chain gang

I bought a really big obnoxious necklace recently. Then I thought... where and when am I going to wear this?? The answer was nowhere, not ever. So I took it all apart and made SEVERAL new pieces. It was fun experimenting with different materials. Here are a few of the new things... the rest will be up on etsy soon!!

domestic

I decided that September should be sewing month and boy am I on a roll! I cranked out some jewelry pouches:

earring-sized... cute!

fun fabric from scrap exchange

The main project was an apron. I got a pattern and went to work. It has ties and pockets and pleats and everything!! This one is for Mary (surprise, Mary! Hope you like it!), and I have plans to make some more half aprons. With all of the kitchen experimenting I like to do, I think an apron will come in handy.

full apron and little helper

pretty & pleated

family dinner

My Grandmother came to NC for Mary's wedding last weekend and is staying with my folks for an extended vacation. They all drove up to Durham for an evening at the Dwyer-Winton house.

The Menu:

breaded & baked eggplant slices with roasted tomato sauce (tomatoes from my garden!)

lemon pepper chicken on top of mixed greens with balsamic dressing

pea & parmesan risotto

baked brie with mixed berry preserves, served with baguette

coffee and chocolate biscotti

I was a little bit behind schedule with cooking times, but everything went well. I was so excited to entertain that I forgot to take pictures!! The eggplant dish was inspired by our recent cooking class at Revolution. The baked brie looked good, and tasted even better. I had fun planning the menu, getting out all my serving dishes, and trying new recipes. It was a lot of fun hanging out and having a relaxing dinner with family. Who wants to be my next dinner party guests?

Plus, Mom and Grandmom showed lots of love for L&L as they tried on jewelry and made some purchases. THANK YOU!! I made some new things this morning and they'll be up in the shop soon.

UPDATE: Mom snapped some pics that evening!

flowers

I saw a post on Design*Sponge last month on how to make peony-looking flowers from coffee filters. How cute! They used yellow hues and made a bunch. I used the ink from the cartridge lamps to dye my filters blue. I only tried a few as a test... didn't want a ton of filters to go to waste.

Voilà:

dyed

dried

assembled

arranged

I think it went well! If I ever need some cheap and easy decor, for a guest room perhaps, I'll know what to do! I might try yellow or purple next go-round.