My nephew (age 3) and niece (20 months) from New York love to eat their meals off dinner trays. These kids are so adorable, I could not resist making them trays with pictures of their favorite things. I wish you could hear my phone conversation with them and their Mommy when they told me what colors and pictures they’d like on their trays. Too cute!

Check out these photos from yesterday when they received their gifts, and scroll down to read about how to make them.

The box of trays and new dinner sets arrives from Aunt Debbie

Let’s see what we got!

I can’t wait to eat off of my tray!A new sled!

Supplies

• Wooden tray
• Wooden cutouts – thin (letters, numbers and shapes)
• Craft (acrylic paint)
• Foam paint brush
• Watercolor paint brushes
• Watercolor paints and or pencils
• Watercolor Paper
• Spray sealer for watercolors
• Wood Glue
• Mod Podge Matte Finish

Go to your local craft store and buy the supplies you don’t already have. I was lucky enough to find these already painted white wooden trays at Michael’s Arts and Crafts, but you can also buy an unfinished tray and paint it. I found the wood cutouts there as well.

Start by drawing small, simple pictures of the things the child loves. I drew 10 for each tray plus 3 numbers and 3 letters on watercolor paper. For inspiration, use coloring books or clip art. You don’t have to be a trained artist to do this. I painted with watercolors in saturated colors, just like I did for my Lilly Badilly book. I used a combination of watercolor pencils (which you turn into paint with a little water on a brush) and pan watercolors. But you can just use the pan ones also. After you paint the pictures and backgrounds (they dry quickly) cut them out into rectangles, squares or whatever shape you like, and flatten them out a bit by putting them under heavy books. I used Sharpie pens to draw thick black borders around the paintings before I cut them out.

Choose a color scheme for the tray based on the colors the child loves best. For my niece I used pink, red and white and for my nephew I used blue, purple and pink. Paint bright designs on all the wooden cutouts with the acrylic craft paint. You may need to do 2 coats to make it look best. Remember to paint the thin sides of the cutouts as well, because they will show when you glue them to the tray. The craft paint will take longer to dry than the watercolors.

Use the wood glue to glue the painted cutouts on the tray. I made their names and birth dates for the inside sides of the trays. Be careful not to use too much glue. I did, and it oozed out the sides. Don’t glue any cutouts on the bottom, because that is where the watercolor pictures will be. You want to keep a flat surface to be able to put dishes on the tray.

Paint the bottom of the tray with one of the coordinating colors to match the cutouts. You’ll need 2 coats. Let dry completely. Be sure to spray the watercolor sealer on the watercolor paintings before securing them to the tray. If not, your colors will run and you will be using 4-letter words that are not nice, because you will be very frustrated that you ruined your work and wasted your time.

Decoupage the sealed pictures on the tray using Mod Podge on the back first. The pictures may curl up, but use the foam brush to gently push the edges down until they no longer curl up. (I actually put the small bottles of craft paint on the edges for a minute and it did the trick). Put a thin coat of Mod Podge on the top of the pictures. Wait for the coat to dry. It dries quickly. I put about 8 coats on my trays so they will be well sealed and can take the punishment of constant washings. I also sealed the rest of the tray with 3 coats with Mod Podge – even the top of the wood cutouts.

If you give the tray away as a gift, tell the recipient’s Mommy not to submerge the tray in water to clean it. Rather, just wipe it out.

Have fun with your project! It will be well worth the work when you see the smile on the kid’s face who gets it as a gift from you!

My writer friend, Tyler, sent me photos of the snow in Marquette, Michigan. I set him photos of the warm sun in Miami. These photos were taken on the same day this week.

Tyler had to shovel his driveway almost every day in February! I cannot even imagine that! I am outside watering my tomatoes while he is shoveling snow.

I’ll take Miami. Where would you rather be?

I Received this message through my Ask Lilly Badilly question box . . .

name: yashna
age: 6
question: i am your biggest fan ever

Yashna was a little girl who came to my presentation on author night last week with her parents and older sister in Palm Beach. She danced with me, and I asked her some geography questions. She was dressed as a fairy and used her wand to help me have a good presentation.Thank you Yashna! I do not have your email address, so I hope you are reading this.

Yashna, I am YOUR biggest fan!

In the 20 years I have been married, I bet I’ve spent a quarter of my waking life searching for things my husband has lost. Keys, wallets, credit cards, driver’s license, work ID, cell phone, money, papers and his head. For the last 2 days he has been talking about misplacing $200 in cash. This morning he was very upset about it, so I had him retrace his steps. He was certain he had left the cash in a pocket of shorts he was wearing when he rode his bike to the beach this weekend. (Yes, I know it is winter, and it seems strange to ride a bike, but this is Miami and it has been 78 degrees outside all week.)

When he left for work, I started rifling through the laundry, sticking my head in the washer and dryer, searching through all of his shorts pockets, taking the closet apart, looking through stacks of papers, going through the garbage,  taking couches apart, crawling on the wood floors looking under furniture, searching through my car, rummaging through the plastic bags that were in the recycling bin and basically tearing the house apart from top to bottom.

After 3 hours of searching, I sent my husband a text. “Yer $ is NOT in this house. Did you look in your wallet?”

15 minutes passed.

“My wallet? Don’t offend my intelligence,” he replied.

“OMG! Does that mean that you actually found the $ in that damn wallet?!” I responded.

“Yes. ” he answered.

“I SPENT 3 ENTIRE HOURS LOOKING FOR THAT $!” I complained.

“Why did you do that?  :  )  ” he responded.

‘Roundhouse kick!” I texted back.

My questions are: 1) Are men missing a gene that allows them to be able to find things? 2) Or rather, do men have  gene that makes them lose things? 3) Are we raising our sons to lose things?

If you know the answers, I’d love to hear from you.

Since I received the mega lemon yesterday, I have been drinking a lot of water with fresh lemon juice and honey. I also used part of it today to make these incredible Lemon Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Lemon Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 2 Cups flour
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 Stick Salted Butter (no margarine, yuck!!!)
• 2 Large Eggs
• 3/4 Cup Buttermilk
• 1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• Grated Rind of 2 Lemons
• 1 Tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3/4 C of Choc Chips (Ghirardelli i best!)

Preheat oven to 350. If you have a convection setting, use it. If not, no worries. In one bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, beat eggs, buttermilk, lemon juice, rind, vanilla. Add drop of melted butter to temper the mixture and not scramble the eggs. Then add rest of butter. Blend in the dry ingredients just until mixed Do not over-mix. Fold in chocolate chips. Put into 12 baking cups in muffin pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven. test after 20 with knife in center muffin. This recipe doubles well also.

Yummy!

My friend, Rene brought me an enormous lemon from her Mom’s neighbor’s tree in Sebring, Florida. It is 5 inches long and 10 inches in circumference. (I took a picture of it next to what I used to think was a large lemon.) And the taste? Incredible! This is the juiciest, most flavorful lemon ever. I want more of these!

Thank you Rene’s Mom’s neighbor, whoever you are!

How long is the Nile Riiver?

How deep is Lake Champlain?

Keep Those Questions Coming!!!!

Other than church or spending the day relaxing with your family, Sundays are great for:

1. Grocery shopping early in the morning before the crowds arrive
2. Staying in bed all morning long (with the entire family including pets)
3. Reading a fiction book just for pleasure
4. Cooking a big pot of food for the freezer
5. Calling  a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while who lives out of town or out of the country
6. Spending an hour helping out someone in need
7. Listening to new music
8. Writing an old-fashioned snail mail letter
9. Organizing (drawers, recipe files, computer files, purses, etc)
10. Watching an old movie

Liberty Park Elementary is a Haven for Readers

This gorgeous library is amazing!

Friendly Librarians Cindy Martinez and Renee Houck

Rachel plays piano for the 5th grade students, parents and teachers

A little fairy dances with Lilly Badilly

The best elementary music teacher ever! Mrs. Judy Christodoulides

Literacy Dog Mack gets a lot of attention!

Last night, I was the visiting author for the Liberty Park Elementary Literacy Night. We had a great time! It was a particularly special event because my daughter, Rachel was able to attend. She is normally at school when I do author visits, so this was a real treat for me and for the students! Rachel played piano for them, and the students got to hear about her involvement with the Lilly Badilly book and all about her love of reading.

We presented our program to 5th graders in the music room, which is an extremely impressive place. The large room is well equipped with a beautiful, well-tuned piano and risers for the choir. Music teacher, Mrs. Christodoulides, is the friendliest, most creative and inspiring music teacher! The students at Liberty Park are so lucky to have the performing arts opportunities they have here.

The students here seemed to know their US geography, which really impressed me. Actually, everything about the school impressed me.

Librarian Renee Houck, has a big beautiful, well-stocked library – one of the largest we have seen at any South Florida school. Kids and their parents were lined up to buy books and celebrate reading. Everything about this school makes children want to learn and read more.

One of the highlights of the event was Mack, the Literacy Dog. Children can read to Mack to help them improve their reading skills. He is specially trained for this program and is one of the most adorable, gentle, loving dogs on earth!

We’d like to thank Mrs. Houck and Mrs. Christodoulides for giving us this opportunity and for their genuine kindness and friendliness. Lilly Badilly loves friendly creatures of all kinds! Thank you Liberty Park Elementary!

To book Mack or one of his friends for your Literacy event

go to havedog.com

I saw on Good Morning America this morning that this is the most likely week for people to give up on their New Year’s resolutions (namely weight loss/fitness). What a shame! Why set goals if we cannot stick to them? What does this teach our own children? Can we expect them to set and keep goals if we can’t? Certainly not!

So what’s the problem? I think people are unrealistic about how to get where they want to go. There is no such thing as successful extreme dieting,  results-oriented temporary workouts or instant business success. No one can go for a long period of time depriving themselves and expect that to last. Nor can they exercise rigorously for a while, quit and then expect to stay fit. And in business, instant success is for the movie screen and not the real world.

No matter what we want to accomplish, we’ve got to stick to it. Goal setting guarantees you’ll experience frustration and doubt and unfortunately, it does NOT guarantee success. People who have accomplished great things will all tell you they “fell off the bandwagon” a few times when it came to reaching their goals. But what sets them apart from the rest of us? They pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get right back on the bandwagon.

So set a great example for your kids. Set realistic, achievable goals. If you have a slump, don’t beat yourself up. And for heaven’s sake, don’t quit. Get right back up on that bandwagon.