The Magic of Printing

This video demonstrates the screen printing method that we use in printing our beauteous table linens.
See the magic as each screen layers a new color on.  See the symmetry and balance exhibited by two well paired printers, skilled in their craft. This is the Frida Flower Print for spring 2011, my goal is for the magic of the process to be so embedded in the beauty of the cloth that it will continue to magically transform your home!

Enjoy
April

Feel Beautiful, Live Beautiful, Be Beautiful

Tablescape Thursday - Happy Fish

This year, as a very unique and special birthday present, I was treated to a brand new experience – I visited a glass-blowing workshop here in Vermont and learned how to make some funky glass pieces. As I shaped and molded the hot molten glass, I could not stop smiling at the fun of it all. Having taken the time to learn this new craft, I find myself appreciating the beauty and color of glasswork, which in turn inspired this beautiful tablescape. The fluidity of glass evokes the beauty and whimsical nature of the sea, so this pretty round table is set with our Happy Fish print in pale yellow. Her smiles reflect my own enjoyment and the colorful floral scrollwork designs create a myriad of coordinating possibilities. The sparkling prisms of a finished glass piece remind me of the interwoven colors of our Fiesta Plaid, so a single twenty inch fringed napkin serves beautifully as a centerpiece. With such a wonderful array of colors to choose from, not one but four colors were paired – Essential Napkins in blue & coral and leaf green & tangerine – to layer on even more colorful fun! Cheered on by the beauty of glass, the clear red and yellow colors of our Daisy Beaded Napkin Rings were an obvious choice for the simple elegance of the napkins. Of course I couldn’t resist using our Primavera mouth-blown glassware featuring etched butterflies along with some colorful bowls and dishes.

Whatever inspires you, feel it fully, enjoy it and let your imagination take you to beautiful new places and urge you to create – I promise you’ll love the results!

Quick Tip: This tablescape features some beautiful potted azaleas from our local garden shop. Rather than cut them to place in a glass vase, preserve the beauty of fresh flowers by leaving them in the pot and covering the base with a coordinating napkin or dishtowel! Simply fold the napkin diagonally and tie it around the width of the pot. You may also choose to secure it with a pretty ribbon for added charm!

Enjoy!

April

Feel Beautiful, Be Beautiful, Live Beautiful

Part of Tablescape Thursday

For more information, click here!

Sweet Sentiments - Confetti White Cake Recipe

My birthday was this past Wednesday, April 28th , right in the middle of the week – perfect for a week-long celebration! In our Burlington, Vermont office, the April Cornell team enjoyed a wonderful birthday lunch in our kitchen / dining room overlooking beautiful Lake Champlain in springtime. Our big natural wood dining table was set with the calm blue of our Shannon Patchwork tablecloth surrounded by an eclectic set of mix ‘n match chairs. Sitting or standing, fresh fruits, salads, a selection of Vermont cheeses and baguette breads were shared as glasses clinked in celebration. Following all this was a beautiful traditional confetti white cake with ambrosia orange frosting!! I call this “The Birthday Cake of Dreams”!!! Three tiers of perfectly layered cake is covered with smooth frosting and decorated with paintings of my flowers and birds, rendered in food coloring “paint”! This moist and decadent cake was made all the more delicious served surrounded by smiles and songs of ‘Happy Birthday’.

Spread sweet sentiments at your next birthday event and whip up this fabulous cake!

The Cake was made by doubling this recipe:

Ingredients

· 1 cup white sugar

· 1/2 cup butter

· 2 eggs

· 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

· 1/2 cup milk

· 1/4 cup rainbow jimmies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Add the rainbow jimmies and fold slightly to spread them through the mix. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

The frosting was made by doubling this recipe:

Ingredients

· 1 bag powdered sugar

· 1/2 cup Crisco

· 2 tablespoon orange extract

· 3/4 cup milk (add milk until desired consistency is achieved)

Directions

1. Combine powdered sugar, Crisco, orange extract, 1/2 cup milk. Mix with mixer on medium speed. Add milk in small doses until desired consistency is achieved.

NOTE for frosting cake the consistency should be light and fluffy. For piping and decoration the consistency should be stiff enough to hold shape.

To get a smooth surface after frosted, dip knife in hot water to warm blade and smooth over surface.

To paint – use bright vivid food colors and a fine paint brush. To give a water color effect, swirl brush in water before dipping in food color to soften the effect.

Enjoy!

April

Feel Beautiful, Be Beautiful, Live Beautiful

Part of

For more info on Foodie Friday, Click Here!

Tablescape Thursday - Blue Skies

Sunny Skies Up!

Despite any mention of April Showers, these days I find myself singing that old Irving Berlin song ‘Blue Skies’… “Blue skies smiling at me” - such a beautiful idea – to know that the sky smiles down on us. Whether outdoors or in, I love to recreate the beauty of a blue sky on my table. Layered here, on this quaint little table for two, is the Shannon Plaid breakfast cloth. Its powdery blues and soft yellow weave give it a wonderful country flavor and provides the perfect base for the Josephine Blue placemats. Named after my beautiful, vibrant granddaughter, the Josephine brings a gentle floral aspect to this scape while hints of sunny yellow add a cheerful note. The coordinating napkins are double-layered over Essential Napkins in pale yellow to bring forth even more sunshine! Napkin cuffs add a dash of sophistication while fresh floral arrangements herald the coming of our beloved garden season! With a table so fresh and welcoming, why not linger in comfort as well as style? Here the chairs are lined with comfy pillows in the Shannon Patchwork collection – a symphony of blue floral prints and plaids – once you sit down, you’ll never want to get up!

Here’s to beautiful spring blue skies and warm sunshine – when you smile up at them, rest assured they’re smiling back.

(For more information about Tablescape Thursday and all its beauty, click here)

Enjoy!

April

Feel Beautiful Live Beautiful Be Beautiful

Primavera Tablescape + Printable Invite

We are well into April - my most favorite month - and it’s time to celebrate the colors of spring! Whether I’m experiencing the April Showers of Vermont or the hot skies of New Delhi, the allure of pinks and yellows on fresh green always calls to me. Here’s a table dressed for “my month” with a cloth in our Primavera collection – so appropriate for spring!

As nature mixes colors and textures in a garden, you can carrying a table to the next level by providing an array of coordinating placemats and napkins. Alternating between jacquard weaves and prints is a great way to add dimension to your table. Featured here is the Papillon Jade and Garden Pink woven napkins layered with the Eden and Madeline collections.

Some waffle weave tea towels await a warm dessert from the kitchen and our coordinating Primavera dishware serves as a punch bowl for some delicious fruity refreshment.

Here’s to celebrating the changing days as we wake up to a new season and herald the arrival of spring!

Click here to print/save this invitation for your spring party! (Fun little printout for little girl's tea parties as well). Enjoy!

April

Feel Beautiful Live Beautiful Be Beautiful

(For more information about Tablescape Thursday and all its beauty, click here)

Fiesta Tablescape for La Cache

Spring is beginning to awaken the Montreal landscape – daffodil and crocus buds are ready to bloom and crisp green tulip stalks push through the thawing earth. With this happy hint of seasonal color in mind, we decided to amp up the brilliant tones of the spring table at our La Cache store in Westmount.

I love layering cloths so our pretty round table is set with a base of the Papillon Jaquard Breakfast cloth. Over top is the joyous Fiesta Plaid (also a breakfast cloth) – the rich turquoise blue, magenta and yellow weave really catches the eye! Quilted placemats in the Paisley Bouquet Pink collection pick up the rosy hues in this tablescape while the scalloped edges add further texture. The dusty rose dishware is vintage-inspired and newly available in our boutique, as is the blue glassware – not a combination you would immediately think to pair but the tablecloth really pulls it all together beautifully.


Of course my love of birds is revealed in the Hummingbird watering can and dove tea cups and don’t you think the whimsical turquoise beaded lamp adds just the right mood lighting? Time to sit back and enjoy summer lemonade in anticipation of the season!

Thanks for stopping by!
April

Feel Beautiful Live Beautiful Be Beautiful





For more information on Tablescape Thursday (click here)
Thank you to Susan (Between Naps on the Porch) for putting this wonderful event

Decorating your Spring Table

It's official - Saturday is the first day of spring! This is a wonderful time to freshen the home, and with Easter and Passover quickly approaching a new table setting could be the perfect way to officially welcome the changing of the seasons.

To get started, a few of my favorite things to do are:

• Begin with a color scheme or pattern
• Definitely mix & match
• Contrast shapes and details
• Have fun and trust your instincts!

For a more in depth steps read my newly posted article on my website: Decorating your Spring Table



If you’re curious about what I used above in the picture – here’s a list of the new spring linens on my spring table!

• Papillion Jacquard Jade Tablecloth as layering cloth
• Primavera Peridot Tablecloth folded to create a runner affect
• Poet Jacquard Blue 20" Napkin Bundle with the Flora Pink Beaded Napkin Ring
• Garden Jacquard Pink 20" Napkin Bundle with the Dragonfly Pink Beaded Napkin Ring
  
• Rose Garden Patchwork Multi Quilted Placemat
• California Check Green 20" Napkin Bundle basket lining
  

Live Beautiful, Feel Beautiful, Be Beautiful

April

Let's Springify! + Linens Giveaway

My home in Northern Vermont is still snow coated and cool, with just a tease of warm air and cracking ice to be heard.

I say it is time to Springify! I am grabbing the hot colors of spring and bringing them indoors. The last of my Xmas brocades are heading for the basement and oranges and roses are decorating my table. I love the hothouse pinks of our new Paisley Bouquet print and they marry up nicely with the real pink roses from my favorite market. I add some matching red pears, limes and oranges to my table, and you would never know that outside is dove grey and brown.

What do you do to brighten up your February days?
Tell me your tale and you may be chosen to win a set of colorful placemats and napkins from my Spring 2010 collection (please remember to include your email address, so I can contact you!)

April
Live Beautiful Feel Beautiful Be Beautiful

UPDATE: We have a winner! Please congratulate Holly S.!

The Beauty of Color + Book Giveaway!

Enjoy this video that gives you an insight into the April Cornell world of color. Color evokes emotion and mood, and through it I establish a point of view, sometimes delicate and soft, sometimes deep and dark and saturated, other times, brilliant and boldly expressive. I use color to make a statement and reflect the many influences of our beautiful world.

Tell me how you feel about color in your life and you can win my book:
April Cornell Decorating with Color!
-- Please remember to include an email address so the winner can be contacted --

April

Live Beautiful, Feel Beautiful, Be Beautiful

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congrations to Lynne D.

Five Ways to Feel Good + Book Giveaway!

I live a busy life, and with a busy life it is easy to forget to stop and enjoy the minute marvelousness of this world.
Here are five simple ways to feel good, and remember that you and the world are important and beautiful.

1. Open a tablecloth and watch as it falls gently unto your table.

2. Light a candle and watch the shape of its flame.

3. Smile at yourself in the mirror. See how good you look.

4. Pat a cat, slowly and softly, without rushing.

5. Wash your face with warm water, and remember that water and heat are precious.

Those are five to start.
Do you have some simple rituals that make you feel good, that make life slow down, and embrace being alive? Let me know about them and I will select one and send you a copy of my book, April Cornell at Home. (Please remember to post your email address, so I can contact you!)


Thanks,
April

Live Beautiful, Feel Beautiful, Be Beautiful

Table Runner Giveaway! & Butter Tart Recipe

Sweet Supreme, Sweet Supreme.
Butter tarts- and why life goes on.

This is a deeply rich sweet syrupy desert encased in tart shell that is so delicious you may find yourself dreaming about it. I first had a butter tart when I was nine at my best friend’s house. Susan’s mom baked them, and I scoffed them. I was a notoriously fussy eater and finding such a heavenly desert, better even than chocolate cake, was not a moment I would ever forget. I went to a wedding in Montreal 15 years later- butter tarts were served, by a woman of the same vintage as Susan’s mother. The wedding has paled, in fact ended- but the taste of the butter tarts still haunts me. Some years later Susan and I put our heads together to try and remember her mom’s recipe – a recipe by the way that is famously Canadian.

Enjoy these tarts - and send me a scrumptious desert of your own- I will send you a pretty runner for your desert table!

Giveaway: One winner will be randomly selected on Monday for the Table Runner by entering your most delicious dessert - please don't forget to include your email address, as this is important to contact you! Thank you!


Feel Beautiful Live Beautiful Be Beautiful

April


Butter Tarts

1. Pre heat oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients:
-Pastry for a double crust pie.
-1 cup of raisins [I like to mix Thompson raisins and Golden raisins]
-½ cup butter
-1 cup of brown sugar packed
-1 cup golden corn syrup
-½ tsp salt
-2 large eggs
-1 tsp vanilla
[ if you don’t care for raisins, you can eliminate them]

2. Line your tart tin with pastry [makes 24 med tarts – or more minis, and less large!]

3. In a heavy pot combine raisins, butter, sugar syrup and salt set on low heat until butter melts and mixture is warm, stir to dissolve sugar. Do not let mixture get too hot. Remove from heat and stir in eggs and vanilla. Fill tart shells 2/3 full. Bake in 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 5 minutes more or until crust is golden.

4. Let cool and serve with a glass of milk or a cup of tea.

*Oh – if you want to make this as a pie instead of a tart- it is still delicious! Single crust- fill the bottom and bake for 450 at 10 mins, and about another 30 mins at 350.
Yum!

Collecting Colorful Tablecloths

Are you like me? In love with textiles, in love with cotton, in love with flowers and all of their colors, in love with embroidery and all of its stitches, in love with jacquards and plaids and totally besotted when all this beauty comes together in a tablecloth? I think you are like me. I love to collect textiles. Tablecloths and napkins offer the prettiest and least expensive way to enjoy my most innocent of addictions.

My treasure cupboards and linen closets are simply spilling in the most pretty of ways with cloths yesterday and yesteryear. They remind me of Christmas dinners, and Easter lunches, meals with friends and birthday parties, intimate tête à têtes, and boisterous family gatherings. Older softly faded cloths remind me of picnics washed in sunlight, of lazy afternoons and sleeping children.

Tell me your memories of one of my tablecloths, or describe your own linen collection – even send a photo (aprilcornell@aprilcornellholdings.com) - and we will randomly select a winner to receive a free tablecloth!

April

Feel Beautiful Be Beautiful Live Beautiful

April's Week of Tips: #1-Pretty Napkins

Essential Napkins

The holidays are around the corner, we will connect in special ways with family and friends to share long-cherished traditions and participate in meaningful rituals. Whether your holiday traditions are quickly pulled together or long planned, complex affairs it's bound to be a memorable and joyful experience. In the upcoming week, I'll share with you a few tips of mine to add a flair of festivity to your home beyond just a beautiful tablecloth.

A simple and easy way to decorate your table - Pretty Folded Napkins.
There many ways to fold napkins, be creative! One of my favorite ways, is to make a small pocket out of the napkin which can hold an array of decorative items [such as pinecones, leaves, little notes, flowers or utensils].


Here's how:


Give this a try, and feel free to post a picture of your beautiful napkin arrangements. I always love to see your creations!

April

Be Beautiful, Live Beautiful, Feel Beautiful

Behind the Scenes

This week is all hands on deck at our office in Burlington, VT. We set up a photo studio in our warehouse, painted cinder block walls, draped backgrounds, collected props and created mini environments of beauty to showcase new table linens, scarves and clothing for our website.
Many eyes, and hands were involved - there was the designer's eye [this is my vision], the graphic artist's eye [this is what I see on the screen], the buyer's eye [can the customer understand the product?], the perfectionist's eye [there's a wrinkle in the napkin], and the photographer's eye [this is what the camera sees!]
So many details, so much focus and such excitement and laughter made a great creative day.
My favorite part was when I was being photographed sitting at a table, and four people were dancing to YMCA behind me to make me laugh - it worked!

April

Be Beautiful, Feel Beautiful, Live Beautiful

Divine Pumpkin Cookies

Good food, best shared. Here is a sweet recipe for the season shared by Mary Beth Stromberg, owner of a lovely Tuscan bed and breakfast near Nipomo, California. Pam Cowan and I had the pleasure of staying with Mary Beth, and carrying a picnic basket with hot coffee and these Pumpkin cookies, (really sort of like mookies because they are rather muffin-like), to the Remnants of the Past Show, a daylong journey into beautiful things and days gone by. They added just the right amount of homemade sweetness to get us through meeting our customers and friends.

Pumpkin Cookies (Mookies!)

2 ½ cups of flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 cup butter [softened]

1 cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

13/4 cups pure pumpkin [available in a can]

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips [or caramel chips]

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in bowl

Combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar in large bowl, beat until creamy. Add egg, pumpkin, orange juice and orange peel. Beat until combined. Gradually add flour mixture. Beat until combined. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop dough from rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 12 minutes, until edges are set.

Allow to cool.

Line your basket with a pretty tea towel, add a thermos of coffee and enjoy!

Yum and yeah Mary Beth!