Thursday, 9 May 2019

Malachi 4 - Sun of Righteousness Quiet Book Page

Malachi 4 is the last chapter of the last book of the Old Testament and it looks forward to the dawning of the Sun of Righteousness - Jesus.



Memory Verse: “But for you who fear my name, 
the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings." Malachi 4:2a


Materials needed to create the Sun of Righteousness quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet - I used royal blue
  • felt scraps in sun colours, I used yellow, orange, red and maroon
  • lots of ribbon scraps in gold, yellow, orange, red, maroon, brown, pink or whatever colours go with your chosen felt colours
  • a pair of white shoelaces with blue flecks - I bought mine here in white blue (not an affiliate link)
  • my free Sun of Righteousness template download
Use the template to cut out four pieces of felt in coordinating sun colours. If your page size is smaller than mine, you can cut the template in half and make a quarter sun or use the smaller four layers and leave out the largest one. To make this page for the sun of righteousness, you need four layers only. If you are making a sun page in general, feel free to use all five layers.




If you are making the Bible version, you need all four ends of the shoelaces but one long length will suffice for a general sun page.




Cut up enough coordinating ribbons to fill the top edges of each layer, leaving room for a shoelace at one end of each. Melt the edges of your ribbons to prevent fraying.




Pin the ribbons leaving room for the shoelace under the yellow layer first. Before sewing them down, thread the shoelace through the ribbons to ensure you cut it at the correct length. Melt the end of the shoelace to prevent fraying.  Sew down the shoelace end underneath the layer before sewing down the felt on top of the ribbons which will secure them at the same time. Go backwards and forwards a couple of times in places where you are using thin ribbons to ensure they get caught in the stitching. Repeat this process for each layer, finishing with the smallest - alternate ends that the shoelace is located. Some ribbons thread easier from one direction than the other so ensure they are facing the right side for the shoelace location on that layer.


The first half explains how to sew this page and
the second half explains the spiritual significance.


Finished!

Difficulty Level = Easy.

Cutting the semi-circles straight across the bottom edge will enable you to line them up easier, however, it may add too much bulk to the lower edge of the sun where they are all piled up.

You may be able to use the sections cut out of the centers of the semi-circles if you want to swap the order of colours around and make a second page at the same time.




Using a lunch box with dividers can help you get organised for a TV pinning session on the couch.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Malachi 4 - Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings, the tassels remind us of the commandments
  • Threading - thread the shoelaces through the sun's rays
  • Counting - count the number of rays on each layer
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination




Read the Chapter

Malachi 4


Devotional

In Numbers 15, God told Israel to make fringes on their garments and to put tassels on the four corners. The tassels had to have a blue thread running through them - so the shoelaces are meant to represent the tassels and the sun's ribbon rays are indicative of the fringes. The blue thread was to remind them to keep the commandments - something which seems a little odd don't you think? How does a blue thread remind you of the commandments??

The rounded shape depicting the tablets of the 10 commandments was probably introduced in about the middle ages by Christian artists.


Aron de Chaves \ de Chavez. Painter at Amsterdam in 1700.


However, both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds (Jewish commentaries on scripture) report that the shape was square. It was half as thick as it was wide and high so when both tablets were placed together they formed a cube. They were made from sapphire stone, which is why a blue thread is supposed to remind you of the blue stone of the commandments.


Image Source: A Layman Looks at the Word

Jesus would have worn a prayer shawl similar to the one below. The word for the tassels in Hebrew is the same word used in Malachi for "wings". The woman who had an issue of blood in Matthew, Mark, and Luke must have known this prophecy and believed Jesus to be the Sun of Righteousness therein. So she figured if she could just touch His tassels she would be healed. She was!


A tallit, or prayer shawl with fringes and
tassels - like Jesus would have worn


There were many people in the crowd no doubt jostling Jesus, but her touch drew power. Faith made the difference. It wasn't fancy - I doubt she even told anyone her plans. Her faith was silent until she had a story to tell.






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Saturday, 27 April 2019

Remy's Quiet Book - My First One

Not long after I had Tahlia, my good friend was having a baby shower. Mum had recently reminded me about the felt quiet books we had when we were kids - bought ones, but I remember them being lots of fun.

I decided to ask everyone at the baby shower to make a quiet book page which Mum and I would sew together at the end.  We ended up doing a lot more work than that, but it turned out so well that I became a little obsessed with them... and that's how all this started!









HAPPY BIRTHDAY REMY - YOU HAVE TURNED 5!! 
You are such a sweet, lovely girl and Tahlia loves having you in her life.
Thanks so much for inspiring Faith and Felt Obsession and The Bible Quiet Book Project. 
Over 5 Years in the making...






The templates:




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Which pages would you HAVE to include in your first quiet book?

Tuesday, 16 April 2019

Spectacular Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet

Last Year we set the bar for the remaining years of Tahlia's primary school Easter Hat Parades. I set myself the challenge of making an admirable Christian hat (no eggs or bunnies) that would be far from embarrassing and that would get people talking about the Good News of Easter, um, I mean Passover.




This year I hope we have again risen to the challenge with our Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet.

This idea came with one week to go before the event. Thankfully. I had planned something else, but it just didn't have the pizzazz I was looking for and I never ended up buying all the needed items.

My first job was to secure a stuffed toy lamb - and not a Shaun the Sheep look-alike. It had to be without blemish like all Passover lambs. Happily my workmates were in the know about an awesome nearby op shop and enthusiastically took me on a lunch-time shopping adventure. Praise God this little cutie was waiting for me!




The inspiration for the Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet came from the 10th Plague from the First Passover.

You realise a lot of things when you try to convert Bible text into images. Obviously others have realised it before me because I found some awesome pictures online that demonstrate what happened to the Israelite's doors when they followed God's instructions to kill a lamb and use hyssop to paint blood on the lintel and both doorposts as protection against the death of their first born sons (Exodus 12:22).


Image Source


Who knew there was so much imagery in the old testament around the cross?




Tahlia did get to show her hat to her class and talk about it. I'm not sure that what she said would have made a whole lot of sense to them, but it was good witnessing practice. And it was a wonderful learning experience for us to share together.

You might think that I made the hat, but let me reassure you, Tahlia helped a lot.

Most importantly, she proudly wore it on the day!




Together we stripped back the Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet from last year.

She stirred the paper mache glue mixture and applied another coat.


She re-painted the hat.



Tahlia insisted we iron the felt before making the flowers. A step I was thinking we might be able to skip.


She cut the pipe cleaners.

She cut the red, white and orange flower pieces out and even helped with hot gluing them all together.

I made the bunch of hyssop.




I rolled strips of red felt for the blood to fill the bowl and glued one end of the ribbon for the cross to it. I glued everything down - the ribbon to the screws and itself, the felt to the bowl and the bowl to the hat.




I used a small screw driver to make holes to insert the screws. I had planned on using nails but I couldn't find them. I think screws worked well anyway because they had a lip which stopped the ribbon slipping off.

Tahlia wanted to make a door for the archway but we ran out of time. I thought it would be better without, but I think Tahlia was right to want a door. It might have helped the ribbon cross stand out more.

She helped glue everything onto the hat.




So that the lamb was not ruined by hot glue I employed more felt and my secret weapon safety pins!




We watched quite a few YouTube videos on how to make felt flowers. These were our favourites:





If you can't work out how I made the pink carnations you will have to beg me to do a tutorial. I'm not planning to do it unless someone asks though!


EDIT:

See the other Easter Hats in this Trilogy

  1. Hosanna! Palm Sunday Easter Bonnet - focuses on Praising Jesus' ability to save
  2. Spectacular Spring Lamb Easter Bonnet - this one!
  3. Magnificent Butterfly Resurrection Easter Bonnet - focuses on the joy and hope of the Resurrection




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I would love to see and share your Christian themed Easter Hats!

Thursday, 28 February 2019

How to Safely Dispose of Sewing Pins and Needles

I had a whole bunch of blunt pins in my pin box - and it is really frustrating going through several pins each time you want to pin a new spot together. So I bought a new lot of pins and went through the entire lot of old ones taking out anything that wouldn't pin my felt easily.

It's not a great idea to put sharp objects into the rubbish bin - mostly for the sake of those who work handling the waste.

Here's how you can dispose of them safely:




Get an empty mint tin and put them in - close the lid and done! There should be no waste center workers going home with injuries today.




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How do you dispose of your pins and needles?

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Re-labelled Baby Slogan Slippers

Pre-made baby slogans are often almost perfect, but they use the wrong names of endearment for your family.

For that reason, you can often pick things like this up quite cheaply at the end of the season because they don't suit anyone.




I have re-labelled these slippers so they fit my family. It was easy - you can do it too.


First I cut lengths of ribbon to cover the original names and melted the ends to prevent fraying. Then I hand sewed the letter beads onto the ribbon, securing each one individually. Next I attached the ribbon to the shoes with a little bit of hand sewing and a whole lot of hot glue. Sewing them in place is important if the gift is for a baby. A present that a baby ends up choking on is not a good gift.

Enjoy!




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How would you label your slippers?

Tuesday, 5 February 2019

Isaiah 53 - Messiah ben Joseph Quiet Book Page

Isaiah 53 is a Messianic passage which describes the sacrificial death of the suffering servant (Messiah ben Joseph).



Memory Verse: “But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5.


Materials needed to create the Messiah ben Joseph quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet - I used mid blue
  • four small nail looking shank buttons
  • felt scraps in skin colour, hair colour, wood colour and parchment colour
  • matching thread colours, and red thread (for the blood)
  • air erasable marker (or pen)
  • letter beads - or ink pads and small alphabet stamps or a permanent marker etc
  • hot glue and glue gun
  • my free Messiah ben Joseph template download
Cut out your template and most pieces from the felt scraps in appropriate colours. I find for intricate shapes (such as the section that needs to be cut from the inside of the legs) it is sometimes best to use a pen to draw the shape onto the felt and cut it out that way - of course you need to flip the pattern over and draw on the inside so it will be hidden when sewn together. I only cut the front of Jesus' body out and waited until I attached the front to the back to cut out the whole body.

The draw and cut method was certainly useful when trying to keep within the lines whilst sewing on Jesus' whip stripes. And of course you need to sew on the wound details in red thread before sewing the front body to the back. Jesus most likely received 39 stripes. Jewish law forbade any more than 40 (Deuteronomy 25:3) and in an effort not to cross this line, 39 were delivered just in case someone miscounted. Since the Roman whip had three tails on it, they would have delivered 13 strokes to make a total of 39 lashes.


39 stripes


Sew the front of Jesus' body to the back and cut it out. Then sew on the face - don't worry that you can see the stitching on the back as the hair will cover it. Use red thread to make small buttonholes to fit your buttons on the feet/ankle and wrist/hand areas.

For the hair, cut two fronts and sew them together, two backs and sew them together and then join the doubled front to the doubled back along the top of the hairline to a spot at about just above the nape of the head. Leaving the ends open will allow the hair to fit over the head and split over the shoulder. You will also be able to lift the hair at the back to see all of the stripes. Position the hair and secure in place using red thread on a zig-zag and/or decorative stitch to sew across the head to make a bloodied crown of thorns.

To make the sign for the top of the cross, sew the two white pieces of felt together and make a buttonhole the same size as the others using matching thread this time. It should be positioned down a ways from the top to allow room to roll the ends up. Use hot glue to keep the ends rolled in place. Hand sew on some beads to make a list of names on one side and to say "Messiah ben Joseph" on the other.

I did also try using stamps and ink for the lettering, but I don't think my ink was very good quality. You can see that it ran/separated a little, especially at the 'M' - it looks worse in real life. I have seen felt stamped before that turned out well. If you have good quality ink it might work better.




Sew down the cross onto your page and lay Jesus' body on top. Push sewing pins through the buttonholes to mark the position needed for the shank button nails. Add the sign and do the same. Hand sew the buttons on.

Finished!

Difficulty Level = Intermediate.

It's not really hard, just a bit fiddly in some sections.

Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Isaiah 53 - Taking our place and dying on the cross was not an easy task. This prophecy in Isaiah was fulfilled in such detail. Sin causes devastating consequences.
  • Imaginative Play - Jesus died on the cross so we don't have to. Turn the sign at the top of the cross to reveal either your name/s or Messiah ben Joseph. You get to choose who pays the price for your sin.
  • Buttoning - He died to pay for our sin so it is appropriate that our hands put the nails through.
  • Counting - see if you can count the 39 stripes on Jesus' back.
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination


I love you this much...


Read the Chapter

Isaiah 53


Devotional

I did question whether or not making this page was a good idea. The topic is not really a fun one and I didn't want to encourage disrespectful play. However, it is also the central topic of Christianity and it is rather difficult to create a Bible full of quiet book pages without featuring the cross.

The page was inspired by the buttons which looked to me like nails. I prayed about if I should go ahead with the idea and then decided to count how many buttons I had... if there were not enough then in a way it would be decided for me. I found exactly four and felt assured of approval.

Part of the message I wanted to portray with this page was that it is MY personal sin that Jesus died to pay for. Therefore it is appropriate that my own hand does the buttoning.




In times past Christians have blamed Jews and labelled them Christ-killers and given rise to massive antisemitism. Jews were driven from their homes and massacred during the crusades and the First and Second World Wars. I want to sincerely and profusely apologise for that. Anyone who wants to shift the blame in that way does not understand the gravity of their own sin, a point which the death of God's Son should certainly drive home.




The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Effectively, that cross had my name on it until I decided to ask Jesus to take my place. That is what the scroll meant to demonstrate... it has 'many' (unfortunately I could only fit four) names on one side, and the other is labelled with 'Messiah ben Joseph' our suffering servant.







In Jewish eschatology there is a belief that there are to be four Messianic figures: Elijah, Messiah ben Joseph, Messiah ben David and the Righteous Priest termed collectively the Four Craftsmen. There are correlations with the Christian belief in the two comings of the Messiah. At His first coming, Jesus fulfilled the role of Messiah ben Joseph, which Christians term 'the suffering servant', and at His second coming, we believe that He will fulfill the role of Messiah ben David or what we term 'King Messiah'. We also believe Jesus is a Priest in the order of Melchizedek. In Malachi 4, Elijah was prophesied to return and in the New Testament people asked John the Baptist 'Are you Elijah'? Although he denied being Elijah or the prophet - Moses (John 1:21), perhaps an effort to deflect attention away from him and towards Christ, Jesus did imply he played the role of Elijah (Matthew 17:12). But of course the real Elijah and Moses did return prior to the cross at the Transfiguration (Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9, 2 Peter 1).

Interestingly enough here are some of the traits attributed to Messiah ben Joseph and how I can see them relating to Jesus' first coming:

  • He is the leader of the lost ten tribes and/or all Israel - Christians believe we represent spiritually the lost ten tribes who were scattered among all nations. It is said that in the future He will bring back the exiles and rebuild the land of Israel. Christians believe that this will be fulfilled by Jesus at his second coming.
  • 'Ben' means 'son (of)' in Hebrew, and Jesus was known as the son of Joseph (his legal father).
  • Joseph is also meant to refer to the tribe of Joseph (Ephraim) which was in the north and is linked to both the lost ten tribes and the physical northern area of Israel (i.e. Nazareth/Galilee area where Jesus was from). 
  • A stone tablet called Gabriel's Revelation refers to a Messianic figure from Ephraim who will break evil in three days - Jesus breaks the power of evil by dying on the cross and rising to life again in three days. Messiah ben Joseph is also associated with the rebuilding of the temple (hence why he is a craftsmen) - something Jesus claims he will do in three days referring to his bodily resurrection. 
  • Messiah ben Joseph is willing if necessary to die battling evil forces and the enemies of God and would receive an inadequate burial - which indeed happened to Jesus. Perhaps not in the way the Jews envisioned a battle would take place but it was the greatest battle ever fought and won. 
  • Later God would resurrect the dead and a peaceful Messianic era would follow with Messiah ben David ruling (sounds like Heaven to me). 

Your thoughts are welcome...






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Hearing from you gives me great encouragement!

Sunday, 27 January 2019

DIY Beaded Yad (Torah Pointer)

I am in need of a toy yad for an upcoming quiet book page, but was unable to find one for sale. Real yads are very expensive, so I decided I would have to find a way to make one. I did consider using polymer clay, but when I thought of this beaded idea it stuck. These are so easy to make that your kids can do it!




A yad is a Torah pointer used to read scripture scrolls without damaging the parchment. The Hebrew word 'yad' literally means 'hand'.


carloriccardi, Parashat NoahCC BY 2.0


Materials Needed to Make a DIY Beaded Yad:
Long silver pipe cleaner
Pointing hand silver bead - available from here (not an affiliate link)
Decorative beads - with about a 2mm hole
Bend your pipe cleaner in half and thread on your pointing hand bead. Twist the pipe cleaner together to hold the bead tightly in place. Thread decorative beads over both ends of the pipe cleaner until you get close to the end. 
To finish:
1.  Use jewelry pliers to roll up the ends of the pipe cleaner to secure... or
2.  You could try placing a bead sideways at the end and thread the ends of the pipe cleaner through from either side. Twist to hold in place under the last bead. You can thread a ribbon through the last bead hole if you want a way to secure it to a book or scroll.


DIY Beaded Yad / Torah Pointer - Short Version


DIY Beaded Yad / Torah Pointer - Detailed Version


Done!
Now you can enjoy reading Torah!


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Hearing from you gives me great encouragement!



Comment below - which number yad is your favourite?





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Which number Yad (Torah Pointer) is your favourite?

Friday, 14 December 2018

Genesis 39 - The Temptation of Joseph Quiet Book Page

Genesis 39 demonstrates Joseph's integrity.

Memory Verse: "No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9

Materials needed to create The Temptation of Joseph quiet book page:

  • A4 felt background sheet - I used black
  • sublimation printed Ancient Egypt dress-up dolls by Gabi's Paper Dolls (I only printed some of the female costumes and the dolls) - you can read how I had it done on my Sublimation Printing on Felt - Test post
  • Veltex material (also called loop fabric or industrial webbing) in skin colour
  • Velcro dot
  • hot glue gun and glue
  • Double sided iron-on interfacing scrap
  • gold coloured material that won't fray - I used pleather but it was difficult to sew due to it's stretchiness (made easier by gluing first)
  • clear craft glue if using pleather to make sewing easier - I used polyacetic acid & ethylene resin based glue
  • decorative material
  • two decorative buttons
  • jump ring tassel
  • gold ribbon
  • gold elastic
  • felt in gold/straw colour
  • sewing thread to match
  • my free template (Egyptian wardrobe only)
First cut out your paper dolls, clothes and wigs, cutting off the tabs as you go. Then use your male paper doll to cut out a section of Veltex and double sided iron-on interfacing to the same shape as his torso/legs.


This one is Tahlia's favourite dress


Arrange your pieces onto the background and iron on the Veltex to the background in the correct position using the interfacing. Sew around the edge to hold in place.


Potiphar's wife acting like a 'cougar'... - this one is my Grandma's fav dress


Hot glue the feet of the male doll to the background in place over the Veltex. Cut out his undergarment and finish gluing down his legs. Hot glue the Velcro dot to the back of his undergarment and place in position. Then line up the head and glue the remainder of his body down. Hot glue the woman into position.




To make the wardrobe, trace the pieces using the template onto the back of your pleather using pen - this will avoid puncturing the pleather unnecessarily. Cut them out. For the decorative panel, cut the size to the back piece and then trim down slightly so it doesn't show on the edge of the wardrobe when layered. Using the clear craft glue, glue the decorative panel to the gold/straw felt and allow it to dry. Then glue the gold edging on top and allow to dry. Sew the inner section around the decorative panel.




Glue two sections of gold ribbon on the back to form hinges for the front door of the wardrobe. Then glue some pleather to the back of your felt and allow to dry. Sew around the outside edge of your wardrobe door and then cut it out, making sure not to cut off the hinges.




I found I had to shorten the bottom of the wardrobe base by around 5 mm and overlap the door over the lower section of the wardrobe front slightly to fit it on my page. I didn't change the pattern as you may be using a different size page to me.

Glue the pleather wardrobe base to the background page and insert the hinges from the door underneath on one side and insert a short loop of gold elastic with a jump ring tassel threaded onto it on the other side where you want the latch to be. Allow to dry and sew in place, reinforcing the stitching over the hinges and elastic loop.




Glue the remaining pleather pieces to the gold/straw felt and sew along the top edge of the draw and lower section of wardrobe front. Cut the draw out and sew the lower edge in place over the lower section of the wardrobe front. Then sew the lower section of the wardrobe front down over the base on the bottom and sides to form a pocket. To complete the wardrobe, hand sew your buttons on.

Finished!


Difficulty Level = Hard

It will be easier if you use something other than pleather that stretches! If you use pleather, be sure to use the glue.


"Hey Joseph, want to see my secret garden?"


Key Learning Areas and Skills

  • Genesis 38 - This page teaches about how we need to be prepared to suffer even when we do the right thing.
  • Buttoning - Open and close the wardrobe
  • Tucking - Tuck the wigs into the wardrobe draw
  • Imaginative Play - dress up Potiphar's wife in all her outfits
  • Velcro - rip off Joseph's undergarment (and re-position them)
  • Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
  • Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination




Read the Chapter

Genesis 39


Devotional

I admire the way that Jacob brought up Joseph. He was only around 17 when he was sold as a salve and yet His devotion to God is to be greatly admired. It must have been difficult to follow God in the situation he found himself in, and it would have been easy to go along with new cultures and customs and tell himself that God had forgotten him, so he may as well do likewise.


"Hey Joseph, do you want some 'trifle'..."


There are a few boundaries Joseph put in place to reduce the chances of finding himself in less than ideal circumstances. You can read about Joseph's 5 Steps to Avoid Temptation: Genesis 39:6-23 on the God Running blog. He had resolved to keep himself from "strange" women (those who did not follow God) as told in the story of Joseph and Asenath, translated by H. F. D. Sparks. He must have envisaged a celibate life, exiled in the land of Egypt. And not only exiled, but imprisoned. Nevertheless, as stated at the end of the blog post mentioned above, God preserved his life in that the punishment due Joseph was death. I noticed that Joseph was sold to Potiphar the Captain of the Guard (Genesis 37:36) - and the same titled person is in charge of the prison. It looks like Potiphar realises that Joseph is innocent because instead of putting Joseph to death, he saves face by putting him in his prison, but eventually puts him in charge of it just as he had done with his household (Genesis 40:3-4). Despite his circumstances, Joseph sticks to his values and God rewards him with freedom, power, and a beautiful convert, Asenath.

There are so many parallels between the story of Joseph and Jesus in the Bible, and I can only see more told through the love story of Joseph and Asenath.


Dreamcoat Part 8 - Potipher




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Thursday, 13 December 2018

How we feed the baby...






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Does your little one like to pretend to breastfeed?