Making the Most of Michigan Winter

By spending some time finding inspiration in the creativity of others. .

. . . Having some one on one time with my son and the snow! (See the shadows! The sun has, thankfully, been a frequent visitor this winter.). . .

. . .Making a wine bag for the wine and cheese basket my daughter's class is putting together for the annual school fundraiser (It's reversible). . .



. . .Finding some unexpected alone time with my baby girl and finishing a cute little skirt she's been waiting for. . .

. . . And finally preparing for the grand opening of my little etsy shop!

It may not end up being very grand, but at least it will be open.

Ahoy, Me Hearties!

Have you seen this yet?
Dana Made It and Made by Rae are celebrating the boy this month and boy are there some great projects over there. I'm loving it! This bowtie may be making an appearance this summer at some weddings we will be attending. And oh the pirate love!

Well, in celebration of the month of the boy we have our own boy project in the works here. Pirates are pretty big around these parts right now. Pirate costumes, Pirate books, pirate quilts in the making (sneak peek above, more to come soon), pirate speak, "Belay that swab and get ye to ye room! It needs to be cleaned," and of course pirate treasure maps!

To make ours we opted to print this free coloring page map instead of drawing our own, like mommy wanted. My boy decided it just wasn't authentic looking enough so he wanted to age it a bit. I've done this using coffee before, but as we don't drink coffee in our house, and the only tea we have at the moment is green tea, we decided to give balsamic vinegar a try (his idea). Rip the edges before staining to create the illusion of burnt edges, or you could actually burn the edges if you're feeling daring.

I would not recommend the vinegar if you don't have to. Coffee would work much better, but after a few days, yes days, of drying, the stickiness disappeared and the map was ready for some crickling. Now it looks like a real authentic pirate map don't you think?

All we need now, is some hidden treasure!