Tea for Two

I know it's been about a month since I last posted.... aargh! I've been trying to get this post together for a while, but I was kind of dreading it a little. I knew it was going to be complicated and tax my brain... ;)

A while back, I put together a tea set for one of my nieces for her birthday. I was inspired by this set from Pottery Barn:

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: potterybarnkids.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Cute, right? And totally doable.... or so I thought! The little tea sandwiches were pretty easy to figure out, but the cupcakes were a different story... my first version turned out a little crazy and lopsided and not at all like I wanted. But, after I thought about it for a while, I came up with the version below, which I actually really liked.

I ended up making the tea sandwiches, some cupcakes, and some napkins. I bought the plates, cups, and little pitcher at a thrift store. Oh, and I also found an adorable little metal bucket covered in cupcakes to put the whole set in. I think my version came out pretty cute... I kind of wanted to keep it! ;)

This is my first time to try to write a tutorial for anything (which is why I said I was dreading writing this post), so please be patient with me. If you have any questions, or any suggestions for the next time I make these, please feel free to comment and let me know!

The finished product:

The tea sandwiches:

1. Cut out two triangle and three rectangles per sandwich 

 I used paper templates for the triangles and then measured the 

sides of the triangles to determine how long my rectangles should

be... that's a lot of math for this non-math girl! ;)

 2. Sew the rectangles to the three sides of the triangle, right sides together

 Now you have one side of the sandwich finished! I forgot to show

this in any pictures, but at this point, sew the right sides of the

points together (A to B, C to D, E to F)

 3. Attach the other triangle to the sandwich- right sides together

 4. When you've finished sewing all sides of the sandwich together,

turn right side out and stuff.  Little confession: instead of 
leaving part of the seam undone like I would usually do, 
I just cut a slit in one of the triangles to put the stuffing in. 
Don't worry! It will be covered up later!

 The "filling" is now finished... just waiting for some bread!

 For the "crust," I cut a triangle a little larger than the "filling" out

of felt with pinking shears.

5. Handstitch the felt "bread" to the "filling." 

I used regular thread, doubled up, but I ended up going back 

over the stitches to make them a little more substantial. 

You could use embroidery floss as well, and probably just do one set of stitches.

The cupcakes:

I cut out 3 circles- one large, one medium, and one small. I wish

I had more exact measurements for you, but I just used a small

plate for the large circle, a teacup for the medium one, and a 

jar for the small circle.

2. Sew the smallest circle to the middle (roughly) of the largest circle

3. Sew a gathering stitch around the outside of the largest circle

4. Design and sew the top of the cupcake using the medium 

circle as the base. Get creative- you can make whatever design you want!

5. Gather the top of the large circle (cupcake bottom). 

I played around with having the small circle on both the outside 

and the  inside of the bottom. It's really just there for stability, 

so it doesn't matter which way you do it, and it looks 

cute either way.

6. This is where it gets a little tricky, and I'm sorry I don't have 

better pictures! Pin the top of the cupcake to the 

gathered bottom, scrunching (so technical, I know!) it together 

 so that the bottom matches up with the top. Don't forget

to leave an opening for the stuffing.

7. Sew the top and bottom together. The only way I could 

figure out to do this was just to sew around the edges. 

The seam shows, but I wanted the ruffly edge of the bottom 

piece to show at the top.

8. Stuff it and sew the opening closed. Tada! A cupcake!!

I really love how this set turned out! And I think my niece really liked it, too:

I hope this little tutorial made at least a little sense! If you end up making these yourself, I'd love to see what you come up with!!

 

Mini Cooper

A few weeks ago, there was a baby bonanza in my family! On May 8, my brother & his wife had two precious little girls, Ashley Cheyenne and Allison Claire. Later that same day, my youngest sister and her husband had a handsome little boy, Colton Samuel. All three are sooo adorable and huggable and darling and... well, you get the picture! I love all three of our new additions (as well as the other 8 little blessings that my siblings have)!

On Memorial Day weekend, we had the baby shower for my sister & Colton. Their last name is Cooper, so, of course, we had to go with a Mini Cooper theme. It turned out to be a lot of fun & I love how all of the decorations came together!

We didn't send out invitations, but I did create a facebook invitation... complete with this picture:

Isn't he such a cutie?

As I was searching for decorations for the party, I was able to find a lot of red, white, and blue stuff, but it was a little harder finding stuff without stars on it (I was looking for British-themed things, not American). I ended up making several things myself, which tested my very limited design skills, but was a lot of fun!!

One of the things I ended up designing myself was the cupcake toppers. Our printer was out of colored ink, so I printed everything out in grey & then glued them to scrapbook paper I bought at my FAVORITE store, Hobby Lobby.

I love how they turned out- pretty cute, if I do say so myself! ;)

All in all, it was a really fun shower, and I'm so happy for Noni, Joe, and Hailey (Colton's big sister)!

Recipes, Recipes, Recipes

Do you remember my previous posts (here and here) about our church's Mother Daughter Luncheon? It was a ton of fun and the food was so yummy! My friend, Brett, who was in charge of the food, graciously shared her recipes for some of the salads we had at the luncheon. I just wish I had taken pictures of the food- I guess you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that it was amazing!

Healthy Chicken Salad

(tuna may also be used)

1 lg. can chopped cooked chicken (or 2 5-oz cans tuna), drained

8 sm radishes, thinly sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced

1/4 C chopped parsley

2 Tb lemon juice

1 Tb olive oil

1/4 tsp salt & pepper

Combine & chill.

Chicken Salad

proportion according to taste

Chopped, cooked chicken

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Green & red grapes, halved

Apples, diced

Pecans or walnuts

Combine & mix with Miracle Whip. Serve immediately.

Broccoli Salad

Big bunch of broccoli, chopped fine

1/2 C red onion, chopped

1/2 C sunflower seeds

1/2 C golden raisins

6 slices bacon, fried & crumbled

Stir above ingredients together.

Combine:

1 C Miracle Whip

1/4 C sugar

Mix with broccoli mixture. Chill.

And.... as a special treat, Brett also shared her Crock Pot Hot Chocolate recipes. They are both amazing, but you HAVE to try the Snowflake Hot Chocolate.... so good!!!

Creamy Hot Chocolate

1 1/2 C Heavy cream

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

2 C milk choco chips

6 C milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Stir all together in crock pot. Cook on low for 2 hours, whisking occasionally.

Snowflake Hot Chocolate

2 C heavy cream

6 C whole milk

1 bag white choco chips

1 tsp vanilla extract

Stir together in crock pot. Cook on low for 2 hours, whisking occasionally.

Worth A Thousand Words

For quite some time, I've been fascinated by photography. I have several friends who are amazingly talented photographers, and I'm always slightly in awe of the pictures they post. While I'm not planning on trying to become a professional photographer, and I'm pretty sure I'm not ever going to reach the same level  as those friends, I've decided that I'm going to at least try to learn some tips & techniques. I've been doing some research online & reading about different things- lighting, composition, editing, etc. One of the most repeated bits of advice is to practice, practice, practice. Sooooo... I've decided to give myself a challenge to take & post at least one picture a day for the next 365 days. We'll see how that goes.... ;)

My goal is to be able to take great pictures of family & friends- I want to be able to know what I'm doing, at least a little bit, so that I can take reliably beautiful shots that capture moments & memories. I think I'm going to try to convince Nathanael to do this with me so we can learn together... plus, he takes most of the shots for the daily style blog I write for, so the more he learns, the better my outfit pictures will be! *wink*

I've even set up a Flickr account so maybe I'll keep up with the daily photo posting. I'll try to share pictures on here at least once a week, too. And if anybody has any advice or tips for me, I'd love to hear them!

My first picture for the 365 day photo challenge:

Be Ye Kind

This last week, our church had our Mother Daughter Luncheon called "Our Mother's Apron" (read more about my crazy apron obsession here). I took several aprons down to the church to be used as decorations, and as I was ironing them, I came to my grandma's apron. I love that apron- not only is it beautiful, and well made, but it's a sweet reminder of my grandma. As I was ironing it, I started thinking about the legacy that my grandma left behind.

My grandma passed away almost 15 years ago. Logically, it seems like that might be a long time ago... but to all of us who knew her and love her, it seems like yesterday. We still talk about her often... we still tell stories about things she did or said.... we still have things she made or bought at a garage sale for 50 cents... I carried yellow roses at my wedding in her memory... we all still run into people who knew my grandma who tell us what a sweet and special lady she was. My grandma fought a long and painful battle with cancer, and I'm glad she's not suffering anymore, and I'm glad we'll see her again, but thinking about her always brings a smile to my face and a little tear to my eye. She was a godly woman, and obviously, one that her family thinks about often.

So, what made her so special? What made her someone that is so sorely missed all these years after her homegoing? What qualities should I seek to cultivate in my life if I want to leave a legacy like she left? For me, it all boils down to one word: kindness. My grandma loved the Lord, she loved her family, and she loved people. My grandma was a beautiful, funny, smart, talented woman- but the thing that we all remember the most about her wasn't that she was gorgeous, or witty, or could make pretty much anything she saw in a book or TV (although those things are all true)... it was that she was kind. She lived out Ephesians 4:32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Through my grandpa's job & political work, my grandma got to hobnob with some pretty fancy people, but she never treated them any differently than she treated her grandkids, or the teller at the bank, or the kids at church, or anybody with whom she came in contact. Before I got married, I worked at the newspaper in the town where my grandparents lived (my grandpa still lives there). Being a small town, people always asked me if I was related to anyone in town. When I mentioned that I was Bob Willis' granddaughter, 9 times out of 10, I would hear "Your grandma sure was a sweet lady." I even had one lady tell me that my grandma always made her day. What a legacy and a testimony to leave behind... 15 years later, that's what my grandma is remembered for!

Of all the ways that I want to be like her, the one I strive for the most is to exhibit her sweet spirit. I can't really control if I'm as pretty as her, or if I'm as quick witted, or if I'm as smart, or if I'm as resourceful... those are all things that, more or less, you're given by God- but I can work to be kind. Someday, I'd like the memory that people have of me to be that I made a difference in their lives because I was kind.

My grandma & grandpa- pretty, right?

My grandparents with my aunt, my mom, and my uncle

My grandparents, my grandpa's parents, me, Luanne, and Valerie

My grandma and me

My grandma at their house in Minnesota

My grandma and her mom

My grandparents & my great- grandparents

My grandma at the Grand Canyon

My grandparents

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. I Cor 13:13 

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. Psalm 16:6

Strings Attached

Our Mother/ Daughter Luncheon is coming up at church and the theme this year is "Our Mother's Apron." We're supposed to wear our favorite apron to the lunch, so, of course, I've been thinking about and "researching" aprons (I call spending hours on Pinterest looking at stuff "researching" so I don't have to feel guilty....). There are some really cute ones out there!

One of the great things about aprons (besides the whole protecting your clothes thing) is that they are relatively easy to make and there are tons of free patterns all over the internet. I like full aprons better than just the half ones, but that's because I'm an incredible messy cook (and eater, but we don't need to bring that up!). As you'll see in the pictures I posted below, there are so many ways to make an apron as fancy or as plain as you like. C'mon, jump on the bandwagon... you know you want to sit down and sew an apron right now! ;)

I actually own a couple of aprons already- I have a vintage one that my grandma made, one that I made, and a few from my sister's stint at Starbucks (she passed them along to me because I am addicted to, I mean, kind of like, Starbucks coffee). But, since I've been finding all of these really cool ideas and patterns, I'm getting together with a friend to sew some aprons for her and her daughters... and I'll probably end up making one for me, too. I can't wait to see what we come up with!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, is a round up of different apron styles and ideas:

Apron I made for my mom-in-law using scraps
of Nathanael's uniform

Vintage apron made by my Grandma

Ruffly apron I made from calico and some scraps of pink cotton 

Source: craftinessisnotoptional.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Ruffly half- apron from Craftiness Is Not Optional

Source: shabbyapple.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Cute apron for sale at Shabby Apple

Source: onjustacoupleacres.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Gathering apron from Reformation Acres

Source: nothingbutpennycandy.tumblr.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Vintage style apron with fun little accents- love the pom pom trim! From Pretty Little Things.

And if you're like me and just can't get your fill of aprons, check out my apron board on Pinterest!

30 Years of Love

So... I blew my New Year's Resolution of posting on here once a week... but I had a good excuse, I promise!! I've been busy planning a surprise get- together for my parents' 30th anniversary! It was TONS of fun to plan, and they were so surprised! It was pretty low- key, and it was just family, but it was a lot of fun to plan something to honor two of my favorite people. 30 years is a long time to stay together, and they are still very in love with each other. It's so neat to see how much they enjoy just being around each other now that they have the house all to themselves. I'm very proud of them & grateful for the example that they show!

I have to admit, I had to tone down my party planning OCD when it came to this little shindig... I love to try to come up with ways to "totally transform" spaces and make every single little detail "go" with the theme... BUT, my parents are not those kind of people. And... I didn't want to be really stressed out about something that was supposed to be a fun and relaxed time. So, I decided that we'd go with a green & blue theme (my parents' favorite colors)... and candy!! Lots of candy!! ;) The table ended up looking a little more "Easter" than I wanted it to, but I think it still was very pretty!

Something else really fun that we did was make a banner saying "30 Years of Love" and clothespinned it up with pictures and balloons. It turned out so nice! (My nephew Ryan helped me with the pictures, and my brother, Robert, and  my husband, Nathanael, helped with the balloons... and tons more, but more about that later!). I really love how it turned out!

A BIG part of any Perkins family gathering is food... and this food was delicious!! My brother grilled steaks and hot dogs, my sister made potato salad, and I made a couple of desserts (apple pie and Tom Selleck). It was all kinds of delicious! Plus, we all ate more than our fair share of the candy scattered on the tables, so we were all so stuffed!

After dinner, we moved to the carport and watched a slideshow of pictures from my parents' lives together. The slideshow was 15 minutes long, so I'll spare you the extended version, but here's a little sample of the "movie." The original had tons more pictures and even a video, all set to some good ol' bluegrass music.

It was a great night! It's always fun to get together with family, but it was especially sweet to be able to honor my parents. I can't wait until their 50th!

A HUGE thank you to Robert & Amanda for hosting the party at their house... especially since Amanda is about 7 1/2 months pregnant... with twins!! They did a bunch of work and preparation to make our little get- together possible. Robert did the grilling and did a bunch of setup work, and made sure we had the projector all ready to go.
Thank you to Amanda, Luanne, and Valerie for sending pics and video for the slideshow (and Noni for letting me "steal" some pics off her facebook). Also, thank you to Valerie bringing the potato salad & chips- yummy!
A BIG thanks to my husband for putting up with weeks of obsessive worrying about whether everything would go smoothly... and all the work he did at the actual party... and for taking the pictures!

Like I said, it was so much fun, and I know my parents enjoyed themselves. I even saw my dad crying a little during the slideshow... ;) I'm so glad that we could all make this sweet memory together!