Mod Podge

I decided that the acrylic spray I used on my paper beads yesterday did not look good enough so I painted them with mod podge, which is sort of like elmer's glue. The stuff dried quickly and has given the beads a more lacquered look, which is what I was aiming for. Now I need to find a clear acrylic spray to go on top of that is glossy and I think I have the whole process nailed down. I'll take some pics of each new color of finished bead once I do that.  It might be a couple of days.

Tomorrow is my birthday so not sure how much I'll blog. It may be Black Angus (never been in there, but a thoughtful person gave me a gift card) or Sushi night. Then this weekend we are having a big combined birthday party for me and my Auntie, whose birthday is the day after mine.  Our parties are big, but tame. We usually have 6 or 7 kids running around and about 15 adults. If we are doing an extended family party we go up to about 30 people or so.

We're doing a "family favorites" party, so we are all making signature type dishes. I am making these baked beans that are loaded with bacon and kielbasa. There is probably more meat in them than there are beans. They're a heartstopper, but delicious. I usually only make them about once a year. My husband is making me a Carrot cake. Yes, he's that awesome. He'll actually bake for me. He makes a good cake too! Am I the only one who thinks that a man who cooks is sexy? :)

I may not post any crafting pics this weekend, but may put up some food pics if they look interesting.

As to the crocheting, I am to the point with my prototype shawl that I can pretty much just sit now and repeat the same 2 rows over and over. I am loving the pattern because I could use so many different variations of yarn with it and would look great. More pics to come with that too. Unfortunately the colors I am working with at the moment look more like fall because I am working on projects for people in Australia where it IS fall. My next iteration will look more springy.