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Fruit Loop Patterns - a simple math lesson

I have been homeschooling our boys for 8 years now. I remember doing all the fun preschool activities with my first two boys. We had so much fun playing and learning. Then they got older and almost overnight, they lost interest in fun activities. Instead we focused on reading, writing stories and reports, watching the History Channel and National Geography and doing science experiments. While we were learning with my older boys, I started teaching my 3rd son reading, writing and math. However, I never did repeat the playful learning activities. I realized  that even though my barely 6 year old child has an amazing vocabulary and can tell you about the "special cells in your blood that eat the old cells" and can easily talk about Jupiter and Mars or even understands slavery, he missed out on the simple fun of learning.

  I started  changing our homeschool to help my younger 2 boys have fun and learn through playing. This morning we talked about patterns and made Fruit Loop Bracelets. We talked about how each pattern has a beginning and an end. How patterns repeat the same cycle and while they were making (and eating) their Fruit Loop bracelets, I set up a few patterns for them.

What comes next? So much more fun then using plastic links!

YARN ALONG

I am joining in the Yarn Along along with Rachel. I always think about posting in-progress pictures of projects, but I never get around to. This is great excuse and maybe it'll even motivate me to finish them sooner!

On my nightstand:

 Feelings Burried Alive Never Die - I am going to be the first to admit that I have a lot of emotional baggage. While I may not agree with everything the author says, in general I do believe that  thoughts and attitude shape our choices, who we become and our future. I was born in a country famous for depression and its citizens' negative attitude. Since moving to the USA, I did change. I was able to gain some ground on controlling my negative side, but in recent years the challenges I have been facing have left a huge emotional mark and I feel I lost the balance I gained. I am about 1/4 through the book, so far so good.

Suite Francaise - I started this book a few years ago and never finished it. It got lost in a pile of stuff only to be found recently. This book is a hidden gem. 1940, Paris. The Nazis are pushing into Paris to occupy it. I love how vividly the author describes the different emotions and how people can do things they never imagined doing in extreme circumstances. 

The Cleansing of America - I am a fan of W.C. Skousen and his work. His understanding of the gospel is inspiring.

The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos - just got it! I hope to improve my photography skills. Since I only have a little point and shoot, most photography books are completely useless to me. 

A Murder of Quality - a spy novel. Just barely started. 

Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling - Just put it on my nightstand. Seriously. Maybe a couple of hours before I saw Rachel's post. But it is there, which means I will read it. Or at least start.

Now, let's see what's on my needles.

 Box cardigan in the making....with a beautiful self striping cotton yarn!

And socks...super soft merino wool.

On My Needles and Nightstand

I spotted this yarn along on Small Things this morning in my feed reader and found the idea so charming I had to participate.  She says:

 Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs.  I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

Knitting and reading happen to be two of my favorite things also, and I enjoyed looking through the pictures linked up and reading about what people are reading and creating.  Here's mine:

I'm nearly finished with a pair of wool socks I started for myself a few weeks ago.  Toe up, two at a time on two circular needles.  I had a hankering for some Pippy Longstocking socks, I think these colors give that vibe, don't you agree?  Starting at the top of the book stack, I've been pretty diligent with my daily scripture reading lately, prodded by my seven year old son who wants to finish the Book of Mormon before he turns eight and gets baptized in March.  My day always goes better when I start it off with scripture.  As far as literature goes, I vowed at the beginning of the year to read one book at a time and just finish it before starting another one.  Unfortunately, I started with Middlemarch, and that's proving to be a book I can only read so much of at a time, and it's over 800 pages long.  I'm enjoying it, but I need something lighter sometimes.  Also, I keep coming across great book suggestions on various blogs and checking them out from the library, so of course they have to be read and returned.  Bird by Bird, a non-fiction book on writing by Anne Lamott is charming so far, I've only scratched the surface.  The next two are both Cybils finalists I'm pre-screening for my kids.  The Inquisitors Apprentice feels a little convoluted to me, but I like the characters.  I just noticed the authors name on the spine, Moriarty.  I wonder if that's a pen name, a nod to Sherlock Holmes nemesis.  Icefall, I actually finished already, but I'm reading it aloud to the children.  I can't say enough wonderful things about it- it has everything you could hope for.  Great writing, good storytelling, likeable and engaging characters, a plot suspenseful enough to keep you guessing 'til the end, and the whole thing is a deep metaphor for the power of words and storytelling and faith to change the world.  Definitely a must-read.  Not pictured, I just realized, is Blackout, by Connie Willis, which I've already finished, but the kids and I are listening to it together on Audible.  It's not written for kids, but it's great and really brings World War II London alive.  Wendell Berry is at the bottom of the stack, and I'm actually listening to his volume of short stories, That Distant Land, on Audible, and I must have loaned out my paper copy so A Place on Earth is standing in for it.  Wendell Berry's writing is part of my personal cannon, only below scripture in it's life-changing significance to me.  I've read all of his novels and many of his essay collections, but I'm winding through them on audio, just for fun.  So that's what's on my needles and on my nightstand!

A Lovely Christmas Present

I was so lucky to get this Musterbuch (German for 'book of patterns or samples') from my sister-in-law. She found it in an antique shop in Poznan, Poland where she lives and thankfully thought of me! I have seen collections of tatting, fine crocheting, ribbon lace, embroidery, etc. like this in museums and always longed for something similar for myself, but have yet to do such intricate work myself.

Inside the embroidered fabric wrapping, are 3 thick sheets of paper, each mounted with beautiful samples of tatting, fine crochet work and, I believe, ribbon lace.

Temple Wall Art

 Recently I saw Mandy's (Sugar Bee Craft) Giant Picture Tutorial. I knew it would be great for many things and I pinned it for later. Then, I read President Thomas S. Monson's challenge for 2012 and I felt it was really important for me to do something to help us remember his wise words. I do believe that if we follow his counsel, we will have a much more fulfilling life.
After reading through his talk several times, I decided on what I wanted to use.

Attitude - we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

Believe - in yourself, in those around you and in eternal principles.

Courage - to face whatever challenges may come our way.

It is a fairly long quote, not something I wanted to stencil.  At first I was going to try vinyl but felt that was going to take longer than I wanted, then I thought about printing it out and frame it, but that would have been too small to see. Back to Mandy's great idea - it was perfect for my purpose. I just needed a picture. I asked my talented sister-in-law, Carlen if she had a picture of the Seattle Temple I could use. She takes wonderful pictures and I really hoped she had some. Thankfully she did, although they were from a friend of hers. She kindly offered to go and take pictures for me if that was not what I wanted. The pictures she sent were perfect, just what I needed. I added the text, then went over to Staples to have them print it out. I asked for 2 engineer's sizes, I was not sure how big I wanted it to be.

This is the picture I used with the added text.

I used black foam boards from Hobby Lobby and they worked out great. 

Katara Pajamas for my Avatar the Last Airbender fan

My oldest wanted a Halloween costume as Katara from Avatar the Last Airbender, but this last Halloween was not the best time for it- (not that Christmas time is much better!)  I bought a pajama pattern to use to make it and ended up not even opening it.

Finished

First, I found a dress and shirt that I knew fit her well and used them as the base for the pattern. I allowed extra room around the chest and waist since these are pj's and she is very particular about comfort.

Pattern like I want it to look before adding seam allowances and pattern pieces

I drew with rulers and careful hand the entire layout of the dress. Then I folded it down the center and made sure it was symmetrical (change drawing/trim to even out).

Paper placed over Pattern and traced to make smaller pieces of the pattern.

Next, I put the tracing paper over the full drawn dress and made each piece by tracing and adding seam allowances.

 Always remember to do seam allowances if you make a pattern!

Close-up to pattern pieces

Purple pieces

White trim pieces

Cut and Ready to Sew

Cut and place on the appropriate fabrics and cut and sew!  If you have a basic knowledge of how a garment is pieced together, you should be fine.  This one didn't have sleeves! Yea! That's the beauty of making your own patterns- you make them as simple as you want.

She loves wearing this to bed, and it looks so cute on her!

Crafty Kids: Get Creative with Food

I've had a love/hate relationship with Martha Stewart Living for years, I love looking at all the pictures and getting inspired, but I hate how it makes me feel like my real life will never be good enough.  I subscribed once or twice, and the magazines would pile up month by month, hanging around the house as reminders of all those great projects I was never getting around to doing.  Then I stopped subscribing and just let myself pick up an issue once a year or so.  But somehow, the latest issue showed up in my mailbox, with my name on it.  I don't remember subscribing, but there it was.  I paged through it and realized that it's not so daunting these days, partly because my kids are older and my life runs a little more smoothly, with more time for creativity, and partly because this blog has kept me more on the ball in following through on my crafty inspirations.  The first thing I spotted were some delicious looking coconut macaroons with a pool of luscious caramel in the middle.  This is one of those, "Why didn't I ever think of that?" moments.  Macaroons are so easy to make, why did I never think to make them as thumbprint cookies and fill them with something delicious?  

I got my daughters on it right away, isn't is great that they're old enough to cater to my whims?  Of course they were as excited about the cookies as I was.  The two of them, along with their seven year old cousin, mixed up the cookies all by themselves and baked them.  For the macaroon part we used this tried and true recipe from the Baker's coconut bag, it's so easy, you just mix everything up in one bowl, the only thing they needed help with was separating the egg whites from the yolks.

 By the time we got to the carmel step I'd lost two helpers, but my eleven year old helped me melt some caramel candies along with a little milk, and she spooned it into the cookies.  They came out beautiful and delicious!  Next up, we're going to try some with nutella, mmm....

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THE PERSONALITY NECKLACE - and how to attach front drilled pendants to a necklace

I finished a new jewelry project last night and showed it off to Wendy today. When I asked her what she thought, her answer was : "That's a personality necklace." She nailed it. This necklace does need someone with the right personality!

I designed it around the gorgeous blue, large sliced agate pendant. It took me a while to find the right beads, shapes, colors....finally it feels everything came together. I wish I had a glass display case, I could just put it in there and admire it.

I have always been fascinated by stones and I love the look of sliced agate pendants. Finally I was able to use one I absolutely love.  And I got to use one my favorite findings! I have been asked before what are some tools or materials I always use or could not do without when it comes to jewelry making. First, it's wire protectors! These little bitty horseshoe shaped findings help prevent fraying at the clasp.

Reversible Bag

{ If you subscribe, you got the first bit of this post already thanks to my 2 year old, who cleverly figured out how to publish a post, while I was working on it.} 

This simple bag was inspired by drawstring bags. I have always liked the simplicity of drawstring bags.  I was doodling around one day, trying to figure out how to make a drawstring bag have a more grown-up look, but still keeping the casual side also....and slowly this bag began to take shape. The drawing has been sitting around for a while and I even forgot about it, until recently I came across my notes (thank goodness for early spring cleaning!) Finally I sat down to make the pattern and a bag. As I was picking the fabric from my stash, I had a hard time choosing. I loved the yellow and the gray fabric too. Sometimes being indecisive works out great, because after spending too much time on trying to figure out if I wanted the mustard yellow linen on the outside or the gray canvas on the outside, it was easier to alter the original pattern to make the bag reversible.

SPOTLIGHT - Story-gami

For Christmas, I gave my 8-year old an origami kit called Story-gami by Michael LaFosse and Richard Alexander. This has been an absolute hit and I thought I'd share it with you. Included in the kit are origami (Japanese folding) paper, a book and a DVD with great little story adventures that result in a beautiful origami work.

My 5-year old has been able to do these as well: each day I'm in charge of pausing the video while my two kids go through the demonstrated fold which comes as part of the story. We love this kit; the nice, kid-friendly storytelling approach to creating something quite intricate out of a mere square of paper is excellently done.

Lemon-Rosemary Cookies

Lemon-Rosemary Cookies

I made these awesome cookies over the Christmas holidays to give them to family members and neighbors . It seemed kind of strange at first to mix up something as savory as Rosemary into the cookies but believe me, they are worth it ! Plus I am always trying to think out of the box when it comes to cooking, I guess I get bored too easily. Or I am just too spoiled by my family ( both of my brothers are chefs, one in Scotland the other in Hungary ). So I guess I'm also trying to show them that I could cook something edible too : ) My point is, try things that seem weird or strange at first, you might be surprised how delicious these concussions turn out to be.

Lemon-Rosemary cookies

1 c butter ( softened)

3/4 c sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbs chopped, fresh rosemary

2 tsp grated lemon zest

2 1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

Mix the butter, egg, sugar until creamy. Add remaining ingredients, then let the dough chill in the fridge for an hour. Heat oven to 375 F . Make little dough balls and place them on cookie sheet, bake them for 10-12 min. I like my cookies on the chewy side and my oven has a mind of it's own and if I don't pay attention to her she becomes very temperamental, so I took the cookies out at 10 min. Let them cool and sprinkle them with powdered sugar. They are so beautiful to look at and they taste amazing!

BTW I named my oven Gertrude.

Handmade Sketchbook

I'm pretty pleased with the sketchbook I made for myself on Thursday. It was very easy to make (just paper sewn together basically) and I like the unusual but nice square shape. I've started doodling in it already!

Articles of Faith Chain

I made these this morning as a model for my Activity Day girls to see.  Every time they pass off memorizing and understanding an Article of Faith, they will add a number representing it. 

Last year, we tried to teach them basic macrame and then use that to put the numbers on, but it took longer than we expected.  I like the ball chain- more durable and easy to add to.

Ivory Soap Explosion Experiment

I saw this fun science experiment on Making Memories With Your Kids and did a quick research to find more information. I promise you this is so much fun, you will not regret it!

What you need: 1 bar of Ivory soap (or more) quartered, 1 bar different brand of soap

First of all, let your kids hold the soap bars and compare how they feel. The first thing they should notice is the difference in weight. Ivory soap is much lighter than any other brand. You can ask the kids why is one brand of soap is so much lighter than the other. If they answer that there must be more air inside the Ivory soap....they are right. You can always do a buoyancy test too. Ivory soap will float, while other brands will sink.

Crocheted Scarf

I did it! I finally turned my soft and snuggly Lion Brand Homespun yarn into a soft and snuggly scarf! And although it took me longer than 90 minutes (as was 'advertised' on http://craftdisasters.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-gifts-90-minute-scarves.html), I will admit that I ripped it out multiple times because I was inept at turning and counting. (Okay, I was trying to watch some movies at the same time.) I also made it twice as wide. But the extra width covers my neck very well and it is super warm.

Pattern and Instructions For Roll-Up (Wood Carving) Tool Case

I was asked by one of our readers to share the pattern for the simple wood carving tool case I made for my son. With small adjustments in size you can customize this for anything: markers, knitting needles, crochet hooks, crayons, play tool set etc.

 Since I did not take pictures of the process, I get to show off my amazing drawing skills....

Material list:

• double fold bias tape
• lining (I used canvas)
• fabric (I used faux leather)
• quilter's cotton batting or felt
• 2 D-rings
• 1 inch elastic

Spotlight: Words of Encouragement

Ira Glass is the consummate storyteller, one of those people who's so good at what he does he makes it look deceptively easy.  His words here apply to any creative endeavor, so I thought I'd share them here, with all the wonderful creative people who write and read this blog.  We can be so impatient with ourselves when we're learning new things, so quick to give up.  I chide my kids for this tendency even while recognizing it in myself.  It's like Dora's 5 year old said last week, "I want to be good at drawing WITHOUT practicing."  Adults, and even older kids, would know better than to say that out loud, but isn't it what we secretly feel?

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

I've transcribed the words as best I could for those, like me, who may be reading this feed off their phone, and may not be able to watch the video:

"Nobody tells people who are beginners, and I really wish someone had told this to me, is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it, and we get into it because we have good taste, but it's like there's a gap.  That for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good, okay?  It's not that great.  It's trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it's not quite that good.  But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, your taste is still killer, and your taste is still good enough that you can tell, that what you're making is kind of a disappointment to you, you know what I mean? A lot of people never get past that phase, a lot of people at that point they quit.  And the thing I would just like to say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting, creative work, they went through a phase of YEARS, where they had really good taste, and they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as they wanted it to be, they knew it fell short, it didn't have the special thing that we wanted it to have.  And, the thing what to do is...everybody goes through that, and for you to go through it, if you're going through it right now, if you're just getting out of that phase, you've gotta know it's totally normal, and the most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work, do a huge volume of work, put yourself on a deadline so every week or every month you know you're going to finish one story.  Because it's only by actually going through a volume of work that you are actually going to catch up and close that gap.  And the work you're making will be as good as your ambitions.  In my case, I took to figure out how to do this than anybody I've ever met.  It's takes awhile, it's going to take you awhile, it's normal to take awhile and you just have to FIGHT. YOUR WAY. THROUGH THAT."

I love the point he makes, that if you're starting a creative endeavor, and you can tell that what you're doing is inferior, then great!  It shows you have good taste.  And I love his advice on how to cross that gap, how to get to the place where your output matches the vision in your head.  I watched it twice and made all my kids watch it, too.  Many thanks for one of my new favorite blogs, Amber June Studios, for posting it.

Craft Kids: Make Their Own Birthday Gifts

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Simple Comfort Food - Meat & Veggie Loaf

Over the holidays we have been overindulged with delicious foods made by my mother-in-law. Now it's time to come back to reality and the best way is a healthful way - less calories, limited portions and old-fashioned good taste. I've modified a Weight Watcher's recipe for this Meat & Veggie Loaf that we all love. It is delicious, full of nice shredded veggies and fairly simple to make.

Timeless Pearl Earrings Gift Idea

Late last year, I made a pair of white pearl earrings to send to a friend. I wanted to create a timeless design that will withstand the quickly changing trends and can be worn anytime knowing that you will look great.

Right before I put them in the gift box, I snapped a couple of pictures then mailed them.

 Fast forward to this year...

Raspberry Supreme

Does your New Year's Resolution include any of the following:

1. loosing weight, 
2. eating healthier, 
3. swearing off desserts

 If your answer is 'yes' to any of the above, stop reading right now, because I am going to tempt you with a sinfully delicious dessert!

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While we were busy with our early 'spring cleaning' marathon, I found this recipe in one of my storage boxes.