Last Minute Wine and Cheese

 

I went out to the deck, after a long stressful week, with a new magazine to wait for Lee to come home from work.  All of the sudden I realize it's the first evening that it's warm enough to actually sit out and relax!  I jumped up and checked the fridge to see what we had for an appetizer. Just a little bit of cheese, some dried cherries and crackers.  Yes!  The bottle of wine we chilled a few months ago is still waiting for us. 

No planning, no elaborate prep, but 15 minutes later I decided to cut a few hosta leaves and add a centerpiece to the table because it looked so nice.  As I was cutting the leaves Lee pulled up. Perfect timing!

We even got our daily exercise in on our walk to Giuseppi's to pick up a dinner to share.  Lit a fire, invited the neighbors over and stayed outside till 11pm eating chocolates, drinking wine, and catching up with friends.

"The little things?  The little moments?  They aren't little." -  John Zabat-Zinn 

Baptism Decor using Photos and Clip Art.

I'm a member of the Designer Crafts Connection Blog group and we post projects on the First Monday of each month.  Click the 365 Days of Crafts Logo on the right to see all the creative ideas that we have to share.  To celebrate we also have a giveaway! Read through to the end of the post for information on how to enter.

The theme for the month of September is parties, baby showers, wedding showers, etc., basically anything to do with decorating for a celebration.  I chose to share the quick and easy decorations that I made for my nephew, Cash, at his Baptism party.  This was a picnic and the decor was casual but I still wanted it to be special for Cash and his family.

I saved a small picture of Cash, added wings with Photoshop, and printed a whole sheet of them.  After cutting out circles of glossy blue cardstock, I layered the photos (cut just a bit smaller) and cardstock with Glue Dots. 

I printed a Bible clip art image for some of the flower centers to reinforce the blue and white theme. After all the circles were finished I glued them to the centers of inexpensive daisy flowers with Glue Dots.  The daisies were sold as a bunch and I just popped them into the vases. Light blue twin sheets from Walmart ($4.00 each!) worked perfectly for tablecloths.

I used the same card stock to make the cupcake toppers.  Again, I used Glue Dots to attach the images.  This time I glued them to lollipops after trimming the excess cellophane around the candy.  So cute!  I wish my cupcakes were as tasty as they were beautiful.  I tried to be creative with the recipe and they turned out to be more like heavy brownies than light and fluffy cake.  Lesson learned !  Test and Taste before you serve dessert to a large group of people!

SEPTEMBER GIVEAWAY!

We have something special this month - a set of Scrapbook Soup, Series 100 DVDs!  Scrapbook Soup is now airing on your local PBS TV channel.  Check your local listings and if it isn't listed, call the station and request it!  Program managers always like to hear what their viewers want to watch.

TO ENTER: Visit all the Blogs on the DCC Hop and stop at Life in the Craft Lane for the details on entering for a chance to win this wonderful set of DVDs.

I'm joining A Stroll Thru Life: Tabletop Tuesday  and

this week.  Stop by for a visit!

Lunch at the Kintner House Part Two

I promised to tell you more about our lunch at Kintner House Inn today.  Our hosts were very sweet and the Victorian Decor was pretty but I'm sure you want to know about the food right?  They offered a nice menu with light entrees that were perfect for the Tea Room atmosphere. 

I think this is Elvin's Chicken Salad with Pink Arctic Salad and Banana Bread

The selections were delicious and plated beautifully.

This the Joey's Egg Salad Sandwich with a Mandarin Spinach Salad and Chips.

We were served an assortment of beverages from the Beverage Bar.  Assorted glass containers on a Victorian Buffet.

My favorite container was the Bee Hive beverage dispenser.  I thought it might be vintage but I found several sources to buy one on the internet.  I'm tempted to get one of my own.  How about you?

Isn't it cute?  Also, did you notice the little bees and grasshoppers in the wallpaper behind it? Unexpected, but perfect placement.

I was told that the desserts were delicious but I was holding out for Ice Cream later in the day.  Maybe next time!

Did you get any ideas about plating a meal for a luncheon of your own?  Plating, which is the art of presenting food in an attractive way, doesn't have to involve really elaborate techniques or anything.  It just makes the food taste better since you are appealing to more than just the sense of taste.  A beautiful plate of food satisfies the mouth, nose and eyes.  It also gives us another reason to be creative!  You know I'm all about that :)

Mary Jo's Design Divas June 2011

Dee Windell - Innkeeper and the Kintner House Family and Staff

 Left to right - top row Connie, Dee, Debbie

Next row - L to R Bradley, Jennifer, Joey

This charming group gave us a warm welcome and made our visit just perfect.  We took a tour of the rooms (there are photos here) and learned a little more about the Inn after lunch before we checked out the local shops.  I look forward to another visit some day.

And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. --Joel 2:26