About Arren Williams
If Arren Williams were to walk through one of those new scanners at the airport, security personnel might be surprised to see chairs, tables and lamps floating around in his head. As one of Canada’s top stylists, editors and trend reporters, he is always on the hunt for the next great find that could take a room from blah to spectacular.
Holiday Hamper
arren williams: design diary canada
(Dec.15.10)
Mention a hamper to most people and two words will come to mind dirty and laundry. But to a Brit, a hamper means something altogether more glam and delicious – a covered wicker basket filled with all manner of delicious gourmet goodies. I was just in the UK last week, so decided to go to ‘hamper central’ which is more properly know as the fantastic department store on London’s Piccadilly – Fortnum & Mason. If ever you get the chance to discover it, the main floor of Fortnum’s is kind of like a grocery store, except one that looks a lot more like a historic hotel with plush carpets and lots of carved wood – not surprising, since they’ve been in business since 1707 - and everything from jars of jam to boxes of tea is packaged beautifully.
Each Fortnum & Mason hamper comes stamped with their classic F&M logo, and yes, if you’re feeling like a splurge you can order them online and they’ll happily ship around the world (though if you live in London you can actually arrange for yours to be delivered by their horse-drawn carriage - I kid you not!). Sadly, I think we’ve just missed the deadline for hampers to arrive in Canada in time for Christmas, but you could always think about something glamorous for New Years...
Now, in case an F&M hamper is out of your snack bracket, why not get inspired by them and put your own spin on one? You’ll find wicker baskets at places Pier 1 Imports, HomeSense and Ikea, and can easily customize them with your own logo. To create a stencil, hit an art supply store and pick up a plastic stencil sheet, design your logo on your computer, print it out and trace it onto the plastic sheet, then carefully cut out with a sharp craft knife. I always use a quick spritz of re-positionable spray glue on the back of the stencil to hold it in place, place the stencil onto the side or top of the basket, then grab a can of glossy black spray paint and give it a couple of coats to finish the job. Oh, and to fill it? HomeSense always has a brill selection of affordable gourmet goods on the shelf.
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