Mad Tea Party 2012

It was a hot day today.  I took a quick walk outside to look

at my sad, neglected garden.

The flowers are blooming, but the weeds are

creeping in and the grass is over long, still the flowers were blooming and beautiful.

It was then I noticed the surprise lilies had sprung up!  So beautiful and fragrant...I stopped to admire them when suddenly...

Two Scottie dogs appeared with a note..

I blinked to find myself at a table full of tea, sweets and refreshments!  Just what I needed after the hot summer sun outside...

There were so many delicious treats, I didn't know where to start... 

There were Cherries, and Root Beer, Cola and vintage bottles of 7-UP,

Lemonade and Raspberry tea...

 Cucumber sandwhiches, cherry tomatoes and cookies, galore!

The buttery cookies had raspberry and apricot jams,

chocolate and powdered sugar.

 The lemonade was chilled and served in beautiful glasses with N's on them!  As if they were made just for me!

 There were also Gum Drops and Nonpareils and even Orange Sherbert

in tiny vintage glass ice cream cups - all my favorites!

I thought I was alone until I spied a miniature Alice drinking tea and eating

an enormous (to her) cookie, too!  She bid me hello and told me to

sit down and enjoy!!  Thank you for visiting my blog today, be sure to drink

and eat all you want!  The cucumber sandwhiches were especially delicious. 

And as soon as I was full I found myself getting sleepy and woke up again amongst the flowers of my garden.  I dusted myself off and came to share the tale with you!

It's the first time I made Cucumber sandwhiches - I'll share the recipe

at the end of the post if you'd like to try them yourselves!

And now - 2 Giveaways for my party guests.  I have NEW Alice in Wonderland Images available for the first time ever.  These will be in my shop later this week, but for now I'm offering them to you lovely readers for free!  If you'd like a chance to win be sure to comment to this post.  I will pick a winner for each of the giveaways - let me know which one you prefer or if you like them both.  I'll announce the winners next week!!

#1 has an Alice drinking from the bottle that says 'Drink Me', another image has the bottle with the note on it.  The other two images are of the Mad Hatter.

#2 has images of Alice and the Cheshire cat, one Mad Hatter, a set of wobbly tea cups and a tea pot.

Both of these are very cute, you can use them in scrapbooking, decoupage, or you can frame the images and group them together.  They'd look lovely anywhere, but especially in a studio or bedroom. 

And now - the Cucumber Sandwiches...

I looked at various recipes, but experimented a bit in the end, I used:

1/2 pkg. Cream Cheese

1 huge spoonful Mayo

1 huge spoonful Sour Cream

1 1/2 tablespoon Ranch Dressing Mix

Dash of Garlic Powder

Dash of Beau Monde

Plenty of Dill

Mix these ingredients and season to taste.  Refrigerate overnight.

Day of:  Cut crusts off of white, wheat and/or rye and pumpernickel breads, slice cucumbers thin and make sandwiches, I served mine with super sweet heirloom cherry tomatoes from my garden - delicious!

Thank you so much for visiting and do take a look at my other Mad Tea Parties from previous years if you haven't already - links along the ride side of my blog. 

Have a Great Weekend!  Don't forget to comment and leave your email address for a chance to win the giveaways!!

58Cherries

Vintage Cat and Fox Postcard Pics to Cheer Me (and You) Up

Having a rather tough few months - real life can be such a downer at times...so I was amusing myself with some cute vintage pictures/postcards of two of my favorite animals and thought I'd share some of my faves...

 So dapper!  I wish I could get my kitty to sit still long enough to wear one!

So sweet!  Who wouldn't be cheered up on your birthday with this on your doorstep?

 Or soothed when sick by these sweet kitties?

And then we have...

 I love foxes!  The fact that my last name means fox in gaelic is a point of pride.  I even named my dog, Fox.  (Okay, he's named for Fox Mulder from X-Files, but also because of our love of foxes - it's a win/win kinda thing...)

This postcard has both a kitty AND a couple of foxes...plus rabbits!  All my favorite animals in one!  If you like rabbits, too - do be sure to see my old post with vintage rabbit pics as well!!

Ah, I feel better now, don't you?  ;)  I spent the day running around craft stores trying to get more jewelry supplies and I just wore myself out.  I've had such a headache and backache all evening and it is just too darn hot for running around.  And now I checked the weather and see that it will get back up to 99+ degrees again this week.  How ever will I cope?? 

Have a great weekend and if you are where it is hot - stay cool and hydrated!!!  Drink lots of lemonade and hit the pool, I know I am!  The Mad Tea Party approaches...

Happy Birthday, Frida

It's Frida Kahlo's 105th birthday today. 

(July 6, 1907 – July 13, 1954)

I admire the artist for many reasons, her independence...

Her art...

Her sense of style and fashion...

And her great passion and zest for life, even in the face of tragedy and pain. 

Happy Birthday, Frida!

A little of this a bit of that...

Need a bit of luck?  I've got a new pair of earrings in the shop that could help!

These are two #7 keys from two different typewriter sets.  They are antique white keys that are set on scalloped settings and strung on French wire hooks.

I love numbers and symbols so I love the little ampersands, too.  I kept them simple, but if you check my shop I also have a pair of typewriter key earrings with fancier Art Deco settings.  I like both styles.



 

And this necklace was a custom order for a wedding gift...

I'm sure they'll like it, this piece of jewelry makes an excellent gift for anyone who likes vintage items or wants a one of a kind piece of necklace.  The filigree setting is delicate and a pretty contrast against the simple typeface of the L. 

Mad Tea Party!!

It's that time again...

Yes, indeed!  It's a Mad Tea Party time!  This'll be my fourth year and I'm sure it'll be a great one!  There will be tea, sweets, mad guests and most importantly - Giveaways!!  Yes, multiple giveaways!  Be sure to come back and visity my blog on July 28th!!  And don't be late!!  ;)

Happy Monday!!

Popping in with a few new items...

Spring is always a busy time - tons of birthdays and events happen within a few short weeks, but now that it is summer I hope to be able to post again with some fun recipes and interesting pics soon.  But for now I wanted to let you guys know of a two new listings that went up today: 


                                      

I'm offering matching sets of necklaces and earrings with the French poodle balloon animals.  I got a request (from a balloon twister!) for a set and found I had no matching earrings and pendants so I went shopping and then had these made...

The first set is not the usual - I found some very pretty translucent like pale pink beads that look extra balloon-like and were luckily available in both sizes needed to make the pendant plus smaller earrings.  They look pretty darn cute, if I do say so myself.  This pair is RESERVED for the customer I mentioned, but I do have another set I will put up soon.  Gotta grab these while I have them as I only got one strand each of these beads and I doubt I'll find more anytime soon.

 

The other pair are the traditional glass pearl beads - sky blue.  I offered earrings in this color before, but this is the first time I have a pendant to match.  This item SOLD already, but I have another set ready to post tomorrow.

So that's all for now, I'll be posting a few other colors soon.  I'm very happy that summer is finally here!!  ;)

Etsy Update the Second

I'm just tickled to announce my first pair of antique typewriter key earrings are in my shop! I love these Art Deco settings - they make great fancy earrings.

Find these pretty earrings here in my shop.

They are asterisk and underscore on one and question mark and slash on the other. They make a great gift for a budding writer or anyone that loves to read and write. When I finished making them I was sorely tempted to keep them for myself I love them so much!


I put fancy filigree settings on the back to make them every bit as pretty as the front!

And there are actually three settings on each earring - the back filigree setting, the main Art Deco setting and also a scalloped edged base setting - just look at them from the side...

These are really cool earrings - I've got to make myself a pair!! Check out my shop for bigger pics.

Also - another necklace in my shop...

A beautiful antique white key with a simple black font - this 'S' necklace makes me wish my name started with that letter!

Grab this pretty necklace here at my shop!

I love all the crackly shabby chic goodness in this key! So pretty. I put it on a delicate filigree setting and it just shines.

So many pretty pieces to make still - so little time. I'm waiting for an extremely slow package to come so I can finish off some pieces. Have a great day!

Etsy Update - Two New Necklaces - Parisian Charm

I'm super proud of my latest design in my shop - a versatile piece packed with Parisian Charm and Romance...

An Antique Typewriter charm necklace/bracelet! There are two ways to wear it - as a necklace...

SOLD

Or as a bracelet...

SOLD

I've spelled out PARIS in antique white keys plus a black Back Space key, two Fleur de Lis charms, a tiny Eiffel Tower and Skeleton key charms.

SOLD

It's a bracelet with an extra length of chain allowing you to wear it as a necklace. I made one for myself first and loved it so much I made another one for my shop.

Available in my shop here.  SOLD as of 12/5/12

The photos don't do it justice - this piece is beautiful in person!

SOLD

And I also found a new pretty shade of pink pearls for the balloon animal pendants - I've added this great color to my shop last week. So pretty!

SOLD

Available in my shop here.



SOLD



Check out my shop for other great Typewriter Key jewelry, Balloon Animal jewelry and more!!

Happy Monday!

Green with Indie Craft Fair

This Saturday (March 10th) is the Green with Indie craft show!! Be sure to check it out if you are in the St. Louis area. It is this Saturday at the Webster University gym. 10:00 am to 5:00 pm - one day only!!

There will be many vendors there with wonderful crafts featuring upcycled materials. There is quite a variety of items for sale. Just click on the link at the top or the picture and check out their vendor list for a little taste. I went a few years ago and it was so much fun - there was also live music and there will be food available outside. I'm thinking of applying for a booth next year, maybe.

So if you are in the area, don't forget!! Check it out.

Fashion Fri - I mean Saturday: Cute AND Practical Sandals

Is anyone else as frustrated as I am at the lack of cute practical sandals in the stores? For over a decade or so I've mourned the lack of decent sandals to wear with shorts or pants when running around in the spring and summer.

It seems to me sandals are sorted into two categories these days: Super Dressy Tart (high heels and bling) or Rock Climbing Butch. So they are either too fancy to wear every day or they are super athletic (not to mention ugly) and the exact same style being sold in the mens department. Ugh.

Well the other day I searched zappos.com for some alternatives and found these:

Wedge sandals by Cordani. Only problem is they are $180 and I wasn't quite prepared to shell that much money on a shoe I can't even try on so I went to Amazon and found the exact same shoe for much less! The dark brown ones were $126 - still pricey, but the gray ones were $75 or so.

They have since run out of this color, but they still have the more expensive 'black' (I think it is really dark brown) ones. Only a few left so if you are interested hurry up and buy them. They arrived super fast even with free shipping and they are very comfy and nice looking in person. Exactly what I wanted. I'd buy the other color, too, but I'm still on a budget.


So my mother saw the sandals and loved them so much she was going to buy some until she found these sandals by the same company:

Cute, huh? She snatched them up as there were only a few left. I'm not sure how practical red sandals are, but they were too cute to pass up.
And then I saw these recommended under the listing for those shoes and ended up buying these by Jambu.

So, long story short - I'm all ready for sandal season. LOL I can't wait to wear my new shoes!

All shoes are available at Amazon as of 3/3/12. Some may be available at Zappos, but more expensive. Sorry for lack of links, but it is 2 in the morning and I'm tired. Zzzzz...

Anybody else know of a good sandal available out there? My requirements are good arch support, a bit of a heel, but not too high and they must be CUTE. :)

Have a Great Weekend!