Crafting Corner

A few months ago, my sister handed me a box of fleece material that she had on hand and asked if I would be willing to sew up some twin size blankets for the students of the Real Hope Center.  

What's the Real Hope Center you ask? I'm glad you asked.  Real Hope is a ministry that my sister and brother in law started in southern India.  They hike out to remote villages and provide some basic hygiene products and talk to the villagers about the love of Jesus. They saw a need for schooling for the children of the villages, but had no way to get the kids down the mountains to the school. Monsoon rains would wipe out the roads and herds of elephants would pose a threat to anyone who ventured too closely. Remember the scene in Dumbo where Mrs. Jumbo became enraged over some kids mocking Dumbo? Apparently, elephants rampage when humans get too close (although they don't use their trunks to spank bottoms). Who would've guessed that the sweet elephants at the zoo could be so vicious. 

Anyway, my sister and her husband purchased land and built a center where the villagers could send their children to live while they go to school. Until Real Hope gets enough donations to get real beds, the kids sleep on mats on the floors. These blankets are to warm them and make their beds a bit softer.

The material that my sister gave me had been sitting in my closet as I crafted Christmas gifts for my family, gave birth to Isaac, recovered from surgery, and through the first 4 months of Isaac's life.  Needless to say, it's time to get it out of my closet and back to my sister before they leave for India this June.  

I organized the fabric into color coordinating sections and started cutting and laying out the blanket.  Then Tim stepped in and made the blanket pattern so much better than my attempt.

It was then time to sew all of the squares together. Before I could I do that, my sewing machine broke. I don't mean a jumbled mass of thread break. I mean a 3 week stint in the repair shop break.  There wasn't enough time for me to finish the blanket before I went down to my parents house for a visit, so I brought it with me to work on down there.  Unfortunately, I became extremely ill and couldn't finish it. My aunt, however, finished the top of the quilt for me before she became ill with what I had.  Now, I am waiting for my mom to bring the quilt back up here so I can finish the back of the quilt. At some point, this blanket will get done!  Fortunately, for the kids in India, there was a huge donation of blankets that will get sent over for their use.

Tim picked up my sewing machine this week and I am itching to get back to sewing.

Crafting Closet Update

Originally, I had planned to make some elaborate blogposts about the different crafts that I have completed on my to do list.  Then I remembered that I had small children and just completing these projects was an achievement and there is no harm in a massive blogpost.

February's crafts to do were diaper boxes turned storage boxes, an infinity nursing scarf, and mending Tim's baby hat for Isaac to wear.

I made two storage boxes (one to hold scarves and winter items in the hall close and one to hold Elijah's pull-ups so he can easily get them himself). 

I really enjoyed making the infinity nursing scarf, but unfortunately it's not big enough to use for a nursing cover for my son.  Isaac is a squirmy eater which doesn't bode well for a modest feeding session during a mixed group Bible study.

 

Isaac's hat from his Daddy needed just a bit of mending to make it fit correctly on him.

March's crafts to do list wasn't that big, but I didn't get to work on it until last week.
For Christmas, my sister in law bought me some frames and miniature clothes pins so I could make a gallery to hang my sons' drawings.  Now, I don't have random drawings taped to the wall anymore!

I decided to add to my list some toy hammocks that I saw on Pinterest.

Finally this last Friday, I melted down all of my broken and wickless candles and made some emergency candles for when the power goes off.  I realized towards the end of the candle making experience that I really don't enjoy making candles.  I would rather scrub toilets then make more candles. So, from now on, I'll just leave the candle making to the experts and buy my candles.

My crafting closet is now a little bit more organized.
Next month's craft: Real Hope Blankets

Pinterest Fail!

I admit, I am a Pinterest junkie. It's such a nice way to keep recipes organized in the way that I want it to be organized. It has some great homeschooling ideas and endless craft ideas that I have neither the time or money to do (but I must pin them to my crafting to do board!). I recently found this idea for a sofa fort and thought, "That's awesome! The boys will love it!"

So, I tried it out the other day when I wanted to vacuum and not have them running around me while screaming  like banshees.  They first started to comment about how dark it is. Easy Peasy fix. Here's a flashlight, boys.  Then came the "I can't breathe, Mama!" Umm...

Then came the monumental crashing of the fort.  This was definitely not a fun fort. It was a death trap. Bad Pinterest! You've failed.

The boys were still wanting to have a fort, so I pulled out the over the table blanket fort that my sister gave to me to remake into quilts for the kids at the Real Hope Center (but haven't done anything with yet *ahem*) and let the boys eat their lunch in it.

They also took their naps/rest time in the fort too (Yeah, no resting actually occurred, just whispers and laughter).