the enchanted oven: butterflies

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Birthday plate of cookie love

This birthday love was for a friend of mine. There are chocolate iced sugar cookies and mini macarons (I had a tough time making them little - got to work on this). These little macaron treasures are filled with Swiss meringue buttercream laced with a touch of almond extract and chambord - a French black raspberry liquor. To make them EXTRA special, they are topped with royal icing butterflies and flowers. In the past I have made my butterflies with white chocolate because they are much sturdier, but I was feeling brave yesterday. Only one broke, so it was a major victory. The cookie message was:

Happy 50th birthday Nancy! The party girl was resplendent last night in a tiara complete with peacock feathers - why didn't I bring my camera?

And as a side note, I am thoroughly opposed to flowers dyed funky colors like the ones I used. You will hear me rant about poinsettias sprayed with blue and purple glitter this holiday season. When I saw these babies at the store, I had a large internal battle. The color was SO PERFECT with the cookies. In the end, the turquoise colored daisies won and I loved them on the plate.

Linking with:
Sweet Little Gals
Lolly Jane Boutique
Tatertots and Jello
Sweet as Sugar
Inspiration Friday
Chic on a Shoestring
Tidy Mom
Friday's Unfolded
My Romantic Home
It's a Keeper

Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Between Naps on the Porch
Savvy Southern Style
Night Owl Crafting
The Creative Spark
A Stroll Thru Life
Sweetology 101
Funky Polka Dot Giraffe
Today's Creative Blog
Reasons to Skip Housework
Lady Bug Blessings
Stone Gable
Home Savvy A to Z
Dittle Dattle
Masterpiece Monday
The Tablescaper
The Sunday Showcase

Friday, July 22, 2011

Garden of butterflies

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I do everything I can to attract butterflies to my gardens. One plant that is a must is butterfly bush (Buddleia davidii). It is a lovely shrub that spends most of the growing season covered in clusters of flowers. To say that it attracts butterflies is an understatement! I have included some butterfly bush blossoms below along with a few other pretties from my garden.

To me, butterflies represent the metamorphosis from ordinary to extraordinary. The transformation from simple insect to ethereal winged beauty is a miracle of nature.

Butterflies enjoy rocks to rest upon and a source of water. They are also attracted to large areas of color, so plant multiples of smaller plants. Butterfly weed is a host plant for monarch butterflies. It also attracts swallowtails, fritillaries, painted ladies, hummingbirds, and hummingbird clearwing moths (have you every seen what looks like a large bee but flies like a hummingbird? It’s a hummingbird clearwing moth!).