Craft for July

I am posting this craft in memory of a dear friend who is now with Jesus. Her birthday is this month and she is dearly missed. Most people who knew Anna, knew her to be a tom-boy, but she did have her girly side to her. She had a doll house she was fixing up, and though she never got to finish it, her mother and grandmother finished it, and I was given the privilege of seeing it. It inspired me to go home and start a doll house for my little girl.

So here it is, my work in progress

I started with a cardboard box and a glue gun!

 I added the side of a diaper box as a second level

 Next I started covering walls in cloth (wallpaper!)

 then came the flooring, Popsicle sticks with the round ends cut off. (yes this project took many evenings and nap times)

 with the flooring all done, next came the siding.

 again, different size Popsicle sticks from the dollar store.

 And here is the finished outside! The house is ready for a family of Calico Critters to move in.

 my daughter will get this for next Christmas. I will show in later posts how I made the furnishings.

 Here is a second smaller house I made

 this time covering it in cloth before I glued it together.

 And then covering the outside ... again with supplies from the dollar store

 this one is a Calico Critter Beaver home

And though I wish I could show Anna....... I am thankful for all of you that take the time to be my friends and thanks for supporting our blog!

happy crafting!

S.L. Kliever

My Whole Wheat Bread

Those who know me may not believe this, but it's the truth. I have been making bread for 20 years!
I am no expert, but when you start at a young age and several batches of bread each week for your entire growing up and adult life... you learn a few secrets of the trade. When it comes to Whole Wheat Bread, you want it to be as light as possible but still have that high fiber and homemade goodness, not like the store bought stuff that is full of air.

Here is my bread recipe.

1 T Active Dry Yeast
1 t Vitamin C Powder
1 T Salt
1 t Ginger
3 t Lemon juice
1 t honey
6 C lukewarm water
place in bowl and let yeast proof for 10-15 min
when done add
6-8 eggs
1 C oil
1/4 flax seed ground (if desired)
12-15 C WW Flour

Don't add all the flour in at once. you want to put in about 8 Cups first and get the ingredients mixing, then add the rest slowly as is mixes as well as adding up to 2 more Cup of oil (ish) as needed.
you're going to mix for about 7-8 min (so set the timer) and as it mixes add your flour and oil in till you have a nice soft stretchy dough.
I sometimes will stop the machine for a few minutes to check the dough's consistency and see how we're doing and how close we are to the end result.

Dump out into a bowl and let rise for 1/2 hr. (I like to put mine in the oven, with it off of course, and turn the oven light on. it keeps it warm in there and is a nice environment for the dough to rise in.)
Knead or punch down and let it rise again 1/2 hr.
Then it's time to put it in the pans and into the oven to rise the third time for 1/2hr then bake at 350 F for 30min.

if your loaves feel a little too soft or too light in color, bake them for another 10min.

Other baking...

Hints: finer ground flour will stick better. makes better bread. rises better.

            If the dough is too stiff, add more oil until soft

            If it’s too sticky, adding flower can help, but I’d also add oil so it doesn’t become too stiff

            Eggs will sometimes make the bread lighter and stick better

            DON’T FORGET SALT! I have found that forgetting salt will make the bread flatter and heavy! I don’t know why but it dose!

And you don't need Sugar!!! That's right, you don't need Sugar. All you need is Lemon Juice or Vitamin C powder or even Honey. I like to put all three in just for kicks, but anyone of these works great to give the yeast something to feed on.

Sewing project for June

so instead of a craft, we'll call it sewing... cause that's what it is!

SO I like dresses. Cute dresses to be exact. But it's hard to find dresses that fit me, are long enough, modest enough and are comfy... etc..

I saw this idea on Pinteres, (who isn't on Pinterest, raise your hand!) and thought,  hmm I want to try that. It looks easy enough for a beginner sewer like me. So I did.

Here it is.

I took 3 thrift store T-shirts in good condition... (you might want 4 if you're going for a maxi dress.

 measure and cut the bottom off your top

 then off the ones that will be the skirt, you want the bottom cut off just under the sleeves

 pin them together..

 if I ever find a fourth black shirt I may make it into a maxi dress... but for now it works!

 and it was very easy!!
happy sewing

S.L. Kliever

Pretty Spots

The other day my 2 year old, sitting on my lap, pointed to my arm, to a brown spot and said “Pretty”

            I was startled at first. `That’s no pretty’ I thought. `Those are my blemishes’

            “Pretty,” she said again.

            My heart melted.

            I squeezed her. “Yes pretty,” I told her.

            Our world has told us we must look a certain way to be `pretty’… even beautiful. We look in the mirror and are our worst critics.

            “Ug, I look terrible.”

            “I hate my hair, if only my hair was like so and so’s.”

            “I’m too big”

            “I’m too hairy.”

            “I’m not skinny enough.”

            You know that saying, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder”? And why is that so? Why can’t we look in the mirror and see a pretty, even beautiful person. When our husbands or fathers or friends tell us we’re beautiful, do we believe them, or just think they’re being nice?

            Psalm 139: 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

            If we are precious and perfectly formed together as babies by the hand of God, why do we criticize ourselves so harshly? Our Heavenly Father sees us as beautifully formed people… no matter what our size, shape, hair, eyes etc…

            Yes we need to take care of ourselves. Too much weight can be a danger to health; eating right is taking care of the body that God gave us.  My brown spots are a concern, because there is a history of skin cancer in my family, but this is me, and I must see myself through God’s eyes. I must look in the mirror and see a beautiful work that God has made… not in a prideful way, but in an accepting way. I accept myself for who God made me.

            And that goes for other people too. When I look at others, I must see them through God’s eyes. Not comparing. Not good enough, or better than.

            And there’s another thought to contemplate. OUTWARDLY. We look at the outward beauty far too often. But what are we inwardly?

            1 Peter 3:3-4 “Do not let your adornment be merely outward-  arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel- rather let it be the hidden person of the heart the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (NKJV)

            When my husband and I were first going together I asked him what he found attractive in me. I didn’t see myself as being attractive and couldn’t figure out what he saw in me. Yah he liked my hair, but he said it was my character and the way I cared for others that attracted him. WOW! That blew me away.

            And when I think about very dear friends or family members that I hold in high esteem and see as beautiful, it is not necessarily the ones that have `the looks’ but the ones whose character is loving, gentle, caring, godly, and above reproach.

            So next time you're looking in the mirror, putting on your makeup, shaving your legs, plucking hair, going on a diet, jogging, etc.. remember, these are not the things that make you beautiful. They make you feel good about yourself, and it’s good to take care of your body, but they are not the things that define your beauty or who you are. They are merely outward things.

            YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL PERSON!

            Your inward-self… your character, the way you treat people, a caring heart… etc… are what define your true beauty.

            And those brown spots…. Are pretty spots! 

S.L. Kliever

           

Apple Gingerbread Cake

1/2 C Butter.                                                2 large eggs

2/3 C molasses.                                            2 C whole wheat flour

1 ½ t Baking soda.                                       1t Ground ginger

½ t each ground Cinnamon and Nutmeg.     ¼ t Ground Cloves.

1/3 C Milk or water.                                   1 ¼ C Apple sauce.

Combine liquid ingredients in a greased 9” square pan. Add dry ingredients then mix. Bake at 350’f for 40-45 min. cool 10 min in pan or more. Top with sweetened whipped cream if desired.

Our little guy just turned 1! So I made him this cake and topped it with frozen yogurt Lego men using a silicon mold. 

 

Craft for the Month of May

Pretty paper dresses, Origami dresses and Paper Dolls

There's a trend in card making where you make pretty paper dresses to decorate the outside of the card.... or even fold an Origami dress to attach to the card front. 

Some just make pretty paper dresses, put them on hangers just for decorations.

I went and looked at all these and said... they need a doll. I mean what's a dress without someone to wear it. So I hunted and found a doll that was close... but she wasn't modest enough for my standards, so I drew my own.

My daughter loved them! Her little fingers weren't coordinated enough to put the dresses on and off, but she'd hand me the dress she wanted on next.

So... here's the doll and the dress patterns for making the dresses and here is the youtube for making the origami dresses.

Save the doll and dresses... print them off.... color

 Glue to cardboard and cut

 With the Origami dresses I glued on paper tabs... and as you see I cut into the back of the dress on both sides to make two more tabs to go around the dolls sides.

 For dresses like the ones you see on cards.... I take my template and trace the dress onto the paper and cut

 paper doilies and pearl stickers ...

 ... decorate nicely...

 doilies with a top make such pretty dresses.

As for the Origami dresses, they make very nice decorations for my girl's room too

Happy Crafting!

S.L. Kliever