Monthly Archives: April 2018

Quilled Flower Card for Mother’s Day

Quilled Flower Card for Mother’s Day
Quilled Flower

Quilled Flower

FIRST MAKE THE QUILLED FLOWER

MATERIALS:

(Colors mentioned below are optional. Think about using Mom’s favorite colors instead.)

(3) 24” strips of orange quilling paper (for the center of the flower)

(1) 24” strips of brown quilling paper (for the center of the center of the flower)

(4) 12” strips of yellow quilling paper (for the petals)

(4) 12” strips of orange-yellow quilling paper (for the petals)

(4) 3 ½” strips of orange-yellow quilling paper

(3) 12” strip of brown quilling paper (for the petals)

Cardstock or cardboard

Glue

Ruler

scissors

scissors

Tightly coil three 24” strips of orange paper and glue the tip. This is the center of the flower.

Using the 12”strips of yellow paper, make a small loop and secure the tip with glue. Continue to make a loop slightly larger than the first, securing the tip again. Repeat this pattern until there is no more paper to make a loop. Be sure each loop is bigger than the last one and glue the tip each time you make a loop.

These will be the petals of the flower. Continue with the rest of the yellow strips until you have four completed yellow petals consisting of open loops.

Continue this pattern with the orange-yellow strips until you have four completed flower petals. In the end, there will be a total of eight petals.

Make petals with the 12” strips of brown paper making the loops smaller.

On cardstock or cardboard, trace the flower’s center lightly with pencil. Arrange the yellow and orange-yellow petals evenly around this circle and glue down. Glue the brown petals randomly around this circle.

Glue the center of the flower down. Take one end of the 3 ½” strips of orange-yellow quilling paper and curl the tip. Finish curling the tips of the 3 1/2 inch orange-yellow papers. Glue the other end randomly through-out the petals.

THEN MAKE THE QUILLED FLOWER NOTE CARDS

MATERIALS:

  1. Trim mounted quilled flower to an even height and width. The sample shown is 5 ¼” x 5 ½”.
  2. Measure and cut a piece of cardstock to 10 ½” x 5 ¼” doubling the width but keeping the height to 5 ¼”. (Cardstock for scrapbooking is ideal.) Choose a color that compliments or contrasts with the colors of the quilled flower.
  3. Measure and cut another piece of cardstock in another color to 10 ½’ x 5 ¼”. Glue the three pieces and trim where necessary. Glue the pieces together.
  4. Choose a third sheet of cardstock for the envelope. Choose a color that compliments or contrasts with the colors of the quilled flower. Measure an area 5 ¾” x 5 ½”. Mark with a pencil. Cut.
  5. At the bottom of the cardstock, measure an area 5 3/3” x 5 ½” in pencil.
  6. Above that measure an area 5 3/3” x 5 ½” in pencil, too.
  7. Above that measure an area 1” x 5 ¾” and fold the marked areas at the creases. Glue at the edges.
  8. Insert the quilled card in the envelope. You have a blank card to write special Mother’s Day wishes.
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MOTHER’S DAY CRAFT IDEAS

MOTHER’S DAY CRAFT IDEAS

MOTHER’S DAY CRAFT IDEAS         

When Mother’s Day rolls around, kids want to show their moms just how special they are. Store-bought gifts and cards are nice, but they lack that personal touch. Something made just for Mom has much more sentimental value, and kids don’t have to spend much money (if any) on it.

Even toddlers can make Mother’s Day crafts with a little help. Here’s a sampling of things kids can make for Mom.

FRAMED PHOTOS  OR PHOTO ALBUM

Every mother loves to look at pictures of her kids. So why not pick out a favorite picture or yourself with Mom and create a beautiful frame for it? There are many ways you can go about making photo frames.

One of the cheapest and simplest ways to make a picture frame is to cut one out of paper. Construction paper, card stock and thick scrapbook paper are good choices. Or, if you want to make the frame even sturdier, use corrugated cardboard. Just make sure the opening in the middle is large enough to show the part of the photo you want to display, and make the frame any shape you like. Decorate with paint, glitter and stickers. Add a magnet to the back for easy display on the refrigerator.

You can also make frames out of craft sticks. Just glue the ends of four sticks together to make a square, and decorate with markers or paint. Or if you prefer, buy a plain photo frame and decorate it as you please.

Variation: Mini Photo Album (Tutorial available on this website under Father’s Day Crafts)

CANDLE HOLDERS/VOTIVE

Votive/vase with sea shells and pearls

Votive/vase with sea shells and pearls

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s easy to make a lovely candle holder out of a small jar. Larger baby food jars work well for tea lights and votive. Pint jars can hold a votive or small pillar candles.

To decorate, use tissue paper. Mix equal parts white glue and water, and stick the paper on the outside of the jar, stopping below the rim. Use pieces of different colors to create a stained glass look. Cut some shapes out of the paper if you like, arrange them in a pretty pattern, and glue on top of the larger pieces. Coat with the glue mixture to seal, and let dry.

Variation: Buy a clear jar or vase. Gather objects mom will love: a string of pearls, small hand-made soaps, candy, shells, etc. Scatter the objects in the jar or vase and top with a small candle holder and scented candle.  (Tutorial available on this website.)

Home-made Bath Salts

Home-made Bath Salts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BATH SALTS

Want to help Mom pamper herself on her special day? Make her some homemade bath salts. They will help her relax and leave her skin feeling great.

Just mix 3 cups of Epsom salts, 2 cups of baking soda, and 1 cup of table salt. Add about twenty drops of a fragrant essential oil. Lavender, sandalwood and chamomile are good choices. Mix thoroughly. Present the bath salts to Mom in a pretty jar tied with a ribbon or lace and a bow on top.  Tuck a sprig of rosemary or lavender or basil under the bow.

 

 

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JUST LOVED READING: Catherine, The Great Journey

JUST LOVED READING: Catherine, The Great Journey

Just Loved Reading:

The Royal Diaries: Catherine, the Great Journey

Middle Grade Novel

Gregory, Kristiana. The Royal Diaries: Catherine, the Great Journey. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2005

 

“I am a princess. All girls are; even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty or smart or young, they’re still princesses.”

 

Sophie Augusta Fredericka is a minor princess, the daughter of Prince Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst and Princess Johanne Elizabeth of Holstein-Gottrop.

Princess Sophie displayed a lively adventurous intelligence early in life as well as an argumentative spirit. The latter trait would suit her later in life.

Johanne Elizabeth’s family was related to the imperial family of Russia through marriage. When Peter the Great died without declaring a successor, his daughter Elizabeth took over as ruler and named Karl Peter Ulrich of Holstein-Gottrop, son of her younger sister as her heir.

Sophie’s mother lobbied to arrange a marriage between her daughter and the newly renamed Grand Duke Peter. In 1744, Princess Sophie and her mother traveled to Russia. In St. Petersburg, Sophie met with the royal court and moved on to Moscow where she met the Empress Elizabeth. She made the right impression.

Sophie converted to the Russian Orthodox faith and we renamed Ekaterina Alexeyevna.

The next day she became engaged to Peter. They were married on August 21, 1745 in the Church of the Virgin of Kazan in St. Petersburg.

She was only 17 years old and on her way to becoming Catherine the Great.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

It was fascinating to read of the transformation of Princess Sophie into Empress Catherine although the novel stops short of detailing her long reign. What struck me about the life of Catherine/Sophie was the sheltered life she led as have so many other princesses. She was tutored in various academic subjects and learned French and the refinements of the French court yet she was sheltered from the political intrigues (although it is likely she heard about them). She learned the fundamentals of Lutheranism. When she was a child, she was forced to wear a brace for four years which certainly taught her fortitude.

Inspite of her pampered life, she left her old life behind and embraced the culture and religion of Russia. She also learned to successfully maneuver the political intrigues of the Russian court and become Catherine the Great.

 

FOR FURTHER READING:

https://thelonelyplanet.com/russia

https://www.britannica.com/place/Russia

https:russiapedia.rt.com/russian-history

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JUST LOVED READING: The Royal Diaries: Mary, Queen of Scots

JUST LOVED READING: The Royal Diaries: Mary, Queen of Scots

Just Loved Reading:

The Royal Diaries: Mary, Queen of Scots

Middle Grade Novel

Lasky, Kathryn. The Royal Diaries: Mary, Queen of Scots, Queen without a Country. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2002

 

“I am a princess. All girls are; even if they live in tiny old attics, even if they dress in rags, even if they aren’t pretty or smart or young, they’re still princesses.”

 

Mary Stuart was crowned Queen of Scots when she was nine months old after the death of her father King James V.  When she was 5, political conflicts forced her to leave her mother and flee Scotland. Mary went to live in the royal court of King Henry and Queen Catherine de Medici of France.  In order for Scotland to forge an alliance with France (and send a message to England), the powers-that-be betrothed Mary to Francis, the sickly son of Henry and the treacherous Queen Catherine de Medici.

Mary’s journal begins in 1553 when she is 11 years old and ends a year later.

The diary relates a year in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots a year packed with parties, visits to castles, playing with her Ladies-in-Waiting (all four of whom are also named Mary) and her betrothed, Francis, academic and music lessons and court intrigue. She muses about marriage to Francis and her attraction to her royal Scots guardsman. Mary is smart, athletic and loves the arts. She is also impulsive and we get a hint of the trait which will ultimately lead to her demise at the hands of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

      The story of Mary Queen of Scots takes place during two important historical periods: the Renaissance and the Reformation. Both movements influence Mary’s life and thoughts as she grows into womanhood. A devout Catholic, she becomes aware of the influence John Knox and the Protestant Reformation has on her native Scotland. She muses if she will exercise tolerance of religious dissent when she returns to her native land. Yes she tells herself but we now know only time will tell.

Living in the French royal court affords Mary many of the refinements of the arts: music lessons, poetry and more. She is not unaware of this when she reflects that in Spain none of these refinements are found in its royal court. Indeed, the Spanish seem obsessed with the Inquisition and nothing else she writes in her diary. Mary gives credit to Queen Catherine for bringing many of the arts from Italy.

We will never know what the real Mary Stuart thought and felt at the age of eleven but the Royal Diaries gives us an idea especially since history tells us how the rest of her life transpires.

FOR FURTHER READING:

https://www.scotland.org

https://www.visitscotland.com

www.localhistories.org/scotland.html

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/history-scotland

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