Month: April 2019

DIY Passover Doll

Dear Sis,

This is the final DIY for my Passover Lesson Plan. It is a doll to help little people learn about plague six… boils. Little kids love bandages, so I thought it would be a great activity to give William a box of bandages to stick all over the doll to cover the boils. It’s a bit unconventional I guess, but I don’t see a reason to shelter my kids from the more gruesome bits of religious history. The human experience isn’t always pretty, he might as well start learning that now.

To begin, you will need an 18″ cloth doll and some chunky black yarn.

Hair is the first chunk of the project. I cut 18 inch lengths of yarn for the length of the hair, and 8 inch lengths for the bangs. I started around my visualized center part and stitched the yarn in place with needle and thread. The yarn is black, consequently the photos aren’t as clear as I would prefer.

There are four single pieces of yarn folded in half on the right side. Only two are stitch on the left, as pictured.

For the back, I started with double strands on the outer most bits, then did a set of triple strands, and one set of quadruple strands in the very center back. The multiple strands fill in the roundedness of the back of the head nicely. 

I stitched the bangs on in single and double strands depending on the amount of coverage needed in that area. The final step was a hair cut. I did a boy’s bob, for a girl make it longer.

The next part of the project is the tunic. It can be completely sewn by hand, but I used a machine on the inner seams to save time. First is some simple pattern making. 

The body of the tunic is an 8×7 inch rectangle as pictured, but I modified it in the cutting step to 10×7 inches because I decided it was too short. The sleeves are 3×3 inch squares that line up with the top of the body rectangle. I used a lid to help shape the neckline, but the dimensions in the next picture will help you create the curve without a lid:)

The neckline is centered. It is 3 3/4 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches deep. Cut 2 from desired fabric. I used some broadcloth remnant. 

I cut a 2 inch slit in the center front to create a gusset in the front opening to ease the garment over the head.

The seams are stitched with 1/4 inch seam allowance.

I pressed 1/2 inch rolled hem into the bottom of the tunic on the bottom of each sleeve opening. I pressed the neckline under a 1/4 inch.

I secured all the pressed edges by hand using the running stitch. I also made a belt with some ribbon to complete the outfit.

Before dressing the doll, I used fabric paint to create the boils.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b

 

 

 

 

 

Ten Commandment Paper Tablets

Dear Sis,

Today I found the time to make paper tablets with The Ten Commandments for the final day of my Passover Lesson Plan.

Begin by scoring an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of card stock in the center to create two sides.

Trace a round object to create a rounded top on each tablet.

Cut rounded top on each tablet and Ten Commandment Tablet Craft Printable.

Adhere commandments to card stock.

The other side doesn’t have to have anything, but this is what I did to it. In hindsight, it would have looked better to center the title instead of couture it. Oh well:) There is always next time.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b

Easter Play Date

Dear Sis,

Today Carter and Mama Jen came for a play date. We had an egg hunt in the back yard and a fun craft with a lot of stickers! The kids were so busy eating candy they didn’t get very far on their craft. I’m sure they will get back to it later:)

Love,

b

Passover Door Post Papercraft

Dear Sis,

As promised in my Passover Lesson Plan Post, here is a tutorial for a Paper Crafted Door Post ready for some red paint! 

To begin, you will need:

Two shades of brown 8.5×11 inch card stock and Passover Door Post Craft Verse Printable. You will also need a scoring board, paper cutter, adhesive, black permanent marker, straight edge, pencil, and x-acto knife to complete this project.

Score the light brown sheet of card stock 1.25 inches on each end of the 11 inch side. These creases will fold back to support the hut in the end.

Cut verse printable along dashed cutting lines. Cut a 4 x 6.5 inch door from the dark brown card stock.

Score one short side at 0.5 inch from edge to create to lintel above the door.

Score both long sides at 0.5 inch from edge to create side-posts for the door, taking care not to score the lintel.

Draw door knob with permanent marker. Then using a straight edge and x-acto knife cut the top and right side of the door free of its lintel and side-posts, without cutting through them. Crease the scoring on the left side to open the door.

Turn door over and place adhesive on the door-posts and lintel. Adhere door 1 inch from the left hand score line on the light brown card stock.

Adhere verse to light brown card stock behind the door.

Using a straight edge and pencil mark the 1.5 inch square window. It is 1 inch lower than the top of the lintel and 1 inch away from both the right side-post and right hand crease, which makes it centered horizontally.

Cut window opening using a straight edge to guide the x-acto knife.

Now it is ready for your child(ren) or student(s) to paint! Older children might prefer to be part of the assembly process. For instance, they can probably manage the adhering and perhaps even the cutting in a classroom setting.

Happy Passover!

Love,

b

 

The Missing Sister

Hi Sis,

I haven’t done many blog posts lately, because I may have been busy sucking at life. I’m tired, in fact we are all tired. Nate has been working the refueling outage at the plant, which has been 13 hour days, every day, for close to a month now. Evelyn, has also been giving me trouble about sleeping at night, so I am pretty much a walking zombie. New recipes, crafting, nahhh. I just noticed my shirt was inside out at lunch. But, thankfully I have been managing to keep up with laundry and dinner. 

Despite our sleepy and boring state, one thing did happen. Evelyn turned 9 months old! She is such a cutie, and looking more and more like a little person instead of a baby. She is certainly keeping me busy, as she now cruses around the house and has fun getting into everything. 

I will upload a picture of her later, if I remember. lol My computer is annoying, so I need to upload with my phone.

Love,

Jamiegoof

Passover Lesson Plan

Dear Sis,

I’ve been working on our lesson plan for Passover. William is 2.5 now and has a great attention span for short stories, simple crafts and activities. I’ll probably reuse the basic outline and many of the ideas in years to come!

Evening Before Passover

  • Reading from A Child’s Garden of Torah by Joel Lurie Grishaver
    • Story 17: Baby Moses (pages 71 – 77)
    • Story 18: The Burning Bush (pages 78 – 80) 
      • Standing Burning Bush to Color and Cut (I backed ours with card stock before cutting it out for extra rigidity)
    • Story 19: Ten Plagues of Egypt (pages 81 – 84) 

Day 1

      • My Ten Plagues Booklet to Color, Cut, and Staple (Mom edits listed below)
        • Plague 3: Lice instead of Knats
        • Plague 4: Wild Animals instead of Flies
        • Plague 5: Noting that the Livestock is “Sick”
        • Plague 7: Noting that the hail was both “Fire” and “Ice”
        • Plague 9: Noting that the Darkness lasted “3 Days”
        • Plague 10: Adding Label “Death of First Born” along with the Passover Title

  • Plague 1 Activity (Water to Blood)
    • Snack: Red Jello with Swedish Fish
      • Symbolizes how the waters of the Nile were turned into blood, killing the fish.

Day 2

  • Plague 2 Activity (Frogs)

Day 3

  • Plague 3 Activity (Lice)
    • Put sprinkles (pretend lice) on a very fluffy stuffed animal for child to pick off.

Day 4

  • Plague 4 Activity (Wild Animals)
    • Snack: Animal Crackers
  • Plague 5 Activity (Sick Livestock)
    • Medical Kit for pretend play with stuffed livestock animals.

Day 5

Day 6

  • Plague 7 Activity (Fire and Ice Hail)
    • Red and White Balloons
  • Plague 8 Activity (Locusts)
    • Locust to Color, Cut, and Assemble (I backed ours with card stock before cutting it out for extra rigidity)

Day 7

  • Plague 9 Activity (3 Days Darkness)
    • Flashlight
  • Plague 10 Activity (Passover/Death of First Born)

Day 8

Stay tuned for our seder plans:)

Love,

b

Velcro Sticks

Dear Sis,

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought William was at the perfect age for it! We made a second set for cousin Ronan. His second birthday is later this month. We will get to meet him and give him his gift in person when we go to Iowa in a few weeks:)

To Make Your Own Velcro Sticks:

  • Wide Colored Craft Sticks
  • Sticky Velcro Circle

It really is that simple!

Love,

b