The part I am loving most about Sarah taking on the role of craft group coordinator is her fresh energy and ideas. She saw a little doll like these and then set out to find someone willing to come along and show the rest of us how to make one. These swaddle dolls, like their makers, each have their own personality ~ some are sleeping, others are wide awake, some are snuggled tightly, others prefer looser wraps, some tiny, others buxom. I love them all. They are very simple really and quite a few of us completed our dolls in the three hours set aside for crafting before the younger children finished their half school day. A few still had pins in them - neat stiches will replace them soon enough.
A selection of New Testament worksheets including crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, secret codes, word search puzzles and more.
There is some debate about whether there will be a 5th Indiana Jones movie, but IO9 recently shared a neglected sacred item that would be worth of the
Today my friend Helen came to share with us how to make a sweet little first doll for a baby from a recycled woollen garment. Helen moved to Australia from New Zealand at the beginning of this year and she brought with her some lovely ideas from the craft group at the Steiner school her daughters attended there. This little doll is not new, rather it is in a classic 'Steiner' style ~ simple, natural fibres and no facial features; what makes it a little different is its lavender 'heart'. We added a small sprinkle of dried lavender flowers wrapped in fleece when we stuffed the bodies to soothe the wee ones off to sleep. Helen also explained that when she was taught to make these little dolls they made them with the inside outside. The reason was because it had been worn by another turing it inside out gave it a new side. Helen didn't mind at all when I asked if it was ok to share today's session in the blog sphere; so I took pictures as we went. They are a bit dodgy tho because I only had my phone camera on me. Everything I write from now on is a bit, shall we say 'organic' ~ there isn't really a pattern or a size; there is a general shape tho! here goes: The picture above shows the shape you need, the (very rough) dimensions of this piece were 13" by 5" and curve your corners. Next make a head. To do that get some fleece and starting small, wind up a tight ball shape until it is the size you need; keep in mind that babies have big heads ~ the proportions are 1/3 head 2/3 body. These dolls are more like 1/4 head 3/4 body...but they are in sleeping bags! Now stitch up your side seams ~ right sides together. You could do this on a machine or by hand using either running stitch or back stitch. Fold it in half lengthwise and starting on one folded edge side, stitch down and around the curve ~ REMEMBER you want to leave a hole in the centre bottom big enough to get your head through so don't keep going all the way round! Start back at the other folded edge and come back down and round the curve leaving a gap. Ok now you put your head in. You will need a length of linen or other strong thread ready to tie off your head. Turn your fabric right way out and fold in in half to find the exact centre on the top edge (not the curved bottom edge with the opening) put in a pin vertically at that point and then push your balled up head fleece through the opening and up to the pin. The pin will hold the ball securish while you pull and stretch the fabric down around it. You are aiming for a neat ball with as few wrinkles as you can manage. Holding the stretched head in one hand wrap your linen thread tightly around the 'neck' of the ball to secure the shape. I wrap three times and knot three times, but whatever works for you. Once you have done that you will have a couple of linen threads hanging loose. Thread them into a needle and pull them through into the inside of the doll to hide them. Ok. if you would like to add a lavender heart here is how. Pull off a longish piece of fleece and lay it across your palm, then add another across the opposite way (so you have a cross or X) pinch up some dried lavender flowers and sprinkle them into the centre of the cross and then carefully wrap first one side, then the other and keep repeating the process til you have a neat little bundle - give it a squeeze to release the heady fragrance. Stuff the doll so that it is cuddly and has plenty of give, not firm, and put in your little 'heart' before you blind stitch up the bottom edge. Next you want to pull in the edges to make it have arms; to do that hold it up and push the sides in with your fingers til you like the look and it is even. Mark the points your fingers were with a couple of pins. Now how you do the next bit depends on if you want a centre bow or not. For a very small baby you might prefer not to have any dangly bits of thread they can get their fingers hooked in, so whatever you prefer. for no bow ~ thread your needed with strong thread, you might like to double it, come up from below your pin and do a couple of small backstitches to secure it then push your needle all the way through and out at your other pin point ~ pull taught ~ turn your needle around and go back through and out the first side ~ pull taught ~ backstitch and knot to secure then push your needle back though the middle and out, snip the thread close to the doll body. To make a bow: put the needle in just to the right of centre leaving a tail long enough to tie into a bow, then push the needle through to the left side, turn it around and push it back coming out to one side of the centre back. make a smallish stitch, say half an inch, across the back and then go back in and come out on the other side seam. Go in once more and come out to the left of the centre front ~ pull taught. You might need someone to help you hold the strings secure while you double knot and double bow. Ok now you just add a hat - you can do this in whatever style you like utilising whichever bit of the garment works. For a long pointy hat, measure around the head to get the length of the flat edgen and try this triangular shape ~ The hat below was made with part of a turtle neck jumper. The two above were from the sleeve cuffs. Sew it up, stitch it on and you are done.
The Renaissance is often perceived as the period of the noblest traditions, but some artists from that time had been repeatedly doing something that looks somewhat sinister nowadays - they painted children like mini versions of old men. Tumblr account 'Ugly Renaissance Babies' is doing exactly what its name suggests - collecting the ugliest baby artworks from the said era, hilariously proving that some painters probably had never laid their eyes on an infant.
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Aromatherapy and the use of essential oils has gained major popularity among all age groups because of its effectiveness in treating various kind of ailments and its various methods of application. Essential oils are commonly used in baths, teas, massage oils, inhalants, and diffusers.
There was an uproar recently when a women was kicked out of a church for nursing her child in the service and the pastor compared her public breastfeeding to a stripper performing. What?! I know. …
Print our Christmas Nativity religious baby Jesus themed I spy activity to use for a great holiday kids activity at home or at church.
This incredible photo captured the spiritual moment a faithful otter looked to the heavens for guidance on catching his next meal at Whipsnade Zoo.
Jesus was thoroughly Jewish. Even so, different cultures and ethnicities have often portrayed Jesus and others from the Bible as being from their group. Sometimes this is done to symbolize the fact that Jesus came for all the nations of the world. Since Christianity for many centuries was based largely in Europe, these important characters of salvation history have often been depicted as white Europeans. Which is fine, but other cultures have also depicted them according to their own appearan
In Part 1 of “The History of Knitting,” you learned that knitting most likely began in Egypt at around 1000 AD. From Egypt, knitting spread into Spain – carried over by Arabs during the Islamic Conquest or brought back by Spaniards during the Crusades – before exploding into the rest of Europe. What we know […]
Jesus Walks on Water I have the last two lessons out of sequence. That's what happens when you go on vacation and then try to catch up! So, Jesus walking on water comes before His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. I'm not including an Easter lesson because at our church we have a sunrise service and no Sunday School that day. Here's the lesson on Jesus' Walking on Water. Print these out on card stock. I usually cut them out prior to the class because the younger children have a hard time cutting them out. Then, color your masterpiece! Ella colors her craft. Hannah, Mattison and Parker display their completed crafts. What fun!
Luke 5:17-39 describes the the story of a man who was lowered through the roof a a home to be healed by Jesus. I was assigned to teach this lesson in Vale’s Sunday school class, and I just kn…
Here is a lovely image from a 13th c. French Psalter which I found at discarded images. During the Octave, contemplate the Infant King.
After years of trying for one baby, she found herself with three!
This engaging Jesus in the Temple as a Boy Sunday School Lesson makes it fun for kids with maze activities and a cute family craft.
The Pagan Origins of Christmas
Related Printables: Hannah’s Prayer Craft Baby Jesus Coloring Page Baby Moses In The Basket Coloring Page Mary and Baby Jesus Coloring Page
It seems to be kind of a slow news day, so I might post some more funny stuff. I'm ok with this, honestly. Michaelyn just left for ten days to do her
From Sistas in Zion.
Find joy and laughter with the best Easter memes! From cute bunnies to egg hunts, celebrate the season with these hilarious and heartwarming memes.
Dear Child, The need to write you again is a product of my additional experience in a bid to do you proud as a father. Remember, in my second letter to you last year, I made it clear that like ever…
Коптские иконы детские, искренние, очень выразительные и яркие. Кстати, самый распространенный сюжет - конечно же, бегство святого Семейства в Египет!
My daughter Colleen left today for a teaching position in Korea. It's not the first time she has gone overseas. She studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain for a year and taught in Extremadura, Spain a couple years later. So I guess I'm broken in and definitely not a nervous wreck like the first time. But I still missed her the minute she walked out the door. How is it possible to be proud and feel sad at the same time? So I'm comforting myself by eating a bunch of candy and showing a book I read to all my kids, (3 girls, 1 boy) and my grandson. Poems to Read to the Very Young ranks high in sentimentality for me and I love some of the poems in this book. Beautifully illustrated by Eloise Wilkin, who had a lovely way of portraying children. Wilkin used her children and in later years, grandchildren as models. Eloise Wilkin (1904-1987), an award winning illustrator and author, had a career that spanned over 50 years. Wilkin is best known for her Golden Books, working for them for almost 20 years and illustrating over 50 books for Golden, some of which are still in print. Many of her books have become classics. In her career she illustrated well over 100 books! To read about Eloise Wilkin, Cassandra of Cassandra Considers All Things Bright and Beautiful did a very comprehensive post on the life of Wilkin in 2010 - to view that click here. Eloise's daughter, Deborah Wilkin Springett, wrote a book about her mother's life, called The Golden Years of Eloise Wilkin. Poems to Read to the Very Young Selected by Josette Frank Illustrated by Eloise Wilkin Random House, 1982
If there’s anything more charming than sweet, furry animals, we really don’t know, especially if they’re baby goats. Although most people don’t have much contact with these animals, they can be human’s best friends and — spoiler — they love to wear winter clothing.
Gospels provide scant detail about Jesus' birth, but the history of childbirth holds clues about what a woman like Mary might have expected
A selection of New Testament worksheets including crossword puzzles, fill-in-the-blanks, secret codes, word search puzzles and more.