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Saturday, April 25, 2009
Ready for the craft sale
There is no comment in the video. The music is nice and relaxing. Just sit back and relax and enjoy.
Silk flowers ready for the craft sale.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Baking homestyle bread
Keeping busy
baking homestyle bread
is at the top
of my mother's list.
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She uses one of her Gramma's old fashioned bread recipes which is where she learn to cook bread in the first place.
Baking bread is an art and there is an old wives tale that goes that on a good emotional day your bread will rise better than when your mood is down.
Baking homestyle bread takes patience but the time spent at this bread baking craft more than pays for itself. A home that carries the odor of fermenting yeast and of freshly cooked food is inviting and welcoming.
The following video is a quick tutorial on baking homestyle bread.
Good Luck and be kind to your creation and remember that each bread is unique and is a bit different than the other.
By the way this type of antique bread was once baked in outdoor ovens.
I came across a great website with tons of information on traditional outdoor ovens which i think is worth a look at.
Link here to see traditional woodstoves use in baking homestyle bread.
I have also put a permanent link on the sidebar to that site.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
learn how to make a yellow rose
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Learn how to make a Yellow Rose out of silk nylon tubing or nylon stocking material and other easily available flower craft materials.
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This yellow flower has often been associated with warmth and the source of light which is the sun. Depending which cultural background you come from then this color of rose might have positive overtones or negative overtones.
But mostly it is a symbol of joy and and friendship and when it is given as a gift it probably is done so to brighten up someone's day, much like the sun does.
If you are feeling down then maybe the way to brighten up your day is to get busy with this simple craft of creating a silk nylon tubing yellow flower.
Here is a sample which will hopefully keep you busy for a few hours as you learn how to make a yellow rose.
The process of making silk stocking flowers may seem tedious but it is a simple hobby as you will soon discover.
The materials required.
If you are into crafts and hobbies then you most likely have most of the tools necessary for this task.
List of tools
- Scissors
- Plyers
- cutting plyers
- Measuring ruler
- nylon tubing
- wire
- glue
- waxed dental floss
- floral tape
- cotton balls
- decorative leaves
Steps to completing this yellow rose craft
Once you complete this task called " learn how to make a yellow rose " you will have a beautiful branch containing two flowers. One of these will be in full bloom while the other will be in half bloom. To others who wish to go one step further and make a vase which contains the flower which you have created a few steps will show a further product.
Step 1
For this step you will require some wire #24, along with some nylon tubing and dental floss.
Use your plyers to cut the wire into pieces 17cm long. You will need 16 pieces.
Each wire is then folded and the ends are twisted. Use the plyers tighten the twist.
Each of these pieces now needs to be covered with the nylon tubing and secured with a length of waxed dental floss. Pull tight on the line and then cut the excess material.
After a few of these you'll have mastered the technique of making petals for other projects.
Step 2
For this step you will require a green wire # 18 to make the stem. Because you have a full bloom and a half bloom then you will need 2 wires. One wire is cut to approximately 12 cm and the other about 25 cm.
Follow the same directions for each.
Curve on end with some needle nose plyer. This end should look a bit like the eye in a needle and will be used to make a bud.
Use a few cotton balls and pass them in the eye and then use some silk nylon to cover the cotton ball. Secure this with dental floss as you did in step 1. Put a few more thicknesses of nylon stocking material to add bulk. After each thickness secure with floss.
Cut the excess materials and put these aside with the petals.
Step 3
You are now ready to start building the flower. You will use the petals from step one and secure them to the stem from step two.
For this step you will need to have your green floral tape close by.
Again the concept is the same for each so I will only describe the process for the one.
This is for the full bloom yellow rose which uses ten petals. The other 6 are for the half bloom.
Hold the stem in one hand and place a petal close to the bud. At the same time take a second petal and secure it facing the first petal. Close them in on the bud. With the other hand secure the petals to the stem with floss. Add the remaining 8 petals always going towards the right.
If you want you can start to shape the petals into shape as you move along. With each new petal you twist more dental floss to secure it in position.
Use some junk pieces of nylon tubing to form a base on each flower and proceed to cover the stem with flower tape. Your tape should be cut to an angle to start and you should apply enough tension but not too much to rip it apart.
Repeat the same process with the half bloom but this time use only six petals.
Place these aside.
Step 4
A flower is nothing without leaves so you now have to make a choice between using decorative leaves or making silk nylon leaves.
For this "learn to make a yellow rose " craft project I used decorative leaves taken from some old roses we had in the shed.These rose leaves came with a convenient hole in the center which allowed me to slide it up the stem here I used some more floss to secure it in place and then a drop of glue for better adhesion.
This was the same on both flowers.
To complete both stems simply cover the remaining wire with more floral tape.
Step 5
It's now time to put the half bloom and the full bloom into one piece.But first you have to make sure that your yellow roses are well formed. So give that a little time. Place the half bloom in place somewhere below the full bloom which is the longer stemmed flower. Use your judgment as to the correct positioning and then secure these two pieces together with more dental floss.
Finally you can go ahead and cover the stem with another layer of floral tape.
That's it unless you prefer to go on to building a floral arrangement with your yellow rose as a part of this design.
Here's what mine looked like.
If anything, by the end of this "learn how to make a yellow rose " project you will have spent a few good hours and you will have found some delight in your creation. Maybe you may have even brightened up your day.
See the printable version of this recipe or craft
learn to make a yellow rose
In order to print this and other recipes please see these instructions