I didn't post at all - not even once - in 2014. In my defense, I took on some new roles and was definitely a busy girl. In March, I started working as a substitute teacher. I'm not one of those subs who works every single day - my husband's erratic schedule won't allow for that, even if I wanted to. I love the flexibility subbing offers, and the extra money is nice, too. ;) I really do enjoy teaching (it's not my chosen profession, and my degree isn't in education...so it's a totally new thing for me all the way around) and it's fantastic to know that I can make a financial contribution to my family while still being able to do all of the things I want to do for the tiny people. It's the perfect balance!
Over the summer, we moved the not quite as tiny person into her own bedroom. She's 10 now, and in fifth grade. With two schools and two different start times in the morning, we thought it would be a good for her to have her own room so that the tinier tiny person could sleep in a bit longer in the mornings. And extra privacy is nice, too, of course. The downside? The room she was moved into is the room formerly known as my craft room. (Cue the violins.) So, my time to craft has been limited, yes - but the space thing is an issue, too. I'm working on it.
Since my last post, my family has become more than a little Potter-obsessed. The not quite as tiny person has read all of the books. Little sister is currently reading book 3. They were given all of the movies for Christmas, and they've now watched them all. (If you're wondering, yes...they're a little scary! But the girls LOVE them.) The obsession led to some Potterific crafting. The girls were each given switchplates for Christmas, and a few cocoa mugs.
Don't you love how the dried tan paint looks on the switch? UGH. I need to work on that. The "Lumos" is written in gold paint, which doesn't read well in the photo, but it looks awesome in person. I used the same paint pens on the switchplates that I used on the mugs.
OK, so...here's the deal. I read a tutorial from a blog (found on Pinterest, of course) that suggested using Oil-Based paint markers on the mugs, then baking them for 30min. to set the paint. This was supposed to make the paint set, and make it possible to wash the mugs in the dishwasher. You can see from the 9 3/4 mug that that theory is apparently flawed. If you choose to make the mugs (or plates, a pitcher, what-have-you) please be aware that you'll still need to hand wash the items to ensure that the paint doesn't wear off. I think, too, that the more you go over the design, the weaker it is. I'll be re-doing the 9 3/4 mug, re-baking it, etc. to see if I can get it to stick a bit better.
Then today, boredom took over and I created a HP-related printable, using a quote from Prof. Dumbledore.
http://www.4shared.com/download/OayVA--xce/Dumbledore1.jpg?lgfp=3000
Feel free to download it for your own little muggles!
I'm not gonna say it's a resolution. But I will say that I hope to be stopping by here more often this year. (Not that it could be less often, considering last year's track record, but you know what I mean.)
