For Julie

My friend Julie and I religiously read The Artful Parent blog. And, I don't know about Julie, but I probably end up doing 1 project every 6 months or so, even though I want to do all of them all the time. However, we both ended up making these coffee filter garlands. Either they spoke to us, or they were just too easy to pass up. The ones Julie's kids made are cute and colorful and hanging in her dining room. Ours ended as most of our projects end; as a process, not a product:) And, of course, the kids loved it.

I'm not sure how The Artful Parent and Julie's kids kept their red and green separate. When my kids get red and green together, brown seems to be the result.

Or, perhaps they used a bit too much paint?

But, I do see a bit of red and green in them, so I figured they could still make it to our dining room. But, then I forgot the cardinal rule of displaying Cayla and Collin's artwork - you must whisk it away from them the minute you think it's finished . . . or the process will continue. I layed them out to dry on the workbench and days passed. And, then one Saturday, Cayla decided to do a couple of experiments. She asked for her normal ingredients: food coloring, vinegar, and baking soda. And, while she experimented away, I spent a blissful hour working on some sewing (for our new niece, who is no longer so new). And then, Cayla decided she needed some new ingredients and proceeded to to scour our kitchen for little bits of everything from hot sauce to sugar. And, then Collin came home and joined Cayla in the potion making. And, I forgot about the drying garland . . .

until I saw it stewing in Collin's bowl of chocolate. And, trust me, that marinade did NOT smell like chocolate. I think that soy sauce must have been involved. And, boy was he serious about those stewing garlands. He informed me that he was going to soak them for about 2 weeks, at which point they would have an excellent chocolate color. He has grand plans for those chocolate soaked garlands. You will all be receiving one this holiday.

Or should I say he had grand plans for those garlands. Gotta love the process, but the product was buried deep in our garbage later that night.