The English Schoolhouse: Mod Podgin' with Margherita

Yesterday I hung out with the craftiest teenager I know, Margherita. When we first met a couple of years ago, I remember being surprised and a bit taken aback by not only the things she was into at age 13, but how good she was at all of them. Our second or third lesson she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Do you bake?"

"Um, well I...er...ya see....uh...no." I sputtered. "Do you?"

She nodded, and many of our lessons during that time focused on what she does incredibly well, cooking, and what I do amazingly well, tasting. She made cookies, muffins, and so many other treats. We wrote down the recipes, edited them, and rewrote them. Once I offered to teach her the one dish I never tire of--Mexican bean dip, and she politely learned to make it while duly noting new vocabulary words.

Marghe's talents aren't just limited to the kitchen. The girl makes stuff. Good stuff. She sews and makes earrings and reupholsters her earring holder--projects. I remember my thirteen year-old self...the only projects I did were for grades at school.

Fast forward to now--Marghe is 15 and has an increasingly impressive command of English. When we hang out now we read books and articles and have interesting conversations about everything under the sun. When I showed her the business cards for the school, she offered to make a Mod Podge craft with them. I excitedly asked if she'd be my guest blogger for this post and write down the process for making the craft. "Sure!" she said. I'm always trying to convince Marghe that she should start a blog of her own or a cooking/craft show on You Tube. Hopefully the popularity of this post will show her that I'm right.

So here's my special guest blogger's how-to post on using Mod Podge for crafting (she even took the pictures!)...