Balcony Brunch for the Fairies

Hello, Viewers!

It was supposed to have been an early September Backyard Brunch for eight Fairies – but in the end only four Chosen Ones were able to attend, so We, the Fairy Queen, made an executive decision to move the party to the balcony of my Fairy Palace instead. So rather than packing up all my stuff and taking the show on the road over to the Fairy with the Backyard, I was able to focus all my powers on transforming my own environment.

The first order of the day is curtains. (I am reminded of Moominmamma, who is so eager to nest and decorate her new house-to-be, that as soon as the weight-bearing beams are in place and the cement has barely dried, she hastens to hang up some pretty curtains. Walls – who needs them?)

These pretty, rosy (shower) curtains from Europe are my go-to staple in all cases of exterior decorating. This time they were enhanced by some hot pink sheers that often come in handy. 

As usual, I am suspending it all on the Sukkah frame that sits up all year round. The "sun roof" is a marquee canvas that IKEA sold a season ago, and which fits the frame almost to perfection. 

In an effort to camouflage the pug-ugly dog fence a previous tenant installed on the balcony, I draped it with a length of lace, held in place with tiny binder clips. The silk flower bouquets in their buckets are prevented from falling over by S-hooks, attaching the bucket handles to loops in the fence. 

Two gold-framed mirrors (hung with S-hooks) added some magic of their own – don’t underestimate the decorative usefulness of mirrors outdoors as well! Mirrors always open up a space, and if they reflect something beautiful, so much the better. A cliché, I know - but so true!

 The table was covered with a pink-on-white tablecloth, and the wicker chairs with quilts and over-sized, squishy pillows - all in various floral patterns.

 The small, round table that usually sits on the balcony was used as a sideboard.

Then to the flowers: beyond the three bouquets in buckets, and the peony plant on the sideboard, there had to be hanging decorations as well. (The "crossbeam" over the table would support lanterns at an evening party, but in the daytime I hang flowers.)

This hanging planter (Skurar from IKEA), really calls for a trailing plant - which I didn't have. So I plonked in a rose nosegay that I did have, and the "trailers" had to consist of curling ribbons in pastel colors. The rose pompoms added more festivity.

The green pompom was a present from one of the fairies - who had no idea how the party was going to be decorated. What an inspired gift! 

The table setting was fairly unpretentious, but pretty nonetheless. Disposable plates with a rosy rim (bought in Jerusalem) set the tone, and some roses and mini fairy wands in a vase made a simple centerpiece. Individual fruit salads (apple, kiwi, mango, pineapple) are in place, and the champagne glasses, each with a strawberry, are awaiting the Mimosas, without which any brunch would be a sad travesty. (50% champagne + 50% orange juice = Mimosa!)

Salad in a hat box is a very good thing!

The hat box is "lined" with a disposable plastic bowl - the bowl on its own would have been just too tedious. (And one of the fairies got to take the box home with her - also a good thing.)

The salad itself?

Arugula

Red bell pepper

Mango

Red onion

Feta cheese

Roasted, salted hazelnuts

Olive oil

               - voilà!

Wholewheat mini baguettes, and omelets - one with onions & lox; one with asparagus and kani (fake, kosher crab sticks) - were also on the menu. The dessert was a Butter Loaf with strawberries. Loads of coffee, of course, and loads of Mimosas - some fairies got quite loaded!

We sat at the table for almost four hours - the sun was shining and the breeze was breezing, and nobody had the heart to tear themselves away. It was truly an enchanted event!

Regards from Rosebud!

Midsummer Flower Fairies

Hello, Viewers!

The Fairy Guild has had an unexpected development recently. Due to Life, Circumstances, Marriage, etc., we recently found ourselves in the position that we needed to recruit a few more fairies for our charmed circle. Two were proposed, sponsored, and duly elected, one from the younger generation, and one from the even younger. Now, if everything continues to go according to plan, our group consists of eight Fairies, four from each generation.

Even though we had a Spring Convocation quite recently, the urgency of initiating the new Fairies necessitated a Summer Convocation as well. Normally, due to an electric insufficiency in my Fairy Palace, with ensuing lack of proper air conditioning, I don't do any entertaining at all during the summer months, but this particular week my downstairs neighbor had gone off to the country, graciously granting me the use of her - superbly air-conditioned! - living room in her absence. That is the reason for the frighteningly white walls and generally unfamiliar background in the ensuing photos.

Being that we had scheduled our Convocation only a few days after the summer solstice, I allowed myself to be cautiously inspired by the Midsummer traditions of my native country - particularly the foods, as we shall see below.

First, though, the aesthetics:

I started by covering the table with a couple of lime green curtains from one of the local discount stores. On top of them a sheer overlay - another curtain - with embroidered flowers in pale pink and gold. 

The base for the centerpiece was a pink bowl (Skurar from IKEA), filled with silk flowers in basically three colors: pink, green and lilac. In the center of the bowl I placed an old favorite - a large crystal votive holder that I topped with a rose pompom, to which I had added a lilac Flower Fairy (attached with the help of a bamboo skewer).

Two antique vases, one blue and one pink, elongated the arrangement, and then I filled in any available space with more silk flowers, bird and flower porcelain figurines, and pink candles... 

The pink candle and accoutrements are from IKEA; the little china rose is a salt shaker, that I placed on a small leaf plate - both from different museum gift shops, which can be excellent (if usually somewhat pricey) sources of cute and unusual stuff.

Above the centerpiece floated a floral wreath, embellished with tulle streamers and crystal prisms, that I suspended from the chandelier to further establish the floral Midsummer motif.

I made the wreath with the help of a hoop from a mosquito net (yes, I have many strange things in my basement), around which I tied a few silk rose garlands.

(I realize now that I should have photographed the wreath before hanging it, to give you a clearer view. Sorry!)

After much deliberation, initially also considering gold charger plates to pick up on the gold tones of the embroidered overlay, I finally selected these lacy metal trays (candle trays from IKEA) as a base for the place settings. All in all, I felt that they better accentuated the summery romance of my theme.

I rolled up the napkins with romantic paper butterfly napkin rings, made by my favorite jewelry designer Michal Negrin. (Unfortunately the website does not do justice at all to the wonderful, really unique items you can find in her stores.)

Before the guests arrived, I lit up the crystal lantern with my trusty old pink LED lights, and below you can see the table ready for the Faeries...

So - what did we eat? 

After a herring-based appetizer (that I had been a bit nervous about, since I didn't know if it would appeal to American palates - but it did!), we enjoyed this White Wine-Poached Salmon:

Ensure that your salmon fillet is free of bones, and remove the skin - or have it done for you!

Place in a lightly oiled oven-proof dish

Peel and slice an onion and a carrot rather thinly - heave into a saucepan and sautée in a little oil, until softened

Add salt & pepper, and herbs to your liking - I used tarragon, which is wonderful with fish

Pour in quite a lot of dry white wine - the better the wine, the better the finished result, obviously!

Let simmer for a couple of minutes, then pour the contents of the saucepan over the fish

Cover with foil; bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes; baste once, half-way through the baking

Let cool; leave fish in the liquid until serving

Scrape off the onion and carrot slices; transfer fish to platter and decorate with lemon and cucumber slices; serve cold or at room temperature 

Salsa Verde would be the perfect accompaniment!

The dessert was a sponge cake/meringue layered Midsummer Torte, with fresh whipped cream and berries. Scrumptious!

Our project was a kind of "back to basics" in that we made Fairy Wands - just like the first time we met. But one wand had been broken in two; one ruined in a move; and then there were our two wand-less novices - it was a necessary labor of love. As usual, I had made preparations, and everyone was presented with a star-topped silver wand to embellish.

The exciting thing was to see how much we had all "grown" and increased in creativity since the beginning - these wands were true works of art, and the jubilant screeches of encouragement and praise that tore through the neighbor's apartment were a testament to the Faerie Flower Power!

The meeting of the Wands! 

That's all from this meeting of the Faeries...

Regards from Rosebud!

The Fourth Dimension

Hello, Viewers!

Once again it is my pleasure to report, for your edification, the proceedings of my latest Fairy Party - "(Re-) Dedicating Ourselves to the Fourth Dimension". Please don't ask what that means because I have no clue - it just sounded good, all right? And as I was casting about in my mind for an inspiring theme for my décor, the words "Iridescent Evanescence" suddenly surfaced, as it were, out of nowhere, so that (as we party planners like to say) was that!

In my quest for the iridescent and the fourth-dimensional I happened to come up with a few little items:

The tablecloth is a whole chapter in itself! The fabric is a shiny, slinky fashion material that I sewed into a floor-length-plus tablecloth. If you want to know the trick, it is as follows: Measure the length of the table, adding the distance from the floor up to the tabletop and then down again. Double the figure and buy some fun, gorgeous fabric. (My total floor-to-floor length, rounded upwards to allow for hemming and a tiny risk margin, was 4 yards - meaning that I bought 8 yards of fabric.)

Cut the fabric across in half - resulting (in my case) in two 4-yard-long pieces - and here comes the crucial point: DO NOT just sew these pieces together lengthwise, because you will end up with an ugly seam right down the middle of your table. Instead, take one of the pieces and cut it in half LENGTHWISE, ending up with two very narrow 4-yard-long pieces, which you then sew together with the wider piece, one along each side. That way the seams end up on the sides of the table, as seen here. The seams are not invisible, but they don't interfere with the table setting - and once the guests sit down the seams disappear out of view.



And so on to the center piece: The low, wide glass bowl from IKEA you have seen before - here it was filled to capacity with pink and clear acrylic "table diamonds", with a big iridescent glass bubble (courtesy of amazon.com) in the middle. Later, when everything was in place, I filled it with water.

The next step was to flank the "pool" with these crystal candle holders (which you have also seen before; and draping stuff from the chandelier, such as mirror balls and crystal ropes. It was all about creating iridescence and evanescence!
























Each candle holder has been improved with three dangling prisms, like so:

The curled hook lets you attach the prism almost anywhere. Needless to say, I am very pleased with it!


A sparkly garland around the pool, and a mix of pink and aqua submersible LED lights completed the picture. 

Let us now look at the place settings:

This very adorable plate has occurred previously in an all-white version, but this time I found it in clear plastic, with the lacy rim in silver. Needless to say, again, I enhanced it with an iridescent jewel!

With this lacy silver doily as a charger/place mat, the over-all impression was one of delicate silver filigree. To this I added the customary silver disposable cutlery, a silver-banded champagne glass (improved with pink diamonds), and a delicate wine glass with an etched flower detail. Totally enchanting.

The napkin treatment consisted of a pink paper napkin, swathed in a kind of shimmery, transparent doily, the purpose of which is exactly to dress up your napkins (paper or fabric), held together with my current favorite diamond napkin ring.

These doilies are sold as a more or less disposable item, since they are not washable (the silver edge is made of some paper-type material), but they can certainly be reused many times, if you just make sure to snatch them away from your guests the moment they have unfolded their napkins. This version is white with silver trim, but they also come in ivory with gold trim. Gorgeous!

A helpful tip when it comes to napkin folding - one which I usually forget to adhere to myself - is to do all the folding and fiddling before you set out the plates and glasses, etc., while you still have a clear surface to work on!

An overview of the table; I added small square mirrors as coasters, and mercury glass votive holders - all for the shimmeriness! At the last moment, I also decided that the crystal LED holders looked too empty, but - voilà - a pink (silk) rose will solve almost any problem.

A mirror garland has been added to the hanging decorations, and all is ready for the guests to arrive...

Next time I hope to show you some of the food, and other arrangements.

Regards from Rosebud!

The Great Outdoors: The Pictures!

OK, I'm back and the pictures are in - here we go! Join me on my balcony for a little summer atmosphere...

This is how I enjoyed the Inauguration of the Outdoor Season: rosy curtains (shower curtains, actually, bought in Europe) are in place, more or less, to provide ambiance and coziness; the tea tray is in place, as are pillows and fluff. 

The pouf adds comfort - a nice place to put my feet.

The tray comes from IKEA, and the various pieces of rosy china is part of my ever-growing collection of both new and vintage pieces - anything that catches my eye...

The table is covered with an old floral remnant that has followed me through decades. It is topped by a vintage hand-crocheted tablecloth.

To me, this is a slice of happiness - wonderful, everyday luxury!

Now, I have an idea for a different type of arrangement, with a more oriental flair - hopefully I will be able to implement it later in the season, so stay tuned, and join me on my balcony soon again!

Regards from Rosebud!

The Great Outdoors

Hello, Viewers!

It is finally here – the much-awaited, all-too-short, glorious, wondrous sliver of time of the year when it is neither too cold, nor – just as important! – too hot, to take one’s meals out of doors.

Coming from a country where summers are brief and often wet and chilly, I grew up among people who would venture out on picnics as soon as the actual frost was off the ground; and a drizzle was considered a mere inconvenience. The need to sit outdoors and absorb the sunlight was so pressing after all those months of overcast darkness that we would obsessively insist on having our coffee on the porch at the slightest provocation, even if it meant shivering with cold. “Isn’t this lovely!” we would exclaim to each other, teeth chattering so badly we could barely make ourselves understood.

Here in America I have become spoiled and now insist that the temperature must officially reach 65° before al fresco meals can take place. In this country the humid summer heat is the problem – it is easy enough to arrange yourself with blankets and mittens and hot drinks in thermoses, but what do you do in a sweltering 98°, with 90% humidity (or is that unladylike sweat?) in rivulets down your face? Sadly, you stay indoors, on a stool in front of the air conditioner.

But yesterday was my Official Inauguration of the Season and I was in heaven, spending hours and hours with tea, champagne and ice cream on my little lopsided balcony.

Part of the view from my balcony

Because of it being the Sabbath day I was not able to take any photographs, so even though today’s weather is a sad travesty of yesterday’s, I will recreate the look here for the benefit of my readership...

Well, that is to say, I meant to do so, but the wind is so ludicrously strong that it is impossible to create anything except havoc. However, I shall not be vanquished – I shall return. Don’t go away!

In the meantime, let me just whet your appetite with a couple of pictures that are actually wind-proof:

This is the basis for many of my outdoor arrangements: the metal structure of my Sukkah (will explain more about that when the fall comes, but it is used yearly for the celebration of the Feast of Booths), which I leave up/out year round. It is about 7 feet tall, and as you can see, I have attached a number of S-hooks, on which I hang curtains, lanterns, and anything else that catches my fancy. Very useful!

I love my outdoor rug! I found it last year on amazon.com for a pretty reasonable price, and it improved my quality of life with many instant degrees! It is also reversible, so you can have pink curlicues against an off-white background, if you want. (Here you can also see the bottom of the Sukkah structure, about 6 x 9.5 feet.)

Finally, another view of what can be seen in front of my house (no, the one you glimpse here belongs to a neighbor.)

See you again, as soon as the weather permits!

Regards from Rosebud!