EAB Designs

S is for Summer Fruits

For me, summer officially arrives once there are plenty of these sweet dark beauties available..

as well as lots of these delicious fuzzy peaches...

I simply cannot stop eating them - for breakfast, snacks or baked in wonderful crisps and cobblers to celebrate the taste of summer.

 

        

 

Vintage Rhinestone Hair Accessories

 

Long before I began creating picture frames and journals, I made hair accessories.  Last month, using some of my vintage rhinestone findings, I made a couple of hair pins for my daughter to wear with her prom dress.  It was so much fun, I decided to make some for my upcoming fall shows and have listed a selection in my etsy shop as well.  They look so beautiful when tucked into the side of a casual bun, even when wearing your favorite pair of jeans.

Before & After - Paper Storage

I have been searching for a used flat file, for sometime now, to store my large sheets of handmade and decorative paper.  New, these files sell for between $900 and $1300.  On Craigslist, they typically sell for between $300 and $400.  The problem was, they would sell the moment they were listed.  Well, a few weeks ago I happened to be on-line when a listing came up for two flat files for only $100 each!  I immediately sent an email saying I wanted to purchase both of them if they were still available.  To my amazement, the seller called me back and said I could get them the next day.  I was thrilled!  My search was over, the price was a steal, and to top it off they were the larger sized files - each one measuring 54" wide, 43" deep and 17" high with five drawers each.  Sweet husband drove out to DC the next day and brought them home.  They barely fit in the back of our '69 Crew Cab.  They were in need of a thorough cleaning, and were a bit scratched, but otherwise the drawers opened and closed perfectly and I was happy to use them the way they were.  After all, they were only $100 and they were going to be stored in the basement with my shop inventory, not in my upstairs studio.  However, sweet husband already had restoration plans in store.  This is what the files looked liked before.

 

This is what they look like now!

Sweet husband sanded, cleaned and painted the cabinets, purchased new handles and label holders, stacked the two files, built a counter-top for the top and installed casters on the bottom so I can move the cabinet anywhere I like.  It is just fabulous.  Not only do I have lots of storage now, I also have a great counter-space to use when I'm down in the basement sorting inventory or shooting product with my table top photo equipment.  I absolutely love it.  I could hardly wait to place all of my paper in it.  I wish I had a picture of how I used to store my paper - in one pile placed over a clothing rack with plastic sheeting on top.  When I would try to take out one piece of paper the entire stack would fall to the floor.  You can only imagine my reaction.  Not a pretty picture.  But now I have this wonderful new storage space.  Can you tell I'm excited?! 

  

I'm off to make labels now to categorize my paper drawers.  Don't you just love organizing?  I do!  Looking at the paper all neatly organized suddenly puts me in the mood to create.

An abundance of eggs....

Finding an abundance of eggs on hand, (forgot about those I had stored in the basement fridge), I decided I better bake something to use some of them up.

 

What better choice than one of my favorite desserts, an angel food cake.  And with twelve egg whites required, I was well on my way.

 

The recipe I used can be found here.  It's the closest taste to the angel food cake I used to buy at Bristol Farms when we lived in California.  I miss a lot of things about California, and their angel food cake is definitely one of them.  This recipe however, is just as delicious.  Now....what shall I make with those twelve golden egg yolks?  Maybe some lemon curd to go with the cake.

Rain - A Tribute to the Beatles

 

The girls are out of school, and we started our summer vacation off with a concert last night.  If you haven't heard of the band Rain, and you're a fan of the Beatles music, you should definitely log on to Rain's web-site to see if they will be touring in your area.  The group performs a full range of Beatles music complete with costumes.  The audience was filled with older fans who have watched the Beatles since the Ed Sullivan Show, to young teens who listen to their music today.  The concert was so much fun and the group truly sounds like the Beatles.  It was a great night and if you're a fan, I hope you'll get the chance to see them.

Petite Bouquets

  

The first blossoms on the bare-root roses, which we planted in March, finally arrived and I couldn't wait to use them as a centerpiece on our table.  With only six roses to work with, I knew I wouldn't have enough for a single centerpiece so I decided to make petite bouquets and line them up down the center of the table.  My embellished mercury glass tealight votives were the perfect size to hold the bouquets.  To each single rose, I added a couple stems of trailing silver vine from the urns on our front porch.  So simple, but elegant too!

Ganache Cupcakes

  

 

Year-end graduation activities bring many opportunities for baking up some delicious treats.  These ganache cupcakes are for my daughter's Varsity Sports Night.  Many people think ganache is difficult, or time consuming to make.  However, it's actually faster that frosting cupcakes in the usual manner.  And the results look so professional.  All you need is heavy cream and semi-sweet chocolate.  For eighteen cupcakes, I melted 8 ounces of semi-sweet morsels into 1/2 cup of heavy cream (heated over a double boiler).  Spoon it over the cupcakes and that's it!  For an added touch, I placed a sugar flower in the center of the dark shiny ganache.  Too pretty! 

French Inspired Dinner Napkins

  

I never grow tired of the classic, but elegant, combination of black with white, or black with cream.  One quick look in my closet will definitely confirm this.  Today I was inspired to bring the same colors to my tabletop with these french inspired cotton dinner napkins.  I created them in sets of four.  The crown set features a different crown design on each napkin.

 

I made extra sets for hostess gifts and bundled each set of four napkins with black and cream gingham ribbon and then tied on a hand-stamped tag with a bit of vintage ivory seam binding. 

 

Bistro napkins, numbered one through four, will be a charming addition to the table.  Look next week in my shop for these new additions to my tabletop collection.

Peony Blossoms

 

I was the lucky recipient of these beautiful peonies from a friend's garden.  Peonies have long been a favorite of mine for their countless petals with lovely shades of pinks and creamy whites.

 

The floral arrangements at our wedding featured peonies and the fabric we selected for our first couch was a Waverly pattern covered with peonies.  (Thankfully, my husband loves them as much as me!)

 

 

Vintage Teacup Candles

I love offering a variety of handmade hostess gifts during my holiday shows and look for ways to transform everyday basics into inspiring designs.  Each year about this time, I begin creating and storing away all sorts of things.  Yesterday, drawing inspiration from a craft book, I made these vintage teacup candles.  It's a great project to give charming single teacups a new life.

 

 

The funnest part, of course, was packaging them.  I placed a little bit of natural wood fiber in a cellophane bag and created a little nest. 

 

Saucers, missing their teacups, were transformed into soap dishes.  With a bit of ribbon and millinery embellishments they are ready for gift giving.

 

<a href="http://technorati.com/claim/cr5iyrtfuf" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>