EAB Designs

An Early Spring / Easter Project

With our unusually warm weather (it will be in the 60's tomorrow), my thoughts are turning to spring.  This weekend I made a couple of these linen bunnies.  I stuffed one with fiberfill and the other with lavender.  At 6.5" tall, they would be charming grouped together in a display, or added to an Easter basket.

I tied a vintage religious medal around the neck and a sewed a paper rose for the tail.  A button or found rhinestone piece would also work well as a tail.  If you'd like to make your own, I've provided a template for the bunny below.  Simply print out the file on cardstock, cut out the template and trace two pieces onto your choice of fabric.  Bright colorful prints would be adorable too.  Sew along the traced line and leave a 1.5" opening to add the filling. Trim edges to 1/8" and turn right side out.  Press, add filling, and stitch opening closed.  If you create your own bunnies, please share your photos. I'd love to see them!

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pattern for personal use only please

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Valentine's Day Decorations

I'll be using these red and cream paper wheels to decorate for our Valentine's Day party.  I love how the scalloped edges come together to form heart shapes.

Some will be hung from our chandeliers and others placed in a few of our cloches and urns.  I'm baking some Valentine sweets to give away and will use a number of the smaller polka dot wheels to decorate the packages.  The best part is, they can be folded up and easily stored away to use for other celebrations.

Our Christmas Table Setting

Decorating our holiday table is always a family event and each year we do something different.

This year we filled clear vases with water and added fresh cranberries, cut greens and floating candles.

Christmas crackers have always been a tradition in our family.  We pop them open before dinner and wear our paper crowns for much of the evening.  I was thrilled to discover these Nutcracker themed crackers, as my girls danced in the Nutcracker for many years and we enjoyed attending the Nutcracker ballet last Sunday.

Sweet girl made our place card holders, cutting out each of the intricate snowflakes with an exacto knife.

To My Readers

Our Secret Chalkboard Elf

You can always tell when sweet girl is home from college because we wake up to wonderful scenes on our kitchen chalkboard.

A Sweet Surprise

Early this morning, we bundled ourselves up to head out for a walk into town.  On the way there, we passed a home with a vintage sled on their porch.  I commented to my husband that I would love to have a sled to display during Christmas.  To my surprise, he told me he had one in the attic that he was hanging onto thinking he may restore it one day.  I could hardly wait to get home to have him retrieve it.  I cut a few boughs of holly, added a jute bow and tag and then carried it all around the front yard until I found the perfect place to display it.  I wonder what other hidden treasures he has in our attic?

Christmas Snapshots from this Week

A favorite holiday treat - Fleur Verte from France.  A creamy goat cheese coated with thyme, tarragon and pink berries.  Even more delicious when eaten with almond and raisin biscuit crackers.  

The apothecary jars have been filled with our collection of mercury glass ornaments.  This year, I added touches of bronze to the decorations in our living room.

I love to add lots of fresh greens to the house with a touch of sparkle here and there.

We baked hundreds of these "cookie press" cookies to add to our gift baskets.  Semi-sweet chocolate was melted and spread onto the cookies to create petite Christmas tree sandwiches.

As soon as both girls arrived back home, we decorated our Christmas tree.  Most of our ornaments are handmade, like this adorable little elf.  Hope you are all enjoying your Christmas traditions as well.

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My New Favorite Room

This is my favorite place to be in the early morning hours.  When the sun is streaming through the windows, it's where I want to be with my cup of tea.  I've been busy searching for the last touches to complete this room and I hope to have everything in place before Christmas.  The custom subway scroll I had designed for my husband arrived and I love it.  It's being framed now and will be featured on the wall opposite the fireplace, along with a gallery of family photos.  Looking forward to sharing all the details with you soon.

 

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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Cinderella Pumpkins & Hot Spiced Cider

I couldn't ask for a better beginning to fall.  With breezy cool temperatures, I've wasted no time getting into the spirit of my favorite season.  Last night I brought home a few Cinderella pumpkins for the front porch and tucked in some of our autumn colored hydrangeas and cut boxwood - similar to how I decorated our urns last fall.  I also brought home all of the ingredients for my favorite cider recipe that was given to me by my Aunt BJ.  Each holiday when we arrived at her house, she always had a large pot of this simmering on the stove.  It made the house smell heavenly and it's just as delicious.  This recipe is said to have originated in 1619 in Berkley, Virginia.  Enjoy!

DIY Fall Place Card, Free Printable Download

I especially love entertaining this time of year.  The days are shorter and there's nothing like spending time in the kitchen preparing a wonderful meal to be enjoyed with friends on a cool fall evening. Whether I'm preparing homemade pizza, or beef bourguignon, I love adding special touches to the table.  Place cards are a great way to do just that.  A favorite of mine is my leaf place card.

Today, I'm happy to share a free download of my template for you to create your own place cards. Print out the template on card stock (I used 67 lb paper in cream), and then cut out each leaf.  I have two great tips for cutting intricate curves.  The first is to maneuver the paper as you cut, not the scissors.  Secondly, a small pair of scissors will be your best friend.  I love these curved ones from Fiskars.  They are available at Michael's for under $10 and I use mine all the time.

 

 

After I cut the leaves out, I add my guests' names and then dab chalk ink on the edges to give them a bit of color.  For a more three dimensional effect, I score the center using a bone folder and straight edge. Gently fold the crease toward the center of the leaf and with your fingers curl up the edges slightly here and there.

Your guests' names can be added by freehand, or you can open the template in photoshop, or another software program, and add the names there using the font of your choice.

The leaves can be used alone, or tied to a fall decoration.  Above I've used felted acorns and jute twine.  Pine cones, walnuts or a fresh pear would also be nice.  You can even rest them on top of a wine glass.

 

 

 

Click here for the free pdf file to create your leaf place cards.

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 If you would like to share these on your blog, please be kind and add a link for your readers directly back to this post, rather than copying the pdf file onto your blog.  Enjoy!

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