A Little Treasure for your Heart & Home...
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
BURLAP { EGG } TUTORIAL…
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- I receive a lot of comments on these cute {little} burlap eggs . I have a slight addition to making them & have them placed all about my home. I couldn’t resist placing them in this photo of the crocus , I spotted in my neighbors garden. (yes, I asked first;)… They are so popular, I decided to share a DIY Tutorial so you could enjoy plenty of burlap eggs at your home too!
- This project is quite simple… All you need is plastic Easter eggs($ store), roll of jute twine, & hot glue gun and sticks.
- Once you have {gathered} up all your egg making supplies, its time to get started… Begin by putting a tiny bit of glue on the rim of 1/2 of the egg and pushing it together so the egg halves are held in place. It’s not pretty when the egg comes open after you are finished!)
- Next, put glue on the widest end of the egg and starting small, wrap the twine in a circular direction .
- Once you get started keep applying more glue as you go and wrap each section of twine tightly together to avoid seeing the color show through.
- Just keep on wrapping & wrapping , don’t pay too much attention to the copious amounts of hot glue building up on your fingertips at this time …you can pick it off later!
- When you have wrapped the egg completely it will look like this. Take a minute to push any twine strands closer together if needed.
- You are almost done! Finish by clipping the twine free from the roll and tucking the end in nicely with a dab of hot glue.
- I do not mind the process of wrapping these at all & have made many while watching a movie, however now comes the best part …. adding them to {your} home decor! You can leave them natural looking just the way they are…
- or add embellishments to them if you like.
- Many of you have requested that I {show} you some decorating ideas. Here I displayed one in a vintage metal scoop with a cute little spring birdie by and old mailbox ….
- another thought is in a piece of old chippy enamel ware under a cloche on top of a scale or vintage saucer….
- Lastly, you could just put it in a {nest}! I have this one diplayed on my front porch in a vintage wagon.
These {little} eggs have endless possibilities and look cute all spring.
FYI…If you just love these & would prefer to buy them they are available at Little Vintage Place at etsy
Go… {ENJOY} the Little Things….
~Aprile
{SWEET} MEMORIES…
- One of my fondest and oldest memories is rolling out and making homemade sugar cookies for Valentines Day. My Mama faithfully made these with us almost every year & I can picture her hands as if it were yesterday… I rarely let the holiday pass without enjoying the process with my own children. Yesterday was no exception. I love the smell of the sweet dough and the feel of it as I roll it out. It was fun to grab a vintage rolling pin & cookies cutters from my collection, and cut them out with my children.
- Even though the dough is fun I enjoy the decorating more… the more fun sprinkles and types of frosting the better!
- I captured this photo of the {perfect} sugar cookie in my six year old’s eyes! Vanilla frosting two inches thick with red-hot candy hearts! The frosting bag barely left his hands before this beauty met his lips!
- Some of my older children & I got a bit more elaborate in the decorating, but managed to get copious amounts of frosting on our sugar cookies as well.
- When all the decorating was done I loved seeing the how the personalities of each one of us was reflected in our {piece of art}. I had to get one of my vintage milk glass plates to display them in , of course, but the beauty lies in the memory.
- This Valentine’s Day morning as I entered my kitchen , to start a pot of coffee , there on the counter was the beautiful plate of valentine sugar cookies reminding me of the sweet time with my children & friends as well as the {lovely} tradition and memory my mama had taken the time to share with and pass on to me… I was so glad I hadn’t talked myself out of doing it with a thousand good reasons of why there wasn’t time and it is so messy! Oh, the beautiful MESS!
So today, on the holiday that is designed to celebrate {love}, I encourage you to make a {little } time to make a {big} mess… One you won’t regret and make some sweet memories with those you cherish.
Now, time for that coffee & one of those sweet cookies!:)
Happy Valentines Day!
Aprile
Favorite Sugar Cookie Recipe
1 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar{ I prefer 3/4 cup powered sugar &1/4 cup granulated sugar)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups flour { I used 3}
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter & sugar until creamy. Add in egg, vanilla & almond. slowly add in powdered sugar and beat until well blended. Add in salt & flour until nice smooth consistency. Chill 1hr ( if you have time)
Pre heat oven 375 F . grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
After chilling, roll the dough out on a floured surface 1/4 inch thick and cut out cookies with cookie cutters.Carefully transfer them to the cookie sheets and bake 7-9 minutes or light brown. Let cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
4oz. cream cheese {room temp}
1/2 cup butter
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar or more
3-5 TBS. milk
1 tsp. vanilla & 1tsp almond extract
food coloring
In a large mixing bowl, with mixer beat cream cheese, butter, and flavorings together until nice and fluffy. Add desired food coloring until well blended. Slowly add Powdered sugar.
{OLD}SWEATER PROJECT #2…
- As promised, another fun , {old} sweater project… here are all the jars I have played around with so far. I covered most of them with a old white sweater & and then covered a few with pieces of an {old} crocheted doily too. I simply cut the sweater pieces to fit the jar and hot glued them into place. Some I covered the entire mouth of the jar and others just to the rim. Then I added jute string around the top with a cute {Love} Valentine tag. You can embellish these anyway you want. With scraps of fabric, beads, etc. I really love how they turned out especially the contrast of textures!
- I added glass votive holders to the inside of the jars to decorate my mantle and coffee table. Love, Love how pretty the candlelight shows through the texture.
This project is quite easy and most of the materials you probably have on hand at home. So go ahead grab some {old } jars and sweaters and make a masterpiece this weekend…
WARNING: These could become addictive & require digging through children’s closets for more {old} sweaters!
Here is a list of supplies :
{old} sweater
{old} jars
hot glue/gun
embellishments
imagination:)
Please post pics on my fB page.
{OLD} SWEATER PROJECT #1…
Maybe it’s the winter weather & how warm & snug a sweater feels? Then again, it might be that I just love all the different textures and patterns of sweaters, I can’t really pin point one particular reason… But I am totally fixated on any kind of project I can do made from an { old } sweater! I have surely pinned a thousand ideas & dreamed up a thousand more… So begins my { old} Sweater Project blog … Many to follow soon & be purchased in my shop too! I love, love how warm & cute these { little } pennants look… Anywhere! Hope you have fun making these on a cold winter afternoon sometime very soon!
To make : You will need a few common household supplies, a ruler, pen, scissors, yarn, and light weight cardboard { I used an empty cereal box}
….And an { old } Sweater, of course! 100 % wool felted : washed and dried on hottest settings. { I thrifted mine }
Now, use your good ole ‘ ruler and make a cardboard triangle { 4″ w x 4 3/4″ shown} or any size you want:)
Trace your cardboard pattern for how many triangles it takes for the desired length of your banner.
Cut them out and they should not fray or unravel because you did the wool felting process first.
Clip a tiny hole in the top points of each triangle and pull yarn through the holes ! That’s it! You are done with your own adorable { sweater } pennant.
I love this idea very much and wanted to share, but I must give credit Mr. Matthew Mead for this terrific idea from his Christmas All Through the House magazine.
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