retro homemaking night

Sorry to be so absent this week!  I've been prepping non-stop for another ladies event at my church, which was held last night.  I no longer have as much responsibility as I've had in the past (phew), but these things are always a lot of work.

 We had a retro-themed homemaking night, complete with classes about pressure cooking, making apple pies (in a jar - cute!), and sewing an apron.

Our tables were decorated with a fun assortment of vintage items, and a sweet bouquet of flowers in a can (idea from Rachel Ray, which I saw on Pinterest).

 I love my blue Singer.  I don't actually use it, but it sure is pretty, right?

My favorite part of the night (besides the fun activity, delicious food, and wonderful company, of course) was definitely getting all dolled up with retro hair and make up.

As a mom who is admittedly frumpy and often sports a wet french braid and no makeup, I felt fabulous last night!  How weird would it be if I started rocking a retro look more often?  Because it was kind of awesome.  I found really helpful hair and makeup tutorials on YouTube.  Is there anything you can't learn on YouTube?

I lead the apron sewing class (with lots of helpers - thanks Holly & Lori!), and we made the apron in a hour that I posted about previously.  Since we are always on tight budgets for these types of things, we had to find a great deal on fabric ... which last week lead me here:

the Fabric Barrel in Solvang, CA.  I kid you not, this was one of the nuttiest places I've ever been.  Crazy, I tell you!  There are two buildings, two stories each, plus a separate cafe, all manned by one lady.  On the bottom floors are several rooms of fabric, some on giant bolts, others just piled in bins, like the photo above.  All the fabric is 99 cents a yard, and you cut it yourself.  There is not an employee to be seen (she is busy in the cafe, cooking burgers).

My friend Lori and I went together, with four toddlers in tow, and it was an adventure to say the least.  When we first walked in, I was so overwhelmed, I didn't think we would find a thing.

Fifty yards of fabric and 20 zippers later (zippers are 5 cents, buttons only a penny), we hauled our kids and our spoils over to the cafe for hot dogs, burgers, and root beer floats.

There were so many great knits ... and 99 cent fabric makes me kind of dizzy with excitement.  I can't wait to go again, but definitely without kids!

Anyway, that's what I've been up to.  I haven't forgotten about the vinyl wipes case template - I'll post it next week!

p.s. today is the last day to enter the Just Bunch Designs giveaway.  Don't forget to leave a comment if you haven't already.  :)

spring church party 2011

Please forgive my recent absence ... things have been busy around here!  Last night we had our annual spring celebration for the women's organization at my church.  I had a lot of fun with the decorations this year - the theme was light-oriented, so we went overboard with lanterns, twinkle lights, and etched candle votives (75 of them!).  And of course, lots of pretty flowers.  You can never go wrong with flowers.

It was a special evening with delicious food, a fun atmosphere, and lovely company.  And I'm not kidding on the food - our dessert bar included vanilla bean creme brulee.  My mouth is still watering!

p.s.  I found my white paper lanterns for a great price at The Paper Lantern Store.   I went with the 10 inch lanterns, and they were a nice quality and the perfect size.

spring church party

Every waking moment of the past week was spent getting ready for an event celebrating the anniversary of the organization of the women's group at my church.  The party was last night and was a huge success!  I could not have pulled it off without my excellent chefs, Lorrie and Cari, and my expert pom pom helper, Nancy.

I think I'll spend the rest of the weekend sleeping.

purl bee rose clips and cupcakes

This weekend I tried out the Rose Barrette tutorial from The Purl Bee:

Talk about a quick and satisfying project!  I attached one to a clip as directed, and one to a ponytail holder, which I am far more likely to wear.  I'm always amazed at how pretty felt can be.

The majority of this weekend, though, was spent baking.  Then baking some more.  I made over 6 dozen cupcakes as a reminder for a church party this week.  Despite some hiccups in the kitchen, they turned out really yummy.  And when I say hiccup, I mean this:

Making buttercream frosting with a toddler is NOT a good idea.

I took notes from Kristin at the Blonde Designs Blog and tried the 1-2-3-4 Cake recipe from the back of the Swans Down Cake Flour box.  It was really good! (I loved the flavor from the almond extract.)  For the frosting, I used Wilton's Buttercream recipe, which never fails.

This photo is horribly fuzzy ... I forgot my camera and had to take one with my phone.

All in all, my weekend was tasty (though sticky), and my ponytail has never looked so good.  Hope you had a great weekend, too!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

Is your mouth watering yet?

After about eating my weight in strawberries this weekend, I pureed the rest and tested out this Strawberry Lemonade Bar recipe from Baking Bites.  It is fabulous!

These perfectly pink beauties are going to be one of many treats on a dessert buffet I am putting together for an upcoming church party.  I'm no Amy Atlas, but I'm really excited to do a dessert buffet.

Do you know of any wonderful pink desserts?

party invitations

 

I am working on a party for the women's organization at my church and these are the invitations.  The color scheme is inspired by this spirograph wedding  featured on Design*Sponge, and I made the pom pom/starburst graphic to look like this fabric print. 

I've never been in charge of something like this at church, so I'm doing my best to channel Jordan Ferney, who, as far as I can tell, throws the best parties around.  And when I say channel, I do mean that I plan copy her in any way possible.  :)

I'd love to hear about your best party decorations and tips on serving dinner to a crowd of 50+ people!