Bows

It all started when I decided to make a bow to decorate a gift. I had this ribbon in my stash

and found this bow maker in my craft room. I have had it for a very long time and rarely use it. I am glad that I didn't throw it out.

Now I am making tulle bows to decorate my house for my daughter's bridal shower at the end of this month. One of her bridesmaids has a Cricut and is designing a banner and some other items, but I wanted something to make the rooms festive.

I went to ACMoore and bought some tulle.....white, white lace, blue and sequined gold. Here are a few of the bows that I made for my front porch from blue and white tulle....

and for around the house in lace and gold tulle.

I want to make some lace with blue and some gold with plain white also. They work up quick and easy with that bow maker.

I wanted to get out of the house and do something different last Sunday, so we went to the Vanderbilt mansion in Centerport, NY.
The mansion is a museum that is right on Oyster Bay, just off of Long Island Sound. This is the view from the back of the house.

I have to admit to being somewhat disappointed with the mansion itself. We didn't take the tour, but the first floor rooms have been transformed into a museum for William Vanderbilt's specimen collections (taxidermy, sea shells, bugs, sea life, an Egyptian mummy and other artifacts). I remember coming here as a kid and these items were in a separate building. The mansion was not air-conditioned and I can't believe that that is a good environment for the preservation of these items. 

The mansion also needs some basic upkeep. There was broken concrete outside and a cracked and peeling ceiling in a room that was being advertised for parties. 
I was interested in going to a garden exhibit on the grounds. This was one of the prettiest garden-scapes just outside of the mansion itself.

I liked this one also that was right outside of the planetarium.

Here is the Vanderbilt Rose Garden.

There is a pretty fountain in the middle. There is a gorgeous view of the bay just beyond that railing.

The prettiest rose was the William Shakespeare below, most of the others were past bloom.

The rest of the garden-scapes were somewhat disappointing too. Some were in desperate need of watering. I guess I expected more from what was once a grand Gold Coast mansion.

Sunday evening Scott and I went out to dinner at Harbor Mist restaurant with our son to celebrate our anniversary that I mentioned in the last post.

We had a window side table that overlooked Cold Spring Harbor. Dinner was fantastic....scallops for me, linguine and clams for hubby and a veal chop for our son, Matt. The three of us shared tiramisu and a flourless chocolate cake for dessert. Both were delicious! The restaurant gave us chocolate aperitifs to celebrate our anniversary. 

We have a baby bunny that has been entertaining us lately. It has visited our back deck and enjoyed the grass in our front yard.

It is more skittish than the adult bunnies that just let us walk by them.
It is quite adorable though.

Thanks for stopping by!