Archive for the ‘Just for Fun’ Category

Any excuse will do, and who doesn’t love a party?  But to make it special, why not pick a theme?  A decade, celebrity, event, sports, movie, lifestyle, cuisine, season – the possibilities are endless.  If you’re celebrating someone’s birthday or anniversary, the year can take on a life of its own.

Invitations!
You can buy ready made invitations, but where’s the fun in that?  Using your computer you can make your own.  Photos and clip art can be found online for free (sxc.hu or rgbstock.com come to mind).

Or go for unique.  Postcards with flamingos, parrots, hula girls for a tropical theme.  Having a poker party?  Write your invite on the back of old Monopoly money.  Even if your gathering is by word-of-mouth, put the address and phone number on something unusual and less likely to be misplaced.

Decorate!
Going Western?  Use an old cowboy boot with a glass inside to hold fresh flowers, stick up some John Wayne posters, drape a bullwhip over your hutch, print out a sheet of cattle brands and use a removable glue to attach to drink glasses.

Anniversary or Birthday Party?  Hang up the year’s popular movie posters/celebrities/cars, whether Tommy Dorsey or The Who – album covers really create a time warp, toss around a few magazines like Saturday Evening Post or Life, use dinnerware serving pieces from the era.

Having a Tea Party?  Who says the china has to match?  A different cup/saucer set for each guest is a sure conversation starter.  Doilies and vintage cake plates set a refined and cozy mood.

Game Day?  It’s only one day, so take down the lovely landscape watercolor and hang up a beer sign.  Gather a collection of labeled beer glasses so each guest has a different one.  Find an old helmet, line with aluminum foil and you’ve got your chip bowl.  Recycle a trophy as a prize for the one guessing closest to the final score.  Substitute baseballs in the potpourri bowl.

Have fun and be sure to send us an invite!

These recipes come from The Old-Fashioned Cookbook (1975) by Jan McBride Carlton.  I haven’t tried the Spiced Milk, but the bread pudding is scrumptious and not overly sweet.  Cuban bread, Italian, just about anything without seeds works well, and I don’t bother removing the crusts.  This makes a lovely moist pudding, just add a little extra bread if you want it drier.

Being lucky enough to live on the East Coast of our beautiful state, our beaches are still pristine and our wildlife unaffected.  Sadly, this is not the case for the West Coast of Florida or the bordering Gulf states.  How can you help?  Click on the photo below to find many opportunities with a multitude of organizations.

When Andi came shopping for primitive pieces, she told us they were for her salon/spa/boutique, which opened June 2009.  Curious as to how she’d used them, as the roving photographer I was sent to find out.  Field trip!  Located on the ‘almost hidden’ Atlantic Avenue off Second Street in downtown Fort Pierce, it was well worth the search.  Small, unique, indiviualized rooms cater to all your beauty needs.  Not a stack-em-up and push-em-thru salon, but a relaxing, personalized experience.

Andi graciously took the time to show me around while I snapped some pictures.  Keeping to the primitive look, she’d painted the widow frame cabinets in colors coordinated with the rooms in which they were hung.  Holding various supplies and potions, they’re easy to get to, yet out of the way.  I loved what she’d done with the free-standing white cabinet.  Combining a sleek modern computer with wood and chicken wire was an eye-catching inspiration.

Studio 207 is an intimate salon and spa including a boutique with an artist’s touch.  Besides hair, nail and skin care, Andi carries beautiful handmade gifts by talented local artists.  Thank you, Andi, for sharing your creativity with Laura’s Emporium and our website visitors.

[ed. note:  Studio 207 is located at 207 Atlantic Avenue in historical downtown Fort Pierce.  772.468.3005]

If you’ve created a great display for your collectibles, or used an item in an imaginative way ~ we’d like to not only see it, but to share it with visitors to our website.  We want everyone to know what we already do – how amazing our customers are.  So take a few minutes to show off what you’ve created and inspire others!

It’s easy to participate – simply compose an email with the subject:  SHOW OFF.  Write a description of the item you purchased, how you’ve used it and don’t forget to add a little bit about yourself.  Attach a photo or two and send to newsletter@lauras-emporium.com.

And we’re goingto need your help!

At Laura’s Emporium, we know our customers are the most important part of the business.  The interactions we have with shoppers have taught us that not only are you the foundation for our success, but that you’re fun and friendly people.  That’s why we’d like to take the time to get to know you better.

Many times a customer has left the Emporium with a special item that has earned a spot in our hearts, and we often wonder where those items end up.  Since we believe that our clients are talented and creative, we decided to learn more about both you and those wonderful items you bought in one fell swoop.

So we’re inviting you to show off your creativity.  When you took home an item from Laura’s Emporium – what did you do with it?  Did it earn a place in your interior decor?  Is it a new garden feature?  Have you added it to an existing collection?

If you’ve created a great display for your collectibles, or used an item in an imaginative way ~ we’d like to not only see it, but to share it with visitors to our website.  We want everyone to know what we already do – how amazing our customers are.  So take a few minutes to show off what you’ve created and inspire others!

Its easy to participate- simply compose an email with the subject:  SHOW OFF.  Write a description of the item you purchased, how you’ve used it and don’t forget to add a little bit about yourself.  Attach a photo or two and send to newsletter@lauras-emporium.com.

We’d like to remind you that no matter what information you put in your email, we would NEVER make public your last name, email or mailing address, or phone number.  Your information is safe with us!

Whatever you collect, you know the thrill of the hunt and the pure joy of adding a new found item to your collection. How do you share this with young children or grandchildren? Obviously, digging in the dirt with your prized spoons, or playing catch with your fragile water globes is not the way to go. Why not start a collection of their very own?

While Fenton glass may fascinate you, odds are your child is going to be more interested in the very things he/she is playing with now – dinosaurs, dolls, action figures, tea sets, balls, marbles, etc. Does he make a beeline for every lizard, insect, and crawly thing he sees? Is it love at first sight for any dog she encounters? Since you’ve already recycled a zillion birthday and holiday presents, which ones does she still play with? What item has stood the test of time, perhaps advanced, but still the same thing?

Let’s face it, kids want to PLAY with their things, and no collectible can long be played with, buried, left outside, dropped, etc. and remain a ‘collectible.’ So buy two. Yikes, that could get expensive! Well, not two exactly alike, just similar. A porcelain doll that will be kept in a glass cabinet can be accompanied by a ‘hands on’ doll. A finely detailed museum dinosaur is put on a shelf, while the big rubber dinosaur is ready for action. If action figures is your child’s joy, buy two of newly released figures and keep one pristine in its packaging.

Fill out an index card for each piece. Where and when it was found/bought, history of the item and all the information you can find out by researching books or online. You might have memorized everything about your Jim Beam decanter collection, but you’re not going to remember the biography of the player who signed that baseball if you’re not a fan.

And take it out once in a while. Let your child have a ‘hands on’ experience with you.

It doesn’t have to be expensive. A department store ceramic horse for display with a toy horse for play won’t break the budget. Nature provides a huge opportunity to start a collection that doesn’t cost a cent. A walk along the beach is the beginning of a shell or sea glass collection. Digging a hole yields rocks to identify. Leaves, seeds, nuts can be found anywhere, flowers can be pressed.

Expand the experience with a book or movie, visit a museum, take a nature walk, go to an auto show – whatever ties in with your child’s collectible. This is one ‘bug’ you won’t mind spreading around.

Want some alternatives to the dozen roses?  Is your significant other a little offbeat?  Intriqued by the unusual?  Here’s some ideas that go from a gift to a conversation piece.

Personalized Roses.  Real live roses with your personalized message printed on them.  Newly patented idea dubbed “Speaking Roses”.  Wouldn’t that be a cool way to propose on Valentine’s Day?

Button Bouquet.  From small to large, white to rose red to wild combinations, traditional or abstract – there’s one to fit every whim or decor.  No need to water.

Feather Bouquet.  Soft and elegant.

Origami Bouquet.  Colors are endless, even candy wrappers.

Jewel Bouquet.  Baubles, beads and brooches.  Costume jewelry gets a new life.

And my personal favorite . . .

How about a bouquet of roses made of elephant poop?  I’m not making this up.  Taking eco-sustainability to a whole new level, www.poopoopaper.com creates all kinds of paper products from poop.  And, no, it doesn’t smell – resulting in their trademark phrase . . . We take the ‘oo’ out of ‘poo’.

An American tradition, especially in the South, Hopping John is served on New Year’s Day to bring good luck for the coming year.

4 slices bacon, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup long-grain rice
2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspooon hot pepper sauce
1 can (about 15 ounces) pinto or kidney beans or black-eyed peas, drained

Pan-fry bacon and onion in heavy saucepan until onion is tender but not brown. Stir in rice, water, salt, and hot pepper sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, or until done. Stir in beans or peas, cover and heat thoroughly.
Note:  If you prefer to use dry beans, cook according to package directions.  Hard water can affect cooking time for dry beans.  If you have hard water, it’s best to use purified bottled water (not distilled) for soaking and cooking.

And, in case you’ve forgotten the words to this old Scottish tune. . .

From White City Pleasures . . .

2 (29-oz.) cans sweet potatoes
1/3 c. good quality bourbon
1 c. packed dark brown sugar, divided
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
6-8 lg. marshmallows, cut into 1/4ths
1 c. pecan halves
1-1/2 T. melted butter
        Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, mix drained potatotes, bourbon, 1/2 cup brown sugar, vanilla, salt and half of the marshmallows. Spoon into 13×9-inch baking pan. Combine remaining brown sugar, pecans and butter. Sprinkle evenly over potatotes. Top with remaining marshmallows. Bake for 25 minutes or until top is nicely browned. Serves 8.

Eco-friendly and reminiscent of childhood holidays, making your own garland can be a rewarding experience – with or without the kids to help. Short on patience or time? A garland doesn’t have to go round and round and round the tree. Shorter ones can be used over doors and windows, around lampshades, on the mantel, along shelves, etc. Here’s a list of just a few (some otherwise destined for the trash) of the many items that can be used.

• Fruit – apples, cranberries, citrus, apricots
• Cinnamon sticks
• Pinecones or bundled pine needles
• Popcorn
• Tree leaves, bay leaves or rosemary
• Nuts – chestnuts, acorns
• Thread spools
• Large beads
• Buttons
• Wine corks

 Use a large needle to thread onto wire. A rotary tool or regular drill with a small bit can drill holes in nuts. Small fruits can be threaded whole; slice and dry larger fruits like apples or citrus. Thread buttons in one hole and out the other so they show better and take up more space. Finish off the ends with a bow or ornament.

Limit each garland to perishable or non-perishable items. Non-perishable garland, save and use again. Write a date on it and who made it, and you can add a new garland each year. Perishable garland can be draped on trees and bushes for winter food for our snowbirds (the feathered kind).