Introducing ...

INTRODUCING
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our Pinwhirl Peonies!
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The newest design in our pinwheel collection.
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For more information please visit our Pinwhirl Parties blog here.

The reason for my absence ...

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The above is the reason for my absence in the blogging world. This is what my house looks like on a typical Sunday night. My kitchen and living room are taken over with boxes. Boxes and boxes of custom pinwheels, party hats, and banners. Think tomorrow's shipments will require both Roger's and my cars.
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Other than the above, not much new here. The summer is slipping away without much time for enjoyment because of this craziness although our Indiana summer has been very Seattle -esq so I haven't been missing much. Looking forward to vacation next week, but kind of wondering if I can really escape from all of this. Guess we will see. :)
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Maybe one day I can return to regular blogging and officially open my new blog site. Until then ...

I'm Back

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I'm back. It's been forever. Don't even want to count the weeks or is it months? I appreciate those who have checked in with me over this time period expressing concern over my whereabouts. (And no, I did not die after running the mini marathon.) I'm perfectly fine, so no worries. I should have posted much sooner, and have had every intention. On several different occasions I've even taken photos of my yard and various projects with the sole purpose of posting an update. As you all know, that never happened. Why because I've been swamped. Yeah, yeah, I know - I've said this before. But this time around I've been really swamped. Like from the time I get up in the morning until the time I got to sleep at night - literally, even on weekends. No exageration. Mix in several family visits and the added house and yard work necessary for visitors and I've doubly had no time - or life. Excuses. Excuses.

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In the midst of the craziness I've also come up with a brilliant idea to start another blog. I know all of you just have to be thinking - What? You don't even keep the blog you have updated! So true. Anyhoo, I plan on eventually transitioning out this more personal blog and moving more towards a blog that centers around my Pinwhirls and Party Planning. Some days Pinwhirls. Some days Party Planning. Some days Pinwhirls and Party Planning. (Actually who am I kidding - my goal right now is a weekly update and even that may be pushing things.)

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My new blog is currently being prettified (by someone other than myself - thank goodness, huh. If I took on yet another project this new site wouldn't launch until 2011.) but, I'll be sure to forward you the new blog whenever it's born. Yay! To tide you over, in the meantime, please feel free to visit my Etsy shop as I've recently added some new products and plan on adding tons more in the upcoming days and weeks. (A special thanks to my older sister who is now officilly whirling more pinwhirl pinwheels daily than me!)

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Thanks to all who are still 'following' me despite my disappearance!

I hope to be stopping by and visiting many of my blog friends soon. :)

Tablescape Thursday

So, I've heard about Tablescape Thursdays, hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch, for quite some time. Not quite sure why I haven't participated in these posts in the past, but I just haven't. But, there is a first time for everything and today I'm leaping right in.

Anyhoo - a big apology to to my regular followers - as I'm only posting a link to the tablescape I featured on my site a couple of weeks ago. You will be bored so my feeling won't be hurt if you dodge from this post now. Or, better yet, stop by Susan's blog to browse all of the other wonderful tablescape - I'm sure you'll find lots of great ideas - just in time for Easter. :)

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To all my new visitors, who follow Susan's blog, welcome to mine. You are cordially invited to visit this link for more photos of my Easter tablescape. You can also view an entire slideshow here. Enjoy!

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Shana

Easter Tablescape

So, my Easter tablescape is complete. Yay! To view photos, etc. click here. To be totally honest I had no idea what I was going to do with the wheatgrass as it's height peaked a bit before I was ready. I spent most of the weekend printing papers and assembling the pinwheels. Spent most of Sunday creating the tablescape and taking pictures of the pinwheels - both as part of the tablescape and also separately for use in selling the pinwheels. Then spent the past two evenings importing these items into Etsy. Now, I'm finally finding time to post the pictures.
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Funny story about the tablescape, I created it while Roger was working outside in the yard. By the time he came back inside for a break, I'd taken all of the photos and disassembled the tablescape. I guess I should have had him come look, but I was so rushed it didn't even occur to me. Just knew that I wouldn't have time to deal with rotting wheat grass this week so I trashed it at the height of it's prettiness. Kind of sad, I know. Although, I just volunteered to host Easter this year so I really wish that wheat grass would last weeks instead of days. As I'm a gluten for punishment, it looks like I'll be growing another round of wheat grass for my actual Easter centerpieces. :)
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Wow - I can't believe it's Wednesday already! We leave for vacation on Saturday morning - I've not done a thing. Haven't gotten out my summer clothes (I hope they still fit!), done any laundry (have an overflowing Laundry basket!), or started to gather items (since we are camping I have a 2 page list!). Plus the house is a mess - like total chaos as I've been working too much lately. It'll need to be cleaned before we go. I'm strange about that - in my neighborhood I always worry that someone will break in, and if that happened it would be totally embarrassing if the cops arrived to a dirty house! (That's why I tell Roger we have to make the bed each morning!) I'm weird, I realize this.
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On that note, I should get some actual vacation work done. Yay!

Spring has Sprung

Spring has Sprung. {Yay!} And, so has my Wheat Grass. {Double Yay!} Nope, I don't eat or drink the stuff. I know, I know it's supposed to be super nutritious but the thought of ingesting anything grass related just doesn't sound appetizing to me - at all.
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So, bet you are wondering why I'm growing trays of wheatgrass. For my Easter tablescape, of course. My goal is to complete one this weekend. One thing is for sure - I need to do this soon as this grass is at the exact perfect height and green-ness. {Another Yay!}
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Years ago I attempted growing wheatgrass on my own and I failed miserably as I purchased seed and directions specifically for wheat grass that one juices. This time I purchased kits from Dogwood Farms as they actually have centerpiece kits available. I purchased their 8" round centerpiece kits. The kits come with perfect instructions on how to grow wheat grass for centerpieces - it needs to be grown thicker than wheatgrass for juicing. I was a little pessimistic, I must admit - as by day 4 I barely had any growth. But, here we are at day 7 at it's just perfect. Will definitely be using them again.
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Anyhoo, stay tuned for my Easter tablescape photos utilizing this lovely spring grass. :)

Breath of Fresh Air ...

Our tulips - not sure when they poked through. I swear they weren't there Saturday!
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Yesterday morning, I awoke to a breath of fresh air ... literally ... as we got to sleep with our bedroom window cracked. (We had lovely weather in Indiana this weekend - lovely as in highs in the 70s). The room smelled like spring and it was so wonderful to just lay in bed listening to the birds chirp. It was wonderfully relaxing experience until I looked at the clock and realized that we 'sprung forward' while we were slumbering and with lots and lots to do, I had to rise and get to work. Bummer indeed.
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It was light outside until almost 8 last night. Don't get me wrong, I love daylight, but Indiana seriously chose the wrong time zone. We don't need it to be light until 8pm in March just like we don't need it to be light until 10 pm in June. I much preferred it when we didn't follow daylight savings time and it got lighter earlier in the morning; so much easier to rise with the birdies when the sun is actually risen. Okay, my little rant for the day.
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Anyhoo, since I've been so busy working, I thought I'd post some photos of some of my recent projects. These are only some of them as the rest of the photos were saved on my narcoleptic laptop that I still haven't had a chance to bring in for repairs. I've been so swamped that my older sister (the stay at home mom) and my youngest sister (the nursing student) have been helping me with some orders. Both of them have gotten a crash course in pinwheel assembly and both are now pros. They've been a huge help - think I'd go crazy without being able to fall back on them. Yay for sisters! Hopefully I can continue to hire them on as more orders come into the shop. :) Oh yes, I should also mention Roger. Although he's not home much this season, he tries to help out when he can. He's my tech support and handle hole driller. And he also helps out with the cooking and grocery shopping when he can since I haven't had much time for these type of tasks lately. (Now if only he noticed or even cared when the house started to look messy!)

Some new table sign designs ...


Another new design - the above and the below are my favorite!

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The weekend before last I also spent a large amount of time designing some new baby shower and spring themed scrapbook papers to add to my pinwheel papers collection. Although I haven't had time to officially count, I think I now have over 300 exclusive designs posted. I've also begun selling these papers by the sheet - and I've already gotten some orders. :)

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Well, my stomach is now growling so I'm off to scrounge for some dinner. Don't have much time to fool with food prep tonight so thank goodness for left-overs!
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Yum Yum in your Tum Tum

Asparagus Quiche

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After creating my March St. Patrick's Day Tablescape, Roger and I have found ourselves left with an overabundance of fresh green veggies. We also had a carton of eggs approaching it's due date. So, we made Asparagus Quiche for dinner last night. Now I'm not a huge fan-o-eggs (about the only kind I can stomach are hard boiled) so I wasn't exactly looking forward to this meal. But, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved it and can't wait for left-overs tonight. I think the large amount of cream used in this recipe helped this quiche taste not quite so egg-y. The recipe calls for Nutmeg which we weren't able to use as our jar is MIA. We used it on our crepes last week so I know we have a jar, but I couldn't locate it in our spices. So, I must have searched every single kitchen cabinet for 20 minutes last night and no luck. Don't you hate it when you know that you have something, but it turns up missing? It's like the jar grew legs and walked off itself. Arrgggh. Anyhoo - just a little rant. I believe the below recipe would have been even more tasty with the added bit of Nutmeg.

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Asparagus Quiche
Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com

Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Ready In: 1 Hour
Servings: 12

"Quiche with fresh asparagus, bacon and Swiss cheese."

Ingredients:
1 pound fresh asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
10 slices bacon
2 (8 inch) unbaked pie shells
1 egg white, lightly beaten
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place asparagus in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Cook until tender but still firm, about 2 to 6 minutes. Drain and cool.
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
3. Brush pie shells with beaten egg white. Sprinkle crumbled bacon and chopped asparagus into pie shells.
4. In a bowl, beat together eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Sprinkle Swiss cheese over bacon and asparagus. Pour egg mixture on top of cheese.
5. Bake uncovered in preheated oven until firm, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before serving.

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Now we only have Brussel sprouts and artichokes to devour in the next day or two. Anyone have any great recipes utilizing either? I must admit I have no idea how to even start preparing a fresh artichoke - I'm so used to buying them in a can or a jar. :-)

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

Okay, so you don't have to kiss me, but I am Irish. ;-) In honor of the upcoming March holiday, I've created and posted a St. Pattie's Day themed tablescape at my site. Feel free to peek your head into my shop for more photos and explanations on how to achieve this St. Patrick's Day centerpiece look yourself. Or, for a full slide show, without my annoying comments, click here.
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As always you can always visit all of my past tablescapes either here at my blog or here at my shop.
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Enjoy! It's not too long until Corned Beef and Cabbage time. Yum.

Creations in Bloom

Last weekend, a client of mine asked if I was able to make larger pinwheels. I had never attempted larger ones as I thought they would have difficulty spinning. I decided to give the larger pinwheels a try - this time on 12" handles instead of 8". It turns out I had been wrong all along - the pinwheels above actually spin easier than the pinwheels on 8" handles. Who knew? And, I'm still not sure why. I was so giddy with delight. (Just ask Roger I get so excited about all things pinwheels. Yep, I'm weird.) So, in addition to the custom order that I prepared for the client I also made a few more sets for my website. They measure around 15" tall and I now heart them more than any of my other sizes!

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My other big project ...

I've just completed my spring line of pinwheel papers! So pretty. I'm so happy to be working with pastel colors again. Yippee. There are over 35 paper designs available here. Haven't had time to create pinwheels using these papers YET but I hope to do so soon. Who knows - I may also create another spring tablescape utilizing them.

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Speaking of tablescapes. I plan on putting together a March themed table this weekend. Anyone have a guess on the theme?

February Centerpiece Party

With the most Romantical Day of the year soon approaching I thought I'd get into the holiday spirit by participating in Cindy's February Centerpiece Party. She's kind of a big deal in blog land, but for those of you who haven't heard of or visited her blog in the past, please be sure to stop by her blog, My Romantic Home, for lots of other great centerpiece ideas. I'm sure you'll also become hooked on her blog and visit/stalk it on an almost daily basis - just as I do. :)

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Our Valentine's Day table is all set for the most romantic day of the year. To view pictures of our 2009 Valentine's Day Table and Centerpiece, click here. For those who missed out on our 2008 heart themed table and centerpiece, click here.

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Enjoy!

I can't wait to browse all of the other lovely centerpieces.

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Pinwheels Featured

My, it's been some time since I've posted. The Snow Day got me started on a business project that has left me swamped since. (Give me a 'day off' and I'll be sure to give myself some additional work. I think I'm a workaholic - or as Roger says, I just don't like to sit still.) I guess I also forgot to post that the wind dance did not work so I was back to my real job bright and early on Thursday morning - boo! Good news: We got all the way up to 43 degrees yesterday which means the mounds of snow are about half their original height. Bad news: We are supposed to get more snow tomorrow. Only an inch, but still. I'm so ready for April. :)

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Anyhoo, after days of work, I've finally added a "Do It Yourself" portion to my website - perfect for those do it yourselfers who want to know hot to make pinwheels. As well as having a Pinwheel Instruction Guide, I'm also selling all of the products do it yourselfers will need to assemble pinwheels. These products are the exact products I use to assemble my pinwheels, so I personally know they work - which is a biggie. (When I first attempted to make pinwheels, so many sites provided pinwheel instructions that either didn't work or were too complicated. ) In addition to selling pre-drilled handles, I'm also selling the glue, pins, and beads that I've found work best in the assembly process. Decorative scissors, hand punches, craft knives, and the perfect sized hammer are also available. Now anyone with the time and patience can assemble their perfect party pinwheels themselves.

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Over the weekend, I also learned that my Valentine's Day Pinwheels are also featured in two online publications - just in time for Valentine's Day. Excitement!

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Our Valentine's Day Pinwhirls are featured on the Thoughtfully Simple site. The feature highlights creative Valentine's Day table top decor. To check out the feature, plus search for more thoughtful yet simple ideas for your everyday, click here.

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Our Valentine's Day Pinwhirls were featured in v4 issue 26: Hearts Galore (February 1, 2009) issue of Tot Trends Weekly Magazine. To browse this issue click here. Or check out the blog issue as well here.

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Great Finds

Last week, Tori, the hostess from Thoughtfully Simple contacted me about one of my 2008 Valentine's Day tablescape. Not only was I giddy because of this contact (as she simply has great taste) but I was also delighted, because through her site I ran across all sorts of other very cool entertaining related web stores and blogs.
The little window shoppe was the first I visited. Such cute stuff. Emily's blog also features daily finds. She also has a sweet shoppes area where shop owners can feature their own little shops - either for free, if you link back to her site, or for a $10 fee, if you prefer not to link. I jumped right on the $10 deal and am currently featured in the parties and events area of her sweet shoppes. So excited.

Then I ran across the polka dot market and more cutesy items. This site really makes me wish that I had kids to buy all of these way too fun dotted items for. Sally even has a Polka Dot Birthday blog which features, you guessed it, polka dotted birthday items. All are way too darling.

Through the sweet shoppes at little window shoppe, I ran across the above site , pinkfrosting. Wow! They are an Australian based event planning site which features pages and pages and pages of great party and event planning ideas - for all of life's celebrations, as they put it. Picture the event planning portions of marthastewart.com on fun and playful - yet harmless - steroids. I've only had time to briefly browse this site and blog but I so immediately marked it as one of my favorites.
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For those out there who have a birthday party or event in the near future, after visiting the above sites you'll be sure to find a handful - or two - or three - of great ideas!
Enjoy!

Romantical Holiday Table

Our Valentine's Day table is all set for the most romantical day of the year. To view pictures of our 2009 Valentine's Day Tablescape, click here. For those who missed out on our 2008 heart themed tablescapes, click here. Similar pinwheels are available for purchase at our pinwhirls site. We've even launched some festively fabulous Valentine's Day themed papers and are able to totally customize pinwheels for your upcoming Valentine's Day parties.

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Speaking of Valentine's get-togethers, we are procrastinating on our plans this year. It's not a very good year to be procrastinating since the big holiday falls on a Saturday night. Not sure I'm up for going to an overcrowded restaurant. The church is once again having a Spaghetti dinner for couples on Vtines day. We went last year - with my older sister and her hubby - (in addition to White Castles and the Opera) and I must tell you, I was pleasantly surprised, but being in a gym is not very romantic - even with candles. I've been thinking that maybe we should just fondue it at home. And maybe invite the same sister and her hubby over as well and have a couple's fondue night. We shall see.

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Anyone else have any big plans or ideas for Vtines Day?