A Harry Potter Halloween

We’re all Harry Potter fans at my house. The whole family has read all the books and seen all the movies. So it was no surprise when my son announced that this year, he wanted us to be characters from the popular series for Halloween.

Blonde-haired, blue-eyed Nick wanted to be (surprise!) Harry Potter. Dad, with the addition of a long, black wig and an uncharacteristic snarl, would be Professor Snape; and Mom, the boys decided, was going as Professor Sprout. I’d like to say their decision was based on my expertise with plants; but alas, I kill everything I touch so it was probably based on my rotund appearance.

The costumes were pretty easy to put together. We already had capes in the closet from a vampire Halloween a couple of years ago (we always seem to go in some sort of a family theme), and Nick just wore his church clothes underneath (white shirt, black pants, black shoes). We bought a cheap pair of round glasses at a thrift store, and glued some yellow ribbon stripes onto a piece of red fabric to make a reasonable facsimile of a Gryffindor tie. The printed Gryffindor emblem would have looked great on the cape, if I had remembered to put it on there.

Professor Snape’s costume was equally easy:  black shirt and pants under the cape, and a thrift-store wig. A dowel cut into 12” pieces and washed with watered-down brown paint became our wands. We painted on glowing white tips (for casting spells), and black handles to complete the look.

Professor Sprout’s costume was basically easy, all except the one thing she’s most noted for:  a mandrake. I searched and searched the Internet for pictures of a Harry Potter mandrake to try to make one, but without much success. So we brought out the movie and watched it again, then put on our thinking caps.

I figured if I could find a small doll, I could make a mandrake out of that. The only thing I could find was a little 6” stuffed doll all done in plush pink fabric. Sigh. It would have to do. Time was short.

I cut the top off a brown paper lunch bag and slipped the doll into it up to her neck. I cut the bottom of the bag in half, then twisted the two halves over and around the doll’s legs and taped them closed, but left the long pieces of bag hanging tapered below her legs. Then I did the same thing with the head and arms; cut off the bottom of the bag, and cut it to twist around the doll’s arms, holding the bag in place with tape. (Sorry! I forgot to take pictures of the mandrake-making process!) 

The finished mandrake looked OK, but still needed a little work; so I took a black marker and drew on some eyes and a wide open mouth (like it was screaming). Better, but not yet finished.

The final step was to cover the brown-paper-bag-wrapped doll with two pair of old pantyhose. I cut one of the legs off the first pair, about 18” long. I slipped the toe over the doll’s head, let several inches of stocking gather around her neck (to later sew the next stocking to), and cut the remainder of the stocking in two. I used those two pieces to cover the paper-bag arms, sewing it into place with a couple of quick stitches . The second pair was cut the same, then slipped over the bottom of the doll and sewn to the first pair around the doll’s neck. I cut the cotton crotch out of the second pair and sewed the pantyhose back together, leaving about 12” of one leg and about 18” of another leg hanging below. The final step was to cut the dangling pantyhose arms and legs into uneven lengths of 1/4” strips.

A few sprigs of artificial leaves stuffed behind the doll’s head and down into the costume completed the mandrake. He still resides in his lovely plastic pot in my office as a special memento of another wonderful evening with my family.

Fleeting Moments

Sunsets, storm clouds, the lacy pattern of water droplets shimmering in the sunlight – these are the fleeting images from the last 24 hours that are forever burned into my memory. Oh, how I wish I had a camera at the ready to capture them forever! But alas, I did not. And so I must try to capture their essence with wholly inadequate words, to paint their delightful flavor on the canvas of my computer screen so that their awe-inspiring beauty can be enjoyed over and over again in life’s dark and dismal moments.

Yesterday’s sunset danced atop the trees with a beauty such as I’ve never witnessed before. The setting sun was enormous – seemingly twice as big as it should have been – with a deep tangerine hue. It teased my eyes with exquisite grace as it quickly slipped below the treeline, almost as if it were playing a game of hide and seek with me as I drove towards it. I raced around turn after turn, hoping to get past the treeline in time to see it again, and I did! It hovered at the end of the highway, stretched fully from one side of the two-lane road to the other, dancing along the blacktop with merry abandon. I tried to catch a picture on my cell phone, but – darn! – there was a truck in between me and the undulating tangerine orb. I drove with my cell phone camera focused on the sun, waiting for the vehicle in my way to turn; but the opportunity for a clear shot never presented itself before my brilliant dancing sun slipped from view in front of my outstretched hand.

Though I missed capturing the beauty of that sunset on film, God wasn’t finished with His artistic endeavors for the day. Another bend in the road opened my view to a sky full of towering cumulus clouds, reflecting the rosy glow of the sun. Shades of blue, yellow and pink adorned the edges of the puffy clouds, moving and changing as the sun continued her gradual westward journey and the night sky crept in from the east.

With this morning’s dew settled deep on my car windows, I sleepily headed out to work. As I turned a corner and the rising sun hit my dew-covered side window, I noticed that little droplets of water had started an uphill journey across the window from the force of the passing wind. Droplet followed droplet, each taking a slightly different yet similar path, forming trails of clear glass amid the dew-covered pane. As I passed through shadows, where the sun hid behind trees, the window just appeared wet and fogged and streaked. But every now and then, as I passed a meadow where the rising sun shone brightly, the window sparkled with thousands of white light reflections of undulating furrows, with busy droplets of water etching more before my very eyes.

I can’t help but wonder how many other beautiful, God-given moments I’ve missed because I was too preoccupied with the mundane tasks of every day life to notice them.

No-Sew Baby Blanket

I found myself in need of a baby gift, and I wanted to give the new mother something handmade. I was behind the barn door when sewing talents were distributed, so whipping something up that way was out of the question. Having just seen a delightful no-sew baby blanket on http://partiesandholidays.blogspot.com, I decided to try my hand at making one.

The local Hobby Lobby happened to be having a 30% off sale on fleece, so I picked up a yard of pink plaid fleece. The first thing I did was lay it out on the dining room table and cut off the selvage (the edge that prevents it from unraveling). Then I straightened out the uneven cuts the sales lady had made, following along the pattern of the squares.

Next, I cut a three-inch square piece of paper to use as a pattern for my corners. I laid the paper in each corner and cut out the square.

Then I laid my a four-foot metal ruler from along the edge I would be cutting into strips. The ruler kept the lengths of the cuts the same (at 3”) and helped me keep the cuts to about one inch apart along the length of the blanket. I repeated this step on all four sides.

Next I tied each strip into a knot, being careful not to pull it too tightly so it wouldn’t pucker the blanket edges or stretch the fleece. I found it was easier to make the knots if I folded the strip in half before looping it around itself.

I think the only thing I would do differently next time is to change the size of the corner square cutout (and therefore, the fringe) to three-and-a-half inches. I found the three-inch-long strips a little difficult to maneuver into knots at times. I think the extra half inch would make it easier.

All in all, it was a quick (at a little over an hour from start to finish) and fun project that I look forward to doing again.

Frugal Living Tips

Some years ago, as a new Relief Society President, I taught a lesson on frugal living. I ran across the lesson recently and thought that with the current economic conditions, there was much that could be re-learned from that old lesson. So here it is, presented pretty much as it was presented back in 1999. I’ve removed references to games we played as a learning experience, but decided to leave in the names of the dear friends who gave me their best frugal living tips to include in the lesson.

President Gordon B. Hinckley had much to say on the topic of “thrift” and I’d like to share some of those things with you before we start the lesson so we can see that there is a prophetic basis to learning to live frugally.

“I commend to you the virtues of thrift and industry,” said President Hinckley. “In doing so, I do not wish you to be a ‘tightwad,’ if you will pardon that expression, or to be a freeloader, or anything of the kind. But it is the labor and the thrift of people that make a nation strong. It is work and thrift that make the family independent. Debt can be a terrible thing. It is so easy to incur and so difficult to repay. Borrowed money is had only at a price, and that price can be burdensome. Bankruptcy generally is the bitter fruit of debt.”

The Prophet has also said, “I deplore waste. I deplore extravagance. I value thrift. I believe in prudence and conservatism.”

President Hinckley has also said, “We live in an age of persuasive advertising and of skillful salesmanship, all designed to entice us to spend. An extravagant husband or wife can jeopardize any marriage. I think it is a good principle that each have some freedom and independence with everyday, necessary expenditures, while at the same time always discussing and consulting and agreeing on large expenditures. There would be fewer rash decisions, fewer unwise investments, fewer consequent losses, fewer bankruptcies if husbands and wives would counsel together on such matters and seek counsel from others.”

It is with that thought in mind – seeking counsel from others – that I begin with my grandmother’s favorite saying and our first category of the evening:  Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.

Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do or Do Without

• Take care of what you have. It will last longer.

• Check clothes for stains before washing and drying; because once the stain is heat set, it’s there permanently.

• For a grease stain, spray it with a small amount of WD40 before washing.

• Don’t throw away those little scraps of soap. Instead, after you’ve used them for the last “useable” shower, piggyback them onto a new bar of soap by pressing firmly. They will adhere as the soap dries and you’ll extend the use by a couple of showers.

• Another soap trick that I learned from my Mom – store your year’s supply in a container under the sink, but take the bars out of their wrappers. Being exposed to the air makes the soap harder, so it lasts longer.

• Teresa Hina says to rinse out containers such as laundry soap or shampoo with a small amount of water to get another use out of the product.

• Sonya Brantley cuts open toothpaste tubes to squeeze out the last few drops.

• Sonya also re-uses paper towels to spot clean the floor before throwing them out.

• Karen Bearce mends clothes rather than replacing them. She also cuts off jeans that the knees are out of to make shorts.

• Monique Bayes suggests wearing clothing that isn’t dirty a second time before throwing it in the wash. It will not only save on utility bills, it will also extend the life of the clothing.

• Jennifer McCafferty recommends learning how to fix it yourself. Read up on home repairs, auto repairs and other simple repairs, or ask someone who is familiar with what you’re trying to do for help and guidance.

Fun Food: Turtle Burgers!

An old friend just sent me this fun, new twist on how to serve burgers. Just take handmade ground beef (or turkey) patties, top them with sharp cheddar cheese, and wrap them in a bacon weave. Then add hotdogs as the heads, legs (with slits for toes so they’ll curl) and tail.

Place the Turtle Burgers on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil, and bake for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. A little crispy, not too crunchy ... just how a turtle should be, no?

Quarterly Activity: Follow the Prophet!

With “Follow the Prophet” as one of the songs we’re focusing on in Primary this year, I felt impressed that we should have a Quarterly Activity on the subject. The children were struggling to learn all the verses of the song, so I thought that bringing the song to life might help.

I work with an amazing group of women with marvelous ideas and sweet spirits, so the plan jelled quickly. We decided to focus on both modern and ancient prophets.

Our gathering activity was musical chairs to the tune of “Latter-day Prophets” – with a twist. As each child was out of the game, they were given a picture of a latter-day prophet to be used in the next activity, which was a quick telling of what each prophet was most known for. Once all of the children were “out,” they were invited one-by-one to put their picture on the chalkboard while my counselor told them a little about their prophet’s picture and added a printed note below each. The instruction would be used later in a matching game.

We then invited the children to walk in the footsteps of the prophets by following Jonah. I invited my son (because his favorite prophet is Jonah) to lead the other children to the back of the cultural hall, where we dressed him in a simple prophet costume and opened the door to the hallway, revealing an 8’ long whale for the children to crawl through to start their “Follow the Prophet” adventure.

As the children exited the whale, they found footprints with pictures of modern and ancient prophets leading them into one of the Primary classrooms. Upon entering, they found our recreation of the Garden of Eden and Adam’s prophet costume:  a garland of flowers and a child’s hoe. (Hey – it’s what we had on hand!) Once they identified who the prophet was, we sang that verse of the song. Meanwhile, one of the parents picked up all the footprints and arranged them through the hallway to the next room. “Adam” led the children this time.

Weeding Little Boys

My husband, Mike, and I were talking about his plans for the day and he mentioned taking our then five-year-old son, Nick, for a ride on the lawn mower. I said, “Great idea! The lawn needs mowing anyway.” He said no, it didn’t, so I couldn’t help but point out that the grass was knee high. Mike explained that you don’t mow the lawn for the first time in the spring until you’ve weeded it first to prevent the weeds from being flung far and wide. Of course, he said, you have to weed it again towards the fall when the weeds begin to return ...

Which got me to thinking. 

Our son was born with several challenges that we had been fortunate to have diagnosed early on, and he’d been receiving special education at the local public school since he was two. At that time we were preparing to take Nick out of Pre-K in the public school system and enroll him in a private school for Kindergarten because we didn’t want him influenced by some of the undesirable behavior we saw in some of the children in the local public school. In effect we were planning to “weed” the bad influences from his life early on so he could grow to his greatest potential. And so we transferred him to what we’d been told was a wonderful Christian school. 

But it wasn’t.

Within a matter of days, my sweet little boy began to change. He was in trouble at school on a daily basis, which meant he was in more trouble at home, and we had absolutely no idea why he had suddenly become a sullen, angry, mean child. Among his many challenges, he was at that point still mostly non-verbal; so we couldn’t just ask what was wrong and discuss it with him.

The bad behavior progressed exponentially until one day when I happened to linger behind for a few minutes after bringing him to school. What I observed broke my heart. Because of his disabilities, my sweet son had been singled out for ridicule and torment by the other children with the full knowledge and implied consent of the teacher who, when told what I had observed, just shrugged her shoulders, threw up her hands and smiled at me.

Stumbling Blocks

I’ve heard it said that stepping stones are stumbling blocks at rest,

And you really can climb over them when you give the task your best.

But how do you know a stumbling block has tumbled past its prime

And left a helpful stepping stone to lift you up this time?

It comes as inspiration, a sudden flash of light

Illuminating corners in the darkest black of night.

It comes as confirmation that you’re traveling the wrong path

That perhaps you’ve not partaken of the gifts the Savior hath.

It comes as balm of Gilead to a hurt and wounded soul

Promising the miracle of a life again made whole.

It comes quite unexpectedly after deep despair

And usually in answer to sincere and humble prayer.

A contrite spirit is required ‘ere the answer will appear

And that can’t be accomplished while harboring worldly fear.

But when it comes you’ll know for sure for gloom will be dispelled

Replaced with calm assurance that in His arms you’re held.

And if you can but just believe the promise that you’ve found

By following His sweet promptings, your life will turn around.

And as you once again step forward following His light

You just may come to realize how far you strayed from right.

For as we know in latter days, this estate is but a test

To see if we will give the Lord our sincere and humble best.

Not all of us will pass this test and some won’t make it home

A risk we knew before we came, that forever we might roam.

But the lessons this test brought to light will surely strenghten you

And prepare your battered spirit for another round or two.

For in the fight ‘tween dark and light, the scramble for your soul,

We musn’t long step off the path lest we fall short of our goal.

So as you use your stumbling block to step back towards His grace

Remember that a stumbling block stays not long in place.

It will move on and tumble off, then come to rest once more;

Becoming the helpful stepping stone your soul was yearning for.

– Barbara A. Holmes ©2010

Red Cadillac

I fell in love with it the first time I saw it on the lot, and one quick test drive was all it took to convince me. This 2002 shiny red Cadillac was my dream car! My hubby tried to interest me in a luxury Kia, but in my eyes there was just no comparison. It didn’t take me long to sign on the dotted line and drive that baby home.

Wrapped in its luxurious plush leather seats, my back didn’t ache like it had for the past couple of years and I quickly became accustomed to the rest of the luxuries that shiny red Cadillac afforded. One push of a button set my seat to the precise spot where I liked it, and opening the driver’s door moved the steering wheel up out of the way and slid the seat back so I didn’t bump my knees. Sporting a top-of-the-line sound system, automatic shades on the back window, heated seats, vanity mirrors for every seat, and fullly automated reclining front seats, this car seemed heaven sent. Why, with an automatic-tilting side mirror and back-up alarms, I didn’t even have to turn my head around to back up any more! Life couldn’t get any better than this.

When the air conditioning went out the day after I bought it, I began to have some doubts. There I was sweating in 90 degree weather and thinking about the Consumer Reports book I had read on used cars. I consider myself to be a savvy shopper, so of course I had looked up the 2002 Cadillac in the used car book before test driving it. I had also looked up the Kia Amanti my hubby wanted me to get. Consumer Reports gave the Kia a wonderful rating (and its 10-year warranty was a plus); but I had ignored the Consumer Reports rating on my shiny red Cadillac. You know, the one that said it had an unreliable cooling system, an unreliable electrical system, and and a host of other unreliable systems.

Ahhh, but driving it was so awesome! And comfortable. And just flat out luxurious. And so I was taken in by the promise of comfort and ease, and convinced myself that the A/C going out was not an ominous sign.