Chopsticks Made Easy

I love chopsticks. As a child I always insisted that we use them whenever we got takeout. This post is how to make easy chopsticks for people who have a hard time with them. I was trying to make them for a friend the other day but could not remember how. That night she went out to eat and someone made her a pair. She was kind enough to show me how it's done.
You will need:
- chopsticks with wrapper
-or chopsticks and a piece of paper cut to the size of a wrapper
- and two rubber bands,

Fold the wrapper in half lengthwise.

Roll the wrapper up tightly.

On the end of the chopsticks tie a rubber band and insert the rolled wrapper.

Tie another rubber band around the other side (I used two colors to show this part).
And you are done. They should work like a giant pair of tweezers. Have Fun!
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Our Garden

Hello Everyone. Normally a post like this would end up in our family blog, but since this is about a project and it has been taking up so much of our time lately I thought it belonged here. Over the past several weeks we have been putting in gardens. This is our pond that we put in last year. We just finished upgrading it and it looks so much better.
Then we went to work on this garden. Last year we expanded it to look like this and planted vegetables in it. This year we decided to move our vegetables to a different location that produced better last year and gave this garden a makeover.
The rain has not stopped for several days except for an hour or two at a time, so we worked through the rain. My Ehlers Danlos is in overdrive now and I can barely move; but it was Worth It! After a lot of hard work and decision making....

THIS is how our garden turned out! Flowers are food for the soul. We hope this garden helps feed the souls of all who see it. Take care.

EDS Awareness Ribbons

Hello, it's Ehlers Danlos Awareness month. Ehlers Danlos is a connective tissue disorder. I was diagnosed when I was 6 years old. Pretty much everything in my health is affected by this. I'll be posting more about this in Fox and Bear's den later today, but for this post I'm going to talk about the awareness ribbons. They were incredibly hard to find this year so I decided to make my own. This works for any ribbon.

The EDS awareness ribbon is zebra print (it's also the ribbon for rare diseases). This year I was not able to find any thin zebra print ribbon, but I found this ribbon. The border was the size ribbon I wanted so I cut the edge off to create a thinner ribbon.

Next I used a lighter and ran it along the salvage side that I had just cut. This seals the ribbons edges giving it a finished look and prevents fraying. Go lightly and quickly.

When you are done loop the ribbon around and pin it to your shirt/hat/whatever with a stick pin or a safety pin. This is a good simple trick to know. Take care and Have Fun!

Happy May Day!

Happy May 1st wherever you may be. This year I made fun May Day baskets with a friend. We repurposed old baskets purchased at a thrift store by gluing felt flowers on them with wooden buttons. The effect was rather adorable. This basket was made for some children who live in my neighborhood. I filled it with things people use around the world to celibate May 1st and left them a fun note to explain the items. The first line was:

"In America it has been a tradition to make baskets to hang on the door knobs for your friends with special surprises inside. Traditionally we ring the door bell and run away before you can see us. It is up to you to figure out who we are. Have a guess?"

A popular activity on May Day is to decorate a pole with brightly colored ribbon or paper streamers. Some also add flowers and balloons. The pole is usually carried in a parade and then placed in the ground at a designated area. People then dance around the May pole, holding the ends of the streamers or ribbon in their hands. Instead of a May pole we have four brightly colored pencils for you.

In London, May Day is celebrated with the children going from house to house. They bring flowers and get pennies in return. The pennies are then thrown into a wishing well. The pennies are then donated to charity. A beautiful bouquet of candy flowers awaits you inside this basket as well as pennies for each of you tied up in roles with many good wishes from us to you.

In France, cows play an important role in May Day. The cows are led in parades with many flowers attached to their tails. The people watching the parade try to touch the cows; it is believed to be good luck. Your plastic cow might be small but good things come in small packages. And besides, whoever has to clean up after the real cow at the end of the parade might not feel so lucky ;) Plastic cows fit much better in baskets.

In Germany, one tradition is for boys to secretly plant a May tree in front of the window of the girl they love. Oh my goodness, how would we ever fit a whole tree inside this basket? A pine cone with lots of tree seeds will have to do.

On May 1st, people in Hawaii celebrate their own version of May Day; they call it Lei Day. People give Hawaiian leis to each other. They put them around each others necks and sometimes give a traditional kiss. There are 4 brightly colored lei’s inside this basket. You can count them as a traditional hug from us to you.

Wherever you are in the world today; have a blessed, bright, beautiful (and warm) May. From Fox and Bear at Apple Crate Toys.