Tulips!

I wanted to share an amazing bunch of tulips that my friend Joyce  brought over.

And I did NOT color enhance them- they are THAT bright!  

I have never before quite seen this bright a color tulip.

Aren't they fun?

They/she sure have cheered me!

Easter Egg Favors - Tutorial

These are so easy and inexpensive to make! (And you don't even have to waste the egg innerds......just CAREFULLY poke a hole on top of a the thinner top of a fresh egg, pour out the insides and place in fridge for use in your culinary prowess later!)

Using an exacto knife cut the hole(s) larger, to desired size. As stated, you want to open the thinner top so the egg is sitting on its "bum," if you will. And you don't want your top opening to be too wide or too narrow, just eye ball it for dimensions.

Do this with as many egg favors as you plan on making. Rinse the eggs in warm water and turn upside down and let dry overnight. <DO NOT SKIP THAT STEP.

Now just go make a quiche or French Toast or something good with all that egg goo you just acquired while your egg(s) are drying. You need them good clean and dry so the glue sticks to the bottom.

I suggest using an egg cup or egg carton or even a simple stand made of a circle of cardboard to hold the egg steady. You will want it standing upright while you are creating.  You will need to keep it relatively stationary (since you probably don't have an extra set of hands to hold it while you work.)

Hot-glue a glob of glue inside the egg on the bottom and then gently smoosh florists' base (cut as close to the right size to fill the bottom portion of the egg with not TOO much wiggle room) down inside the bottom of the egg. Dont make the base to be too high or it makes it more difficult to hide - just cut it to fit down in thei bottom,  not too low and not too high.

Press the base down gently but firmly into the glue till it holds, and then begin making your little arrangement. You can purchase mini florals and pips at the big box craft stores for next to nothing. I used a wire cutter to cut the sprays and pips the right size height I wanted.

Finish by gluing the base with dried moss.

Easy, Peasy. Takes less than 10 minutes tops (after overnight drying time) I think I made all 8 in less than an hour, including clean up.

IT'S BUNNY HOP TIME!

 

Also linked:

Inspiration Friday!

Fridays Unfolded!

Tickled Pink!

Pink Saturday!

Masterpiece Monday!

Quiet Easter Table

This is going to be quite a different kind of Easter this year!


Most of you are really tired of reading about know I have been sick (better but just not out of the woods yet.) And some of you may even know our daughter just moved back from SoCal - after being there the most part of 7 years. I am sure none of you know, however, that this particular young woman is a real whiz in the kitchen! She is truly a "Domestic Goddess!"

SO......with these things in mind, guess who isn't fixing Easter dinner this year? It is only one of three times I haven't since I was a teenager, and that's the truth of it. I would tell you how many years that is, but then I would have to kill you. So let's just say it is many times.

I can't really believe it, either. It is a strange feeling after so many years, but this is one "labor baton" I am happily willing to pass to another for a needed respite.....at least for THIS year.

So, Easter morning it's going to be a nice quiet one for an early & leisurely breakfast (we attend our Easter services the evening before for the Easter Vigil, we don't usually attend the morning services.)

Then later in the day we will head over for a late afternoon Easter feast with our two daughters, and our son-in-law. I hear our SoCal girl is making lamb, with many sides and an award winning strawberry dessert! Both my girls are working their magic together, and they both flat-out refuse to let me bring a single thing. Sigh. Perhaps we'll bring wine, as we all certainly have reasons for celebrating!

* The Resurrection of Our Lord Saviour, Jesus Christ, the King of Kings!

* The return of our SoCal kid

* The return of good health 

* The Official Passing of the Holiday-Cook-Labor-Baton to very loving & able daughters

And so much more... to celebrate.....and give thanks.....



An easy, relaxed, serene tablescape for Easter morning breakfast.

Bunnies hopping around the plates & keeping the napkins company. Baskets of colorful flowers on the napkins.

Mismatched old silverplate ...............

Light pink and mint sure do complement one another nicely............

Who do we see back there hiding?

Why, it's sweet whimsical salt and pepper bunnies!

Linking:

Home and Garden Thursday!

Let's Dish!

Tablescape Thursday!

Open House Party!

Wordless White Wednesday, too

Our pear tree blossoms...............

Linking:

Wordless Wednesday

White Wednesday

Show and Tell Friday

Little 'Ole Miss Limoge

I can imagine this very old Limoge tea cup has quite a few stories to share, if only she were able. She has been alone, she has been used, she is worn, she is faded - but life hasn't broken her, and she is still very strong and beautiful. She still has talents to help make the world a better place.

People are a bit like tea cups, aren't they?

Sometimes all it takes is a friend to help us see beyond our occasional eelings of inadequacy, faded beauty, signs of age and weariness to bring out our beauty that can feel stifled or shadowed among the newer, shinier, brighter others.......and help us see ourselves in truer light. Once our inner light shines, it illuminates our best selves for others to notice and appreciate.

Sometimes it is as easy as simply finding something new to do to get us back into the groove  again...and feeling we really do make a difference.......not so very unlike a faded old forgotten teacup that finally gets noticed again; becomes loved, treasured and needed again.



Little Old Miss Limoge was a pretty happy gal to be been given her new job today!

She began feeling so confident she decided to play a little fancy "dress up presentation" in a brand new way!  There was no stopping her!

She was so happy inside that she started attracting new friends to help her sing!

And in her joy she found her humour again, turned silly, and invited
The Incredible Edible Egg (tm) to share in her laughter!

Sometimes the solution is simple.......it can just take someone's encouragement to help us become better eggs.........er, um, I mean tea cups, no, uh, I think I mean PEOPLE ........it can be as easy as black and white to help other's find confidence enough to toss in their very own dash of color to make this world a better picture.

~Michele


If you are looking for the perfect tea book as a gift or for yourself, I highly recommend  a delightful book called "If Teacups Could Talk," written by Emilie Barnes and beautifully illustrated by the extremely talented Sandy Clough. It is a perfectly charming, wonderful and inspiring read.

Here is a safe place to purchase it should you be interested. (This isn't a paid endorcement, I just love the book and have had good experiences with this website and wanted to share.)


Joining in the fun at the following linky parties:

Tea Time Tuesday

Tea Cup Tuesday

Teacup Tuesday

A Return to Loveliness

Tea Party Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Tea Cup Thursday

Time Travel Thursday!

Open House Party!

Pearls and Lace!

Easter basket topiary....

I so admire those bloggers who actually REMEMBER to take "before" shots while creating wonderful things to share with us. Unfortunately I seldom seem to remember. I have nary a single "before" pic of anything I have ever created to help me wow blogland.

Sigh.

But I do hope to eventually change. Blogging changes people for the better. Insert grin here.

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I mentioned recently when casually showing an old ironstone teapot with ivy in it that I oftentimes cut it back and make pretty giftie things with the cuttings once they develop roots. I cannot begin to remember all the gifts of ivy things I have given in the past. But this one was an experiment in my first attempt at making my own real topiary. I got to thinking when I did that post that I DO have - well kinda anyway- something to share in a before and after situation.

And I have it now to unveil to wow you all! Haha! Yay!


Here is a very old and bad picture of an overgrown somewhat "hairy" teapotted ivy grown out nicely and just waiting to be pruned. I apologize for this pic, only one I had b/c I didn't keep the original. See? I told you I am really bad at that "before" documenting thing...........consider this  Exhibit A.

Exihibit A

Here is what that plant looks like now,  after a hair cut.  Exhibit B.

Exhibit B

And here is the Big Reveal -  Exhibit C!

It takes really very little time for ivy to grow, but it does take several weeks for their roots to grow once cut and placed in water to develop. Just keep your cuttings in a short small clear glass by a sunny window. Change water daily so bacteria doesn't stunt the growing process.

Once you see about a half inch of roots, plant the cuttings in good clean well circulated loose potting soil. Try to plant your cuttings towards the edges near the handle so it can climb faster. Then just watch your new plant grow!  As it grows just start to wind the thin branches up and around the handle and eventually it fills in quite nicely.

Note: if you want this look start now for next year, By then you could have one that is nice and full. Remember that before actually putting in Easter grass (or dyed straw in this case) and eggs, let your soil dry a bit before making it into an Easter decoration so the grass doesn't get gross and soggy and make an icky mess.

IT'S BUNNY HOP TIME!

Headin to Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphasis Monday!

Popping in for a hello to My Cozy Home Party!

Spring tablescape

Playing with dishes makes me such a happy bird. This week I am sharing a small transitional table design. Spring green and soft yellow are two of my very favorite color palettes together. I just love these earthy tones. Those colors together are serene and natural.

These little square plates with the cute chintz birds were a delightful find. I bought them during winter's dark cold and grey days.....and could hardly wait for the time for them to find their way to the Finch Rest table! Spring has finally arrived, and now these adorable plates get to come out and play too!

They were definately the inspiration for this entire tablescape color scheme.

At first I used a white vase with tall lanky branches of freshly cut forsythia. It was exactly the look I wanted and was very excited to show you. BUT it rained for a few days, and I couldn't get any decent lighting for blog-worthy photos, and I am still (yes I know) dealing with this stupid lingering illness. So I worked around my rare and few "feeling ok-for-a-millisecond-perhaps-I-can-actually-do-something-productive" moments, and in the interim the forsythia sorta up and died on me.......finding that overnight it wept most of its precious yellow blossoms all over my tablescape.  Sigh.

I really didn't have the nerve heart to ask my wonderful DH to trim any more branches for me. He's sick too, now. And I sure as heck am not up to anything quite so excerting yet. So I simply  got my "floral design groove" on and made this arrangement, telling myself the whole time that the red in the lilies would (hopefully) tie in with the red in the chintz on the bird plates and all will be well with the world. Maybe it's a stretch, but hey, it's sincere and came from the desire to not go bugging my poor Mr. Finch Rest anymore about trimming the verge. I think even Samwise Gamgee would agree it was the right thing to do. Even MR. Finches need rest, too!

I kinda pushed the envelope with using these "teacups." First off, I have never use them as coffee or tea cups - their shape to me screams SOUP cups. But they having those sweet soft yellow daffodils I just wanted to use them one last time before packing them away for next year. I think plain white would have made a better statement at this table, but white was just too boring for me to use today, this is SPRING! See? I am practicing my Comfort with Color lessons and putting them to good use!

Just look at all that beautiful amazing color!

And yes, I am showing this cup-gone-Eastery again, sorry -  (I used recently in a vignette)  because, well, it seems to just belong with this post too! And perhaps you missed it, and that would be just too sad! We at Finch Rest cannot have you miss anything now, can we?

It is really time for me to get with the program and start planning my Easter tablescape............so this pic helps me get more easily into that groove, too.

Call this my "closing segue" pic.  That segue is sure a weird word, ya know? 

Chargers: Fiesta

Bird plates: 222 5th Ave.

White plates: Mainstays/Home 

Green salad plates: Pfaltzgraff

Green ruffled placemats: Joann Fabric's (I think)

Daffodil "soup" coffee/teacups: Farberware

Flatwear: Gibson

Green glasses: old Franciscan Masterpiece made in France

 

Linking up at The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sunday!
Linking up at BoogieBoard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday!

Pink teacups and such....

My very favorite china of all time is very old hand painted pink roses gilded tea china. I love it. I especially adore old Bavarian and Austrian and occassionally very old Japanese, and certain Limoges pieces.........delicate old pink roses tea china just makes my heart go pitty pat!

I am not sure when enough is enough in owning such treasures. I find them, use them, give them as gifts, and sometimes even sell them. But mostly I hoarde KEEP them. My wonderful DH is so understanding about my inability to say no to those special finds (and honestly, though, most are FRUGAL finds.) 

A few years ago Mr. Finch Rest surprised me by building me a sort of "china room" in a portion of the basement with an entire wall of deep sturdy wooden shelving to safely house all my dishes and fine china collections. He even made a huge lazy susan in the corner of that china room, so I could reach to find my treasures more easily!  (I always count my blessings and thank God daily for my DH. He is truly the best husband ever!)

Today I simply grouped together one of my fav teacup patterns. I am fortunate to have 6 of these,  their saucers and dessert plates all in nearly perfect condition. Today I just lazily grabbed 3 of the cups.....not for use, or for a complicated tablescape or to fuss much - just to simply share a gentle whisp of things I love; an old small pink appliqué linen tablecloth, a hint of something tea, a sweet china clock, and some ivy and roses. 

Here is a closer look at the appliqué on this sweet linen piece. I have 4 matching napkins to it somewhere, stashed who-knows-where in my tea room downstairs. I am not even feeling the desire to go and dig through entirely too much crap find them right now. Nope. Not even one tiny itty bit. 

Closer look at the plate under the floral pot.

Simplicity can sure sometimes be a friend.  As Lizzie Bennett would be found asking Jane, "What is your own good opinion on this matter, sister?" (Not meaning to imply, of course, that she wishes to hear a compliment on her own subject inquiry, but that she considers her sister's thoughts very wise and important.)

As I do your own good opinions.


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Have a great weekend and be sure to stop over for all the amazing pink wonderfulness at Beverly's How Sweet the Sound blog for her weekly Pink Saturday linky party!