Christmas Rainbows

Christmas 2011 featured two unique rainbow creations:

1. My brothers Steven and Jeffrey made this fantastic piece of rainbow art for me by gluing crayons along the top of foam board and then melting them with a blow drier. The white space is the outline of a picture of our family (see above) that they had photo-copied and taped down to the board during the melting process. Isn't it beautiful? And rad?! I feel cooler when I look at it. Who knew my bros were such creative little artists. My other brother, Ryan, and my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Swantje, discovered the idea from pinterest and passed on their inspiration from their Hawaii home. I took down a different poster in my room in order to give it a well-deserved prominent spot on the wall. Such an original, personal, thoughtful gift!

2. Weeks before Christmas, I decided that this was going to be the year that I tried my hand at Rainbow Jello. I don't even like jello - the fake flavor and the gelatinous texture gross me out - but I had this creation once when I was 16, and the experience seared my little heart. Making it by myself seemed like both a challenge and a tribute to my Mormon roots. Plus, it is just so pretty - in a fake-processed-food-sort-of-way. An old family friend shared with me her recipe which consisted of taking six boxes of different colored jello, and splitting them in two. I left one part plain and added plain yogurt to the second part, so there were 12 total layers: a bright layer and a creamy layer of each color. Allowing each individual layer to set took all day. The end result both delighted and amused me.