EAB Designs

Advent Calendar

After Thanksgiving, we'll hang our little numbered socks to countdown until Christmas and each day in December the girls will wake up to find a little surprise in their sock.

With the girls away at college, I made them numbered advent bags to take back to school after Thanksgiving, until they arrive back home and can use our sock garland . Our youngest loves pigs and adored the Toot & Puddle books growing up, so I used the storybook graphics to create her advent bags.  The day she comes home for Christmas break, the image will be Toot and Puddle holding the sign "I'll be Home for Christmas."

Our oldest loves deer and and I found these beautiful graphics to use for her bags.  Her last exam is the 13th so she'll be headed home then.

It's a fun way to keep one of their favorite Christmas traditions while being away at school.

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How to Make Velvet Pumpkins

I've received many emails asking how to make the velvet pumpkins I featured on my blog last year.  They truly are very simple to construct and I'd be happy to share the information here.

The best fabric to work with is a silk/rayon velvet (avoid 100% cotton).  Silk blends will give you the soft folds you're looking for when constructing your pumpkins.  Many different colors are available online.  If you happen to be in the NYC area, New York Elegant Fabrics (on West 40th St.) has an extensive collection with gorgeous colors. (I visited this store for the first time on my recent buying trip to NYC and fell instantly in love.) 

I fill my pumpkins with dried lentil beans or plastic pellets (like those found in Beanie Babies). The plastic pellets are available at Michaels and are a great item to purchase with your Michaels coupons.  Although some people fill their pumpkins with polyester fiberfill, I prefer the look of the beans or pellets.  However, if you are constructing a very large pumpkin, a mixture of beans and fiberfill works nicely.  Otherwise, I would pass on the fiberfill.

Onto the construction of your velvet pumpkins!

• Cut circles out of your velvet.  You can use a compass to measure your circles, but I usually just grab a plate in the size I'm looking for and trace that.  A 9" circle will create a filled pumpkin with a circumference of about 13".  Experiment with different sizes and colors to create an interesting display.
• Working on the wrong side of the fabric and using a heavy duty sewing thread (I double mine to ensure it won't break), run a basting stitch around the entire circle, about 1/2" in from the edge. I keep my stitches about 1/4" apart to achieve the small folds in the pumpkin once it is cinched.  Start out with a very long piece of thread as you will continue to use the same thread to cinch up your pumpkin.
• Gather up your circle, leaving enough room to insert your filling.  A funnel works great for adding the beans or plastic pellets.
• After filling your pumpkin, pull your basting stitches to close the opening. Pull the thread through opposite sides of the opening, continuing to do this from all angles, until the opening is secure.  As you pull the opening closed, you can use your fingers to push the raw edges of the velvet into the opening.  Once secure, tie a double knot with your needle and thread.
• I use a hot glue gun to attach the stem.  Apply glue to the bottom of the stem and then secure it to the pumpkin, applying pressure and holding it firmly in place until secure. Be careful not to apply too much hot glue to avoid it seeping out onto the velvet.
• I don't do anything special to preserve the pumpkin stems.  I just let them dry naturally, while still attached to the pumpkin, cut them off and let them sit for a couple days until the bottom of the stems dry out as well.

Have fun creating your velvet pumpkin patch!

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Lovely Linen Accessories

I adore these new linen fabric flowers.

This one made it onto another linen clutch I made last week.  Met friends for dinner on Saturday and brought my new little clutch with me.  Went perfect with my dark blue jeans, simple white knit top and favorite black pumps.

I carry a larger handbag during the week, but I just love grabbing a few essentials and tossing them into a clutch when heading out for the evening.  Must haves - my cell phone (in case our girls need us), reading glasses (can't read a word on the menu without them) and of course a favorite lipstick. By the way, right now I am absolutely in love with "Lipstick Queen Medieval". It is amazingly moisturizing and a perfect shade of shear red.  My new "go to" favorite.

Faux Grain Sack Pillows

Just listed a few of my faux grain sack pillow covers in my shop.  They are made from 100% woven cotton and are 22" x 22" square with a zippered seam.  I also have a few red striped ones available as well, which I will be listing later this week.  They are a great alternative to the expensive vintage grain sack pillows that we all love.

DIY Herb Markers

Last year, I fell in love with these garden markers at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

This weekend, I was inspired to create some of my own for our herb garden. First I lightly sanded paint sticks and then applied a coat of pre-stain wood conditioner (Mixwax Pre-Stain) to ensure the marker would absorb evenly.

I used a clear grid ruler (one of my favorite tools!) to lightly draw pencil lines as a writing guide. I wish I could write as lovely as the calligraphist who creates the markers for Monticello, but with the help of a calligraphy marker I just winged it. Make sure you allow time for the marker to set before erasing your pencil lines.  I love the "Elegant Writer" calligraphy markers by Speedball Art.  

The last step is to apply a coat of Minwax Helmsman Spar Urethane as a sealant for added protection from moisture, rain and outdoor temperatures.  I'm looking forward to placing these in our herb garden.  When we have friends over for dinner and they ask what they can do to help, I'll often send them out to the herb garden to pick whatever I may need for our meal.  Now they'll know just what herb they're searching for.

Supplies:  Minwax products are available at The Home Depot.  Elegant Writer calligraphy markers can be purchased at Michael's.  A set of 4, with varying widths, is under $10.

Cake Bunting

Buntings are such a festive way to personalize and dress up just about any dessert - and they are super easy and quick to make.  For my daughter's birthday, I cut out flags from some of her favorite fabrics to make her cake bunting.  She always asks for a Baskin Robbins' ice cream cake with cotton candy ice cream. 

 

To celebrate our wedding anniversary, I baked my husband's favorite dessert and decorated it with a cake bunting too.  We traveled to Europe on our honeymoon and Paris was one of our favorite destinations. So for this bunting, I stamped "je t'aime" on linen flags.

Each flag is attached with a simple basting stitch and tied onto a dowel.  I purchase full length dowels and use a pair of my garden shears to cut it to the desired length. If you wish, additional embellishments can be hot glued to the dowels.  I added a vintage rhinestone to this one.

Lovely Linen

The first few weeks of spring can be quite chilly here, which is why I love to wear layers under my favorite linen jacket.  When the weather warms up, I also want to shed my winter handbag so today I made a new linen clutch.

It's the first time I've used an "open channel" metal frame to make a clutch and I like it much better than the frames I've used in the past.

Next up, a black linen clutch which I think would go great with a pair of jeans and my white ruffled shirts.  Anyone else adding any linen to their wardrobe this spring?

Welcome Spring!

Celebrating the first day of spring with new pieces featuring lovely citrine and pastel colored stones.  Available at The Pemberley Collection.

Classic Comforts

I love my hot water bottle.  Before I go to bed each night I slip it under our down comforter to ensure my side of the bed will be cozy and warm.  I made the cover with 100% wool felt - so soft! Before I purchased the actual bottle, I read a lot of reviews and decided on the Fashy brand. It stays warm all night and I would highly recommend it.  A classic comfort, and a wonderful handmade gift, especially with the addition of a personalized monogram.

Moss Covered Easter Eggs

 

The rain has been falling steadily all day and looking outside my window I can happily see that everything is already becoming greener - a sure sign spring is almost here.  I treated myself to a day of craft making and my first project were these moss covered eggs.

I used an assortment of different types of moss, which I hot glued onto small styrofoam eggs (approximately 2.5" x 3").  The styrofoam eggs and single packages of moss with four different varieties are available at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

Sweet girl will be home tomorrow for spring break and my husband will be returning from a week long business trip so I'll be signing off until next week.  I can't wait to see them! Have a happy weekend. 

French/Nordic Inspired Easter Eggs

I adore the soft color scheme of French/Nordic country interiors and holiday decor - beautiful whites, creams, browns and silvers, with touches of pastels.  Last year, I enjoyed creating large decoupaged Easter eggs, inspired by this style, and this weekend I made a few new designs.

A favorite with customers last year, I'm happy to offer a very limited number of these in my shop this season.

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French Bistro Dinner Napkins Back in Stock

I'm delighted to announce that my Parisian inspired cloth dinner napkins are once again listed in my shop.  I have increased the size to a generous 20" and they are sewn from a wonderful 100% cotton fabric that feels softer to the touch with each wash.  As before, they are available in sets of four, are machine washable, and hand screen printed.  Bon Appetit!