Wednesday, November 16, 2011

TARTAN TREASURY

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTE0NzI0NTh8MTEzNTMxNDgyOA/tartan-me-please

Etsy treasuries are really fun to make at Christmas time! Tartan plaid is a real favorite of mine. I am drawn to it. So, I decided to see what different items I could find on Etsy.com made with tartan. One item I really love is the pink tartan plaid bench! Check it out...

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Awesome Blog Feature!

http://artbyjacy.blogspot.com/2011/11/fabric-fun-friday-featuring-etsy.html

Art By Jacy: Fabric Fun Friday featuring Etsy Sellers!

Art By Jacy: Fabric Fun Friday featuring Etsy Sellers!: Better late than never... Here is another awesome Fabric Fun Friday, only this time, I am featuring some cool Etsy sellers who have some awe...

Sunday, October 23, 2011

We experienced our first "corn maze" today for Jolie's birthday. Being in Texas, this is a little different from up north. This maze was made of "hay grazer." We were told this holds up much better to the Texas heat and drought. The location was the South Texas Maize in Hondo, Texas. http://www.southtexasmaize.com Below this post is a Smilebox creation celebrating the day. If it looks funny that we are wearing shorts in October well, all I can say is That's Texas!
Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook
Create your own scrapbook - Powered by Smilebox
This scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Sincerest form of Flattery

http://putaruffleonit.blogspot.com/ 

What is the saying?  Imitation is the best form of flattery?  Well, our Indian Corn Garland provided inspiration for Mary from the Blog   http://putaruffleonit.blogspot.com/ to create a similar corn garland but on a much grander scale for her Fall Wine Tasting Extravaganza.  Check out her blog to see the garland and for more great ideas! 

Thanks, Mary!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Featured on Bargainhoot.com

Shannon and I were excited to find out that our Indian Corn Garland was featured on Bargainhoot.com!  This is an awesome blog!  Check it out here - http://bargainhoot.com/

Rene is the blogger and she is super nice.  Right now she is doing 31days of crafting ideas.  October 3rd's project is to make your own blog button using picnik.com.  I am off to try my hand at this for A Work of Heart SA.  Wish me luck!

Monday, July 25, 2011

We won a blog Giveaway from Dondalee's!

Shannon and I are excited that we won our very first giveaway!  We saw that Dondalee's had three cool goody bags to giveaway and entered.  We ended up winning one!  Here is a photo of the neat items:


Thanks to Dondi for our goody bag!  We will put these pretty items to good use!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

June is the month for Weddings!

Why is June such a popular month for weddings?

One reason is it is named after Juno, the ancient Roman goddess of marriage.  Many Romans chose to celebrate their wedding in June to honor the goddess as she was thought to bring prosperity and happiness to all who married in her month.

Also, if married in June and a baby conceived at the time of marriage, it would not be born until after the harvest.

June also marks the end of Lent and the arrival of warmer weather.

Some say it is due to a greater and more affordable assortment of flowers available during the colorful summer month.

Here are a few of our pieces that would be ideal for this June wedding season:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/74752367/romantic-roses-door-pocket

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75347513/trailing-fuchsia-wreath

Friday, May 27, 2011

A Work of Heart SA's photostream

Etsy 5-24-11 008etsy 75 003etsy 76 015etsy 76 002Etsy 5-6-11 017Etsy 5-7-11 003
etsy photos 4-11-11 005Etsy 5-11-11 Ruffles and Flourishes 002etsy 57 002Elegant White Spring Wreath no1Spring Meadow WreathTulip Door Basket
Daisy Door BasketThe Wedgwood WreathSpring Garden Door BasketSpring Floral Mix Door PocketHill Country Wildflower & Herb Door PocketPatti’s Spring Flower Bucket
Springtime Easter Egg WreathSunflower Garden Wreathcactus country wreath

We are a two sister team from Texas specializing in front door decor! See us at etsy.com/shop/aworkofheartsa for more seasonal wreaths and decor!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Egg-stra Special Easter

Decorated eggs are a traditional part of the Easter holiday season here in South Texas. A cascaron or confetti egg is a chicken egg that has been opened, emptied, washed and then painted or dyed and filled with confetti. 

These brightly colored cascarones are meant to be broken above people’s heads so they are showered with the confetti.  Confetti eggs can be part of any celebration including birthdays, Halloween, but are particularly used in our area for Fiesta and Easter.

According to tradition, a confetti sprinkling brings good luck to both the one who breaks the shell and the one above whose head it is broken.

Yes, there’s even an app for that!  Just released, there is an iPad and iPhone app called Cascarone that allows you to virtually crack a confetti egg on someone’s head without the mess!

To make a cascaron:
  • Make a small, 1/2-inch hole in the top of an egg and empty out the contents
  • Thoroughly rinse out the egg and let it dry
  • The eggs can then be either dyed with an egg-dying kit or painted
  • Let them dry then fill with confetti using a spoon or small funnel - be green and use biodegradable confetti!
  • Cover the hole with tissue paper and glue it down to keep the confetti inside
  • Then let them fly!
Here are a few of our Easter Egg creations for this holiday season:



Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Texas Wildflowers

Bluebonnets are the most popular Texas wildflowers and people travel for miles to view and photograph them. 

The Bluebonnets and Texas Paintbrush start blooming in the middle of March and usually peak around the second week of April.   As the Bluebonnets and Texas Paintbrush are fading the Indian Blankets take over later in April through May.  The yellow border on this beautiful flower varies from a wide yellow border to none at all.  The Wine Cup, a dark purple-red or wine-colored wildflower, blooms from April through June in the Texas Hill Country area.

If you want to take photos among the blooms, either go to cultivated fields like the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin or Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, or ask the property owner before entering the field.  Take care not to crush or pick the flowers as it can kill the plant or they will not produce seeds for the next season.  Also, watch for snakes, especially poisonous ones like rattlesnakes or copperheads, as they enjoy the cool shade beneath the wildflowers.

To help you find the most scenic locations, visit www.txdot.gov , select “Travel”, then “Wildflowers”

Call TXDOT Wildflower Hotline 800-452-9292 for wildflower sightings across the state

Here are a couple of “wildflower” inspired wreaths in our spring collection…


                                  http://www.etsy.com/listing/67660922/spring-meadow-wreath

Friday, March 25, 2011

Easter is April 24th

Spring is here for us in San Antonio!  My daughter is actually swimming with her little friend as I write this.  I bet she is a little bit cold, though, but of course won't admit it. :) 

We made the above wreath to welcome spring on your front door.  It was really fun to make and has about 5 different fabrics along with 10 different ribbons in spring themes and colors.

 And, speaking of Spring, I took a spring chick yellow dessert for teacher appreciation at my daughter's school today.  It is called "Coconut Crunch Pudding" and is delicious!  Got lots of raves on it.  Here is the recipe: 

 Coconut Crunch Pudding
Crunch topping:
1 stick margarine (melted)
1 cup flour
¼ cup brown sugar
1 sm package slivered almonds
1 sm package coconut
Mix together and spread out on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring often to brown evenly.
Creamy mixture:
1 small package coconut cream pudding (instant)
1 small package vanilla pudding
2 2/3 cup milk
Mix together and then add 1 small carton Cool Whip
Layer with crunchy mixture in a bowl.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

SUNFLOWERS

Did you know . . .

The florets within the sunflower's cluster are arranged in a spiral pattern. Typically each floret is oriented toward the next by approximately the golden angle, 137.5°, producing a pattern of interconnecting spirals where the number of left spirals and the number of right spirals are successive Fibonacci numbers. Typically, there are 34 spirals in one direction and 55 in the other.

Despite the common belief, mature sunflowers do not track the sun. The mature flower heads typically face east; only young sunflowers exhibit heliotropism (sun turning).

Sunflowers can be used to extract toxic ingredients from soil, such as lead, arsenic and uranium. They were used to remove cesium-137 and strontium-90 from a nearby pond after the Chernobyl disaster.

International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day is May 1st.  It is a day when guerrilla gardeners around the world plant sunflowers in their neighborhood, typically in neglected public places such as tree pits, shabby flower beds and bare roadside areas.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Spring Gardening

The mild weather and a glance at our calendars remind us that it is time to begin planning our spring gardens. 

Here in South Texas we enjoy planting vegetables like cucumber, hot peppers, onion and tomato; herbs such as basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme along with decorative flowers and vines.

In addition to the benefits of producing fresh food, tasty seasonings and wonderful smells, gardens attract creatures like squirrels, birds, hummingbirds, bees and butterflies and make it a wonderful and rewarding activity.

Our love of gardens and gardening inspired the following collection of spring wreaths…



Sunday, February 6, 2011

Valentine’s Day

Today we reminisced about exchanging Valentines when we were in grade school.  We recalled the excitement of embellishing a shoe box with tissue paper, colored decorations and valentine cut-outs (usually the night before it was due!), signing the cards and addressing an envelope for every classmate.  The largest Valentine was always saved for our teacher!

We are still decorating for Valentine’s Day!  Here are a few of the Valentine wreaths we offered this season…