boy were we excited when we got a call from caspari, the leader in fabulous paper products for entertaining! they wanted to team with dabney lee to create some super duper fun napkins and other fun paper products… of course we said YES YES YES!!! for years so many of you have been asking for paper products and we couldn’t be happier that they are here!

we just got a sneak peek of the summer designs (available to the trade now at all the gift shows)… they are simply fab!

we wish you all a snappy 2010 full of amazing style + fabulous entertaining!
xoxo,
dabney lee + crew

check our site soon for the full DL and caspari collection… we are so excited!

we are lucky enough to live and work in DUMBO, brooklyn. it’s a very very funky little ‘hood in brooklyn nestled between the ever cool brooklyn and manhattan bridges. in fact, our street is pretty darn famous and has been spotted in lots of movies and commercials.

if that weren’t neat enough, we are blessed every sunday with the brooklyn flea market. a glorious mix of vintage and new finds and lots of really YUMMY food! for those of you who know me, you know that my hubby and i are semi-foodies. so to have these delights right down the block is simply irresistible, hence the walk every sunday to the market to grab our fav snacks.

so much inspiration and food to fill our bellies as we create… just thought i would share what takes up our weekends.

xoxo,
dabney lee

pastries, tortilla soup, wood oven pizza, cupcakes, coffee

you are in for another super fun treat today… lauren at rock paper scissors has done another guest blog for us today! i can’t wait to make these and hang them in my apartment!

xoxo, dabney lee

For someone who doesn’t like to get dressed up for Halloween… I sure do enjoy the day! What is it about Halloween that has me counting down the hours? I certainly don’t enjoy the spookiness of this time of year. Heck, I’m still mentally damaged from Blair Witch Project and that was years ago. I don’t know… maybe it’s all the little delicious candies that I deprive myself of 364 days a year. There’s just something about that tiny confectionery heaven called a Kit Kat that has me already weak in the knees 6 days before Halloween. It truly is surprising there is anything left for the kids when they ring the bell! Maybe it’s because I always find the best costumes for my dog every year… ever see a 32 lb. dog dressed as a lobster? I have and it is freakin’ adorable!

After creating the trick-or-treat bag template for all of you on Friday, I decided you might need a little something to decorate your house too. Voila!… cute bat Halloween garland with Dabney Lee’s super fab zebra print. I know… I know… a zebra bat??? It could happen!

download bat template here

today we have a very special guest blogger, one of my best friends from ROCK PAPER SCISSORS in franklin, tn.

xoxo, dabney lee

I always believed myself to have that inner Martha Stewart. You know, that Type A personality that drives people like me (and Martha) to try and do things perfectly and well… my way! I am known to take on more then I have time for and frankly, I love every bit of it! I seriously thrive on this stuff! My case in point, last year at my husband’s birthday party… I couldn’t just put out white paper napkins…. heaven’s no! I had to iron the napkins into the perfect rectangle and then make custom paper napkin rings to coordinate with the theme of the party. I couldn’t just buy some flowers for the table… no way, boy’s don’t want (or care) to have flowers! I had to create a hanging chandelier of concentric paper circles and fishing line to hang from my lighting fixture down to the table… and when I thought the fishing line wasn’t hanging straight enough, I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I took my creation apart and glued dimes between the layers of paper circles to add a little weight… voila! This is the stuff I do to myself and when my guests ask when I had the time for all of this, I simply smile and shrug my shoulders. The truth is I don’t want to tell them that I stayed up all night, figuring out templates and ironing napkins… a gracious hostess would never tell.

What is crazier, is that my stationery BFF, Dabney of Dabney Lee Stationery, is just like me! She can never stop obsessing over the details too. So, when I had the idea to work on a special Halloween template for our readers, she couldn’t be more excited to supply me with her fabulous patterns. I immediately started creating a template for the project. The result… a super cute treat bag to fill with sugary sweets for your friends and family. The best part is the hard work is already done. So grab your x-acto knife and start printing! And when your guests ask… when did you find the time to do all this?… your secret can be that you actually slept the night before!

Download Template Here

Write more… Type less,
Lauren

i have been living in new york for a little over 5 years now and i like to consider myself a new yorker. i grew up in southern california, just outside of pasadena and while one can argue that the weather all year round is fabulous, which it most definitely is. one can also argue that new york is the most amazing place to be in the autumn.

growing up, we never really experienced the change of seasons. yeah, we’d throw on a “coat” in decemeber, but it was always a lightweight excuse for a coat. how i dreamed of needing to own a real coat, one with a lining for extra warmth, one that had amazingly thoughtful details like fitted sleeves so the wind dos not blow up your arms + a pocket for your subway card. obsessed with autumn, i flipped through the pages of the j.crew and l.l. bean catalogues picking out what i would wear if i lived someplace that requited more than a heavy sweater for an evening out. the boots, the gloves, the tights, the cashmere sweaters… i was in love!

now that i am a new yorker, i have to say that when autumn rolls around i am simply giddy. i get to dig my favorite boots out of the closet {thank you grandma!} along with my favorite finds from the j.crew + l.l. bean catalogues i had drooled over as a child and i get to put them and beam with delight.

some of my favorite autumn traditions are making cupcakes for halloween {yeni, in our studio especially loves this tradition… her record is 8 cupcakes in a single day}, putting on those boots i was telling you about with a pair of argyle knee high socks, walking a block to starbucks for my first pumpkin spice latte of the season {it’s sinfully yummy} and walking through central park to see the leaves change and feeling the crisp air on my face.

what are your favorite autumn traditions? xoxo, dabney lee

cole haan boots
pumpkin spice latte
arglye socks

ok, so i am not much of a bike rider. i prefer to walk, walk and walk until i can’t walk any longer. i really want to be bike rider. the cute dresses you could wear while riding your bike, the fun accessories you could add to your bike… it kind of makes me giddy. but let’s be honest here, the thought of riding my bike in the city scares me silly. i would, however, consider riding this bike in brooklyn to and from the grocery store, the green market, the pharmacy, everywhere. i would even ride it on shelter island to get a scoop of ice cream in the summer.

don’t you agree this is the bike to have if you only want one?

madsen bike

maybe it’s the gloomy new york weather, the heat of the quickly passing summer, or that i wish i was still at the beach with my friends + family… but i need some color inspiration FAST!

i am set to paint my nails with “mini shorts” from essie, throw on my hot orange summer dress, my pink peep toes and go grab a summer cocktail at my favorite brooklyn libation provider, jack the horse {the blackberry bramble is heavenly + sinful all at the same time}.

hang onto the summer!

xoxo,
dabney lee

jack the horse mini shorts summer dress