Why I love Jacob Well's new story sets!

I was given this wonderful book to read, Offering the Gospel to Children by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard. I was so drawn to her idea of creating bible play sets for our kids, but they are hard to find and can be expensive. I began to wonder if I could create our own play sets!

I shared my ideas and was met with so much enthusiasm by the Jacob Well's kid's community. There was a big need for things the kids could hold and touch and play with!

We started by creating story sets for Daniel in the Lion's Den.

 After sharing the story in different ways each week, we sent the kiddo's off to workshops, one of which was story telling. We handed out our little play sets, in baskets, to groups of kids and then guide them in retelling the story in their own words. 

The things we heard were so beautiful! And so funny! The kids all had different ways of telling their stories, and they made so many discoveries and connections for themselves. 

One little girl laid Daniel and the King on the prayer blanket together at the end of her story. I asked what they were doing. I thought maybe they were sleeping.  She informed that they were praying together! 

Love it!

Other kids put their faces in the dens they had just made and got a sense of what Daniel must have felt like. "It's dark in here!" "These stones are so cooooold!" 

My personal favorite was some of the conversations I overheard between the lions and Daniel! "Don't cry Daniel. I'll hug you." 

Ps. You can flip the lions. They have a hungry side and tame side. :D

This month we will be presenting Jonah and the Whale. And these sets promise to be just as great for the kids as Daniel! 

I'm hoping to create a tutorial for each set, so that other faith communities and families can create them, too! And I'm actually really excited about starting on Jesus sets, which I will also be glad to share! 

Praying we can encourage each other with creativty for the kids!

Cool Kids' Patches for Jeans

In case there are others out there with children who apparently having been crawling everywhere, 

 I'm gonna share the resources and directions I used for creating these fun patches!

 Start with the post from C.R.A.F.T. that encouraged me to rip the inseam out of my jeans and so I could get at that patch with my sewing machine. 

So worth it! 

And I loved her zigzag stitch idea! 

I used it on my camo patch.

Turned out really cute.

*Tip: Purchase specific thread for stitching denim and a denim needle from your local fabric store. You'll need the tough stuff!

The idea for cutting out shapes came from this post by Koala Brains.

She has you trace your shape in washable marker, stitch the outline and patch, and then cut.

*Tips: BE CAREFUL not to stitch the other side of the pant leg while rotating your denim. I did it a sad total of three times! It is not fun to correct!

I used cute cotton fabric but doubled up with a second back layer for durability. 

You could even triple. 

Wouldn't hurt! 

Check your machine for a tight zigzag stitch like the yellow one in my picture, it will make your thread more bold against the denim.

Good luck! 

And happy patching, friends!

Training My Time: Limiting obligations to the important things

Blogger Bernice at The Stressed Mom challenged me this morning. 

First, her post 10 Habits for a Well Run Home. 

All the habits were most helpful.

But the 10th habit was thought provoking: 

Don't say yes immediately to new requests. 

And don't be afraid to say no immediately if you know you can't.

Wow!... Okay. 

That could help. 

Yeah! 

That could really help!

And then she added her post: Ten Ways to Stop Being So Busy.

And of course I clicked it!

There, she asked that you write down the 4-5 most important things to you, 

and let those guide you in evaluating your time. 

Brilliant!

Because I found that just writing these things down helped me orient myself, 

and gave me a bit of direction.

It's interesting that these thoughts were there all along. 

I just gave them voice which helped me bring them into focus.

So I'm hoping by sharing my list, 

I will encourage my friends in their own endeavors to balance life in a thoughtful way.

Give your desires a voice and see if it helps!

Here's to training your time into something beautiful, friends!

Little Photography Tip: Struggles with Shady Portraits

I took some pictures of my dad and the boys hanging out in their new clubhouse this weekend. 

They were really enjoying a good game of "I Spy" and the cool shade. 

I wanted to capture the fun, but my camera kept exposing the sky correctly at the cost of everyone's faces. Nice sky, dark faces. 

Ever had it happen!? Frustrating!

I'd like to show you an example of it, but I deleted all the bad ones not realizing I'd want to share them with you later! Dur.

But can you see how well their faces are exposed after a little camera tweaking? Sky in the back is burnt out, but the faces are beautiful. 

Note: I'm also using open shade here, which is a whole other topic worth reading up on. Here's a great link: Using Open Shade. Check it out!

But back to metering! If your camera just isn't getting it on it's own, check your settings. 

Can you change the way your camera meters/checks light? 

My Nikon D3000's offers me "spot metering." Got anything like it:

 It will change your light meter from averaging the light over a large area, to taking a very precise metering on a small spot you chose (their eyes or face).  

Here's how to use it. Find your metering settings and change 'em up to spot metering.  In your viewfinder, you'll see your focus dot. Place that on the their eyes or face and press your shutter release button halfway down. Your camera will meter the light in that spot, but not take the picture.

Now DON'T LET GO. 

Recompose your picture the way you'd like it to look/move people to where you want them in the frame. Holding the button half way still. The metering you took a second ago will still hold if you don't release your shutter button. 

Now, you've got it just right? 

Press the button all the way down. 

And Ta-da!

See how the sky is all blown out and my son's face is great!? 

Spot metering!

I don't advise using spot metering all the time, especially if your hairy hooligans are moving fast. Hard to pin them with this one. But great for slower portraits in the shade!

Happy photo-journaling, friends, in the great outdoors!

Family Room Gets Some Repurposed Color

Giving your family room a fresh splash of color may be cheaper than you'd think.

For just under $15 

I was able to repurpose some great thrift store finds. 

One fabulous table cloth which inspired it all, three coordinating sweaters, six clean pillows 

and I had what I needed for a nice fresh look!

Here's to hoping my thrift adventure will encourage someone else to be adventurous!

To get started, if you've never been thrifting, here are some pointers:

Know your local thrift stores. They are not all created equally and different ones will have different strengths (furniture, clothing, housewares, linens). Some are just down right gross. Can't go wrong with a good DAV or Goodwill, but I also love locals like Hillcrest Ministries. 

So clean and they get the best donations!

Start checking in with your favorites every couple of weeks. This is a bit like a good hunt! And you'll begin to become familiar with fair prices and what you can find where.

When buying anything with fabric like pillows, clothing, furniture, linens, lampshades, stick your nose in it and really give it a good sniff! What does it smell like? That can tell you a lot about where it came from! And I always check for pet hair. Does it have pet hair? You may want to pass! 

Now down to business!

I started by checking inside each pillow to see if they have a second case under the decorative ones. 

Some did.

And some didn't.

Once I knew what I was working with, 

 I went to work using my seam riper and tore the decorative cases open.

I didn't damage them, because I would need them as a pattern for the new pillows.

And I didn't completely dismantle the pillows without a second case inside. 

I just opened one wide enough to pull the stuffing out, turn it inside out, and then used it as my pattern. 

(When I was done making the pattern, I put it all back together.
I needed the decorative casing for under my slip cover. Read below.)

Now for making slip covers.

These pillows are for our family room where LIFE happens!

My boys watch cartoons, wrestle, play wii, drive cars, play ninjas, eat snacks, sneak snacks
all in this room!

 So I decided I wanted slip covers 

which can be easily removed and cleaned.

And FREQUENTLY!

And they're pretty easy.
No zippers.

For the front, just lay your old pillow case over the fabric, pin, and cut.

But the back piece will be made of TWO pieces that overlap over the old pillow case pattern. 

I chose to overlap a little more than 1/3. That worked reallywell.

Don't forget to hem the exposed edges before you sew the whole case together.

Here's a great tutorial if you need more help!

Working with sweaters

The table cloth was easy to cut up.

Just one big 'ole piece of fabric!

But the sweater cases took a bit more thought.

I started by cutting the bottom off the sweater to form the front piece and one of the overlapping pieces of the back. This allowed me to use one of the sweater seams to my advantage! 

Always looking for those short cuts!

(Note: For some reason my overlap was way more than 1/3 in this picture. Not sure why.)

The back of the sweater had a lot more left over fabric to work with because of the high neckline.
So I cut my last piece out of the back.

Note: I'm not sure I could have made slip covers from the sweaters if my pillows hadn't been so skinny.
You may have to make a plain pillow if the pillows are larger.

You might also check out these sweater pillows for some inspiration. 

They inspired me!

Embellishments!

Once I had my cases sewn, I began playing with embellishments.

I ended up making lots of yo-yos.
I found this great tutorial for making them.

The ruffly navy flower is my own invention. 

If you'd like to add those, you'll need to use sweaters or t-shirts 

because the edges of those fabrics won't unravel on you.

Cut a circle and fold it in half.

Then fold it like you would a fan.

Pinching the bottom to hold it the folds in place, put a few stitches through about 1/3rd up.

 Be sure to go through all the folds. You don't want any falling out. 

You can then cut the bottom off.

To make it fluff, pull the folds apart a bit.

When you attach it to the pillow, stitch it down in several places to open it up a bit.

And there you go!

Coordinated color!

From bare...

... to fresh cleanable color

 And CHEAP!

Perfect for a family room where life happens!

Hoping you find easy ways to brighten your family space and make it welcoming, too.

Happy thrifting friends, BE ADVENTUROUS!

A Mobile Dripping with Hearts: A Valentine for K's Teacher

What started as a simple strand of heart garland...

Turned into a full blown mobile valentine for K's teacher. 

I know! 

Who doesn't love a good mobile!? :D

The large heart at the top provides a place for K to write a message to Mrs. Waters. I hot glued it to the fishing line that the whole mobile hangs from and then hid the glue with a matching heart hot glued to the back.

I used jewelry wire to create the mobile structure and the fun cork screws all the hearts hang from.

And the hearts themselves are strips of scrapbook paper that were hot glued together with a tab at the top for hanging. I also gave them a little shape by gently forming them with my hands. And to get the cute curly-cues, I just wrapped the ends around a thin crochet hook and loosened them a little with my hands.

It was super fun! And I'm super excited to share it with K's teacher!

Here's to being adventurous with what you've got friends! 

Happy creating!

Jazzing Up the Boys' Valentines! Free Printable

My son, Kincaid and I both liked the idea of passing out glow sticks for Valentines
when we saw this on Family Fun!

 But I decided the hearts needed to be snappier, so we created something with more "pop!"

 If you like the idea, please feel free to print or share these! 

We also decided to thread them through glow necklaces the kids can wear!

Super fun!

ps. I used two free fonts, Pointy and Comic Book, from dafont.com.

Very helpful!