Merry Christmas!
celebrations
Wishing you the Merriest of Christmases, from all of the Nathan Family!
celebrations
Fall into winter decor
celebrations, Food and Drink, hand painted signs, holiday decor, parties 
The dinner party on Saturday night was such fun. The trick was making all the food the day before, so I could just pop the pans in the oven and let them cook till it was time for the party. No fuss at all, I could relax and enjoy my friends.
In the afternoon before they arrived, I had time to make up some little trees to set out on the table, then give away at the end of the night.
This one has a B for Beth.
If all of this set up looks familiar, its because I've been using the same tablescape all season.
These are the same glittered pumpkins that I used for Halloween. I just removed the most overtly Halloween themed stuff, then added some Fall/Thanksgiving things and then when that holiday was over, I added some Christmas flair to the setting.
Like this green glitter fairy from Walmart for $1. They had them in all colors, but had sold out of everyone but green at my local store. But I think it kind of fits the look of my table and adds a punch of color.
Plus, I'll be able to use them again for spring time decor.
Since the basis for the table scape was all neutral, and lots of nature inspired pieces, it seemed to flow from season to season with just a few changes here and there.
Like tucking in some glittered stars-
A few of my bottle brush trees-
Some art work from Romantic White Christmas-
3 French hens (there is another one somewhere)-
Holiday messages of joy-
And more stars, this one is backed with fringed sheet music.
Way back before everything got cold and wintery, I picked these branches of lavender and hydrangea and put them in water. The water evaporated and the plants dried. I have a feeling that this will be on my table till Spring comes around and I can pick some replacements from the garden.
The treat cabinet got a mini makeover for the party, a few vintage ornaments tucked and hung here and there-
And some hand painted signs that I made a while back.
The two signs don't really fit the style of the rest of the room, but they are so colorful, fun, and holiday-ish that I had to add them. With grandbabies around, Santas and Frosties are a must whether they match or not!
This season, I've gotten a lot of use from my treat cart too.
The glittered letters spelling JOY are still on the bottom shelf, but now I've added a strand of lights to them.
The coffee service has been popular through all my parties this month too. For this one, I set out hot chocolate with candy canes, marshmallows, cinnamon sticks, shaved chocolate, whipped cream, and the bottle of 150 year old Grand Marnier as well as decaf coffee.
Its such a simple thing to do. No cooking, no work beyond shaving the chocolate. (I used a vegetable peeler and a big bar of chocolate) but it packs a lot of style and gets a lot of attention from guests. With a store bought cheesecake and a some cookies that the kids decorated that night, it was a tasty dessert for very little effort on my part.
I like to do things the easy way, but make them look special.
I'm VERY lucky, of course, to have the studio dining tables that I can set up and leave as is for a whole season of entertaining and not have them be in the way. If I'd had to take all this down and set it up each time I had guests, I doubt if I'd have had so much company!
Two more parties to go…. Can't wait! One is the day after Christmas so I get to extend my holiday cheer past the 25th, lucky, lucky me!!
I'm linking with Faded Charm and White Wednesdays for this post.
Holly Jolly
celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, Sugarwings
Sugarwing's school play was cute as can be.
The whole family came out to watch her and Mr. Fin, who sang his little heart out. He was enjoying his moment in the lime light and really got into performing.
Sugarwings, on the other hand, was just having a good time, and sometimes plain old forgot to sing.
This afternoon, I'm getting ready for another holiday party. Can you believe Christmas is almost here??? I don't like to think about it being so soon, because that means it will soon be past too. I want to waller in every moment of the season and soak up all the joy I can. The holidays make me happy as a pig in mud.
If possible, I want to squeeze in another craft day with my local art friends. Last week, some Kansas City buddies came by for a holiday art day and we created these dress forms. Normallly, craft day is individual projects, but this time, we did a group effort and I taught a class on how to build these maniquins based on a Barbie doll model.
Its interesting to see how different everything comes out, when we were all doing the exact same thing. Except for this dress form, she was made with a vintage doll as the model and kind of came out potato shaped. But we added a couple of ruffles and gave her some curves and I think that she turned out lovely. (I've picked up a few tips from years of watching What Not To Wear!)
Since tis the season, some of us decided to transform them into angels. Mine is going to be part of the table decor for my dinner party tonight.
I'd better get busy… We have 15 for dinner and I'm arranging chairs at the studio tables. I've had the Christmas music blaring all afternoon while I finish up a few little things I've been making. But now its time to get the party details in line. Lettuce to wash, appetisers to make, wine to chill.
I made up the food yesterday, veggie lasagna, stuffed mannicotti, and meatballs. Ready to pop in the oven. I also made 4 batches of Christmas cookies and have goodies out for kids to decorate them tonight. Don't you think a freshly decorated cookie tastes better than just about anything else? And kids love to do their own.
I'm off to work! Hope your weekend is a jolly one too.
Angels, fairies, and snow princesses
celebrations, fairies, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Sugarwings, We're having a party 
We had a Kid's Holiday Party yesterday and the little ones indulged me with a little dress up play and modelling.
I tried to make the photo part quick so they would think it was fun, then got them back to the main event- goodies, and art projects.
We had hot cocoa with all the fixins, eggnog, brownies, pumpkin bars, veggies, and rollups. It was an early out day for school, so the party was from 2-5, so these weren't meant for dinner, just after school snacks.
We had a couple different projects to do too. I picked up a dozen Santa hats from the dollar store, and a bagful of half price holiday floral pics from Hobby Lobby. There really is a lot of fun stuff on those wire picks, jingle bells, flowers, pretend candies, glittered leaves, etc. I just took some wire cutters and separated all the big sprigs into individual pieces, easy for gluing on to the hats and set out a few other fun tid bits for them to have at too. There is always plenty of extra goodies around the studio to share.
They got to make some chip board ornaments too, and all the mommies each made a couple of those for their trees too.
We ended up not getting photos of all the kids. The boys weren't as interested in posing, and my fairy grand girls were busy with playing and artwork. I can catch them later for pictures, though.
A few years back, I painted a Christmas tree mural on plywood and had cup hooks on the tree branches to sell ornaments off of at antique shows. Now, I bring the mural in from the shed and set it in my living room for the holidays. With a few other props in front of it, it made a good backdrop for the pictures.
This morning, I've been doing some editing to the pictures. I LOVE PICNK!!!!!!!!
Playing with hand tinted photos is almost as much fun as painting, but easier and quicker! And way, way too addictive.
I should be out doing some Christmas shopping instead of playing with pictures.
But can you see why I love doing it so much, when I have such gorgeous little models to work with?
I'll get some prints made and maybe these can be some of my Christmas gifts this year.
Its been a hectic, busy, Christmas packed couple of weeks. Before the trip, I had my book club bash, then while we were in Virginia, we were treated to a holiday office party dinner out with my husband's co-workers.
Since I've been back, I have had Sugarwing's school play, craft day, and his little kid party. Plus a couple of Sugarwing Sleepover nights, and those are a party in themselves….
Tomorrow is a party at a friend's and Saturday I'm having another dinner party.
And do I have presents purchased and wrapped? Heck no.
I thought about shopping while in Virginia, but my family is not easy to buy for. I can't just pop into JCPenny and buy a gift for any of them. They like specialty items, dance costumes, art supplies, hand made stuff, or recycled goodies. So, I've put it off.
Those hand made items are going to be biting me on the butt if I don't get moving on them…. I have hopes to do some small paintings for the kid's rooms.
Waiting till the last minute, then throwing one party after another might not have been the smartest holiday plan…
I'm afraid that by the time I get done with all my parties, and its time to do that last minute gift rush, I'll be feeling like Sugarwings was last night after the party!
(no editing can help this little model, I'm afraid- she partied hard)
Did I mention that there was face painting at the party too? I painted the kids' and they reciprocated by painting mine.
My hair is still a bit crisp from the paint.
One of the few gifts that I bought and have ready to give, has to be returned! I bought matching fairy gowns for Pixie Pie and Sugarwings at Tuesday Morning for $10 each, and Pixie Pie showed up wearing the same dress for the party!
She looks so beautiful in it, I just knew it was the perfect dress for her. But now, what do I give her?
While we are talking about gifts, I need to announce the winner of the 1,000,000th visitor giveaway.
Thanks so much for leaving all the kind comments about my milestone! I wish I had a gift for you all (but as you just heard me complaining about- I don't even have gifts for my family for Christmas yet!)
This gift goes to:
Pat Spone (no blog) Pat, please send me your address and I'll get your gift in the mail.
A new holiday tradition?
celebrations, family, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Sugarwings
When my boys were little, we had a tradtion of hanging candy canes on the Christmas tree, one for every day until the big day came. In the evening, we'd take one down, share it and read a story together, sitting by the tree.
This year, Sugarwings thought of an improvement to our holiday rituals. She saw a cup of cocoa with a candy cane in it, on the pages of her Rudolf book, and wanted to give it a try.
Life with little girls gets a bit fancier than with boys. We weren't just going to sit by the tree, we had to create a pretty party!
She and I moved her little table next to her pink, glowing tree (that she decorates and undecorates herself, over and over) and had a hot chocolate party, in the dark while we sang Christmas carols together.
We had French vanilla marshmallows shaped like snowmen, and chocolate mint candy canes to add to our drinks, and pulled out the good tea party dishes to serve it on.
This cocoa party was so fun, we did it again the next night she stayed with me. I make the hot chocolate with organic milk, a little melted Belguim chocolate and some honey, so its a bit of a healthier snack than packaged cocoa. Yes, the marshmallows and candy are full of HFcorn syrup, but hey, its the holiday season and we need to splurge sometimes!
We also discovered that Dorkies love candy canes. And can climb up on the little table to steal them if the treats are left unatended.
A tradition that begun last year was the never ending gingerbread house. When she comes over to stay, she adds to it with more and more goodies and icing. I have to help with the can of icing, but Sugarwings does great with heaping on the candies.
She and I agree that there is no such thing as too much when it comes to decorating. And she also knows this house isn't for eating. I was impressed with how fast she learned not to snack on the house. We have plenty of other treats around, but this is a "pretty" and way too much fun to destroy by eating it. I've told her that if she eats the candy, we won't be able to keep adding on to it, and that solved any issues with sneaking treats off the rooftop.
We might have another new tradition. I've always been a fake tree person, I like pink, white and silver. But there is something quite wonderful about the smell of a fresh cut tree, for sure.
This year, my fairy grand baby kept talking about chopping down her pink tree and gluing it back together. At first I thought it was just a craft project she had in mind… then I realized that she wanted a traditional tree, and wanted to go pick it out and cut it down herself.
So, I found this tiny little seedling growing in my flower bed and gave her the clippers.
There wasn't much to it. She probably could have taken it down with nail clippers.
The little guy is so tiny that I had to support it with a wire. I added a metal star and jingle bell to the top of the wire, the tree wouldn't hold much in the way of decorations itself.
We stuck it down into a flower pot that was on the porch, added some moss and a hint of silver tinsel, then a bow.
Since decorating is an ongoing thing around here, we redid the pot with a teeny vintage glass ball on a strand of tinsel and took off the bow. We liked this better.
The star has a rhinestone jewelry remnant on it. Do you ever use The Ulitmate? I love that glue! After the wire was in the dirt supporting the tree, we thought the star needed something, so I glued this jewel on. It was too late to lay it flat to dry, but that glue is super tacky and held the piece in place as it was.
If you'd like to enter the giveaway for my ONE MILLIONETH vistor (yippee! thanks guys!!) please leave a comment HERE before the 12th, when I will draw a name for the lacey trimmed bag full of holiday cheer.
A Tulaya tutorial- or how do you say that name???
Books, celebrations, family, give away, holiday decor, Silver Bella
Just breath taking, aren't they? I'm starting to feel the need for a baby fix, I haven't seen her yet today. Its been almost 20 hours since I got to hold her…
Look at all that dark hair! I just want to kiss the top of her little head.
Everyone has been asking me about her unique name. So, here is the story. Her momma's family has a Hungarian Gypsy background and a tradition of a 2nd middle name. Apparently, you never say all the names out loud at once. No matter how mischevious the child is being!!
A lot of thought and love went into her name.
Here is the pronunciation:
My- R- uh * Two- lay- uh
Mayara means "holy trinity"-
ma= divine mother Mary
ya= universe
ra= divine father
Tulaya is from some ancient city full of fairies. And Zen refers some how to the sign on the Mayan calender that she was born under.
A big name for such a teensy, 7lbs 4 oz, cuddle bundle, huh?
I still don't have a nickname for her… I'm leaning toward TuTu, but after sitting in on listening to the parents find a proper 3rd name, I'm kind of liking Sugar Star. Goes well with Sugar Wings, and she was almost named Star instead of Zen. (I was voting for Starla, kind of half star, half my name but both of them looked at me like it was a joke.) Heck, maybe that is my nick name for her!! Sugarwings and Starla? How does that sound? Oh well, just talking out loud at this point, I need to get to know her.
Any thoughts?
She has no idea that over two thousand people checked online to hear about her birth. What a lucky little girl to have so many people who cared about her. Thanks so much to all of you who came by to wish us well and congratulate us. We're extremely happy!! And after all the worries, its wonderful to hold such a healthy little baby in our arms. (well, except for the little tummy ache she has, that is)
Here are the random names I drew for the angora roses and nest brooches I made while waiting for the baby's birth:
Stephanie who has a brand new baby too!
Shawn (no blog)
Seven winners for 7 pounds of baby.
The felted flowers are from a class at Silver Bella. This was one I was whining about and was sorry I had signed up for, and almost dropped at the last moment. But, I was so glad I went!! It was outside of my comfort zone and color palette, but I got so much from the teacher, Betz White. She was an interesting woman and since it was a small class, she sat right down with us and told stories about Martha Stewart's show.
Here is what the class project was supposed to look like, but I changed mine up a bit, and found variation on the roses that looked more like my own style.
I can't tell you how to make the roses themselves- they aren't mine to share, but she has a book and I have to tell you that they are so simple, you'd LOVE making them! Buy the book!!! You'll be glad you did.
I can share my variation with you. I cut my sweater strip kind of curvy and scallopy, then pushed in on the center once it was made. After that, I added extra petals to the bottom, for a more full blown rose look.
EDIT: the rosettes are NOT in the book! Betz got them originally from Martha Stewart and from this blog.
Here is what my completed frame looked like. Betz was nice enough to tell me how she did nests too.
(the vintage Christmas card opens up, I'll put a baby photo in it)
I've got plans to make one for each person who signs up for my May Day celebration and classes here at the studio next spring. Won't these be ideal for pinning to the goody bags???
This week has been crazy/exciting. There are still lots of other Silver Bella photos to share, but I've been busy with baby stuff this week. I've been trying to help out with the big kids (oh man, now all of a sudden my little Sugarwings is a big kid????!!!!). I'm giving them rides back and forth to school, and last night had a sleepover with 3 of them. Sugarwings has stayed with me all week too.
Yesterday afternoon, I cooked and baked for the new parents. A good friend is going through chemo, so I fixed her some meals while I was at it. I made vegetarian white lasagna with fresh mozzarella, stuffed manicotti with tomatoes from the garden, black bean burritos with peppers from the garden, and a big fresh spinach salad. Then, some home made granola and muffins for snacking on too.
These last few photos are of new items in the Boutique and Etsy shops. This box is made from the papers available for downloading in the Romantic White Christmas class, using Beth's directions for making her Pretty Pixie. (I changed it up a bit)
Beth and I are doing some videos for the workshop tomorrow, and we are having some goodie bag giveaways on it too.
It was nice to have some "normal" time today to take photos and list things for sale. The last couple of weeks have been quite extraordinary! All wonderful, but still, I enjoyed a having a plain old, boring day today after all the excitement lately.
Mayara is here!
celebrations, fairies, family 
Mayara Tulaya is here! After a long, six weeks of her poor tired momma going through almost daily contractions and trying to be on bed rest, the parents had to give up on thier plans to deliver at home.
They checked into the hosptial this morning, and let me spend the day with them. It was such a magical day. Soft music playing, sweet Christee, the momma, being so tough and brave throughout the labor. She managed to nap through a lot of the day.
While she was busy creating the little cuddle bundle, my son and I kept busy, each of us had packed a supply bag were creating too.
He was wrapping crystals in silver wire (talented guy, huh?)
I was making roses from a felted angora sweater. Both were ideal projects to pass the time while we waited for Mayara to come.
It looked like it was going to be a long haul, so in the afternoon, I took a break to pick up the big kids at school, and bring a pizza to the hospital for dinner. When I got back and walked into the hall, I saw the doctor running by, so took off after her.
Both of us arrived after the baby came. So did the nurses! My son and his beloved delivered the baby by themselves, just like they had planned on doing for the home birth they didn't get to have.
We are all thrilled for them. It couldn't have worked out better. I'd say it all happened fast, but it was six weeks of worry and pain leading up to these last few minutes of birthing time, so I won't insult the mom by calling it a quick delivery.
I really don't understand how she did it, but the new mother managed to look completely beautiful and serene through it all. I, on the other hand, look awful. But I posted this photo anyway, because you can see just how happy I am, make up or not.
Thank you all for your concerns and caring during the pregnancy. To let you know just how much all your inquiries and comments and personal emails meant to me, I'll give away a few of these angora roses to celebrate the baby's birth.
Please leave a comment on this post if you'd like to win one. And thanks again so much for caring and being excited for this new baby in our lives!
A fine, feathered friend and a few goblins that need a friend too
celebrations, family, flowers, Food and Drink, holiday decor, parties, Silver Bella
I am just glowing with happiness! You know why? Dawn of the Feathered Nest has agreed to join Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered and Carol of Raised in Cotton to come and teach at my May Day art gathering at the Cottage!!
Sorry, no details yet, besides a Save the Date, and a theme. Springtime, May Day, and Birdsongs all wrapped up into a back to nature crafting weekend in my studio for about 20 guests. Expect more info after Silver Bella.
Right now, I'm trying to get ready for this big event and a houseful of guests coming to visit and play before the Omaha wonderland begins. Teresa is selling these tees ahead of time, which is a good idea. Mine has already arrived and I've got it all glittered up and ready to wear.
And I'm also in the middle of pulling together another online class with Beth. She and I are working on A Romantic White Christmas, and I've been scanning and editing images to fit the bill.
My stash of vintage goodness is filled with holiday ephemera. But, not all is appropriate. LIke this page, really cute, but "cute" isn't the theme. I'm picking out the gorgeousness that is lurking in my old book pages and cards and photos.
You can click on the calander to enlarge, then save it to your own computer to print. Its a good one, just not the style I'm going for.
Romantic, soft colors, lots of neutrals is what I'm scanning for the classes. I've edited 50 so far and still have a stack to go through. Beth will also be adding images, so you'll receive quite a selection of backgrounds, photos, flowers, and text. More than you'll need for the projects, there will be plenty left to play with and make into more than just what we have lessons planned for.
We'll have the class ready in plenty of time for you to make things for the holidays!
I hope you'll join us, our last class was a lot of fun. I've enjoyed my Romantic Gothic Ghost banner, and it was a part of my decor for the Kid's Halloween Bash and Pumpkin Gala last night in the studio.
But so much for my goal of an orange-free Halloween, huh? Well, inside the house, its all Romantic and Gothic, but for the kid's party, I oranged it up. My mother-in-law sent us this floral display and I decided to take advantage of its cheery colors and decorate the table top to match it for the party.
The little guy sitting in the flowers, is made from paper clay, painted and glittered, then glued to a bit of old trim.
For all the kids, I made up craft packs for them to work on that night. For all the moms, I made up these goblin face pumpkins.
The kids each got plain pumpkins to paint, since I knew they'd like to paint their own faces on them. These are made of paper clay too.
There are a few extras, when I make things, I get carried away and make a LOT. The guy on the left is for sale, $10 if you are interested. His name is Boris.
The fellow on the left in this one is Edgar. He's also needing a home – $10
"Peek" is the little cutey on the left in this photo. He's $8.
Please leave a comment if you want to purchase one of these guys, and tell me which one by his name.
They were so fun to make, I think I'll be whipping up some snow ladies soon. NO WAIT! I need to focus. I have a long list of priorities that I need to stick to.
Don't you wish you could just sit and make things and not worry about the rest of your obligations?
Sometimes I just drive myself batty trying to do too much. I want to do it ALL!
Usually I fit a lot into my life, so I shouldn't complain. This afternoon, I'll be going to the gym, picking the last of the garden veggies before the frost forecasted for tonight, and tackling the mess left behind from the party!
None of it is very fun or productive, just stuff I need to get done. But afterwards? I'm heading to the Curious Sofa for Debbie's Holiday Open House. Now, that is quite a big carrot to dangle in front of me to stay focused while getting all my tasks finished this afternoon!
And tomorrow? Maybe a bit more Sugarwings time, if I'm lucky. See why my online class isn't ready to go and I don't have details for the spring fling up yet??
The pink side of the baby shower and news for next spring
celebrations, fairies, family, flowers, Food and Drink, parties, We're having a party, Workshops
No baby yet, but I have more pics of the shower last week. Earlier, I showed you the bright colored dining tables set up in the studio. In the house, I used the dining room to set up a dessert buffet and decorated in there with pink and white.
Not all the treats are set out yet in these photos, I had a pumpkin cheesecake to join the brownies and strawberry shortcake. I'd made home made whipped cream for the first time in my life, and sadly, I fell madly in love with the stuff. I want to make it all the time, and my previous fave, low fat CoolWhip will never be good enough again.
For the centerpiece, I scanned old photos of babies and turned them into shower fairies by giving them wings and parasols.
The are hung from spray painted and glittered branches potted in my pink gum ball machine. I just took the top off of the machine, wrapped a chunk of oasis floral foam in pink shredded paper and slid it in. Then, stuck the branch into the foam and started hanging fairies.
A pink toy trunk from my studio was used to set the fairy tree on. And Sugarwing's doll bed was lined with old doilies and used to hold napkins, plates, and silverware.
Her room got raided again for a doll bed to use for dispay too.
I turned the dining table sideways and pushed it up to the window, then sat the chairs around the room in seating groups. This vintage bedspread was used as a table cloth, but it was too short and both ends of the table were open and naked. So, I draped two lace curtains across the ends of the table.
All of the flowers were from my garden, or a friend's yard, and all of the decor was stuff I found around the house or made in the studio. So it cost me nothing (but the price of the food) to make the room pretty for the party.
And yes, the friend said I could pick her flowers.
The poor tree branch that I used for the fairies is from my dearly departed Weeping Pussy Willow that died this summer. I snapped the top off of the tree to keep, since it was such a pretty shape, and it was ideal for spray painting and filling with fairies. (if you count the $60 tree, I guess my display was not cheap after all!)
Here is a little tip from me:
If you decide to make a banner to hang behind your table for a party, you should probably do it BEFORE you have everything set up.
I was all done with my table and felt like I was missing something, so ran out to the studio to make this banner and had to squeeze behind the table and tippy toe stretch to hang it.
The banner is 4 squares of chipboard covered in old wallpaper, with a crepe paper ruffle across the bottom. I then used a decorative punch to cut out ledger paper shapes, glued those down, and wrote the letters B A B Y in glitter on the centers of the shapes. It still looked bare, so I popped a millinery bloom in the center of the crepe paper. Very fast and simple. Holes got punched in the tops and I hung it from a length of pink tulle.
It was a lot quicker to make than to hang on the window! Of course, if I'd hung it before setting up the table, it would have been a heck of a lot easier.
The tree confused my poor husband who only asked me a couple of times who all the babies were. He seems to think that anytime I use a cabinet card for making something, it must be a relative. Because why on earth would you have pictures of strangers in the house?
Of course, he is the same guy who was showing photos of our house in a magazine to his mom. When I looked over his shoulder, I saw it wasn't even my article, or our house. If it was pink and white, he figured it must be ours.
Its amazing that he can be so good natured about me working in the studio so much, since he really doesn't get what I do at all. In his mind, I must be out here just playing demented paper doll games and painting everything I can get a hold of white.
Luckily, I have my Sugarwings, who thinks that everything I have is the COOLEST. And soon, I'll have Mayara, and I'll start teaching her to have fun in the studio with me. Its nice to have some one who GETS ME. Like my fairy baby and my blog friends do.
Hey, if you'd like to come and play in my studio world,too- I'm planning a workshop out there on May Day weekend of 2011. I've got a couple of great instructors lined up and am still working out the details.
My friend, Lisa and I were chatting back and forth this weekend, and one of those, "wouldn't it be fun if" conversations turned into "Lets do it on May Day and have a Spring party!". I emailed Carol and she is in too. (if you get a chance, go by and tell Carol Happy Birthday, she is celebrating this weekend)
This class will be small, less than 20 people. (if I'm lucky enough to get 20, that is!!) Simple, casual, fun, and laid back. Just the way I like things.
I'd love to see you here in the studio next spring…. I meet the nicest people in blogland. Rachael sent us a doll she made of Sugarwings, inspired by my paintings in the Grumpy Fairy book! Isn't it adorable?
A Family of Fairies to watch over the new gypsy fairy baby
celebrations, fairies, family, holiday decor, how to's, parties
The baby shower was such fun! It was more of a dinner party with presents. I'd thought we'd eat outdoors, but the evenings are getting cooler, so I had to quickly scoop all the mess out of the way in the studio and pull some tables together so we could eat indoors.
My studio is ideal for parties, even though its always a bit of a hodge podge. I just grab things from around the room that are destined for sale, or stuff I made, or supplies waiting to be made into something else and create a tablescape with whatever is handy.
(the cute little girl with the umbrella is going into the Boutique today, there are 6 total, never used before until I opened the vintage package for the baby shower. Yea, I know they were probably worth more in an unopened package, but thats not how I roll. I believe everything should be used and enjoyed!!)
We couldn't use the dining room in the house for the party, because I had the table in there all set up with cakes and decorations for the shower. (Pink and white fairy baby decor pictures of the dining room to come later)
It was a couples and kids party, not a typical baby shower. No games, just a glass of wine and a buffet dinner with lots of laughter and chatter.
The weather really was nice, and all the older kids ran around and played outside. They sat in the garden to eat, but the adults were happier indoors, some of the dads ate up in my husband's office so they could play pool. I didn't try to get the table set for everyone, I knew people would roam and sit where they were comfortable. I put a few chairs around the 3 tables in the studio and figured I could pull up more chairs as needed.
My parties are casual, not perfect. The food is usually a buffet in the kitchen where everyone serves themselves then finds a seat wherever they'd like.
Since this new grandbaby's momma loves all things gypsy and fairy, I went with very bright colors for the dinner table. I also made up a mobile for the baby with her family as colorful fairies on it.
We are having what feels like a long, lovely extended September around here. My flower beds are looking better than ever, so I was albe to pick some blooms to bring in, then I scattered millinery flowers around the centerpieces too.
(there are now LOTS of red carnations and roses for sale in my Etsy and my Boutique, ready for Christmas crafting or decorating)
To make the Fairy Family members for the mobile, first I cut a branch down and spray painted it green and added some glitter to the wet paint.
Then, I went through all my files to find pictures of everyone and printed two of each, one regular, one mirror image.
With the mirror image done, both were cut out and glued back to back, so that when they hang, they can spin around and look good from both sides.
(Her crown is a bit of lace trim, colored with markers)
Some of the pictures got a little extra editing, like tinting Dimitri green like an elf.
I loved this picture of Sugarwings, but her dress was pink, so I edited it to fit in better with the other images too.
These two guys were such fun poses! Perfect for this project!
Now, how this mobile will hang over the bassinette is another issue altogether. I think it needs to be in a vase on a table near the bassinette, not attached. Or hung from the ceiling. But, I'm leaving that up to her parents on how to display it. Won't they look pretty together?
One more bit of marketing before I go- also new in the Boutique is this "Whispers in the Dark" crown made from vintage copper screening, old trims, millinery, and vintage jewels. The image is from our Romantic Gothic Ghost class, which you still have time to join. We've had new students joining reguarly. There are some pretty quick projects, plus most can be slightly altered to be used year round, not just at Halloween. The emphasis is more on Romantic and Gothic than ghostly.
We've provided lots of images, backgrounds, and extras to print out and use in other projects too.
Plus, we have two giveaways going now for the class. Anyone signed up by October 31st is entered to win one of two packages of vintage goodies to use as embellishments in your work.
And as my October Giveaway for my blog, one completed project will be gifted to the person whose name I draw from all of October's comments.
Gee, I need to just stop talking, don't I? Sometimes my posts can just go on forever.