FEASTer

I love dying Easter eggs. I'm not sure why. It doesn't rank anywhere near carving pumpkins on the scale of using a childish activity to release some stress. Anyway, it's hard to get Noe psyched up for an afternoon of egg dying, so I have taken to foisting my enthusiasm for this Easter tradition onto my friends' children. Dr. Scott's children Fia and Colm (our companions on recent journeys to Fred's Shanty and the Mystic Seaport) were more than game to indulge my egg dying impulses.

 My egg coloring companions

Although I admire crafty things and people, I did not go to the Martha Stewart school of egg decorating. I - and Noe and Scott - am a staunch egg coloring traditionalist, insisting on the PAAS egg coloring kit. (As we dissolved our color tablets in vinegar, we surmised that the colors are much more vibrant than they were when we were younger - advancements in color tablet technology?)

 Noe experiments with the crayon -

and the vibrant yellow dye

Fia made me a monogrammed egg

Experiments involving dunking the egg in every single cup of dye were conducted in the name of creativity. (This ALWAYS results in gray.) By the end of the experience, we had two cartons of rainbow-hued eggs ready to be consumed.

 Colm's experimental color

Colm wanted to dip pretty much everything in blue

 

Carton number two

 

We celebrated our egg coloring accomplishments with a trip to the best ice cream shop in Southeaster Connecticut, Michael's Dairy, and then returned home for some Guitar Hero and a traditional (for all of us midwesterners) Easter dinner of ham, green beans, and rolls - and Kraft macaroni and cheese for Colm (you can't win them all). We termed our new holiday tradition "FEASTer."

 Scott and Fia learning Guitar hero

 Our Easter feast!

How did you spend Easter?

Gettin' Crafty

A couple of weeks ago I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs, Young House Love, where they were giving away some extremely cool wine glasses from Whitewash Sundries.

 

Whitewash Sundries glasses 

(photo: http://www.etsy.com/shop/WhitewashSundries) 

Now, these glasses were engraved, not etched, but being cheap (and not really loving the style of glasses) I thought maybe I would get some glass etching cream and try a similar concept. So...one trip to A.C. Moore and a couple cheap wine glasses frome the Dollar Tree later, my practice round was complete.

While the etching supplies were easy enough to locate in the craft stores, I didn't like the stencils that were available. I thought the designs were cheesy (kind of '80s) and the letters were too small. I didn't see any numbers at all. Luckily, I saw a blank stencil mat, so I decided to get that, cut out some stencils, and practice on some cheap glassware.

I stuck some scrapbooking stickers on the mat and cut them out with an Exacto knife. I only had letters, so I picked a sans serif "W" for Wiseman (I'll just let it be known here that I love the "W" so much I am probably not going to be able to change my last name when Noe and I eventually get married - "W" is so much more dramatic than "E"). Here is what I came up with:

Cutting out the stencil and taping it to a practice glass

Covering the stencil with etching cream

 

 Rinsing after 5 minutes

 

Funky monogrammed wine glasses (with some pretty decent wine) - 

better glass projects to come