Friday, March 30, 2012

the pinkish, purplish, bluish egg



One of my favorite children's authors is Bill Peet! Have you read his books? If not, I would highly recommend that you do!! :) I was an elementary teacher, and my kids always loved hearing his stories. I look forward to reading them to my own kids one day! 


  This book was published in 1963. The illustrations are so beautiful and colorful! I also love the rhyming pattern and his choice of words. He is such a talented writer!!


This story begins with a sweet little bird named, Myrtle, who is sad, for she has an empty nest. So, she went searching for an egg and found this pinkish, bluish egg in a cave.


And look who comes popping out!! Isn't he sooo cute!! :)


All the birds are stunned at this little creature before their eyes! The owl says that he is a griffin, which is a creature from a fairy-tale book. The birds and the owl warn how he will cause trouble someday. 


So, Myrtle sends the birds and the owl away! Look at those cute bunnies!


Myrtle decides on a name for the sweet creature.
 "There's an old Bible name that I think rhymes with meek. I know! It's Ezekiel. For short that is Zeke." The name fits him perfectly!


The story continues on how Zeke learns to fly, find food, and is given a good set of rules to live by.


 What a beautiful moon!


 This is one of my favorite illustrations in the book. So precious of the two at night! 


 Towards the end of the story, Zeke is bothered by some scoundrels that are prowling in the forest. Myrtle warns Zeke that violence is not the way to go, and that he needs to be patient, and they just might go away. 
One day he went wondering about, and came to a place that was dry and bare. He knew that this would be the place for the scoundrels to be!  


So, Zeke came up with a plan, and carried them off to this barren land!
He sure taught them a lesson!


All of the birds found out that Zeke was brave, and was not going to cause trouble, as they had thought. "But what the fierce griffin they'd worried about, was a peace-loving creature and tame as could be. Why, even the owl finally had to agree." 



Well, I hope that you will get a chance to check out this book, or other BIll Peet books. I will be posting another favorite Bill Peet next week!! 

I am so excited to be linking up with Corey for my first week of Lil' Vintage Story Books! 









Thursday, March 29, 2012

easter eggs


For Easter, which is coming so quickly, I thought I would share a little tutorial on these sweet felt and fabric eggs that I made to decorate my home. 

Lovely Ingredients:

*felt in your choice of spring colors
*card stock scrap for template
*pretty spring fabric
*embroidery needle and floss
*stuffing

Let's get started!


Draw two egg templates on a scrap of card stock, one large and one a little smaller.  You can make them whatever size you would like! :)

 

Then, with your pretty choice of felt, cut out two eggs of each color using the large template. 


Next, choose some pretty fabric to go with each color. Using the smaller template cut out the fabric and place it on top of the felt.



Pin the fabric carefully onto the felt egg, and complete a running stitching around the fabric. Tie off in the back. Continue with each egg you made.


They should start to look like this when your are finished! 


Now it is time to sew the egg together! Choose a color of embroidery floss that matches your egg, and thread your needle with a knot at the end.


You are going to complete a blanket stitch around the edge of the two pieces. Here is a link from Stitch School on how to complete a blanket stitch, if you have never done it before. 


 Take your thread, and enter it from the top of the blank felt egg.


Your knot should be on top. Now place the fabric egg on top of this. 



Holding the two pieces together, start your blanket stitch. 


Complete the blanket stitch all the way around, until you get to about an inch of the beginning of your stitch.


Take some of your stuffing, and stuff the egg. 


Stuff it until it is nice a plump! ;)


Now you are going to finish stitching! 


This is what your sweet egg should look like when you are done! 


Flip the egg over, and put a knot in the thread. Enter the needle between the small opening of the two pieces. 


Pull the needle up through the back of the egg.


Pull the thread tight and snip it with your scissors, so the thread disappears.


Here is your finished egg!! Not to bad, right?


Continue with all your eggs, and you should have yourself a most lovely group of Easter eggs to decorate your home!! 


Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and are having a wonderful week!! Have fun!! 




Tuesday, March 27, 2012

kitchen time



My first vintage kitchen fabric!! What do you think? I found it on Etsy, and just loved the colors, and sweet patchwork of kitchen goodies. 

 

The brown, aqua, and pink just work so well together! I am not a huge fan of brown, but it works. It is actually a darker brown than the first two photos show, which I like.


The flowers and sweet details are so pretty! There are so many possibilities with patchwork fabric like this! I wonder if anyone had this fabric as curtains in their kitchen? It could be cute!


Today I was able to start cutting into it to make some items for my upcoming Etsy shop! Here is a sneak peek! 


There will be more to come! :) Hope your day has been most lovely! 




Monday, March 26, 2012

vintage playing cards



Happy Monday!
Last week I bought some cute vintage Whitman Animal Rummy playing cards on Etsy. I couldn't pass them up. They were so perfect for the springtime! I have them displayed on this floral wood board that I made for my wedding, and I think they look so sweet on it. Maybe even framing them would be fun, too! 


The graphics are so beautiful, and I love the details of each animal!


That is such a pretty kitty, and look at her hat with roses! Gorgeous! 


Have you ever played Rummy? It looks fun! 


I love the sly "Robin Hood" fox! These are so funny! 



Now how sweet are these vintage baby duck playing cards! Those duckies are just too adorable!


So, who is ready for a game of cards?!!! 


Hope you have a wonderful start to the week dear friends! :)