Pretty packages

Here they are, all dressed up in their party clothes.  My gifts for the birthday tea are ready to go.  I do enjoy creating an attractive package to present gifts in.  Sometimes I think the package is even prettier than the gift.  I couldn't find just the right size box for these fancied up bottles so I ended up making my own.  I got the idea from an old fashioned oatmeal box.  I created a cut file for my Cricut using the George cartridge.  That way I could easily adjust height and diameter based on what sizes I needed.  I used some old vintage looking cardstock I had in my stash and got to work.  I think next time I will use something a little heavier.  These boxes won't hold up to a lot of weight but they sure look cute.

The bottles are filled with White Tea (of course) and Jasmine bath salts. Well I'm off to get myself ready for the tea.  Have a great day and I'll talk to you again soon.

Birthday Tea Time

This is one of the little events that I look forward to every year. My mom, my sister and her two daughters (my nieces) all go out for a birthday tea. We have a great tea room here in town and it's a rare chance for us to all be together. I give them each a little present for their birthdays at the tea. This year I found some pretty little bottles that needed just a little dressing up.

So I got out my tools and my trays of beads, findings and ribbon and gussied them up.

I hope they like them.  The tea room always has a theme for the month and this time it's "the pirate's life for me".  I think these could be considered part of a pirate's treasure.  What do you think?  Leave me a comment and let me know.  I'll talk to you again soon.

A note of thanks!

Some days you need a little help from your friends...

You know who you are.  Thanks so much for helping out when you were needed! I'll talk to you again soon.

Happy Father's day!

I did a little baking for Father's day.  Unfortunately I couldn't deliver today so dad, if your checking in, they are on their way along with a few other little gifts.

I hope all those special dad's had a great day today.  We love and appreciate you.  I'll talk to you again soon.

Playing in the kitchen

Woke up this morning and felt like cooking.  It all started with the cranberry scones for breakfast. Yum.

Then I was planning on something chicken for dinner so I marinated some and then broiled it around lunch time.  It looked so good I decided I needed a little of it for my salad.  I chopped up the rest for a delish chunky chicken salad for dinner.

I was feeling the need for something a little sweet so...

I started with some simple chocolate cookies and added ice cream and a few sprinkles and mini chocolate chips.

Mini ice cream sandwiches.  Perfect for a little evening sweet to end the day.  Well, dishes are done and I have a sewing project to get finished so I'll talk to you again soon.

Crochet Flowers Obsession?

Yes, I have a new obsession.  If you have visited my blog more than once you have probably noticed I love adding flowers to my projects.  I have made fabric and felt and crepe-paper, punched and crumpled and painted and beaded flowers.  Well, now it is crocheted flowers.  This is another of those portable activities I can take along as I'm waiting , and I find that I am waiting a lot of the time:)  I had seen these cute flowers on other blogs adorning all different kinds of projects so I thought "I can make those".  I found some great tutorials on you tube and a variety of crochet  sites, they were extremely helpful.  I bought my hooks and thread from that big store up the hill, (you know the one) and I started making flowers.  My family and friends were constantly asking me "what are you going to do with all those" or "are you going to make a blanket with them?".  They suddenly started to get it when these little flowers started showing up on gifts and projects I was working on.  Of course most of the projects I made left the premises before having their picture taken, but as you can see I have plenty more to work with.

I was on my way out the door to drop off a few things at a friends house when I decided the bag need a little work.  Tada... my little flowers to the rescue. 

Thanks for stopping in, I'll talk to you again soon.

Blogging again!

Whew! Now that the intensity of the end of the year has finally passed, I am once again gazing into the possibilities of summer break.  The frantic pace of the last 5 weeks now screeches to a crawl as I am determined to relax and breath for the next few weeks.  Yes, I did stamp and sew and craft the whole month of May but, for the most part, it was to finish a project to give away the next day.  So, not many pictures were taken.  I am hoping to get the creative flow going over the summer to stock pile a few things so I'm not under the time crunch I have been these past few weeks. 

I was able to snap some quick shots of these cute little recipe books I put together for my volunteers and EA.  This adorable paper is the Mayberry kit from Close to my heart.

There is a section for favorite recipes, pictures of friends and family.  I included a couple of favorite recipes that I had made for them during the past year and additional blank recipe cards for them to add other favorites.  I added pictures of all of us from different events during the year and then pictures I had taken of their children during the year were in the book under family.  There are extra pages in each section for them to continue adding to their books.

More to come as I slow down my pace and give the creative flow a chance to recharge a bit.  Thanks for stopping by, I'll talk to you again soon.