Origami Birthday Card

Martha Stewart had some "Antique-Style Valentines" in her Craft of the Day section of her website. I don't know about the antique part, but to me they looked like origami fun. I love origami and we had a 5 year-old's birthday party to go to on Saturday, so it was the perfect project for me.

They were super easy to make. Martha's direction are a little confusing. In the comments, there is a link to a video tutorial on another blog that make it so much easier to understand.

All you need is one square piece of paper. I used a 12"X12" piece of scrapbooking paper.

In the picture above, you can see how the finished project looks. It folds into itself and becomes its own envelope.

Here's how it looks when it's opened up. Blogger won't let me turn the picture straight! Sorry! I used paper that had a bar code and brand name written on the back, so I cut a 4"X4" piece of coordinating paper to cover the writing on the finished card.

At the party, I had so many parents asking me how I made it, that the birthday kid's mom brought out a piece of paper and asked me to demonstrate. Talk about pressure! I had to rack my brain and make it work on the fly. Luckily, my memory didn't fail me and was able to duplicate it without the tutorial in front of me.

A cool thing that I learned about these is that they truly are "antique-style valentines." The tutorial says that these are called "puzzle purses" and that they were exchanged as early as the 1790's. I love the history behind it. That makes a successful valentine even sweeter!

Oh, Christmas Tree!

We have a family tradition of going to the Christmas Tree Farm with some dear friends of ours. We have several local tree farms to choose from so the location isn't the tradition but the friends and tree are. We have been doing this for nearly 10 years.

In years past, we haven't planned ahead very well and both families end up scrambling to clear schedules to find a mutual time that works. Not this year. We set this tree excursion up weeks ago. It was so nice to have it already planned and on the calendar.

We have never gone in November before but that's what worked, so we went with it. I'm glad we did. The weather was glorious! Usually, we trek through mud and slush with the wind blowing through our layers of clothing and chilling us to our bones. Not this year. The weather was perfect. The kids were well behaved...all 5 of them from the two families combined. Because we had planned ahead, we also planned enough time afterwards to go out to lunch together and try a new restaurant.

Oh, what a lesson to learn from this. A little planning truly does go a long way!

Good times! Now the Christmas season has truly begun.

Ironed Leaves

I was talking with a friend recently and she mentioned a craft involving a way to incorporate the beautiful fall leaves. She told me how to do it and my response was skeptical. (Sorry, Deanna!) My response was, "Seriously, you iron them?" and "Are you sure you use wax paper?" She assured me that this was the correct process and so I gave it a try.

We gathered all the necessary supplies.

We folded a leave between the wax paper.

We put a towel over the wax paper and ironed it.

Then, I cut out a construction paper frame and we glued it over the wax paper. Then, I had my daughter write each member of our family under one of the leaves with a white crayon.

Don't they look fantastic hanging in our front window?!?!? Here are the individual shots of each of the leaves...

Unique Gourd

Yesterday, at the craft fair that we went to, I ran into a friend that I haven't seen since before I had children. We used to work together and I miss the friendship that we once had. I was so pleased to be able to introduce my children to her. They were enamored with some pumpkins and gourds that she had decorated her craft booth with. Since it was nearly time for her to take down her booth, she let both of the kids pick one out to take home.

My daughter picked out a "princess pumpkin." One that looks like the pumpkin that turned into Cinderella's coach.

My son picked out this one...

I thought it was a beautiful gourd and I was curious to learn what kind it was. My friend did not know so I came home and looked it up. I got my answer here. It's called a Turks Turban (Cucurbita maxima) and although we only plan on using it as a decoration, we learned that it's edible too!

Fun Fall Day

Whew! Today was a busy, fun-filled day. Where do I start? How about a list of things I learned or tried today and a picture for each one...

1. I learned from a hard-core fisherman that fish in the pond behind our house are biting on "Rooster Tails." Despite all the stuff in there, we don't have "Rooster Tails" in our tackle box.





2. I learned that both kiddos tire of fishing when there are no fish being caught and the wild outdoors bid them to play.



3. I learned (while the hubby tried to fish and we went exploring) that my daughter can climb a tree. Yep, all. by. herself!



4. I learned that wandering aimlessly through a corn maze with a sleeping 16 month old on your back is REALLY tiring. Wandering through with some friends and their family makes up for it though.






5. I learned that when there is nothing to look at but corn at your sides and wood chips at your feet...look up! The clouds were magnificent today!






6. I learned that some hens and roosters like to perch on evergreen tree branches. Now that's an interesting site.

   



7. I've never seen a hen with her chicks tucked under wings except for in pictures. It was the cutest thing! The chicks didn't peek out from underneath her, they poked their heads right up through her feathers.
   
   


8. I got to meet this little guy. Can you guess the name? This is Tina Turner...
   
9. We met Grandma and Grandpa at a festival in a local park. From the moment we arrived, our daughter noticed the big blow up bouncy things. She really wanted to play in them. However, there were just too many kids trying to play in them. And, they were big kids who were being really rough. Instead of crying or throwing a fit, she simply said, "Could we go play at the park instead?" Once we were at the park, she looked at me and said, "This is much more peaceful, isn't it?" I sure do love that girl!!!

   

10. I learned from a crafter at the craft fair who was willing to share tips on how to properly cut gourds. This is a skill I have tried but never mastered. I have so many dried out gourds around here that I hang onto in hopes that I will figure it out. This talented lady inspired me to try again. Here are some pictures of the ones I bought from her...

Wow, it was a busy day... fishing, the pumpkin farm, and the community festival. I feel exhausted but content. I love my family and days like these are so much fun to spend together.

Crock-Pot Chicken

I am trying to make good use of the chest freezer that we got this year. I'd love to make more double meals and freeze half. I am working on this but we still have tons of room. I try to stock up on meat when it is on sale. One thing that I have been doing is freezing cooked chicken breasts cut into strips. We can unthaw as many or as little as we want. I can put them frozen in my husband's lunchbox and by the time he eats his lunch, they're thawed. They're perfect for tossing into a salad, putting into a tortilla with some veggies, or making a quick meal for the kiddos. It's definitely healthier that giving them frozen chicken nuggets!

Anyways, as successful as this has been, the chicken has been very dry. I've done the chicken on the grill and after it's thawed out, it needs some sort of sauce to balance the dryness of the meat. I thought that using my crock-pot might help alleviate this problem. I looked online and was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of recipes. I just wanted a simple way to cook the chicken not a full blown chicken dinner. So, I called my friend, Deanna, who has been using her crock-pot a lot, for some advice. I have never done chicken in the crock-pot but she has. Per her suggestions, I placed 3 pounds of chicken breasts and two chicken bullion cubes in about 4 inches of water. The results were fantastic. The chicken was moist right out of the crock-pot (of course!). Now that it has frozen, I tried a piece and it seems to be better. My hubby says that he misses the grilled taste but that the moisture content is closer to normal.

Backyard Event

Tomorrow night, our family is hosting a gathering in our backyard for candidate for US Congress. Hopefully, we will be joined by others in our community who would like to learn about their options in the election. The weather this week has been unpredictable and it looks like it may rain or at the very least be a little chilly. My hubby mentioned this to a co-worker who offered to loan us a 10x20 foot canopy and an outdoor heater. What a blessing! Tonight with the help of the co-worker, his girlfriend, my father-in-law, and my hubby we got it all set up. We just happen to use outdoor hanging lights in our playroom, so we moved those outside under the canopy.

I've never used a propane heater before but it sure does send out the heat! It reminds me of what I would imagine it to be like if you were to warm your hands on a jet engine. Now, we have a dry place to meet with a source of heat and plenty of light. The stress I was feeling yesterday about this event is gone. Now, all I need to do is get the tables and chairs under there, get the food and drinks ready and hope that people come...I can't wait!

Going to the Zoo-oo-oo! How about You-oo-oo!

We went with some friends to the zoo today.

We learned a lot. I'll let the zoo signs and photographs tell you some of the most interesting things we learned. (To read a sign in a larger size, click on the picture)

We learned about how rhinos mark their territory. Yuck...

What a way to pick a place to live...

The strange ways that Kangaroos rest...

We learned how the Zoo helps penguins...

We learned about how Lemurs are fed in captivity...

We learned about the Zookeepers jobs...

We learned that bats could hold the cure for heart attacks and strokes...

Of course we learned about one of my favorites, the goats...

And, how to brush them...

We learned about fish, inside and out...

We learned how to identify different types of sharks and stingrays...

Daddy and the 4 year old learned what they felt like too...

Even my cup of Dr. Pepper taught me fun facts...

All four kiddos from both families learned that elephants are BIG! That is the one animal that our daughter requested to see. While we were walking toward the elephants, she exclaimed, "How come they're so big!"

She has only seen them in pictures and she told us that she thought they were MUCH smaller. She was truly amazed at their immense size.

The baby just kept pointing at them and saying, "Oo - oo!" He kept making the sign that he uses when he wants something. He was rather disappointed to learn that he would NOT be touching.

I AM EXHAUSTED! It was a fun day but there were ZERO naps taken until our car ride home. Morning and afternoon naps were missed. The kids were incredibly well behaved but I am all tuckered out. Good Night.

Sewing Machine Tension

I have been working on a gift for a friend. I started a week and a half ago and I am having a terrible time with my sewing machine. The stitches on the top of the material look great but the stitches underneath are a jumbled mess! Here I sit, merrily sewing along, blissfully unaware that underneath my project trouble is brewing. This blissfulness is interrupted by an abrupt stop of my needle. The machine completely stops and either moans at me or the thread snaps...either of which is not good.

I have been to too many sewing websites than I care to count. All have offered me tons and tons of troubleshooting advice. I called and called and called the Singer helpline and every time I called, the message told me that they were only available during certain hours and that if it wasn't those hours to call back during those specific hours... never mind the fact that is WAS within those hours! I have even gotten the sage advice of my mother-in-law who is quite the seamstress. All to no avail!

However, I have learned all about the tension of my machine and how to adjust it. I have learned how to remove the needle plate, clean the feed dogs, and how to clean and lubricate the hook in the bobbin case. (I learned what feed dogs are!) I relearned how to thread the bobbin (just in case that was the trouble) and how to thread the upper thread (just in case again). I've relearned how to change the needle.

I learned all that and somehow something worked. My machine is now working and today I was able to finish this project. I have no idea what the problem was but one of the million things that I tried actually worked and now I can sew!

The project that I have been working on is a Gratitude Wrap following the free pattern by Soulemama. Thank goodness it's done!

The pockets of this wrap are supposed to be filled with some items intended for writing notes of gratitude. However, this is headed to a friend who has a close friend moving. I am hoping that this, in a small way, will help to make the distance between these two not seem so far. So, this is not so much a gratitude wrap as it is a friendship across the miles wrap.

I included a set of note cards embellished with scrap booking paper and stickers...

A notebook recovered with scrapbook paper, brown tape and a bow...

Every time I read what's on that notebook, I think it says, "Oh the joys of wild living!" Funny.

Dino shirt stencil

Today, I tried a new way of doing freezer paper stencils... painting with two tones. I took the positive image and painted the negative with two colors. I used green for a grass effect and blue for a sky effect. I didn't wait for one color to dry before starting on the other. I wanted them to blend together a bit.

I was happy with how it turned out and hopefully the five year old birthday boy will think so too!