It Feels Like Spring

It's my favorite time of year when all of the birds start chirping, the flowers bloom, and everything turns green again.  It is so much happier than winter.  Springtime always means wedding season is approaching.  Even though most of my friends are married (with children), it's my sister's turn.  She's the last wedding of the family, so her future sister-in-law and I threw her a couples shower.  By far, the biggest hit were my tiny individual desserts.  It took 12 times longer to make them in the little jelly jars, but they are 112 times cuter!  And YUM, we had Oreo dirt cups and banana pudding.  Seriously, the cream cheese in both recipes just makes the desserts!

 

In other news, you know how you walk past all of the swimwear racks at the stores and cringe?  Well, at least I do.  It is harder to find a good swimsuit than a pair of jeans, which is also utterly depressing.  I haven't bought a swimsuit since I was in college--and it was my first one piece!  I loooovvvvvve it because it covers, but it is still youthful and not granny-like.  But as luck would have it, I was shopping for a down comforter since Massey threw up Goldfish on ours (totally my fault), and I passed a rack of coverups and two-pieces.  My first thought was, Who even wears bikinis anymore? Sorority girls?  Then I saw one that caught my eye.  How old is too old to wear a two-piece? Eh, I'm  not even thirty!  I grabbed the only small, sadly reliving the dressing room nightmares involving two-piece swimsuits where you don't get to pick the bottom size or the top size. Why do they even do that?  I was starting to tense up just thinking about it, so I almost put it back. Almost.  Somehow I tried it on, and it fit!!!  I had to snap a quick picture and send it to my sister to see if it was cute or too old lady. I will spare you the pale practice shot, but this is the suit!


Macy's has this in other colors for $54, but I snagged this one at TJ Maxx for $29!

Margaret has inspired me to play with watercolors.  She taught me how to mix acrylics and paint on canvas, but I really have no talent for creating colors or the actual painting part.  Not that this is very talented either, but it feels like elementary school, which is nice. 

PS, my very first car (yes, it has been 10 years) has turned to 100,000.  And for the record, I was the passenger when I snapped this picture!

Old School Lettering

I have been obsessed with calligraphy since I got to plan my pretend wedding in Bible class my senior year of high school.  Since then, I've pinned a million pretty fonts and saved all of my favorite examples of envelopes with different styles of calligraphy.  When it was my turn to actually plan a wedding, I started practicing Copperplate calligraphy.  I even addressed my save-the-dates!  But I just had to have someone else do the real thing--the style I chose was even called "Massey!"  As long as you have a steady hand and like practicing handwriting, anyone can do it!  all you need are the basic supplies: pen, nibs (I like the B6, 512, and C2 size for everyday, extra fine, and thick lettering), ink, and a ruler.  Over the last three years, I have practiced off and on... mostly off, until today!

Supplies

 
Manual


Thanks to my teaching habits, I feel the need to find my mistakes...


And reward myself for good ones!  :)


The capitals are my favorites and loopy names. 

Mmmmm, I just LOVE calligraphy on invitations!!!


This is, by far, the best [cheap] paper for practicing.


Jayne will be so happy to see Krisitna's treats table cards Monday.


It's not perfect, but it's a start!

Hop to It

I am the queen of cheesy titles.  Anyway, being the saver that I will one day be (really!), I refuse to pay $30 for burlap.  Even if it's painted, polka dotted, and shaped like a bunny.  Pinterest, oh how I love thee and loathe thee at the same time.

The OTMJ got re-purposed as a pattern template.  It's roughly 18"x24".

Even more green: a re-purposed dry cleaning pants hanger turned door hanger hanger. (That sounds super weird to read!)


A very rough sketch, plus cuteness polka dots.

Getting closer...

At least it mostly resembles a bunny.

Staples and plastic baggy "stuffing" complete the form.  Sewing would likely be the best, but then I wouldn't get to use my one-touch stapler and I would have to vacuum up the mess.

One inch yard sale dot stickers plus...

white spray paint makes him springy!
*White paint would work, too.  I'm just not that patient.


Floral wire and leftover scraps make the tail.

And the burlap bow makes this one door hanging that may never leave my door!

(I am also envisioning a cute Easter egg, American flag, football, and acorn...)

Spring Things

Spring is quite possibly my favorite time of year.  Specifically, I love when all of the cherry trees blossom and their tiny petals float in the breeze like snow--but it's 80 degrees instead of 20, and I get to wear coral shorts.  Here are some happenings that keep me smiling this month.

{1: : Patterned Drapes}

This is Covington Katana in Travertine Taupe.  It was $20/yard, minus my 20% off coupon (annv1).

Four hours of crawling on the floor, smoothing out the fabric, pinning, sewing, and two very sore legs after, voila!  I am SO pleased to have window coverings that will block my neighbors' unsightly selves and dining room.  Hooray!

I was surprised how many options Lowe's had for drapery poles.  In the end, we went with a pick-each-part-separately approach and ended up with an 8' walnut fluted pole, round end caps, and large rings with clips.

I added seven 4-inch pleats to help give the drapes a little more pleating when they are pushed to the side.

All of my seams and print repeats match up perfectly!  THAT is what took so very long.

{2: : Windmill Quilt}

This pattern is much larger than it's pinwheel sister, but I can't wait to see it on MCH's twin bed!

{3: : Mercury Glass Tumblers}

Where are these hiding?

{4: : A Golden Birthday}

Massey turned 7 on the 7th!!

{5: : New Blooms}

Eleven (yes, eleven!!!) stargazer lily blooms from 3 stems--$10 at Publix!

{6: : Aroma Therapy}

It's like having the real thing all year long.  This super fragrant candle hasn't even been lit.

{7: : Bradford Pear Trees}

Is it even possible for these to be any more symmetrical and gorgeous next to a swirly cloud background? 

Rent the Runway

I was thrilled when I found this big box on my porch today!! This is my first time with Rent the Runway, and I am super-pumped to get a $395 Mark & James by Badgley Mischka mosaic caftan dress for $50. Since I was "new" to the site, I also got $20 off. The best part is that you get to choose two sizes so that when it comes in, you get to wear the one that fits the best. I schedueled the dresses to arrive tomorrow, but they were one day early! Hooray! Ok, enough exclamations. Since Phil is busy with baseball, I get tonight to myself. After my hour long walk with Massey in this beyond lovely 78 degree weather, I was ready to try on my dress and eat my lunchroom spaghetti. Yum.

Everything comes packaged, bagged, and neatly folded in a garment bag.

The return envelope and Perfect Fit tip sheet came with fashion tape and a reminder card!

I really like that the belt came with it since the XS was past my knees and very baggy.

One shoulder dresses are so not me, but I really like this one! I'm still going back and forth between poof at the top hair or side swept half up. (And I am terrible at iPhone pictures!) More updates to come apres Saturday.

Look at that baby!!!  How can you not melt when you see that face?! We are enjoying every last minute of being SIX.

Where to Find the Perfect Gift

When buying gifts, I've always gone with the mindset that if I like it, the recipient will too. This typically has served me well, but thanks to Pinterest, I can use my supersonic power of deduction to figure out what other people like and, therefore, would like to receive! My friend is having a birthday in about a month, and I have been brainstorming some ideas. Last year, my initial heart necklace was just perfect. Earrings? A bracelet? More jewelry??? Well, that's a tough call because I don't want to give the same thing each year! Lucky me, I found a pin of hers that looked simple[ish] and unique. Enter the hanging dishtowel. Thanks to all the quilts I have made, I have about 30 different coordinating scraps in brights and pastels and plenty of quilt batting (I used this instead of the recommended felt piece). I have no idea what my friends kitchen color palette is, but I figure that I would use any of these in my kitchen even though none of them "match". 

I found the suggested pattern, printed it, and got to work. The author describes this as a "quick, 1-hour project" but if you are anything like me, you will spend 30 minutes deciding on towels and coordinating fabric, 10 minutes choosing the perfect button, 5 minutes cutting your dishtowels perfectly in half, and at least 10 minutes arranging the pattern so that you can make as many of these as possible. That was how I spent my first hour of this project. In real-time, I think this is more like a Saturday afternoon project instead of a quick let's-make-a-cute-present project. And, of course, I had to make two "practice" towels for myself. Anyway, here is how it went down.

1. Lay out the pattern and trace onto your fabric.

2. Cut two top pieces and a piece of batting to match.
3. Face the two good sides together, and lay the batting on top.
4. (Not shown) Cut the tab pieces and stick on all sides except bottom. Turn right side out and add between the two facing pieces, above. This will save you a step later.



5. Pin in place and stitch on all sides except the bottom. Turn right side out.

6. Gather the towel, or pleat, and pin in place.

7. Turn the ends of the top piece under about a 1/2" all around. Sandwich the towel in between the top and bottom of the upper piece. Stitch in place.

8. Stitch a button hole on the top tab and a button on the upper piece. Sadly, I chose to order cut, matching buttons, and they still have not arrived!!

Voila!! The perfect birthday gift, plus two new-to-me yellow towels!

*Side note: I prewashed my fabrics and towels first, but I think the presentation of the gift would be much more crisp and "new" if I had not!

Happy Mardi Gras

Well it was really on Tuesday, but I have been celebrating all month long with five different King Cakes!!! After my first one (that was straight from NO!), I had to make one at home. I followed this "healthy" recipe, and it took about two days for this to be eaten up!

The cream cheese, brown sugar, and cinnamon filling was the icing to this cake recipe!


Crescent rolls replaced the need to make dough.

If you don't already have neon icing, buy some!


Yummmm.


And a little extra happy!