A pretty little pumpkin ~

Autumn is my favorite time of the year!  I love to decorate with the various sizes of pumpkins.  I really enjoy the creams and the suttle orange pumpkins.  The distressed look the better I like them.  Here I'm sharing with you how you can take a simple candle holder, add some spanish moss and put a pumpkin on top!  Doesn't this look chic?!

Autumn is full of beautiful colors ~ greens, grays, blues, creams

An elegant pumpkin cake ~

I absolutely love the autumn season.  The cooler days and evenings make it perfect for warm cozy blankets and sweaters, apple cider and comfort foods.  Speaking of food here's an adorable pumpkin cake that I've made ~ it looks exactly like a real pumpkin and boy it is ever delicious!  Well I'm experiencing problems with downloading an image of this pumpkin cake so stay tuned for an image. In the meantime ~

I bake mine in a bundt cake pan to give it the share of a pumpkin.  You will need to bake two cakes - one that is larger in height than the other so that you can use the larger portion for the bottom and the smaller for the top.  For the stem I used a piece of bark out of a bag of potpourri that I had laying around the house.  I wrapped the stem in aluminum foil and twisted it so that it came to a point.  Then, I stuck the sharp point into the cake - now how smart is that?!!

After the two layers cooled completely turn the cake upside down on a plate which will now be your bottom layer.  In a bowl mix cream cheese frosting, canned pumpkin, cinnamon and pumpkin spice.  Stir until the pumpkin is thoroughly mixed.  The frosting color should be a pumpkin color.

Next, frost the top of the layer with a generous portion of frosting.  Add a little bit of pumpkin spice and then take the other layer and place on top so it looks like a lid!  Hint:  You can add some coconut pecan frosting on top of the pumpkin frosting for extra flavor and y'all this is so YUMMY!!!

Now frost the entire cake and purposely let some of the cake show through the frosting - in other words don't frost it very heavily - you want it to look natural like a real pumpkin. 

Last, stick the stem in the upper part of the center of the cake.  Then, I can never just frost a cake without blinging it a bit!  I first cut out a piece of wax paper in a circular shape and placed it slightly off center at the top of the cake next to theh stem. I then placed a beautiful silk flower on top of the wax paper.  The wax paper keeps your flower clean. 

This cake is so much fun to make and I hope I've inspired you to make one too.  I will admit that as of today I've made 5 of these cakes in the last 3 weeks!!

Monogrammed Waste Baskets - these make great gifts

I've been busy today painting monogrammed waste baskets.  These come in a variety of colors and designs.  Who couldn't use this waste basket that is not only versatile but, beautiful too!

Notebook custom designed for you!

These notebooks are perfect for notes for Back to Class, your home office, business office or any time you need to keep track of important information. Available in many colors and designs. Contact me to customize an order for you. info@elegant-chaos.com

Ornate Wooden Sign

This wooden sign is perfect for any home decor. An ornate design painted on wood and then distressed to give it an aged feel and look. Contact me today for your custom order - info@elegant-chaos.com

Table Designs

I did this table design for a recent bridal luncheon that I hosted. The color pallette was dark coral with a hint of lime green - what a pretty color combination. It was simple but very sophisticated! Each guest had a small trivet that I painted white and then distressed with beige. I filled the trivets with scented potpourri, small seashells, white pebbles and a larger seashell.

The table was decorated with gold plate chargers and a very large market basket full of seashells and white stones and adorned with dried roses and embellishments for the bride-to-be!

Stay tuned for upcoming news in 2010!

Elegant Chaos is very excited to be announcing some new services in 2010 so be sure to stay tuned. This past year has opened many new doors and opportunities and I want to thank my family and friends for their continued support. They always encourage me to pursue my passion for decorating and design.

I look forward to 2010 and wish each of you a Happy New Year.

Peggy Jones
Elegant Chaos

Upcoming Events

Thursday, November 12, 2009 - Christmas Open House at Seaboard Ace Hardware
802 Semart Drive, Raleigh, NC

Seaboard Ace Hardware has graciously allowed me to display some of my work for the Christmas Open House. I made some Christmas wreaths, a floral arrangement for their refreshment table and a beautiful 5' garland loaded with ornaments, poinsettias, berries, english boxwood and gorgeous ribbons entwined throughout!

Saturday, November 14, 2009 - Christmas Open House at Affordable Chic

I will be making my holiday bows at this Open House from 10AM until 6PM. Stop in at Affordable Chic which is located next to Hidden Valley Animal Hospital on Lynn Road, Raleigh, NC. The store is filled with beautiful Christmas decorations and gifts. Come join the fun and start your holiday shopping!

Friday, December 4, 2009 - First Friday event, downtown Raleigh, NC

Come see my Christmas displays - wreaths, bows, garlands and even an elegant Christmas table setting for two! Event is from 6PM until 9:30PM

Address: 14 Glenwood Avenue, Raleigh, NC

I was in the news!

I work full time for a computer software company in Cary, NC and my office Halloween decorations were featured in a recent article.

Here is a small portion of that article - hope you enjoy it!

Employees love to get into the Halloween spirit. Here are a few photos of employee decorations. . .

Trick or Treat!

Halloween is almost here! I not only enjoy decorating my home for Halloween but, my office also gets a few scary creatures lurking in through the crevises. This very scary spider has been crawling all over my mirror - EEKES! I bought this really cool webbing at a local Dollar General store and it is the best webbing I've ever bought. You can stretch it and it has a soft angora like material that makes it feel real.

I had a lot of fun draping it from one side of the mirror to the other and positioning the spider in the web to make it look like it was coming after you! BOO! I added a piece of velcro under the eensy weensy spider's leg so it is holding onto a book. Then, the spider is dangling off the side of the bookcase and crawling onto the mirror. EEEW! This makes my skin crawl just looking at it!! Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

Vintage Furniture Makeover

I am very excited to share with you a project that I've just completed! This cabinet once belonged to my Grandma Mamie. I have always loved this cabinet for some reason ~ hmmm, maybe it was an early sign of my undiscovered love for vintage furniture! I was very thrilled to receive it twenty years ago and it is now approximately 63 years old.

The original color was white and I painted it blue. Recently I had the notion to paint it. I first painted it a robin's egg blue and I really didn't care for that color. So, I repainted it again! I painted it black and gave it a distressed look by highlighting it with dark brown paint. I love how the black and combination of brown make it look distressed.

Then, I knew the top of the cabinet needed something grand and elegant! I found the perfect piece - this beautiful gold ornate piece. When I saw this I knew exactly how it would look. I toned down the bright gold by painting it black, brown and then added a hint of red paint to make it look distressed.

Now, the fun begins! I had fun accessorizing it with lots of vintage and antique pieces. Adding a gorgeous tassel was the perfect embellishment! I just love the way it turned out!

Elegant Chaos is now live on the internet!

I am very excited to announce that Elegant Chaos has officially gone live on the internet tonight, Thursday, October 15, 2009. My dream was to have a website one day and now that dream has become a reality for me. I want to thank my dear friend;
Carol Lasitter for doing a beautiful and outstanding job on my website.

I hope you enjoy it too!

www.elegant-chaos.com

Elegant Chaos - it will be simply elegant!

Peg Jones

Elegant Interior Decorating

Hello, my name is Peg Jones and I live in North Carolina. I have always loved to decorate and create beautiful and elegant spaces. My specialty is decorating for the Christmas holidays with lots of elegant embellishments. I also have a passion for Floral Design, Table Design and Home/Office Staging and it is always very exciting to me to bring a combination of imagination and visualization together. The possibilities are simply endless!