Hi!  This is my first post and I am excited to start a catalog of my creations and adventures.  My son is getting married next Saturday and the creativity is going crazy around here in my little Arizona town.  On Monday late afternoon, I received these beautiful paper doilies from Amazon.com in the mail.  I was so excited to get started that about an before I left for our youth group family night, I had to dig through my craft supplies and find the small bottle of coffee that I have had for many years to do fabric staining.  I poured the last few granules, about 1/4cup in a large cake pan and added very very hot water from the tap.  I let it stew for a few minutes as I gathered all of the old newspapers I had to place the doilies on to dry.  They turned out so so pretty!  Here is what I learned:

1. – Don’t put the doily in and let it “simmer”.  It gets too soft and breaks apart when you try to get it out.
2.  – Separate the doilies before you get started.  If you don’t the others get soggy and then stick together. — Yep, I know from experience:)
3.  – Just gently put the doily flat in the water and then gently turn it over to get the other side wet.
4.  – Quickly place it on several layers of newspaper and let it dry. – Really, just let it dry.  Even with a few wrinkles (which, by the way, adds beautiful texture)
5.  – You may want to wear gloves because coffee stains your hands as well. (I can just imagine what it would do to my teeth!)
6.  -Iron the paper doily when it is dry to get it back into tip-top shape.

There you go!  Easy peasy and they look FANTASTIC!!  I did crochet doilies for some dream catchers that I will catalog soon, but these were just too beautiful not to write about.

Life is SWEET!- Tracy