Eames Management Chairs in Scalamandre Leopardo Velvet

I can't believe I haven't shared these chairs with you guys yet. My babies! My pride and joy!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0208.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0208.jpg" /></div><br />About a year ago I saw an ad on craigslist for vintage office furniture from an old publishing company that was going out of business in New Jersey. Vintage office furniture is usually great stuff, and the photos in the ad looked promising, so I hopped in the car (actually last year, I would have had to rent a zipcar, so this was a really risky venture - I'm glad it paid off!).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo KGrHqJjQE5cCyfZ7cBOeQSNmGpg60_12.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/KGrHqJjQE5cCyfZ7cBOeQSNmGpg60_12.jpg" /></div><br />I was rewarded with a pair of Eames Soft Pad chairs from the Management line. These chairs are normally <a href="http://www.dwr.com/product/eames-soft-pad-management-chair-vicenza-leather.do#.UUfmv1tASXQ" target="_blank">astronomically expensive</a>, especially when they have five wheels and are upholstered in leather. My chairs only had four legs since they were made in the late 70s/early 80s, and they were upholstered in a rose pink upholstery that was stained and not in great shape. But they were $150 for the pair, so I snatched them up fast as lighting. All the while thinking of Ames Ingrams' reupholstered Management chair that <a href="http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-office-chair.html" target="_blank">I blogged about here</a>, years ago.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo amesinghamchairPicture7-1.png" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/amesinghamchairPicture7-1.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">That exact same, very lucky day I was online looking for some interesting fabric to reupholster the chairs in, and I stumbled across an auction for four yards of Scalamandre's Leopardo silk velvet on eBay. You guys, this stuff is <i>INSANELY</i> expensive - like, $1000 a yard expensive (you can usually find it for about <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313&_nkw=scalamandre+leopardo&_sacat=0&_from=R40" target="_blank">$300 a yard online</a> though). I got the four yards for $200 total and it was worth every single penny. </div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0236.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0236.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The silk velvet is smooth as buttah and I love the little bits of green strie in the gold background.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo 2DSC_0224.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/2DSC_0224.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">As far as the upholstery goes, this was definitely <i>NOT</i> a DIY job. I had my upholsterer here in the city do these and I heard more than a few curse words come out of his mouth at one point when he called me about the chairs. Apparently they were not easy to take apart. :/</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><img alt=" photo DSC_0231.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0231.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">But a year later, I'm still loving them (such a testament coming from me) and even Michael doesn't mind them, you know, for leopard print office chairs. :) I'm of the "good animal print is a neutral" school of thought though, so I might be a little biased.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo 2DSC_0216.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/2DSC_0216.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Oh! I thought I would mention that, while the silk velvet is absolutely fabulous and if you can spring for it you should, there is a great alternative for those of us living in realm of budgets, other than just lucking out on eBay like I did. The actual pattern of the leopard is an open-source pattern (I think) because a few other fabric lines use it as a printed cotton velvet. I know Duralee (Braemore maybe?) sells it to the trade and <a href="http://www.calicocorners.com/product/designer+fabrics+for+the+home/shop+by+pattern/novelty/jamil+natural.do" target="_blank">Calico Corners</a> sells that retail for about $30 a yard (and they make this pretty X bench below!). The fabric pattern is called Jamil Natural and you can usually find a few yards for much less if you dig around the interwebs a bit. It's no where near as soft or as pretty in person I think as the silk, but the look is very similar from afar. And why not save $970 per yard? :)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo zoeottoman.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/zoeottoman.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.calicocorners.com/product/custom+upholstered+furniture/custom+upholstered+ottomans+and+benches/view+all/zoe+ottoman.do" target="_blank">These Calico benches</a> made an appearance in the <a href="http://www.lonny.com/magazine/March+2013/4SlmgZQ0t5k/1#54" target="_blank">most recent Lonny</a>:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo LeopardBencheswallframedarthungaboveazEVp-8wXHDl.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/LeopardBencheswallframedarthungaboveazEVp-8wXHDl.jpg" /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">And here are a couple more rooms featuring the leopardo pattern. In photographs you usually can't really tell which is which, but I'm guessing most of these are the real-deal silk velvet.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo sallywheatlivingroom.png" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/sallywheatlivingroom.png" /><br />Sally Wheat</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo sallywheatimage_thumb16.png" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/sallywheatimage_thumb16.png" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo palmerweissleopardonvelvet.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/palmerweissleopardonvelvet.jpg" /><br />Palmer Weiss</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo leopard-bench.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/leopard-bench.jpg" /><br />Elle Decor</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo leopardchair.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/leopardchair.jpg" /></div>

Eames Management Chairs in Scalamandre Leopardo Velvet

I can't believe I haven't shared these chairs with you guys yet. My babies! My pride and joy! About a year ago I saw an ad on craigs...

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Claire's St Patrick's Day Birthday Party

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1771.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1771.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Claire's birthday was last weekend. I can't believe she is already six years old. She was born in Boston in the middle of a snow storm, two minutes before midnight, which I was thrilled about because I didn't want her to have a March 17th birthday. I mean, who wants to have a St. Patricks Day themed birthday every year? Apparently this girl:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1823.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1823.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>In our family we don't do friends parties for every birthday and for Claire's birthday this year we decided just to have a celebration at home and invite over our cousins that live in Westchester. I've talked about my sweet friend Jenna here before. She has absolutely cornered the market on cuteness - her clothes, her kids, <a href="http://www.lunchpailsandlipstick.com/" target="_blank">her blog</a>, are all amazing. And girlfriend can throw a mean party! Between Jenna's skills and Claire's enthusiasm about a St. Patricks Day party, I knew I wanted to do something fun for the decorating, while hopefully not breaking the bank.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0310.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0310.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><br />The Dollar Tree, Michaels and Party City came through for me. All of these stores have dollar or less sections that carry pretty cute stuff. You just have to hunt a bit, and then get creative. Streamers are two-for-a-buck at the dollar store, and buying eight rolls was an easy and cheap way to make a rainbow wall for our photos.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1806.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1806.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was Claire's idea to make the chandelier look like a cloud that the rainbow was coming out of. We picked up a couple of these accordion garlands at Party city for $2 each. We added the green garland, satin bows and dangling clovers for good measure.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0353.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0353.jpg" /></div><br />I love that my girls came up with most of these ideas and that they executed a lot of it by themselves. Nothing makes me more proud than seeing their little creative brains at work.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0347.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0347.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1762.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1762.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><br />Since we are from Arizona originally, we hold true to the idea that a party's not a party without a piñata. I showed Claire the <a href="http://ohhappyday.com/2013/03/pot-of-gold-pinata-diy-rainbow-yarn-trail/" target="_blank">Pot O' Gold DIY piñata</a> that Jordan posted a week or two ago and Claire said we just had to have it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1723.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1723.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><br />This was my first piñata and I was surprised at how easy they are to make! And pretty fun actually. It took me and Claire about two hours in all to cut out the cardboard and glue the fringed tissue paper. We watched Darby O'Gill and the Little People while we were at it, to get us into the spirit of the thing. :)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1728.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1728.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1735.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1735.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The pinata activity at the party worked out <i>perfectly</i> this time, which as any mother will probably know, doesn't happen very often. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0205.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0205.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This time every child got two full turns at the bat and then Claire, the birthday girl, was the lucky one to bust it open. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo 6DSC_0250.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/6DSC_0250.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Chocolate coins and gold nuggets were everywhere! I think the candy scramble is so hilarious to watch now, but I remember being so stressed out as a kid as soon as that candy fell out. Must. get. all. the. candies!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0256.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0256.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The kids used their party favor baskets to collect the piñata spoils.</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0268.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0268.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Claire and I found the tiny little baskets at Michaels for 99 cents each and just chose the ones with the most green on them.</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1677.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1677.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Claire embellished the baskets by herself with a little ribbon and some monogram placards made from stickers and cardstock.</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1686.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1686.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0330.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0330.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">There was plenty of room in the baskets for more candy and other little trinkets we picked up in the dollar section.</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1810.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1810.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We also gave these little leprechaun clover pots as favors. Aren't they so cute? My local flower bodega guy was selling them.</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1794.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1794.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">We picked up the clover when we were buying some forsythia branches and a bunch or two of daffodils.  (you know it's spring when the flowers start to get cheap again!) :)</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo IMG_1767.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/IMG_1767.jpg" style="text-align: start;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I think the rainbow backdrop was my favorite part of the party though.  It made for some fun shots of the kids.</div><br /><img alt=" photo DSC_0334.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0334.jpg" /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I have two instant-print cameras (both are really pretty inexpensive), the wide format is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002NUP0D2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002NUP0D2&linkCode=as2&tag=littgreenote-20">here</a> and the small, credit card size is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AK1DOG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001AK1DOG&linkCode=as2&tag=littgreenote-20">here</a>. I'm finding it's such a chore to get my digital images printed out these days that these cameras are such a treat to have on hand. Especially when we have visitors over. And seriously, who doesn't love the magic of watching your image appear in a matter of seconds?</div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0290.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0290.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>We let the kids pick out their favorites to take home with them, and then once the party was over, the rest of the photos were moved to the coffee table, where I'm sure we'll enjoy them for a couple weeks.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0314.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0314.jpg" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">All in all, we had a busy but a great weekend. Claire told me in her sleepiest voice last night as she was drifting off, that no one in the world has ever had a better mom or a better party than the one she had this weekend. Which of course made me feel like a super hero. I'd go to the dollar store every weekend for the rest of my kids' lives if it meant hearing lines like that. :)</div><br /><img alt=" photo DSC_0271.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0271.jpg" /></div>

Claire's St Patrick's Day Birthday Party

Claire's birthday was last weekend. I can't believe she is already six years old. She was born in Boston in the middle of a snow sto...

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Linus and Evelyn Report

<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">Best.</div><br /><img alt=" photo 2DSC_0320.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/2DSC_0320.jpg" /></div><br />Friends.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0318.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0318.jpg" /></div><br />Forever.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0317.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0317.jpg" /></div><br />(Seriously, these two make my days filled with so much joy. Completely worth the low productivity levels until Evie's in pre-school this fall.)<br /><br />Hope your weekend is filled with as much cuteness as mine. xo<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><img alt=" photo DSC_0322.jpg" border="0" src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd246/jkomenda/Album4/DSC_0322.jpg" /></div>

Linus and Evelyn Report

Best. Friends. Forever. (Seriously, these two make my days filled with so much joy. Completely worth the low productivity levels until Evie...

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