Silk Screening Method 2

Last week I shared one method for silk screening and thought this week I would show another.

Although this technique is also simple it does require a special screen filler used for silk screening that you should be able to find in most crafting supply stores.

You'll need:

Screen Filler

Paint Brush

Pencil

A Screen to push the paint though (to make one build a square frame out of wood and cover it with a meshy/silk material)

Paint

Clothing or Object to print on

Stiff tool to push paint through the screen

Using the pencil draw a sketch of what you would like to print onto the screen.

Using the screen filler, paint around your drawing (being careful not to paint over the pencil lines). Let the screen filler dry. Once it's dry hold your screen up to the light and see if there are any little holes or missed areas showing light through. If there are (and there probably will be) just give that area another coat with the filler and allow to dry once again.

Once the screen is dry you can now print with it!

To print follow the same process as before.

Lay your screen on top of the item you are printing on and squeeze your paint in a thick line above your image.

Using a stiff tool (I use a piece of cardboard) drag the paint over your image, going over as many times you feel is needed in order to get your desired paint coverage.

Lift the screen off the item being printed from side to side or top to bottom instead of lifting straight up, it's just easier that way. If you see areas that need to be painted (because you accidentally screwed up when you were using the screen

filler) just grab a stiff paint brush and paint the areas by tapping the paint brush on the material instead of dragging it. Tapping it will give the same finish as the printing and it will not be a noticeable correction.

Wash the paint off your screen (the screen filler will remain so you can use your new stencil again!) and allow the paint to dry on your item.

Voila!

Brown Sugar Meringues

It feels like forever since I last shared a recipe, so to break my baking silence I've decided to share the instructions to make these brown sugar meringues.

I recently won a book called Cook Yourself Thin Faster and this is one of the recipes in the book. I made them for Eli's birthday party and they were a huge hit!

I will warn you though, they don't age especially well. I made them the night before the party and they were fabulously crunchy and delicious. The day of the party they had turned sort of chewy... but still delicious! Just not the same texture. So I would plan to make these the same day you are going to serve them.

Seriously though, these are so simple and SOO good, you simply must try them!

The best thing about these is they are super low in fat and calories and you'd never know... you know, if you worry about fat and calories and that kind of stuff...

Brown Sugar Meringues

3 egg whites

pinch of salt

1/2 cups light brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 225.

Beat the egg whites and salt on high speed in a large bowl (or stand mixer) until soft peaks form. Slowly add the brown sugar, while still beating, a few spoonfuls at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny (roughly 3-5 minutes of beating).

Drop the meringue onto a parchment lined baking sheet using a cookie scoop or a large tablespoon, or you can pipe them using a ziplock bag with a corner cut out. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Turn off the oven and prop the door open slightly (I use a wooden soon). Let cool, in the oven for 1 hour.

Store in a tin or loosely wrapped in aluminum foil; do not store in plastic wrap or glass (maybe this is where I screwed up serving them at the party...).

Musical Monday: OK Sweetheart - Home

There is nothing about this video that I don't LOVE!

Free Pattern Month

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this...

Free patterns for a month? um... yes please!

I'm loving it and discovering a bunch of new blogs to obsess about that also offer all kinds of free patterns.

You should check it out, it's awesome!!

Happy Birthday Eli!

It's my baby's birthday today.

I can't believe he's 2!!!

I could just kiss those cheeks off!

Eli's Robot Birthday Party

My in-laws were visiting over Easter and since Eli's birthday was so close to their visit we decided to celebrate with friends a bit early so my hubby's parents could be in on all the fun.

(One of the hardest things about living so far is celebrating things like this without any family, so it was nice to be able to include them.)

Eli's a big fan of robots, as I've mentioned, so thinking of a theme this year was easy. I googled robot birthday party ideas and was crazy excited about all the inspiration and ideas that I was able to find.

The best find though were these free printables found through Hostess with the Mostess. I went to town with them and they really made the party look awesome!

Our church was kind enough to loan us their building (and a bouncy castle!) so the kids had loads of room to play.

I was pretty excited to hand out the goodie bags as I silkscreened every one of the kids a robot shirt (tutorial coming soon on another silk screening method), and made each one a stuffed robot. The older kids also lucked out with robot stickers and Play-doh.

It was really an awesome day!

A Fort

Zac loves to play in forts.

He asks me quite often to make one for him, but I will admit, I have no fort making skills. All that pressure lands on my mister.

Hubby put together this little contraption a few days ago and Zac was beside himself with how awesome it was.

He asked to sleep in it instead of his bed.

It was so much fun to share in his excitement! Hubby and I were a little jealous that he got to sleep in such a cool fort... true story!

He lasted about 20 minutes before he wanted back in his own bed, but that's not really the point is it...