Since our lei flowers have been out since my Easy Peasy Lei Flower Quiet Book Page post, I decided to make the baby doll dress I have been threatening for a while.
It has proved a great way of using up some of our leftover artificial lei flowers.
Another idea is to glue them down on your drawing or painting. We did that too, but I don't have a photo, sorry.
Materials needed to make our Lei Flower Baby Doll Dress:
a baby doll to measure
a baby singlet in stretch knit material, mine was size 00, but smaller is probably better
thread to match
artificial lei flowers
Put the singlet on the doll inside out. And pin down the sides so it fits your baby. When we got to this point, Tahlia said "No, not pins" and put baby safely away in her pram! I waited until she went to bed to continue, since she was being such a good Mummy.
Next, take the dress of the doll and adjust the pins so they are even and symmetrical.
Sew along your pinned lines. Make sure your armhole edges line up properly. Sew perpendicular to the edge at the armholes rather than in the same line you have been following. This creates a slight sleeve and works better for a thick edge. Trim the excess. Since it is stretch knit material, you do not need to finish the edges to prevent fraying.
Put the dress back on your baby doll and turn up the hem to mark the length you want.
Take the dress back off and pin and sew the hem close to the bottom edge.
Trim the excess.
Lastly, turn the dress back in the right way and pin doubled lei flowers all around the edge and at one shoulder. Set your sewing machine to 0 stitch length, and put it on a wide zig zag setting. This will make it go back and forth over one spot, creating a short line. Use this setting to sew down each pile of lei flowers. Trim the thread.
Done!
We shall see if Tahlia is impressed or not in the morning!
I recently had the opportunity to visit a recycle shop in Melbourne and came away with two treasures.
Just before we were about to leave with nothing, I quickly checked down the last isle, saying to my sister "Just in case I find a massive roll of blue felt". God is certainly blessing this little project of mine, and as those last words came out of my mouth, my eyes rested on... a massive roll of blue felt. Felt is rather expensive, and I have a feeling this roll is wool felt, which is even more expensive. It is good quality anyway, although slightly dusty on the ends. And blue is strangely a difficult colour to find, and I tend to need it a lot. There are only so many other colours you can use for the sky!
I have been wondering what to do with a picture frame that has had the glass broken when we moved, and now I know...
I present our 60x80cm [24"x 32"] felt board.
Blue is an ideal colour for a felt board as it can easily represent sky and water. Simply lay a piece of green felt over the lower portion to represent the ground, and cut away portions where you would like water to appear. See the example below from the Betty Lukens website, where you can buy many Biblical and non-biblical felt boards and felt board play sets.
a piece of felt large enough to cover the back board of the picture frame
double sided tape or contact
Take the back board out of the frame.
Lay the double sided tape in rows across the board and peel the back off it, or use double sided contact. I recommend a smaller gap between the tape than I did as I did get a few bubbles.
Roll your length of felt up so that you can unroll it onto your board to minimise bunching. Trim the edges to the size of the back board after it has been attached to avoid issues with lining them up. Last, put your board back into the frame and secure it.
Done!
When playing, simply lean it against the wall. You can also use wheat bags to ensure it doesn't slip down, especially if you have floor boards or tiles rather than carpet. They can become hills or rivers or anything else you can imagine. We made a beach scene with rocks and the ocean.
I found a couple of bags of felt board pieces at an opp shop!
Since it is a picture frame, it can be hung on the wall for storage (with a new picture whenever you like).
In Genesis chapter 28, God appears to Jacob in a dream at the top of a ladder stretching from Heaven to Earth, upon which angels are ascending and descending, and promises to bless him.
Memory verse: "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15.
Materials needed to create the Jacob's Ladder quiet book page:
A4 felt background sheet in a dark colour. I used navy.
felt scraps, in skin colour, grey, dark brown, mid brown, and red
36 angel beads, make sure the hole goes through them horizontally not vertically - I used these, you could also use these (not affiliate links)
yellow or gold ribbon/s
sewing thread to match each colour of ribbon and felt
a sleeping Jacob template - I used this colouring page from azcolouing.com
Cut out the template as a complete Jacob and position it at the bottom of your sheet of felt. Cut two lengths of your ladder side ribbons and burn the ends so they do not fray. Position them so the ends will be underneath the template of Jacob and run off the upper edge of the page. You can tuck them in when you sew the pages back to back to make a book. Pin the ribbons in place temporarily. Cut eight lengths of your rung ribbons to fit the width of the ladder and burn the ends so they do not fray. String on your angel beads, one on the highest rung ribbon, two on the second and so forth until you have eight on the lowest ribbon. Pin the ribbons so they are evenly spaced and the ends will lie underneath the ladder side ribbons. You can remove the ladder side ribbons, then sew down the rung ribbon ends. Re-position your side ribbons and sew in place.
Cut out each section of Jacob to use as a pattern out of a new template (you will have to print it out about 3 times):
torso, adding a small allowance along the edges that will be covered by his blanket, arm and face
blanket
face, adding a small allowance to what will be covered by his hair and the rock
hair, forget about the ear, just make his hair follow it's course had their been no ear sticking out, add a small allowance for what will be covered by the rock
rock
arm
Sew each piece down in the order listed above, matching your threads to your chosen colours. Use the complete Jacob template to make it easier to line up the pieces.
Finished!
Difficulty Level = Intermediate
This page is rather easy, but things can go wrong, particularly when sewing down the ribbons which house the angel beads. Try to get it tight so the angel beads don't hang down, but sit straight on the page.
Key Learning Areas and Skills
Genesis 28 - This page tells the story of Jacob's ladder, where God appeared to Jacob in a dream and reassured him that the promises of land and descendants given to Abraham and Issac would be fulfilled through his line
Counting - count the angel beads
Directions - up, down, left, right - flip the angels so they are ascending or descending the ladder, and move the angels left or right across the ribbon
Gematria - the meaning of the number eight in scripture. See the devotional section below
Angels - there are different types of angels - archangels, seraphim, cherubim, guardian, etc
Fine Motor Skills - all quiet books encourage fine motor skill development
Hand-eye Co-ordination - all quiet books encourage hand-eye co-ordination
In the previous chapter of Genesis, Jacob has just stolen his brother's blessing, not to be confused with his brother's birthright which he willingly sold to Jacob in Genesis 25. He now has to run for fear of his life. His father sends him to his mother's family in search of a Godly wife, and on the way, Jacob has this dream. I assume Jacob was feeling rather guilty and unworthy of the blessing he has just stolen, and God takes pity on him and reassures him that he is the one who will fulfill His purposes.
I have a feeling that Jacob desired to be chosen by God so badly that he was willing to steal to get it. I can relate to this because I wanted to be baptized so badly that I was willing to lie in order to have it happen. I do not fully agree with all the tenets of my denomination, but I said I did in order to get baptized. Looking back, I can see many ways to get around this issue, and indeed, you no longer need to pledge all these things prior to baptism. But I can definitely relate to Jacob's situation here, and I guess it is encouraging to see God's response!
I chose to have eight rungs on the ladder. The number eight in scripture has to do with new beginnings, and I suppose that is just what Jacob is getting here. Also, the gematria of Jesus is 888. I am not talking about numerology, but numbers in scripture can deepen your understanding of the plain text. Of course, it can be taken too far... You can read about the relationship of Hebrew and Greek letters and words to their numeric values (similar to Roman numerals) in this brief article on gematria by Matt Slick on the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry website.
As I mentioned earlier, the ladder represents Jesus (John 1:50-51), and I will refer you to this very short but very good explanation by LaVista Church of Christ.
