Desert Life

 Postcards from God: He who can make beauty even in the desert.

Native American Needle Baskets

This week I had the opportunity to learn to weave sinew and pine needle baskets with Friends Paula and Gaylin. Now I can mark this off my bucket list. My brain is swirling with possibilities.

I LOVE the handle style. It is so simple and elegant.

Mardi Gras Mosaics

My Art Girls. (Missing two.)

This week my Art Girls did a project I call Mardi Gras Mosaics, both because Lent just started this week and because we used all those leftover, cheezy Mardi Gras necklaces. I collected second hand ones and also found them at the dollar store. (Sometimes cheaper than I found them at the thrift store!)  I also bought old picture frames from thrift stores for about $1-2 each. I had a bunch of pony beads and tiny assorted beads in my stash that we used to fill in with and add interest and variety. Then all you need is some tacky glue that will dry clear.

I took the glass out of the frames and cut some plain cardboard to insert if necessary. You could also paint the cardboard white. The frames were approximately 11 x 14 size. It took a LOT of necklaces, but you could also do this project with smaller frames.

We spread the glue out with cardboard chunks. I think next time we would just glue up smaller sections as they worked. Most started in the middle and worked out which seems like a good design plan for this project.

Here is a starter and finished picture. We re-glued some from the top after they were done arranging their beads. The glue will dry clear. (Below: Those white glue lines will go away.)

They all had their own ideas and style. The results were delightful.

Favorite, Beautiful Girls

We had our annual church Valentine's banquet, and I was practicing with my "big" camera lens. Here are some shots of some of our favorite church girls.

 Daughter M.

 Daughter L.

 Daughter A

 Brenda and Kelsey

 Brittney (and Friend Alex)

 Mom Jeanine

 Mother Lorna

 Niece Holly (and hubby Bob) gave us a wonderful musical program.

 I made whales for favors this year. We had a whale of a good time together.

Baby Shots

Today I made my first attempt at cutesy baby photography for great-niece Pixyn Jane.

 It's a whole new learning curve to photograph babies, but we had fun and got a few good shots.

I doesn't hurt to have a good looking set of parents either.

Hedgehog Valentine Party

Friend Elea had a Valentine party and the theme was: Cute Hedgehogs.

I helped with the crafts. We made three different hedgehog crafts.

We made these clay hedgehogs. The instructions are here.

Why are they always more appealing when the kids make them?

We made these pom pom hedgies with instructions from the Zakka Life blog.

The third craft was a simple felt sewing project. We made them into refrigerator magnets.

And they served these adorable hedgehog donut holes for part of the lunch. Simple and really fun!

Cake Queen

D-I-L Mac competed in her annual cake decoration competition last week. Won 3rd and advances to the next level. Free trip!

Stoplight

M. and her buddies James and Ann competed in One-act play competition at the end of Jan. There were 5 local homeschool plays. Ours was called "Stoplight."

In Stoplight, two "sisters" and their "cousin" make a road trip to Grandma's house over the holidays. The driver is unbending in her desire to keep every law of the road, regardless of the circumstances. The passengers suffer and cajole, but little progress is made.

They all three won best actor awards, and the play took second place in the competetion.

Ann, James, Mrs. W., M. and Mrs. K