Our Gift Guide for the Person Who Already Has Everything

Do you have someone on your holiday gift list this year that’s nearly impossible to buy for? The person who has everything might be your boss, mother-in-law, or a close friend, but no matter who it is, the frustration can be intense when trying to think of some suitable gift ideas. Trust me, I’ve been there.

I’ve talked with people in the Palo Alto pop-up shop these last few weeks about the folks that difficult to shop for and come up with some ideas about holiday gifts that are sure to please. From stripe painted vases to Tuscan utensil holders, here’s my gift guide for the 2012 holiday season.

Stripe Painted Vase. Large or small, the graphic charm of a stripe painted vase is hard to resist and is a great decoration for either the home or office. The blue and white stripes of this stripe painted vase by Talavera Vazquez go with any décor. Fill your gift vases with some festive branches or a winter bouquet and skip the need to wrap.

Unique Serving Platter. Ideal for the party planner in your life, a beautiful serving platter not only enlivens a party or dinner, but also can double as wall decoration when not in use. The simplicity and freshness of Tuscan lemons are always a winner, or choose Talavera Vazquez’s blue and white Mexican tray. Pair with a cheese knife or other serving utensil for a complete gift set.

Tuscan Utensil Holder. Guaranteed to please any stylish cook, a Tuscan utensil holder is a practical and cheerful way to hold kitchen counter essentials. Whether a blue rooster or luscious fruits, Tuscan utensil holders remain a classic go-to gift. Here too you can add useful kitchen tools, like wooden spoons or silicone spatulas, and bring a smile to anyone who loves working in the kitchen.

Playful Pitcher. Pitchers are incredibly versatile, which makes them a great gift idea. A pitcher can decorate a shelf, brighten a kitchen, hold flowers, or serve a favorite beverage. The playful polka dots of this handmade pitcher by Richard Esteban are festive while the classic rooster pitcher by Ceramiche Bartoloni exudes Italian charm.

Drink Accessories. If your boss is a beast before that first cup of coffee, a mug and beans from their favorite roaster is a great gift. I think cup and saucer sets are a bit dressier than your average mug, whether they’re espresso cups or the giant cup and saucer by Gorky Gonzalez ready to fuel an entire morning. For wine lovers, a wine bottle holder and delicious bottle of red, white, or rosé gives them something they’ll enjoy now and for years to come.

What are you go-to gift ideas for holiday gifts? Leave a comment below and let us know.

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Guest Blogger Bethany: Six Months Later with New Pottery

Martin and I got married this past May and it’s been quite the whirlwind before, during, and since. Our wedding was lovely, filled with laughter, family, and close friends. Getting to Iceland for the honeymoon was fraught with travel delays and missed flights but absolutely worth it in the end. And then we were back home, with a list of thank you notes to write and “normal” life to resume.

Of course, many of my favorite gifts came from our wedding registry at Emilia Ceramics. As I said in my earlier post, figuring out the mysteries of wedding registries was one of the more stressful aspects of getting married. Using the resulting French coffee bowls and other pieces of new pottery, however, is a breeze.

We threw a reception for our San Francisco friends in July and I was incredibly glad to have the platters and bowls for all the food. I think we incorporated almost every new piece of pottery we’d received for the meat, cheese, and desserts to accompany the champagne. The results looked just as good as they tasted and it was a great way to break in our new ceramics.

The best part though is having things we can use everyday. I see the polka dot bowls whenever I open the cabinet and they never fail to make me smile. These hold my yogurt in the morning, soup at lunch, and the occasional (ok, frequent) ice cream sundae as a reward for diligent studying. Even though I’m more of a tea drinker, I still like to use the French coffee bowls when I sit down to write. As a graduate student in English literature and part time writer and editor, having the perfect vessel for my beverage of choice makes all the difference. My favorite bowl has a few drips of glaze inside and they all have subtle variations in the glaze; I love it that each French coffee bowl is truly unique.

Even when we’re not entertaining, we also use the blue and white salad bowl made by Talavera Vazquez to hold fruit on the table. Other serving platters have made appearances at dinner parties and I’m looking forward to the holidays to have even more occasions to use them.

I dropped by the Emilia Ceramics pop-up shop in Palo Alto the other day (when Emily asked if I’d be willing to write a follow-up post) and I fell in love all over again with the polka dot mugs, espresso cups, and other pieces of new pottery on offer there. Even if we’re done with the wedding registry, I already have some ideas what will be on my Christmas list this year!

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Decorating Trend Alert! Stripe Painted Vases for Every Style

With stripes as a big fashion trend, it’s no surprise that housewares have followed suit. Stripe painted vases, tea towels, glassware, and other accessories have popped up seemingly everywhere. Whether thick or thin, this is a decorating trend that can adapt to any home style. Let’s look at some examples from Talavera Vazquez to DIY projects; what fits your aesthetic the best?

Large shapes, small stripes

Playing with mixed patterns is a way to keep a room playful and lively. This apartment featured on House Crush shows personality and style; the large multicolored stripe painted vase anchors an eclectic living room with bold magenta carpet and patterned pillows galore. Even when empty on a shelf next to a stack of books (bonus points for complimenting colors), like in fashion designer Liz Lange’s living room, interesting shapes with fine stripes draw the eye.

Blue and white

Nautical? Yes. Serene? Yes. Graphic, bold, and eye-catching? Yes, yes, and yes! The stripe painted vases by Talavera Vazquez are all these things, whether it’s the large blue and white striped Especial vase or a smaller cylinder shaped stripe painted vase. I love the rich cobalt and how the handpainted stripes have deep and lighter bands, giving these vases unexpected dimensionality. (Talavera Vazquez also has these stripe painted vases in black and white if that’s your color scheme of choice.) Designer Samantha Todhunter also features a spectacular blue and white vase on the styling section of her site, which she dubs “Morocco Modern.”

Glass

Shape, color, transparency – with glass, it’s easy to have options. Narrow and frosted at the top, striped in the middle, and dark at the bottom, this vase by D.L. & Co. is perfect for a single bloom. Other straight-sided vases by this company featured on Fashions and Home play with jewel tones and stripes that run up and down, not around the vase.

Mixed materials

Of course, stripe painted vases don’t just have to be glass or ceramic. Why not something like this creative stucco on glass combo with stripes in grey, white, and yellow featured on Nook & Sea? Other ideas might be ribbon-wrapped or even vases made entirely from recycled paper, leading us to the last category…

DIY

Have some neon spray paint, a glass vase, and some masking tape? Then you’re ready for this great stripe painted neon vase DIY from Refinery29. Even if you don’t like neon colors, this project would be fun in silver, gold, or really any color that strikes your fancy. It’s a great way to reuse a blah glass vase that you never use anymore.

What kind of stripe painted vase do you love? Talavera Vazquez blue and white? Glass patterns? Or is there something missing from this list? Leave a comment and let us know.

Grey, white, and yellow vase image courtesy of Nook & Sea.

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Vase Design Trends: Color, Size, and More

What’s your favorite vase like? Is it a tall ceramic vase? A colorful vase with a pattern or design? Is it glass, metal, ceramic, or some other kind of material? Did you buy it or make it? Looking at current trends in home design, vases are becoming more than just a receptacle for flowers but a way to make a design impact, whether empty or full.

I’ll not be so bold as to say these are THE vase design trends for 2012, but here are some vase types I’ve noticed recently in home design. Which of them fit your design aesthetic?

• Unusual vessels. Mason jars were the start and now more containers (whether or not created expressly as a vase) are holding bouquets, branches, and buds. From a vase that is also a wireless router to hanging test tubes on the wall for single blooms, what counts as a vase is only limited by your imagination.
• Glass. Clear glass vases can be dressed up with leaves, ribbons, or even jelly beans (like this colorful spring flower arrangement). But instead of sticking with transparent glass, why not choose unique and bold Murano glass vases or mercury glass vases? I love the silver sheen that mercury glass has, making it perfect for a centerpiece vase.
• Unexpected places (and sizes). A miniature vase in the bathroom, on the kitchen counter, or even an end table of a bedroom can instantly bring some warmth to even the starkest space. This Stockholm apartment shows the power that a well-placed vase or planter can have. I also see more extreme sizes, particularly with huge, stunning tall ceramic vases that look perfect on a mantle or tabletop. The best part of these centerpiece vases is that they are still beautiful even when you leave them empty.
• Colorful vases. This is where ceramic vases really shine. Solid colors from pastels to bold blue ceramic vases add a striking note to any room’s color scheme. Patterns like stripes, zig zags, or other motifs make for attention-grabbing graphic vases. Pictures, floral motifs, or other colorful vase designs make these pieces you’ll keep on display all the time.

What other vase trends have you noticed this year? What are your favorite vases like? Post a comment and let us know!

Test tube vase image courtesy of SOCIALisBETTER.

Mercury glass vases image courtesy of Design Darling.

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Adventures in Wedding Registries by Guest Blogger Bethany, Bride-to-Be

I’m getting married next month and it’s been quite an adventure. From finding the dress to deciding on invitations to picking a honeymoon destination (Iceland), weddings are a series of decisions that never seem to end up until the big day (and not even then!). In the midst of all this preparation are wedding registries. Do you just look at the knot.com? Pick your favorite stores? What should you even use a wedding registry for? These were all questions I had.

My fiancé Martin and I struggled with where to register for quite some time. We didn’t like the commercial feel of so many wedding-related details, particularly registries. The long list of “must have” items most big box stores present as essential to a wedding registry felt tacky and unnecessary. Since we’re both adults that live together, we already have things like towels, pots, and pans. With my huge family, however, some kind of wedding registry was needed to avoid question overload.

I’d gotten a great blue striped vase from Emilia Ceramics last year and was super excited to find out about their wedding registry option. It felt much better – we’re not people who use fine china, but do like to entertain. Working with Emily was super easy too. I got to shop online, Martin approved my choices (and added some more pieces), and soon we had a registry that was filled with unique ceramics instead of crystal and china that would just stay in boxes. With our tiny San Francisco apartment, we don’t really have room for things that we don’t actively use.

Visiting the pop-up shop in Palo Alto in January also helped with our selection process (and gave me lots of things to covet). I hadn’t realized how huge the gran taza really is or the scale of some of the vases. We also got super excited about the new French pieces with polka dots – they’re totally our style.

While we registered with two other places to give a variety of options for our friends and family around the country, working with Emily was by far the most positive experience. A certain department store (which will remain nameless) had people who said they couldn’t help us and were quite rude. Not a good first impression at all! The whole experience made us never want to go shopping again. Since then, I’ve heard a whole list of horror stories revolving around registries and am firmly convinced that where to register is just as important as other factors in the wedding (and one that carries its own particular kind of stress). My advice for anyone looking for where to register: go with places you like, keep it simple, and focus on what you really want or need (not what the sales clerks say you should have).

I’m being disciplined and not looking at what’s been purchased from any of my wedding registries, but I’m hoping to use our gorgeous new ceramics when we get back from our honeymoon next month. They’re definitely something that feels like the right way to remember such a special day.

Photos of Bethany and Martin courtesy of Quotidian Photography.

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