The "Quick bar cookies" recipe on this post, which is actually a recipe for chocolate chip blondies, is very forgiving. I've recently tried substituting vegetable oil for the butter. This works all right, but comes out a little drier, as butter contains some water that the oil doesn't. I also tried adding cocoa powder and peppermint extract to make something more like a brownie. The family liked the result, and didn't realize that it was almost exactly the same recipe. Rolled oats were not in the original recipe, but I almost always add them, for nutrition.
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We've been very busy, and I was looking for a quick and fun project, and decided to paint one of our stump tables. The stump is a chunk of a large pine tree that my husband brought home from the county yard waste site last year. The wood was very green, and quite wet, so I kept it in the garage for months to dry it out, turning it occasionally. It picked up some dirt during that time, and lost over twenty pounds of weight, maybe as many as forty--I weighed it early on, and then later, but I don't remember the exact numbers.
Eventually I brought it in, and debarked it in the kitchen. There was some mold growing under the bark, so it had to come off.
The stump found a home in our living room/indoor parkour course. I counted the rings; the tree was sixty years old when it was cut down, and more than two feet in diameter.
Anyway, I mixed some paint to approximate a color that would fit into the decor, and painted the sides, just wiping the paint on with scrap fabric. I very soon had several eager helpers.
The color came out a bit bright for the room, so I plan on wiping on another coat at some point.
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A child wanted to learn to make angel food cake, after a lady from church brought us one. I had never made a foam cake, but our efforts were successful.
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Our resident papier-mache artist is thinking ahead to Halloween, and has made a good start on armatures (support structures for the papier mache) for upper and lower skeleton jaws, made out of milk jugs and tape.
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Showing posts with label play. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2020
Friday, June 26, 2020
A surprise, yet not entirely a surprise
Christian History magazine* has a new issue out on the role of the Church in the development of science and technology. One of the articles interviews several scientists on how their faith and research connect...and one of them is physicist and 1997 Nobel Prize winner William Phillips!
He was the keynote speaker at a physics conference that I went to as a graduate student. Apparently, once you have won a Nobel Prize in physics, you can have conversations like the following:
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: We would like you to speak at our conference.
PHILLIPS: Okay, I'd be happy to...but I'm going to need some liquid nitrogen.
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: No problem, how much do you want?
Phillips spent most of his speech (in front of an audience of hundreds of physicists) playing with liquid nitrogen and having a great time. The joy he showed then makes it less of a surprise for me to see him interviewed in Christian History now.
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*Christian History has subscriptions, but financially it runs on the basis of donations: they print and mail out the next issue when they have the money to do so. They also sell back issues and reprints, which can be helpful for research, as each issue is centered on a historical person or topic.
He was the keynote speaker at a physics conference that I went to as a graduate student. Apparently, once you have won a Nobel Prize in physics, you can have conversations like the following:
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: We would like you to speak at our conference.
PHILLIPS: Okay, I'd be happy to...but I'm going to need some liquid nitrogen.
CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS: No problem, how much do you want?
Phillips spent most of his speech (in front of an audience of hundreds of physicists) playing with liquid nitrogen and having a great time. The joy he showed then makes it less of a surprise for me to see him interviewed in Christian History now.
-------------------------------------
*Christian History has subscriptions, but financially it runs on the basis of donations: they print and mail out the next issue when they have the money to do so. They also sell back issues and reprints, which can be helpful for research, as each issue is centered on a historical person or topic.
Monday, August 6, 2018
Out of chaos
That is from Leaves of Gold, a book of quotations, one of those books from years back that was intended to be edifying Sabbath reading.To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power. -- George MacDonald
I picked it up from our church library's downsizing, mostly for its embossed cover. It was clear that it had not been read much.
I did try reading it, and found that it was thoroughly unreadable...the quotations are sorted by topic, and to lurch from one author's thought on a topic to another author's entirely different thought on the same topic is extremely unpleasant.
So I consigned it to the collage pile that I keep for my weekly art journaling.
One of the things I have been thinking about recently is how we shape our world by what we choose and what we reject. I keep being amazed by how, in my art journaling, I sort through some random printed material, cutting out a thing here and a thing there, and then paste them together along with a few words and some drawing or painting, and usually it all comes together quite coherently.
I've found it helpful to go back to some of my journaling pages a few months later, and write a "moral" for each one on the back...it's kind of a higher order of finding meaning in them.
If I were mendacious, I would come up with a fortune-telling scheme "based on the science of quantum entanglement", and how many apparently unrelated things are actually connected.
Anyway, in my last art journaling session, I opened the book at random, and found the George MacDonald quotation. It fits in with some other things I have been thinking about. I also found a picture from a grocery store magazine that tied several completely different ideas that I've been thinking about together very neatly.
In the same way, my daily Bible reading is usually at random, and I look for verses that speak to me. It's not a method that works for Christian fortune-telling, but it does at least reveal some of what is going on in me, and often seems to reveal (through the Holy Spirit) things God is saying here and now to me.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Spring refreshing: School room
I had some free time, and was a bit at loose ends. I picked up The Nesting Place, by Myquillyn Smith, and started looking at the pictures again. Which made me want to apply some of her techniques to the room I was in: our "school room".
One of these techniques is simply to consider what the purposes and functions of the room are. For this room, I started making a list...which went on and on...and I ended up with seventeen purposes for this one room.
An aside: Our previous house had one small living room. This house has three not-small living rooms, and it seemed excessive to me at first. But God knows what he is doing, and we do use all three of these rooms heavily.
Then I listed all the things that needed to be in the room to support those functions. Almost everything was there already, but there are a few things that we can add to make the room work much better for our family:
1. Two more footstools; the one I made before is constantly being used for seating at the low table (repurposed coffee table), or as a perch for the shorter members of the family to see out of the window, or as a satisfyingly hefty toy to roll around, or as a rather unstable step stool.
2. One more light source; we try to keep the overhead lights off in the evening and instead use lamps for lighting. This room has one lamp and needs about one more. My husband has an LED project planned that will probably cover this need.
3. Folders for homeschool paperwork and assignments, instead of one big pile of papers.
The second technique is to "quiet the room" by taking down all of the decorative items (things on the wall can stay, if you want). When they are all down, it is much easier to dust the surfaces, and also to think of new possibilities. And then things can go back where they were, or not, and you can bring in different or new things, and just play around with making changes.
It is very useful for when you have gotten so accustomed to your decorating that you aren't really seeing any of it anymore.
So I went through the room, quieting, straightening, dusting, and rearranging, and I got a lot done in the time that I had.
One of these techniques is simply to consider what the purposes and functions of the room are. For this room, I started making a list...which went on and on...and I ended up with seventeen purposes for this one room.
An aside: Our previous house had one small living room. This house has three not-small living rooms, and it seemed excessive to me at first. But God knows what he is doing, and we do use all three of these rooms heavily.
Then I listed all the things that needed to be in the room to support those functions. Almost everything was there already, but there are a few things that we can add to make the room work much better for our family:
1. Two more footstools; the one I made before is constantly being used for seating at the low table (repurposed coffee table), or as a perch for the shorter members of the family to see out of the window, or as a satisfyingly hefty toy to roll around, or as a rather unstable step stool.
2. One more light source; we try to keep the overhead lights off in the evening and instead use lamps for lighting. This room has one lamp and needs about one more. My husband has an LED project planned that will probably cover this need.
3. Folders for homeschool paperwork and assignments, instead of one big pile of papers.
The second technique is to "quiet the room" by taking down all of the decorative items (things on the wall can stay, if you want). When they are all down, it is much easier to dust the surfaces, and also to think of new possibilities. And then things can go back where they were, or not, and you can bring in different or new things, and just play around with making changes.
It is very useful for when you have gotten so accustomed to your decorating that you aren't really seeing any of it anymore.
So I went through the room, quieting, straightening, dusting, and rearranging, and I got a lot done in the time that I had.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Spring decor: Tissue paper flowers
Recently The Nester reminded me that the time for spring decorating had come. I pulled out one thing that I made about two years ago: a floppy pink pom-pom made out of strips from an old T-shirt. That was the only spring-y decoration I had.
But an importer* of cheap Chinese party decorations has been sending us catalogs, and what mostly stands out to me in them are the paper lanterns and large fluffy paper balls. I had put "paper lantern" on my things-to-make list, and intended to use some tissue paper that I had saved. But with the Spring theme, I decided to use the tissue paper for flowers instead.
I ended up making three different versions, all basically constructed in the same way:
1. With one sheet of pink tissue paper, I cut it into three long strips, of different widths, and cut flower petal tips along one edge of each strip. Then, starting with the narrowest strip and ending with the widest, I carefully rolled them up, into a fair imitation of a rose, securing it at the stem with twine when I finished.
2. With one sheet of purple tissue paper, I folded it lengthwise, then cut the long (unfolded) edges with scissors to make a fringe. Again, I rolled it up, and this time tied it at the "stem" with tape.
3. The remaining three sheets of tissue paper were white. I experimented with painting them, with red acrylic paint and water to make pink streaks, and found that it came out...streaky, as I was trying to mix the paint and water right on the tissue paper, and it wasn't holding up well. Mixing them off the paper and using a much wider brush, I could have covered more of the paper than I did.
After the paint dried, I cut each sheet into three long strips, folded and cut each strip to make a fringe just like I did with the purple paper, and started rolling them up.
This time, though, I had more strips to work with, and I decided to alternate them so that the fringe stuck out on both sides of the "stem".
When I finished rolling them all up, and tied them with a string in the middle, and fluffed out the fringe a bit, it made a poofy, fluffy paper flower ball just like the ones in the catalog...except that it needed a little trimming where a few ends stuck out too far. Which I gave it.
I hung it up in the living room, close enough to the hanging lamp that it made its fabric cover look drab. So then I started experimenting with putting a different fabric on it, but that wasn't quite right either...so I'm still working on that one.
---------------------------------
*Now a Berkshire Hathaway company!! I find that very amusing.
But an importer* of cheap Chinese party decorations has been sending us catalogs, and what mostly stands out to me in them are the paper lanterns and large fluffy paper balls. I had put "paper lantern" on my things-to-make list, and intended to use some tissue paper that I had saved. But with the Spring theme, I decided to use the tissue paper for flowers instead.
I ended up making three different versions, all basically constructed in the same way:
1. With one sheet of pink tissue paper, I cut it into three long strips, of different widths, and cut flower petal tips along one edge of each strip. Then, starting with the narrowest strip and ending with the widest, I carefully rolled them up, into a fair imitation of a rose, securing it at the stem with twine when I finished.
2. With one sheet of purple tissue paper, I folded it lengthwise, then cut the long (unfolded) edges with scissors to make a fringe. Again, I rolled it up, and this time tied it at the "stem" with tape.
3. The remaining three sheets of tissue paper were white. I experimented with painting them, with red acrylic paint and water to make pink streaks, and found that it came out...streaky, as I was trying to mix the paint and water right on the tissue paper, and it wasn't holding up well. Mixing them off the paper and using a much wider brush, I could have covered more of the paper than I did.
After the paint dried, I cut each sheet into three long strips, folded and cut each strip to make a fringe just like I did with the purple paper, and started rolling them up.
This time, though, I had more strips to work with, and I decided to alternate them so that the fringe stuck out on both sides of the "stem".
When I finished rolling them all up, and tied them with a string in the middle, and fluffed out the fringe a bit, it made a poofy, fluffy paper flower ball just like the ones in the catalog...except that it needed a little trimming where a few ends stuck out too far. Which I gave it.
I hung it up in the living room, close enough to the hanging lamp that it made its fabric cover look drab. So then I started experimenting with putting a different fabric on it, but that wasn't quite right either...so I'm still working on that one.
---------------------------------
*Now a Berkshire Hathaway company!! I find that very amusing.
Friday, March 9, 2018
Art journaling
I learned a bit about art journaling last year from a library book, and did a one-month daily art journaling challenge. This year, I read another book about art journaling, and started doing it more regularly.
The technique takes a bit of time, a bit at a time, with periods of paint drying and glue drying in between. So I have been intentionally doing only one page per week, and making it part of my Sabbath rest.
Generally speaking, the procedure is to start with a page--not necessarily a blank page--and do some arty stuff to it, then some more arty stuff, and then some more and some more, until it all hangs together (more or less). Mistakes can be torn out or painted over, or papered over. Unconnected bits can be overlapped by another layer, to visually relate them to each other.
For materials I mostly use pens, pencils, acrylic paints, the children's markers and crayons, old magazines, and decoupage medium.
As I said in the previous post, after a bit of playing around, often a theme starts to emerge, and can be reinforced, to build a meaningful artwork. Or, the theme can be chosen beforehand.
I have been incorporating some visual images from my life into my pages, like how the neighbor's lighted window shines out into the darkness after dusk.
The technique takes a bit of time, a bit at a time, with periods of paint drying and glue drying in between. So I have been intentionally doing only one page per week, and making it part of my Sabbath rest.
Generally speaking, the procedure is to start with a page--not necessarily a blank page--and do some arty stuff to it, then some more arty stuff, and then some more and some more, until it all hangs together (more or less). Mistakes can be torn out or painted over, or papered over. Unconnected bits can be overlapped by another layer, to visually relate them to each other.
For materials I mostly use pens, pencils, acrylic paints, the children's markers and crayons, old magazines, and decoupage medium.
As I said in the previous post, after a bit of playing around, often a theme starts to emerge, and can be reinforced, to build a meaningful artwork. Or, the theme can be chosen beforehand.
I have been incorporating some visual images from my life into my pages, like how the neighbor's lighted window shines out into the darkness after dusk.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Sabbatical 3: Lessons learned
Having just completed my third one-year sabbatical, there were a couple of things about it that surprised me.
The first is how much of this sabbatical I spent just catching up on maintenance and unfinished projects. When you take a break from "getting ahead", there is time to do those sorts of things.
The second is that even though our income was the same as the previous year, we had a number of financial challenges over the year that left us needing to make do and do without, much more than usual. Last sabbatical, I put some money toward a special crafting project--a homemade fiddle from a kit. This time, I did another special sabbatical project (which I will post about later), but for the most part I crafted and created using only materials that I already had, or ones that showed up unbidden on my doorstep. I made lots and lots and lots of things, but I never ran out of supplies.
For part of the year, I set my never-ending to-do list aside, and just did what needed to be done, or what I wanted to do. Other times, I went back to making lists, and went full speed ahead on Getting Things Done. I have a new baby coming very soon, and there was a lot that needed to be done beforehand.
Spiritually, I have spent a lot of time reading George MacDonald novels, and I have been learning a lot from him. (He has been a significant influence on C. S. Lewis and other Christian writers).
I also put some effort into making wish lists this time...sometimes I get so used to using what I have and doing without, that I forget to think about what I would actually like to get. What is remarkable, looking back, is how many of those things that I listed actually showed up, one way or another. Some things I was able to buy, some things I was able to make or improvise, other things I realized that I didn't really want after all, and a number of things were handed down to me, unasked-for. It sounds like The Secret's "law of attraction" at work, but I don't believe in that; I believe in a God who loving and gracious. George said, in one of his books, that no desire is too small to set before God, who will purify it.
-------------------------------------------
The book I wrote after my second sabbatical year, The Serendipitous Sabbatical: Rest in Unexpected Places, can still be found here.
The first is how much of this sabbatical I spent just catching up on maintenance and unfinished projects. When you take a break from "getting ahead", there is time to do those sorts of things.
The second is that even though our income was the same as the previous year, we had a number of financial challenges over the year that left us needing to make do and do without, much more than usual. Last sabbatical, I put some money toward a special crafting project--a homemade fiddle from a kit. This time, I did another special sabbatical project (which I will post about later), but for the most part I crafted and created using only materials that I already had, or ones that showed up unbidden on my doorstep. I made lots and lots and lots of things, but I never ran out of supplies.
For part of the year, I set my never-ending to-do list aside, and just did what needed to be done, or what I wanted to do. Other times, I went back to making lists, and went full speed ahead on Getting Things Done. I have a new baby coming very soon, and there was a lot that needed to be done beforehand.
Spiritually, I have spent a lot of time reading George MacDonald novels, and I have been learning a lot from him. (He has been a significant influence on C. S. Lewis and other Christian writers).
I also put some effort into making wish lists this time...sometimes I get so used to using what I have and doing without, that I forget to think about what I would actually like to get. What is remarkable, looking back, is how many of those things that I listed actually showed up, one way or another. Some things I was able to buy, some things I was able to make or improvise, other things I realized that I didn't really want after all, and a number of things were handed down to me, unasked-for. It sounds like The Secret's "law of attraction" at work, but I don't believe in that; I believe in a God who loving and gracious. George said, in one of his books, that no desire is too small to set before God, who will purify it.
-------------------------------------------
The book I wrote after my second sabbatical year, The Serendipitous Sabbatical: Rest in Unexpected Places, can still be found here.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Crocheted garland with homemade hook
I recently made a trip to the dollar store, and came home with a ball of cotton twine to play with. The first thing I tried was knitting i-cord with it, which worked fine, but I wanted something with more texture to hang on the wall. So I turned to crochet, and to the simplest crochet stitch: chain stitch. Then I started joining the chain at intervals to make loops:
The pattern is (after a few chain stitches to start off): chain 7, do a single crochet stitch into the first of the chain 7 to form a loop, repeat. End with a few more chain stitches, if you want. The chain 7 makes a nice rhythm to the work. Not all of the loops hang down nicely; some like to flip, and some I had to make flip to even things out. When it was finished, I hung it across a wall in our TV room.
The hook in the picture is made from a hardwood dowel, whittled to shape. It is currently the only crochet hook that I have, and is a bit on the large side. It was not hard to make; I have even made hooks from fallen sticks before. I recommend shaping the top of the "head" first, and cutting the "throat" last. I didn't put a finish on it; homemade hooks (and knitting needles) will gradually take on a pleasant polish as they are used.
The pattern is (after a few chain stitches to start off): chain 7, do a single crochet stitch into the first of the chain 7 to form a loop, repeat. End with a few more chain stitches, if you want. The chain 7 makes a nice rhythm to the work. Not all of the loops hang down nicely; some like to flip, and some I had to make flip to even things out. When it was finished, I hung it across a wall in our TV room.
The hook in the picture is made from a hardwood dowel, whittled to shape. It is currently the only crochet hook that I have, and is a bit on the large side. It was not hard to make; I have even made hooks from fallen sticks before. I recommend shaping the top of the "head" first, and cutting the "throat" last. I didn't put a finish on it; homemade hooks (and knitting needles) will gradually take on a pleasant polish as they are used.
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