Color inspiration: indigos, violets, pinks, oranges, and yellows

I was very inspired by the colors of this bouquet when it popped up on my Pinterest, so I drew out the pallette in PhotoShop. Don't be surprised if this color combo turns up again somewhere on this blog.

Color inspiration: Rust, gold, blue, dark gray, and cream

If I were to design a piece of floral fabric right now, I would make the flowers rust, a shade of blue I'm having trouble identifying (bondi blue?), and mustard (I'd rather call it gold). They'd be outlined in dark gray and set on a light cream background.

I'm liking this as a bedroom color palette.

Pan Am costume: there's still time before Halloween!

I'd love to be a Pan Am gal for Halloween, but I'm not too sure I'd want to go the "sexy stewardess" route. Nope, as the mood board below indicates, I'm thinking more along the lines of "Christina Ricci jet-setting vintage bombshell" as seen on ABC's Pan Am.

Just like there was a vintage explosion on the Halloween following the debut of AMC's Mad Men, we're sure to see plenty of flight attendants this Halloween.

My sewing machine is still in storage because we're still on the ranch, but it's not too late for you to wear a Pan Am costume on my behalf! I've done some of the work for you, choosing easy-to-find patterns with pencil skirts and jackets (so you don't have to buy two separate patterns).

1. Simplicity 2154 - Obviously this "Simplicity Retro" pattern is from the right era, but the fit of the jacket is slightly off for the stewardess costume. It's not as tailored, and is looser around the hips. But made from the right fabric, it's sure to look authentic to the era.
2. Butterick 5147 - Has a pencil skirt and a fitted jacket, with the correct length of sleeves. But the collar is all wrong.
3. Butterick 3037 - Has the four buttons, just like the show, a close fit, and the perfect collar. The skirt and sleeves are too long, but that could easily be fixed. This is probably the pattern I would choose.
4. Royal Blue Suiting - $5.75/yd from Fashion Fabrics Club.
5. Pan Am Bag - These are all over the Internet thanks to the show, this one is $89 from Brookstone.

Don't forget the white gloves, retro-fab shoes, and pill box hat! Here's Threadbanger's tut on "How to Make a Pill Box Hat":


Have you made a Pan Am Halloween Costume? I'd love to see pictures and hear what pattern you used (if you used one).

Mood board: Robots in space boy's room

Here's a work in progress mood board for the boy's room, which I told you before started out as "Robots in Space". But the thrift store sold that robot/rocket fabric and now has these cool dino curtains....

I think the more important thing in the above mood board is the color pallette; reds, oranges, gradient blue and grays. It's something I'm pretty stuck on (which is why I stuck that Harry Potter poster in there even though he has nothing to do with either robots or space), and while the theme is fluid, the colors have stuck!

Now, if we can just get moved out before my 5-month-old becomes a teenager and starts actually wanting a say in his room.

Mood board: Kelly green, gold, and gray color inspiration

This color combination came to me in a dream. No joke. I dreamt I was in a kitchen with super-dimensional cabinets like the John F. Long cabinets often made fun of on the Ugly House Blog:

I actually kind of like those cabinets, especially if they had a super-bold paint color like the Kelly green they were in my dream.

In addition to the Kelly green cabinets, the kitchen in my dream (I hesitate to call it a "dream kitchen", because it's not, really) had graphic gray wallpaper, and gold accents.

It's a daring color combo that I just might try, or some variation thereof (like maybe gold wallpaper, gray cabs, and green accents), if I were brave enough.