EAB Designs

DIY Advent Calendar inspired by Souvenir Magazine

When I first came across the vintage grain sack advent calendar bags, from the 2012 Holiday Issue of Souvenir Magazine, I knew I wanted to make them for my girls.  Maria, from Dreamy Whites blog, shared not only the advent bags, but other beautiful Christmas crafts made from vintage grain sacks as well. You can still purchase a digital version of the Holiday issue for only $1.95. Here is a photo of Maria's advent bags, which I used as my inspiration in creating my own.  

I wanted to make a set for each of my girls so as much as I loved the look of the vintage grain sacks, I chose to look for other material to keep the cost much lower.

I came across these kitchen towels at Sur La Table, on clearance, and knew they would be a great substitute for the grain sacks.  I purchased eight towels which were enough to make 24 bags, 5" x 7" in size.

By rotating my pattern on the towels, I was able to position the stripes to create different designs on the bags.  You can also take advantage of the hemmed sides to cut down on your sewing time.

For this set, I used silver paint to stencil the numbers 1-24.  The font was Lucinda Fax.

 

 

It's helpful to purchase an opaque paint which will cover the stripes well.

For my second set, I chose towels with an ivory background so the girls would each have different colored bags.  White paint was used to stencil the numbers and these towels were purchased from World Market. (I believe they are still in stock.)

I loved how they turned out and I think we'll use them for years to come.  You can find blog posts of our past DIY Advent Calendar projects here, here and here.

 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

 

 

 

The girls are home, there's light snow flurries outside and we are in the midst of pie baking.  This crust will soon be filled with a custard sweet potato filling - a favorite pie recipe from my mom.

Wishing you all a blessed and happy Thanksgiving day!

(Sources:  Pie Crust Recipe from Cook's Illustrated Baking Cookbook & Leaves are formed with pie cutters from Williams Sonoma)

Both shops are open for your holiday needs, visit EAB Designs & the Pemberley Collection.

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Christmas Card Holder

 

I've been searching for a vintage fishing creel since last summer.  Ones in great condition can be quite expensive, so I decided to be patient (not too easy for me) and wait for the perfect one at the right price to come along.  A few weeks ago, I found this beauty.  Perfect condition and just the colored patina I was looking for.  Best part... with shipping it was only $25!

I would have loved to display it on our front door, but the wicker would be ruined with the direct sun we get each day.  For this season, I'm going to use it to hold our Christmas cards.  I added some fresh boxwood and a silk bow in my favorite bronze color.

Speaking of Christmas, I just finished making new advent calendar bags for the girls and I love how they turned out.  They both read my blog, so I'm waiting to surprise them with the bags over Thanksgiving and then I'll share them with you later in the week.  Hope you're having a beautiful weekend. It's in the 30's here and very windy, so I've broken with tradition of not playing Christmas carols until Thanksgiving and currently have Harry for the Holidays by Harry Connick. Jr. playing throughout the house.  Everyone should have it in their holiday music collection - it's a favorite of mine.  Cheers!

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Thanksgiving Place Cards

 

 

Whether you're having six people join you for Thanksgiving dinner, or sixteen, I think it's always nice to make place cards.  It shows your friends and family you especially thought of them and it allows everyone to quickly find their place at the table so you can enjoy your delicious Thanksgiving feast. 

 

For our placecards this year, I saved the grandest of my acorn caps to create a velvet acorn for each guest.  I have never seen acorn caps this large before, but I'm smitten. Each guest's acorn is a different autumn color.  I chose chocolate brown script on ivory card stock, which was cut and shaped into a simple tent form.

 

 

For the favor bags, I hand-stamped small muslin bags which will be placed on the guest's plate next to their velvet acorn.

 

Inside the favor bags are milk chocolate caramel leaves wrapped in gold foil, by Lake Champlain Chocolates.

 

We have so much to be thankful for this year and I can't wait to have our girls home to celebrate next week.  Now I'm off to plan the menu and make a very long grocery list.

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A quick EAB Designs shop update:  Thank you so much for all of your personalized burlap stocking orders.  Our ordering queue is filled for this year.  Our preserved boxwood wreaths are very popular and I'm and working day and night to create more for you.  I will let you know once they are available again for purchase.  The Pemberley Collection will be featuring a holiday sale, so stay tuned for more information on that.

The post Thanksgiving Place Cards appeared first on EAB DESIGNS.

 

 

Living in Vienna

 

Our home town of Vienna has many amenities including parks, miles of bike paths, lighted ballfields and tennis courts, playgrounds and lots of hiking trails - all within a short walking distance of our home.

At the end of our cul-de-sac is the entrance to Foxstone Park which has a creek and paved path running through 15 acres. During a walk this past weekend, I took along my iphone to share a few pictures of the park.

 

 

The park made National headlines back in 2001.  Robert Hanssen, convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia, was arrested there while making one of his dead drops.  During the filming for the 2007 movie "Breach", truck loads of snow was brought in and placed along the streets by the park.  The girls' school bus would drive by and everyone would pop their heads out of the window and wave, hoping to get on camera.

 

 

Of course, now it's back to being a very quiet place and one which I love taking walks in.

 

 

Easy Entertaining, Fall Menu

When entertaining, sometimes I enjoy spending lots of time in the kitchen preparing complicated recipes and other times I like to prepare a simple but equally delicious menu.  This weeked it was all about keeping it simple, preparing everything in advance and having nothing to do once my guests arrive.

 

I always set the table the evening before, including setting out any platters or serving pieces I'll be using.  Simple white dishes and a row of tea lights was all I needed.

 

 

Dessert was prepared the day before, individual sized chocolate ganache cakes.  I remove them from the fridge at the same time I serve the entree so they'll be at room temperature for serving.

 

 

Just use your favorite chocolate cake recipe.  From two 9" layers, I cut 8 little rounds with a biscuit cutter.  You can stack them for four larger sized desserts, or keep them as single layers. The ganache takes only a few minutes to make and then I just spoon it over the top of the cakes. Ganache recipe can be found here.  The little candied violets can be found at baking supply stores.  I always keeps an assortment on hand for adding to cupcakes or desserts.

 

 

The left over pieces from the cake can be eaten straight away (chef's treat), or wrapped and placed in the freezer. In the future,  when you're in need of a quick dessert you can whip up some vanilla pudding and use the saved cake pieces to make a trifle.

 

For the first course I served an iceberg wedge salad.  The day before I clean and quarter the head of iceberg, fry some turkey bacon and dice it, and prepare the dressing.  Everything goes in the fridge, ready to serve.  While my guests are enjoying an appetizer, I quickly seed and dice a few tomatoes to place over the salad.  Dressing recipe can be found here.

 

 

For the main course, I served a beef stew which is placed in the oven hours before your guests arrive.  All you have to do is plate it and serve with a loaf of crunchy french bread.  So comforting on a chilly fall evening.  There are numerous recipes for the "no peek" slow cooking beef stew on the web. Just pick one with your favorite ingredients and spices.  Couldn't be easier.

 

What's for Breakfast?

I've never been a big fan of the ususal breakfast fare.  As a kid, when we dined out after church, I used to hope the lunch menu would be available.  On school mornings my mom would often make us hot oatmeal, or poached eggs .... both of which I hated and secretly fed to our dog when she wasn't looking.  (Sorry Mom!)  I remember one time we begged her to buy us Cream of Wheat cereal soley based on the commercial which showed kids walking to school on a snowy day encased in a warm bubble.  Well, the Cream of Wheat was worse than the oatmeal!  Lesson learned, don't believe commercials and stear clear of any type of warm cereal.  With me it was all about the toast and cup of hot tea, and it still is.  A favorite breakfast is the one I had today - sourdough wheat toast with ricotta, tomatoes & basil and a little bit of vanilla yogurt on the side. My sister gave me this floral bone china tea cup years ago and I drink from it every morning.  My breakfast bliss!  What do you love to eat for breakfast?

Hallow's Eve

I always look forward to the day when suddenly the trees explode with their beautiful fall color and everywhere you look there is gorgeous yellow and red foliage. Yesterday was that day. The temperatures were mild and towards the evening a brisk wind picked up blowing the leaves creating a perfect Halloween evening.

 

 

Pumpkin carving is a big deal in our family and we were lucky enough to have sweet girl home for a visit last weekend so she could work her magic. It was a huge hit with the trick-or-treaters.

 

And, since everyone loves to see a cat on Halloween, this was our second pumpkin, carved by sweet girl's boyfriend.  Meow!