Hints for a making a Christmas Advent

"Tis the Season for Christ"

A second option, "Tis the Season for Family"

Okay so this was a little while ago, like a couple of years. And I didn’t end up with one in the end. However I was in on the planning and what not and this is what I remember about the project. I hope it helps to answer some of the questions.

1. The back board was covered with 6 sheets of 12x12 papers.  The board was about 24 inches wide by about 36 inches long. We put the paper on with modge podge, distressed and then put the layer of modge podge .

2. The little squares (there are 25 of them) are 3 inches on each side. The pictures are attached on one side and paper and vinyl on the other. Remember to put the vinyl on the paper before you modge podge or it won’t stay on very well.

Each of the little squares is made of a really thin wood. They each have a little hole drilled through them. The large board has 25 little nails tapped into it. So basically the little square hangs on the board from a little nail.

A couple of tips...

Don’t try putting the squares onto the board until it is fully dry, (the large board and the little squares). It is super tempting to see what it is going to look like but it can take over a day sometimes for the stuff to full dry. I have found that modge podge never fully dries and will often stick to itself for even years later. For that reason I prefer weldbond. However, it dries quickly and takes practice to use. You really only get one chance with it.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them for you.

Super Saturday Count Down is ON!

It's almost here, the day that we have all been waiting for...Super Saturday!!!

So here are a few last minute reminders of what is going on.
The fun starts at 9:00am at the church, if you signed up for the advent you are going to want to be there as early as possible as it is an all day project. The cupcake class is from 10:00 to 11:00, we don't want you to miss out so please be there on time. Also lunch will be from about 12:00 until 1:00, even if you didn't sign up for a project we would love to have you join us for lunch.
If you signed up for the advent calendar or the hanging magnet board you need to bring either a paper cutter or a pair of scissors. Please be sure to have your items labeled so you won't lose them. As always we will have lots of paper and paint but if you know that you want something specific please feel free to bring those along as well. And finally if you signed up to make a tutu and want to embellish it with ribbons and all the prettiness please make sure to bring some change to buy those items.
Our committee has been hard at work and we can't wait to share this day with you!

Super Saturday Sign Up Deadline....

Just a quick reminder that Friday is the deadline to have your order form and money to Cara H. for this year's Super Saturday. We would love to have you join us but must have everything in place by Friday!! So don't delay sign up today.

Tutu Dresses

Alright we have an updated list of the colors available for the adorable tutu dress. They are: red, orange, peach, yellow, lime, navy, purple, pink, hot pink, burgundy, lavender, turquoise, light blue, olive green, kelly green, black, white, dark brown and finally ivory. Please be sure to clearly indicate what color of top you want and also what colors of tulle you want for each dress that you are making. Additionally there has been some confusion on the size of this dress. It is intended for newborns to very small children under the age of 2.

THANK YOU!!!!

Whew, what a long but great day! Thank you sisters for coming out and making super Saturday such a wonderful day. I want to especially thank all those fantastic sisters who helped make the day possible. Thank you guys!!! I hope everyone had a good time.

It's finally here....almost

Yes that's right, super saturday is THIS SATURDAY!!!

Super Saturday is this Saturday (Nov. 7th) from 9 - 2. We will be serving a light lunch from 12 - 1, we would love for you to stop by and visit us even if you aren't doing any crafts this year.
Sisters who signed up for the magic micro bags please feel free to bring your own sewing machine if you have one. There will be a couple there, but you may find it nice to have your own.
Any sister who signed up for the dish etching, please be thinking about what saying you would like to use on your dish. If you are really ambitious you could bring your saying printed out in the font and size that you want, (again we will be doing this there but this would just help the process along.)
Also if you signed up for the family blocks or the believe board, there will be paper there but if you have something specific in mind please feel free to bring what you like to suit your tastes. This goes for paint colors as well.
Don't forget even if you aren't doing a project we would love to see you!!!

Tick..Tock...

Eekkk...this is it. Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for Super Saturday projects. We will have the projects on display tomorrow at church or you can check out the photos here.. http://leth9thrs.blogspot.com/2009/09/super-saturday.html

Oven in a bucket

Okay here is the long promised information of the oven in a bucket. I tried it out this past week and for the right things this is a great idea to have for emergency preparedness. So this is what I learned...
The main way that I can see that this stove would be useful is to be used with your 72 hour kit or camping. The bucket has essentially a penny stove inside. To make the stove work you pour a small amount of denatured alcohol (not included) into the little penny stove, start it and put the pot on top. The idea is that by the time whatever is in your pot is brought to temperature the fuel will run out. And then you put the lid on the bucket and it will retain it's heat for several hours. This would allow for you to cook items, such as beans that require a long cooking time. But in the winds around here is could be useful just for heating water. I can see that it would be useful if you kept a bottle of denatured alcohol in the bucket and a pot near by you could take this item with you if you had to leave your house in a hurry and then you would have a stove to cook whatever you have in your 72 hour kits. However, you have to have the right pot to make it work. What I mean is that it needs to fill as much of the space as possible. If it doesn't fill enough of the space than the bucket won't hold it's heat properly, these means that you wouldn't be able to cook anything that takes an extended period of time to cook. I tried to compare the ability of both the wonder box from last year and the bucket from this year and without the right size pot the wonder box held it's heat better hands down. The advantage of the oven in a bucket is that it requires no addition outside heat source. The oven in a bucket, (with the right pot) is great for things that are done outside of your house.
Also it should be noted that the oven in a bucket will take AT LEAST AN HOUR, possibly two to make. So if you are planning to make it please remember that if you are signing up for any other classes.

Canning other stuff...

Okay so something that sounds really fun is canning other items in the #10 cans for gifts. Some examples that I have heard are baby gifts, family home evening in a can, teenager winter preparedness kits for their car, the options are endless. So be creative, have fun and come out and see us on Saturday November 7th.

(Just remember items like candy or granola bars don't have extended life because they are canned, but they would be fun to open in a few months with your kids).

Dry Pack Canning at Super Saturday

Alright here is some of the long awaited information for Super Saturday. We have arranged to have the church’s dry pack canning machine on Saturday. We are hoping that this will help the families get some of there food storage items organized and properly sealed etc.
Some items are not recommended for dry pack canning as they either have too high of a moisture content or are items that should be rotated more frequently and therefore would be better off in another type of container.
The items that are not recommended for dry pack canning are as follows:
Baking Powder
Baking Soda
Bouillon
Brown Rice
Brown Sugar
Chewy dehydrated fruit
Cornmeal
Dried Eggs
Dried Meat
Granola
Raisins
Milled grain cereal
Mixes containing leavening (such as pancake or biscuit mix)
Nuts (roasted or raw)
Oil
Pearled Barley
Salt
Spices
Whole wheat flour
Yeast

The cans need to be ordered in advance, so here is a general idea of what would fill a can.

10 kg of rice should fill 3.9 cans.
10 kg of flour should fill 4.6 cans.
10 kg of sugar should fill 3.6 cans.

It should be noted that the canner is available to be borrowed by families as well, so if you are unable to participate on Super Saturday you would still be able to can some of your products from home. No products are allowed into the cannery and so this is a good way to seal any items that you may have.

More Super Saturday

Oven in a Bucket $25

I have to say, don't let the photos deceive you...we are not making a potty! This is called an oven bucket. It's purpose is to be used in emergency situations. If you remember last year at Super Saturday we made Wonder Boxes, these are a similar idea. The main difference being that wonder boxes need outside heat source and these supply the heat source. The oven in a bucket is not intended to be used for foods that just need to be heated (soup, pasta, oatmeal etc.). The oven in a bucket retains its heat for several hours and is best to be used when making things like beans that need to be cooked for a long time in order to be eaten.

This item takes at least an hour to make so please make sure you plan for that so that you can complete all you projects in the given time. Also the bucket does not include the denatured alcohol or the pot that you will need to cook with.

Canning with #10 Cans $1.20

Bring either food storage items from home to be put in cans or else creative gifts. I will post more on this a little later in the week.