Saturday 29 June 2013

Vintage Tearoom....


Goodness the end of June and I still have not updated you all on how the Vintage Tearoom went. 
Where do I start......
The whole week before The Highland Games is always pandemonium in our house 
as Mr Mc is the main organizer for the games and 
while he is always happy to help me with my little “crazy” ideas 
even when he really things they crazy it is mainly mussel power he offers. 
So it was great when on Friday my lovely friend Sharon with a people carrier full of 
yummy cakes, cupcakes & scones and two Paperdolls arrived to support me, 
and reminding me as I was having last minute panic attacks it will all be great on the day.   
It was a real giggle on Friday night in the kitchen icing & putting finishing touches on the cakes 
and catching up on all the “scandals” around us.    

        
.....it was a very early start for all of us at the Mc Household 
as we can only set the tent up on the day
we all enjoyed the little quiet before the storm
the tent was not that empty again 
until we ushered the last costumers out of the tent well after closing......


......my favorite prop this year was the chandelier it was a Flea market find 
a couple of months ago and I had the idea to hang the crystals & glass creamers from it
 I think Mr Mc thought I had completely lost the plot
 when I first mentioned the idea to him!!!! 
I also really like the way the cupboard turned out 
it was a rather dull dark wood when I found it
 in a charity shop, its amazing how a little paint and 
fabric for the back can make so much difference 
it will now have pride of place in our kitchen filled with our every day crockery......

 
....we where all like little kids playing shopkeeper with the till
it makes a great mechanical sound as you set the dials and rings when opening
but your adding skills have to be up to scratch as the till does not do that for you
and as the till from -Open all Hours- it has a mind all of its own....


....when it came to putting the flowers together on the Thursday night before the Tearoom 
I had a little....well....major.....meltdown as I kept comparing my posies 
to the beautiful creations Brenda had made last year and they simply did not compare 
but teen Paperdolls wisdom saved me from insanity 
and picking them apart for the tenth time, 
when she put it all in prospective for me by pointing out 
that Brenda is after all a florist with 20 years of experience behind her  
and on the day the flowers did look very pretty....


....the choice of delicious cakes, cupcakes & scones was overwhelming 
 many guests chose more then one piece for themselves, but who can blame them, 
they all looked and tasted scrumptious 
we all had to test them as well of course  
the star of the cake buffet was the stunning two tiered cake 
Sharon had had made for me as a surprise
it was to beautiful to cut on the day 
so it came home with me and was shared a couple of days later with the volunteers....


....the trays filled with the orders looked as divine as the food tasted 
with many of the customers commenting on how much they loved the idea of using vintage china....


....among the liquid refreshments the Homemade Lemonade was the clear winner
but the Vicar didn't disappoint and stayed with tea!  
yes he really is the Vicar just blending in with the crowd for the day....


....it was so much fun that we couldn’t stop smiling & giggling 
no matter how busy or hectic it got
and believe you me it was very busy for most of the day....


....I had a great team of volunteers on the day without them 
it would not have been possible to run the Tearoom 
but the stars on the waitressing front where without a doubt the Paperdolls
keeping calm and carrying on....
SIMPLY AMAZING!!! 


 ....it is fare to say from the feedback we had on the day that every one who sat down in the 
Vintage Tearoom really enjoyed the experience 
with some customers coming back for a second time....   
  

  ....with the Pipe band playing the last tune for the day and 
the young Highland Warriors exhausted from all that excitement of the games 
it was time to pack up.... 


....I didn't get to see any of the actual Highland Games
and yes it is a lot of really hard preparation work for weeks and even months. 
but when the weather is perfect, you got a super team of volunteers 
& friends traveling far and wide to support you
and every one is having a great time on the day
it makes it worth while....
!! Simply put it was a fabulous day!!

I’m off now to my next little “crazy” idea 
or better put big adventure as I’m taking part in my very first "Race for Life" today. 
 When & where I agreed to do this, still eludes me. 
But hay ho I must have done 
and after all it is such a good cause I’m more then happy to honor my word.  
I will not be racing more like crawling 
as I can not run to save my life.  
But I am sure it will be lots of fun, if it only wasn't bucketing down like mad! 
Wish me luck!!!!
Have a great weekend!

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Apron LoVe....


Hello, lovely to see you here again!
I hope you all enjoyed a nice....restful...fun....weekend. 
 For me it has been fun....fun and more fun filled but definitely not a restful weekend.  
....Twelve ? lady’s ?....
....lots of drink of the alcoholic variety....
.....a 40th birthday girl that thinks she is no day older than 20....
....sin filled places....
you can use your imagination to fill in the blanks only to say 
it was all legal but the city of Hamburg is not going to forget us in a hurry.
On Sunday afternoon it was back to the real world, 
Mr Mc and I got all the Vintage china from the cellar. 
It needed a wash after nearly a year down there 
and because of the gold decoration on them I like to wash them by hand.  
It was so lovely to see all the pretty china and cutlery again 
it got me very excited for next weekend.  
We also got the tablecloths and aprons up to wash.


I started making them last year only knowing I wanted them all to be different 
not just the fabric but also the style.  
I always fully line my aprons and darts help to give them a better fit. 


For this one I only had tiny bits of the flower fabric left 
so it was a real struggle to make it work,
 I had to piece three small bits together to make the frill. 


 I wore this one last year
....LOVE....LOVE....LOVE....the strawberry fabric with the red polka dot 
and the gingham fabric and it perfectly matched my red polka dot dress I was wearing.


For the waitresses I made these half aprons
Sharon’s teen Paperdoll and mine did the job of waitressing for most of the day 
and they did it fabulously.  
Keeping calm and carrying on even when it was overwhelmingly busy. 
They smiled through it all.  
Amazing really as neither of them had done any waitressing before especially on this scale. 
 And I’m so glad to say we have both of them back this year as well as Sharon!!!       
Whilst we where looking at teen Paperdoll’s aprons 
I noticed that it was not going to look nice 
with the dress we bought for her for that day in the sale a couple of weeks ago.
 

So on Sunday night I started making a new one for teen Paperdoll 
only problem I had there was only snippets of the pretty cup fabric left. 
 It took me longer to work out how to use the fabric to get the best effect, then making it.  
When I showed teen Paperdoll the finished apron she was thrilled.  
Love when that happens!!     


And as I wasn't already busy enough this week 
with all the minute stuff that can not be done before.  
I had to make it even busier on Monday by making a new apron for me to wear. 
I made Sharon the same one with a different flower fabric last year.
I am so excited this morning I am off to the flower market 
hopefully picking up flowers for Saturday, 
I have never been in one before, can’t wait to see all the beautiful blossoms. 
Last year Brenda the fairy godmother of flowers in our neighborhood,
 did the flowers for the Vintage Tearoom, 
and they looked so beautiful. 

 
Unfortunately Brenda moved recently so its left to me to trying 
and make something looking like a posy in a teacup.  
However Brenda was so kind to give me a quick master class 
and leave me some very helpful tools before she leaved.  
Here is hoping I learned something.    
I better dash now. Have a lovely sun filled day.      

Saturday 1 June 2013

Mirror....Mirror....


 Good Morning to you all!!
The 1st of June already, crazy really, 6 months into 2013 
but to me it feels like only yesterday  we celebrated Christmas 2012.
  Even more crazy that one of my friends informs me 
she has already bought the first couple of this years Christmas presents, 
that puts a whole new meaning into prepared.  
I can barely plan till the end of the month at the moment,
never mind Christmas.  
Nevertheless I’m prepared for next weeks Vintage Tearoom
....mmmmm....well I am....no really I am....
but there always seems to be last minute extras to make or revamp.  
Probably not helped by the fact
I’m still looking in charity shops and on Flea markets.  

 

On such a last minute search,
last weekend I found this rather tired looking mirror, 
perhaps the mirror had told an owner in the past 
 “You are the fairest here but but there is someone else
thousand times more beautiful than you” not the mirrors fault really
but no one likes to hear or more to the point 
see that in the mirrors reflection and 
so it was put up a loft neglected and forgotten about.
The dust & damp had not been very kind to it. 
The lady selling it wanted a crazy price and 
I was ready to walk away when I witnessed what can only be described as 
the most ruthless but VeEeEeRy charming hackling by teen Paperdoll 
....my Dad would have been so proud....
I think the lady didn't know what hit her nor did I really 
before I or the lady knew it teen Paperdoll had hackled her down 
so much so I only paid less then a third from what she originally wanted. 
....Absolute BARGAIN....
On Thursday afternoon the Paperdolls and I set up in the garden
to experiment with gold leaf.  
It’s not as easy as I thought, we all had a go but by the end of it 
there was more gold on us then the frame.  
Lucky for us we wanted a rather uneven look
so it would still have the feeling of old, 
with us being complete novices at gold leafing we got exactly that. 
So another piece of trash returned to it’s former glory, a real treasure now. 
....Mirror,Mirror,on the wall you are the fairest of them all....


I better run now,
I am off on a overnight 40 Birthday party, 
not mine I hastened to add.
With my packing only half done, I better get to it.  
Hope you enjoyed this little up date. 
Have a great weekend!!

xxxx