Decorating, Tablescaping, Before and Afters, Thrifty Finds, and Gardening
Newsletter Update: I've had a few folks e-mail to say they didn't receive their copy of the BNOTP newsletter, Postcards from the Porch in their Inbox. The newsletter was e-mailed out last Saturday so if you subscribed to receive it, it should have arrived early Saturday morning. MailChimp, the service I use to send out the newsletter, is showing around 200 newsletters haven't been opened. So, if … [Read more...]
For this week's Tablescape Thurday, I created a St. Patrick's Day themed table setting with a sugar cookie shamrock centerpiece. (St. Patrick's Day Tablescape can be viewed in detail in this post: St. Patrick's Day Table Setting with Shamrock Cookie Tree Centerpiece) Sugar Cookies and Icing Recipes Today I'm sharing the recipe for both the sugar cookies and the icing. The icing really works … [Read more...]
Recently, I was invited to a small dinner party, a gathering of friends. I was asked to bring dessert, specifically the Cranberry Trifle I made for this past Christmas. You'll find the recipe for the Cranberry Trifle here: Yummy Cranberry Trifle. You'll find a post about the Christmas dinner party here: Christmas Dinner Party Guess what I discovered? You can't find fresh cranberries in … [Read more...]
Welcome to the 199th Metamorphosis Monday! How was your weekend? I have a metamorphosis I'm super excited about sharing. If you love trying new recipes, you're going to like this Before and After. In the past when I've shared a recipe here at BNOTP, I created a post showing the process along with pictures taken during the cooking process. Somewhere in the post I'd share a photo of the actual … [Read more...]
Welcome to the 216th Tablescape Thursday! The Witching Hour: Ever since I made knock-off Pottery Barn clock plates, I've been eager to use them in a table setting. They are finally making their appearance in a table I'm dubbing, The Witching Hour, a term (per Wikipedia) first used in Washington Irving's short story, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, to signify midnight. When I read that in Wikipedia, … [Read more...]
I'm always in a big hurry when it comes to lunch which means I'll usually eat something that's fast and not always very healthy. It's just never easy for me to find something that's fast, healthy and delicious. I may find two of the three but rarely do I hit the trifecta. Recently, when I was shopping in Publix, I was craving a salad. I decided if I was going to eat salad, I wanted something … [Read more...]
Welcome to the 187th Metamorphosis Monday! One of my favorite books is Roses for the Scented Room by Barbara Milo Ohrbach. In fact, I love all her books including Antiques at Home, The Scented Room and Tabletops. I just ordered A Passion for Antiques this evening. All her books are very affordable at Amazon, especially if you buy them used in "Good" or "Like New" condition, which is what I almost … [Read more...]
Recently, I received an "End of Season" Ballard Designs catalog in the mail. Excuse me, but would someone please tell Ballard Designs to not rush my summer. It's just mid July and here in the south summer lasts at least until the end of September, sometimes well into October. Max and I curled up in the green and white chair here in the office and had fun oohing and ahhing from one page to the next. … [Read more...]
Last week's Tablescape Thursday included yummy cupcakes. Here's a wider view of the tablescape... The cupcakes were decorated with little flowers in celebration of spring. Today, I though I'd share how I made the little flowers. It's soooo easy, you're gonna love this! To begin, take a hand full of miniature marshmallows and cut them in half on the diagonal. It's … [Read more...]
Recently while reading a Country Living magazine, I came across the cutest heart-shaped sugar cubes. The magazine shared where they could be ordered but I decided to try making my own. I thought they would be fun for parties, especially tea parties or to offer guests with coffee after dinner. Instead of white cubes as shown in the article, I decided to color mine. Since it's so close to Easter, … [Read more...]
