Judah’s Afghan

Judah’s afghan started off being made of granny square’s. I changed my mind mid stream. This afghan seemed like I would never finish it; however I was pleased to finish it even if it was a little late for Judah’s birthday. Judah picked out these colors because they are his favorite. he would have everything in orange and yellow if he had the chance.

Judah was excited to get his afghan. He has slept with it every night since. He can now stop asking when will I be finished with it; however now Serenity is asking the same now that I have started working on hers.

Color Crayon Bible Lesson

All of our children love to color pictures and to draw. They have great imaginations. The down side of children who love to color so much, is that we have a multitude of broken crayons. We gathered all of these broken crayons into a bowl until we were relatively sure that we had them all. The children even searched the depths of the couch under the cushions.  We placed several smaller bowl’s on the table and divided into them the crayons into family color groups (reds-pinks, blues, greens….). As we did this we also were stripping the last of the paper wrappers from them,  I found an old muffin pan that I was willing to sacrifice to this great cause. We placed the crayons into the divisions of the pan by color, and some we made with mixes of colors we liked together.

We placed the pan into the oven pre-heated to 350 degrees. Then once the pan was in the oven on the center rack I turned it off and let them sit for 20-25 minutes. Then removed them and let them cool out of the reach of little fingers. While the pan was cooling we did a bible lesson on Jeremiah and his experience with the potter, in Jeremiah  18:1-6 and the verse in Isaiah 64:8. About how we are clay in the hands of our creator, and how we can let him have control and do a work in our lives.  We also read in 2 Timothy 2:20-26 about the vessels of honor and dishonor and how we can choose to be a vessel unto honor if we allow Him to do this work within us. And for a closing verse we looked at Philippians 4:8 and what kinds of things we are to dwell on. When we were finished they each got a new box of crayons and and a couple pictures to color of some pottery jars. When we knew the pan was cool enough we turned it over on to a sheet of news paper and tapped on the bottom to reveal the new coloring disks we had made, and we talked about how we made something new and useful out of the old. In the same way our creator YHWH looks to do the same in us.

The coloring disks were very pretty. But the tops do not color as well, something in the wax mixture settled to the top and does not color as well. However this was no big deal as the bottoms color very nicely. We made a combined picture showing the top and bottom of the same coloring disk shown below.

Baby Star Afghans

Here are all three finished Star Afghans that I have been working on. You saw the first one on our post Star Baby Afghan (Eight Point). I mentioned then we would post on the second one when I finished it, but then got caught up making a third. Well here they are all together. Perfect set if we ever have triplets.    

This pink, blue and purple one, I used three strands together (soft purple, pink, and white), to make that portion thicker to match the other larger sized yarn. But it was also nice that it gave a pretty mix of color to make it more interesting to the eye. Although the camera didn’t show it as much more than just a pink. It looked better in real life as many things do.

I wrapped the girls cabbage patch kids in the afghans to see how they will fit for a baby. Plus it was fun. Then Vision wanted to be wrapped up too.

Benches for the Garden

Jason and Judah had a fun time working together making some benches to put in the yard and garden. They used up some of our old scrap lumber we had stacked in a pile. Jason used a simple design. He notched out of the leg a place for a 1×4 or 1×6 to fit on each side. With the 1×6 screwed in place, it adds to the stability of the bench by allowing you to attach the top of the bench to the legs as well as to the 1×6. The result was a strong bench.

We made four benches so far, two five feet long and two four feet long. Judah put a couple of them together by himself. Some of the wood we used was seconds from a saw mill that were less than perfect because they had bark edges and not wide enough on that cut for a full board. However these made for a nice bench top since they were naturally curved for a slightly rounded top.

When we got them all set out and finished Judah said they looked like they were set out for a church service. Judah also liked using the sander and was able to make that old weathered wood look nice.

Star Baby Afghan (Eight Point)

I worked on this afghan off an on this last week. I always wanted to make a star afghan. I found the pattern for free HERE. It was fun and something different from the other projects I have been working on. I have been planning a regular twin size afghan for each of the children’s beds. I started Judah’s and Serenity’s but ran out of yarn. So while I was waiting for their yarn to come in the mail, this little project was a nice break. I am making a second star afghan like this one, but using a different order for the colors. When I get it finished I will post it here for you to see the difference in the look by just reordering the colors.

New Toy~ Light Up Crochet Hook

I bought this light up crochet hook from JOANN’s on line. This one is a size 8 or H. I bought this neat toy to possibly help make crocheting easier when using dark colors like the dark purple yarn I am using now. It does seem to help. That makes me feel more justified in getting this neat gadget. The pictures were hard to get correct, it was one extreme or the other.  In one the flash made it look like the hook was not lit up at all, and the other it looked like a blazing light saber. Just try to imagine something in between.

Wooden Treasure

I received this beautiful wooden tray from my father in Arkansas. It is made of beautiful black walnut, and has very nice joints. He sent it disassembled, for Jason to glue up and clamp. I couldn’t wait to use it, although Jason can not put any sealer on it until the weather warms up so he can do that out side. We had popcorn and brownies for dessert in the living room so it was nice to serve with such a nice tray. I may use it for some more important treasures after it is sealed and finished. We all laughed at the picture of me holding the tray because it looks like the horses on my shirt are ready to eat.

Quiver Stitch

I was flipping through my crochet book to look for something new to try and I found this quiver stitch. I tried it in blue and yellow to better be able to the contrast. In the picture you can see it in a solid. It looks like it could be a fun one to try. Maybe you will see it here in the future in finished form.  But for now I still have several more big projects to get done.

Wooden Menorah

Here are a few pictures of Jason making our new wooden menorah. The base is made from a Spruce burrow cut through the middle. It made a perfect stand. Then he notched the small log growing out of the top of the borrow, so the cross piece would set in place securely. Then he cut the cross piece (or arms) and drilled the 3/4 inch holes for the candles. Next in the middle he drilled a one inch whole for the vertical log that holds the Shamash (the Servant candle).

The vertical log was glued in place with Gorilla Glue after pre-drilling and screwing the cross arm in place. You can see the “worm tracks” in the wood zig zagging back and forth giving lots of character, the same as the log railing we made.

Handmade Toys Will Now Be Illegal…

My friends in blogger land, I found out about this today. But I can hardly believe this and I am concerned for the little people who had hopes of small business, making handmade items or crafts like wooden cars or baby booties. The far reaching implications  this measure could have on the small business industry as a whole could be devastating.

Below is a bit from Liz and Kristen from CoolMomPicks.com I could not expound on this any better than  what they have done.

Of course we’re all for strengthening the safety standards of mass-produced toys made in China, and banning toxins like phthalates and lead. But this year, the CPSC passed the ill-conceived Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act which goes into effect in two months and will absolutely decimate the small toy manufacturers, independent artisans, and crafters who have already earned the public trust.

They will all go out of business. Period.

Moms who sew beautiful handmade waldorf dolls out of home, artists who have spent decades hand-carving trucks and cars out of natural woods, that guy at the craft show who sold you the cute handmade puzzle–even larger US companies who employ local workers and have not once had any sort of safety issue will no longer be able to sell their toys. Not without investing tens of thousands of dollars into third-party testing and labeling, just to prove that toys that never had a single chemical in them still don’t have a single chemical in them.

In other words, handmade toys will now be illegal.

So many of our past reviewees are pleading for your help. Here’s what you can do:

• Find your congress person and senators and write a letter like the sample here, particularly if they serve on the consumer protection subcommittee.
• Send a letter directly to the CPSC.
• Join the Handmade Toy Alliance and check out their proposed changes to the act which make a whole lot of sense.
• Vote for amending the law on Change.org, digg style: With enough votes it will be presented to President Obama in January!
• Spread the word to everyone you know who cares about helping the little guy, particular in today’s economy.

Thanks mamas. We know we can help make a difference and preserve this important cottage industry, keep good honest people in business, and protect the playthings we all love best of all. -Liz and Kristen and the whole CMP staff

Edited to add: It would seem this act impacts not just toys, but all children’s products including clothing, hair accessories, shoes – pretty much everything we feature on CoolMomPicks.com. Please please, if you do one thing today, shoot off an email or two, will you?

It almost sounds like a bad dream, an email hoax. Just need to wake up or get of the old comunit Russia. We need to get involved, email your congress person today.