A Marvelous Mess Party ~Link Up Your Crafts!!~ Maple Sugaring Tutorial

Spring is tumbling into Maine much faster this year and in response to it, we've all tumbled out the door in search of patches of grass, bulbs peeking through mulch, and lots more sunshine. With those warmer days (and still cool nights) comes my favorite part of spring.....Tapping the Maple Trees!!!!!

If you want to learn more about Sugaring, I've got a post from a while back about how we do it on a very small scale HERE.

We have had some awesome crafts linked up to the Marvelous Mess party.
Here are my fave's:

How To Make Grippy Socks from Brown Thumb Mama. What an awesome idea. Kids flying around on socks on hardwood floors tends to stress me out quite a bit. I would be so much more comfortable with them having these on!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!!

If I featured you, don't forget to grab a button from my sidebar and display it proudly!!! :-)

Now, on to the Party!!!!

Celebrity Strollers

We always want to know what the those celebrities are up to don't we? Well, in case you were interested, I've got a fun celebrity infographic about which strollers they've been spotted with. What I recommend more than anything, is checking with an organization like the JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association)  www.jpma.org to make sure that the stroller has been certified by them, as they do some good testing on the products beforehand. If you are buying a travel system, I definitely recommend checking the ratings of the car seat at the International Institute for Highway Safety www.iihs.org..... just because a famous person uses a stroller doesn't necessarily mean that it is safe. Before buying any product for your child you should do your research and be fully informed on the safety of the item, ie: has it been certified, has it been recalled, is it recommended for my child's size?

Doily Art: Winter Snowflakes

What do you think of my doily snowflake art? 

I was inspired by an image on pinterest that came from the site WomenBeforeUs. Doily's truly have many snowflakes aspects to them, from the shape, the delicacy, and the patterns. I think they make beautiful winter decorations. 

If you'd like to make one, here's what you need:

White spray paint

Canvas

Doilies (found mine at Goodwill, .99 cents each!!!!!!)

Adhesive Spray

Lace ribbon (optional)

*Take the doilies and place them onto the canvas in the style you would like. I think having them partly on the canvas gives the art more depth (rather than just centered on it). Once you know where you want them, get the doilies ready..... trim them if needed but be careful, they are easy to unravel. 

*Spray Adhesive spray in the area where a doily will go and quickly place the doily on top. Repeat for the rest of the snowflakes.

*Once the adhesive has set, spray the entire piece with white spray paint, going over the snowflakes many times as they absorb the paint and have all sorts of hard to reach spots.

*When the paint is dry, hot glue some lace ribbon around the edges of the canvas. 

Enjoy!!!!!

I shared this post at THESE wonderful parties!!!!!