Friday, March 30

Sidelight Solution–Version 1

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I wanted to cover the sidelights next to our front door with something other than gathered floor-to-ceiling sheers. If it was somehow blue (to coordinate with the blue door), even better.

Long story short, inspired in part by the amazing “stain glass window” on FilthWizardry, I decided to cover them with tissue paper. And on the same day I decided this, I discovered blue tissue paper in a box left by the previous owners. I love happy surprises like that!

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It was SO easy – just watered-down school glue, painted onto the glass with a foam brush, then the randomly-cut tissue paper scraps placed on top, and painted over if the paper still seemed dry. Took part of an afternoon.

And I don’t think it’ll be hard to get off again – I’ll just have to spritz it with water and it’ll come right up. In fact, it did come loose at the bottom where there was condensation during the winter.

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I’m already thinking about Version 2.

For one thing, I didn’t realize there were two different blues in stack of tissue paper; other people maybe don’t notice, but I see it every time I pass by. (Photos below show the sidelight I did first, then the sidelight I did next.) Do you see it too?

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And for another, the triangles are too “fractured” for me right now. I’d like something smoother, calmer. I’m thinking nice thin horizontal stripes…

I just need to find some more blue tissue paper.

Wednesday, March 14

More Birthday Cakes…

…for Ruthy and for Ken.

Ruthy, a young woman from Germany, is living with us while she interns at the girls’ school this semester. She’s fitting right in with the family and it’s a joy to have her here in our home.

For her birthday last week, I considered making her a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, because that’s what she always has at home. But I knew there was no way mine would taste anything like her moms, even if I could find all the necessary ingredient here. Besides, she’s in America, so needs an American birthday cake! : )

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Ruthy is a HUGE soccer fan, specifically of her local team, Borussia Mönchengladbach. So I knew she’d love a soccer cake just like the one I made for goalkeeper Rachael.  And I knew the colors would have to be Borussia’s colors: black, white, and green.

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I wanted to use Borussia’s distinctive “diamond B” logo somehow, so it became part of the word “Birthday.” Ruthy LOVED that part – asked that it be the LAST part to be eaten.

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Across the front side, I wrote a phrase in German to remind her how we feel about her. “Volltreffer” is what the game announcers yell when a soccer player scores a perfect goal, right on target. While a literal English translation of the phrase – “You are a bull’s eye” – sounds a little funny, in German it is a sweet (sport-related) way to say “You’re great!”

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And just like on Rachael’s cake, I hid the birthday girl’s new age in the soccer ball patches.

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That’s a lot of candles. I hope Ruthy enjoys her 24th year, part of which will be spent with us!

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And then just one week later, it’s was Ken’s birthday again. No elaborate pot of gold rainbow cake this year. Just a simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting (his favorites), adorned with some space-themed Lego (to fit with his current favorite past time of playing Lego Star Wars on the Wii with the girls).

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Man, how I love that guy!

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