Birthday Party Fun

I know it has been a long dry spell from me.  I have been quite busy, but not particularly inspired.  

 We have recently been working on a "significant" birthday party for my mom.  She is a special lady who is adored by her family and who really doesn't like to celebrate her birthday that much....she even told me a couple weeks ago......."don't going planning a party for me, I don't want you to do that."   I told her it was too late and it would be fun and nice..... afterwards she would look back and think it was pretty special, that was the last I heard about that!

 Cupcakes were the theme of the day.  We have a wonderful bakery in our area called Scratch Bakery, that makes all these flavored cupcakes to die for.  Oh, they are temptations of biblical proportions.  I picked 8 varieties, so we had lots to choose from.

We have been cleaning the out-buildings on the farm this fall and have hauled away piles of junk, and have cut up a lot of scrap wood for the fireplace.  In all of this we have found some very old boards that are very wide and weathered and wonderful.  So I picked one that was a good length for my dining room table, which is very large.....it seats 14 handily.  I wanted it raised up a little bit,  so the Silver Fox, cut 2 pieces of wood to make little legs and he attached them with some brass hinges we had around here, so it is a little easier to store.  It looks very rustic and primitive, but very "glammed" up with the vintage linens and crystal.

I added layers of linens from my Grandma's, some silver Christmas decorations of various shapes and sizes, some silk poinsettias blossoms and included a bunch of tea lights from the dollar store, that run on some sort of battery.  Love these things...3 for a buck.  They were still going when the party was over.  I will keep these around in my supply drawer.  I may watch for some more fancy, clear votive holders, when I am out and about junking.

Just look at those cupcakes.....

These are machine embroidered cupcake pockets.....been doing 25 of these over the past 2-3 weeks.  They have a pocket on the back to put your napkin and silverware in.  I had bought plastic silverware and paper plates, but decided to use my china & silver for the meal, and then we used the paper and plastic for the cake and ice cream.  They turned out so darn cute and now I have them to use for other birthdays.  I got several designs for different holidays and special occasions.....check them out at emblibrary 

 In any entertaining inspiration photos, you seeing banners and lots of them.  I would have liked to do a 3rd one...I like 3 of anything....but I didn't have a simple way of hanging a third one and I really had only 2 ideas....so there you go.  I had found this wonderful classic lettering and saved the entire set to my computer for future use..... hung them with mini clothespins and backed them with black, so that I could use these letters and add to them to say other messages for another time. You might want to take a look at them....

Whole alphabet-banner

The other banner is made with doilies and vintage hankies.  My mother taught school for several years and I have her collection of hankies.  She would get them from students as gifts.....makes for a nice look.

Here are some pictures of mom's parents, doll chair of my mom's....years ago I made counted cross stitch Christmas ornaments with family members names, so I included them by their pictures.

One of my favorite things to do for a special occasion of late, is to do a photo book from Shutterfly.  There are other places to get them, that is just the one I use.  Mom's book is on the far right in the stand.....I like the 8x8" size, but that is just my preference.....they are fun to do and look so professional.

I didn't have a plan to do a quilt for mom, but this little online class came into my email box a few weeks ago.  It was a perfect size project and I liked the idea of the wire frame to hang it in.  It has a lot of techniques and embellishments, which is just down my alley and I learned how to do a couple new things...it was a very fun project.  Fabric Fabrications is a free class, but you do need to make an account.  Check it out!

More pictures, under glass....another thing I like about my sideboard.  I change this stuff all the time and then you can place food or drink on there without ruining your things.  Sorry about the glare, I could not get a clear shot.

Mom and Dad looking everything over before everyone arrived.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love you always!

Happy Valentine's Day To You

A fun stack of " embroidered love" on my old kitchen scale all gifts from my friend, Normajean.

A ladder full of red quilts and stack of "love" books.

Valentine Greetings!!!

A valentine to my "Silver Fox" several years ago.  Find a verse that you love and print it out in several fonts and sizes.  Audition on a light box and trace the lettering with your light box and pigma pen.  Beautiful!!!

I added some silk ribbon embroidery too.  I just saw some linens like this at the dollar store for a buck.

Still life on my treadle, the young girl is my Grandma T. as a young girl.

I love pincushions, this is a sweet little red beauty with crocheted blooms.

A treasure box full of pink loveliness.

A box full of red hugs and kisses.

Happy Valentine's Day from me to you.

(Right click on the clip art and save if you wish.)

Christmas Cards

The house is pretty much decorated for Christmas.....I am down to the tinkering stage....which pretty much lasts until I pack everything up till next year.  I wanted to share with you some of the things I do with Christmas cards.

As you know I have a hankering for all things vintage and especially paper ephemera.....not so snobby that I exclude modern reproductions.....a lot of bang for you $$ in my book.  In past years I have used the bathroom mirror as my canvas and using plasti-tak......put up my very favorite vintage looking cards and postcards around the outside edge of the mirror in a collage style as a frame.  But since I have a framed mirror in the remodeled bath....that won't work.  So decided to use my collection of flower frogs to display some of them on my window sills.  Let me just say, if you have wide window sills....I am jealous.  Isn't that silly, but I like making little display vignettes, but my "little, teeny, weeny window sills limit that.  Bummer.

The Silver Fox and I have exchanged the most beautiful Christmas cards almost every year and I have saved everyone of those.  So I have a huge stack of them and I enjoy having some of them displayed each year.  The side board in the the dining room with a piece of plate glass cut to fit the top is the perfect spot to show off some  special paper or textile items.  So here you can see some of my favorite cards that we have given and received. Of special note at the bottom of the photo is a horse drawn carriage....a beautiful laser cut card.....now look at the other end of the side board.....there is the same card....mirror image.  That year we bought the same card for one another, isn't that a hoot!!!

This is the Longaberger tray that I pretty much keep on my kitchen table year round and again it has a clear protector in it.....so it lends itself to more display space and tucked underneath are several more cards from one of us.

Then I have a special affinity for shaped cards....here is a sweet little coffee pot from one of my quilt friends that I have in a flower frog and looks like it belongs to Susan Branch.....isn't her artwork, but pretty much looks like her with a tiny little painted birdhouse with a real shingle on the roof....also made by a very talented quilt friend, as a party favor.  Don't you want to be included in that party, where the hostess has gifts for all her guests?  :)

The rest of the Christmas cards go into my gift wrapping basket to be cut up at some point into gift tags for another year.  I used to use decorative scissors to cut out various shapes including some of the sentiments and titles if there was enough white space on them to use as a tag.  But since getting a die cutting machine, they look pretty professional using the many dies to cut various shapes.....very fun and simple to do.

You might want to make up a little gift wrapping basket to keep your supplies in during the month of December, so you aren't wasting time assembling/putting away each time you wrap.  Don't you like my Christmas gift wrap scissors.  A very fun little gift from one of my quilty friends.  Then my fav tape holder for wrapping, which you wear across the back of your hand and it pulls out just the right strip of tape.  I've been known to pick up lots of refills for this puppy during the after Christmas sales.....just a thought.  :)  You can't see it, but there is a ribbon cutter tool in there and then my "bag-o-tags."

Here are the remainder of our cards to each other.

I love this little container made from Christmas cards.  I don't know if this was made by my Grandma K. or her mother.  I am thinking Grandma K., as it was at their house for as long as I can remember.  It is a nice little container with a flip type lid all crocheted together with pearl cotton.  The cards are layered with some clear plastic, which is probably the only reason it has survived.

Just in case you just don't have any vintage looking cards....here is a cute Santa to start a collection with or to add to what you already have.  Would be very cute printed out on card stock or a heavy presentation paper and cut out around the shape to display in a flower frog on your window sill.....enjoy!!

Send me a picture.....I like mail.  :)