Glimpse of Easter Table Decor

Here is a  mock up of what I'm going to do with the pennant banner I showed you yesterday.  We are using two 6' tables, so I'm hoping to stretch this between them for a centerpiece.  I'm probably going to put the azalea pots on some sort of box because I want a little more clearance under the pennants so I can put the four bunny pots (below).  If it doesn't work out, I'll find another place on the table for them. 

Last year I made these little pots with the burlap bunnies for Easter baskets.  This year, I'm using them as planters.   Here is the link for making the pots: Bunny pots

 I found this cool plant that reminds me of lettuce.  I don't know what it is.  I found it in the shade area and none of them had identifying tags. It reminds me of a juniper, but it has no pointy, sharp edges or maybe some kind of fern?

Happy Easter!

Matthew 28:1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." (NIV)

Polka Dot Burlap Banner

Burlap Pennant Banner

This is not the most stylized picture of this banner, but I am going to my daughter's house for Easter, so all decorations are being made and transported and not put up here.  It is smaller scale than a regular pennant banner because I am using it on the table, hung between two azalea trees.  

 I used the same pattern as for the carrots only on a smaller scale. 

Pin pattern to burlap and cut.

 They should look like this.

 I got a piece of card stock, folded it in half and traced half of the Martha Stewart stippling brush onto the card stock and cut it out.  This is my stencil for the dots.

 Using craft paint I randomly applied dots using the stencil on one side on the pennants, let dry, and then applied in the same exact spots on the other side.

 I then sewed them onto a string of yarn.  Twine would have been better, but I was determined to use what I had on hand.  You could easily hot glue the pennants onto the string, but I want to keep my banner for future use, so I zigzagged the pennants onto the yarn and then straight stitched the edges to keep them from unraveling. 

This project was super easy and took under an hour.  

No Sew Burlap Carrots for Easter

My theme this year for Easter is bunnies and carrots and the use of burlap. 

I was inspired to make some of these burlap carrots from a picture/tutorial I found on pinterest: http://daisymaebelle.com/diy-burlap-carrots/

They are really easy and all you need is:

One sheet of paper 

(for the pattern)

orange and green craft paint 

(I used two shades of each)

paint brush

scissors

burlap

raffia

hot glue gun and glue sticks

Poly fiber fill 

(or you could fill them with candy for a special treat!)

take a sheet of paper and fold it in half

make a diagonal line just off the point to about 1-2 inches from the top

it should look like this when finished cutting and

this when opened

Place pattern on burlap and cut out your carrots.

They should look like this when cut.

Draw a straight line across the carrot where the straight edge meets the
diagonal

and paint below that line. 

I added a light orange to represent the growth of the carrot. 

I let them dry

I then painted the tops green and let dry.

Next, apply hot glue down at the tip of the carrot and fold over and press to form the point.

The carrots will then roll up easily, put a bead of hot glue on one side and lay the other side over it.  You should have a cone when done. 

Let dry.

Fill the inside with fiber fill up to where the green carrot top begins. 

Pinch the top together and tie with raffia.

I made 12 carrots and this project took me about 1 hour.  The paint dries really quick and so does the glue. 

2013-2014 Broadway Series

I've renewed my Broadway subscription with my friend Marie again this year.  This will be our 5th year as season ticket holders.  We have such a great time getting dinner and then seeing the show.  This year I'm looking forward to:

Evita

The Wizard of Oz

 The Book of Mormon

Really looking forward to seeing this.  I hear it is hysterical!

Jersey Boys

This will be my 5th time seeing Jersey Boys (only to be beat out by Wicked, which I've seen 6 times).  I love the music and the story.  It's a fantastic show.

 Ghost

Not too excited about this, there have been so many cheezy jokes made of the pottery scene that I just cringe when I think of this movie.  I did like the movie when it first came out, so maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. 

Once

Never heard of this until recently when my friend, Rachel, posted about a surprise ending.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

I heard this was really funny.  It was huge the last time I was in London (2010).

 Chicago

I'm super excited about this one.  I loved the movie, but I have never seen the play. 

 I Love Lucy

I've never heard of this one either, but I'm thinking it will be funny.

Also playing, but I didn't get tickets for, is:

Beauty and the Beast (saw this last year)

Mamma Mia! (this one too)

It's a great season lineup and when you buy tickets in the season ticket package, you get a great discount.  This is a fun night out with friends and/or your spouse.  I'll probably see book of Mormon with the Handsome Husband too. 

I've Been Reading...

Baby, Let's Play House

Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him

In Reader's Digest, they had an article about Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret with excerpts from this book, so I decided to read it. They were rumored to have had a great love affair, but this book barely touches on it.  I love Elvis Presley, well, I should say LOVED!  If you are an Elvis fan, don't read this book (or maybe you should and get your eyes opened).  I am no longer an Elvis fan because of the way he is portrayed in this book.  He was a weirdo and a pedophile!  He loved 14 year old girls, he was a sex addict (which to me is just a selfish man who can't tell himself no) and a drug addict.  I was most disappointed in these revelations.  He had great manners, which enabled him to charm parents of young girls and have people look the other way.  I was disgusted!  

Amazon, Editor Review:

Nash culls reminiscences from long-term girlfriends, starlets like Ann-Margret and Cybill Shepherd, and assorted strippers, showgirls and groupies for this gossipy, besotted biography of rock's original sex god. They attest to the allure that had females lining up for access to the young Elvis's bed: devastating looks, pelvic gyrations and a bad-boy sneer combined with a romantic soul, sublime kissing technique and a courtliness that lulled parents into handing over their underage daughters. (He was attracted to 14-year-old brunettes, Nash argues, like future wife Priscilla.) And there's the indefinable magnetism—i.e., celebrity—that kept them coming through the drugs and debauchery, the bizarre monologues and random gunplay, the impotence and incontinence and vomit and bloat of the King's declining years. Nash's mix of breathless melodrama (his voice was soft and sensuous, and he had a mischievous grin on his face, and he was looking straight at her) with rote psychoanalysis (Elvis could never really let go of [his mother] Gladys) often reads like a fan magazine. Her shallow but vivid portrait nonetheless manages to evoke much of what made Elvis so enthralling. (Jan. 5) 

 A Discovery of Witches

I really enjoyed this book.  I thought it was a great story.  It is part of a trilogy, so the first book ends with a cliffhanger and you must read the second.   I found it to be creative and I totally bought into the characters. 

Amazon Editorial Review:

Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2011: It all begins with a lost manuscript, a reluctant witch, and 1,500-year-old vampire. Dr. Diana Bishop has a really good reason for refusing to do magic: she is a direct descendant of the first woman executed in the Salem Witch Trials, and her parents cautioned her be discreet about her talents before they were murdered, presumably for having "too much power." So it is purely by accident that Diana unlocks an enchanted long-lost manuscript (a book that all manner of supernatural creatures believe to hold the story of all origins and the secret of immortality) at the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and finds herself in a race to prevent an interspecies war. A sparkling debut written by a historian and self-proclaimed oenophile, A Discovery of Witches is heady mix of history and magic, mythology, and love (cue the aforementioned vampire!), making for a luxurious, intoxicating, one-sitting read.

I am currently reading: Rules of Civility and I can't put it down.  Love, Love, Love it!

Laguna Willow Canyon Hike

On Sunday, after church, we decided to hike the Willow Canyon trail off Laguna Cyn Road.  We got a fairly late start (10am), but it was cool...until we began the hike.

 Right now the hills in South Orange County are green!  It is truly beautiful.  In another month or so, they will all be brown.  This particular trail was 3.5 or so miles roundtrip.

 It begins with a wide fire road path that is so steep for the first 1.8 miles.  Geez, if I would have know that, I probably would not have taken this path.  The good thing was that I brought my walking poles and they always make the climb easier.   This was a lush hillside at the beginning.

 The trees are just starting to show signs of Spring.  Little leaf buds are peeking out. One of the bike riders we passed yelled snake, but we did not see one. The snakes like to come onto the path to warm themselves up.

After the long steep hill, we turned right and began our decent into a beautiful, woodsy valley.  There were trees, shade, meadows and the path became just wide enough for one person.  

It was a wonderful day to be outside and we enjoyed every minute of it.  It took us about 1hr and 45 min., but we stopped to admire the views and talked to a few people.  I loved how the sea breeze came up during the second half of our hike and it cooled us off and the long grass in the meadow was waving with the breeze.