Making

The other day someone asked me if I still "make things". The answer was "of course!" Here's a little bit of what's been going on around here:

bread making- but not yet perfecting



knitting- simple knit cotton wash cloths


felted wool ipod cozy



And a very colorful cub scout cake- baked by me, designed and decorated by Grayson

What have you been making?

Future Engineer

Recently Paul was looking online for some ideas for an upcoming youth activity at church. One of the ideas that he found some fun videos of was an egg drop contest. Grayson thought it was really cool. He just knew he could build something as good as the high school students in the videos. He's got a lot of confidence for a 3rd grader. This morning he grabbed some straws and some duct tape and set to work. He was very pleased with his contraption, and was positive that it would work.


First he tried dropping it from just a few feet off of the ground.


Since it survived that, he carried it up the ladder and dropped it from there.


The egg was still intact, so for the final test Paul took it up the ladder and dropped it from as high as he could reach.

After a thorough check for damage we declared Grayson's contraption a success!

What a smart little bugger!

Let there be light!

After living with a dark,cave like living room for five years, we finally did something about it. Having a skilled electrician on hand sure helped.

And his trusty Jr. apprentice was a big help. Being an apprentice can be hard work. I had to be Paul's apprentice on this job when Grayson was at school, and I didn't like it one little bit. Who knew electricians could be so bossy?

When he started drilling out the big holes in the living room ceiling I had a momentary panic. There was no going back after that.

I learned two things on this job. Can lights take big holes. And sheet rock dust goes everywhere.

I think Grayson will make a good electrician. He likes being on a ladder and thinks tools are cool.

For awhile the living room looked kind of interesting.

But it was SO worth it! The lights have made a huge difference, and Paul did an awesome job.

Signs of Life

Deep in their roots,
All flowers keep the light.

Theodore Roethke

A little Valentine craft

When it comes to holiday decorating, Valentines Day usually comes up short. So I decided it was time to make the house look a little more love filled this month. I found a cute felt heart garland on a crafty blog (unfortunately I can't remember which one) and decided I needed to make it. For a couple dollars worth of felt and a few hours of my time, the house looks so much more festive.

You start with assorted colors of craft felt.


Cut your felt into about 100 hearts. I made a variety of sizes and wasn't too particular about having a uniform shape.


Then randomly feed the hearts through your sewing machine until your garland is as long as you want it to be.


Then drape it across your mantle,


or a door way.

Then stand back and feel the love!