Craft Camp

Yesterday, all of us went to a craft camp. Here are the crafts I made. They can go into the 4-H Fair in August also.... You should try these at home!

Decorated Bagalope

This is a wonderful decorative, inexpensive craft that is made out of a shipping envelope.

What you'll need:

• Shipping Envelope
• Ribbon or string
• Decorative scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Stamps, or any other decor that you wish to decorate with.

First, cut off the flap of the envelope with your decorative scissors. Then "crease in" both sides of the bag. Fold the corners in the bottom of the bag and glue them there. Then hole punch the top of the bag as shown. You can punch both sides in, or you can just punch one side. Then install ribbon and decorate with assorted stamps or any other decor.

This bookmark was fairly easy to make.

You'll need:

• Decorative Paper
• Ribbon
• Hole Punch
• Glue Stick

You can go to a Sherwin Williams store or any other place that sells wallpaper and get their sample wall paper books. When they have ones they are going to throw away, just ask for them. They provide pages and pages of wonderful craft paper. The kind you buy piece-by-piece in the stores. I just cut a bookmark sized piece of paper, folded it over, then glued it together. Hole punch the top for your ribbon.

This method of jewelry making is called "macrame". You can look up some tutorials online because the process is really rather complicated. I haven't finished the ends yet though....

Easter Decoration

You'll need:

• Easter Egg
• Pom Poms (1 Pink, 2 White)
• Pink Pipecleaner
• 2 Googly Eyes
• White Foam
• Pink Marker
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Hat
• Fake Flower

Just cut the feet and ears out of foam as in the photo. The feet have to be big enough to hold the egg up. Take your ears and color the inside pink, then hot glue your ears and your flower to the hat. Hot glue the hat to the "head". Hot glue googly eyes. Take your pipecleaner and cut it into three small pieces. Glue them together in the middle as shown in the picture. Glue the pom poms on and voila! You can make it so the Easter egg still opens so you can put jelly beans or something else in them. Great for party favors.

Key Holder

• Wooden Plaque
• Paint of Your Choice
• Key Holders
• Marker
• Paintbrush(es)
• Embellishments

First pant your plaque; let it dry. Put a dot with a pencil or pen where you want your keys to hand, then install the holders. You can write whatever you want on it, I just wrote "Keys". Then use your creativity and place decorations. Fake flowers are an idea also.

Yarn Doll

Go to Brooklyns Blog for intructions.

Recycled Greeting Card Craft

You'll need:

• Old Greeting Card
• Poperi Oil
• Cotton Ball
• Ribbon
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors
• Hole Punch

You should cut two pieces of a greeting card to the same size. Then drop a couple drops of poperi oil onto the cotton ball. Insert the cotton ball into the middle and hot glue the opening closed. Then hole punch the top of the card and insert your ribbon. It will stay smelling good all year long! You can hang it on your Christmas tree.

Tongue Depressor Bookmark

You'll need:

• Tongue Depressor
• Googly Eyes (2)
• Paint (if you want)
• Shaped wooden objects (to make your head, not sure where you get these.)
• Feathers

You can use your imagination with what animal you want to make. I decided upon a bird. First, paint your tongue depressor and beak. You can paint the head if you want. Glue on head, beak, googly eyes, and feathers. Voila!

I hope you can use some of these wonderful crafts for yourself! sourpatch

MEMORIAL DAY!!

Memorial Day

Flag Song

Look up, there's our flag!

We can count every star,

--And the red, blue, and white,

How lovely they are!

Floating high, floating wide,

--We can see it from far,

Our flag, it's the flag,

We can count every star!

In the sun, in the wind,

Do its bright colors shine.

O look at the flag,

It is yours, it is mine!

BY ~Nancy Byrd Turner~

GOD bless the USA, and our soldiers!

"Save the Humans" ?

This is one of the shirts that I got at Wal-Mart the other day. So far, I've gotten 2 compliments on it. People think it's soo hilarious. I'm still at a loss of what it means though. Does anybody have any ideas?? Thanks, sourpatch

Saturday

This morning, the day started at 7:00. We actually got to sleep in!! We went over to my grandma's house this morning for her garage sale. The sale was open until about 2:00, so we were there a long time. It started pouring down when we went to get the signs, so I was soaked by the time we were done. When the sale slowed down, mom took Rachel and I shopping at Wal-Mart. We got a whole slew of clothes and stuff. Rachel and I also got another skirt that we've been needing. Rachel got some fabric for a sun dress that she's been wanting to make for a while. The fabric prices at that Wal-Mart are as low as $1.00 a yard. I am now at my grandmas house spending the night. Kroger is having a big sale where DiGornio pizzas are 2 for $7. They normally cost $5 apiece; this sale lasts until Monday. Also, 2 of my cousins are graduating this year. We recently went to one of my cousins' graduation ceremonies. That went well, except we arrived late and left early. The church that it was at was PACKED! We were in the very back of the parking lot, so, we HAD to leave early so we wouldn't be there for another hour due to traffic anyway. Apparantly, all the schools in the whole county are graduating there! I think that's all that has been happening lately. Make sure to check my photo blog: Photography: An Empty Canvas.

Bowling Party

Today, we had the bowling party. They always have the best party ever! They had hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken with some other stuff. They gave out awards first. Jessica's and my team won 1st place for our category, but the trophies got mixed up. So we're going to get the plates on the trophies fixed. I was also awarded a plaque for my High Game Scratch of 170. Also a bobblehead trophy for a High Average of 107. They had a lot of really cool doorprizes also. They gave away a lot of giftcards, electronics, board games, water/summer games, etc.... By the time my number was called, there was nothing else I wanted except a beach towel. So now I have a rainbow colored beach towel for the summer time. Zach got a water missile and since Rachel wasn't there, we got her a 3 person water slide. It will go perfect on our grandma's property (since there's a hill). Also, since there's 3 slides, we can all race together. Fun! We also got up really early today to go excercise. It seemed like there was so much more time today than any other. I think we're going to do the same in the morning again. We'll get up at, I know this sounds rediculous, 6:00. We're working on it! I know a lot of people get up at 6:00 regularly, but oh well. It's so much better than sleeping in.... There's 2 or 3 more hours added to the day! Also, Rachel had her competition today. She competed with a "Wildlife" team. This team learns what animals eat, oh wow, I don't even know where to start! She'll have to tell you about it tomorrow! Anyway, off to post on my photo blog: Photography: An Empty Canvas. tootles, sourpatch

Delish Brownie / Whipped Cream Dessert

This is also a favorite in the household. It is very rich, so you don't need much for a serving. Although I don't like chocolate, it's a hit with everyone else!

• Large chocolate pudding - use 2 1/2 cup milk
• 16 oz. whipped cream
• Large chocolate bar (We use Hershey's)
• Brownie mix (or you can make the brownies from scratch)

First cook the brownies. Then cut them into small chunks. Make the pudding. While your waiting for the brownies or the pudding, you can cut the chocolate bar into shavings. You'll need a big serving dish. We use a big glass serving container. When you can see the layers it makes it even better, but you don't have to. Layer the ingredients in the dish you want as follows: 1/2 pudding, 1/2 brownie chunks, 1/2 shaved chocolate bar, 1/2 whipped cream, pudding, brownies, chocolate shavings, whipped cream. Save some of the shaved chocolated to sprinkle on top; the brown looks good on the whipped cream.

Enjoy! And don't eat too much! sourpatch

Scrumptious Yeast Bread

This is our family's favorite yeast bread recipe. It has won 1st in several competitions! I hope you enjoy it!

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup warm water
• 2/3 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon lard
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 4 2/3 - 5 1/3 cup flour

Pour scalding milk over shortening, sugar, and salt: cool. Soak yeast in warm water; add to lukewarm milk mixture. Work in flour; let rise until double. Work down; let rise again. Shape into loaves. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Makes 2 regular sized loaves.

A Little Humor For Your Heart

Since the title of my blog involves a little humor, I thought I might like to involve a little humor into my posts. This is one of my favorite stories from one of my favorite books, "Humor For A Friend's Heart". I chose this story because of the house cleaning we're doing right now. Here we go:

Move Out!

by Rhonda Rhea

"Move out" takes on a truly military tone when seven years' worth of junk has to be stuffed into seven thousand cardboard boxes. Factor in my five pack-rat kids and you understand these were no ordinary moving maneuvers. I wondered how on earth I could relocate without a backhoe. This was a major battle.

You should've seen me on packing day. I paced back and forth in front of the ladies who had come to help. I was the comander, readying the troops. My feather duster was tucked under my arm like a riding crop as I began my moving address, "I'd like to thank you for signing on for this mission. Some of you might find yourselves waning in the heat of the battle. Others may discover new courage. And some of you...(sniff)...might not be coming home."

Okay, that we for drama. They all made it home. Not without battle scars, however. It was frightening; I didn't have mere dust bunnies on top of my china cabinet. These things lookes more like fuzzy buffaloes.

Thankfully, I had provided the women with some basic training. I decided I could desensitize them before they got to the house by taking for a ride in my minivan. On the way to my buffalo-filled home, one asked, "Is this a pickle in the cup holder?"

"My kids don't eat pickles. I think that's a hotdog from last baseball season." She had to go right home after she regained consciousness. The rest of the ladies were fine after they put their heads between their knees. Still, I couldn't bring myself to make them look in the glove compartment. I think the Geneva Convention has rules against such atrocities.

Several were overcome during the chemical warfare phase of the moving battle. It's a common result of mixing the chemicals needed to fight dust buffaloes with the ones needed for the scum that gathers over the stove. They're recovering. The therapy for post-packing trauma syndrome (PPTS) is also helping. Thankfully, the flash-backs are starting to subside.

There was a particularly perilous moment in the kitchen, however, when one of the ladies made a gruesome discovery. It was a potato that had fallen behind a pile of junk in one of the cabinets. But it was no longer legally a potato. It looked like a brown, raisiny grenade. We were all distressed when we discovered the local bomb squad doesn't respond to potatoes.

I was amazed no one in my family had ever gotten a whiff of the rotting potato/grenade. We never had even a hint it was back there shriveling. Believe it or not, there wasn't even any mold on the little sucker. I guess it's still not surprising not one of the packing ladies wanted to touch the thing. But before we could move, the dead spud had to go.

In the same way, isn't it amazing the spritual dirt we can have hidden away? Little things that can be rotting -- shriveling right under our noses -- and we don't so much as catch a whiff. It's a spiritual battle and the enemy is ever ready to lob his bombs. He loves to see us rendered fruitless. Sometimes he schemes a sneak attack. It's not the kind of attack that immediatly blows up in our faces, but rather an undercover mission where the enemy secures hidden places of rottenness that quietly shrivel our spirits.

Romans 6:13 says, "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life." We can ignore those pockets of disobedience we've tucked away, or we can offer every part of ourselves to God. Before we can move to a closer walk with Him, we shouldn't be surprised if He pulls out that "sin potato" and says, "We really have to take care of this before we can move on."

I've now moved into a clean, new home -- completely free of shriveled potatoes. When we allow the Father to cleanse us from sneaky rottenness, we can enjoy the same kind of clean, seet closeness with Him.

So go ahead. Plan a spiritual military action of your own. Execute Recon Plan "Tossoutthepotato!" Ready? Move out!

I hope you enjoyed it! To the greater glory of God - sourpatch

Jam Making Venture

The jam making venture went very well! We turned out a lot of jam! We have a lot of extra smooshed strawberries; so we handed a Ziploc bag with some in it to everybody before they left. But, we still have some, so we're going to use it for various things such as: ice-cream topping, popsicles, etc. Here are some pictures of the project:

We formed an assembly line where we: washed, cut, smashed, measured, and stirred the strawberries. Also, we had to boil the lids and jars. ^

Most everybody had a job. ^

Also, we planted plants for the 4-H Fair in August. I planted 2 different kinds of tomatoes, a green bell pepper plant, and 3 cucumber seeds. Hopfeully, we can keep them watered, and just maybe, they won't shrivle up and die.

We also played around a lot. A couple of games of freeze tag were played, and we sat around and held my bunny a lot, too. Making jam is really easy to do, you should try it sometime. !Adios! sourpatch

Grandma's Yard Sale

This morning, we, as in my cousin, us kids, and my grandma, are heading out to a property that we're having a garage sale on. Since we didn't run an ad in the paper, I hope that there are plenty of people to go around. As I said, I spent most of my time last night pricing things. Hopefully, we'll never see the stuff again! Sell, sell, sell! Okay, so I admit it, I had pizza for breakfast. We got a few Little Ceasars' pizzas last night for dinner. It has protein? The 4-H Club is coming to our house this afternoon for a potting and canning activity. We'll be potting vegetables that we can enter for the 4-H Fair later in the summer. Also, we're canning for that, also. We're about to head out the door, so goodbye! sourpatch

Today's Events

This afternoon, Rachel and I had sewing at the library. Photography is over for the year, which is kind of sad. I made a, or attempted to make a peasant shirt. But I couldn't really get my sewing machine to work very well. And I kept doing things wrong!! Ug! I only got the front part of my shirt done; so the backside isn't even started yet. Hopefully, I'll get that done this week. I'll try and get some pictures on here soon! After sewing, I went over to a house that my grandma is working on flipping. She is having a garage sale in the morning, so I spent most of my time pricing things to sell. My cousin, who's in town, put up the backsplash. He did an awesome job on it! The house is starting to look better inside. There was talk about getting up early in the morning, I think I'm already sawing ZZZ's.... We are also in the proccess of spring cleaning.

Oh how I'm tired of it. We basically bagged up half the house and sent it off to Goodwill. We've been doing that for about 3 days. I think one more day and it's over. Ahh.... Okay, so I better go off to bed before I fall asleep in front of the computer. ZZZZZ - sourpatch

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

Another Mother's Day is here, Bringing joy and pleasures new, On this special day, Mother dear, want to remember you. I cannot give you costly gifts, And I've told you this before, No matter what I give to you, You give back much, much more. I'm giving you a pure, sweet rose, Gathered in the early morn, This rose you planted in my heart, The day that I was born. In kindly, loving thoughts of you, And with the faith you still impart, The rose I give to you today, Is the love that's in my heart.

I hope everybody has a really, really nice Mothers Day! The kind you deserve! With Love, sourpatch

Graduation Ceremonies

This Saturday morning, the MHEA graduation ceremony was held. It was a really nice ceremony, just long in some parts. We knew about 4 or 5 people that were graduating. There was about 100 graduates altogether. The valedictorian and and something else of the sort gave some speeches. They were very nice speeches and well given. Also, a church choir sang some hyms. Afterward, we took pictures of them and stuff. We also looked at the boards that the graduates had put together for everyone to look at. It was kind of interesting seeing what everybody looked like as a child and through their highschool years. Fascinating.... After that whole ordeal, we went to a graduates house for a party. They had bbq catered in. We had a jolly old time talking and remembering stories. I also looked through the yearbook. We don't get a yearbook, or have our pictures taken for it, but I get in there somewhere throughout. It was kind of sad, since we really only met this girl about 6 months ago. :sob, sob: Ok, pull! Myself! Together! :slaps myself twice: I do have some pictures that I took, but I am currently too lazy/slash tired too upload them on the computer. My brother spent the whole day at my grandma's, which happens to be her birthday today. They went and saw, "Nim's Island." I was disappointed I couldn't see it, but was well worth the trade. They said it was a great movie to see, and for all ages, too! Until next post! (and mothers day!) sourpatch

Regional 4-H Demonstration Contest / My Surgery

Yesterday, myself and a few buds of mine went to the Regional 4-H Demonstration Contest. We all carpooled with our car. Again, I did my science fair project: Microwaves VS. Nutrients. They seemed to like it pretty well. I got a 1st place in my division. For this, I got a ribbon and plaque. It was pretty exciting! This can go in my 4-H portfolio at the end of the year in October. Portfolios are books that 4-H'ers put together of all the leadership, citizenship, and other 4-H activities they've done in the past year. It is really a pain to get it all together, but well worth it. We get a medal at the end of the year for completing it. Today at 8:00, I had my four teeth pulled at the oral surgeon. They were all four of them right next to my eye teeth. Actually, it wasn't bad. I'm so glad they put me to sleep. I think it was the right decision to go there instead of a dentist. My "holes" where the tooth used to be are so deep I can't see the bottom. I can't imagine how much that would have hurt. It was kind of weird being put to sleep for a little while. I think the last thing I remember was her taking my glasses, I think at least..... It was kinda cool though, a neat experience. So, right now I'm sitting in front of the computer with gauze in my mouth. They just won't stop bleeding!! Hopefully, it will stop before bowling and I can convince mom to take me. We'll see. Today is the last day of bowling, and then the party is next week. sourpatch

Carnival and Other Stuff

I just got to thinking!! I forgot to mention the 4-H Bread Baking Contest. I won 3rd place in the county competition for my banana nut bread. Rachel also won 1st place for her yeast bread.

Moving on to today. We finished up the IBLP class this morning with 3 hours of it. It was a good class, and I'm glad I went through it. It just got long in some parts. Next, is the carnival we went to yesterday. It was really fun walking around it and looking at the wares people were selling. I ended up buying a bracelet and getting a half of a geod rock. My friend and I got to split the rock in half. It looks really neat inside. It has all sizes of purple crystals, making for a really neat rock!! The bracelet I got was from Ecuador. This Indian guy said his family made it by hand down in Ecuador. I guess they ship goods up to him and he sells them in the states. Here are pictures:

I'll keep you posted! (haha! posted, you get it, right?) tootles and !adios! ~ sourpatch

Sunday

This morning, a friend is going to pick me up and take me out to a little town carnival. Some crafters are selling things in booths there also. It will be a fun little Sunday outing. I'll post back later with results of what happened.... sourpatch

The Weekend!! & "Tagged!"

I slept in this morning and had a great time doing it, too! Rachel, Mom, and I think Zach are out at garage sales. I stayed home to wash my hair and clean up around here. Rachel and I have a grad party to go to at 12:00, and... we made a scrapbook page to give to her. That was her request. Here are the pics:

So, as I have been informed of, I have been tagged by Mary. This means I have to list 5 things about myself that are little known. Here we go:

1. I'm kinda scared of the dark.
2. Spiders gross me out! (There's nothing worse than seeing a spider on the floor and going to get something to kill it with. Then coming back, and it's not there anymore.) (:
3. Three of our fish were named: Marlin, Pearl, and Nemo.
4. I don't like eggs.
5. We have an address book by our computer that we put usernames and passwords in.

(Also, I can see 10 pin cushions from where I'm sitting right now.)

Ok, I tag:

Brooklyn

Rachel

Sakura

Elaina

ttyl ~ sourpatch

Daily Life

So.... this morning, we had another IBLP class by Bill Gothard. I have really enjoyed taking the class, and have learned much from it. We have another 3 hours left that we plan to do the following Friday. ~ After that, we had some lunch (left over pizza from last night), and drove over to sewing an photography group. For sewing, we all made little pouches. Here is the tutorial: Twelve22.org. They were really, really fun to put together, and a great way to start the sewing group on zippers. The pouch is lined on the inside with brown swirl fabric. Here are some pictures:

(Sorry this picture is so blurry, I couldn't get my camera to focus.)

Although, much to my intense disapointment, photography was canceled because of the rain. We were going to go to a cemetary and take some pictures there. The storming was kind of scary; there was, "purple lightning" on the radar. That means solid sheets of lightning.

~

Although we did top the day off by going to Jim N' Nicks BBQ for dinner. Rachel and I split a bacon cheeseburger. Plain, of course. It was scruptious!! Zach had a good time with ribs. I bet you can just imagine the nasty fingers....

~

Right now, we're making a scrapbook page for the party of a graduating senior. She's moving to Ohio for college, so I don't think we're going to be seeing her anytime soon. Signin' off ~ sourpatch

Rec Center / Science Class / Photos

So this morning, I had my science class. The class is coming to an end and I'm truly sad about it. I've had so much fun in it, and learned more this year than ever before! It seems I don't have as much time to post as I used to. I am trying though!! :) Then I went with a friend, had a picnic at a park, then took pictures. Check my photo blog in the next day or so to look at some of them. Then we came home, then back out to the park again, a different one. We swung for a while, then headed back to make a salad for the Little Ceasars we had for dinner. Rachel went to clogging. This friend of mine decides she actually likes clogging. It is kind of mesmerizing. Then we went to the rec center where I biked a mile, ran 2 1/2 miles, and did all the weights. It was sure strenuous. Now, here I am, sitting in front of the computer. I better tell you good night and go get some beauty sleep. Tootles, sourpatch

My Photo Blog...

...is now open. You can go look at my pictures at: Photography: An Empty Canvas. I forgot to tell ya'll that the other day, Rachel and I went out to an orphan organization and sorted food. The food was donated by churches and other large organizations. That is my favorite service project of the year. All the food is in bins lined up on tables in the gym. We take shopping carts around and gather one "type" of food. (i.e. All the popcorn, etc.) You'd be surprised at how many weird things people donate. Like sardines, or chowchow. sourpatch