Reuse, Reduce, Recycle: Crafting Domes with Newspapers!

What fun! Using old newspapers, we crafted a geodesic dome using the creative idea of one of our favorite magazines: Family Fun To see the directions simply click the link.
Here are some pics of James and my rendition of it:



It all started when this handsome guy turned seven. He mentioned he wanted to try out the geodome and James and I thought "Ding! What a great idea to surprise him with it the morning of his birthday!" So off we went...


You will need quite a bit of newspaper. We used 4 Sunday papers. Family Fun says use four full sheets of newspaper (the double page layouts take out the single page inserts) and lay them flat one on top of the other to create your newspaper rod. *Note: Just because we are cheap we did end up using half sheets which we stuck next to each other to create a full. We just made sure we had a full sheet for a base to make the rolling much easier.* Total rods needed will be 25 so you will need 100 sheets. We used a pen to start the rolling by placing it horizontally in one of the corners and rolling it up. Don't make your rod too tight or you won't be able to get your pen out!Tape the middle to keep the paper together.
Then we trimmed all the logs to 30" and stapled them together to form triangles. Make 5 triangles. Then staple the triangles together at their bottom corners like you see James doing here. (One up one down, etc) Pick up your row of triangles and staple the ends together so it forms a standing pentagon. Family Fun said to make the remaining rods into a star but we just went around and stapled them along the top then stapled them altogether in the middle to form the roof.


The kids enjoyed playing with it. I hope yours do too!!

Cling to the Cross

It is well to remember, friends, that we live in an imperfect world. We are surrounded by cascades of imperfect people.
When darkness falls upon your shoulders and clutches it's spiny fingers around your warm beating heart, it seems the only thing to do, sometimes, is fight it. And so you do. Strong at first you fight refusing to be defeated. Sometimes you catch on early to what needs to be done. And you win. But sometimes it doesn't stop punching. You fight and you fight but the fists of your enemy keep flying. Bruised and broken, you fight until you just can't anymore. The comfort of a small corner calls to you and you climb into it. Tired. Worn out. Sleep depraved. Emotionally empty. But it doesn't stop. Soon the darkness blankets your cold toes but not in an effort to warm them. The hairs on your neck raise, your mouth cries out, "Please, I can't take it anymore!" Pain, like birth pangs, shoots out from every orfic of your body and it isn't listening to your cries. Soon that cold blanket stretches itself out and you find yourself crushed under the weight of it. Tight. Empty and black. Like cold concrete walls. It takes all your strength to raise your hands in an effort to block those walls from closing in giving you enough room to breathe.
Just breathe.
You are not alone. Come with me as I introduce you to a man who walked through great darkness. But he isn't Jesus. He's a lawyer. Wealthy I am sure who dabbles in real estate. A blessed man, married with five children. He knew darkness once. It loomed over his shoulder in the form of a large fire which consumed most of his real estate. Still dealing from the death of his son and now the consumption of his provisions he thought it best to spend time away with friends. Business which needed his attention came up and instead of canceling his vacation he sent his wife and four daughters ahead of him. He had every intention of following his family out to sea shortly but he was stopped short when terrible news in the form of a telegram was sent to him. Wrinkled and wrought with his tears it spoke only two words, "Saved Alone."
The ship carrying his family collided with another leaving 47 survivors. One of which was his wife. None of which were his four daughters. Pain greater than the pangs of birth knows no other like the death of a child, much less all of them. He left right away to comfort his grieving wife and on a ship over the very place of this tragic accident he penned this breathtaking hymn:

Imperfection is a weak wall with cracks big enough for sin and evil to seep in. Only the enemy will lead you to believe a Perfect God, The Strong Wall, is to blame for it... because he doesn't want you to know He is your relief from it. You are drenched in the blood of a Perfect man who sacrificed Himself for you, who fought greater darkness than you will ever fathom for a cause you will never fully understand. You don't think you can fight this battle anymore? Of course you can't because YOU are the one fighting it. There is One out there stronger than you who cried out to you, "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. ..for My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30) Climb out of your corner and cling to the cross.

Summer Fun with Paper Fans

Here is a great craft to make with restless kids on a hot summer day: fans! My kids love those cheapy paper fans at the dollar store; however, no sooner do we get home those pretty fans are broken and littered all over my mini van. These gems I found in Family Fun magazine. They are sturdier than the dollar store fans (a duh!) AND the kids get to design them themselves! So massive kudos for kid kreativity!! Yay for us!Materials needed:
1 piece of cardstock 6x12
double sided tape or glue
stapler
2 craft sticks
tiny rubber band (we used the baby's rubber hair ties)
To get started the first thing you need is a piece of cardstock cut to 6x12 size
Begin an accordion fold on the top at about a width of 1" Do not fold the way I did in the picture or you will get a white fan. Start your fold with the design side face down on the table. Then make your fold so that you see a one inch strip of design paper against a white backdrop.
Continue with the accordian fold until the entire paper has been folded (So simple seriously. It hurts to write this knowing you are probably already all over this by now)
Bring the accordian fold together and staple the middle. I used two staples next to each other.
With your glue, adhere the top fold together. You can use regular tape to seal the edge so it won't split.
Take your double sided tape (preferred but we used scrapbook glue.) With the stapled side facing up place the tape or glue one half of the craft stick then adhere to the bottom flaps of both sides. Wrap your rubber band around the bottom of the craft sticks to hold the fan together until the glue dries.
Wallah! Instant Southern air conditioning. All we need is the sweet tea. Woo-hoo! Yay for fun!