Today the weather outside in Southern California is frightful, but luckily inside it’s so delightful, thanks to some beautiful ideas on decorating your home that aren’t mass produced or seen on every street. What do we mean by that? Well, the best way is to clear your table, enlist family and/or friends, get the glue and pretty paper out, and get creating! But it could also just be getting away from the standard red and green colors for the holiday and mix it up a bit. Here’s some tips from Senior Designer Jan Smith and Design Assistant Melissa Morgan.

Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House in gingerbread

1. Gingerbread Modern Houses: You don’t need to throw tradition out the window; that’s not what we’re saying! But how about getting a little creative with the spiced-and-baked architecture? Gingerbread houses can easily be built from using a kit that you buy at the store, but that’s too easy. How about a gingerbread house inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House? Before you think you need to be an Ace of Cakes—oh wait, yes you do. This one was created by April Reed Cake design and took over 25 hours to make! And you don’t even want to know how much it cost….but 15% of the proceeds went to the restoration project in the works for Farnsworth House when it was damaged in a flood a few years ago. (read the rest of this post…)