Food and Drink

I threw myself a big 49th birthday bash last night and of course, made a crown to wear to it, so everyone whould know who’s party it was!

I used a six pack of pointy party hats from the $1 Store to make the crowns, I simply cut the tops off in a zigzag pattern like crown points and glued glitter and lightweight sparklies to the hats. It was easier to make them than to take a photo of my own head.

And, see- a new hair color too!

Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/ brought me a COSTCO CARROT CAKE.  If you haven’t had one–go buy one NOW! Oh my gosh, they are the best. Thanks, Beth!

I kept the party simple and fixed easy things. Simple snacks and foods look better when served on pretty platters, so people didn’t realize how little effort I made. And I always say that food looks more impressive when you get it up high!  I always use cake stands, compotes, and other tall serving pieces for a buffet.  Layers and levels make an interesting table.

I went with a garden theme, brought in the glass topped  breezeway table (and de-spidered it)to set up on the food table and topped it with McCoy flower pots with candles in them and the roses I had bought earlier in the week for $1.99 a dozen.  The roses might have drooped a bit here and there, but weren’t bad.

The dogs were penned up for the evening, and Twinkle seemed to be OK with it, she cozied up in her cut glass dog dish. (50 cents at a garage sale) The water dish next to her is one that I painted iris on at one of those do-it-yourself ceramic shops.  I love to go to those, but here’s a tip if you go- take your own paint brushes!! A good brush makes all the difference in a painting and the ones they have there to use aren’t any good at all!!

This is my friend, Angie.  She is so pretty, I wish she was part of my decor every day. Isn’t her coloring very Shabby Chic??

I shared the limelight with my good buddy, Judy. I felt less guilty about throwing a party for myself since I got to share it with a friend.   

Throwing myself a bash was just the start of the weekend.

On Sunday, the family cooked steaks on the grill and then we went out on the boat.

This was Sugarwings’ first time on the water and we decided that she was part mermaid too, not all fairy.  She was born to be a lake kid!

Today was the first Mother’s Day for Sugarwing’s mom and my first as a Grandmama. I can only wish for a lifetime of Mother’s Days with them that are even half as nice as today, and I’ll be a lucky, lucky old lady if I get them!!!

What a wonderful trip! Big Cedar Lodge, south of Branson was so luxurious it was almost decadent.  But, with the lodge theme, it has a comfy, down home quality about it so it is very relaxing there.

As an artist, my eyes were drawn to all the detail put into making the place beautiful.  Here is a close up of some of the iron work on a sign.

And although my personal style is more "Shabby Chic" or "Cottage", I sure can appreciate the rustic yet romantic log cabin style that we were staying in.  This iron chandelier was hanging above our bed and there were stained glass windows everywhere. 

We all got away to the spa and treated ourselves to massages or pedicures.  I chose pedicure because it was a tad bit cheaper than the massage, and I had to keep telling myself not to think how far that much cash would go at a garage sale.   

It did seem a waste to spend money on feet like mine.  I think I have mentioned that I have Fred Flintsone Feet?  But after the hour of spa pampering, these Freds were sparkling, soft,  and topped off with Ruby  polish.  The best part was the little pink slippers that seemed made to fit my feet.   

We got out to the "NEW Branson" for the evening and I got to show off my sparkling toes.  Branson has changed, not just a country music, all you can eat, hoe down any more.  Besides the classy Big Cedar, there was so much to see and do.  but I am afraid, that mostly we ate, just not at the big buffets. 

Every notice how much better everything tastes on vacation?   We supplemented our dinners out with healthy snacks at the cabin, out on the balcony over looking the cedars.  But ate quite a few unhealthy (and worth every calorie) treats too.

The big joke of the weekend was the complimentary snacks.  We all did voices of what kind of compliments the snacks were paying us.  The pretzels were a little twisted, but the cookies were very sweet in what they had to say.  And all of us thought the popcorn was a bit cheesy with its comments. 

Yes, I guess we were the cheesy ones.  But hey, if you can’t be silly with good friends, when can you be?

Now that I am home, I am wrapping up my package to send to my very first swap partner, Karin at http://www.creativechaos.typepad.com/.  I hope I have stuffed it with enough stuff.  I added a collage magnet that I made to some of the same things I have put into the May Bucket Giveaway (by the way, you can still enter that by leaving a comment!) and some other trinkets. I have some vintage robins’ egg pearl beads, some crystal joools, a silver buckle, velvet millinary flowers, note cards, and a plastic dinasour.  Well, that last may sound odd, but- she posted that her sons asked her if she was alive during the Flintstones era.  With my own connection to Fred (my feet), I couldn’t resist adding that little symbol.   Hope I did ok with it, I just am so impressed by the swaps I see and what people show they received.

Here is the third bucket I painted. I have one for the swap, one for the giveaway and one to sell. Anyone need a blue, hand painted bucket?  $10.00 if you are interested.  (puppy not inclueded!!!!!!)

You are in invited to a virtual pot luck today!  It is hosted by Shabby in the City and she has some Kentucky hospitality waiting for you at her place: http://shabbyinthecity.blogspot.com/

Here at my cottage, the table is set for the get together.  I’ve used my art studio for the party instead of my dining room, so I can accommodate a crowd! 

A long folding table that is coated with smears of paint, glitter, and glue, is covered with a fresh white table cloth to hide its true nature.

A $15 thrift store table that I repainted white with all white flowers- daisies, viburnum, roses, lilies, iris, etc- is also a working table when not in use for parties.  It is nice and solid and makes a good sewing table, plus isn’t crusty with globs of dried glue and paint like all my folding tables, so is better for laying fabric out on.  But, as poorly as I sew, it doesn’t matter how stable the table, the seam is not going to be straight.

After being 81 and sunny on Monday, it has gotten down to 26 last night!  I went out and picked as many armfuls of lilacs that I could bring in and felt guilty for not saving each and every bud.

This wardrobe has had a lot of different incarnations.  At one time, I had painted cherub statues and topiaries on it and used it in my garden shed to hold shovels and rakes. 

Now the wardrobe is painted with white roses on its doors.  I put 2 small tables in it, and use it for parties to serve wine and dessert.  For today, it is set up with Easter chocolates and cake.  This photo is the interior of the cabinet. I love this cabinet, it is so handy. I keep plastic silverware, napkins, coffee cups, and all those kinds of things under the table clothes so they are always on hand out in the studio and I don’t have to run back to the kitchen each time I need something like that when friends drop by to work on projects together.

Sparkle is ready for the party, with her bunny ears on.  Well partially on, they seem to slip back on her head a bit.  could be all the head shaking she is doing, trying to get them off.

All the furniture out here is mix and match, whatever bargains I bought and fixed up and haven’t sold yet.  Used to be a bit of a revolving door, but since the road is closed in front of my house and I am not having sales right now, I haven’t been selling furniture.  This bench is one I can never sell, my son built it for me, from a Victorian headboard, then I painted the flowers on it.

Happy Easter weekend!  Hope you are enjoying all the goodies and get togethers, real and virtual! 

We always have the Welcome sign out here at our cottage, and get a lot of guests to show for it.  After the Easter egg bash yesterday, we had an old college buddy of my husband’s drop by from Colorado for the weekend with his family, and our niece and nephew came over to hang out too, ended up staying the weekend. To feed a houseful of hungry teenagers, I decided on a build your own taco bar, and set up a couple large tables in my studio for seating.  I don’t know if they cared about the fresh picked grape hyacinth and the fairy figurines as a center piece, but it made me happy to do.

Then, I took advantage of having two 13 year old girls over to giggle with and we decorated Easter cookies.  After raising two loud boys who cared more about eating cookies than decorating them, this was a treat for me.

It has been hectic, but a lot of laughs. And this is just the beginning of visitor season.  Next week, my mother-in-law arrives from Michigan.  And who knows who we’ll have the week after that?  I have been known to go months with people coming every week to stay for  a night or two. 

I am sneaking away for a bit to work on listing some more things on Ebay (this Welcome sign for one!)  Oh, that sounds like I didn’t want guests, that isn’t how I meant it.  I have a TON of these, am constantly painting on old bits of wood I collect.  This one is from the old cabinets we tore out when we remodeled.  I hate to throw away anything that has a possibility of painting a rose on it!

I also listed this ATC, isn’t she just full of zip?   She reminds me of myself at my son’s wedding when I led the conga line and didn’t realize every wedding guest saw my panties as I dance through my gazebo and around the gardens!  When you are having such a great time, who cares about a middle aged woman’s panties showing a bit??

Well, back to the guests.  And the Easter cookies.  There are a couple with way too much icing on them, and those are really calling out to me.

Welcome to the Spring Tea Party!  I think it really will feel like Spring here in KS today, is supposed to be in the 70’s and I am going to cut some forsythia.  Here is a tiny teacup fairy watercolor I have done, doesn’t she look like she is ready to play outside on a nice spring day after her tea party?

This photo of the breakfast nook in my kitchen was in Small Room Decorating Magazine, page 26, Nov 2006.  It was taken by Bill Mathews and styled by my friend, Gloria Gale. 

You can see some of my tea cup and sugar bowl collection on the shelf above the table.

Gloria and Bill did these photos too, but they have not been published yet. I wrote an article for the pictures, but don’t know which magazine it will be in or when it will show up. Sometimes, the pictures take a couple years or more before they are used!  Which is hard, when I am so excited to see them when they come out!  I check the newsstand at the grocery store every week, even though the editor is very nice and sends me a copy ahead of time.  It is a good feeling to be flipping through pages at the store and be surprised by photos of my home. 

This is the entry way to the kitchen, basically the main entrance to the home.  I can’t say it is always this welcoming and set for a party, but I love it when it is.  Any excuse for a party is a good reason to get my pretties out of the cabinet and use them. I don’t believe in letting my favorite things sit on the shelves and be left out.

The bright pink rose painting hanging by the door is one of my watercolors.  I faux finished the walls in a wash of 3 toasty colors over ivory to warm up the room.  With all the white furniture, I didn’t want too much color on the walls, but it was too blah when it was a lighter shade of cream.

My son was working for a cabinet shop when we were remodeling and he built all the beautiful cabinets for me.  I added the embellishments, painted them a French vanilla, then glazed over them with a cappuccino color.  Fitting and tasty colors for a kitchen!!

I tied tiny little teapots to my garage sale chandelier after painting it white (I think the last owner was a circus clown, by the color it was when I bought it).  For the spring fling tea party today, I will take down one of my favorite teapots from the top of the cabinets and make Black Current tea.  I am baking brownies too, and adding white chocolate M&Ms to them.  Now, where have the white chocolate ones been all my life??? YUM

One last photo from Bill and Gloria’s work at my house before I go check out the virtual tea party.  If you want to go to, the link is:   http://www.artsymama.blogspot.com

This photo is a close up of the cake I had out for the photo shoot.  I don’t bake things that turn out pretty, so I always buy a cake a the grocery and doctor it up.  Then, after the pictures, we sit down together and eat it! 

Wishing you a beautiful first day of Spring, and thanks to Kari at artymama for the idea of the tea party.