Welcome to the latest installment of "Curated by James Anthony." In this installment I will be featuring the black and white marble Harlequin flooring in the foyer, which is most commonly called checkerboard flooring.

The Harlequin marble floor pattern in the foyer below is a combination of 12" x 12", Carrara marble from Italy, and Negro Marquina from Spain. The 6-inch wide-marble border is created from 24" x 24" Negro Marquina tiles cut down to 24" x 6".

The marble is honed for a mat finish. A polished surface, with the way it reflects light, would not look good in such a small space.

What a great way to incorporate your Ancient Olive Trees Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil into your al fresco rotation during the hotter days of summer or anytime you want a refreshing treat!

Ingredients

Ancient Olive Trees Balsamic Vinegar

Ancient Olive Trees Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

4    Roma tomatoes

1    Pre-sliced log fresh mozzarella cheese

10  large basil leaves, torn in half

1    Pinch coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Steps

1    Thinly slice each tomato, being careful not to cut through the bottom.

2    Cut each mozzarella slice in half, creating half moons

3    Layer a piece of basil on top of each mozzarella slice and wedge it between each tomato slice

4     Drizzle Ancient Olive Trees Balsamic Vinegar and Ancient Olive Trees Olive Oil over the tomatoes and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

5    Serve immediately.

Just thought I would repost Christmas at my home.These were originally posted on my Instagram feed  @JamesAnthonyCollectionOfficial. It took my wife and I about 3 days to do all three floors of our home.

This is part one. Part two will be of our outdoor decoration. Stay tuned.

5 Candle Care Tips

For The Holiday Season

Below are my 5 tips regarding candle safety and proper care plus something for those who want a safe alternative to burning a candle when you cannot be present in the room:

Safety First

I always stress safety when burning either candles, incense or fragrance oils in your home. Taking the proper precautions BEFORE lighting will ensure an enjoyable and relaxing environment.

• Never leave a burning candle unattended.
• Never light a candle anywhere children or pets may maybe be able to get to or jump upon and burn themselves or worse become startled and knock the candle over and starting a fire.
• Never light anything near curtains, Christmas trees, dried or silk floral displays or any other potential fire hazard. Container/Jar candles get very hot and can burn you.
• Never move a lit candle or candle that you have just extinguished. You can burn yourself or worse drop the candle and splatter hot wax on yourself, children or pets.

Wick Care

Proper wick care will increase the life of your candle, enhance its fragrance throw and prevent your candle from smoking. Your wick should always be trimmed to 1/8" above the surface of the wax. Always trim the wick PRIOR to lighting your candle every time, including the very first burn. If the wick is to long the flame will produce carbon soot which will stick to your candle jar, your walls, your ceiling, etc.

Keep in mind that having the proper wick size aids in achieving the proper burn pool which will help with scent throw. Too small of a wick will create a small burn pool, which will lead to poor scent throw. Too large of a wick may burn too hot and will burn off the fragrance, leading to poor scent throw.

You can use scissors, old nail clippers (my personal favorite) or a specialized wick trimmer, but no matter what, always trim, trim, trim. Remember, the proper size wick will prevent carbon soot and create the proper burn pool for the maximum scent throw.

Burn Time

Proper burn time is important to ensure you get a full melt pool and prevent "burning a hole" through the center of your candle. You should burn a candle for at least 60 minutes, 1 hour, in order to create a full and even melt pool and eliminate "center" burn. NOTE: Some candles are designed to burn through the center only. These are mostly candles that have botanicals or other decorative elements embedded in the candle wax. We are not talking about these type of candles but "regular" container candles.

Extinguishing Your Candle

When you're done burning your candle and it's time to extinguish I highly recommend that you use a candle snuffer. If you do not have a candle snuffer you can hold your fingers/hand behind the flame and blow GENTLY. Blowing GENTLY will prevent the hot wax from splattering onto your hand or fingers and the surrounding surfaces.

An Alternative to Candles

If you have little ones around or your pet(s) are nosey and/or clumsy and you are afraid of having a lit candle in the house there are alternatives that provide that holiday fragrance you are looking for without the flame.

One recommendation I am always giving customers is, instead of candles how about a reed diffuser? Reed Diffusers are a great way to add a constant fragrance to your home and are a safe alternative to burning a candle when you cannot be present in the room. They are also great for those who are easily distracted and might have forgotten they lit a candle.

Reed Diffusers are a great alternative for Powder Rooms, Guest Rooms or anywhere in your home where you want the fragrance of the season but not the dangers of an unattended candle.

Autumn Harvested

Giveaway

Antique Balcony Rails

Re-Purposed As

Console Tables

These are a pair of 18th century balcony rails from a Château in France that was being razed. When I was first presented with these I immediately thought they would make a GREAT pair of Antique Console Tables. So, I purchased them with the idea of re-purposing them into console tables.

The dimensions of the balcony rails are ~72" W x 36.5" H x 18.5" D and weigh approx 300+ lbs each, Balcony rails ~200lbs+ ea. & marble tables tops ~110lbs+ each . They are made of solid iron with solid brass decorative accents. 

Below are images of the balcony rails in the condition I received them, the selection of the marble slab, fabrication of the table tops and the final product.

I hope you enjoy. If you have any questions or would like to just leave a comment it would be appreciated.

Fall Decorating

Is it wrong to start decorating for Fall before Labor Day Weekend?

I Don't Think So!

With Autumn around the corner, I, along with our "Creative Director" Mittens, decided to start decorating our home this weekend.

Take a look and enjoy. I will be happy to answer any question.

Our "Creative Director", Mittens, inspecting the foliage

Again, our "Creative Director", Mittens, making sure the cornucopia is the right size . . .for napping that is

The final design of the cornucopia finished

Fall decorating fully underway

Fall "cracked glass" pumpkins. These are my favorite!

The "Eye Bouquet". I cannot take credit for this, my wife did this all on her own.

Foyer Fall Floral Bouquet. The foyer is not finished but I thought I would show the fall floral bouquet.

Kitchen island pumpkin floral display

Made in the USA

Buy American | Are you Sure

Although people use the term "Buy American" to help U.S. businesses, to help provide and save jobs and to promote the U.S. economy, "Buy American" can also refer to purchasing products that are manufactured in any country in North or South America, not just the United States. Any manufacture in either North or South American can say or identify their products as "American Made." In fact a company in the United States who has their products manufactured in Mexico can say their products were "Made in America" because it was. Mexico is part of North America and thus "Made in America" can be used.

Made in the USA | You Can Be Sure

Made in the USA provides assurance that the products you are purchasing are "Made in the USA" and not in any other country. It also ensures that you are support U.S. business, their employees and re-investing in the U.S. economy by keep and/or adding U.S. jobs.

Made in the USA | The Brands

At James Anthony Collection I have put a lot of thought into the brands that are carried in my store. Below is the decision making process that my team and I go through in selecting a brand to carry.

1. Is it a brand that I use myself in my home or design projects. That's the first step. I like to actually use the products to make sure it meets my standard of quality and that the price truly reflects the quality of the products before offering them in my store.
2. Next, after the decision is made to carry a brand, I look in depth at the brand. Is the company U.S. based, what products in their line are "Made in the USA". Is the company reputable, are their products of the HIGHEST quality and are they exceptionally designed with the best materials available.

Below is a list of brands carried in my store that are "Made in the USA". This list is just a beginning and is not definitive of the brands carried that are Made in the USA. There are some brands that I carry which have products that are made both in the USA and in other countries. Eventually the products of those brands that are "Made in the USA" will be added.

 At James Anthony Collection I try to source from small U.S. business whose products are entirely manufactured in the U.S. as much as possible, but I know that that is not always possible for one reason or another.

Not Made in the USA | Imported Brands

As much as I try to offer "Made in the USA" brands there are some brands, that I do offer, that are not made in the USA. These brands have been selected based on somewhat different set of criteria than we base our "Made in the USA" brands. All our import brands are used by me in my home and they still must meet his standard of quality and the price must truly reflect the products quality before they are offered on my site.

Once they have met my standard of quality, the company is then researched to make sure the brands are authentic and that our customer is getting the BEST quality product from the brands we import. These are brands that are unique, one of a kind or have an origination abroad.

Some of the imported brands that meet the above requirements are La Poterie De La Madeleine and Coutellerie Nontronnaise to name a few. These brands are very in unique design, are one of a kind whose history goes back thousands of years and whose quality is superior. Both these brands originated in France hundreds of years ago and represent hand made products that are unique to the respective companies.

Shopping James Anthony Collection

When you purchase products from my store, whether they are "Made in the USA" or are imported, you are still supporting the U.S. economy. James Anthony Collection directly and indirectly employees 100's of people in the U.S. For example, our website is designed and coded in Orange County CA, it's is hosted in the Silicon Valley, our website support is outsourced to a company in the Silicon Valley whose employees are all based in the United States and our payment processing is designed, coded and managed by a company based in Utah and whose support employees are all based in the United States.

Your purchases also supports all the various sales reps and their companies whose lines we carry, it supports the employees of R+L Carriers, FedEx, UPS and USPS who handle all our shipping, it supports our employees by providing jobs which in turn allows those employees to re-invest in their local communities by shopping, dinning out and donating to local food banks, charities & non-profit organizations.

When you shop James Anthony Collection you are doing your part to support "Made in the USA" by directly investing money in the U.S. economy and for that I Thank You!

Sincerely,

James Anthony

James Anthony Collection

The "Ancient Olive Trees Dirty Martini" is a variation of the original Martini. Simple and popular, the "dirty" part derives from the addition of olive juice, in this case  Ancient Olive Trees Dirty Martini Juice.

What makes a great "Dirty Martini"? Well lets start with what makes a great Martini! The key to a great Martini is the use of Premium Gin & Vermouth. In our version of the Dirty Martini, we will be using Bombay Sapphire Gin and Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth. Ancient Olive Trees Dirty Martini Juice will be providing the "Dirty" aspect for this Dirty Martini. Keep in mind we are creating and mixing a "Dirty" Martini not a "Filthy" one.

As with any recipe you can adjust the Gin-Vermouth-Dirty Martini Juice ratios to suite your taste.

Ancient Olive Trees Dirty Martini

2 1/2 oz. Bombay Bay Sapphire Gin*

1/2 oz. Noilly Pratt Extra Dry Vermouth*

1/4 oz.  Ancient Olive Trees Dirty Martini Juice

2-3  Sable & Rosenfeld Vermouth Tipsy Olives

1  Sable & Rosenfeld Vermouth Tipsy Onions (As Pictured)

PREPARATION

1. Fill mixing glass with ice and pour ingrediants into mixing glass

2. Stir well.

3. Strain into chilled Martini Glass.

4. Garnish with Sable & Rosenfeld Vermouth Tipsy Olives & Onion.

*You can substitute Bombay Sapphire Gin & Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth with your preferred spirits

Shopping List

Back again for some great gift ideas for the guys! Walk away from the flasks, money clips and steins, give them something they can use more often. Leverage these great ideas from James Anthony Collection to make your wedding gift giving perfect.

And while great for Spring, these work any time of the year!

For the Groom

While it’s important that the bride looks great, it’s her groom she will be focused on.

He should smell good and feel good too! This masculine gift set offers a Mini Votive Candle, a Hand Cream Tube, and a Boxed Beauty Bar all packaged in a ready to present gift box.

This set is available in several fragrances but for the groom we recommend Feu de Bois with its relaxing, aromatic floral scent with warm and enveloping top notes of sparkling Bergamot and calming Chamomile

OR

Marine with its fresh and clean, ethereal ozonic fragrance that captures the exhilarating scent of fresh sea air. This will help him feel confident on his big day and make it that much more memorable for her!

For the Groomsmen

These men are not just groomsmen, but your best friends, make sure you treat them right and remind them that you really appreciate them being there for you!

This elegant golf trunk organizer acts like a golf locker in the car.

Adjustable dividers enable space to be customized for storage of shoes, balls, spikes, gloves, tees, and towel. The mesh ventilation to enable shoes to breath and dry out if wet. Folds flat for easy storage when not in use.

Will make for wonderful memories for years to come!

For the Dad's

Because he will always be the king of the BBQ! A perfect gift for the Father of the Bride or Groom, this will also be a great way to make sure he doesn’t feel forgotten during this special time.

This professional barbecue set is made from heavy gauge, forged stainless steel with rosewood handles and is set in an elegant wood carry case. Includes spatula, fork and tongs with hand crafted rosewood handles

Makes a great gift that’s sure to be appreciated!

For your Younger Ushers & Ring Bearers

A fun and expressive gift is required for our youngest members of the wedding party! The perfect answer is the Jellycat collection!

With Jellycat plushies and Books with Friends there is always something original to discover and they can be quirky yet incredibly soft and sumptuous! Jellycat is always irresistibly cuddly, sophisticatedly silly, hilariously humorous.

Just add a little tag around the neck, wrist or foot to make these personalized for your special occasion! Makes a great gift that’s sure to keep you and this special day in their memories for years to come!