How~to~Make Pretty Tea Time Cards...

Hello friends and a happy weekend to you!
After a very busy week celebrating two lovely birthdays, among other things, I am looking forward to a little rest...

Should you be in the mood for creating...I do hope you will join me in creating some paper happiness!  {{smiles}}

If you are needing a sweet little card for a friend to say thank you or simply to let someone know they are in your thoughts, I have just the project for you!

Oh so simple that you will be pleasantly surprised and such fun that you will want to make a few more to stash away in your collection of goodies...{{smiles}}

I saw an idea for a tea time card whilst perusing some lovely blogs the other day, but I decided to change a few things as well as make the actual card a little smaller...

To make these little cards you will need...

Some pretty patterned paper {I love using scrapbook paper}, pearls or gems, a packaged tea bag of your choice {I love Twinings tea...so flavourful!}, ribbon or Bakers twine, double sided tape, acid free glue and tools such as a punch, craft knife and distress ink {optional}.

 

Begin by selcting two coordinating sheets of paper...and cutting the first one to 6" x 4".

Score a line in the middle of the paper - this is your actual card - and fold in half.  

Distress in matching ink all around the inside and outside edges.

Now cut a 2" x 2.75" piece from the coordinating paper and ink around the edges. 

Place double sided tape on the sides and bottom edges and secure to the inside of the card.

 

Cut another piece of paper to 2" x 1.1".

Distress around the edges and add a greeting of your choice...

Add pearls or gems if so desired and secure greeting to the front of the card...

Now punch a hole in the side of the card, place tea bag in the slot and thread a length of matching ribbon through the hole to keep the card shut...and there you are!

Beth and I had such a lovely time creating these tea cards as thank you gifts for the sweet young ladies who came to Nancy's sixteenth birthday high tea party...now I feel like making a few more to put away!  {{smiles}}

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Happy crafting my sweet friends!

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 And do come and visit my Esty shop to see some of the new items I have been adding over the past few days...{{smiles}}



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~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Cooking and Crafting with J and J and Modest Monday

Something Blue for a Sweet Friend...

One of my favourite ways to spend a quiet afternoon is doing simple embroidery...❤

 I love how something so simple such as embroidery thread and a needle can create such loveliness with just a little time and love...

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A sweet young lady whom we met about year ago and have become friends with, is celebrating her seventeenth birthday this coming Thursday, and I thought a patchwork cushion with embroidery would make a special birthday gift for her...

 

Her favourite colour is blue, and I had a delightful time selecting different shades of blue fabric and combining them in a simple patchwork design...

Miss J loves butterflies, so once I had completed the patchwork, I drew a simple butterfly and flower design onto the cushion front and then stitched over the pencil in different shades of blue embroidery cotton...  

I also added two blue beads to the butterfly's antenna...

My sweet sister, Nancy, crocheted three little flowers for me {I can't crochet...not yet anyway!}; white, turquoise and and light blue and I added a teeny button to each one...

After I had done all the stitching and embellishing {which is the best part!}, I sewed a beautiful piece of coordinating blue fabric to the cushion cover, turned it right way round and filled it...

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Oh, I had a delightful time sewing this lovely cushion, and I prefer this shape to my usual embroidered cushions...  

I hope my dear friend will like it too!  {{Smiles}}

Do you enjoy embroidery, my sweet friends...?

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May your Monday be wonderfully blessed!  Thank you for so sweetly stopping by...it always brings a smile to my face when I receive your lovely comments!  ❤

 Do stop by and visit Beautiful Girlhood on Facebook and Pinterest!

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  This post may be shared with...

~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Cooking and Crafting with J and J and Modest Monday

Precious Baby Gift Making...

Aww!  Who can resist a chubby babe, so precious and new...?  ❤

I love hearing of a momma expecting her first, second, or even sixth baby...

It is a joy indeed to create something lovely and special for the new one,

and I was blessed to have the opportunity of working with pretty girly fabric and

my sewing machine this week...

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 As it is always exciting trying something new, I decided to attempt a fabric covered 

hanger and pretty little bag and matching heart...

Nancy, who loves crochet, agreed to crochet a lovely lacey edge for the bag and also made a pretty length of chain stitch to tie as a ribbon around the hook of the hanger...

 

My dear mother got out her knitting needles and made this adorable baby beanie from gorgeous soft baby pink wool...she added a crocheted flower and a cute button...

 

Mom also decided to try make baby mittens...she lined them with the same fabric I used for the hanger so as to create a sweet set of goodies!  So fluffy and sweet...

Of course I just had to make a card!  {{Smiles}}  How I love pearls, pink and...buttons! 

...And then Nancy and I had fun wrapping the gift...we went with a similar idea to this one, but stamped pink hearts on the kraft paper box and tied a broad pink ribbon around the box, adding a little tag...

And what gift would be complete without lace...?  ❤

  Do pop by again, sweet friends...I have a little tutorial planned for sometime soon...would like to know how I created this padded fabric hanger...?  

It was a delight to make...in fact, I made a few more for my sisters!  {{Smiles}}

 

~ Blessings on your Wednesday, friends! ~

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 Do stop by and visit Beautiful Girlhood on Facebook and Pinterest!

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  This post may be shared with...

~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up and Modest Monday ~

I Am Back...And a Little Giveaway ❤

Good afternoon sweet friends and a happy Tuesday to you!

After a lovely week away, I have once again resumed my delightful sewing, gardening 

and the various bits and pieces which form this busy, but truly wonderful life...

What have you been up to recently...?

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Today is beautifully overcast and just a little chilly...rain during the night and early morning

left the earth shining and fresh...  Dainty water droplets adorn the flowers, like diamonds...  

I just finished baking a deliciously rich chocolate cake for Lady Beth's birthday tomorrow,

and have now settled down to share a lovely little giveaway with you!

My sweet and remarkably creative sister, Nancy, has been quite industrious in her craft room lately, and designed and made these charming little crocheted earrings which she is kindly offering

to one dear reader...❤

 Aren't they simply gorgeous...?

I thought that having a fun giveaway would be just the thing for this week,

and a wonderful way to resume blogging too!  Smiles...

My, I was so touched with each of your lovely comments and well wishes for my trip...

I look forward to sharing a few photographs sometime soon!

But now, onto the giveaway...

These feminine crocheted earrings are lovingly handmade by my sister, Nancy and

I have one pair waiting to be shipped to the winner...❤

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To stand a chance to win these earrings...simply leave me a comment...

To gain extra entries...

Follow via Google Friend Connect

Like Beautiful Girlhood on Facebook

Share this giveaway on your choice of Social Media...

{...And let me know what you did so I can pop an extra name in the hat!}

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This giveaway will close on Friday, the 31st of July...

I will ship anywhere in the world, so do feel welcome to enter.  ❤

Wishing you a wonderful week further, sweet friends!

 "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." 

~ Psalm 16:11

How to Make ~ Pretty Fabric Covered Tins

 Elegant lace, beautiful ribbon, pretty fabric and buttons...what could be more delightful to incorporate into a craft project...?

I love storing my crafty treasures in beautiful containers, and these fabric covered tins are not only really simple to make, but they are also lovely because they use supplies that are almost always on hand...

I thought I would share how I made them with with you...just in case you felt inclined to add a touch of creative flair to your craft room or any other room in the house! 

Begin by selecting your fabric, ribbons and/or lace...  If you would like to add buttons or fabric flowers, you can choose your favourites now...  

You will also need a clean, empty tin.

Measure how wide and how long you need to make your piece of fabric.  

You will need to add a little extra length and width so that you can fold over the raw edges for a neat finish.  

I added about an inch to my measurements...

Now fold and press a seam on the top, bottom and one side of the fabric.

Apply fabric glue to the top and bottom edge of the tin and stick the fabric on, securing the raw edge first and then rolling up...

Cover the raw edge with the neat seam you pressed and apply a good amount of fabric glue to secure.  Allow to dry.  

This is the back of your tin.

Now you can add your lace and ribbon!  

Apply fabric glue to the top edge of the tin and wrap the lace around the tin, making sure the two edges meet at the back of the tin so that it looks neat.

Secure the ribbon, if you are using, in the same way.

Use craft glue to secure buttons or fabric flowers to the tin, if you so desire...

 ...And you are done!  

These pretty fabric covered tins would make lovely gifts and look especially charming when grouped with other tins covered in coordinating fabrics!

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Wishing you a wonderfully blessed week, dearest readers and thank you so much to each of you for your kind and gracious comments...it always blesses me to hear from you!

 

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  This Post May be Shared with...

~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up and Modest Monday ~

Herbal Bathtime Tea Bags...

My dear parents gave me the most beautiful book called, Gifts from the Garden by Debora Robertson, for my seventeenth birthday last year...

I had been admiring this book in the store for such a long time and dearly wanted to add it to my collection...

Gifts from the Garden is filled with the most beautiful and inspiring gifts, recipes and tips for growing herbs, flowers and veggies...

The gifts are both simple and afforable to make and the gorgeous photographs add to the appeal!  

Every page is a delight and I never tire of looking through it!

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A few days ago I thoroughtly enjoyed trying out one of the pretty gifts featured on page 31 for herbal bathtime teas...

I made the sleepy blend which contains dried lavender and chamomile, which I just happened to have stored away!

I had dried these herbs back in October last year and saved them in the hopes of sometime attempting a project from my lovely book...

I felt like a lady of a byegone era, sitting outside in the fresh air, stripping all the dried lavender flowers off the stalks and watching the pile of beautifully scented herbs rise in the bowl... 

And how special to use lavender and chamomile we had grown ourselves...surely this makes a gift all the more special...?

 

I would love to share the instructions to make these pretty tea bags with you, just in case you have dried chamomile and lavender and feel like creating a beautiful gift for someone special!  

You will be pleasantly surprised to find how simple they are to make!

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Herbal Bathtime Tea Bags ~ Sleepy Blend

Makes about: 8

You will need:

10 tablespoons dried chamomile

5 tbsp dried lavender

Muslin

Small tie-on gift tags (optional)

Needle and thread or sewing machine 

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl.

Cut out 16, 10cm squares of muslin.

Write or print the name of the blend on the gift tags, if using.

Place two squares of muslin together and, either by hand or with a sewing machine, 

stitch around three sides of the square, about 1cm in from the edge.

Spoon a couple tablespoons of the mixture into the resulting bag.

Sew together the final side, making sure you catch the string 

from the gift tag in the stitching, if using.

Make the rest of the bags the same way.

Stored in an airtight container, the 'teas' will retain their fragrance for a couple of months.

To use, simply drop a sachet into your bathwater...

Recipe Courtesy ~ Gifts from the Garden by Debora Robertson

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I decided to give my herbal bathtime teas to someone very dear to me who enjoys a good soak in the tub at the end of a day...

I popped them in a box I had such fun decorating...

 

I found the most elegant vintage paper at the scrapbook shop some time ago and used it to decorate a plain brown box...

 

On one side I printed out the instructions for use on a piece of the patterned paper, distressing the edges to give it a vintage appeal...

 

On the other side I printed out the ingredients...I used a beautiful font for added charm!

...I also stamped Handmade With Love on the back...

I decorated the top of the box by printing out Herbal Bathtime Tea ~ Sleepy Blend onto the same paper and adding photo corners, pearls and a dainty pink organza bow...

 Look at this elegant lady!  I just had to use this part of the paper for the front of the box...  Again, I distressed the edges of the paper with ink and added large pearls to the corners...

I also made a matching mini card from brown kraft paper using pink lace, organza ribbon, tiny pearls and a tea cup motif...

 ...The paper I used had little postage stamps on it - I cut one out, distressed the edges and adhered it to the top right-hand corner of the little envelope to match the card...

 I added mini tags to the herbal tea bags, attaching them with a length of pink Baker's twine...

I printed Sleepy Blend onto each tag, distressing the edges and adding a tiny pearl...

 

Once the box was decorated, I popped the tea bags neatly inside...

Then I completed the gift by wrapping pretty pink ribbon around it and tying a large bow... 

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I am so pleased with the outcome of this sweet project!  I look forward to many more hours of gift making using ingredients from my garden and kitchen...

Thank you for visiting today, dear readers!

 I hope you have been inspired to attempt a little creating with the beautiful herbs and flowers that grace your garden...

Or maybe you don't have a garden yet and have been eager to grow a few herbs and flowers...?

I have come to realise how special a simple gift can be, especially when much love and thought has been poured into making it pretty and appealing...

I do hope that these teas bring as much pleasure to the sweet receiver as I had making them!

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May your day be blessed and beautiful!

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This Post May be Shared with...

~ The Art of Homemaking Mondays, Roses of Inspiration, Wise Woman Link-Up, Raising Homemakers Link-Up, Titus 2 Tuesday and Modest Monday ~