HE is RISEN!!

This Easter,

may your hearts be filled with love,

Peace & Joy.

May it remain with you forever &

may you spread the word of Christ

wherever you go.

Happy Easter!

Rice Krispie Easter Eggs

Remember my Valentines Day apothecary jar, 
full of JUMBO ♥ shaped marshmallows?



 Well, I used 40 of them, like the back of the Rice Krispie box says...20 PINK & 20 WHITE.  BUT, since they are over sized marshmallows, I added an extra Tablespoon of butter & did 4 Tablespoons instead of just the 3 that the recipe calls for & 6 cups of Rice Krispie cereal to make



PINK EGGS!

I sprayed the inside of a plastic egg with PAM & stuffed both sides with the warm gooey cereal & melted marshmallow mixture.
I could barely hang onto it, it was so slippery & then I could
barely get it open, as it stuck so tightly.   

I got exactly ONE egg done & gave up!!  Smooshed the rest of the mix into PAM coated non-stick pans.  Love these Farberware pans for stuff like this!!

You just have to be careful not to scratch them when cutting.
I use my plastic lettuce knife so it doesn't scratch them.
That's my tip for today.
 



 



The Rice Krispie Treats taste good though...just a hint of strawberry to them, from the pink marshmallows. 

Well, back to the drawing board...it was a cute idea but I didn't have the patience to do any more eggs.  I had too much else to prepare for the Easter feast on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by, though.

I'm linking to Michael Lee's Foodie Friday,
The Tablescapers Seasonal Sunday &
Yvonne's On the Menu Monday.  

This is a test

I’ve noticed that Feed Burner does not send out emails of my posts when I use too many photos.  It tells me “file is too large”.  Yet, if I do a post with only a couple photos, it will go through & a multitude of back posts go through along with it.  ???



I don’t understand why one post with several photos is blocked but then a ton of posts with even MORE photos goes through? 



So, I’m testing by doing this post with only a few photos of the pillowcases that I made for my granddaughter to match the bed linens


I made for her American Girl doll, seen here.




I hope both will go through this time.  Technology can be so frustrating at times!  *sigh*

American Girl Boutique Boudoir Ensemble

 My granddaughter, Ms. C. has this darling little canopy bed for her American Girl dolls.  It came with the pink & yellow curtains that you see here.  It had a thin yellow cover on the foam mattress & a flimsy pink & yellow blanket.



 I thought it was time to make some new linens for her.
I first made the little white pillow & stuffed it with fiberfill.
I then made LOTS of ruffles to trim the pillowcase. 
I cut the blue polka-dot fabric into 2" wide strips, folded them wrong sides together & used my gathering foot to ruffle them.  



 I made an envelope-like case for the mattress to slip into, like a fitted sheet...only better, as it can't come untucked.

The top sheet has a large hem at the top, trimmed with white lacey flowers, that match those on the pillowcase & quilt.

 

The quilt is reversible & consists of a top floral layer, Warm & Natural batting & a backing of the pale blue dotted fabric.
It is thick & soft & feels very luxurious!

I used my machine's embroidery mode to quilt it with this little feathered heart design from Anita Goodesign's CD, "Quilt Feathers".
 





That quilt's ruffle was cut larger...4" to start, folded in half, wrong sides together & again I used my gathering foot to ruffle them.
My settings on my machine for using this foot are the longest stitch length possible (7) & the highest tension...9 on my new Quattro2 Brother machine.  Your settings may vary, according to your machine. 

I made two more decorative pillows, whose covers are stationary.  I even tied the bows on the bolster pillow in knots & hand stitched them into place, to keep them secure.  Little things like that can get lost so easily otherwise.



Today, I'm making a matching set of normal sized pillowcases with MORE ruffles to go on Ms. C's big girl bed.

If it ever stops snowing, I want to run out & try to find some pink or blue solid sheets, too.  I hope to add edgings to the top of them, in the floral fabric, so they'll match. 

Her bed is fit for a Princess!  It has huge, gorgeous crystal knobs on all four corners, similar to this bed:

  ♥♥♥ Magical Dreams in both places,

for a little girl & her dolls! ♥♥♥

Thanks for stopping by The Gazebo House today.  We're under a "Winter Snow Advisory" today, so I'm going to sew all day long & not leave the house!

I'm linking to Susan's Met Monday as well as
Yvonne's Tidbits, Tips & Tutorials on Wednesday &
The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays.
 

Happy National Quilting Month!

 Happy National Quilting Day,
March 17, 2013...
and all Month long!!

To help celebrate,
I'd like to share with you a couple

of my most recent quilts & a

few hints on how I display &

store them. 

 This coffee themed lap size quilt is made from

Moda's "Daily Grind Coffee Panel".

During the autumn, I had it hanging 

on the only wall without windows, 

in my kitchen's sunroom.
It is my favorite display area,
as I get to see them several times a day. 

I found the pattern a few years ago,
 while shopping at Sew Worth It, in Sarasota, FL,

 with Carol from the blog, Serendipity &

Donna from her blog, Brynwood Needleworks.

What a fun day we had together!   

I don't know if you can tell by these photos, 

but this next quilt, that I had in the same spot,

is called" Winter Welcome" 
by Coach House Designs.

It is a much larger size.

In order to hang various sizes of quilts

on that same blank wall of my sunroom,

I use Command Damage Free Hanging hooks.

   

I buy the ones with the little metal hooks.

I slip a wooden dowel into the hanging sleeve
on the back of my quilt.

I always put a hanging sleeve on my quilts,

just in case I decide to enter them in a show.

It is usually a requirement for their display.

 I make sure that the dowel doesn't

go past the edge of the quilt,

so it won't be seen from the front.

The stick-on hooks are easily changed to 

accomodate whatever size quilt I want to hang.
We use a laser level to get them
positioned correctly or you can
 measure down from the ceiling
on each side. 

Below is a Queen sized toile quilt that I made for my

daughter for her birthday several years ago. 

 Because of its size & weight, I keep it rolled up

around a foam swimming pool noodle!

The foam is first covered by muslin to

protect the quilt fabric. 

By rolling it, this prevents creases from developing in the 

fabric & perhaps thread breakage down the road. 

She said she will come pick it up someday & take it

home, but for the moment, it lives in my sewing room.  

 To store smaller quilts, 

such as my holiday themed quilted table runners 

that I've made for my bakers rack, 

I place an empty cardboard paper towel roll

over a drycleaner pants hanger.

This, too, will prevent creases from forming.

I hate ironing a finished quilt!

   

My newest quilt top was just completed last week

 & I've sent it off to my long arm quilter.

I've named it 'Oh My STARS!!'

If you look closely,

you'll see it is made up of two 

identical blocks.

Only the colors were changed!

  I'll tell you more about it & have some

close up shots, when she

gets done making it extra beautiful with her 

gorgeous thread work.

Oh, & here is another display idea!

Thanks for visiting The Gazebo House!

 I truly appreciate your visits & any comments

you might like to make.

I try very hard to return the visit!

I'll be linking this post to 

The Tablescaper's Seasonal Sundays

  Susan's BNOTP Met Monday,

Yvonne's Tutorials, Tips & Tidbits &
Karen's Quilt Display over at her cute blog
"laugh yourself into Stitches"  

 

♣♣♣ Irish Celebrations! ♣♣♣

 

Come on in The Gazebo House....its PARTY TIME!!!
♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

Cuisine Kathleen is hosting her 5th Annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl, Wednesday night, at 7 pm EST.

Whether you're Irish or not, come join the fun & see how GREEN we can get.



The Gazebo House is decorated to the hilt, with GREEN everywhere!













  





 Our evening meals at the kitchen/sunroom table have been set all month with these lovely placemats, a gift from Ms. Kathleen herself.  Thank you, Sweetie! 




I just love them, with their delicate little shamrock embroideries & the tiny button accents.  So Sweet!
I need to copy this idea & do up some napkins to match for next year.  

We've been enjoying our Irish Soda Bread,

made with Kathleen's special recipe

found HERE.  

 My dining room table is set just like it is every year,

with my Chantilly Tiara GREEN glass dishes. 

 A new addition to the table is this lovely sugar shuttle that I stumbled across in a local consignment shop.  It is MUCH prettier than the first one I bought, years ago!



I usually serve cashews in mine, but this year, I've used spice gumdrops instead.  The little scoop makes it so nice to serve yourself just a few.



The two matching Muirfield crystal relish dishes are new,
as are the pretty GREEN votive candle holders.  



 

The delecate silverware pattern is Onieda's Wildwood/Always, 1958.  It goes well with the lightness of the dishes on the Waterford tablecloth.





My centerpiece is a gift from my little sister & I just LOVE it!
Each little round serving tray folds up to the center, making it very easy to store.  So thoughtful of her to share her treasures with me.  Thanks RuthE!! 


 

 Another shared treasure, which isn't mine to keep,
is this Celtic beautiful table topper.  Cuisine Kathleen received it from Marigene, with the stipulation that it had to be passed on to another blogger after using it for the party.
I have my Celtic cross on it & it has been in our guest room all month long.  
 
 

I wonder who it will go to next??

Thanks for visiting The Gazebo House & please go see all the other participants of the St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl.
Thank you, Kathleen for hosting such a fun gathering each year!   Nobody does "Irish" better than YOU!!

I will also be linking up to Susan's Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursdays as well as The Tablescaper for her
Seasonal Sundays. 

♣♣♣ Getting Our GREEN On! ♣♣♣

Lots of GREEN going on around

♣♣♣ The Gazebo House! ♣♣♣

Last year, I painted some of my wooden

cheese boards...one was pink & the other

GREEN.

They were cute at Easter time & now I'm

making use of the GREEN one for

St. Patrick's Day!

I bought just ONE brownie & cut it in half.

Just a little bit of a sweet treat to share

with my sweetie.

We even have GREEN marshmallows!
Yes, they taste like "LIME", too!
I think I'll make some
Rice Krispie Treats with them.
 

Since it is Lent & we observe meatless Fridays

we're having these FUN looking

Shamrock & Pot o' Gold

cheese raviolis tonight with

Alfredo sauce.  

   

I found them at Sam's Club!

I'm linking

this very short post to Foodie Fridays at

Rattblebridge Farms.

Thanks ML, for hosting FF,
even when you're not feeling well.