FHE Lesson {Olive Oil Clay Lamps}

The actual reason we were making the lamps is because I had seen an idea about having a Bethlehem dinner at Christmas and eating by clay lamp light to be like it was at Jesus time. I wanted to prepare some lamps for that, so we had this lesson first :)
Opening Song: Seek the Lord Early #108

Opening Prayer: Child

Lesson:

Who remembers a bible story about oil and lamps?
Today we are making our very own olive oil lamps.

We used oven bake clay - Fimo.  2 squares made 4 small lamps.

We followed this tutorial at  Cranial Hiccups

Basically make your clay into a circle and fold it up in the middle.
Make a spout and a circle at the back to fill with oil.
Make sure spout is facing upwards a little.

While our lamps were baking in the oven {about 20 mins} we watched
this: 10 virgins video LDS

This is a parable. A story with other meanings.
What is the oil?
Why can you not share it?
How can we fill our own oil reserves?
These lamps enabled people to carry light wherever they went.
In the same way we are to carry the light of the gospel with us.


Ten virgins = Church members

Oil = Spiritual preparation

Bridegroom = Jesus Christ

Marriage = Second coming of Jesus

extra reading:  Parable of 10 virgins March 2009 Ensign

 Some neat facts about olive oil lamps:
Olive oil burns cleanly, without smoking and is odorless. 
 It doesn’t spread toxic hydro-carbons into the air. 
olive oil won’t ignite if the flame drops down into the oil — in fact it will smother the flame.  
Making it a safe light source. It’s quite amazing that olive oil will burn at all. 
Even old rancid oil burns well. A little oil can burn for quite a long time.


Alternative : glass olive oil lamps


** Take care around fire at all times. 
NEVER leave a burning lamp unattended. 
Teach children careful Fire safety and rules.

Our lamps were in no way perfect. We didn't tilt our spouts up enough before hardening. We used unravelled cotton balls and twill for a wick. The tip of our clay lamp did burn due to proximity of our wicks. The oil must be very close to the edge of the wick or it wont light. We didn't burn them for over 10 mins because of these factors but the lamps do indeed work and we have lit them several times. Keep on a tray incase the olive olive spills out.

Closing Song: When he comes again #82
Closing Prayer:
Treat:

Advent Calendar {Wooden Tree, Questions, Photo Advent Calendar}

November is all about the Advent Calendar.

Well MAKING the Advent Calendar.

Dec 1st will be here before ya know it!

I have a love of advent calendars {as my pinterest account will attest for}

There is just too many I love - so this year I combined 3 ideas I saw into one.

See:  Family Reflections Advent  Wooden Tree Advent and vintage Photo Tree

As our family is growing older I really liked the idea of a interactive non sweet advent calendar {Though I may add some little sweets in bags and peg them on too for a few days} and I really want Christmas to be about slowing down and spending family time. I'm looking forward to sharing and asking  these  questions around the breakfast or dinner table each night.

You'll notice I only do a 12 days of Christmas. We are often busy in December, and with travelling and holidays 12 days suits us and feels more achievable. The 12 days also usually starts around the same time school gets out. Don't worry I have several other paper window and other advents around that go for 24 days too ;)

How to make this tree:

I followed the instructions on This Tutorial to make our tree. My trusty crafty friend helped me and my trusty handy husband cut all the wood for me! Made my job so easy! It's basically just 6 bits of wood screwed {and a little glue} into one longer middle piece. Then PVA glue some pegs on.
Attach a picture hook to the back so you can hang it easily.

I wish I would have white washed painted it. Maybe I still will. Or next year ;)

I printed some vintage and some newer Christmas pictures small. 12 photos per sheet.
Attach to pegs along with Family Reflections Questions.
Attach Bicarb, cornflour dough ornament advent numbers on.
Decorate.
{I'm still fiddling with my decorations. Maybe it needs some crocheted stars/snowflakes}

Enjoy!


Previous Advent Calendars:  Here

Some ideas for advent fillers:
Gum
Kinder Chocolates
Pencils
Hair Ties
Nail Polish
Balloons
Movie Tickets
Glow Sticks
Stickers
Lollies
Sippah Straws
Mini Decorations
Secret Letters to eachother

Bi Carb Cornflour Dough Ornaments {Advent and Place Settings}

Initialed Place Settings:

Advent Calendar Numbers:

^^ More info to come regarding this years advent :)

It has been a while since I'd made some ornaments with this dough - but its good.

BiCarb Conflour Dough:

2 c. baking soda
1 c. cornstarch (cornflour)
1 1/4 c. cold water

(You can easily half the recipe)

Mix soda and cornstarch together, in a saucepan, blending well. Add the cold water and mix well until mixture is smooth. Cook on medium heat for 2-4 mins until it has consistency of moist mashed potatoes. Stir constantly. Spoon out on a plate. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to cool. 
Knead dough and roll out on waxed paper. Cut out designs with a cookie cutter or shape by hand. 
If you want to hang these poke a hole with a tooth pick, straw while soft. 
Let dry until hard, 1 or 2 days.  
After letting ornaments dry for 2 days all I did was use a fine tip felt marker to draw designs on.

Previously I was impatient and cooked the dough which made it have a bit of a yellow hue. This time I made my ornaments well ahead of time and let them dry for 2 days instead and the dough was much whiter and turn out much nicer.

I started out just making tiny ornaments with words on it - these stars are 3-4 cm.

Then I thought ohhh these would make great personalised initialed place settings for Christmas dinner

Then I thought oooohhhh these would make great number markers for an advent calendar 

Next minute a hundred ornaments with the same pattern and here we are!

I wanted to mix up my patterns a bit and try other designs but I was happy with the wreath which is so easy and turned out the best - anything else not so much maybe I'm not as artistic as I think. The wreath is so easy. Everyone can do it. Draw a circle then make little leaf shapes facing down direction from both sides of circle.

Sorry if your eyes get sick of seeing it :)

^^ By my 9 year old.

Enjoy making hundreds of ornaments for your tree, place settings, advent calendars, as gift tags etc.

It's officially November and its officially time to start showing Christmas things! Someone made fun of me back in September saying I can't believe you are making christmas ornaments! Are you crazy! Sometimes I feel like the slowest person on earth. People might think I'm a crazy Christmas Lady but I'm not really. 

I'm just really, really slow.

I don't do late nights. I don't do all nighters. I don't do party stress. 

So that means I need to start... Last year lol.

We have 4 handmade family traditions - placesettings, ornament, advent and a homemade gift. 

I gotta start early or I'd never be done.

Fabric Marker {Number Birthday Shirts}

I saw this idea this week for a Personalised Letter Shirt and thought perfect for our birthday shirts.

Which is lucky as I was just thinking this week I need to get onto that.

There are birthdays coming up!

And how lucky that we could use the same stencil. We have a 9 and 6 year old!




Buy a plain white Tshirt.

Print out a number

Use a Stanley knife to cut out the number.

Stick Stencil onto shirt

Use fabric markers to decorate

I didn't have any contact but laying a piece over the hole and then cutting the number out leaving a small border so it will stick onto your shirt would be perfect. I used sticky tape to create a little sticky border to help it stick on the tshirt, as I knew the kids wouldn't be able to keep the stencil on the shirt without moving. We also used double sided tape to stick down the circle in the middle of the 9/6

We placed a piece of cardboard between the layers of the shirt so it didn't bleed through and to give a hard surface to draw on.

Using Fabric markers (our local store was sold out of felt markers, so we had to use fabric crayons) draw lines all over the stencil. Our tshirt stretched a bit - catching on the crayons. I helped by keeping the tshirt firm in place.

When you lift off the stencil you should have a lovely number left behind.

When I said I wanted to photograph them the girls went and styled themselves like this:

Previous Birthday Shirt Ideas:

 

Paint Stencilled Birthday Shirt

Letters {ONE} Birthday Shirt

Felt and Fabric Birthday Shirt

Ribbon Birthday Shirt

Reverse Applique Birthday Shirt

Zig Zag Stitched Birthday Shirt 

Spotty Reverse Applique

2 Birthday Shirt

Recycled Corderoy Pants 5 Birthday Shirt

Felt and Fabric double layer 10 Birthday Shirt

Felt Cat and Reverse Applique 11 Birthday Shirt

Felt Snowflake and Stitched #6 Birthday Shirt

Bleached Out Number Shirt

Imprinted Onion Skin Eggs/ Serbian Orthodox Eggs

Last Easter a sweet friend taught us her family's (Serbian) tradition of dyeing Easter Eggs.
It was so wonderful, I was excited to try it this year.
I really enjoyed sitting around with her family making these last year.

Each time I visited the grocery store I cleaned up around the onions and put a few skins in a bag and bought them home. 3 visits and I had enough onion skins saved up. Or just ask at your local fruit and veg, I'm sure they will be happy for you to take them.


What you need:

Onion skins
1 litre of water
4 tablespoons of white vinegar
4 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 dozen eggs
pretty leaves, herbs such as coriander and rosemary, flowers
clean stockings

Put onion skins, water and vinegar in a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Allow to cool and remove skins.

Cut stockings into pieces big enough to surround an egg and tie a knot.
Place leaves, herbs, flowers onto eggs.
Carefully place into stockings and tie knot tightly around egg
Flowers/leaves may have moved, use your fingernail, or toothpick or like to gently push leaves into back into desired position

Place eggs in pot and cook.
Allow to cool and remove stockings and leaves/herbs/flowers

Now you will have cool imprints left behind on the eggs.

Shine your eggs with a bit of olive oil and paper towel.

We are just displaying our eggs, so it didn't matter what foliage I used.
But if eating the eggs stick to things you know are safe to consume.
The tying the stocking around the egg can be fiddly and frustrating to small children.
Best to get the adult/older children to do this. My smaller kids helped in all the other stages.

In Serbia, the first dyed egg is kept until next Easter, guaranteeing family security and health. All the rest hard boiled dyed eggs are used in a traditional game, known as egg dumping, where each player hits the other players' egg with their own. The winner is the holder of the last intact egg. The losers get to eat their eggs. This is a common practice in all Christian Orthodox countries on Easter Sunday.

 A real chicken egg, hard-boiled and dyed or decorated, takes the central place in the Easter celebration. Eggs symbolise the eternal life of Jesus and according to some legends, the white eggs Mary left on her son’s grave as a sacrifice turned red after his resurrection.


I've still got the onion water, the neighbour kid loves our eggs she wants some too.
I'll just have to get more stockings. Water can be reused over and over.

I just love the simple natural method of these eggs.
Almost felt like how people did things in the old days.

Enjoy.

Heart Mobile

Saw this pin a friend pinned and immediately made it.

What's happened to me? I swear holidays bring it out in me.

It's been over two months since we/I have done any sort of craft.

I made it in about an hour and felt so happy.

The neighbour girl loved it too, maybe I'll make her one.

Wish I had better photography skills (or a camera) I promise its much cuter in real life.


How to make a stuffed heart mobile

Take 15  scraps of fabric
Cut a heart shape out of cardboard {I always use old cereal boxes}
Trace around heart on fabric making 2 hearts from each design
Cut out heart shape and place the two hearts together - RIGHT sides OUT

 

 

 

 

Sew around heart.

Do not sew all the way around!

Stop. Leave a little gap to  put stuffing in.

Push stuffing in and continue sewing.

Sew heart shut.

Done!

 

Place hearts in desired order.

5 hearts in 3 rows

 

Using White embroidery floss {I used crotchet string}

Tie a knot and sew through heart from bottom to top.

Place a knot at the end and top of each heart to prevent them slipping.

Continue adding heart till you have 5 hearts on the string

Repeat 3 times.

 

 

Tie strings to a branch.

Attach string to both ends of branch

I used a mini 3M hook to hang my branch on the wall

Enjoy.

 

 

Valentines Décor in my dining room.

 

Then perhaps off to the girls room.