Laurie’s Cobalt World Blog

 

Grapevine wreaths are as varied as the individuals who make them.  They can take on a Victorian look, a feeling of holidays, a country charm, or even be a little quirky.  The great thing about them is that they aren’t hard to make.  Just follow these few basic steps.

Planning Your Grapevine Wreath

You want to look ahead a bit and decide a few things before you gather your supplies and purchase your materials.  Grapevine wreaths come in sizes ranging from gigantic to tiny.  Or you can twist your own.   Remember that large grapevines are more expensive to decorate and take a large space to display.

You’ll want to decide whether you are going to decorate the entire wreath, decorate an arc on the bottom, or decorate an arc on the side.  You will need many more flowers and much more greenery to decorate an entire wreath than you will to decorate just a portion of it.

Also decide ahead of time whether you are making a spring, summer, fall, or winter (holiday) wreath.  Each season has its own feeling.  Drastically mixing seasons may not be a successful plan.

Give a lot of thought to your color scheme.  Think of where you want to hang the wreath - on or by the door, in a hallway, in your bedroom, in the bathroom.  Make sure your colors will work well in that area.  Or perhaps you will give the grapevine wreath as a gift.  Take the recipient’s color schemes and preferences into consideration.  (The wreath would make a great housewarming gift!)

You can plan a monochromatic color scheme where all of the flowers are the same color (though they may vary in different shades or tints).  Adding white, gray, or black can also be part of a monochromatic color scheme.

Complimentary colors include purple and yellow, blue and orange (or peach), red (or pink) and green.  Or look on any color wheel and choose colors next to each other.  I love blue, lavender, and pink.  Another choice is to select all primary colors (red or pink, blue, and yellow) or secondary colors (purple, orange, and green).  The season you chose will help you to choose your color scheme, too.

You will also want to decide ahead of time whether you will be basing your decoration on a pattern of 3 or a pattern of 4, if you are going all of the way around.  That is, you will be repeating the same basic series of flowers either 3 or 4 times around the circle (or 5 or 6 even).  If you are decorating an arc, then you will want to purchase flowers in even numbers, except perhaps for a large focal point decoration.

Purchasing Materials

You will need the following materials:

• - grapevine wreath
• - floral picks (3 or 4 inches are best)
• - green floral tape (brown if you are making a fall wreath with brown stems)
• - “silk” greenery (it takes more than you think)
• - “silk” flowers, berries, nuts, fruits, butterflies, or other decorations
• - wired ribbon, if you are making a bow (approximately 3 yards, minimum)
• - hot glue gun
• - wire cutters
• - needle-nosed pliers
• - 18- to 22-gauge wire

When choosing your flowers, be sure to choose a variety of sizes.  If you choose to base your decoration on a pattern of four, for example, make sure you have four of the largest flower you wish to use.  You may need 8 of the next size (perhaps 4 of each of two different colors, shapes, or textures).  You will also want to purchase small filler flowers.  It is also a good idea to have some round, dish-shaped flowers such as sunflowers and then some longer, wispy decorations like pussy willow, berries, or wheat stalks.

Make A Hanger

First, make a hanger for your wreath.  Cover 1 piece of wire with floral tape (12 to 18 inches).  Starting at the top, wrap the wire with the tape, and wind down the length of it, stretching and using the warmth of your fingers to make the tape stay in place. 

On the back to of your wreath, thread the covered wire through several strong branches.  Cross the two ends leaving a loop about three inches in diameter.  Twist the ends and cut off the excess.  Turn the twisted part inside the wreath.  Insert something about the size of a fat felt marker into the loop and twist (not too tight - you have to remove the marker!).  Bend the loop upward.  You should have a nice hanger for your wreath.

When To Add Greenery

You may choose to cover your wreath first with greenery or you may decide to add the greenery at the end.  It is your choice.  For the wreath pictured on this post, I put in the greenery afterward, but I think I would have been able to use it more effectively had I placed it first.

Floral Picks

For each item, you will be adding a floral pick to the stem.  You may make a wreath by just inserting the stems of the decorations into the wreath, but they will not be secure.  It is better to pick them.

To add a pick to a stem, overlap the top of the pick (the part with the wire on it) and the stem about the width of two fingers.  Wrap the wire just around the stem once, and then begin wrapping around both the stem and pick, moving down the pick.  Once you reach the end of the stem, wind the wire back up the stem and make sure both ends of the wire are lying flat against the pick or stem.

Using floral tape, begin covering the pick by wrapping the tape around just above the pick and moving down to just below the pick.  As your wrap, use the warmth of your fingers to help the tape stick to the stem and pick, and gently stretch the tape as you go  Tear the tape off when you finish wrapping.  Do not cut the tape ahead of time. 

Use the ring and pinkie fingers of your dominant hand to hold the spool of tape, allowing it to spin freely as you go.

Attaching Floral Picks To Stems

 Assemble Your Grapevine Wreath

If you are decorating the entire wreath, insert all of your stems either clockwise or counter clockwise.  Just be consistent.  If you are decorating just an arc, then the stems will be inserted toward your focal flower or decorations.

Start with your large or focal point decorations and then move to your medium flowers, and finally fill in with the smallest flowers or decorations.

If you planned a design based on threes, place your largest flowers space 1/3 of the circumference apart.  If you planned a design based on fours, then place your largest flowers 1/4 of the circumference apart.

If you planned to use a bow, make sure you save room for it.  It can be placed on the top, on the bottom, or any place that complements your design.  The bow should be attached with wire that has been covered with floral tape.

 Make Your Bow

(Making a bow is the hardest part of this project.  It is perfectly acceptable to make your wreath without a bow, to purchase a bow, or to use a bow maker.)

Cover a piece of 18- to 22-gauge wire with floral tape. 

Make a small loop, with a 1- to 2-inch diameter.  This small loop will hide the wire that attaches it to the wreath.  Holding the bottom of the loop between two fingers, twist the remaining ribbon 180 degrees at the point where the ribbon is held by your fingers.

Make a loop with the ribbon half the size you want your bow to be.  As you bring the ribbon back between your fingers, twist it 180 degrees.

Make a loop in the opposite direction of the same size.  You can pull the loops up together to check their length.  Twist the ribbon as it passes between your fingers again. 

Repeat until the amount of ribbon left is twice the length of any ribbon you want to hang down.  At that point, make a huge loop that goes down and comes around so that just the tail end can be caught between your two fingers with the rest of the bow.

Run the prepared wire through the tiny loop and capture all of the ribbon you have been holding with your two fingers.  Twist to tighten.

Pull out and twist each loop of the bow, alternately pulling one loop in each direction.  Adjust the roundness of the loops.

Cut the huge loop at the bottom to allow two ribbons to hang down.  You may wish to arrange them into ringlets or a gentle curve.

Attach the bow to the wreath with the wire that was twisted around the middle of the bow.  After passing the wire behind some branches, twist them together.  Then roll the ends of the wire, one at a time, around a pen or pencil.  Once you remove your tool, the result should look like vine tendrils.

Finish Your Wreath

If your wreath is to be hung indoors, you are ready to put a hanger on the wall and show off your accomplishment.  If you want to hang it on your front door, you may want to treat it with Scotch Guard first. 

You will be amazed at what you can create in just two or three hours’ time.  The grapevine wreath is a great project with a very satisfying product at the end.

In year’s past, our family has celebrated Father’s Day in different ways.  Once, the family held an ice cream party and made outrageous sundaes.  I’d guess that many men love ice cream, but I’d venture that even more like something off of the grill.

If you choose to grill out for your Father’s Day celebration, then you’ve solved the question of what to do, what to eat, and which gifts to choose.  Or at least, you are almost there.

Gifts are hard, so let’s start there.  Here are some great Father’s Day gift ideas:

• BBQ apron (funny how some men will never wear an apron - unless they are grilling!)
• new grilling sauces to try out (how about Mama Scott’s Gourmet Sauce?)
• grill charms (work like wine charms to identify how meat was cooked or seasoned - very unique)
• an assortment of beers to sample (or, if he’s not the adventurous type, his favorite beer)
• stainless steel grill light for those late evening meals
• grill tools (come in a wide range of styles and prices - even personalized)
• grill thermometer - some even come built in a fork

You may be able to combine two great loves into one great gift.  Is your father (or the father of your children) into NASCAR?  You can actually purchase a NASCAR grill cover with his favorite design on it.  Or maybe he would love a steak brand from his alma mater or favorite college sports team.   

I can’t tell you my favorite Father’s Day gift idea because my dad might read this post.  But it’s listed here.

Now let’s talk about food for your cookout.  Plan a few surprises on the menu.  A few twists on some traditional offerings can make the meal more enjoyable and memorable.

If you are serving burgers, research the very best buns or rolls available in your area.  There’s no need to stick with the hamburger buns on the bread aisle of your grocer.  That alone can make the different between a WOW! burger and a ho-hum burger.

Select turkey, tuna, lamb, salmon, or buffalo burgers for something different.  Or maybe you just want to upgrade to ground sirloin for the special day.

Want something more upscale than burgers?  Try marinated chicken, lobster, tuna steaks, smoked brisket, high-quality smoked sausage, or the proclaimed man’s favorite - the steak. 

Here’s my favorite grilling sauce, originally from a Southern Living cookbook I received as a gift in 1978:

Steak Grilling Sauce Recipe

3 T. butter (not margarine)
1 tsp. garlic powder
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup steak sauce (I use A-1)

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add other ingredients and just bring to a slow simmer.  Apply to steak as it cooks and pass additional sauce.  (If you dip a brush into the sauce that has been used on raw or undercooked meat into the sauce, be sure to bring the sauce back to a simmer before serving for food safety.)

Makes enough for 2 1/2 lbs. of steak.

* * * * * * *

On the side, choose bourbon baked beans for a delightful change from the old standby.  Or how about a macaroni salad that features a lb. of bacon?  That sounds like a man’s macaroni salad to me!

For dessert, try one of these:

• grilled peaches served with vanilla ice cream
• grilled caramelized bananas
• homemade ice cream (for my favorite chocolate ice cream recipe, be sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter - it will be in the June 1 edition)

And then there’s always mom’s apple pie a la mode, or as my husband says, with a lot of ice cream on it.  This recipe for mom’s apple pie has a bit of whiskey in it.  I don’t remember that in my mom’s apple pie, but it sounds like a winner.

I visited an outdoorsman forum to see what men’s men like for dessert.  It seemed to me that cheese cake and homemade banana pudding were preferred by more fisherman and hunters.  But they also knew the ins and outs of blackberry pie or cobbler, chocolate cake (with chocolate icing, chocolate ice cream and chocolate syrup as one member suggested), key lime pie, pecan pie, and even French silk pie.  I should mention that this was a southern group.  Perhaps northern or western hunters prefer different desserts!

We have 3 1/2 weeks until Father’s Day.  That’s plenty of time plan a great menu, order your grill charms and other grill gifts, and have a very wonderful Father’s Day.

My favorite restaurant is Morton’s the Steakhouse in Las Vegas.  I’ve only been a couple of times, but enjoyed it thoroughly each time.

My second favorite restaurant - and infinitely more accessible to me - is the Thailand Cafe in Mount Airy, North Carolina.  It’s an intimate restaurant with friendly wait staff, a willingness to prepare food to order, and consistent, fantastic food.

My favorite is Pad Kee Mao, chicken, hot, no tomatoes.  It’s always piping hot, delicious, and beautifully garnished - usually with a carrot butterfly or with a carrot flower. 

The good people at the Thailand Cafe agreed to show me how to make these beautiful vegetable garnishes.  It looks easy, but believe me, it takes some practice. 

We made videos of both how to make a carrot butterfly and how to make a carrot flower. 

We also made one of me making my first flower.  You will not be seeing that one!  It did look like a flower, after a fashion, with two broken petals.  And I needed some help before it would separate from the carrot.  Let’s just say that I enjoyed the experience and look forward to practicing in private.

Supplies and Garnish Tools

To make these garnishes, you need some King Kong-sized carrots.  These are huge monsters.  If you can’t find them at your local market, try an Asian market instead.

You will also need a small, very sharp paring knife, with a blade no bigger than your index finger.  In addition, you will need a large chef’s knife.  And you will need a plain vegetable peeler.

The other two tools are specialty garnish tools.  One looks like a cross between a shaving razor and a potato peeler.  It is used to make groves in the surface of the carrot before you begin the carrot flower (save the shavings to use as backgrounds for serving food such as spring rolls).

The other tool is a wavy cutter.  It looks like something you could make crinkle fries with.  Both tools should be available at Asian markets or you can order them online.

How To Make the Carrot Butterfly Vegetable Garnish

Peel one gargantuan carrot.  Cut with the wavy knife at an angle.  Approximately 4 inches from the point, use a straight knife to cut straight cross the carrot.

Stand the carrot up on the end.  With the point facing away or toward you, make one thin slice on one side and discard.  Make another thin slice, but do not slice all of the way through.  Make a third thin slice all of the way through the carrot.

Place your butterfly on a cutting board.  Make two slits in the carrot according to this diagram.

Open the wings (the wavy end) and tuck the body behind the point where the wings join.

 

Make Carrot Flowers

Please a huge carrot and then use the special peeler to make ridges in the surface.  Carve the carrot to a dull point.

Note: You may leave the surface smooth, but the petals will not have the pretty ruffled effect.

Hold the sharp paring knife with your thumb and fingers except index finger.  The index finger remains on top of the carrot, pointing toward the tip, as a guide.  To me, this was the hardest part.

Begin approximate 2 1/2 inches from the dull point of the carrot.  Point the tip of the small paring knife slightly downward  Cut a slice that begins thin and goes near the center of the carrot at the bottom, refraining from cutting all of the way through.  You should be able to make five such slices around the perimeter of the carrot, creating petals. 

When you cut the last petal, leave the knife in place and snap the flower from the remaining carrot.  The carrot should be ready to cut the next flower.

I hope you were as amazed as I was at  the skill that chef Sue Sisoukrath uses to produce these fabulous vegetable garnishes.

If you ever plan a trip to Mount Airy, North Carolina, birthplace of Andy Griffith, drop me an email.  I’d be happy to meet you at the Thailand Cafe for great food with those darling garnishes.  Any excuse will do!

I really thought that I would sleep until noon today after the fun, but very exhausting weekend.  But no, I woke up the regular time.  I think a nap is in my future!

My husband says that I’m great at estimating how much time a task takes - and terrible at factoring in all of the things that will happen to prevent me from being on task.  This weekend was a prime example.

I decided to go to a church sale on Saturday morning.  I’d heard about it last year and mentally planned on it for this year, not thinking that I’d be hosting a tea party on Sunday afternoon. 

I called my mom to see if she wanted to go.  She asked my dad and then we decided to invite my sister, who turned out to be babysitting her two infant grandchildren. 

We planned to be there by 7:30 and got there at a quarter of 9:00 instead.  It seemed a waste to go to just one sale since we were by then all assembled, so we took in a few more.

Then we had a flat tire.  Then we visited a few more. 

After several more sales, we were starving, so of course we had to have lunch.

The long and the short of it is that we got home at 3:00 p.m. on the day I was supposed to be cooking up a storm!

So, I got home and got to work - in a bit of a frenzy.  Andrew put the turkey roast into the oven and tended to that so I didn’t have to think about it again.

I started to zest limes for the lime cooler cookies, but couldn’t find the zester.  My zester is one of my all-time favorite kitchen tools.  Where would something like that wander off to?  We looked and looked and then decided to go with an alternate plan.

I don’t have a grater with a zester side to it.  I’ve always used my zester that does such a wonderful job.  So, I finally used a potato peeler using a lot of outward pressure to leave the pith behind.  Then I diced and diced and diced.  It took longer, but the end product was successful.

Then I juiced 12 limes and made the dough and glaze.

We got two sheets of cookies finished and glazed before it was time to stop and get ready for a dance.  We couldn’t skip it because the club was a little low on help and we needed to be there to help break things down at the end.  (I wouldn’t want to skip it anyway.)

Not having had time to think about what kind of refreshment we could take to the dance, we decided to take the cookies displayed on the inverted thistle large pedsetal cake stand.  They were very popular.

The dance was great.  I sat out very few numbers and was exhausted at the end.  So when our friends asked if we had the time and energy to go out after the dance, which is our usual custom, we were level-headed and said that we had to go to bed and get some rest for the next day - NOT!  We went out and stayed at the restaurant until ten minutes before 1:00 a.m.  We had a great time.

However, in the morning, I had a hard time thinking, walking, and keeping my balance (no, we didn’t drink).  After a cup of coffee, which I rarely drink, I was finally able to get my act together and get on with the crazy, busy, fun day ahead.

So now, all of my great plans to make ahead, cook ahead, and have a restful Mother’s Day just attending to the last minute details turned into a cooking circus.

Thank goodness my children are older and capable - and that my husband cooks!

I started on the petits fours.  Never, ever, ever make petits fours on the day you are going to serve them.  They will devour time.  And, it ended up that they were one of the less popular items.  With a double layer of poured fondant, they are pretty but so sweet that you can enjoy just one.

My middle daughter was in charge of buttering bread.  We had a grainy, nutty bread for turkey sandwiches with cranberry mustard.  We used a marble rye/pumpernickel swirl for my favorite tea sandwiches, and we used a gourmet white bread for the cucumber sandwiches.

With the turkey, we sliced the boneless turkey roast moderately thin.  Then I mixed 1/4 cup cranberry sauce with 1/4 cup coarse ground prepared mustard.  A thin coat of the mustard on each side of the bread plus the turkey worked out nicely.

I’m a fanatic about keeping sandwiches moist, so everything was kept in bags or under plastic wrap except when it was actually being buttered or assembled.

The favorite tea sandwiches helped me find an error on my blog!  I had left out the bleu cheese from the recipe.  Luckily, I generally go to my own website and print out recipes when I cook and had done so for the tea sandwiches.  My apologies to anyone who tried them before and wondered why in the world I had suggested the recipe.  It is repaired now.  They were the favorite sandwiches at the tea, too, and not just my personal favorite.  Try them out next time you need a party sandwich.

The cucumber standwiches were a hit, too.  They were simple to make.  My daughter peeled the cucumbers, sliced them thinly and then placed a thin, but overlapping layer on the buttered bread.  Then she cut off the crusts and sliced them into dainty triangles.

We made more cookies, and began scrambling to get china and serving dishes assembled. I had used our sugar and creamer for the tea and was fretting that I didn’t have a creamer for the coffee.  My husband Andrew replied, “Yes, you do,” and pointed at the Laurie’s Cobalt World door in our home.  So I now have an Inverted Thistle pattern coffee creamer and sugar bowl.  I wonder if he had noticed that I also have a Nicole glass serving plate with handles.  I had to have something for the third plate of sandwiches, didn’t I?

So much for the rule against Laurie’s Cobalt World glass not ending up in my kitchen.  Hee hee hee.

As the hour drew near, the kitchen sounded and looked more like a kitchen in a greasy spoon during lunchtime.  We were wiping, moving, dancing around each other, and getting it all together, maybe just a few minutes late, but it seemed to work out okay.

The number one rule for a tea party is to have plenty of boiling water.  I set a large pot to boil and found it cold ten minutes later.  The kids said that sometimes you have to turn it off and on again, if the knob doesn’t click into the “hi” position right the first time.  So we tried again.  Again, it didn’t get hot.  I found that the cassette had wiggled slightly out of the socket, so it took the third time, I suppose as a charm, to get the water to boil.

Luckily, I had arranged my flowers for the centerpiece on Tuesday (I’ll be writing about how I did that pretty soon).  I had made the corsage of silk flowers on Thursday.  We beaded the napkin rings beginning on Saturday, but then I forgot that I had six not yet completed in my craft room - and remembered about 15 mintues before our guests were to arrive.  [Sign up for our newsletter to find out how to bead the napkin rings- they'll be in June's edition.]  Luckily, I had passed by the table where my husband had the napkins folded or I would not have noticed in time.

Twenty minutes before the guests arrived, I popped the apricot-cream cheese scones into the oven (seemed they could have used a touch more milk in them).  It turns out that if we had had only tea and scones, everyone would have still been most pleased.  They were by far the most popular item.  I had made the lemon curd on Saturday, woven in around making the lime cookies.  And I had purchased the double cream on Friday. 

I also served black raspberry jam and orange marmelade, but I think we could have easily skipped those.  The double cream and the lemon curd were much, much more popular.

Lemon Curd Recipe

1/2 cup butter (not margaine)
grated peel of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 egg yolks
1 whole egg

In the top of a double boiler over medium high heat, melt butter.  Add the lemon peel, lemon juice and sugar.  Mix well.

Using a whisk, add the egg and egg yolks, continue to whisk and cook for about 20 minutes, until the mixture is thick and smooth.

Cool.  Place into covered containers.  Refrigerate.  Will last approximately a week in the refrigerator.

* * * * * * *

I had been disappointed that the market where I normally get clotted cream was out and I could only get double cream (clotted cream is 55% fat while double cream is 48% fat).  Clotted cream is supposed to taste better, but we all liked the double cream better. 

Before my next tea party, I want to get some small teaspoons to go with my china tea cups.  And I want to get more tea cups.  With coffee and hot chocolate drinkers, we had just enough tea cups.  But next time, we could easily run out. 

I will also skip the petits fours.  I love the currant jelly taste of them, but for the time they take and the “one’s my limit” reaction I got to them, I’m going to say they just weren’t worth it.

We also had chocolate mint lentils (they look like pastel M & M’s, just a bit classier), but they weren’t that popular.  I had meant to make brownies with pastel icing but let the weekend get away from me.  I think it was just as well.  Chocolate just didn’t seem to fit, for some reason.

I also left my carrot flowers and butterflies in the refrigerator that I had planned to use to garnish the sandwich platters.  I did remember to line the trays with lettuce (we used romaine).  That did help keep the sandwiches from drying out.  But I really would have loved to have had my flowers and butterflies, too.  (I will be posting a blog on making them later this week, so please check back.)

The tea party was a success I think.  The main thing was that my mother felt honored and seemed to really enjoy herself. 

I’m really glad that we hosted this tea party.  Next year, however, I’m taking the day off.

We’re less than two weeks until Mother’s Day and that means less than two weeks until our Mother’s Day tea.  This weekend, my number one goal was to make invitations and get them out. 

I first thought I’d look for ideas on the internet but I really didn’t find anything that I liked.  So I went to the drawing board and created my own design.  I am pleased with how they turned out.  According to my husband, the pictures don’t do them justice.  But I think you can get some ideas of what you can do with the patterns yourself.

And yes, I’m going to give you the free printable patterns for the tea party invitations.  And you don’t have to join anything to sign up to get them, either.

First, gather your supplies.  You will need the following:

- 1 sheet of decorative paper for each pair of teapot invitations, if you want to print two per page

- scraps of decorative paper to trim the teapots (may also use glitter, buttons, lace, etc.)

- 1 sheet of color-coordinating cardstock for each invitation

- color-coordinating solid paper to print the wording on  - 3 fit per page

- 1 sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock for the envelope pattern

- 1 sheet of 12 x 12 colored cardstock paper for each envelope (may also be called cover stock)

- scissors

- glue sticks

- ruler

- pencil

Cut the colored cardstock into rectangles 7-3/4 inches long and 6 inches wide.  One for each invitation.

Use the teapot template and print out as many teapots as you will need for invitations.  I printed mine on the back of the paper so that I didn’t have to worry about partially showing black lines.  Also, I wanted them to have a more handmade look and feel rather than the look of something I just printed out. 

Test print the teapot.  Make sure the teapot is 5-1/8″ tall.  If not, adjust the image size before printing on your fancy paper.

Carefully cut out the teapots and use the glue sticks to attach one to each card.

Cut two small rectangles from coordinating paper (or use other trimmings).  The top band is 3-1/8 inches wide and 1/4 inch tall.  The bottom band is also 3-1/8 inches wide, but is 1/2 inch tall.  Use the glue stick to glue on the decorations.

Print the wording using this template.  It is in MS Word.  If you need a different format, email me.  The image should be around the wording and should be 2-1/2 inches tall and 4-1/2 inches wide.  If you need to adjust it, do so before you change the wording to your own.  Cut out the wording, removing all traces of the black guide.  Glue the wording onto the teapot.

You are not quite done.  You will need to make a coordinating envelope, too.

Start with the white 12 x 12 cardboard and make a template.  That will make the remaining envelopes very easy to make.

The directions may sound complicated, but if you take them one step at a time, it won’t be hard.

Near the bottom left hand corner, along the bottom, write “bottom” so that you can keep the template oriented the same way as you follow the directions.

We will start by drawing a parallelogram on the cardstock.

Starting in the bottom left-hand corner, measure 11-1/8 inches up the left side and place a dot.  Repeat on the right side, measuring up from the bottom right-hand corner.  Connect the dots with a line.  Cut on the line. 

Now measure from the bottom left-hand corner across the bottom of the paper 11-1/8 inches and place a dot.  You will repeat on the top line, but you will be starting on the top right-hand corner and measure measuring to the left 11-1/8 inches.   

Connect the bottom left-hand corner and the top left dot with a line.  Cut off the long, tall triangle that results.  Connect the bottom right dot with the top right corner with a line.  Cut off the long, tall triangle that results.  Your cardstock will look like a square that has been pushed over just slightly.

Starting on the bottom left-hand corner, measure to the right 4-1/2 inches and also 5-1/2 inches and place a dot at each location.  From the bottom right-hand corner, measure up 5-1/2 inches and 6-1/2 inches and place a dot at each location.  From the top right-hand corner, measure left 4-1/2 inches and 5-1/2 inches and place a dot at each location.  From the top left-hand corner, measure down 5-1/2 inches and 6-1/2 inches and place a dot in each location. 

Now here’s the hard part (not to do, for me to explain).  Imagine an unbalanced tic-tac-toe board with a huge center and small outside squares.  Connect the dots to make such a tic-tac-toe pattern, which will create a small triangle near the middle of each side.  Snip out those triangles.

(Alternatively, you can number the dots.  Starting from the bottom left and continuing to the right, 1 & 2. Then turn and go up the right-hand side and number them 3 & 4.  Turn left again and go across the top, and number them 5 & 6.  Turn left again and number the last two 7 & 8.  Connect 1 to 4, 2 to 7, 3 to 6,  and 5 to 8.)

From the top left-hand corner, measure down 1-1/4 inches and then to the right 1-1/4 inches.  Connect the dots, draw a line, and cut off the corner.  That corner is the bottom flap of the envelope.

Use the template to draw the pattern on the 12 x 12 cardstock paper (thinner than cardstock but heavier than typing paper), 1 per invitation.  To assemble, turn the bottom flap up first (the one with the tip cut off).  Fold in the right and left sides at the same times, making sure you match the tips.  Use the glue stick to glue just the outside of the bottom edges of the side flaps.  Dry completely.

If you want to line the envelope, you can line the entire back, but it makes it hard to fold unless you have some very thin paper.  I used the top flat template (down to where the little triangle cut-outs start on each side).  Then glued that triangle to the top flap, aligning the bottom of the triangle with the crease.

Fold the top over.  You may a glue stick or use a seal to close the envelope once the invitation is inside.

While I don’t think that you have to knock yourself out every time you entertain, every now and then it’s nice to pull out all of the stops and attend to every little detail.  For me, this tea party is going to be just that kind of event.