December | 2011 | eclecticlamb

Rose Napkin Ring

28 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment

In 2010, I made these napkin rings to match my china pattern which was my great grandmother’s china. The pattern is Manor House by Vogue: Governor’s Mansion. I used the Purl bee’s rose pattern from their rose barrette tutorial to make the roses. I sewed green leaves to the rose to match the china. Then I sewed the rose and leaves to a piece of white felt. I attached a Velcro closure. I have used either white or green for the table cloth and napkins. These napkin rings are fun to use with my china.

Rose Napkin Ring

Santa Claus Themed Dinner

27 Dec 2011 2 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Bento / Cute Food, Party Planning Tags: santa claus shaped food, santa food

I enjoy planning and implementing themed meals. This year I decided to create a Santa Claus themed meal a few days before Christmas. The dinner party was for 5 adults.

Menu

Individual Santa Bread: I found this image and tried to replicate it. The dough is from a traditional dinner roll recipe with egg, milk, and butter. I researched and though a lot about what to use for “white paste”. I decided not to use a bean paste. Instead I tried the paste used for hot cross buns. I used the paste from this. Next time I will try to make the paste thicker. I brushed the bread with milk before baking.

Mushroom Soup: This is a family favorite from Sunset’s “Menus & Recipes for Vegetarian Cooking”.

Potato-Leek Soup: I tried a new recipe and would not make it again.

Strawberry Santa Hats: I tried this version. The strawberries were too large. My strawberry hats are not perfect but they tasted great.

Roly-Poly Santa Cookies: This recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens. I have made this recipe several times. The dough is easy to work with, they are cute and taste great.

Special Touches

Santa Name Cards: I scanned the image from a book, printed and cut it out. I created the names using the font, “Lucida Handwriting”. Then, I printed the names on a cream colored parchment paper and attached with tape.

Paper Place Mats: This was my first time making paper place mats. I already had the paper and stickers. I used a cloth place mat as a pattern. I did not have red and white paper large enough so I used two sheets of red and white paper for each place mat. I was a little concerned about the lines but they were not very noticeable when in use. These were non-laminated paper place mats so I just used a little tape to hold them together. I expected to use them only one meal but since they were so nice, we also used them for a few non-themed meals.

Rockefeller Center Holiday Decorations

26 Dec 2011 3 Comments

by eclecticlamb in Adventures

I took these photos in December, 2010 when I worked in New York City near Rockefeller Center.

2010 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree

Nutcracker on Avenue of the Americas

Giant Red Christmas Ornaments

Santa dog

Minnie & Mickey

Radio City

Redwork Sheep Ornament

22 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by eclecticlamb in Crafts, Embroidery Tags: christmas ornament

In 2005, I made a series of these ornaments for Christmas gifts. I bought paper boxes and painted them to match. Then, I attached a custom sticker to the top of the box.

Box for ornament

Wooden Sheep Ornament

21 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by eclecticlamb in Crafts Tags: christmas ornament

In 2003, I made a series of these wooden sheep ornaments. Friends let me use some scrap wood and their scroll saw. These turned out very large but I still like them. I used a combination of painting with a brush and drawing with a pen.

Back of sheep

The Garden of Lights – Brookside Gardens

19 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by eclecticlamb in Adventures

My family celebrated Thanksgiving at my sister’s home in Maryland. The day after Thanksgiving we visited The Garden of Lights at Brookside Gardens located in Wheaton, MD. It was a warm evening and it was delightful to walk through the many themed gardens filled with floral and whimsical themed lights. I had attended many drive through light displays but this was my first walk through light event. I was especially drawn to several animated light displays.

Spider web

Some type of animal

Moon seen through tree

Whimsical walk

Flower – up close

Christmas Ornament Craft

05 Dec 2011 1 Comment

by eclecticlamb in Crafts, Embroidery

This year my sister and her husband hosted the family Thanksgiving. I am known as the crafty Aunt and I love doing crafts with my nieces. I planned the craft with inspiration from this and this. Mom and I both brought supplies.

Originally I thought that the adults would also create ornaments but I was too busy helping my nieces (ages 9 and 7) to focus on my own. Mom found a lot of great supplies that inspired my nieces. They made 5 each. We had a lot of fun.

I did not take photos of the ornament backs. We hid the stitches with a felt back. The girls wrote or stitched their initials, name, date, and sometimes number in the series on the back.

My nieces are new to sewing and the needle often came off of the thread. I joked that my memory from this Thanksgiving will be the year I threaded a thousand needles.

Work table

Stocking

Santa

Tree

Snowman

Snowman and Tree

High Line Park

04 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment

by eclecticlamb in Adventures

I took these photos last week on my third trip to the High Line. It is an elevated park located in Manhattan between Gansevoort Street and 30th Street near 10th Avenue. This was my first time to the park since section 2 opened. The High Line was on my list of items I wanted to complete before my return to Western New York State.

Looking at my photos afterward, I noticed that sometimes the foliage caused me to focus closely on the park. But at other times the views drew me to look beyond the park to the city.