Napkin tutorial

Our women's craft group had a luncheon tea today as many snowbirds begin planning their journeys home from Arizona for the season. Other groups in our park are having banquets, potlucks, and parties.

The luncheon table was so beautifully set for us.  At each place was the prettiest cloth napkin with a small paper box (also homemade)  filled with M&Ms and peanuts. It was so cleverly done and I'm going to attempt to describe how to make the napkins.

Start with two 14x14 pieces of cotton fabric in contrasting patterns and stitch them together. In this example, red gingham contrasted a teapot design.

Fold each corner into the middle, as illustrated.




Then gently flip it over so the folded corners are on the underside and you're looking at the smooth side.

Then repeat the process of folding toward the center as you did before. You'll now have a smaller piece.

Reach under and pull up one corner at a time to form a "petal." Pull each corner up only partway.

In this illustration, three petals have been pulled up
from underneath and one is still flat.

And then...VOILE!

You now have a fancy napkin that you can place on each plate,
or in our case, at each place.

Ours had a homemade little box in the middle filled with candy. You could use any kind of decoration, a fancy piece of chocolate, or even a teacup in the middle.  I bet you could imagine many different things to decorate the middle.

We were each given our napkin and candy box to keep as a gift.

I thought these napkins would be nice for a bridal or baby shower, or any kind of luncheon. There are so many bright and beautiful ginghams and cotton fabrics available, it would be fun to match them to the occasion.    ~~~ 

Honorary Red Hat

My  neighbor, Thelma, is one of those wonderful people you love to know.

She is one of those rare women who doesn't let one single moment of life pass her by. As I get to know her better here in Mesa, our winter home, she becomes more dear to me.

She is involved in anything and everything fun. From the park's Kitchen Band, to morning exercises in the pool, to card games, to participating in melodramas, to going to McDonald's in a clown costume after riding her golf cart in the Mardi Gras parade....  If there is fun involved, Thelma is in the middle of it.

Watching her makes me smile.  She balances out the introverted, reflective side of me. I always take life a bit too seriously for my own good.

Yesterday, I was her guest for lunch at a Red Hat Ladies' get-together.  She invited me a week ago as she thought it would be nice for me to get to know other women in our park. 

And so, for a day, I was an honorary member of the local Red Hats!

A global society, Red Hats International was founded in 1998 and is open to women who are age 50 and beyond. Its mission is to support and encourage women in their pursuit of fun, friendship, freedom, fulfillment, and fitness. It strives to reshape the way women are viewed in today's culture.

Well, if there is fun involved, I can see why Thelma is part of this group.

A nicer group of women you would never meet. Warm and welcoming, it was an honor to be in their company. All wore stylish outfits of purple and elegant red hats.  While at lunch, a waiter came to our table and asked "Why are you all wearing red hats?"

Thelma replied, "Because we can do anything we want!"  He said, simply, "Oh."  But we could tell he didn't get it. He walked away looking rather perplexed. 

Too bad he wasn't the one to take our order. In true Red Hat style, one woman ordered breakfast of eggs and pancakes, and a glass of Chardonnay. Half of the group ordered wine, because a real Red Hatter pays no attention to the time of day for drinking wine.

The group bases its philosophy on Jenny Joseph's wonderful poem, Warning. The opening lines of the poem read:

“ When I am an old woman I shall wear purple,

With a red hat that doesn't go and doesn't suit me.”

I do believe this particular group's main purpose is just getting together once a month as friends and enjoying each other's company. Going to lunch is their main activity. They do it well, and I was proud to join them.

The leader of the Red Hat group is referred to as the Queen.  Well, in this case, guess who is the Queen? 

       ....Yes, that would be Thelma.


Thelma made sure I had a red hat.


Every woman should have a Thelma in her life. I'm sure glad I do!

Bedtime trouble

My sister, Christine, and I shared a bedroom for many years, sleeping in a double bed with a special head board, handcrafted and painted blue and white by Dad.

Perhaps he was inspired by our dining room window seats, as he fashioned "window seats" for us as our head board. Hinged covers opened to a storage area, one on each side, so we each had our own. In them, we kept books and assorted treasures. They were also a great hiding spot, though frowned upon by Mom, for candy.

On one particular occasion, we had gotten some root beer barrels (2 for a penny at Dory's), and they were safely stowed away for a bedtime treat.

We crawled into bed, turned off the lights, and had no sooner popped them into our mouths, savoring the strong flavor of root beer, when Mom came into the bedroom to check on us and say good night.

"What's that I smell?" Mom asked.

With our mouths full (root beer barrels are pretty hard to hide in your cheek), we mumbled something like, "I don't know" or "Oh, nothing."

Needless to say, our root beer barrels were confiscated, but we couldn't figure out how she knew about them in the first place.

                     ~~~~~~~     ~~~~~~

One summer evening, Mom had a ladies' gathering at our house. The coffee was percolating, the cake was cut, the glass dessert plates, the ones with the spot to hold the small cup, were set out on the flowery tablecloth in the dining room.

We were all sent off to bed as the ladies began to arrive.

After awhile, we could hear that their party was underway and assumed they were all present.

Since our bedroom faced the front of the house, Christine and I often perched on our elbows by the window, just to look out to see what was going on. In our quiet neighborhood, usually nothing.

But on this particular evening, we noticed a woman walking up the street. Unable to resist, we leaned out the window and hollered, "Hey, you, Lady!" or something to that effect.

We knew we were in for it when the woman proceeded up our front steps and we heard our doorbell ring. Sure enough, it was Mrs. Melander coming to join the ladies' gathering.

But what wasn't so amusing the following morning sure is funny to us today.

You know, I really think we'd do it all over again.