Under a Blue Moon

Decor, cooking, organization, all the pretty things

Friday Favorites

ballerina  ◊  lilacs on my vintage garden bench  ◊  “Guess I’ll hang my tears out to dry”  ◊  50/365 mini tea cup

Hello and Happy Friday and Happy first day of February!  I hope everyone is making it over here okay from the old blog.  I did enjoy my break and it really allowed me to focus on getting this new site up and running.  As mentioned in my inaugural post I will be fine tuning things behind the scenes but it shouldn’t impact my posting schedule.  Which will remain the same, by the way.  I still aim to post three times a week.

If you saw Wednesday’s post you will have seen that I added a quick video tutorial to accompany the blog post. I want to start doing more of that and to polish up my video filming and editing skills.   From just that first attempt I see lots of room for improvement.  I’ve already filmed a second one and I’m slowly getting the hang of it.  It’s a fun medium to play around with.  The next one has a voice over.  I doubt I’ll ever go before the camera (except my hands….) but at least you can hear my Mr. Haney voice.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea Filed Under: Favorites

Easy Valentine Cards

Valentine card

Is it just me or has the price of greeting cards gotten ridiculously expensive?  Even the mediocre ones are $5.  I make my own cards quite a bit and figured I would do so for Valentine’s Day.

I don’t like overly sappy sentiments on my greeting cards so I went with a very simple design that I think looks more expensive than the approximately 50 cents it cost to make them.

Valentine Card

The supplies I used are:

I made my cards standard A6 size (4.5″ x 6.25″) which was a mistake.  I should have made them 6″ tall so I could get two cards out of each 12″ x 12″ sheet of card stock.  I doubt anyone would notice the 1/4″ difference.  My instructions will be for the more economical way.  You can either make your own envelopes or just use standard A6 envelopes.

Valentine card

Cut 12″ x 12″ card stock into two 9″ x 6″ pieces.  Using scoring board lay the paper lengthwise and score at the 4 1/2″ mark and then fold at the score mark.

This next step is optional but it helped in keeping the glitter frame on the card nice and straight.  Score 1/4″ away from each edge on the front of the card, making sure to start 1/4″ down and stop 1/4″ from the bottom.  If you look at the picture of the open card above you can see the scorelines on the inside of the card.  Not only does it help keep your glitter lines straight it also makes the card look a little more polished on the inside.

Cut out heart shapes from the glitter card stock.  A quick note on the glitter card stock.  Try to match your card stock to your glitter glue as close as possible.  I also liked the chunkier glitter card stock for this project.   Cover the back of the hearts with the adhesive dots (which come on a runner or dispenser…) and apply to the front of the card.

For the inside of the card I printed the simple sentiment “Happy Valentine’s Day” and included a tiny heart below it using Microsoft Word.   You can get four card interiors from one sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper.  Cut each interior to 4″ x 5 1/2″ .  The font I used is Quicksand and I expanded the text to 1.8 pts. (you do this from the advanced tab in the font options box).  I really like the Quicksand font because it is nice and clean.

Put a strip of adhesive dots along the top of the backside of the interior sheet and adhere it to the inside of the card, centering it so there is 1/4″ space around the edges.

The last step is to make a glitter line around the front of the card with the glitter glue, using the scorelines as your guide.  I also used a folded piece of scrap card stock places right next to the score line to help keep the tip of the glitter glue from veering off course.   Let the glitter glue dry and it’s done!

Honestly it took longer to type up the instructions than to make the cards themselves (minus the glue drying time).  I went with pink for the cards but it would be striking on black or red too.

And just because I like a challenge I decided to make a little video of the process.  Please ignore the crypt keeper hands and the tea stain on my desk.

Valentine card

Some props may have been eaten in the making of this blog post.

 

 

 

 

Welcome to the new Blog!

Hello and welcome to my new little corner of the interwebs.

I didn’t want to change things too drastically but I did really want a refresh and I think I have accomplished that.

I was able to bring over all my old posts and comments using a migration tool.  I did lose a few comments on the most recent posts because those I just had to recreate.

I’m still trying to tweak a few things with the layout so bear with me as I get those sorted.

I’ve been asked in the past if I would send out an email notification when there was a new post.  There is now an option to subscribe.  It’s on the right hand side under my picture.  Rest assured the only emails you will get are new post notifications and your information (email address) will remain under lock and key.

There is also the ability to do a search if there is a particular topic or post you want to see.

I would love your feedback on the new site.  Good, bad or indifferent.  I want this to be a pleasing place for you to come visit so if anything looks wonky on your end please let me know.

Andrea Filed Under: Musings

Milk Glass

milk glass

I am not a big collector of things.  I tend to buy one or two of something and that is enough.  Mainly this is a storage/display concern but also because I have a short attention span.  Haha!  I do love me some milk glass though and will figure out a spot for a new piece if I see one that is unique and not something I already have.

The majority of my collection is on top the large Expedit book case I have in my office.

Older picture:

Expedit milk glass

Oh.  I guess I collect Eiffel Towers too.  But to be fair I only have a handful of those.

On Friday I got the notion to replace the string of fairy lights I have along top of the unit because half the strand was out.  While I was up there I noticed how completely dusty things were up there.  Goodness.

So down it all came.  I was tempted to chuck it all in the dishwasher but after doing a little research that isn’t recommended, particularly for the older pieces.  Plus some of my pieces have the original Westmorland sticker on them and I wanted to preserve those.  So I hand washed each and every piece.

milk glass

This isn’t even all of it.  I think I have about 50 pieces.  Not all are on display as I do actually use some of them.  I have a pair of cache pots that I have my African Violets in and you can see in the picture of the book case I use a small urn for paint brushes.  I use one in the bathroom for my makeup brushes too.  Nothing so precious it can’t be be put to good use.  That’s the beauty of milk glass.  It is easy to come by and the prices are generally reasonable.  I use the vases in my collection quite a bit.  Over the holidays I bought five bud vases that match one I already have to be used as candle holders for a Christmas tablescape.

What do you collect?  Is it something you can use and are you still actively collecting?  I’m always curious to hear what other people are drawn to.

milkglass

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites

             summr by the pond.  ◊ Pink Mailbox  ◊  Shakespeare & roses…  ◊  to Gaby

Late post and no favorites today.   The week just kind of got away from me.

Last week I still felt like I was in holiday/vacation mode since it was a short week.  This week has been me trying to get back into a routine and to refocus my efforts on the job hunt.  I have a couple of irons in the fire in that regard so I feel like I’m off to a good start.

We don’t have any plans for the weekend.  We need to take the lights off the house (sigh) but it might rain so I’m not sure if that will be on the agenda.  I just finished a really great book (The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler) so I’m going to try to find a new one to sink into.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Andrea Filed Under: Favorites

Faux Spring

Faux Spring Houseplants

I have been accumulating houseplants in my office in order to mimic the freshness and greenery of Spring.  Yet I still have Christmas fairy lights on the house.  That’s just how we roll around here in January.

I was all hot to get the Christmas decorations down 15 minutes after Christmas was over but I’m still really enjoying the white fairy lights on the house.

It’s so gloomy out that I had to drag out my big lights in order to take these pictures.  I need a crash course in photography lighting.  This does not quite convey the look I was going for.

Faux Spring tulips flowers

Also, thank goodness for Trader Joe’s flowers.  You can buy a little bouquet of spring for next to nothing.  There is my favorite chamomile.  It is cheery on its own but also is a great support flower for floppier specimens.

I really love this little corner of my office.  I have to put all my houseplants up high where the kitties can’t get to them.  They like to nibble.   I have my Schefflera from my work office along with a large cutting from it that is in a mason jar, rooting.  I cut off a big chunk before I left and gave it to an office mate.  It was lopsided to I cut off the other side and I’m about to plant it.  I also have a couple of orchids that are done blooming.  Rather than toss them, which I would normally do, I decided to see if I could get them to flower again.

One plant that isn’t doing all that great is the String of Pearls.  I’m not quite sure how to encourage it along.  I know I’m not over-watering it.  It’s just rather sparse.  Does pinching back work?   I’ll have to do a little research.

 

Andrea Filed Under: House