You scream, I scream, we all scream … for watermelon!

This watermelon salad has become a favorite of ours, and summer simply can not arrive without it!

Happy weekend, friends, and happy to the official start of summer! We did post this recipe a couple of years ago, and thought it was high time to share again (just in case you couldn’t remember where you found it). If you haven’t guessed yet, I am tossing it together today! Yum.

Watermelon salad with mint and lime

From Food & Wine

Ingredients
8 cups seedless watermelon chunks (1 inch), from a 6-pound melon
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup mint leaves, torn
Salt

Directions
In a large bowl, toss the watermelon with the lime juice and cayenne.
Fold in the mint leaves, season with salt and serve.

Make Ahead
The watermelon salad can be refrigerated overnight. Fold in the
torn mint leaves just before serving.

This is such a refreshing summertime salad. Yum!

Check out foodandwine.com for this, and a host of more tempting recipes.

“What is it?” Wednesday #64 – the answer

Happy Friday, friends. Woohoo to a long weekend! While you are enjoying your weekend please remember those who have given their lives serving our nation.

Although the Create & Decorate team loves all things tea-stained and grungy, we respect the American flag. The vintage flag above is perfection in our eyes.

Please enjoy a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!

And now for the “What is it?” answer:

  

We received many correct answers this week, and quite a few for a vintage wood planer, which we think is an EXCELLENT guess from the snippet of photo that we shared! (Hmm… gotta get our hands on one of those for a future puzzle!)

To read the guesses, click here and scroll down. And again, happy Friday!

“What is it?” Wednesday #64

Here we are again—right in the middle of the week and another “What is it?” puzzle.

We are hoping that this week’s puzzle will be a little kinder to you than the past two were. please leave a comment with your guess, and we will post them on Friday (to give everyone a chance to guess without seeing the answer) along with the picture of the item revealed.

Have fun guessing the identity of our vintage item!

Drum roll, please… we have a winner!

Thank you for your interest in the National Nonwovens WoolFelt giveaway. Remember to stop by the National Nonwoven’s website for product information and project ideas.

Daydream Bundle

We have randomly drawn a winner (insert drum roll):

Congratulations to Nancy Seeley! (The crowd roars)

Stay tuned for MORE fun stuff this week.

Oh, and, happy Monday!

Here comes summer!

This summer will be different

Every summer we find ourselves in the overly air-conditioned office, looking longingly out the window—Noelle dreaming of sitting in a chair on the lawn with a good book in her lap, and Beverly longing to be digging in the flower beds. We all experience summer remorse, don’t we? Truthfully, we really only need moments of summer “fixes” to get us through the work week. Well, seize the summer, friends! We are offering you a “How to Create & Decorate your summer” list to enjoy the little things in life. Find time to enjoy the little things that make you smile, evoke memories, and maybe even begin a tradition!

Your summer homework

1. Save the image (below) to your desktop to print.

2. Print the list and hang on the refrigerator as your summer reminder.

3. Seize the summer!

“What is it?” #63 – the answer

Happy Friday, and hooray for the weekend!

This was a tricky puzzle, but a couple of you did guess correctly. This item is a handle, a parcel carrier. Most boxes were wrapped in twine to keep them orderly. The wire ends of this handle hooked through the twine. The fancier department stores would print the name of their store on the handle for advertising purposes.

Thanks for playing along! To read the guesses, click here, and scroll down. Enjoy the weekend!

“What is it?” Wednesday #63

Yes, we are thankfully half-way to the weekend. This week’s vintage puzzle object may be even more difficult to guess than last week’s. Sorry!

This was a handy item to men and women alike.

You know what to do: Please leave us a comment with your guess, and stop back in on Friday to view the answer and the guesses. Have a great day!

New National Nonwovens WoolFelt Colors—and a giveaway!

First, a little history:

Based in Easthampton, Massachusetts, National Nonwovens manufactures needlepunched nonwovens. Their product is used for so many more markets than the craft market (that WE love). Originally under the name National Felt, the company produced felted wool beginning in 1905 for apparel and wartime products. Later, the company’s WoolFelt fabric was even implemented in the popular poodle skirts of the 1950′s!

Second, brand new products:

National Nonwovens has nine new felt colors making their debut at the International Spring Quilt Market this weekend (May 18-20) in Kansas City, Missouri.

The new WoolFelt Daydream Inspirations Collection—sporting fabulous color names—feature four new heathered hues (Style TOY002 – 35% wool/65% rayon) of Ruby Red Slippers, Tropical Wave, Havana Gold, Enchanted Forest, and three additional WoolFelts of (Style WCF001 – 20% wool/80% rayon) Kiss Me Darling, Fresh Linen, and Spring Tickle.

And last, but not least:

A giveaway!

National Nonwovens has generously offered us some of their new product to give away to our readers!

Please leave us a “Pick me!” comment, and what you are dreaming of using this WoolFelt for, and you could be the lucky winner of the giveaway! (We do have to individually approve your comments, so please be patient with us. We promise not to forget anyone!)

105 years of quality! For more information, visit www.woolfelt.com.

Check back in with us on Monday, May 21 to find out if you are the lucky winner!

Summer Sunflower Punchneedle

We have gardening on our minds, and thought it would be nice to share a blast from the past. We featured this project in the August 2009 issue of Create & Decorate magazine.

This sunny pattern will brighten your summer days! Finish the piece in a frame, create a plant poke, or even a basket tie-on.

Designed by Alice Okon for The DMC Corporation

Materials

• 6” – 7” diameter no-slip, locking lip embroidery hoop

• DMC Embroidery Floss in Blanc, No. 310 Black, No. 434 LT Brown, No. 742 LT Tangerine, No. 743 MD Yellow, No. 801 DK Coffee Brown, No. 826 MD Blue, No. 898 V DK Coffee Brown, No. 3345 DK Hunter Green, No. 3346 Hunter Green, No. 33347 MD Yellow Green, No. 3348 LT Yellow Green Natural-colored weaver’s cloth, a 9” square

• 3-strand punch needle

• Damp cloth towel, embroidery scissors, fine-tip marker, iron and ironing board, light box or well-lit window, liquid fuse, spray adhesive, tracing paper, transfer paper, water

Instructions

For pattern and color key, see below.

1. Pattern size is approximately 2-1/8″ x 4-3/4″. Drag or copy the pattern below to your computer desktop. We found that if you right click and print, the pattern is not true to size. Trace the punch needle pattern onto tracing paper with the fine-tip marker. To transfer the pattern, use either a light box or well-lit window and center the design on the weaver’s cloth, making sure the design is aligned with the threads in the fabric.

2. Center the transferred design in the embroidery hoop, making sure the fabric is drum tight while punching the design. Note: Set punch needle for a medium-small loop for entire project. Follow Placement Guide, and refer to color photo.

3. Once the piece is finished, remove the cloth from the hoop. Place on an ironing board punch-side down. Cover with a damp towel and place a hot iron on the towel. Let dry.

4. Turn back the raw edges and secure to the back with the liquid fuse, following manufacturer’s instructions.

5. Spray the back of the punched piece with the spray adhesive and center on fabric of choice for framing.

This project submitted courtesy of The DMC Corporation.

“what is it?” 62 – the answer

Howdy friends! We are back from our Brimfield trip, and gathered LOTS of fun stuff and stories for future issues. We are playing catch-up on our office work, but just remembered that we needed to post the answer to the weekly puzzle. This week was a tough one we thought (for those of you who didn’t see our accidental sneak peek of the premature answer!).

The item this week is a hand warmer. This one has a little red felt drawstring pouch that it slides into to protect your hand from the extreme heat from the low flame. I told Noelle that I don’t know how I used these for ice skating without ever catching my coat pocket on fire!

Isn’t is fun to reflect on the items from our past that we once thought were so clever? Please feel free to leave us a comment with one of your memories!

To read the guesses, scroll down to the bottom of our previous post.

Happy weekend, everyone!