for your wall by printing “triptych” images of your pet that are reminiscent of the old photo strips. By hanging several of these close together, a very simple Furry Family Wall can be made. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, hang one of these in combination with other smaller photos. See this sketch for the variations you could do using a triptych image...

There are many variables in creating a successful family wall. You need to have patience, a fun personality, a good attitude, and of course great images to pull from. If you only have one of the listed qualities, then you need to rely on the experts… Ellenor and Bark Pet Photography can help!

Urban Outfitter 2 Part Pillow Sets!

I happened across these pillow sets online at Urban Outfitters and I have fallen in love with them! They make the perfect pillow set for a quirky, fun loving bedroom. They have approximately 13 different patterns but below are my absolute favorites. Even my husband loves the mustache pillow set. For someone like him who almost never has a design preference, this is impressive! Click here for the link to Urban Outfitters bedding.







Best,

Ellenor

Update: Design Makes a Difference!

Check out the latest before and after photos of the South LA Animal Shelter. A special thanks to Kim Rodgers of Bark Pet Photography for providing such great shots. The black and white photo of the terrier mix on the wall is Kim's amazing work as well!



















More photos to come when we complete the project later this month!


Best,

The Ladies of Ellenor

Design Makes a Difference!

Last Saturday marked the first work day of Ellenor Industries collaboration with the Lu Parker Project to re-vamp the lobby of a Los Angeles Animal Shelter. We first learned of the project from Lu Parker, KTLA news reporter, author, animal advocate and 1994 Miss USA. Lu invited Ellenor to design a new look for the front lobby of the South LA Animal Shelter. We immediately jumped on board! The shelter had some very specific needs and requests so we worked with all the participating organizations and volunteers to map out a plan.

We started with a bit of research to sense the public's perception of the shelter. People reported it was one of the most depressing and jail like shelters in Los Angeles. The Lu Parker Project and shelter wanted a new look that was cheerful, bright and encouraged more people to come and adopt animals. Below is an overall pan view of the shelter before this project.



We submitted several concepts to the Lu Parker Project Committee. Here is the color scheme they liked best.



On Saturday, all the volunteers came together and we held our first painting party. After many nights and many hours of work from volunteers and professional painters donating their time, the shelter is already looking much better. However, as you can see, there is still much more work to go!

















We are also working with some of our best vendors to get upholstery, tables, chairs and other furnishings donated. The fabric for the chairs just came in and is currently being treated to make it more dog-friendly and resistant to moisture...if you know what we mean!

We are also excited to announce that an amazing youth art organization called the Urban Arts Crew is designing and painting murals on several walls of the lobby as well as doing new lettering for the offices and important lobby destinations. Check back in with us after Monday the 19th for the unveiling of the final product!!

Best,

The Ladies of Ellenor

The Very Versatile Carnation

Gorgeous, long lasting and relatively cheap! The carnation is making its way back into chic wedding and event floral designs. With a history dating back to Greek and Roman times, we have seen the carnation fluctuate in and out of popularity. However, with designers becoming more and more creative and the carnation’s ability to be traditional, contemporary, simple or elaborate- the carnation is back in action and personally, we are loving it! Check out the images below of some of our favorite examples of the carnation’s versatility. The first two images are ours. We used these carnation arrangements to help enhance the atmosphere at a colorful and contemporary Los Angeles Baby Shower.

For these table flower balls we used solid carnations for the main centerpiece and combined carnations with yellow and green mums for the supporting arrangements on either side.

For our tall buffet arrangement we used carnations, mums, decorative branches, and chocolate lilies. However, carnations were the main flower.

I am IN LOVE with this bouquet from Martha Stewart weddings. I am dying to try something similar for one of our brides. The white is lovely but there are so many shades of carnations. The possibilities with this are endless. It is cost effective for the budget minded bride but makes a strong, classic statement.

This is an arrangement by Nancy Liu Chin Designs and was featured on brides.com. Again it is relatively simple in its design but is absolutely stunning and has a wonderful presence on your table!

So, for your next big event or just to dress up a room, consider the carnation!

~ Ellenor

Welcome!

Welcome to our design blog! Here is where the ladies behind the design company, Ellenor Industries, post style musings relating to interiors, events, and vintage finds. We are so excited to share with you our journey as we move through our many life and company projects. We have found that every new project is a learning experience and what better way to document our discoveries and thoughts than a blog for likeminded, creative people. We truly believe that there is an outlet for design in every aspect of life and we strive to achieve that through the service we provide. We feel so blessed to have found a career that reflects our passion for style and look forward to sharing that passion with you.

Follow our blog to get weekly style inspirations towards events and personal style, interior design and home organization, and finding the treasure in castaway furniture and accessories. We look forward hearing your opinions and ideas as we share with you each week!

Look for our next post where we discuss our love of the very versatile carnation!

Love,

Loralie & Erin Orr