Wednesday, April 18, 2012

spring things...

Spring Garlands and Things 2012
Recently I made a couple new garlands...one, the butterfly one directly above, was requested by mum for her birthday (similar to the Valentine ones I made here.) I never did take a proper photo of it before giving it to her so this is a snippet of a photo she sent me to show how she hung it above her kitchen table. Also, for fun I got inspired one night to make a very springy, floral and birdy, garland/banner. For this one I used only old vintage cards and some vintage polka dot paper to break it up a bit. And those white branches I spray-painted last fall have become my interchangeable seasonal display. Ornaments were hung from them at Christmas. In February, they held a little red paper heart garland. And now for Spring, I twisted on a few pretty pink paper flowers to mimic some blossoming branches. Its amazing how something so simple can make such a big difference to me!

Monday, April 16, 2012

pickles and potato salad...

This weekend we made some quick sweet pickles. I'm not a canned/grocery store jar "sweet pickle" person but I do like fresh ones. Last year we had some delicious ones atop salads (sounds strange but was surprising really good!) at a favorite restaurant of ours and we've always been wanting to try and make our own. So when I saw this recipe in Country Living we decided to give them a go. They turned out pretty tasty...a little sweet and still very crunchy! And because I had fresh dill and red onions and potatoes that needed using up, I made some potato salad too. April seems a little early for potato salad but it was good and fresh too!