A midsummer night's lanterns

Today is the Summer Solstice -- the first day of summer and traditionally, the longest day of the year. In ancient times, it was celebrated with bonfires, as a gesture of gratitude for the sun's warmth and a way to mark the beginning of the dying of the year. Tonight, we'll celebrate the Solstice by throwing some steaks on the grill, and lighting a fire in the fire pit to make s'mores (a modern addition to the ritual.)

Earlier in the week, Anouk and I made some colorful lanterns to add to our festivities. We've been setting them out on the deck at night and enjoying them since.

The stained glass technique is one we found on The Artful Parent. It involves rubbing watercolor paintings with cooking oil, which makes them translucent when they dry. Then we took it another step by shaping our oiled paintings into cylinders and gluing them into place (tape doesn't stand a chance on the slick paper). We slid mason jars into them to stabilize them, and dropped flameless candles inside to light up our designs.

Such a simple project -- but one that we've really enjoyed.

Happy weekend! And happy Solstice.

From us to you

It took us four hours spread across three separate days to do our Christmas card photoshoot this year. And for all that, we ended up with a grand total of ONE shot in which the light was right, we were all looking at the camera, and nobody was crying. 

Still, I can't help being a little in love with some of our outtakes, so I'm posting them here.  Even though they aren't cardworthy, they still make me smile. Yes, even this shot of A.'s "missing-my-Santa-hat" meltdown of epic proportions: 

So for your viewing pleasure, I give you our perfectly imperfect Christmas. 

Merry Yule! And since we'll be out of town for Solstice celebrations this weekend and I probably won't have time to post again before the big day, Merry Christmas, too! Here's to a heap of those perfectly imperfect moments that always turn into the best kind of memories.