Posted in Entertaining at Home, Flowers, tagged Lime Centerpiece, Limes, Limes and flowers on September 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »
I’ve had a lot of inquiries about the blog post I did that featured Limes and Flowers as a centerpiece.
I just wanted to share this photo of another Lime and Flower success story. I loved the contrast of colors here. Same basic instructions apply for creating the arrangement.
If you have questions, leave a comment or send me a message!
Posted in Dishes and Serving Pieces, Entertaining at Home, Home and Garden, tagged Dish Collecting, Easy Care Dishes, Versatile Serving Pieces, Willow House on August 26, 2010| 1 Comment »
Anyone who has been to our home knows I like dishes. Well, maybe more than like. Love doesn’t seem like quite the right description either. Compulsive dish collector, obsessive, crazy about are terms I think Hubby has used to describe my passion for serving pieces.
He has no room to talk, though, because he is an enabler of my habit. Just this past weekend we were wandering around a department store when this bowl caught my eye.
And then I saw the rest of the matching bowls and all bets were off. I had to have them. I had to! The balance of my little world hung on bringing these beauties home with me. So Hubby packed them around the store while I fawned over approximately 257 other things that I liked. But none that I loved like these bowls.
These mixing bowls are, fasten your seat belts …. oven, microwave and dishwasher safe. I can mix, bake and reheat in these bowls til the cows come home. They have these great little measures inside.
Check out the big mixing bowl. How handy is that?
Best of all, they are pretty and match my kitchen perfectly. Just like the 362 other dishes taking up space in my cupboards.
When you are purchasing mixing or serving pieces, look for items that give you value and versatility. Are they microwave, dishwasher and oven safe? Are they good quality? Will they stand up to your family using them? Can you picture at least three ways they will enhance your collection?
Here is a link to a collection of top-notch pieces that provide a lot of versatility for the value.
Happy Entertaining!
From the Dish Collector
Posted in Entertaining at Home, Home and Garden, Party Theme, tagged Gift Wrapping, Gift-Wrapping Ideas, Wedding Gift Wrapping on June 22, 2010| 3 Comments »
Here we are knee-deep in wedding season. Isn’t it awesome! As I may have mentioned before, I love weddings.
Going to weddings involves taking gifts and that involves, at least for me, wrapping them up pretty! Yes, I like to wrap gifts and yes, there are certain standards that must be met!
For weddings, two of my favorite gift wrapping tools are satin tape and organza ribbon. They both are staples to wedding gift wrapping success.
As you can see, a bow tied with organza ribbon turns a ho-hum package into something quite lovely. Add a special little touch in the center of the bow like ribbon rosette or a wedding bell. It will finish the package like nobody’s business. Anyone can use organza ribbon to make a gift look spectacular. If you can tie your shoes, you can tie a bow with organza. It is that simple. Honest and true!
Another little thing I like to do to dress up packages is make star bows. These are not the ugly little star bows that you can get a bag of 120 for 99 cents. (Which, by the way, should be outlawed and banned from stores.)
These are hand-made star bows that make quite a statement on their own. If you can cut a snowflake, you can make this bow.
Start with your unadorned package.
Cut a piece of matching wrapping paper almost as big as the top of the package. Trim it into a square.
Fold it in half.
Then fold in half again, so you have a small square.
Fold the square into a triangle by bringing outside edges together.
Trim the top of the triangle into an oval shape, then cut down the both sides, almost to the tip. It is extremely important you DO NOT cut through the tip.
Start unfolding your bow, one layer at a time.
Keep unfolding, you are almost there.
Once you have it completely unfolded, you will lap each little triangle piece over the top of each other and secure with a bit of tape. This makes the petals.
The first layer is done. You'll repeat this process two more times, decreasing the size of each bow by an inch or so. When you have three graduated layers, you are ready to attach to the package.
Tape each layer in the center of the package. I stagger where the petals rest instead of lining them up because it rests better that way and looks fuller. Use a fun bow for the center. I found some great sparkly ones at the dollar store that fit perfectly in the center. I attach these with hot glue because the stickies on the back never hold like they should.
Happy Wrapping!
Shanna
Posted in Entertaining at Home, Home and Garden, Musings, tagged dracula lily, voodoo lily, weird plants on June 10, 2010| 1 Comment »
Dracula Lily - a plague in my backyard bliss.
When we moved into our current home, it came with an assortment of beautiful flowers and plants. I enjoyed the rose bushes, the mums, and hydrangea. Because we moved in during the summer, I had no idea what interesting plants would bloom in the spring.
I was in for a great surprise.
One warm and lovely spring day, right around this time of year, I was enjoying the breeze blowing in the window from the back yard when the most atrocious smell came floating in. Whoa, Nelly! It smelled exactly like something dead and decaying. I hurried to look outside and see if someone had drug the rotting carcass of a large animal into our backyard. The smell was that bad. I couldn’t see anything from the window, so I went outside to investigate. What I found was the oddest plant with the most horrendous smell issuing forth from its blooms.
According to the information I found, the plant is called Dracunculus Vulgaris, also known as the Voodoo Lily or Dracula Lily. I can see how it acquired those names. I think it is a great insult to the beautiful lilies that grace formal bouquets at special celebrations to even be in the same family as this blight on the plant world.
Honest to goodness, the plant smells like death and decay. If you’ve never smelled that rotting decayed smell count yourself fortunate. Growing up on a farm, I’m unfortunately well acquainted with that particular odor.
Because I hate the two plants that burst forth in prolific and horrific bloom each year, Hubby absolutely loves them. I’ve threatened to dig them up, spray them, mow them over and do anything I can to destroy them. He won’t have any of it. So the deal is I put up with the awful lilies and he leaves my roses alone.
Wish me luck, it looks like the plant is heading into full bloom!
Shanna
Savvy Entertaining 
