How to create a rustic and romantic theme for a spring bridal shower.   Food, decor ideas, take-home favors and a free printable included.  Also links to a series of posts on Spring entertaining for the first instalment in A Year of Feasting.

Christmas at my Kitchen Table

Hello friends, old and new.  How did you spend your Christmas days?  Were you among family and friends or among welcoming strangers?  Were you home or far from home?  Was it a season of noise and plenty or of minimalism and quiet?  I hope that your soul was filled with what you were able to give and receive.

Post-Halloween Lowdown: Quick, Easy & DIY

‘Fess up, who is coming down off a candy high?  Or maybe yours is just starting?  Snuck into the treat bags while the kids were at school?  (That’s me!)

So, this year at the Personally house Halloween was thrown together and enjoyed in the course of about twenty four hours.  Might be record time around here.  This is the lowdown on how it all came together with very few purchases and a bit of elbow grease, but with a very festive ending.

First up was pumpkin carving, the night before.  The design is always left up to whoever wants to participate.  This year it was only Personally Junior who came up with a fabulous Batmouth design which he carved out of MY white pumpkin from MY front porch vignette.  Apparently it was cooler than the orange pumpkin we had picked for carving.  Anyone have any use for an uncarved orange pumpkin in November?

Cool Sparkler Photos Tutorial

Hello my blog readers!  We’ve just had our first long weekend of the summer. Affectionately known as May Two Four, but rarely occurring on the Actual May Two Four.  It celebrates something about Queen Victoria which nobody remembers anymore.  But we don’t need much convincing to take an extra day off, do we?  And take in some fireworks displays whether big or small.  In our family we are in the habit of having at least some sparklers on one night.  Sometimes Husband can be convinced to put on a little fireworks display.  Doesn’t require much convincing…fire and explosions and such are an easy sell.

But here’s something fun that’s not hard to do if you have a digital SLR camera.  That is to take some cool photos of your kids (or friends) with the sparklers.  The hardest part is, you have to turn the mode dial away from Automatic.  Don’t panic!  This is where all the fun of photography just begins.

The first thing is you have to find a Very Stable Spot to rest your camera.  A tripod is great but work with what you’ve got…a tabletop, a deck railing, whatever.  Then you want to frame your shot so that you will capture the whole sparkler-iness.  A bit of instruction to your subjects to stand in one spot and not go dancing all over the yard is helpful.  Now here we go…hold your breath…and turn your mode dial to M.  Still good?  Good.  Now set the aperture (or f-stop) number to something small-ish (it’s actually big-ish but we won’t go there) between about 3.5 and 5.6.  Now set the shutter time to something long enough to capture the whole sparkler design.  About ten to fifteen seconds is probably good unless they are drawing something extremely elaborate.  You will figure that out after a couple of tries.  Make sure your flash is set to go.

And you’re set.  Light the sparkler.  Press your shutter release and say Go.  Wait till the shutter closes then check your image.  If it’s too bright then set the aperture one or two numbers higher (ie close it down a bit – ok, I went there).  Adjust the shutter speed faster or slower as needed.  And give it another go.  Have fun with it.  

When I downloaded these photos I did edit them to remove most of the colour and make them almost Black and White.  I just liked them better that way.  Play with your images and see what looks cool to you.

Sparkler love.  Fun memories.

And if you are interested in what the deal is with Queen Victoria or you’re into the royal thing, check out the movie The Young Victoria.  Hmmm, maybe a good activity for the Actual May Two Four which is still coming up.  Some scones, tea in fine china….

Breakfast in Bed

Happy Mother’s Day!  I hope that all my fellow moms out there are being well celebrated, remembered and honoured today.  Kudos for everything you have invested in the next generation.  One of the most worthwhile things you can do with your life.

And so, here are a few pretty, and yummy, photos to add to your festivities today.

Also I must take this opportunity to extol the virtues of breakfast in bed.  This is a twice annual treat for me, on my birthday and on Mother’s Day.  In my opinion this is an excellent skill to be developing in your children.  It will serve them well in life…and serve you well in the meantime.  It’s important to be positive and encouraging.    And remember that it’s always the thought that counts.

Here is some of the thoughtfulness I woke up to this morning…

This croissant concoction was posted on Teenaged Daughter’s Pinterest board a few days ago…I should have clued in, but they managed to surprise me.  Even the presentation of it was lovely.  I am a proud and lucky mom.  Good job kiddos.

Enjoy your day, Moms, however you have been celebrated.  Tomorrow…onward and upward.

Easter Bits and Pieces

So Easter has come and gone for another year.  There were lots of fun traditions that we managed to fit in.  The combination of family time, good food and some candy of course made for a memorable holiday.  Easter lilies are such a beautiful symbol of the season.

I also managed to defrost the outdoor urns enough to replace the evergreen and dogwood branches with some pussywillows and my crocuses from inside.  The blooms are spent but the foliage is so delicate and pretty.

On Good Friday my Family came for lunch.  Here you can see part of the tablescape at dessert time.
 

It’s also tradition for us to colour eggs on the Friday or Saturday before Easter.  The kids all insist on participating every year, which I love, and it’s a lot of fun.

These saturated-colour eggs we do every year.  I make up several glass bowls of different colours, deep enough to submerge at least a couple of eggs at a time.  The colour recipe:  boiling water, a big splash of white vinegar, and a dab of this icing colour paste.

 

 

Covering different parts of the egg with elastic bands, stickers or crayon between colouring it in several different colours makes the cool designs you see above.

This year I tried a new idea from Pinterest.  Brown eggs decorated with a white paint marker.  All the kids were into it and they turned out really pretty!

Magically the Easter Bunny shows up during the night, steals the eggs from the fridge and hides them in the backyard.  Super-fun!  Every year on Easter morning.

Do you think he’ll find it?  He’s pretty tricky, that Easter Bunny!

Family Valentine’s Day: Table Decor

What a fun occasion to celebrate as a family.  Ever since we have all been able to sit at the table in a civilized manner…wait…actually maybe we’re not quite there yet.  Ever since I have hoped we could all sit at the table in a civilized manner, we have been celebrating Valentine’s Day with a festive family dinner.  Decorations, dessert, the works.  Not fancy necessarily.  Just festive.  A theme is usually helpful to simplify things but still have it pulled together.  My usual…red.

Celebrating Advent

I am a believer that some things in life can remain simple and sacred.  And one of things is the Advent season.  Technically beginning the fourth Sunday before Christmas and culminating on Christmas Eve, it is a season of preparation for and anticipation of Christmas.  Retail and media in our culture do dominate.  But for a few minutes, as many evenings as we can, as many as are home will gather around the lighted candles to sing a few carols and reflect on the meaning of Christmas.

So, now you are thinking thoughts like idyllic, romantic, religious maybe.  Not so.  If only you could imagine the elaborate schedule of turns for the lighting and snuffing out of candles that evolved over last year’s Advent season, instigated by Teenaged Daughter.  It required lengthy debate over fairness vs. unfairness at the start of EACH evening, I assure you!  Or how about the evenings when The Children decide that musical instruments should be played?  By the time instruments are out and tuned, and carols have been chosen that everyone can play in their key signature of choice (“What, am I supposed to transpose this on the spot????”), romance and religion are the farthest things from anyone’s mind.

Nonetheless, we persevere, because it helps us to stay focused in the midst of a consumerist, over-the-top, too busy culture.  And on occasion, there IS an idyllic moment…simple and sacred.

O come all ye faithful.