Tookish

Then something Tookish woke up inside him and he wished to go see the great mountains, to hear the pine trees and the waterfalls, explore the caves and wear a sword instead of a walking stick. (The Hobbitt by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Most people would think He is speaking of a child but I think it is the child in all of us He is speaking of (the old). My Tookish sneaks up on me and makes me want to lie under the whispering pines and watch the shapes of the clouds as they go by. To take my Grandchildren and search for buried treasures, to explore the walking paths in the forests. I can go to the store and buy plastic swords or I can draw and cut out cardboard swords with the children, we can color them and glue on jewels, put bandannas on our heads and be Pirates. Or I can sew super hero capes while the children stand by me watching and waiting and we are Hero's. To light a camp fire and dance around it like Indians. I believe there is something Tookish in all of us, we just need to find it.

Crafts for the Church Bazaar

I made a God's Blessings Basket and 3 Pumpkins for the Church bazaar. The pumpkins are just oval shapes sew together and stuffed. The scarecrow is mine, it is just for the picture. Then I made a God's Blessings basket, this is great for Harvest time or to welcome new families into the Parish. I used a bottle of juice for this basket but it looks like wine.
God's Blessings Basket
Wine, so that you may never know thirst.
Bread, so that you may never know hunger.
Salt, so that you may have spice in your life
and candles to light God's way.  
The pumpkins look so cute on my scarecrow I might just have to make some more for my own house.

Creation Book

I made this travel Creation Book that you can take in the car and talk about the creation without a lot of distractions. All of these pages fit into a binder and most of the parts are movable. At the end of each it says "and God saw it was good". Have the children repeat this with you. For the 1st page remove the white felt, when you get to God separated the light from the dark have the kids place the white felt on top of the black felt, And God saw that it was good. Again, 2nd page, remove all pieces and place them back on as your read, And God saw that it was good.. REPEAT with all of the other pages. When you get to the 6th day, the butterfly covers the people. The people are naked and they do not know they are naked because they have not sinned yet. When they eat of the apple after God told them not to, then they know they are naked. On the 7th day God rested. I have included a song for them to help them learn the creation. God is Great. Have Fun and PLAY with your kids.  

Church Bazaar

I decided to make some cute photo frames for the Church Bazaar. I bought the plastic frames, cut paper to size and slipped it inside. Remove the clear plastic covering the front of the frame and glue (E-6000) on some decorations. How easy is that? They will sell them in the Country Store and all the money goes to help the Church. I made all of these in one evening. I have a bag of yoyo's I made and I just dig through it until I find one that matches. I love the blue and brown combination frame, add a black and white photo and it would be so darling!

More pages for Carter

These are just some more of Carters pages. The first page is an underwater page, his photo should be cut to fit inside the ring. The fishing pole page is for Mother's day, then there is the sand castle and 4th of July boating. I love the glitter in the water under the boat and would have glittered all of the water but I think it would have been too much.

Carters Scrapbook

This scrapbook belongs to Carter and the theme of his room is nautical. His cover page is the ships wheel and his birth month page is sea shells and scrolls. Pumpkins on his October page, an Anchor for his November page and for Christmas he gets a sock monkey. My grandmother used to make sock monkeys for all of the grand kids, so in honor of her, Carter gets one on his page. For Valentines he gets a life preserver.



Easy Cheese Danish

I saw this cheese danish the other day on Pinterest and decide to give it a try. Go to kitchengirljo.blogspot.com for the recipe. This recipe calls for a 13 x 9 pan but I cut the recipe in half and used a 9 x 9 pan. I give this a 5 star rating because it is easy and darn good.


Easy Cheese Danish
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 egg
2 - 8oz pkgs of soft cream cheese
2 cans of refrigerated crescent rolls

Glaze
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of milk
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 pan.  Lay a package of crescent rolls in the pan and pinch the openings together. beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla together until smooth. Spread the mixture over the crescent rolls and then lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture and brush with egg whites. Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit 20 minutes and top with glaze. For a 9 x 9 pan bake for a slightly shorter time.

Fancy Frames

I have been making these fancy frames for the Church bazaar. I bought the plastic frames at Walmart for about 97 cents, removed the clear plastic on the front and the white paper on the inside. I cut a sheet of scrapbook paper to 5" x 7" and slipped it inside. Then I glued a piece of ribbon across the top, added a yoyo, button, bottle top and metal pieces with E6000. Slip a 4" x 6" photo in there and you will have the most precious frame ever. I slipped a black and white photo of my grand kids in one and it is so cute! All of the embellishments were things I have just sitting around waiting to be used.



Bat Cave

I read an article the other day, "Secrets of a Mad Scientist Laboratory" and that started me thinkin. When I was young, next to our house was an overgrown lot and my older brother pressed through the grass and made a maze. I remember walking through the maze to the end where there was a piece of cardboard on the ground, I sat down and was so tickled to make it through the maze. OK, so there was only one way in but for me it seemed like such a wonderful adventure. You ask, "what does that have to do with the bat cave"? Well its all about IMAGINATION or lack of it nowadays. My brother and cousins were full of it and I had the benefit of being allowed to follow them. My cousins made a bat cave at the back of their property with old scraps of tin they found. The thought of a real bat cave like batman had excited me down to my toes, I couldn't wait to get a peek inside. I think about it now and there wasn't much to it except for our imaginations. We even had a circus in their back yard, complete with snacks. I do believe the boys caught the imagination bug from my Dad and his brother. My dad climbed up in this big tree and set up a zip line for us. Now most dads wouldn't have done that because somebody is gonna break something. But we didn't and it sure was fun. All I can say is teach your kids to use their imagination, don't help them to much, it may fall apart but that is how they learn.