Learning Curves

Once again, my empty week grew into very few free hours. I had Cox Cable in my house for two full days, an eye surgery, a county wide soccer meet for grandson #2 and a visit to the hospital to see a friend. When I did manage to slip away, I hit all of the craft stores I needed-plus, a super new, super big $ Tree very close to home...is it OK to be this giddy over a $ Tree? But, I digress Lol

The dining room table is piled even higher and I am getting very excited about our weekend. I was going to use today to get caught up on a few things but then I got the call-"could Presley spend the weekend with you while Dad spends the day at "Math Counts" ( a program that gets middle school students excited about math through competitions and sponsored by our local Council of  Engineering) and Mom takes the boys to the FL vs KY basketball game"? And so, my focus has changed as I get ready for my little visitor!

I love to have things ready for Presley-sometimes she wants to do them and other times she just enjoys relaxing. Since she loves crafting and art and she is the one who asked me about making the soap again this year, I thought maybe she would enjoy getting started on the conversation heart soaps today. And, indeed she did!

I will say that except for wielding the large knife to cut the block of soap, I really was not necessary. I am amazed at how grown up she has become almost over night. She did all of the melting, dying, pouring and "baby sitting" of these soaps. And, when it became obvious that we would be able to make more than just enough for the family, she asked me if we could make a set for her teachers and her BFF. She was very proud of herself and she should be. I guess it was because of the silicon molds but these soaps came out better than any I have ever made. I told her we should go into business and earn a few extra dollars. Lol

And then, I thought this might be the best chance to make a sample of the wine glasses we're making next week. I really always like to try everything first to make sure I am going about things in the easiest way and boy am I glad I did. The direction for the glass say to use the ends of paint brushes for the dots so I had multiple brushes ready to go. Since they are all a bit rounded, they really had a tendency to slip and also leave a swirl of paint as the tip was pulled away.

It not only didn't look good but I was afraid the extra paint might run when they went into the oven. A pencil eraser will work for the largest dots but I decided to try the ends if different sized dowels for the others and that seems to be the answer!

The other issue was the tape that I used. The instructions recommended using blue painter's tape but I had this A/C tape left from something and I figured it might have a better chance of "no leakage". Plus, it was super easy to cut and had a peel off back that made adhering to the glass really easy! So I went full speed ahead and got the tape not only on the sample but on the ones the kids will be doing as well. Those are the kind of small details I like to have ready before the kids come because we only have so much time to accomplish all that we want.

That metal tape heart went on perfectly!

And, the dowels were working for the dots.

It was at right about this point that I realized with the dots covering the whole edge of the heart, there was really no where to slip under an Exacto to start peeling off the stencil. I did manage to get a tiny piece lifted but that stuff was glued down like Crazy Glue. It was nearly impossible to pull off and in some places the only was to do so was to compromise some of the dots and crisp edges that I was working for.

Needless to say, I'm so glad I didn't wait to find this out next week when the kids were here! I managed to touch up the sample and get it baked but boy did I have a challenge getting the hearts off of the other glasses. Lesson LEARNED. Once I got them cleaned again, I switched to a wide masking tape heart-which was no fun. Have you ever tried to cut a crisp lined shaped out of tape-trust me-don't. The tape keeps sticking to the scissors and ripping. In most cases this would be OK but in this case, the edge of the stencil is what determines the shape of your heart so it needs to be pretty crisp. After I was all done, I remembered that I had some ConTact paper and that probably would have filled the bill-as a matter of fact, if I have time during the week, I might just re-do them yet again!

Here's the finished product and with the size of that wine glass, I think we'll have some happy moms no matter what the dots look like! Lol

Thought I would add on the soccer pictures since this seems to have also become a tradition in our family. It is for 4th and 5th graders so we have had one of the boys on the team for the last 4 years.

So, after a super fun time with Presley-where she beat me 2 out of 3 games of Rummikub as well-I am starting to get things organized for the coming week. I have a friend coming for the day tomorrow but then I should be able to concentrate on all things Valentine Weekend. Stay tuned.