Easter/Spring Decor

As I've looked at blogs this year, the latest trend seems to be decorating with pennant banners. They didn't look too difficult to make, so I designed one for Easter. It was more time intensive than I expected, but then, I made the triangles out of fabric, backed them with pellon and sewed ribbon around each one. There's also embellishments on the letters, but you can't see that. I love organza and use it whenever I can.

The bunnies are Villeroy and Boch from Germany.

This "flower box" under a picture in my entry way is filled according to the season.

I bought these little "flower children" in Germany, and they're standing on a step tansu I was given when we lived in Japan.

These egg candles looked just right on the crystal candlesticks.

Another Wedding

My friend got remarried, so I decorated for her reception. It was held at a residence, which made the decorating eaiser! Hopefully you can see the twinkly lights in the swag. I made the swag from a super-long curtain remnant I found at an open-air fabric market in Germany. The sheer white fabric was only about 20 inches wide, so I sewed it into a long tube and put two strings of white lights in it. I've used it many times to decorate for events, and have also used it inside the gazebo we use out on our deck.

I had a hard time finding just the right mirror to put the cake on, but was very happy when I borrowed this one from a friend.

The lavender ribbon on the cake was totally the wrong color, which bothered me, but no one else, I'm sure! The color should have been an eggplant purple.

I bought three white dessert stackers several years ago, and I use them several times a year. They were expensive, but a good investment. (The other two not pictured were used on the food table.)

I bought these white organza fligree tablecloths several years ago, too, and have used them many times, since they can be used over any color.

The favors were personalized fortune cookies, which were very cute.

Green is for St Patrick's Day and the 1st day of Spring!!

For many years we've celebrated St. Patrick's day(March 17th) and the first day of spring (March 21st) by having a Green Party. It's been fun to collect green dishes and decorations through the years.

I have a table on the porch that I filled with greenery. I found a green light bulb at a dollar sale and used it on the porch, so the stage was set even before the guests came into the house.

Here's a partial picture of the spread. In the invitations I told the guests to wear green and bring a green food item, and prizes would be given for the person wearing the most green and with the most unusual green food item. The prizes were green plants.

These were two of the food items I served. I made the wraps filled with a spinach dip, and served the green guacachips with green salsa. I also made the shamrock cookies in the picture above. One year when we had the party, nearly every guest brought guacamole and tortilla chips!

Some cheap, but very green, decorations. (See those dishes on the stand at the right? Those are some of my great-grandmother's china.)

I like to light things up whenever I can.

Remember the tree from Valentine's Day? Here it is again.

You can't tell, but on the table below the castle is a fountain. I bought the wooden shoes with tulips in them on a trip to Holland many years ago.

The party was lots of fun, and gave me an excuse to do many of the things I love: make a fun invitation, decorate, and do some creative cooking!!

Lovin' My New Shelf

I wanted a shelf in my sewing/projects room that went across the whole length of the wall. It wasn't a high priority, so the wall was blank for a year before my husband had time to make the shelf. Did I mention that I LOVE it? I spent almost an entire morning deciding how I wanted to decorate it.I've collected vintage sewing supplies for many years, and have some things from Japan and Germany, as well as the US. The tins below are from my Grandma who died twenty years ago. She used them to store her buttons and small sewing odds and ends. The wooden box with drawers on the left side of the shelf is a Japanese sewing box.

This wooden box started out it's life as a drawer from an antique sewing machine cabinet I bought in Germany. My incredibly- handy-to-have-around husband had a piece of plexiglass that he cut to cover the the box and screwed it on. Then I filled it with wooden spools and bobbins.

I put some of the larger buttons from my Grandma's button tin into this sweet pink glass jar I bought in Germany.

I bought the hat box at Ross just because it fit in with the rest of the decor of the room.

I saw this idea of putting old wooden spools in old-fashioned canning jars at a shop and thought to myself, "I'm going to do that!!" So I did.

Quilted Bags for Everyone

I don't sew clothes anymore, though I did when my girls were young. I don't sew many seasonal wall quilts anymore, since I already have several for every season. (The ones I've made recently have been either for my daughters or my mom). So what I've been sewing as my creative outlet has been quilted bags.

Here's my scripture bag. I made it three years ago, so it's looking a little worse for wear.

Here's the one I just finished for my mom. I thought she could use it as a scripture tote to take to church, but she says she's going to use it as a knitting bag or a spring purse. I found the fabric I used on the inside at Hancocks. It went very well with the tapestry fabrics I used for the outside of the bag.

Here's the one I made for my 21-year-old daughter's birthday last summer. She uses it as a purse.

This is the one I made for my 20-month-old grandaughter. She puts her books in it to take to church with her.

Her initial is on the front (can you see the "K"?) I sewed all those buttons around the bag by hand. I also hand sewed the button flowers and the black polka dots on the pink fabric are buttons.

It was a true labor of love.

This is the bag I made for my oldest daughter, since her favorite color is blue.

This is the first bag I made for my youngest daughter three years ago (can you tell her favorite color is yellow?)It was starting to to look a bit worn out, so I refurbished it by adding new handles, new bead trim and added the ribbon flower. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas I can add to the bags for embellishment.

I also made a larger tote bag for my sister who's a teacher, but forgot to take pictures. Next I'm planning to make a new bag for myself, and I have a new daughter-in-law to make a bag for, too!!

A Treat for the Eyes and the Tummy

I made some homemade candies to give as thank-you gifts, and had fun making them tasty to eat and lovely to look at. I bought the boxes at Michael's; I believe they're by Martha Stewart. I also bought the ribbon at Michael's.
Inside the boxes I put peanut butter balls (sometimes referred to as "buckeyes"), glazed walnuts, and mint oreo truffles covered in white mint-flavored candy coating. I wrapped the peanut butter balls in pink plastic wrap so that the mint wouldn't transfer to the peanut butter.

Piano Blocks

I like the look of wooden 2" x 4"s cut into blocks and made into words. I wonder who the creative woman was who first thought to make them; she's a genius.

Most of them I've seen say "love" or "home" or the names of the seasons. I wanted some for my piano teaching studio that said--you guessed it!--"piano". I found the background papers and ribbons at Michaels, Hobby Lobby and Joann's, and bought the pre-cut letters at Joann's. (Alas, I don't have a Cricut, and it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do about the letters.) My piano teaching room is decorated in a black and white theme; I love those colors together, and piano keys and music are always black and white. It was easy to find a good variety of ribbons and paper in black and white.

I wish the pictures did a better job of showing the red jewels. I put them on all the blocks to add some interest to the black and white.

Valentine's Day Treats

I had fun being creative with Valentine treats to give away to neighbors, piano students, the ladies I visit teach, the Primary children in our ward and the women I work with in the Primary Presidency.

For the 70 Primary children and workers I made pink tinted rice krispie treats with Valentine sprinkles on them and pressed them into a pan. Then I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut them out, put them into a goodie bag from Target and made the labels to go on them.

The Valentine brownies on the plate below were made with pink frosting and cut out with cookie cutters. I discovered a recipe for peppermint cool whip on a blog, and loved it because it used ground up candy canes that turned cool whip to a sweet shade of pink. I gave it away with packets of Land O' Lakes hot chocolate. (I'll post a link to the blog with the recipe as soon as I figure out how to do it!)

I gave the peppermint cool whip in honey jars on a plate full of Valentine treats to my neighbors. I saw some Valentine mugs on sale at Michael's, and gave my visiting teaching ladies the mug full of peppermint cool whip, some hot chocolate packets, and wrapped it up in Valentine cellophane.

For the ladies who work with me in the Primary presidency, I made heart shaped Danish puffs.

I've never made these as individual servings before. I've always made the Danish puff in long strips and then cut into slices, but this worked really well. (You can find the recipe by googling "Almond Danish Puff". Here are the steps:

First, make a crust with flour, butter and water.

Next make a cream puff type topping with egg, butter, almond flavoring and water.

This is what they looked like after they were baked.

Here's a close up, just because it looks so good. (My stomach is growling, it must be time for breakfast!!)

Ta da!! The finished product. One thing I really love about it is the frosting is almond flavored, and I like the uniqueness of that. Mmmm, good, and pretty, too!