A Little Bit of Everything

The Jeulia teacup pendant that I ordered as a 'trial run' arrived very quickly, nicely packaged, and as pretty in person as in the picture.

So... I took the plunge and ordered the teacup/coffee cup ring!  It was already on sale for $119 [down from $199] and with a 15% off coupon it was $101 with free shipping.

Yesterday was another bake day.  I had peaches to use up from the Peach Festival and I couldn't remember ever making peach hand pies so I got busy baking. The pastry crust called for butter and shortening, making it very flaky and delicious. The recipe made 15 hand pies and the author said to divide any remaining peach mixture into ramekins, and top with oats, brown sugar and cinnamon for a quick cobbler.  I got three cobblers in addition to the hand pies.   I'm ready to buy more peaches!

After dinner we drove to the church property for a circular prayer meeting around the exterior of the building before our first service on Sunday.  It was so exciting to witness the great turnout.  We were able to completely encircle the exterior of the building with prayer.

And the Son/sun set upon us!

On the ride home it was 8:00 o'clock and dusk had set in.  The days are getting shorter and daylight ends earlier.  [Big Sigh!]

I cloistered myself in my office today to work on the apple basket favors for The Whitney. There is a process - it's not difficult, but is time consuming.  Today I'm giving a step-by-step tutorial in case you might like to make these for a fall tea party favor.

Step 1: Labeling the tea packets and filling them.  Each packet holds enough loose tea for six cups.  

Packets are inserted inside the apples and awaiting final assembly.

Step 2:  Preparing silk leaves.  I bought maple silk leaf bushes and cut the leaves off leaving enough stem for the wire on a pick to wrap around it.  I allowed two leaves per basket.

Step 3:  Measuring and cutting 1 1/2 inch wire burlap ribbon into 14-inch strips to make bows for the front of the baskets, and hot gluing them on.

Step 4:  Filling the baskets with shred.  I opted to use brown, orange, and yellow [gold] shred and I'll alternate the colors when I place them on the tables.

I'm placing the baskets filled with shred and two silk leaves in a box for transporting, and will place the apples in the baskets the day of the event.  So far there's 40 baskets in the box and I hope to finish the remaining 40 baskets tomorrow.

Below is the finished basket, but the picture was taken with a wider burlap ribbon.  It's much easier working with wire ribbon and I like the 1 1/2 inch ribbon a lot better.

I hope this tutorial is helpful.  I ordered the apples from Oriental Trading Co. and the tea packets and 1 pt. wooden berry baskets were from Amazon.   Shred and silk maple leaf bushes came from Dollar Tree, and the burlap ribbon and wire picks came from a local craft store called Dealer's Discount.