penpaletteheart

Play Food Pizza Etc.

I’ve been playing with felt again. This time I made a felt pizza that my grandson can take apart to serve or put on the platter together to bake. This play pizza is stuffed with fill and is covered with tomatoes, olives, pepperoni pieces, green pepper and mushrooms. It attaches to the plastic platter (Dollar Store) with velcro. At first I tried to sew on the fuzzy part of the velcro to the pizza, but after two broken needles, I realized that I only needed the toothy part attached to the platter as the felt just naturally attached to it. So here it is: felt pizza

Then I decided to make three hotdogs and buns for more fun food. The hot dogs were easy – just three tubes of brown felt. I decided to add the toppings before sewing, so while I completed the pizza, I called upon my sous-chef (my 10 year old granddaughter) to cut out the mustard, catsup and relish which she did with great skill. I sewed them on and when I sewed up the seams, she stuffed them. The buns were a bit more of a challenge, but in the end I think they looked enough like bun to please my grandson (he’s two).

Next I made eggs and bacon strips. I think they look convincing.

Felt Bacon and eggs

These felt foods were intended for my grandson’s 2nd birthday present and he was very pleased with them. I think he will like cooking them on his felt play oven. Oh, I do love felt. My sous-chef approved also. Thank you, Kaytlyn.

Homestyle Millinery

My good friend, Dymoon, gave me a huge bag of reclaimed material for crafts. I was going through it one day and discovered a large piece of woollen houndstooth check and had an inspiration. I started out only to sew an infinity scarf, but soon the project grew into a scarf, hat and clutch purse. Here are the results. I have worn the hat and scarf, but I am anticipating using the purse soon also. The hat is quite warm as I stiffened the crown with a thick felted material. It is the first time I have made this kind of hat and my very first purse, so I am happy with the results.

hat-scarf-and-purse

The hat consists of a large circle (slightly larger than a dinner plate) gathered into a band (my head size). As I mentioned I stiffened the crown with a inner lining of felt. Then I added a bow to the hat band.

hat-and-infinity-scarf

To make the purse I cut out a long rectangle of material, interlined it with more felt, made a cotton lining and turned the cotton lining right side out so that the seams were inside. Then I folded one end up part way and the other end down to partially cover it. It made an envelope. I finished off the raw ends of the purse flap by turning it inward slightly and blind stitching it. I then sewed on velcro for a closing and added a bow. I made a smaller envelope out of the houndstooth material to hold makeup etc. inside the purse.

purse

I enjoyed the process of designing and constructing the three items. I hope my description is clear.

Being Salt and Light

Salt and Light

Words © 2013 by Mollie Pearce McKibbon
8/7/8/7 salt

Salt and light our Saviour calls us,
Salt and light so we must be,
Sharing hope and truth with others
With our love and empathy.

Salt and light our Saviour named us,
Pure and honest we must be,
oil-lamp-from-ancient-times Consecrate our days to Jesus
So God’s kingdom we will see.

Salt and light we must be bearing,
Pain and hatred to confound.
It’s God’s love that we are sharing;
Spread it gently all around.

Mirrors and Windows

angel-and-shepherd-painting-on-hall-mirror

This is the painting that I put on my parents’ hall mirror the Christmas that I was 18. I loved the way the light seemed to shine through the painting, so each year at Christmas I would put a new painting on the hall mirror as part of our Christmas decorations. When my husband and I moved into our apartment I put a Christmas scene on our front window and later, when we moved into the country and became youth leaders, I enlisted the help of the youth group to decorate all the windows in our little country church. The paintings could be seen from the inside and the outside. They really looked nice when the church was lit up at night. Eventually, the windows of that church needed to be replaced and so I was asked to draw up designs for each window. I chose the familiar themes of the Ten Commandments, Alpha and Omega, The Burning Bush, The Lord’s Supper, and the Open Bible. We took the designs to a stained glass window artist and he had them re- drawn to accommodate the requirements of his craft. The windows were each sponsored by different church families and we had a special church service to dedicate them. Although we no longer attend the church as my husband and I are pastors in another , it thrills me to see the windows each time I pass the church. It is such a pleasure to use my gifts to praise God.

I was thinking of this today, and it occurred to me that we as the people of God are asked to reflect the glory of God in all our being. I think that we can either be mirrors or windows in life. The limitation of a mirror is that mainly the reflection we see is our own. Windows, on the other hand, show what is on the inside and through them we can see the world. We need to be windows to show the love of God that dwells within us to the world. In order to be windows, we need to make sure that what is inside us is clean , healthy, and true.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)and find out what pleases the Lord. ” (Ephesians 5: 8-10 NIV)

A Hymn of God’s Promises

Song of Wonder
© 2017 Mollie Pearce McKibbon

1.
Zechariah longed for a son, gabriel-comes-to-mary
Old, he thought, all hope was gone.
When God surprises , hope arises
And heavenly will is done.

Chorus:
O sing of wonder, sing of light!
Angels sing in pure delight.
God’s devices all suffices
Banishing darkest night.

2.
Mary had no thought of all
God’s good graces on her to fall.
Gabriel found her to astound her
Telling of God’s great call.

Chorus

3.
All night Joseph tossed and turned,
Stunned by all that he had learned.
Should he marry or be wary,
Should Mary’s love be spurned?

Chorus

4.
Herod was only king in name.
All he sought was gold and fame.
Though so clever, he would never
Destroy what God had ordained.

Chorus

5.
Never think your day is done
Or say a battle cannot be won.
When God surprises, hope arises
And Holy Spirit will come.

Chorus

Knitting for Christmas

I wanted to make some small knitted items for my granddaughters, so I made scarves, toques and purses for their dolls. Here they are:

eilishs-doll-hat-purse-and-scarf hat-purse-and-scarf-for-kaytlyns-doll

I just did straight knitting stitches using two colours of yarn. I put some cute animal buttons on the purse flap with an elastic loop to fasten it and I slipped a loonie (dollar coin) inside the purses. Each set took about two hours to make.

More Sewing for Christmas

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to make one for my little grandson who loves to “cook” when his mom and dad do. It took a day to make because I do a lot of hand-sewing as well as by machine. I had fun making it. It is a play stove which can be put on the seat of a chair and fastened to the back. The advantage to this is that it can be folded up and stowed away when not in use.

fionns-stove

The dials are large buttons I found at Fabricland where I got the material. I hope my grandson has as much fun playing with this stove as I had making it.

Sewing for Christmas

One of the items on my granddaughters Christmas list was doll clothes for the 18″ doll I gave her two years ago. Here are the things I made for her doll:

pajamas-and-slippers

Cosy polka dot pj’s with slippers.

jacket-with-pocket-and-pants

Brushed denim jacket with red plaid pocket and trim and pants.

jacket-back-and-reversible-cape

Back of the jacket and front of reversible cape.

reverse-side-of-cape

Inside of reversible cape.

cupcake-jumpsuit

Cupcake jumpsuit with lace and mouse button trim.

The pattern I used for the doll’s clothes was McCall’s M6526. It is the first time I’ve ever attempted something so small. I can see my mistakes but hope the doll will overlook them. 😀

Stumblefoot -a Christmas Story

camel-2 Stumblefoot

In all the countryside there were no finer trained camels than the herd that belonged to Amos, the Carpet-maker. He bought only the best of the best and so he needed to with all the carpets he had to ship from town to town. Every winter, before the cold winds began to blow hard enough to unwind a turban, Amos would search the market places for the most sure-footed camels to carry his carpets.

This particular year Amos left it later than usual to buy his camels and he was in such a rush that he decided to let his nephew Cephus, help.Cephus was a clever fellow, but he didn’t know much about buying camels. He thought he should buy the biggest ones and that is just what he did. Three of the animals were lucky choices. Unfortunately, the fourth one was clumsy. He tried hard to keep up with the others, but he never seemed to be able to untangle his long legs.
Amos was very upset with his nephews purchase, however he was already late starting his journey and many people were expecting him to bring them beautiful new carpets. The camels were groomed, saddled and laden with his merchandise. Amos put Cephus up on the clumsy camel to teach him a lesson.The journey was long and dusty and the nephew did not enjoy the ride. He pitched and swayed and almost fell off many times. He called the clumsy animal all kinds of names, but none of them nearly as mean as the ones the other camels gave it.
“Stumblefoot” was as miserable as Cephus. He wanted desperately to be a good camel, to travel over the sand as gracefully as the others, but the harder he tried the more clumsy he seemed to be. Finally, the nephew made a marvellous deal with three dusty looking old gentlemen travelling towards the east. They needed an extra camel to carry their luggage and thought that Stumblefoot could certainly do the job.
Amos was glad to be rid of Stumblefoot and os he was pleased with his nephew’s clever sale. After paying twice as much as the nephew had, the old gentlemen saddled up Stumblefoot and off they went, travelling eastward with the laughter of the other camels ringing in Stumblefoot’s ears.Stumblefoot was determined to do his best, even though he knew he wasn’t as surefooted as the other three camels. The three old gentlemen soon discovered the mistake they had made, but they were kinder to Stumblefoot than Cephus had been. they knew their luggage was heavy so they lightened his load as often as possible.
Eventually they arrived at their destination, tired and thirsty. First they stopped at a huge palace to ask for directions. They left the palace shaking their heads and mounted up again. Evidently, no one at the palace had ever heard of person they were seeking. Finally, they arrived not far from a small village. They stopped to consult their map and sky charts. It was a beautiful night, full of starlight and almost as bright as day. After arguing amongst themselves over which road to take, the three dusty old men once again mounted the camels and started down the road towards the town. They seemed to be following the brightest star and Stumblefoot, who was concentrating very hard on his feet, didn’t notice when they halted. He pitched headlong into one of the other camels and almost knocked over one of the old gentlemen into the haymow of a stable.There erupted a great braying and snorting and the other camels tried to bite Stumblefoot. Slowly, he got to his feet whimpering and apologizing in camel noises and hanging his head in shame. Instead of beating him as Cephus had many times, the old gentlemen quieted the other camels and had them kneel so they could dismount.
There was something very peaceful about the house to which the old gentlemen had come. Everyone was hushed and even the animals seeded to be quietly at attention. Stumblefoot couldn’t see over the backs of the other camels, but the voices of the old gentlemen were almost whispering and one by one they came to him and lightened his burden.
Stumblefoot knew what each chest contained because he had asked the other camels. The chest of gold weighed more than the ones with the flasks of frankincense and myrrh. He was very glad to be relieved of it. Stumblefoot was also glad to kneel because he had hurt one of his legs when he stumbled. It hurt so much that when the old gentlemen came back to remount their camels, Stumblefoot couldn’t get move.
“What will we do?” the old gentlemen wondered aloud. “We must leave before dawn to return to our homes before winter sets in.”
“I will look after your camel,” someone said from the shadows of the stable beside the house. Stumblefoot felt a strong but gentle hand on his bridle. “My wife and child need a strong camel to carry them with me into the desert. May I buy your camel?”

The old gentlemen looked at each other in great concern. Stumblefoot knew that they didn’t think he was such a good bargain for the young family. They told the man about his clumsiness and protested that they mustn’t take his money.
The kind man examined Stumblefoot and made him stand up so that he could look at his leg. It hurt to stand , but once up, Stumblefoot didn’t feel quite so bad and each time the kind man touched him he felt a little bit better. The old gentlemen were finally persuaded to accept the money that the kind man offered them and moved their luggage from Stumblefoot’s back to the backs of the other camels. They soon moved off into the darkness away from the morning’s first glow.
In the next day or so Stumblefoot had lots of care from the kind man and his leg got better and better. One dark night, the kind man came into the stable and saddled his donkey. Stumblefoot watched him hurry to collect his wife and young son.
“Perhaps they will leave me behind,” Stumblefoot thought sadly. “Maybe I’ve been sold to someone else. I’m too clumsy to carry such an important burden.”
Quietly the kind man helped his young wife up onto Stumblefoot’s back and then lifted their young son up to her. Stumblefoot trembled. never had he been given such a big responsibility! What if he tripped over his clumsy feet now? The mother and child would be badly hurt. His camel heart beat wildly within his chest as the kind man prodded him gently to his shaky feet. Quietly, because somehow he knew from the kind man’s firm hands that being quiet was important, they walked out of the sleeping town into the dark countryside. Not once did Stumblefoot trip or miss a step. he was amazed at how graceful he had become. He was gliding over the desert sands just like the other camels he had always admired.
Stumblefoot knew he was carrying a cargo more precious than gold. He was carrying Mary, and her child, Jesus, the King of Kings. Carefully his feet followed the donkey in front of him all the way into Egypt. Never again did anyone call him “Stumblefoot”.

Mary in Grandpa’s Chair

my-doll-mary-in-grandpas-chair

As you can see by the date, I painted this water colour painting many years ago. It is a picture of my favourite doll, a rag doll I named Mary. My great Aunt Bessie made the doll for me the year I turned one. She made it out of bleached flour sacks and if you looked carefully you could still barely see the faint outline of Robin Hood on her face. I loved that doll and took it everywhere with me. I even had plans as to how to make sure she was the first thing I saved if our house was ever in a fire or other disaster. I planned to toss her out of the window. I cuddled up to Mary every night and she heard all of my woes and all my happiness. She was water stained, tear stained and sometimes even, orange juice stained. She was my security blanket, my best friend and often my pillow.

I painted this picture for my parents. Mary is sitting on the chair they had recovered for my husband and I when we got married. The chair was one that my Grandpa Pearce (Poppa) won as a prize in lawn bowling. I remember going to the green with him when I was small and watching him bowl. So, you can see, this painting is full of memories for me.

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