SOAP and the Scriptures.

Once again, God's timing is amazing!

I just came across a wondeful way to make scriptures and church lessons more meaningful.  The link below explains it.  I am not using all the canon she uses; I'll use the King James Version of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and this year's study manuals.  I've been wanting something to motivate me to focus in 2012 and this looks like just the key.

I'd also like to thank Angela Pea for leading me to this link. She is a great inspiration in my weight-loss challenge as well. She has been much more successful at it than I.

Anyway, for the Scripture Inspiration, go to:

S.O.A.P

The above pictures are from the LDS media library which is growing very quickly and is a wonderful source for lessons, blogs, and other uses. 

The First Step is to Dream

I made this bank for my own Secret Santa recipient. It is a cocoa can covered with scrapbook paper and stick-ons.  I washed out the cocoa but the scent remained.

The inside is filled with Hershey's Kisses and Hugs.

Her reaction: "It's a cute little bank, and the best part is, it is filled with chocolate!" Gotta get our priorities in the right place!

Simple Picture Frame

I made this for the woman my husband played Secret Santa for at work.

It's a simple wooden frame, covered with striped paper, and a flower sticker attached.  We put in a picture of her daughter that my husband took at a Halloween party.

I simply traced around the frame, inside and out. I cut the straight sides with a paper cutter, then carefully cut around the curves with scissors.

I glued it with--believe it or not--glue stick!  If you wanted it to last a really long time and be fancy, you could use mod-podge, but it tends to wrinkle the paper more, so I didn't do that. I used the all-purpose craft glue that comes with E-6000 glue to attach the paper flower and button.

Sharing the Love

I finished up a sweater for my 10-year-old grand-daughter and she not only loves it, she decided to try to learn to knit. I wish I had more time with her to really teach her. She bought herself some yarn, needles, scissors, and a knitting bag to "take everywhere, just like Grammy."  Her goal is to learn to knit well enough to make a purse that I have a pattern for. 

Christmas Projects

I'm on vacation, but after Christmas, probably after New Year's,  I will have fun posting pictures of all the fun things I did!  I finished a sweater for a grand-daughter and she loves it!

I started a cap for a grandson but I'm not as sure about it.  I've restarted several times, switching needles and counting to 100 umpteen times, and it may still end up too small. Good thing he has a younger cousin! They both like trains and that's the pattern I am using. 

Nativity

The first weekend of December the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hosts a nativity celebration for the community here.  It is a wonderful event, with people from all over the area bringing their creches to share with others.

Besides the displays, there are musical groups performing throughout the two-day open house, and a children's area for the little ones, where they can do crafts and dress up as the characters in the Bible story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

I always like to spend time with children, so I went in and did the craft.  They had run out of beards for Joseph, so I cut the hairpiece and turned it upside down to make a beard.  The table was rough-textured, so I turned crayons sideways to rub the rough texture at the back.  The "wood grain"  is just lines drawn in before I colored.

I always like to put my own little twist on things, so I have Mary holding the baby Jesus, while the manger is full of straw.  One of the little girls wanted pants on Joseph, which gave me the idea to cut a slit in the robe, so my Joseph is wearing pants, and I drew on the clothing design and sandals.

It was on a white paper, but I cut mine out and scanned it on a brown background. I like it enough that I might just straighten it out and glue it on.

Nativity; part II.

My husband always goes and takes pictures, which he posts on his blog, Living Love Photos. This year, I took my collection. I chose a table close to the wall, and set up a bookshelf to feature the smaller pieces. By grouping the white ones together, they really stood out.

The one in the foreground below was my mother's nativity, the one I grew up with. I also have my grandmother's, and now my own set that I raised my children with.

The little set in the middle shelf below, left side, is the set of my grandmother's pieces, with the addition of a bamboo stable my son brought me from the Philippines.

Many of my tiny sets, some of which are shown here, were gifts from my children through the years.  Some of them were actually from the dollar store, and I'm okay with that.  I cherish them all the more for the children's caring and supporting me in my faith and my love of the Nativity.

T-Shirt Dresses

At the beginning of summer, I started t-shirt dresses for the girls. I bought cute t-shirts, so all I had to do was sew the skirts on. A couple of seams, a hem, and a lot of gathering, was all it took.

I have to admit, they ended up wearing summer dresses in the fall.

With that disclaimer, here are the dresses:

Details:

YoYo flowers on the pink one (the ruffle was on the original shirt):

Added ribbon under the original lace of the blue one so it would stand out:

Socks--which I bought at a fundraiser auction for the Boy Scouts:

The girls holding up the dresses:

a little long--maybe it will be just right next summer!

Just about right--and I see she likes the headband that I sent along with her dress:

Sweater Updates

The Birthday Boy in his new sweater.  

It is a little big...room to grow!

He looks like he's not too sure about the bunny!

Little Brother decided he likes the bunny just fine!

The little puzzle was a big hit!

A Not-So-Boring Sweater

After I made a sweater for my grandson, I made a little book to go with it.  The pages are here, followed by some pictures of the sweater.

 

http://www.joyfultoys.bravepages.com/prabbit.html

(Daddy said the boys had vests they wear to church with skulls on them!)

That's the end of the booklet.  Here are a few shots of the finished sweater...(keep in mind that I'm still pretty much a beginner...so it's not perfect, but it's sure fun!)

back

fancy pattern

 hearts

 bricks

 zigzag

Ginger in the sweater

Neckline

Pocket

 Lines

Front  (the sleeves really are the same length, one just folded funny to show off the pocket.

The Bunny

 

Detail of Design....which I may use in a lightweight sweater of my own someday because I think it's pretty. 

Knitting Project Two--Washcloth

I finished this a while ago, and just now got around to taking pictures.

This was another good practice piece as it combines a variety of stitches.  I don't remember the link, but if you just search for "knitted washcloth pattern" it will come up with lots of options.

The eyelets were done with a combination of yarn-overs and then decreases done by knitting two together.  The middle parts are done with stockinette and reverse stockinette, if I remember right. 

You start at a corner, increasing each row until the middle, then decreasing.

Especially for You

This is not my artwork.

Our school/employer did a fundraiser event for Especially for You, which provides free mammograms and medical care for women in need in the community.

My husband volunteered for the airbrushed "tattoo," but he was wearing a long-sleeve shirt with a tie, so the only place he could think of was the top of his head.

He let the artist have free rein, and spent the rest of the day looking like this, which amused and impressed his students.  I'm so proud of him!  I am also proud of our school, ITT-Tech, for being willing to support this event.



Notice the pink tie too. All the staff was asked to wear pink. He had to borrow the tie from our son.