Washi Tape Picture Frame

I do love a good weekend, but they go by so quickly that I find myself sitting here on Sunday night, writing to you and wondering where the past few days went. We babysat A-train yesterday and today, and he is on the move so you have to pretty vigilant. Z-man was here as well, and between the two there was a lot of activity. It's also my sister Alicia's birthday on Tuesday, so we had her celebration today as everyone was already here.

 Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing, made by my dad for my sister. She's not one for sweets, so this is her kind of birthday cake. We used to tease her that she was adopted (because we could be rotten jerks) but her lack of a sweet tooth makes me wonder if we were on to something. Of course, we all look too much alike for that to be true.

Anyhoodle, back in this post I gave a teaser of a washi tape project I had been working on. It was actually a present for my sister so you can see why I had to keep it hushed. It wasn't anything major that I did, just something I had seen here. But when I came across it I instantly thought of my sister and the jar of bright green tape I had been saving for the right project. I waited until she had to go away on a business trip (that feels funny to say about your 'little' sister, whom I still consider to be ten) and verified with her a zillion times when exactly she would be away so I could get this done without her seeing.  It took two evenings, and then I hid it away. But now I can show you :)

I couldn't find a good picture of her with 'our' boys, so I looked through the notebook  of quotes I keep to find something to fill the space temporarily. It reads (since at no point did I move the dragonfly out of the way): "Seek to find the best in the worst, to discover the great in the small, to see beauty in the plain, and to detect the elegant in the simple." I don't recall the source, and I didn't feel I had to officially cite it for this gift, but it feels Emerson-y.

I started off by painting the back of the frame green and the rest white, as the markings in the natural wood grain showed through the tape. It was ridiculously easy to place the tape, but to cut the excess with an exacto knife--not so much. A layer of Mod Podge and I was done.

The darker green tape was too plain and seemed to stand out and at the same time darken the whole thing. So I found this crocheted trim with an adhesive backing to stick down and MP over--it added just the right touch.

She looooooves the color green and dragonflies, so when I saw this beaded one I snatched it up right away. I got her a few other things, but I wanted to share the one I made. At first she couldn't believe I made it, but then she said "No one EVER made anything for me before!" which isn't technically true, but requesting something to be made is quite different.

I'm glad she liked it because I thoroughly enjoyed making it. I felt kind of geeky giving it to her, and I had my fingers crossed that she'd like it as I don't usually make things like this and thought it might seem kind of hum-drum. Isn't it funny how, when you make something, you hope-hope-hope it'll be loved and appreciated as it's almost a piece of your very soul you're giving? But then again, when it  comes to sisters you just seem to know what to do. Rachel's birthday is in July--I must get to thinking crafty thoughts....