Hippity-Hop

 Wow! So much has happened since my last post. First, I am a year older! More about that later. But, somewhere in the midst of all of that craziness, I caught a blog that rattled my brain and made me remember a craft technique that I used to use all of the time-crackling. I remember loving that look but, for whatever reason, I haven't used it in a long while.

Ans so, I was off. I had a simple wood bunny shape that I picked up in $ Tree when I saw it...only really because so many people post ideas using this bunny and, by the time I see one I may want to try, the bunny is sold out. I figured it would work perfectly if, for no other reason, to give me a bit of a memory jog. I do remember that there are a few specific "don'ts" for this technique to turn out correctly. Since I wasn't in love with the bunny, I figured if it didn't work I would only be out $1.25. And so...

I gathered what I thought I would need. The first color you put on will be the color visible through the cracks. If you know me, you know how much I love rusty things and so, I mixed up a dark brown, milk chocolate brown and a bit of burnt orange to get a color that I thought looked like rust.

Now, there is a crackle medium that you can buy but, I have never used it. I have always used Elmer's Glue and that is what I used again. I think the idea is that where the glue is thin, you will get thin cracks and where you put it on more heavily, you will get wider cracks... and so, I tried to do a bit of both.

 Now this is where the "technique" comes in. You let the glue dry ONLY until it is beginning to get a bit tacky...do not let it dry completely. Then, you start to paint with your top color.

The idea at this point is to NOT go over any paint once it is down. You kind of have to plan out how you will apply the paint and always make sure you have enough paint on the brush to cover that area. Of course, there are some places where that becomes almost impossible so you say a little prayer and go on. Lol

And then you wait for the fun to begin. I am by no means a scientist, but I think the theory is that the top coat will dry first and then as the glue coat begins to dry it causes the top coat to move and crackle? At least that sounds good Ha-ha. The crackle effect starts to happen pretty quickly and it is great fun to watch.

I usually decorate for Easter using mostly greens and violets-I'm not much for pastels although a few usually sneak in just because it is Easter-so I went with that for the bunny's embellishments. I have no idea where this will end up, but it was fun to do and now that I remember how much fun the crackle is, I'll bet you will see it here again.

 

And now on to my birthday! Since I knew that the ENTIRE family could not all get here until the last weekend this month, I was fine with postponing my birthday celebration until then. My brother and sister-in-law wanted me to have something on my "real" day, so they were coming down to take me to lunch. We went downtown to one of our favorites and I thought that was my celebration...until we got home and I recognized a familiar car in the drive and realized that daughter #3 and two of her children had "invaded" my house while we were gone and set up a "pop-up" surprise party. They had decorated right down to a "throne" for the queen that I am and daughter #2 had sent a birthday queen sash, tiara and wine glass so I was more than ready to take my place of honor. We had a fun visit and I had a wonderful day. By the time I went to bed, I had heard from every member of my family and we all agreed that we are looking forward to another celebration in a few weeks so we can catch up in person!

And, as if that wasn't enough celebrating for someone my age, my oldest friend came by yesterday and took me to lunch, brought me this beautiful plant and spent the day gabbing and catching up. I guess it's not all that bad turning a year older. Lol I have another lacrosse game (we had one in G'vlle on Tuesday night) tomorrow and then something at Presley's school on Monday morning but I will try to get back and finish up a bit more of the St. Pat's decor before the day actually gets here. Stay safe and stay tuned.