There are just a few days left until Valentine's Day, and you want to do something special for your family? Well, there is plenty of time to whip up this table runner for that special day. This one is reversible so you can use it any time of year!
There is something so romantic and beautiful about toile fabric. The pastoral scenes depicted on the fabric conjure up sweet stories in the imagination. Toile fabric originated in Ireland in the mid-18th century and quickly became popular in Britain and France. France adopted the fabric as its own and that is where the word "toile" comes from. The fabric has gone in and out of popularity since that time with the most recent surge in use in the year 2000. I have loved toile for a long time. That is why when I saw this fabric in the Walmart fabric department, a Waverly fabric, I knew I could use it for the table runner I was wanting to make.
I decided to make it reversible, so this is the fabric I found to back it with.
They go well together!
For my table, I purchased 1 and 1/2 yards of each fabric. You should measure your own table to figure out how much you need. I knew that I wanted to add a pointed drop on each end. Because the fabric is 45" wide, this much fabric will actually make 2 runners, and even some napkins if you would like. That means, you could make one as a gift for someone else!
I started by simply deciding how wide I wanted my runner to be and cut out the entire length that wide. I actually just divided the fabric into thirds and cut it into strips. One of the extra strips was used to make the pointed drop.
Toile has a one-way print, so when you attach the pointed ends, make sure that you match the way the print goes. Be careful when you cut them that you cut one from each end so that you will have a match for each end!
I already had the tablecloth that I used underneath the runner. Here is a similar one that comes in many colors for a good price. I like the layered look, or you can just use it on your table by itself.
Now comes the fun, as I play with the dishes and platters I will use to set a Valentine table. Here are some of the things I will be using!
Mugs from Pioneer Woman! Love! These will be perfect for our Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Hot Cocoa Bombs.
Dishes and a candle holder from Dollar Tree were what I used to make this tiered platter.
I think I found the red pedestal plate in the Target 1 Spot. I knew it would be great to showcase the Hot Coco Bombs!
These are the bare bones of our Valentine's table, next week I will show you how it all turned out and what we ate! Don't be afraid to try the table runner! It is super easy and adds a nice punch to a table setting any time of year.
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What is Your Favorite Hot Cocoa Bomb Flavor? If you have been following us for very long, you know that the product that we came up with, the Hot Cocoa Bomb, is what motivated us to start this blog. We have some new developments happening with Hot Cocoa Bombs coming next week! We are so excited! So in order to kick off this exciting stuff, I decided that this weeks question for Friday Faves should be about our beloved Bombs themselves. We have come up with a lot of flavor variations for the Bombs and we even made Sugar Free Bombs this year! Everyone has their favorites. Madalynn was the first to answer me when I asked the question because she wanted to make sure no one else took her favorite. It is Salted Caramel. She loves the caramel flavor in many things and that holds true for her Hot Cocoa Bomb. Salted Caramel has really been a trend the last couple of years, so we came up with a Hot Cocoa Bomb version in 2015. It was a big hit. Alicia answered next. I guessed her choice because she came up with the idea to create this flavor, Cinnamon Hot Cocoa Bombs. At first I thought they would be too close to Pumpkin Pie Spice, but they really are different and delicious! And, I loved the way we decorated them for Christmas. Speaking of Pumpkin Pie Spice, you can all guess whose favorite flavor those are! That's right, Lindsey! She says that she loves them made with dark chocolate and that the pumpkin pie spices always make her feel like fall and comforting pumpkin pie. There is nothing more satisfying when you are cold. (Except for the chili and corn bread that she mentioned two weeks ago, Ha Ha!). I love all of the flavors of our Bombs, but I do remember the first time I tasted a cherry cordial how amazed I was at how well it came out and tasted like an actual chocolate covered cherry candy. So, I am picking Cherry Cordial, one of our most popular flavors. This week we have a special guest sharing her favorite flavor of the Cocoa Bomb. It is Anita of the great Facebook Page, Craftastico! She is the wonderful hostess of the Ugly Sweater Express that we take part in each year. She is my DIL's mom and a very talented lady. You should check out her page, she has so many great ideas on there, I am always amazed. Anita's favorite flavor of Hot Cocoa Bomb is Peppermint. It is one of our original flavors, a traditional idea for hot chocolate, and extremely delicious! Anita adds that it is a perfect flavor for Christmas and also is good for clearing your head when you have a cold! Ha Ha! Some people just love the plain, original chocolate while others really enjoy the peanut butter that we added this year. Remember that we have a tutorial for making Hot Cocoa Bombs here. You can order the mold here. There is even a holiday version here. If you go to our Etsy shop, you can download and print our Hot Cocoa Bomb Idea Book that will help you be successful making Bombs and it gives you lots of ideas for flavors and decorating. Come back and see the exciting things going on around here with our Bombs, and try making them for yourselves! If you have already tried them, tell us your favorite flavors!
Madalynn and I came up with an idea to use colored marshmallows and Funfetti Candy Melts for our Hot Cocoa Bombs to make them more festive for New Year's Eve. Click on the pictures for more info.
Then, I added sprinkles, but I wanted something with a little more pizzazz! So, Alicia and I decided to try some sugar decorations. We had never made them before and they didn't turn out quite the way we imagined, but they do give the Cocoa Bombs an artsy look, which seems appropriate for New Year's Eve. This is what we did:
We just stuck the designs on while the Candy Melts were still soft. (Work quickly!)
When you put the Bombs into your hot milk, the sugar design just melts! Then, you get the nice fruity flavor of the marshmallows combined with the chocolate and it is a fun, new way to enjoy your Hot Cocoa Bombs!
If you have any good tips on working with the sugar, let us know! It was hard to peel of the waxed paper without breaking it. I was out of parchment paper. Also, you have to be very careful with the melted sugar because it is super hot (I got the tip of one finger). It was fun working with Alicia while she is in town for the holidays!
So, go on, check out the full Cocoa Bomb tutorial here and give it a try! I would have blogged sooner, but I was having technical difficulties! It is a wonder what restarting your computer can do! Well, because my husband and I are getting very close to being empty nesters and our children are mostly all adults. We are in a transition period when it comes to the holidays. This Christmas, there was only one tiny child with us, Baby Adrian. He was a joy! Our other grandchildren are still in Kansas with their parents and they enjoyed a cold Christmas in Topeka! We missed them and our traditions were very different than the ones we have honored over the past 35 years. But we still had a wonderful time. Here is a picture story about our holiday fun. (At least the parts we remembered to photograph!) Our tree. I always love the glow. Not as many little kids here, not as many gifts under it, but still beautiful. Every Christmas Eve, we all gather around it and sing carols. We call it "singing to the tree" because our oldest coined that phrase when he was very young. I think we are starting to sound pretty good! Because there was no one to wake us up before the crack of dawn, we slept in until 7:00. As everyone made their way to our house from theirs, my husband said he was hungry, so we ate breakfast before opening gifts! Wow! That has never happened before! (Well, maybe once) It was really nice though. (I can't believe I posted a picture of myself in my Santa PJs on here!) We all had fun together and look at Little Adrian, he is so adorable. You don't think his grandpa likes him at all, do you? Jessica on the couch is expecting grandchild #7! Lindsey and Austin demonstrate that stockings are still a big part of our traditions around here. You will notice everyone sitting on the floor because we are remodeling and got rid of our living room furniture. Everyone came in with their hot orange punch or hot apple cider. Believe it or not, it was actually a bit chilly in Phoenix this Christmas! Look at that face! He loves his Daniel Tiger! The Sunday after Christmas we gathered with Glen's siblings to continue the celebration. It was fun to see my great-nephew playing with my grandson. And look at my beautiful great-niece! We shared Cocoa Bombs with everyone of course! The following photos will show my children doing their Cocoa Bomb commercials! (They are a little bit crazy, but I love them.) You will probably be thrilled to know that we forgot to take pictures of my anniversary, my son's birthday and of New Years Eve and New Years Day. I guess you can probably see that we didn't get much rest during the Holiday Break from school. I did remember to make sure that pictures were taken of my girls, son-in-law and grandson before they left. I hated to see them go. Here they are: Well, mostly of Little Adrian. He is such a doll baby.
We are so blessed. My New Year Resolution is to be thankful everyday for these blessings in my life. I will try my hardest to complain a little less and to love a little more. I will give thanks to my Heavenly Father unceasingly because I know that it is from Him that my blessings come. Love is the best gift of all. Happy New Year everyone! |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
May 2024
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