letters for baby caroline

Posted on October 18, 2013 by complimentsfromsarah

One of my favorite children’s books of all time is Eric Carle’s, The Very Hungry Caterpillar… so I was very excited to receive a request to paint letters inspired by the book!
These letters were to be given as a gift to a brand new baby, Caroline, whose nursery was decorated with Pottery Barn Kid’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar crib bedding. I was very inspired by the primary colors & painterly quality of the book’s illustrations so tried to convey that with these letters.

I welcome you to contact me if you are interested in having me create something special for you!

hand painted letters, not just for kids rooms

Posted on February 15, 2013 by complimentsfromsarah

I feel a little extra patriotic when I’m living abroad. To decorate our “home away from home” this season in Germany, I decided to add a little American spirit! I painted bold, graphic designs on letters to sit on our living room shelves. They appropriately frame our giant black & white photo of Manhattan Island.
I welcome you to contact me if you would like your very own custom painted letters!

a diy bavarian christmas

Posted on December 11, 2012 by complimentsfromsarah

OK, so let me clarify… it’s not a traditional Bavarian Christmas, but more like a fun American take on a Bavarian theme!
The past few months living in Southern Germany, I’ve learned a few things… Two of my favorite things are that Bavarian’s really know how to celebrate & they really love their pretzels! They also really love their beer, but I wasn’t quite sure how to incorporate that into Christmas decor {other than to enjoy one while decorating}.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love a little whimsy, so after hearing from a German friend {Thanks Corinna!} that she saw a picture of a Christmas tree decorated with pretzels in a German magazine, the idea really stuck with me! Perfectly whimsical, perfectly appropriate, perfectly budget friendly, & perfect to get the family involved! Of course I totally got into the idea, decided to go one step further & created a big, fun pretzel star for our front door.

Since I didn’t actually see the picture in the magazine, I could totally let the imagination run wild. I knew Maddie Maye would have fun with glitter so I painted dozens of pretzels, 3 different sizes, with craft glue & let her sprinkle away! What’s holiday time without a little sparkle anyway? With all that sparkle I decided to keep the tree simple, just pretzels & white lights!

JD & Maddie Maye, glittering away!

Our Tree!

Our fun Pretzel Door Star!

I also filled our giant windows with tons of snowflakes! Super budget friendly, I spent 5€ on a roll of white glitter wrapping paper! I used the entire roll to cut out multiple sizes & shapes of snowflakes {1 roll = 50 snowflakes!}. I strung them up with regular old white thread & translucent tape.

Snowflake fun!

venetian striped bracelet

Posted on May 15, 2012 by complimentsfromsarah

This bracelet is one of my personal favorites! Maybe its the story behind how I acquired the materials I used to make it… While we were living in Zürich, Switzerland my husband & I were able to do lots of traveling! We were on a little Italian adventure & found ourselves happily “lost” in Venice, Italy. On a side canal I found an adorable bead shop! Although Venice is known for their incredible glass, this shop had a little bit of everything, all made locally! I couldn’t leave without stocking up on some incredibly unique materials!

The fun square striped resin beads, which I found in Venice are accented with Austrian Swarovski Crystals. The bracelet is closed with an adjustable length toggle clasp. If you are interested in making this bracelet yours, you can purchase it here from my Etsy Shop!
I welcome you to contact me if you are interested in having me create something special for you!