The Ladies and I made holiday decorations this weekend. Suz was on a roll and made a wreath for every room in her house and inspired me to make one for my front door. Of course it had to have a bird on it…

We are fortunate to have citrus trees in our garden not only for the obvious reasons, but the limbs naturally die off leaving beautifully curved branches that are easy to harvest. They are close to the ground and break off in my hand. I chose ones that curved the most and lashed them together with sisal twine.

September is a busy month for birthdays. That means I am extra crafty this time of year. My awesome mother-in-law’s birthday is today and I whipped out this cute little thing in under an hour. She loves to have herbs on her sill for easy picking, so I think she’ll be thrilled.

I used a wool sweater that didn’t end up felting in the wash. What you see here is the end of the sleeve (the cuff is at the bottom of the pot.) It’s easy to do. Find a pot that fits into the arm hole of the sweater. It could be any sweater, actually, not just wool. Slip the pot in, and cut the arm high enough so it tucks in but doesn’t hit the bottom. Then, drop in a small potted plant. This Sage plant was purchased at a local nursery.

I had to add a little something special, of course, so I needle felted two mushrooms in her favorite colors.

Recently, I needed an extra special gift, so I enlisted the woodworking skills of my most excellent husband to help me make this serving tray. I bought the wood at Woodworkers Source, and my friends at Modern Manor (a mid-century modern furniture store on the Melrose Curve in Phoenix) gifted me the handles. The pictures below illustrate the process…hover your mouse over the images for descriptions.

Now I want to make one for myself!

Until tomorrow~Sarah

It was my husband’s birthday the other day and I wanted to make him cupcakes~they are so festive looking stacked up on a cupcake stand. My problem…I don’t have a cupcake stand. My other problem…I hate to look of store bought ones. So, of course, I set out to make one.

I went to the White Dove thrift store down the street and found a candle stick, a vase, and three plates~all ceramic. Then, at home I glued them up using e6000. Voilà~the chicest cupcake stand I’ve ever seen.

Make your own cupcake stand from thrift store ceramics:

1. In a thrift store, look for three plates that (A) do not match, (B) are graduated sizes, and (C) all have smooth, flat centers on top and bottom.
2. Next, look for tall, thin ceramic pieces like vases and candle sticks. Let your good taste and personal style lead the way, and remember there needs to be enough room around the base for (standard) three-inch cupcakes.
3. While still in the store, carefully assemble your pieces to check for stability. All stacked up, the plates and so-called pillars should be able to stand on their own. This ensures the glue will hold securely. If there is rocking or the pieces don’t fit together, keep looking.
4. Bring it all home and wash and dry. Be sure all pieces are completely dry inside and out before gluing.
5. e6000 is a stinky glue. Read directions and get plenty of ventilation.
6. Start by gluing the upper pillar to the underside of the top plate (Section #1).
7. Separately, glue the bottom pillar to the underside of the middle plate(Section #2).
8. Let these two parts (Section #1 and Section #2) dry overnight outside or in a well ventilated area.
9. The next day, glue Section #1 to Section #2. Let this dry for another day.
10. Finally, when all the joints are dry, glue the tower to the bottom plate and let that dry for a day.

A note on the decorations:
I used Imaginesce paper (from the Birthday Bash collection) in the Cricut with the Cindy Loo cartridge to make the cupcake wrappers. The Cricut was set to 2-1/4″ and I got five up on a 12×12 sheet by cutting four (with paper saver on) then turning the mat around and feeding it back into the Cricut to cut one more with the “portrait” setting on.

The cupcakes are chocolate with cream cheese frosting decorated with coconut or sprinkles.

Until Tomorrow~Sarah