Spring Break!!

My mailbox is dressed for spring...the calendar says it's time...but the weather doesn't seem to notice! No snow here, but cold and rainy the last two days. It snowed just about 2 hours west of here and even parts south in Arkansas! Wow! (By the way...my mailbox decoration was salvaged from an old wreath while the ribbon and butterfly were tied on a gift I received. Yes, I have a hard time throwing some things away!)

The above picture was taken early last week on a beautiful spring day. So glad Miss M was out last week for spring break. We went to an Imax movie about the ocean with about 40 MOPS friends; met our adopted mother/grandmother for the day near where she lives now; saw an AWESOME free puppet show at the library; enjoyed some DQ with our best buds; attended a live production of Max and Ruby; plus Miss M and I enjoyed some studio time at a local paint your own pottery place. It was a great "staycation"!

Mr C and I will miss the big sister when she is at school this week...we kinda got used to having her around all day!

Resurrection Cookies

Have you ever made or sampled Resurrection Cookies? They are formally known as meringue cookies, but using this recipe makes for a great hands on Easter lesson with your children. Miss M and I made a batch last year and delivered them to our neighbors on Good Friday. We tied them up and clear baggies and attached the a card with the following text:

We hope you enjoy these Resurrection Cookies. You will discover they are virtually empty inside –

just like the tomb of Jesus Christ when He arose from the dead!

For the wages of sin is DEATH; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.

Romans 6:23

Painted Glass Plates

For once I am way ahead of the game. Each fall, my church has a "Celebration Tea" and ladies volunteer to create and host themed tables. I have participated as a hostess six times; I wrote about the most recent tea here.

I knew I wanted to do a cupcake table the next time and it is just starting to form in my mind. I bought some

acrylic glass paints last summer and Cupcake Nana used them to personalize and decorate tea cups as favors for Miss M's 6th birthday party. Well, I picked up clear glass dessert plates at Old Time Pottery at the sale price of $0.50 each!!

After cleaning them with rubbing alcohol, I drew a cupcake design on the front side of the plate using a dry erase marker - not my idea, but a tip from a fellow blogger. Thanks Nikki!! This works especially great if you wanted to put words on your plate. The only trick is to remember that you must paint the details first and let them dry, then paint over with your next color. I didn't wait long enough on a few of my sprinkles and there was a little bleed through. but hey..they are all truly handpainted!

I used the old tip of using the end of my paintbrush for the sprinkles and then the unused eraser of a pencil for the dots around the edges. After the paint dries for 48 hours, it says it is handwashable. Baking them at 325 for 30 minutes is all it took to make the plates dishwasher safe - not that I intend to put them there though! Here is a view from the back...

I have clear dinner plates from a previous table I hosted...not sure if I will paint those or not! I might just do the polka dots on them...not sure yet. I plan to use the clear punch cups I thrifted for last year's table. Now, I just need to come up with my favors and napkins...I have 7 months left to come up with those ideas!

* I used Americana Gloss Enamels that I found at Hobby Lobby for $2.99. You get 8 colors in a package and there was more than enough for both of my projects plus several more. Note they are NOT food safe which is why I painted the back side!

Friday Funnies

This is not exactly a "funny" but it was fun! We have visted the children's museum in our town many times and I could never get my children to experiment with this one display. They are plastic rods that slid from one side to other when you push on them. On our last visit, I couldn't get them to stop...they were doing every part of their body...and I mean every part they could!! Check out this video of Miss and her Daddy!

Almost Free Cupcake Totebag

If you have visited my blog before, you have surely seen how much I ADORE iron on fusible web. It is great stuff, especially for the sewing impaired crafter such as myself. I saw this idea a LONG time ago over at WhiMSy Love and finally took some pictures of the bag I created for Miss M.

My tote started out as a free giveaway from a MOPS convention. It was great to help carry all my stuff around while I was there, but got stuffed in my closet for longer than I would like to admit. You know the kind...canvas, thick utility straps, and some company's logo.

I drew a cupcake design onto the paper side of my iron on, then I followed the manufacturer's directions for applying it to the fabric and then on to the bag itself. I used some maybe vintage fabrics I found in my grandmother's house after her death. We used some of it at Miss M's tea party birthday party last summer. I then hand stiched around the edges and added a scatter of buttons as sprinkles. My talented buddy cross-stitched Miss M's name, which I have hidden from your view!

 



As a final touch, I cut off the ugly black straps and sewed on some pink gingham ribbon for handles. She uses it to carry her Bible, pencil, and assorted other items to church on Sunday. I am not sure how well the ribbon would hold up on a bag that received heavier use.

To see the inspiration and more of a tutorial post, check out WhiMSy Love.

Friday Funnies

Mr C has been doing great with potty training...daytime has come together for him in just under 2 weeks! (Skittles are my new best friend!) A few days ago he was on the toilet and after a few minutes I suggested we come back and try again later.
"Just wait Mama. It is loading." Sure enough....success came soon after.

We tell him to "wait, it's loading" when we are on the computer waiting for the webcam on Skype. Oh yeah...he can also call her without help when we are already logged in. He's a little nutty but I love him!

See You Soon Soldier

My brother left yesterday for Afghanistan - a two month deployment with the Arkansas Air Guard. Lots of differences from his first deployment in 2003: he was with the Army Guard, it was Iraq for about 18 months, he frequently had to go off the base, and was assigned multiple magazines for his rifle compared to the one this time. He has also gotten married since that first deployment.

Things have changed for us too. We know what it is like to worry every time the news reports a bombing near or on the base. We know how important little packages and notes from home can be. We have skype now - a great improvement over the webcams and IM from a few years back. We also know how relieved we will feel when he is home safely again and how heavy the weight of worry is until that time.

Before his first deployment, I wrote about 70 or so "remember whens", jokes and funnies, and special scriptures and cut them all apart, placing them in a plastic envelope. He was to pull out one a week until he got home. I gave him some more this time but was thankful it didn't have to be near as many.

His unit was greeted in Bangor Maine - their last US stop - by the Freeport Flag Ladies. This all volunteer group has made it their mission to see that every soldier who passes through their airport on they way to a deployment is greeted by someone. They also took photos that are available on their website for family members to view. In addition, every soldier had opportunity to make a free phone call home. Thanks ladies...

When you have a minute, please remember Nathan and all the soldiers who serve our country around the world.

My computer has been sick, but I have a new one and I think it can talk to my camera again. So I should be posting more regularly once again...check back soon to see a new masterpiece created by Miss M.