Thursday, January 20, 2011

More Tea Party Ideas

Alright! I've been looking for more ideas for our tea party! Excited? You should be.  The first one has to do with the favors we plan to give out. My Mother loves to scrapbook, so she is always on sites with interesting ideas. She found these boxes on a site she frequents, and I'm in love with them. We plan to purchase the pdf so that we can make and give them out to our guests!
Teapot box:
Isn't that just adorable? The PDF is only 5 dollars. This is one of the ideas I like the most! I think making them will be a lot of fun! The link above will take  you to the site where you can buy it too.

Scones- What else is there to say about that? We have to have home made scones.

I found another blog. It is called Such Pretty Things. I fell in love with it, and she had some great ideas that she used on her own daughter's tea party. By far, my favorite is her sugar cubes. It was one of the first pictures I saved when looking for ideas. See!

How are those NOT pretty? They're perfect. I already have all the icing tips, so, I don't have to buy them. Great for budget minded students. You should really look at everything else she did for the tea party. She went all out. It is amazing. I also plan to use her tea bag favors idea to put into our tea pots! 

Her site really is awesome. And the ideas I'm finding on it are all affordable for us to do. Affordable is a big issue for us, so you'll see me talk about it a lot.


What ideas would you bring into an adult tea party?

Danielle

Friday, January 14, 2011

Tea Party

I'm hosting a Tea Party in April. It will be for adults, and I'm excited. Years have passed since I've had a party, or been to one. Kim, my best friend, will be hosting with me! We've already started planning! One thing we have noticed while looking for ideas, a lot of tea parties are hosted for children. We are able to get a few good ideas from those sites, but every person coming is 20 and over. Yes, the party is going to be girly and frilly, but it can still be an "adult" party!

Would you like to see some of the ideas we've come up with/ found? To bad, I'm showing  you anyway.

1) Teacup "rob your neighbor". I realize rob your neighbor isn't very lady like. Maybe I can think of something better to call it. This is how the tea party will start off! Everyone gets a pretty, new tea cup and can use it for the party.

2) Yard games. I have simple  yard games that would not ruin our pretty clothes such as washers and other tossing games.

FOOD!
3) Most of the ideas we have so far are food related. The first one is cake pops. I'm thinking of doing the sheep from the Bakerella site (Link on the left). I have the book to follow. Wouldn't these be cute?
(Picture belongs to Bakerella. I saved it, then uploaded so I wouldn't use her site for hosting.)

4) Cameo Chocolates. I found these on the Country Living site, with directions. You can buy the mold on Candy.com for $3.00. 

5) Honey Spoons. While searching Candy.com for tea related candies, I found honey spoons. Those are a wonderful idea! I refuse to pay that much money though. I'm going to find my own way to make them and do it myself in the tea mold I also found on candy.com.




We have some other ideas for sweets. I need good ideas for small finger foods. Many people are telling me Cucumber Sandwiches are gross, so I'd like to find something else. We don't plan on serving a MEAL. The party will be between lunch and dinner, and last for about 3 hours. I'm really excited for this party, I haven't hosted one in years. That one failed. I'll post more ideas as we come up with them!

Tell me what you think!
Danielle

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

First sewing project

I've all but finished my first sewing project. A cut and sew apron from Walmart that I was glad to have. Naturally, I butchered it. I would have cried, a lot, had I butchered my pretty cupcake fabric.

This "pattern" wasn't too beginner friendly. I had no idea how to finish edges with a zigzag, or at all. I also have no serger. I can tell you now that I hate the zigzag. I found a youtube video that explained it, but my edges look like crap. Eventually, I found Burda style, linked off to the left, and it gave me idea's about finishing edges. I was so happy when I saw that I didn't have to finish the edges of the things that were going to be sewn together before I did so! I could sew them together, and then zigzag down the middle of the allowance..and cut to the zigzag! Or follow one of the other seam methods. Still, I'm not sure how to finish edges that are going to show. Like the edge of the apron and the sides.






 The sides are zigzagged, then folded over and stitched. They look BAD.

This is my first attempt.







My second attempt, which I still don't like.






On the bottom, I tried something different. I straight stitched the whole thing along about the midpoint of what I was supposed to fold over. After, I folded it over the rest of the way and repeated. My line looks much prettier, but I don't know if that will suffice for the edges.

We'll see if it starts to fray beyond that line.  The front looks much nicer along the ruffles than it does anywhere else though!




It also simply said to attach the ties to the neck. I can only assume this is what it meant to do? My last problem was actually attaching the ruffles to the skirt of the apron. The "flounce" wasn't long enough to reach from end to end, and I couldn't properly match them  up since one is convex and one is concave. Only after, did I find a tutorial on Burda Style, though it is still a bit confusing.   There is supposed to be a gold line between the ruffle and the blue, but my lack of sewing skills made it disappear in some places. In the end, my project is presentable. I can wear it. I want to do better, but for my first sewing project I am happy.





My next project will be from an actual pattern. I will make my apron from the cupcake fabric. The pattern is a See and Sew from Butterick I will be doing the B version! These are the fabrics I picked:

This is the rickrack. It's rainbow and fades into all of the colors.

This is the button I chose.












I am excited to start it. Before I do, I need to start the apron's that have been requested. They will be the same as the one in my first post, but in purple and black! I'm not sure what color to make the bottom of the cupcake, since the frosting will be purple. I also need to finish a hat I started as a gift, and some beer coozies that are also gifts. They can all be done at any time, luckily, so I am not feeling cramped or rushed. I can plod along while still having time for studying! Naturally, studying will come first. I can't fail out of nursing school for  projects!

My sewing, I've decided, is going to start off with things for my room. Curtains, organizers, things that I can hide if I mess up, but still use! When I'm ready to work on something to show the world, I plan to buy the Starter Skirt pattern from Sew Chic. I love it. I tried to win it, but failed, Eventually I want to buy the Southern Belle pattern too. I found her on the Sew Retro blog that I've been stalking. I have a thing for retro dresses. The day I can put together one on my sewing machine, I will do a happy dance. Maybe I'll show you, and you can all laugh at me!


Anyway, ta-ta for now!
Danielle

Friday, January 7, 2011

A New Year, a New Blog!

Christmas has passed, along with New Year I could not think of a better time to start this blog. It has been sitting empty for months, and now I have a project to post! So, for my very first EccentriCute post, I give you "Cupcake Apron"!







I made this apron for my cousin Kat. Her husband bought her a Kitchen Aide for Christmas since she likes to bake. Deciding to use his theme, I bought her the book "Cake Pops" from Bakerella. (A blog/site full of cute food that I love to frequent.)I wanted to give her more than a book, which is hard when you're a broke Nursing student. Crochet is cheap when you use Caron One-Pound yarns. I love that stuff. It's still soft even though its cheap! I drool over their simply soft yarns. They are perfect for touching and my student wallet. Caron One Pound yarns were used for the apron. I'm rather proud of the apron, as it was only my third crochet project. I'm self taught, thanks to the internet and a dvd. Sugar 'n Cream has a free pattern for an apron, which is what I started using. I've learned I'm not someone who likes to stick to patterns, which is why mine looks nothing like their's, but it did show me how to start! I love my cupcake. I made it up off the top of my head. I know its not perfect, but I'm happy. I can only improve on it. Next time, I think I will add sprinkles to it with beads. The cherry is a magic loop. I wasn't sure how else to make it. I would love to learn to make more rounded items with crochet. I'd like to make another apron with a rounded bottom. I'm not a huge fan of squared off aprons. Any tips would be much appreciated. I know to decrease/increase to round, but it just isn't the way I want! Maybe its impossible, unless I want a completely round object.

Posting the pictures on FB actually made someone ask if they could buy one! How exciting! I would love to make and sell stuff on Etsy. I need to be faster at crochet and knitting though. I plan to sew as well.


I received a Brother sewing machine for Christmas. I'm excited. Sewing will be another thing I teach myself. Currently, I'm working on a cut and sew apron from Walmart. I'm glad I have this apron to practice on. Included with my sewing machine was a gift card to Joann's and many apron patterns. (Can you tell I have a thing for aprons?) I bought the most adorable cupcake fabric to make an apron with. I would have been devastated if I butchered it. I will use it next, once I'm confident I can be much more careful. I know it won't be perfect either, but I'd love to be able to wear it!

Tell me what you think!