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mini white pumpkins 3 ways

September 24, 2013

white pumpkin

I am not a big Halloween person.  Granted, I do like planting in pumpkins, making pumpkins, carving pumpkins, and eating pumpkins.  And… I certainly like candy!  But I’m really not into the whole black and orange decorating thing and I don’t find being scared out of my wits an enjoyable past time. 

It was not until the white pumpkin hit the scene that I took a dedicated interest in Halloween decorating.

I thought today I would show you some ways to use mini white pumpkins this season and maybe you too would get hooked on using them in your Autumn decor! 

Here are three easy ways to change up white pumpkins for autumn decorating.

white pumpkin

A really easy way to dress up a white pumpkin is with some metallic paint.  Just a little acrylic paint sponged onto a white pumpkin dresses it up for the fanciest of occasions.

white pumpkin and roses

Plasti Dip is another great material to use on white pumpkins.  It easily and instantly adheres to the pumpkin and can be tinted in any color.  I used some pink I had tinted from a previous project for these pumpkins.  Even the stems are fair game!  Love it!

Plasti Dip Pumpkins

For a Halloween party, black Plasti Dip dripped down a white pumpkin would look nice and creepy!

Plasti Dip pumpkin

Plasti Dip pumpkin

A really great thing about white pumpkins is that it is so easy to coordinate them with any color.  When I wanted some gray toned pumpkins to use with zinc items,  I just tinted some white pumpkins gray!  I rubbed the surface with a little black paste food coloring to get the perfect color to use with my table setting!  I sprayed the finished project with a matte finish clear coat.

gray pumpkin

What can you do with some mini pumpkins for your next get together?  Have fun with it!  Use hash tag #pleasuregram to share your mini white pumpkin creation on Instagram.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Remember to find pleasure in simple things,  Jackie

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the pace of nature

September 3, 2013

acorn photo

Although the sun did not make much of an appearance this Labor Day Weekend, it was a bright one…I spent time with some special friends in a secluded retreat amid the trees in upstate New York and, for a short patch of time, adopted the pace of nature.

woods photo

We had no schedules to follow or any particular plans – the beauty of our friendship is that we didn’t need to.

morning coffee in the forest

queen annes lace in woods

Appreciating our surroundings and embracing our friendship…

Forest prose

as well as enjoying some new friends…made for a memorable time together.

birch trees

Being in the woods makes an appreciation of nature hard to ignore.

acorn in the woods

I collected some forest treasures this weekend and look forward to using the woodland/forest inspiration as the basis for my holiday preparations this year. And, in the spirit of this weekend, I will embrace the feelings of friendship and of adopting the pace of nature in all my holiday planning…

I am excited about starting some of the projects I have imagined!

2013 holiday inspiration board

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my weekend inspiration…Did you find anything to spark your inspiration this Labor Day weekend?

Remember to take

pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing with Craftberry Bush.

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diy patriotic spoons

June 11, 2013

patriotic spoons

We make a lot of hand churned ice cream in my family and the batches are huge…so, ultimately we eat a lot of ice cream also.  A really fun thing to do when serving ice-cream, particularly at the beach, is to decorate disposable spoons for the occasion.  This is a fun and easy way to add a festive spirit to your beach or yard get together. 

For our upcoming Fourth of July bash on the beach, spoons of the patriotic variety are in order! 

DIY patriotic spoons for Fourth of July

patriiotic spoon

I am providing some easy DIY directions for you to make patriotic spoons, but there are so many more ways you can personalize spoons with your own colors or themes just by using different colors, motifs, or letters…so be sure to experiment!

Here are the supplies my project required:

  • disposable wooden spoons*
  • permanent stamp pad ink in red and blue
  • a sponge cut into a thin rectangle, approximately ½” wide and at least 1” long
  • a pencil with an unused eraser
  • an X-Acto knife
  • natural twine
  • red & white baker’s twine
  • glue

I used the X-Acto knife to very carefully cut a star shape into the eraser of the pencil to use as a stamp. Then I cut a strip of sponge ½’ wide to use as my stripe stamp.

These two stamps will serve as the way to imprint the stars and stripes on the handles of my spoons.   

Using the stamp pad ink, I added the stripes and stars to the spoons using my stamps.  Using permanent ink ensures the ink doesn’t come off on hands or clothes should the spoon handles get wet.

star stamp for decorating spoons

stripe stamp

striped spoons

Striped disposable spoons are easy to make and give a festive flair to any get together!

For a fun addition, I added some twine “finger grips” to some of the spoons by simply wrapping twine around the spoon a few times – adding a dot of glue on the beginning and ending spot of the twine.

patriotic spoons

That’s it!  Easy, right?  And so cute!  They are hard to throw away! 

DIY patriotic spoons

Going back for seconds on the ice-cream?  Don’t want to lose a favorite spoon?  You can always wear your spoon as a necklace ; )just add some extra twine!  Problem solved.

patriotic spoons

Hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial on making patriotic spoons for your Fourth of July shindig!  You can easily make up some forks and knives also! 

*P.S.  I get my spoons at Garnish. 

Thanks so much for visiting!  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

 Sharing at City Farmhouse,  The Shabby Nest, Finding Silver Pennies, and Craftberry Bush.

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patriotic marshmallows

May 21, 2013

extra large marshmallows dipped in white chocolate

The patriotic holidays always motivate people to create red, white, and blue food creations.  Who hasn’t made a flag atop a cake using strawberries and blueberries?  Watermelon, strawberries, and blueberries can all become elements of the creative process come Memorial Day or the 4th of July.

Me?  Although I have been know to make a red, white, and blue fruit skewer, I am more apt to cut food into star shapes (like in this watermelon salad) or use linens to create the patriotic spirit.

patriotic fruit skewers

But, with Memorial Day so close, I used some red, white, and blue sprinkles as an easy way to add a little patriotic flair to these simple-to-make marshmallow sweets.  Perfect for a post-parade picnic and sure to be a hit with kids of all ages!

patriotic marshmallows

This marshmallow creation came about after receiving a gift of the extra large marshmallows from my mom last year…seems like a strange gift?  Not really.  It was motivated by my love of gourmet s’mores.  I found the marshmallows were too big to create the correct proportions for my ideal s’more.

melted white chocolate and marshmallows

marshmallow on a stick dipped in white chocolate

So, in experimenting with how to use the extra large variety marshmallow in the best way, I came up with marshmallows on a pretzel stick dipped in white chocolate…the white chocolate and extra large marshmallow are the perfect combination!  The extra large marshmallow makes for the perfect proportion of marshmallow to chocolate ratio.  For Memorial Day, I just added a few sprinkles.

patriotic marshmallows

patriotic pretzels on a stick

red,white, and blue sprinkles

Do you have a favorite way to make a picnic food patriotic for Memorial Day?

Memorial Day fruit

Thanks for visiting.

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at A Pinch of Joy, Craftberry Bush, Little Red House, and Coastal Charm.

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may is national bicycle month

May 7, 2013

bicycle image by Vitis Viniferacredit: Vitis Vinifera

May is National Bicycle Month.  Because bicycles hold a very special place in the hearts of my family, I wanted to recognize them in a special way.

bicycle quote

So, to pay homage to the bicycle, I would like to share a few of my favorite bicycle images from Pinterest.

bicycle image from temp filescredit: temp files

You are welcome to also share my favorite bicycle quotes…I will post them throughout the month on my facebook page.  If you want to check out some more great bicycle images, check my pinterest board a love for bicycles.

bicycle images by Clairecredit: Images by Claire

bicycle anders schennemann photographycredit: Anders Schennemann Photography

bicycle in sunsetcredit: unknown

I hope you enjoyed these beautiful cycling images in celebration of National Bicycle Month…

If you need more to satisfy your cycling self, maybe you would like to

listen to the best bicycle song ever

or, share some of my favorite bicycle items from around the web:

pick one of these cool bike bells or handle bar airplanes to add to your ride

get a book with a magnificent collection of cycling images

read the story of a very talented cyclist I know and like, or

a great book to learn about the Tour de France past doping culture first hand

hold your book collection with these cool bookends

watch a great film

find a special spot for this beautiful pillow with a vintage bicycle image

enjoy a post-ride beverage from these beautiful bicycle printed glasses

write a special note on extraordinary personalized stationery sporting a red bicycle….

Happy cycling!  Cyclisme heureux!  :)

Thanks for stopping by, Jackie

If you have any great cycling images, please feel welcome to share on my facebook page.

I am sharing at Coastal Charm and A Pinch of Joy.

1 comment

baby chicks

March 29, 2013

baby chicks

In the spirit of Easter, I thought Friday field trip today would be a visit with some baby chicks :)

baby chick

These little ones are only one week old…

baby chick

Sure to put a smile on anyone’s face :)

baby chick

They are just so adorable!

two baby chicks

A perfect symbol for Easter…one of new life.

baby chick

Just remember, as you get involved with all your holiday preparations…

baby chick

to take pleasure in simple things…

baby chick in a basket

and to hold your loved ones close.

closeup of a baby chick

Easter is a time to celebrate with those you hold dear.

baby chick

Wishing you and those you love, a very blessed Easter!

baby chick

Thanks for sharing.  Love, Jackie

Sharing at Crafts a la Mode.

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…a few more eggs

March 26, 2013

natural saffron egg dye

I know I already posted my favorite ways to decorate Easter eggs (including coastal style).  But, I thought you might like to see the results of some of the natural Easter eggs I dyed.  My grandmother always used onion skins and beets so I had to dye some in ‘old school’ fashion.  I also dyed some using my gift of saffron I told you about in this post in addition to dyeing some with red cabbage.

eggs dyed with red cabbage

If you don’t remove the insides of your eggs before dyeing, it is hard to part with the ones you really love..at least it always is for me!

egg dyed with onion skins

I make egg salad from the insides of the eggs and recycle the outsides by using them in terrariums or houseplants…or to create mosiacs.  You don’t throw out the colored egg shells, do you?  When I was a kid I saved all the colored shells…I just couldn’t part with them.  Over time, I discovered ways to use them…

Easter eggs dyed with saffron

My favorite was to create mosaics.  You can do this too….or, as a project for the kids.  I suggest giving your children the task of separating the shells by color (a good way to keep them occupied for a while!) and then use the assorted shells to create designs by glueing them onto notecards.  A great gift to give grandma for Mother’s Day!

eggs dyed with beets and saffron

eggs dyed with beets

eggs dyed with red cabbage

I hope you enjoyed seeing some more of my decorated Easter eggs.  This batch used only natural dyes from plants.

You still have time to get some eggs dyed before the weekend!  If you don’t want to use natural dyes, you can mix 1/2 cup boiling water, 1 tsp. white vinegar, and food coloring in a coffee cup and use that to dye your eggs…no need to buy a kit.  I wish I knew this when I was a kid…we would split up the color tablets from the egg decorating kit between the four siblings and there was always a fight over a color everyone wanted!

Oh, and remember to save the shells so you can do some experimenting…

Have a blessed Holy Week my friends…remember to take pleasure in simple things :)

 

easter quote

Thanks so much for visiting, Jackie

P.S.  The natural dyes I used in the photos in this post:  1.saffron, 2.red cabbage, 3.onion skins, 4.saffron, 5.saffron & beets, 6.beets, 7.red cabbage, 8.saffron & beets

I am sharing at Coastal Charm.

4 comments

easter butter cookies

March 19, 2013

easter butter cookies

I always loved the butter cookies my friend Kim would bring to bridal showers…rich, buttery cookies that looked so sweet and tasted wonderful.  They were small round sandwich style cookies, with a pastel tinted filling.  At one point I finally asked her if I could have the recipe and I started calling them “Kim’s shower cookies” whenever I would make them.

easter butter cookies

For Easter, I decided to make “Kim’s shower cookies” but cut them in egg shapes rather than circles.  I chose to tint the filling a lavender color.

easter butter cookies

Easter butter cookies

 

Don’t they make a great “Kim’s Easter cookies?”

easter butter cookies

easter milk and cookies

 

Easter Butter Cookies Recipe

Cookies

  • 1 cup softened unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 2 cups flour

Filling

  • 1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • food coloring

Combine the cookie ingredients and chill for 1 to 2 hours.  Roll dough out to 1/8″ and use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies, putting on an ungreased baking sheet.

 

 

easter butter cookies

Sprinkle with granulated sugar and pierce each cookie 3 times with a fork.  Bake in a 375 degree pre-heated oven for 7 to 9 minutes.  Cool cookies.

Combine filling ingredients and mix well.  Tint the filling to desired color with food coloring.

Assemble the cookies, sandwich style, spreading the filling on one cookie and placing a second cookie on top.

The number of cookies will vary depending on the size of your cookie cutter.  I made two dozen completed cookies using a 2 1/2″ egg shaped cookie cutter.

These cookies can be made ahead and stored in your fridge to make your holiday a little less hectic :)

 

easter butter cookies

pink tulip

I hope you enjoyed sharing my Easter butter cookie recipe.  Thanks Kim ;)

Thanks so much for visiting, Jackie

I am sharing this post at Coastal Charm, Timewashed,  The Well Crafted Home, Craftberry Bush, The Shabby NestA Pinch of Joy, and Craftionary.

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favorite ways to decorate easter eggs

March 5, 2013

easter egg decorating

Decorating Easter eggs has always been a passion for me.  I have never stopped enjoying decorating eggs.  When I was small everyone in my family had their own favorite way to decorate the eggs…my mom had a steady hand and could do a great job creating stripes with the dye…those with less patience just threw the egg in the dye and left it while moving on to another activity.

Me, I always liked to try something different.  And, over the years I have discovered that there are an infinite number of ways to decorate eggs.  I usually plan one whole day before Easter to work on Ukranian egg dyeing and another to replicate the natural egg dyes my grandmother created (I will post these next week) from fruits and vegetables…that is in addition to a general egg dyeing session.

Today, I would like to share some of my favorite ways to decorate Easter eggs that I have used over the years.  I hope they will create some inspiration for you as you create your own.  Here are seven of my favorite ways to decorate Easter eggs:

easter egg decorating

Numbers or letters are always a motif I like on any home product so, of course, I also like to use them on eggs.  These numbers were simply written on using a marker.  Pick your favorite style of number and draw it right onto the egg.

easter eggs

 

 

 

 

 

decorated easter eggs

Letters can be written on in the same way….or, you can use some self-adhering rhinestones from a craft store to add some bling.

blinged easter egg

I love to create eggs that look like eggs in nature and I have tried many different techniques.  For example,  splattering paint onto the egg with a toothbrush is great for creating speckled eggs.  For a simple technique that creates a great result, simply apply gel stain to the surface of the egg by using an old rag.  For these eggs, the color I used was called mahogany.

easter eggs

Okay, technically this is not an egg ‘decoration’, but more like an egg ‘creation’, but I had to include it as one of my favorites.  This is a very easy technique and I love the way these eggs coordinate with my coastal style.  Use whatever twine, ribbon, etc. you may like and apply it to a small balloon after coating the twine with ModPodge.  Yes, it is messy, but very easy.  Once the twine is wrapped around the balloon in a desired pattern and has dried, pop and remove the balloon, and you have a beautiful twine egg!

easter eggs with twine

twine easter eggs

Using chalkboard paint is a favorite of mine because it makes a great Easter placecard.  The chalkboard paint is applied directly to the egg.  These days, chalkboard paint can be purchased or made in a variety of colors, so you don’t have to limit your choice to black.  Here I wanted a black and white egg, but you are only limited by your imagination.  You can dye the egg first if you prefer or want to dye the egg to match the color of your decor.

easter egg placecard

Seldom is anything decorated done in my house without some type of coastal influence.  Here, I have dyed a batch of eggs and then used small rubber stamps to add some of my favorite coastal words…sand, sea, surf, sun.  Inspirational words work really well also.  Of course, names of guests or family members is another option.

coastal decorated easter eggs

Here are some more coastal inspired eggs.  In this case, I used stickers to mask off a white area.  I created the shape I wanted by cutting it out from Contact paper and stuck it onto the egg where I wanted the pattern to remain white.  Then the egg was dyed.  After it dried, I used a very thin permanent marker to outline the shape and add a few details.

coastal easter eggs

I hope you enjoyed sharing some of my favorite ways to decorate Easter eggs.  Use these easy techniques as inspiration to create some of your own decorated Easter eggs.  Please pin your favorite!  If you want to keep the eggs indefinitely, be sure to remove the contents of the egg before dyeing.

decorated easter egg

Thanks for sharing.  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S. Sharing this post at Coastal Charm, Craftionary, Timewashed, The Shabby Nest , A Pinch of Joy, 6 Days of Spring at French Country Cottage,  The Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, and At The Picket Fence.

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easter nostalgia

March 1, 2013

plate

Can you believe Easter is in March and it is already March?  This week, Friday field trip is a little trip back in memory to Easter’s past.  I will also be sharing some Easter basket ‘goody’ ideas for Easter bunnies ;)

Easter was so fun when the children were young… leaving the carrot with the front teeth marks on the kitchen table so the kids could find it in awe;  sure that the Easter bunny had visited and quickly thinking about the treats in store as they scrambled to rifle through their baskets!

My kids are college students now and Easter is celebrated a little differently.  It still retains its awe, but in a much different way.  It is the one holiday in our family where everyone is together, so it makes for a very special day.

In the morning, my kids still discover filled Easter baskets on Easter morning.  They are the Easter baskets I made for them…yes, wove them….when they were babies.  My daughter had a thing for yellow when she was small so hers was accented in yellow and filled with yellow ‘grass’.  For my son, I made an apple basket and dyed it blue.

handwoven Easter basket

The basket contents these days are little different than when they were small, but I think the baskets are just as well received.  Not as much candy in recent years, although their favorite candies are still included.  My son loves Lindt truffles (red) and my daughter loves pear jelly beans.  Jelly Belly brand jelly beans have always been a tradition in the Easter baskets.  Each basket receives an assortment box, but my daughter always gets an additional extra bag filled exclusively with the pear flavored variety…that Easter bunny is just so darn thoughtful!

handwoven easter basket

In recent years, egg hunts in the living room are replaced with a GPS egg hunt throughout the town and beyond with teams of twenty-somethings scrambling to locate the hidden eggs and be the first back to grandma’s house.

My young niece and nephews still search the yard for filled plastic eggs that my sister has strategically placed around my mother’s yard.  When that is completed and trading of the contents ensues,  everyone makes a guess as to how many jelly beans are in the huge glass jar my mom has filled and whose contents were accurately counted the day before.  The person with the closest guess wins the entire jar (…and, may or may not share with the group lol).  We always think my sister, the math teacher, is sure to win; but that is never the case.

candy carrot

An “oldie but goodie.” I started making these as a Kindergarten room mother…cellophane is shaped into a cone and is filled with anything orange…candy, goldfish, etc…fun!

My favorite part of Easter?  Taking the annual ‘goofy cousins’ photo at some point during the day.   And, I still love coloring eggs with my daughter which we schedule best we can sometime before Easter.  What makes your Easter special?

Do you have trouble thinking of items to include in your child’s Easter baskets as they become college age?  Necessities are always appreciated…you can’t miss with socks and underwear!  Commercial washers and dryers are brutal on these items!  Here is a list of possible goodies to choose from in a variety of price ranges.  Remember to consider the recipient’s special interest or college major to make the items more personal.  Have fun with it!  Send me an email if you need some suggestions.

Easter Basket Gift Ideas

Easter basket gift ideas

I found these for my nursing student’s Easter basket :)

  • Candy – favorites or novelty
  • Band-Aids
  • Alix & Ani bracelet
  • James Patrick Keil bracelet
  • Vitamins, aspirins, etc.
  • Any toiletry item
  • Toothbrush economy pack
  • Lottery tickets
  • ITunes certificate
  • Train/bus ticket to come home for a family function
  • Laundry card, token, or coins
  • Dunkin Donut or Starbucks certificates
  • Printer cartridge
  • Drug store, gas station or Amazon certificate
  • Chegg money for renting textbooks
  • Paper cups/plates/utensils
  • A gift certificate to something local to their school
  • Key covers – they have fun ones in Home Depot
  • Cell phone covers – can be personalized/decorated
  • Family photo – a recent one or one from childhood
  • Concert or sporting event tickets local to their school
  • Easter motif socks or boxers

    hair brush

    I found these hair brushes in a pattern my daughter is sure to love!

  • Laundry bag or laundry bag for delicates
  • Hair elastics
  • Nail polish pen
  • Emery boards in funky pattern
  • Flash drives (these come in silly patterns – surfboards, Legos, sushi, etc.)

I hope you enjoyed today’s Easter nostalgia and some tips for Easter basket gifts.  I hope my Easter nostalgia caused you to reminisce about some special moments of your own Easter’s past.

Stop back tomorrow when I will announce February’s book giveaway winner and the giveaway selection for March.

Have a wonderful weekend.  Thank you so much for visiting, Jackie

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