AMANDA'S BASKETS: Backdrop has begun...

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Backdrop has begun...

PICTURE OF THE DAY:

Another Easter decoration. This one plays 'In Your Easter Bonnet' and has silver confetti that floats throughout when playing (or shaking)!!! It's really cute!

The Backdrop begun...

I decided to do the backdrop in five panels and I finished the first one today. The first panel is always the hardest because I am trying to create my sketches with the fabric I found. I began with blue for the sky and pinned on a dark blue and white cloud...

I then sewed the clouds on. I usually use a zigzag stitch and only sew the top of the add-ons like clouds. By sewing only the top, the clouds give the appearance of moving. Also, the background is not wonky in case the add-ons aren't sewn perfectly.

Here is the first panel with some of the green strips. I added two more strips of greens, then a dark beige and finally a light beige. Once the strips were sewn on I attached three more add-ons on the hills to break them up.

I found that it worked better if I trimmed the excess fabric after adding each strip. It reduces the weight and allows the backdrop to hang better. You can see through the backdrop because I have not added the backing of black muslin. Once that is attached, it will be hard to see through.

Well, one down, four to go... I'll post the complete panel tomorrow.

And on to some more decorations....

We have several Harlequin Dolls and usually bring them out at spring time. They are all dressed beautifully with lush fabric. This mask we found at a gas station in New Orleans!!!

This is one of the few Harlequins that we usually keep out all year long. It is a very striking doll.

This music box harlequin was an advertisement for the Grand Casino...

This doll sitting on a pillow is also musical. I think it has one of the cutest faces...

These sets of dolls sit on top of my grandmother's secretary....and as I am now a grandmother, you can figure out that it is quite old.

And here are closeups of the three sets....

Well, that's all for today...

Thanks for stopping by....

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

MAGAZINE IDEAS

(New) One article in the Farmer's Almanac 2024 is a list of trends. One I knew about is the trend to downsize in just about every area. Another trend that I was surprised about was called ''The Human Library' which offers people on loan to talk about specific subjects. Finally, more folks are adding pets to their family and as a result, stores are adding more pet food, toys and medication to their offerings. There's also a nice garden article which suggests mixing vegetables and flowers together for success.

RECIPE IDEAS

Have you every made Cherry Dump Cake. It calls for 2 cans of Cherry Pie Filling (21 ounces), a white cake mix, 1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted & 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans. In a 9 by 13 pan, spread both cans of cherry pie filling. Add the melted butter to the cake mix and break apart the resulting mixture and crumble it evenly over the pie filling. Sprinkle the pecans evenly over the mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 - 45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Fast, easy and very delicious.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

What if you want to establish better habits, then decide what habit you want to work on. Again, try an easier one first for that good feeling of success. Let's consider more exercise. Start small. Don't try to run a marathon right away. Set the amount of time, the type of exercise and when to do it to begin making sure that it is within your reach. If it works for you each week add a bit more. Walking is one of the best ways to get good overall movement but there are many exercise videos on YouTube of varying lengths and difficulty to check out. Change your exercise routines to eliminate getting bored. For hardcore exercise with weights, give yourself a day in-between to recover. Even on days you would rather not exercise, do it and see if you feel better. It takes an average of 66 days to establish a habit. Just think 66 days to establish a good habit for a lifetime. Sounds like a good thing to me...how about you?