Kwick Kitchen Kurtains

I took one look up and the valances in my sister's kitchen, and said - i think you need a refresh.  she had some very lovely striped curtains i made for her, like 14 years ago, for her first house.  I thought she could do with an updated look.  A quick visit to the fabric store for this lovely paisley, with aqua and greens was just the thing to brighten up the room.

 I had some leftover fabric - so i made a little table runner for the center of the table.

Terrible picture - sorry, the late afternoon sun was coming in so strong - it was impossible to get a good shot!  but you can imagine that the curtains are nicely accented by the green and aqua decorative items on the counter over her kitchen sink.

Faux Silk Flowers

 For Easter weekend i spent some time with my sister's family.  My neice loves to do crafts with her Auntie Diane.  Together we made this tray  full of faux silk flowers.  I got the idea from my friend K, who made similar flowers for our altered book swap last year.

 To start I purchased 4" wide fabric from Joann's.  the only criteria is that it MUST be synthetic.  I chose cheap polyester lining and some satiny shiny fabrics, and some sheers and tulle-like selections in an assortment of spring colours.  I chose several varieties of each colour to blend for the flowers.  I think altogether this cost me about $20.

 The fabric was cut into circles - about 4", 3" and 2" in diameter.  Some were further cut into petal shapes.  They don't need to be perfect - i just folded the fabric in quarters and eye-balled it.

 To create the curled petals - you need a candle.  the little jar type were the safest ones we could find.  It goes without saying you need to be CAREFUL!  We each had a metal cookie sheet upon which to place our fabric petals after melting the edges.  You DO NOT put the fabric directly in the flame. It starts to melt and curl when it gets close.  If you drop one (as i did a few times) luckily for me the flame just went out, rather than burning the house down.  We used little olive tongs to hold the fabric.  You could use a clothes pin.  You just melt the edges a bit, and then re-position your tongs, then melt the rest. do not touch the melted edge until it cools. (which is pretty quick)

 Once you have an assortment of fabrics and colours you can stack them up and create flowers.  We used a little button in the center - but you could use beads.

 Look how pretty they turned out!

 You can use a few layers - like the pink one above, for a delicate rose effect.

 Or use many layers - like the lavendar chrysanthemum style flower above.

 Here you can see blending different colours and fabrics - solid and sheer.

 You could hot glue wire or pipe cleaners on the back to add stems to place your flowers in a vase.

Or just use a safety pin to wear it to work! 

Thanks Erica for a fun crafty afternoon!

Bar Cart Makeover

I am hosting a birthday brunch today and thought my bar cart could use a makeover.  My good friends and neighbors gave it me me years ago when they did some remodeling. It has been a utilitarian place to put liquor but never got much attention until today!

This is the "before".  Dark and messy with a lot of crap on the bottom shelf. Decor mags and blogs are filled with cute bar cart images, so I thought I deserve one too!

First stop Cost Plus World Market for some purchases. I picked up some interesting sodas and waters in my colour scheme.  My friend Karen gifted me the cute pink aluminum ice bucket. I recently acquired the vintage soda bottle in an awesome aqua blue. There is even a touch of pink on the handle.   A collection of paper straws in pretty colours in a cylinder vase adds another vintage touch. 

I moved all the booze to the lower shelf and added some fun party napkins in the blue green colour palette. 

I covered the top tray and lower shelf with some green patterned napkins to add even more colour. 

I am so pleased with how it turned out! Mint julep soda anyone?