So… I guess this is going to be my last post…
of 2011!!?
Wow- What a wacky and wonderful year it has been. I thought it’d be fun to take a quick whirlwind tour of some of my favorite highlights from 2011… So… let’s start at the beginning…

January 2011 started out with a whole lotta awesome press lovin’ for dear ol’ Happy Mundane:
• My humble abode was featured in the Spring 2011 DIY ideas magazine. Will at Bright Bazaar has some larger pics, which you can check out here.
• Riviera Magazine named yours truly on their OC hot list!
• 2011 was also the year that introduced me to the life changing Pinterest, and the kind folks there did a little Pinterview with me. Check out the interview here and you can follow my pin boards here.
• One more major highlight in January was this video of Jerry and Eveyln Ackerman. They had a show at the LA Craft and Folk Art Museum. If you missed it, you must check out this video. They are so amazing and inspiring.

• In February 2011, I posted about the striking work of Scholten & Baijings for Hay. I love their playful and bold use of color! Looking forward to seeing what they have in store for 2012! Check out their work here.

• March 2011 was another milestone month. It was the 5 year anniversary of starting this mundane blog! (woo hoo!!) My obsession with all things neon also continued with these salt & pepper shakers by Thierry Distria and the tape-magic-awesome-ness of Askash Nihalani.

• In April 2011, I started groovin’ to the sounds of Vanbot. If you’re a fan of Robyn, you should definitely check Vanbot out. (also love their cover artwork by Samuel Axelsson). I also made some progress in my slow effort to cook more, I made my first poached egg! Sadly, I still have not perfected the process as each time seems to be a 50/50 chance of success… but I’m still trying! 2012 will be the year of poached egg mastery!

• May 2011 was an important month. I took an impulsive trip to Arizona again, this time visiting the lovely city of Tucson. The main purpose was to visit the Biosphere2, but I also had a chance to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s incredible Taliesen West. The impact of everything I saw and learned from that trip was the seed that eventually lead to the development of a big new project which will be launched in 2012- more details coming very soon! Another thing I enjoyed on this trip was just being able to drive aimlessly on the desert roads. The scenery was breathtaking.

• June 2011 saw the release of the third issue of the J3 zine, At Your Leisure! The theme for J3:Z3 is “Cultivate”. There are still some issues available here, so get your copy now!. Issue #4 (the final installment of the series) will come out in Spring 2012. Here is the teaser video we made for #3.

• July 2011 had one of my most popular posts ever. A stunning photo of grains of sand magnified. It just goes to show what beauty can be found when you really look close.

• I got to visit the great city of Portland at the end of August 2011. I took a ton of photos, but the cool graphic murals on the Pendleton headquarters really caught my eye.

• Finally we come to Fall 2011. Every October I try to do some sort of pumpkin centerpiece, and this year I decided to do a happy- drippy- greeny- halloween-y. My drippy glazed pumpkins were inspired by ceramic pottery pieces. Check em out here and the centerpiece here.

• I also have to give a big thanks to West Elm for having me on their recently launched blog, Front & Main. You can read my interview here.

• Which brings us to November 2011. Project SB… a whole new chapter for me and it’s only going to get better as we head into 2012. Over the past few weeks there’s been a ton of progress and fun projects and I’ll start sharing them starting next week. I’m looking forward to new adventures of all kinds there and hope you’ll join along with me!

• Finally that brings us back to today. The last day of 2011. I hope all of you had a great holiday. In case you missed it, you can check out both of my trees (bright and geo in OC and gold and glam in SD) by just scrolling down a little. The above were just some of my favorites, but you can check out all of the other posts in the archives on the right side.

I just want to thank you again for taking time out of your day to check in. All your emails and comments are so very appreciated. I do this every so often, but end of the year is as good a time as any: I’d love to know where you’re reading this blog from! If you could be so kind, please leave a comment below and let me know what city/country you’re in!

Pepé and I wish each of you a happy, healthy, prosperous 2012 wherever you may be!

You can also find me on twitter , pin boards (follow), and facebook (or click the “like” button on the right) or add me as a friend.

As I catch up on blogs, mags, shows, friends, basically everything- during this break, um… Let’s just take a few minutes to oogle at the amazing-ness of Hilary Swank’s Manhattan apartment featured in the December 2011 Elle Decor. The weathered wood wall and the off-colored olive painted shelving unit is so inspired.

Check out the entire spread at Elle Decor. (images by Simon Upton for Elle Decor)

Seasons Greetings from Solana Beach! As with tree #1, here it is with all the lights on… ooh… so warm and shiny.

To compliment, I kept the other decorations around the house pretty simple. A clear glass vase of holiday berry branches and a simple wreath (above), and just some glass votive holders that have gold specs inside to tie it back to the tree…

It was really fun (if not a bit crazy!) to have two different trees and looks this year, but I guess two different locations call for that. I’m excited to share the spaces with friends and family this Christmas and just want to thank YOU for stopping by and sharing in the fun of making them! I hope you have a warm, safe, and festive holiday.

I’ll be posting sporadically throughout next week so check back for more mundane musings! You can also find me on twitter , pin boards (follow), and facebook (or click the “like” button on the right) or add me as a friend. I’m know I’ll be spending a lot of time there during the next week! Thanks again for all your support of this little mundane blog over the years and best wishes for a fantastic 2012!

Because tree #2 is in a completely different locale, it requires a completely different state of mind and direction. Ever since the tree of ’07, I’ve had a newfound appreciation for gold (I’d normally be one for silver). While working on Project SB, gold has also made a strong presence (all of which I’ll share shortly) so it just made sense that the ornaments for this tree follow suit.

I actually found my starting inspiration piece in the accessories section of Forever21! While gathering props and styling things for a recent photoshoot, I spied this necklace that has this crudely wrapped chain around it. It goes along with the whole wire-wrapped gem trend, like these on etsy. It also reminded me of a lot of the things that Kelly Wearstler and Dwell Studio have been doing lately. I love this bauble box and this tubular sculpture and orb object. So it was settled… We’re going gold and glam!

I spent a lot of time in the jewelry making department of the craft store. As seen here, I picked up a bunch of gold wire, chain, faux stones and also some packs of faux “ice” acrylic cubes and gem vase fillers.

I played around with several types of ornaments. I spray painted small wood cubes a satin black and stuck a decorative nail head (normally used for upholstery) on each side. I also cut up some leftover straws from the OC tree, and hot glue gunned them together into clusters and spray painted them a shiny gold.

I really wanted to do some wire wrapped gems/rocks. This simple idea turned out to be the hardest! It took a lot of trial and error to get the wire to stay wrapped around them without uncoiling or popping off. I was talking about my wire drama, to my friend Mary Jo. She suggested that many people drill a small starting hole to secure the wire in before you start to wrap. Sadly this information was not at hand when I was putting these together, but I did find that the faster I attempted to wrap the wire, the easier it was for it to stay put.

Anyway, I do like how they turned out. A little primitive glamour and the mini chains added a nice variety in the lengths of the ornaments on the tree!

artist: Rihanna

Now that I’m done with ornaments for tree #1 in OC, here’s a few more shots of the tree.

It always looks so much more magical with the lights on right?

Also, I decided to make a little matching centerpiece, using some wood blocks and some candles (flameless). I purchased a little carving wood block set at Michaels and taped off some stripes using left over spray paint from the ornaments. For the final touch, I added in another hit of zig zaggy neon pink straw awesomeness (hence the flameless candles- safety first kids!)

So that’s what’s happening down in OC, next up- stay tuned for something completely different as I head down to Project SB… here’s a hint: we’re going for GOLD!

What do you get when you find yourself still obsessed with geo/faceted objects and you come across a bag of foam stacking blocks and it’s Christmas time? Well, you get this year’s modern ornament!

Last year, I made folded paper polygons, but this year, I wanted to try something more asymmetrical (and solid?). At first I was considering using actual wood blocks. Unfortunately the reality is, I don’t have easy access to a large selection of small wood scraps, nor do I have a big table sander or saw. Then I remembered seeing these foam wood blocks and thought BINGO! I could just use a small blade (X-acto has a mini saw blade) and hack away! And that’s what I did.

After hacking away the sides at random, I spray painted the hi-density foam pieces in bright colors (btw, I found that if you primed them first, the colors came out much brighter.) Then I screwed in little eye hooks and voila! Geo-faceted ornaments!

I decided to also add some real wood block cubes into the mix. I used some fluorescent yellow masking tape and applied it to the sides to make a bold graphic stripe (plus y’all know I’m a sucker for anything neon with neutral!)

However, I think my favorite thing this year is my hot pink zig zaggy garland. I randomly picked up this pack of neon colored bend-y straws over the summer at Big Lots, thinking I’d eventually do something with them. And, well… I finally did something with them! To finish things off, I re-used some of the wood geometric ornament sculptures from 2009 and a few bright ball ornaments from my 2006 tree.

All in all, I’m feeling this tree is definitely making spirits bright!

More great simple and modern gift wrapping inspiration! This time it’s from CB2 and Bonnie Cauble. More here.

Well, my modern ornament adventure for 2011 is underway, and let me just say- it’s kind of a hot mess! I’ve got two different themes going: one involving rocks, chains, gold wire and crystals. The other involving plastic straws, foam blocks and neon masking tape. Oy… where will this all go? Not quite sure yet, but stay tuned…

•1) wood and ceramic vase by Adonde $205
•2) stripes and dots socks by Happy Socks $12
•3) perfect mini planner 2 $10
•4) “gradient” tea towels by Hay & Scholten & Baijings $32/set
•5) “Blue wave” jawbone Jambox bluetooth speaker $199.99
•6) “young love” print by Violet May $32
•7) “vattanblänk” pillow sham by Marimekko $55

•1) I’m Boo Carafe $85
•2) “The World We Knew is Gone” print by Simon Page $20 – $80
•3) Carraway bow ties by Skinny Vinny $68
•4) “Mended” wallet by RVCA $16
•5) “cyborg” tee by Quiksilver $28
•6) charade studded vase by Jonathan Adler $175
•7) Tretorn Skymra canvas shoe $65

•1) Aztec pattern bear tee $32
•2) ceramic wall pot from twpottery $50
•3) tangled necklace by Caposhi Handmade $28
•4) Asp box in pine by Thomas Paul $40
•5) wooden ombre vase $40
•6) feather capri fatchel bag by Park La Fun $250

Well if you’re like me (hopefully not?, lol) you’ve waited til the last minute to get your holiday gifts this year. If you’re still looking for some ideas, then you’re in luck! It’s time for the annual Happy Mundane approved gift-tastic amazing things. As usual, these are more guy-centric but I’ve slipped in a few things I think the girls will enjoy as well. This is #1 out of 4 total. I’ll be posting them throughout the weekend. Happy shopping!

•1) Le Creuset Stoneware Mug (cobalt) $12
•2) Striped crewneck sweater $69
•3) Momotaro Jeans by Japan Blue chambray and gauze scarf $95
•4) Tosa Whale knife $50
•5) “Body Surf” tee by Quality Peoples $55

Ok, where were we? right, 2007… well in 2008 I didn’t do much different to the tree, but instead added two DIY projects- a fun wreath and a little yarn-y branch-y centerpiece.

Which brings us to 2009 …

In 2009, I think my obsession with all things geometric/faceted awesomeness really kicked in (and continues excessively now as well!) and I got this crazy idea to create these little wood sculpture ornaments, which meant a little crazy time with the super glue, but in the end they turned out pretty cool:

2010 saw the continuation of the era of geo-awesomeness. Inspired by a photoshoot we did for our J3 zine (which btw, there are still copies available of issues #2 and #3 which would make THE BESTEST GIFT EVER), I made a bunch of paper polygons in an array of weird off muted pastels and neons!  The neon action also extended out to the table centerpiece in the form of a garland made of neon circle envelope seals from the office supply store.

So that brings us up to date! What will this year bring? Well, since I’m currently splitting my time between two places, I have decided to have two different holiday themes. One for each place. And because I’m such a lazy procrastinator, it all happens this weekend!, lol (which apparently means I’m also insane and a bit of a masochist!) So, On to the craft and hardware store! As the always fabulous Mitzi Gaynor says: We need a little Christmas NOW!

(ok, speaking of the above, what is happening with the hot mess of background skaters? lol!)

I’ll report back next week with the results. (wish me luck!) Are you all done with your holiday decor and shopping??

Only 11 more days til Christmas! This calls for cookies! (yes, I’ll take any excuse for cookies!) Via Oprah magazine December 2011, photo by Hannah Whitaker

How genius and simple is this crafty idea from Tamara Maynes in the Christmas 2011 issue of Inside Out magazine?! Love the basic white with wood and the little hit of copper nails adds a little holiday sparkle. I think I might have found my ornament inspiration for this year! photo by Craig Wall, styling by (the always fabulous) Vanessa Colyer Tay with Rachel Polivka

Last year, I noticed In-Style magazine had some great gift wrap ideas, and this year they’ve done it again! Great themes inspired by recent looks from the runway to give your gifts some fabulous flare!

What’s you’re favorite look? photo by Dyad Photography / styling by Cindy Diprima

artist: Goldfrapp

Slightly obsessed with this new porcelain studded collection from Jonathan Adler. Yes, please.