The 2015 Christian Education Appreciation Dinner

The past week (and more) has been taken up with preparing our annual appreciation dinner for the workers in our church's children's department.  We have an outstanding staff and stellar volunteers who spend many hours giving to our kids. Teaching them about faith and love, practicing programs and plays, putting on a fabulous VBS program every year.  They deserve a night out, to be waited on hand and foot and a chance to relax and not lift a finger. That is our goal.

This year Earl and I thought it would be fun to put on a Tapas dinner in the yard. Tapas means "small plate" and is meant to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace. It is a wonderful way to enjoy a relaxed meal of lots of fun foods with plenty of time for conversation and laughter around the table. We brought out 4 courses over the evening and if feedback is any indication, a good time was had by all.

 The first course, marinated mushrooms and olives, fresh grapes, toasted bread, pesto and herbed olive oil for dipping and almonds spiced with sea salt, rosemary and smoked paprika. Earl had a stash of hardwood veneers in his workshop and decided to use some of them to make some beautiful serving boards.

 A quick snapshot of the centerpieces lined up on the windowsill, Stella Doro lilies and lavender.

I didn't get a picture of the tables. Truth be told, we hit the ground running early in the day and I was lucky to remember to take pictures at all. Did I mention this dinner was for 30+ people?  Yes, and just so you know, this is a picture of the aftermath in the kitchen. Lord have mercy.  My daughter Lauren keeps telling me we make entertaining look easy.  I'm here to tell you it isn't, especially when it is for that many people.  I'm not even sure if that counts as entertaining so much as catering. The good thing about doing it at home is you can load the dishwasher, turn out the lights on the rest of the mess and fall into bed...which is pretty much what we did.  Would I do it again? Not for 30+ people. We were fortunate to have 4 adult volunteers who were real go getters. Thank goodness we had the help, I really don't think we could have done this without them. I will be sharing recipes and a few more pictures of the evening later. I think Tapas is a fabulous way to entertain a smaller group of friends and we found some recipes that we will be making again!  Now I need to catch up on all your posts, and yes, I'm still putting away dishes :)

I ♥ Estate Sales

You may be wondering what I have been up to this past week, or perhaps you haven't missed me at all, it is summer after all, and we do have lots of fun things to do and less time to share them. At least that is my excuse!

I haven't just been busy in the garden, although I did spend most of the evening weeding and primping the garden last night. There is so much to be done and it has been hard to keep up between rainy days. I couldn't bear to take the clover out of the sides of this old basket of marigolds though. It just seemed so pretty and charming to me. I guess I like my gardens with a touch of wildness :)

 But on to the subject at hand, this is as much of my bedroom as you are going to see today.  You see, I was playing hookey at some estate sales this morning instead of cleaning.  What can I say? It is summer and some hookey must be played! I'm so glad I did though! I found these two old quilts, all hand stitched and in patterns I have been coveting but simply don't have the skill / patience to tackle myself. 

 The one with the large appliqued flowers , (does anyone know the pattern name of this?) is full / queen size. It has a couple teeny holes but is otherwise in lovely condition.  I have seen these quilts for years and have always wanted one. Now I have one!

 The grandmother's flower garden quilt, Oh be still my heart!, is a twin size, but I don't care at all. Some day I will no doubt have grandchildren and they can snuggle under this beautiful quilt when they come to see us. Or I'll use it on the end of the bed or in the living room.

 Here they are together, I am thrilled as can be. They were a whopping $45 each, which I will admit, I almost never spend that much while estate saleing, but I couldn't buy the fabric for that amount, let alone tackle these patterns! I feel like I got a steal of a deal :)

 I also found this green depression glass butter dish for .75,so pretty!

And this enamelware pitcher with the graceful handle was .50   Cute farmhouse style accessories for a song. The pitcher is sitting next to an old brown bowl that I scored for $1 earlier this spring. 
I also got several boxes of old buttons for under $5. When I say boxes, I don't mean shoe box size. This was the mother lode of buttons!  We took a quick look through them and ...well, that's a whole other post ;)

Have you been to any good sales lately?

Heart Banner Tutorial

Better late than never right?  I promised this to you by the end of last week and then just couldn't get it done.  Ah well, onward and upward.  This is such an easy little banner you will no doubt be saying "I could have figured that out on my own" nevertheless, here is a step by step.

1. You will need three pieces of fabric for each heart. I used  one  4" square scraps of  quilting fabric, a leftover scrap of eyelet and one 4" square of light cotton batting for the middle. The batting gives the shape some body.  You will also need 1/2" wide bias tape.  You can make the back the same fabric as the front, use a plain white if it won't show or do a different print. Use what you have! This is a great way to use your scraps.

2. Cut out a heart shape, or any shape you want to make for your banner. This technique will work for almost anything. Flowers, (like the ones I did for my office below!), hearts, maybe pumpkins for fall or apples for the beginning of school? 

3. I made a heart shape pattern on card stock so I could just trace around the pattern and all my hearts would be the same size. It is about 3 1/2" tall. Trace around the shape with a fine point disappearing marker. You can also just use a pencil to mark the back piece of fabric where it won't show. I am not left handed, this is my simulation of tracing the heart while I juggle a camera. I looks a little wonky, but you get the idea :)



 4. Stack your fabrics with the two quilting fabrics right side out with the batting sandwiched between them.  I don't even bother to pin them all together. The batting does a pretty good job of keeping the fabrics from slipping, but if you have a problem go ahead and pin. Then line up the outline of the heart with your needle and start sewing the three layers together.

 I like to use the decorative stitches on my machine for this. I think it just adds another layer of detail and it's fun to use them since I seldom get a chance in my regular sewing.  If you would rather, or you find it easier, go ahead and use a straight stitch, it's totally up to you.  This is how it looks sewn together.  Now trim off the hanging threads.....

 And 5. trim around the heart.   I like to use my pinking shears because it gives a pretty edge and keeps the edges from fraying.

  I like to use 1/2 inch wide  bias tape for my banner. It usually comes in a 3 yard length, You can cut it to any length you want.  I cut mine in half so my banner is 54" long. 

 6. Find the center of your tape and center a heart on it.  I usually make an odd number of hearts so I can straddle that center with the rounded parts of the heart. I also just like how odd numbered items look.  Pin the hear to the tape and then pin the rest of your hearts evenly on each side. I always just eyeball it, but if you want to measure, you can.

 7.  Now just sew a straight line across the part of the heart that is on the tape.  I usually use white thread because I find it is hardly noticeable with the bright colors I use.

 And you're done! I'm keeping this patriotic banner because July 4th is right around the corner, But I have a few multicolor banners in the shop if anyone wants one.  This is a fun little project and so easy to personalize. 

 I'll be back soon, (I promise!) with some more frugal wedding decorating tips:>)  Have a great week!



Kathy 1- Chipmunks 0

I have come to the conclusion that I am not your ideal social media user.  I have a Twitter account that I barely use, I have started on Instagram, and I love it, but I just don't think to photograph things often enough. My facebook page gets checked periodically and this blog has been woefully neglected. Still, I soldier on and enjoy the interaction I do have with you, but real life has to trump all that.

Right now I am totally distracted by the garden.  The planting,

the trips to the farmers market to Buy. More. Flowers.  Can you ever have enough?

 

The gazing at the roses just beginning to bloom.

 The garden right now is taking up an inordinate amount of time. I seem to be obsessed with sunset colored blooms this year, like these begonias.

 And these...whatever they are.  I saw the color and had to have them. The sun was so beautiful on these this morning!

 And as for the score in the title. Well, these are just a few of the berries we have managed to get before the chipmunks Score! They are absolutely gorgeous and bountiful this year.

 I  also wanted to let you know the heart swags that I made back in February made it into the June issue of Australian Homespun magazine!  I was so excited when the editor contacted me wanting to include this photo.  I made these on a whim and got such a sweet response .  I have a few swags that will be in the shop by the end of the week, but I will also be doing a tutorial in a couple days so you can make your own. :)

 

 

What's distracting you from social media right now? ;)

In the Garden

It's been a beautiful Spring so far and here we are suddenly in June. I remember longing for this weather and it seems like just yesterday that it seemed it would never be here. Blink and the year is half gone, one more reminder to savor each day!

 

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend with my eldest daughter flying in for one day, (we got am amazing rate on airfare so it was well worth it!), a big family cookout and just lots of family fun and love. Since then, we have been concentrating on getting the garden expanded and planted.  Michigan just passed it's last frost date for planting so we are really just in the beginning stages of planting the vegetable garden.

Fortunately, we have perennials that start blooming and making things beautiful fairly early. These Siberian iris are one of my favorites. They line our picket fence and have bloomed profusely this year.

 Their deep purple flowers are more petite than regular iris and each stalk has 3-4 buds so they are lasting a long time.

 They bloom next to the snowball bush and it makes a beautiful pairing! I took these photos as the sun set one evening last week. The light was beautiful and I just had to capture how lovely the garden looked.

 Like lilacs, I don't remember ever living in a house without a snowball bush. My grandmother had them and so did my mother.  I have always loved their big creamy white balls of soft petals and even the way they make a drift of white when they begin to fade. It's a very fast growing bush and ours is about 9 feet tall after only a few years.

The strawberries are going to be amazing this year too.  They are loaded with berries and some are just beginning to turn pink.  The annual race against the chipmunks will begin soon. Sometimes they win, sometimes we win.  I'm hoping this is a year we win and get to eat the berries :)

Happy June! How does your garden grow?