Makely

Once upon a time, there was a hard-to-live-with mother and a wild 3-year old son who were extremely excited to give their wonderful husband/daddy his Father’s Day gift. You see, the man in their lives loved to work with his tools in the garage but hated the Texas heat more than most anything. The pair decided that an outdoor misting fan would be the best gift ever.

The father was very touched by the gift, but embarrassingly reminded the mother that the misting fan would make all of his tools rust. Um, oops? So, the threesome set off on Father’s Day to Lowe’s to return the misting fan and to let Daddy pick out something he could really use.

However, instead of picking out some new power tool or a brand new set of drill bits, the father chose something the entire family could enjoy – a new tree for their backyard. Until then, the family’s backyard was a barren wasteland of nothing but old farm land turned into a developers dream. Nothing but poorly laid sod covered the ground, and the Texas afternoon proved too hot for the family to enjoy being outdoors with no shade. Even the poor grass with suffering from the lack of shade.

So, on his fourth Father’s Day, the daddy put a wet Crate and Barrel embroidered dish towel on his head to keep him cool and dug a giant hole with his shovel.

Okay, the beautiful mother did help with the manual labor, just in case you were keeping score. You can tell because she dropped her sunglasses inside the hole. She also may or may not have actually fallen into said hole at one point, but that’s really just speculation.

It wasn’t much longer until that wonderful tree was in the ground. The family lives in the windiest place on Earth (Chicago has nothing on this flat, former farmland), so the tree will be staked in place for at least a year.

Lest you think that the little family of three is all work and no play, the boys found some time to have a little fun while watering in the new addition to their home.

That little tree may not look like much now, but it is just the beginning of the transformation of that backyard from hot Texas misery to a wonderful family playground. It will soon be joined by a few more trees and later – possibly next Spring – by gardens and flowerbeds.

What’s now not much more than a leafy stick…

…will transform before our eyes into a gorgeous, fast growing flowering pear tree, our very own Giving Tree.

I’m proud to call that wonderful father, the one who gave up his Father’s Day present and spent his special day digging in the yard, my husband. Our son, Zack, is even prouder to call him his Daddy. In our eyes, he’s just like that Giving Tree in the Shel Silverstein story. He gives and gives until he must feel like he has nothing left to give, and yet we continue to ask for more. As the years pass, I’m learning more of what it means to give back to the man who gives so much of himself to us. I’m hoping that my son is learning this lesson, too, and will be the same kind of father to his children years and years (and years!) from now.

Until then, we’ll always have our Giving Tree as a reminder. Thank you, Tom.

Photo Credits:
-Misting fan courtesy of Backyard City
-Mature Cleveland Flowering Pear courtesy of Dave’s Complete Lawn Care

I think the “I love of etched glass” bug that bit me originated over at Martha Stewart Living. Come to think of it, I think a lot of my love bugs have originated from MSL, but that’s a post for a different day.

I first noticed the delightful etching on these storage canisters.

I imagined replicating the design on little canisters for decorative displays of cars and balls and vintage baseball cards in Zack’s playroom. Then, I realized he’d always want to play with what was inside of them, and a three-year old and glass doesn’t exactly mix.

I really love these flea market glasses enhanced with etched initials, stripes, and polka dots.

And can you imagine this gorgeous etched window in your bathroom? If I didn’t already have a glass block window in my master bath, I would definitely convince my husband to let me do it.

Above photos from MarthaStewart.com

The thing is, I’ve never actually done any glass etching myself. There are some great tutorials out there explaining the process (try here, here, and here), but I’ve never taken the leap to actually complete my own project. I don’t know why I’ve resisted even though I absolutely love the look. Truth be told, I think I’m just scared of screwing something up. Even my own “What’s the Worst that Could Happen?” mantra hasn’t helped me over that un-Lindsay-like little hurdle.

In fact, when I saw Kathy’s wonderful monogrammed etching on her hand and dish soap dispensers on her blog, I ~~commented~~ whined to her about how I wish I could do that. She used a Cricut to cut her letters out of vinyl to make a stencil. I hardly ever use my old Sizzix cutter, so I haven’t sprung for a Cricut (although I do lust after them every time I visit a craft store).

Kathy came to my rescue via e-mail, explaining that I could use my Sizzix to cut vinyl. Woo-Hoo! Time to dust that baby off! She also gave me some other information about buying glass etching and vinyl supplies (you can also make those vinyl wall words and letters with these cutting machines), so I wanted to pass that information along to you. I’m sure I’m not the only one who hasn’t been quite sure where to buy these supplies.

Glass Etching/Vinyl Letter Supplies Buying Guide

Vinyl sheets can be purchased in craft stores. The brand Kathy uses is by Provo Craft and comes rolled into a square container. It’s fairly pricey, so be sure to use a store coupon if you can. The sheets come in different colors, but there may be a limited selection at your craft store.
Another source of vinyl sheeting is Sign Warehouse. You can purchase many different sizes and colors of self-adhesive vinyl, and you get more bang for your buck than buying the small sheets in craft stores. This may be a good resource if you wanted to make vinyl letters/words for your walls.
Some crafters use regular contact paper to make their etching stencils. This would be a cheaper route if you only wanted to etch glass. You would just cut a stencil of your design out of it with a cutting machine (or an old school Exact-o knife!) and apply the sticky side to the glass to hold it in place. And yes, I feel like a total dork for not realizing I could just use an Exact-o knife to cut out a stencil, okay? Quit laughing at me.
For the actual glass etching, Armour Glass Etching Cream is available at craft stores. Again, use a coupon when possible because it’s not cheap. Armour even has pre-cut stencils in several different fonts and themes available if you aren’t interested in making your own.

Man, after learning all of this, I’m totally ready to tackle this project. I’m also very embarassed at how much whinning I’ve done over something extremely easy. As I told my son just today, “Don’t say can’t, because can’t never could!” Now, I just have to figure out what to etch. Thanks for your help, Kathy!

Has anyone else used these products? How did your projects turn out? Feel free to include a link if you blogged your project in the comments so we can all check them out.

The New Giving Tree

Glass Etching Supply Buying Guide and a Slice of Humble Pie