Somewhere in time, perhaps even as a very young child, our eye’s begin to see the beauty of nature all around us.  As adults we often get to busy to pause for the refreshment that can be seen in every flower, sunset, little critter or a child.  This Sunday let’s commit once again to “stop and smell the roses.”

Deb’s vacation pictures remind us how beautiful nature is that surrounds us each day if take time to really see.  She is sensitive to what her eyes see and  beautifully captures for all to enjoy.

I asked Deb if she had taken any recent garden pictures she would share with me while she was on vacation so I could have something pretty to post.  Look what she sent me.

She said she stalked it quite some time to get all of these beautiful shots.

I think this is an awesome shot!

I am bragging again but what the heck, she takes fantastic pictures!

I am sure this shot scared that little ladybug to no end.

Now I started wondering why are lady bugs called ladybugs?  Are they all females?  How did they get the name ladybug anyway?  Help me out if you have an answer.

What do Mother’s love to do most?  Brag about their children.  I am doing that today.

Some of you may recall the post I did on folding an Easter Bunny napkin.  Today I am posting a napkin Debbie made.

Can’t you just see this napkin setting in the middle of a pretty red, green, gold or any color plate?  It would “wow” my guests for sure.

I am “hoping” Martha, you know,  Martha Stewart whose instructions I gave you for Easter Bunny fold sees this so Deb can get her napkin in a national magazine!

Well I am her Mother so I can dream big for her.

I thought they were cute beyond words and loved the fold she put on them and wanted to make sure you had a chance to see how talented she is

Spring, the season of sudden change.  I helped Deb pick out flowers to make a Spring bouquet for her front door and the flowers laid on her dining room table for weeks before we finally got it completed and hung.

I think the end result was worth the wait.  Do you have a Spring door greeting, please share it with us.

Here was our flower selection from Hobby Lobby when 50% off applied.

Even the worst arranger in the world can’t go wrong when working with this kind of beauty.  Next find all the tools needed for the project, wire cutters, floral wire, flower foam, ribbon, a container, and of course Grandma’s helper, Aria.  She had a blast helping us with her own little cutting and wiring projects.  We found the perfect container hanging in Deb’s kitchen eating area so we decided to empty it of it’s contents and borrow it for a few months.

Nest we need to place the floral foam inside the container, making sure it is solid and we are ready to insert flowers.  Decide what is your main floral ocus and put that flower in first.  Gauge how tall you want the flower to stand out of the pot and get those wire cutters busy.  Continue adding flowers with the focus on your main flowers, usually the larger sized ones.

Once all of the larger flowers are placed we began to fill in with the smaller plants and the greenery…I use every leaf as a filler by wiring it to a wood stick as it helps keep costs down and looks good.

In case your wondering why I didn’t fill that container in and cover it up…well that is what we are going to do with the Spanish Moss.  It gives it such a natural and old fashioned charm as you will see in this next photo.

I was grateful for Deb’s little and young   fingers pushing the moss through the  container…yep I could have put some in first but this stuff is messy! This way it is hanging out of the design of the container and looks like it has aged there naturally too.

I added a bow and Deb figured out with some  duct tape how to keep the Kansas winds from blowing it through her glass and we are ready to show off the final result.

A few final touches.

We thought it turned out pretty fine…definitely looks beautiful on her door don’t you think?

And Aria she never missed a beat she was with us every step of the way and finished by making her bow to fit the arm of the bench on the front step.

What a beautiful welcome to Spring and the visitors at the Pearson’s.

Can black and white be my favorite colors when technically they really aren’t colors? Well I love how bold, dramatic, dressy or classic they always look together.

The napkins have an offset design that gives you 2/3 scroll work design on one side and on the opposite side it is 2/3 black with 1/2 scroll work fabric.

Using fabric placemats and napkins means they are washable, reusable and helping to save the earth one step at a time

These new placemat and napkin sets were just added to our store. You can find them at Creative Chics Home Store if you’re interested in having a set for yourself or for a friend.

Yes, we’ll be celebrating St. Patty’s day with a little Irish fair for dinner. Here’s what I’ve lined up. (PS click on any of the photos to go straight to the recipe, all courtesy of Food Network…my favorite place to get new recipes.)

Slow Cooker Corn Beef and Cabbage

Corn Beef & Cabbage

Irish Beer Bread

Irish Soda Bread

The Irish Pirate Chocolate Mint Dessert Drink, mmmm yummy!

The Irish Pirate

Want to come over for dinner tonight?

It’s time for another Thursday Tablescape with Susan our hostess at Between Naps on the Porch. Hope you will join in the activities and I look forward to seeing your posts.

Having traveled to Paris twice now, I can tell you I am in love with the city of romance and would go back in a heartbeat. Bistro table settings looking upon the Eiffel tower can be found throughout the city.

The Paris plates I bought at Hobby Lobby 50% off.  I wanted two of each type so I could mix and match. Sometimes it’s just me and Robert and I only need two, but if I have company and need to set the table for 4 they all go together beautifully and all have the French bistro look to them.

The white plates were from Mary, my mother-in-law.  When she passed away a few years ago I was blessed to receive many of her dishes and these white plates  were a basic set of dishes she used for everyday but ones I find dress up and show off special plates nicely.

I made the napkins specifically to go with this table setting…aren’t they gorgeous!

I used my black beaded place mats to begin the setting.

Added Mary’s beautiful white plate, doesn’t it look gorgeous on the black!

I used my two Paris plates with the Eiffel tower on two settings and the fleur de lis on the two other settings to complete my table of four.

Nest came the white salad bowl and I am ready for the final touches.

I gathered up candles, greenery, ceramic birds, more candles, silver, glassware and the table was ready for my napkins and guests.

Bon appetit

If you would like a set of the Eiffel Tower napkins you can purchase them at   www.creativechics.etsy.com

While in JoAnn’s I became enamoured with this sewing book (Making Children’s Clothes available on Amazon) on children’s clothing.

Now mind you my youngest is 16 and the smallest child I have happening around here is my 5 year old granddaughter. But so many ideas are in this book, oh and the patterns are included!

So my granddaughter just turned 5 and I made her up a few dresses as gifts, including one similar to the cover of the book. Ok, mine isn’t quite as cute.

I had a remnant just sitting around, kind of  a seersucker pink with white daisies. And yes, I love pom-pom fringe.

I also whipped up this one that is a bit more detailed and frilly with lace and princesses and castles and all things Aria loves!

I am giddy to share this article with you today. People will ask me what I do and it is so hard to explain. “Oh I doodle, then color the doodles on the computer, rearrange them, and viola…it comes out as a design for paper products.” So when I ran across this article written by Jan DiCintio, I thought, oh my God this is exactly what I do to create my artwork for paper companies (oh how I would LOVE to be creating fabric designs). Jan articulated and demonstrated it so well. Yes, this kind of stuff excites me.

From Doodling…..

To This! Go read her write-up and you’ll see what it is I do when I create too.

Her new collections are smashing and wish I could afford to buy them.

The whole collection side by side. Amazing how color changes can make each into a whole new collection. Just yummy fabric! You can purchase them here if you are interested.

You should also check out the anatomy of drawing art at Jessica Swift’s blog

This past summer Robert and I went on a weekend trip to the Lake of the Ozarks with friends for some boating fun. We took our pillows with us. And silly me completely forgot to bring the pillows with us. So the motel got a much needed set of very nice pillows….along with my really nice pillowcases!

So this weekend I finally got around to just making me up a set of new ones. I don’t know about you but nice bed linens are really expensive.  Pretty easy and fast to throw together. Used contrasting fabric that has been sitting on my shelf since last spring. The white cotton muslin I also had on hand.

Do you have some spare fabric laying around that is collecting dust? There are great tutorials out there on making pillowcases. Lazy Girl has written a basic pillowcase tutorial that is very similar to the one I made. Lazy Girl Pillowcase Tutorial

And for the more advanced seamstress, here is a fancy, cuter than ever shabby chic pillowcase: The Lazy Organizer Pillowcase Tutorial. I think these are more for looking pretty than sleeping on