Tea Time #76...A Bit of Crafting Fun and Another UFO Finished!

A few years ago, my good friend LaVonne (yes, the one I talk about ALL the time), brought me this cute little tea pot lamp for my Mary Engelbreit sewing and crafting room. I think it had a white shade when it arrived. I wanted to decorate it a bit to go with my room, but just never got around to it!
So I decided I needed a little crafting fun in my life and I wanted to get it done!

I've been wanting to play around with Yo Yo's and after looking on YouTube and reading up, I decided to try the new tools by Clover. I started out with this green sized one, but it really makes pretty small Yo Yo's.

So off to the crafting store I went for a large size, which is the size I should have bought the first time. But, I did use both sizes and the smaller one is great for dolly things and card making.

It's really easy to use. You put the fabric in the disk, cut around it about 1/4" or so, sew in and on the outside of the disk, take off the disk and gently pull the fabric, easing it a bit to make your circle.

Adding a button in the center will secure the Yo Yo. I did make a few stitches to catch the center before I sewed on the button.

Here's an assortment of small and larger Yo Yo's waiting to be used on the lampshade.

I used the glue gun and put down a row of bright yellow rick rack first. Then I added the large Yo Yo's, spacing the around the shade and filled in with the small ones.

I added a bright yellow ribbon around the top of the teapot and set it with one more small Yo Yo.
All finished! It was fun and I learned a new craft. I really enjoy working with ME fabrics with all the fun colors and prints.

I picked up this little guy at the last doll show. He's pretty cute and is happy living in my room.

Time for a cup of tea to celebrate another UFO finished! Of course I must use a ME cup and saucer. This is a new one that Jimmy found for me at an estate sale a few weeks ago! Not bad for $2! I've been on the hunt for them as I am hoping to use them for a party this summer.

Mother's Day 2015

This weekend was a busy one at our house over Mother's Day! Jimmy brought these beautiful flowers home for me. He's such a sweetie who loves to give me flowers.  I was gifted with cash to finish buying my flowers for my flower gardens. I did get some things planted on Friday. The weather has turned wet, so I will have to wait to finish.

Our SIL took our daughter Angie to Seattle for the Neil Diamond concert for her Mother's Day gift. We got Otto Saturday afternoon and had him until yesterday afternoon. The weather was warm and sunny, so we had some outside time. Gina came down from Seattle to visit me and help with Otto!

I got him this cute little chair...just perfect for the upcoming summer weather! He wanted Gina to sit right next to him.

His mommy made sure he had his summer hat. I am amazed at how he likes hats!

Settling down for the night...cozy blanket time!

Can you see the love in Auntie Gina's eyes and heart?

Grandpa made this sign to send to Otto's mommy in the morning on Mother's Day! Gina and Jim made breakfast for me...yummy!

After breakfast, we went over to Papa John's for a visit. He hadn't seen Gina or Otto for awhile. Just fun.

Otto's KITTY is always with him! We have to make sure he doesn't leave him behind.

On the way home, we had to stop for some ice cream. A treat for Mother's Day for all!

Thank you so much Gina and everyone for making my Mother's Day very special. I love being a mama and a grandma.  God has blessed me with wonderful daughters and a wonderful little grandson.

Tea Time Thursday #75

Pansies! Can you ever get enough pansies? I have always loved them and I always seem to buy a few more every year. I love the color of this variety I got a few weeks ago.

Welcome to Tea Time Thursday. I do look forward to this post each week. I try to share something tea related every Thursday. As we get ready for Mother's Day this weekend, I thought it would be fun to do a pansy blog.

This is another recent find! The color of the cup is really a cobalt blue. It looks more black in the photo but it is quite a lovely deep blue. I love all the pansies surrounding the saucer and the little bouquet inside the cup.

The teacup is bone china, made in England~a Crown Staffordshire. English. You have to love the English teacups. I wonder how many different patterns there are? Amazing!

This tea book was given to me in 2005 for my birthday by my dear friend Ann. It's a sweet collection of delightful tea stories and recipes. I enjoyed reading through it again and of course, my mind drifted to all the teas I have had with my friend. Ann has finally retired so I am looking forward to more teas!

I love vintage postcards and I think this one is so pretty. It is post marked 1910 and has a penny stamp on the back side. Pansies for thoughts......

I also love to collect vintage calling cards. I just added a few lovely ones to my collection and this is one! Lots of pansies. I think I need to do a post on my calling cards soon.

Here's a little poem to enjoy from the tea book by John Milton....

On May Morning

Hail, Bounteous May! That does inspire
Mirth, and youth, and warm desire;
Woods and groves are of thy dressing;
Hill and dale doth boast they blessing.

Thus we salute thee with our early song,
And welcome thee, and wish thee long.

Spring Concert at Dad's...An Evening With Friends!

 My long time friends MJ and Molly, met me last night at Russellville Plaza for my dad's spring concert...."Another Opening Another Show". My old high school buddies are so sweet to go and visit my dad and they wanted to attend his spring concert, so we met for dinner before and had so much fun telling stories! We heard a few good ones from my dad that I have never heard! Lots of laughs all night.  I love this photo as it shows how happy everyone was last night. My friends have known dad for over 50 years!

 Here he is with his group....Blending Voices! They all just enjoy the songs and performing. They sing old classic show tunes and we were talking how we just know most of the songs. I don't think kids learn songs like that anymore.

MJ took the next two pictures and sent them to me...pretty cute.

This is Dottie who plays the piano for the choir. She charmed us all with her solo..."Let's Do It' by Cole Porter.

And this is my dad's good friend Marilyn who is the leader of the gang! She is so funny and had fun with this number..."If My Firends Could See Me Now"!

Here's my crumpled program so you can see the selections of songs. It was such a fun evening. Thanks so much MJ and Molly for joining dad and me.

Sunday Thoughts

It's evening here in Troutdale....what a lovely day, a beautiful warm spring day. I hope you have had a nice day of rest.

I didn't come up with this prayer, but I am using it as my Sunday prayer. I am going to focus on these things this week. Enjoy the week. 

Happy May Day!

Happy May Day blogger friends! It was just the most perfect spring day here in Oregon. We have been so spoiled by the nice weather all winter and it looks like spring will be the very same. It's been in the 70's and that's so perfect.

I flipped my little calendar over this morning to a new month. I love the month of May! It's the month I plant my flower gardens and everything is so fresh.

I decided to take my camera and go on the hunt for blooming flowers in my yard. I haven't planted anything new yet, but I found many thing blooming. Pansies.....

Azaleas....

Roses....

Roses by my front door...

My mystery rose that a friend sent me years ago...

My chives....

I hope you liked this little look around my garden to day. Enjoy the merry month of May!