My own kimono card creations.....

After my last post, I had to follow up with my own kimono cards that I made this weekend. I am loving the way these are turning out!!

I went to Michael's and found some great Amy Butler paper to use. I wanted something floral, to mimic a kimono and a Japanese theme. It is from her "Lucky Flowers" collection. Gorgeous colors and patterns.....


I ended making some larger ones and then some smaller ones with the leftover paper. The larger ones are about 4.5" by 5.5" and are perfect for thank you notes, party invitations or for just sending a quick note to a friend. The smaller ones are about 3" by 4" and are just darling. I figure they will make the cutest gift tags.

Here are how mine turned out:




Each card is composed of three separate pieces. The outer shell of the kimono, the ribbon tied around the waist and a tabbed insert that serves as the writing area for the card. You can either slide the paper insert out of the top to read it, or actually take the ribbon off to open up the kimono.



Did I mention how much I am loving these cards?

Favorite Things: Kimono Cards

On my recent trip to Portland, OR, we visited the Portland Japanese Garden. It was a beautiful garden with lush foliage and great Japanese landscapes.




On the way out, we visited the gift shop and I found the cutest cards.....Kimono Cards!! They were made with gorgeous origami paper and folded to look like little kimonos. I instantly fell in love and had to buy one of my own.

I went searching today online and found some great ideas for kimono cards.....these are beautiful!






I also found this great tutorial on a blog about how to make them. She even embellished some with heads and slippers!

Kimono Card Tutorial

I love origami paper and how beautiful the patterns can be. I can't wait to try out making some of my own!!

Strawberry-Spinach Salad: YUM!

Today's post is about my favorite salad recipe in the summertime. Okay, it is actually my favorite salad recipe anytime, but when strawberries are in season, it is just divine. (I have a little variation that makes this a year-round salad, we'll get to that later!)

I know most everyone has probably either made or at least tried a spinach-strawberry salad at some point, but this is the recipe my family loves and raves about!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

1 tablespoon of poppy seeds

1/2 cup of white sugar

1/2 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup of white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon of paprika

1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of minced onion or shallot

10 ounces fresh spinach

1 quart of strawberries

1/4 cup of almonds, blanched and slivered

First, you need to make the dressing:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, soy sauce and onion. Cover and chill for at least one hour.

Second, prepare the strawberries:

Wash the strawberries and then slice or cut into pieces.

Third, prepare the spinach:

Wash the spinach and prepare to combine with other ingredients. This is up to your preference, you can leave the spinach leaves whole, or tear them into bite-size pieces. I prefer to have the spinach leaves whole.

Fourth, combine all ingredients:

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad and toss. Refrigerate 10 -15 minutes before serving.

Fifth, ENJOY!!!!!

When strawberries aren't in season, we usually substitute dried cranberries or Craisins in the salad. It makes for a great Thanksgiving side dish!

What is your favorite salad to make in the summertime?

Playing with Colors

First off, thanks again to Stephanie of somewhat simple for featuring me last week!

I am expecting twins at the end of the year and have been trying to figure out what to do about a nursery. We just found out for sure that we are having twin boys, so with that little mystery out of the way, we can finally nail down a nursery theme.

We have settled on a few colors, rather than just picking a specific theme. One thing I love to do when looking for new color combinations is one of two things.

1. Google Image Search-I swear this is the easiest life-saver on the Internet. I simply click to make sure it is searching for images, type in whatever colors I want and VOILA! I am shown an array of pictures that include those colors and can serve for some major inspiration.

In my case, I was looking for orange and blue, so this is what I came up with......

Or the for the more ambitious color-chasers.....

2. Flickr Mutlicolr Search Lab-Someone posted about this fun little gadget a while back and I have since fallen in love. You can choose up to 10 colors to mix and match. It will automatically search through pictures from Flickr that match your color profile. What I love about this tool is that if you are a shade or two off, you can just get rid of the wrong color and then select the right ones with a couple of clicks.

I again chose blue and orange, but was able to more clearly define the shades I wanted to see. In this case, we are looking for more of a faded orange and a dark blue-gray.


Both of these are so fun to search on and play around with. They have been very helpful with helping us define what we want our nursery to look like.

What about you?? What color combinations do you adore? What helps inspire you when searching for colors?