Tag Archives: Martha Stewart

Clementine’s Party

03 Tuesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Party!, Projects

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I grew up in a family full of summer birthdays.  Summer always meant ice cream cake and swimming and parties and I assumed it did for everyone else as well.  My mom was great at whipping up a party for very little money.  We would make pinatas from paper grocery bags, use dress-up clothes for relay competitions and hand-crank homemade ice cream.  We are thrilled to have two summer birthdays (and a third on the way!) amongst the sisters and cousins in the family now.  I love a summer party!  This is Clementine’s first birthday, with orange and yellows as color inspiration of course:

*Tissue Pom-Poms, Martha Stewart has great directions here.

*Kid Snacks in fancy cups.  These paper snack cups from Shop Sweet Lulu make even healthy snacks seem like party food.

*Giant Balloon from Bargain Balloons.

*Rainbow Veggies and Hummus.

*Paper Flags.  We made these by folding tissue from Nashville Wraps in half and cutting a triangle shape with point away from fold.  Unfold into a diamond, put a bit of glue stick along the fold, reposition and fold over some twine.  Easy!

*Rubber Frog Pool Toy employed to hold down the napkins.

*Sunflowers.

*Under the umbrellas.

*Homemade Lemonade with Mint.

*Guest in Orange.

*Flags on the Fence.

*Ice Cream Cake from Cliff’s.  Ice Cream Cake = Party Essential!

*Dusk.

Happy Birthday Clementine!

Coffee Filter Flowers

22 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Likes, Party!, Projects

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This was inspired by the new Martha Stewart issue.  We are ready for spring and Easter colors around here!  These flowers are made by gently folding painted coffee filters into petal shapes.  Ada liked using the paints and watching the colors bleed up the filters.  The finished flowers can be combined into a bouquet, tied onto gifts, or planted on the wall like we did.  You will need:

*Coffee Filters

*Watercolor Paints and/or Food Coloring (I used both, but kept the kids away from the messier food coloring)

*Bowls (for mixing the food coloring with water)

*Paper or Scrap Cloth Towels

*Green Pipe Cleaners

*Painters Tape (for wall hanging)

1. Separate filters into stacks of 4 to 6 each.

2. Fill bowls with a small amount of water and a few drops of food coloring.  We used about five drops in shallow water.

3. Dip the bottom edges of filter stacks in bowls and/or paint edges with watercolors.  More pigment and less water=brighter colors.  Filters can be dried and more colors added until you like your results.

4. Place filter stacks on towels to dry.

5. When stacks are still slightly damp, pinch the back center of the flower and twist all the filters together, (middle photo).  Secure with pipe cleaner and gently unfurl petals.  If you used food coloring, a bit may transfer onto your hands when flowers are wet but should stay put when dry.

6. When flowers are completely dry, make a loop of painter’s tape. Insert stem through loop vertically and stick onto the wall.

Party!

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Likes, Party!, Projects, Shop, Vintage

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Decorations on the fan.  The vintage lanterns are from flea markets and the large pink one is from Pearl River Mart store in Manhattan, (much better than the site).  We make the pom poms from Nashville Wraps tissue.The spread.  I scored the beautiful Jadeite pieces on Craigslist the day before the party.  They remind me of my Great Gram and they are the most perfect color to mix with hot pink and reds.  The chocolate cake is my favorite recipe.  It is a staple at our parties and inspired me to be brave about homemade cakes.  They are so worth it!  Polka dot fruit cups and stripey straws are from Shop Sweet Lulu.  She has lovely, edited, special party supplies.  Special drink.  We like to do a signature drink for our parties.  Josie’s was a sparkling berry soda.  We added a kick to the adult version.  You will need:

*2 oz.Sparkling berry drink. We used Lorina French Berry.

*1.5 oz. St. Germaine

*1.5 oz. Champagne

*Raspberry for garnish

1.Measure, mix and stir gently.  Pour into fancy glass over ice.  (Drinking champagne through a good straw makes it even more fun!)  I found the perfect vintage ‘B’ glasses for Chris at a church sale years before we had kids.  I would have gotten them even without the correct last initial and $5 price tag.  Josie-bean Ice Cream.  I love our vintage ice cream maker and any excuse to whip up a batch makes me happy.  The We are going to do custom flavors for the girls’ birthdays from now on.  For Josie-bean (Ada’s nickname for Josephine) you will need:

*3 Cups Heavy Cream.  Good quality cream is essential.  We use Ronnybrook Farm’s from our farmer’s market.

*2/3 Cups Unrefined Sugar.  I think this tastes better than white sugar.

*2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

*Seeds from 2 Vanilla Beans

*2 Cups Fresh Raspberries

1.Scrape seeds from vanilla beans and add to cream, sugar and vanilla in small saucepan.  Drop empty pods into cream and heat on low heat until all sugar dissolves.

2.Remove vanilla bean pods and pour cream mixture into bowl.  Chill in fridge for an hour.

3.Pour cooled mixture into ice cream maker, add fresh raspberries and follow directions for your maker.

4.Serve immediately or store in freezer.  Allow to soften slightly before serving.

Happy Birthday Josie!

Window Hearts

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Likes, Organizing, Projects

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We made these wax paper and melted crayon hearts last year and have been waiting to hang them back up. The original project is Martha Stewart’s, (Oh Martha how I love you).  Ours came out a bit differently because we only had washable crayons at the time and Ada insisted on working the crayon sharpener.  They packed away beautifully and we were happy to see them brighten the windows of our new house!