Crafty Christmas Countdown: 1

Last year I posted about painting the central figures of this nativity scene. The set actually came with several other pieces that I didn't have time to complete then. I've finished the whole set now and it holds a place of honor beneath my tree.

"For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"  Isaiah 9:6

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 2

I picked up a blank triptych at a thrift store. It just begged to be turned into a nativity scene.

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 3

I sometimes have grand, impossible ideas when it comes to puppet designs. My attempts to make them reality end in disappointment. It never seems to stop me though. This is one of my recent designs.

 In this case, the reality entirely lived up to my expectations. If anything, I actually like the puppet even better than my doodle.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 4

I decided this year that I'd like to make ornaments for most of the people at the office. Mostly I stuck with designs I'd done before but a few new shapes found their way into the mix.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 5

As I've purchased more LEGO, I've found ways to incorporate them into a Christmas scene, usually focusing on my TARDIS set. Here I've created a city center with a tree and a skating rink. Not to mention a business man too busy for his family and a rampaging snow monster.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 6

It has become one of my traditions to recreate a villain from a Doctor Who Christmas special every year. This year I picked the Tree King from The Doctor The Widow and The Wardrobe. I made him as a jumping jack type figure out of card stock and colored pencil.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 7

I have a foam crow that I decorated some time ago that I like far better than I expected. I decided I wanted to make a Christmas themed one this year. Unfortunately, I was unable to find another glitter crow. I did find these slightly odd looking white birds.

I found the perfect decorations in my scrap supply. Now I have some fun holiday shoppers to decorate with.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 8

I love these little wooden decoration kits. These I decorated with colored pencil.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 9

I've had this one wool sweater since high school. It's dark green wool and kind of nubby and about four sizes too big. It was my favorite sweater to wear lounging around the house. When it finally became more hole than sweater last year I couldn't quite bring myself to throw it away. I tucked it into my craft supplies with the idea that I might felt it and turn it into mittens or something. 
I came across the sweater again when I went digging for some scrap fabric to use for a needlepoint project. It was the perfect background for this camel.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 10

I guess this is a dinosaur Christmas for me. I made this T-rex puppet out of a stuffed toy I got at the thrift store.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 11

I found these fun peg doll blanks online that have hats built in and ordered them without any solid plan for them. It struck me recently that one was reminiscent of Kermit from Muppets Christmas Carol (my favorite holiday movie by far).

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 12

I've never really understood the appeal of the Christmas village thing. Until I rediscovered my childhood farm playset and recognized it's potential as a Christmas decoration. This is the third year I've put it out. This year I added a bonfire and a decorated tree.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 13

I found this little plush elf at the dollar store. He's pretty cute but a bit bland. I knew it wouldn't take much to jazz him up.

 Half a Christmas sock, a pompom, and some fancy ribbon did the trick, especially after I took in his waist a little bit. He looks especially cool riding on the camel puppet I altered earlier this year.

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 14

Ever get an idea that won't leave you alone until you try it out? That's the source of today's craft. And unlike some of those ideas that I get, this one worked out marvelously. I got it into my head to make some dinosaur Christmas cookies. And the combination of my mother's gingerbread cookie recipe and a little bit of buttercream frosting was a winner. 

They are a joy

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 15

I have a fondness for making my own greeting cards. They feel a bit more personal when the image and saying are of my own invention. These are the cards I'll be giving to my co-workers this year.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 16

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is crafting with kids. Today's craft is one I put together to do with the kids at church. 

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 17

Some animals seem especially Christmasy to me: sheep, camels, reindeer, and donkeys. I think sometimes that donkeys are unfairly ignored. They have kind of ugly-cute faces. So for my sock puppet this season I made a Christmas donkey.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 18

I have a fondness for blind bags and the like. I got this little cat in a holiday chocolate capsule. It's a sold figure but I was never fond of it's angry expression. So it's been in my craft bin for a while now. A little paint makes it a happy little Christmas kitten.

still a little mischievous though

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 19

Amazon's Prime Day this year they sent out boxes that had shapes that you could decorate and cut out. At first I thought it was kind of a foolish idea but then I got this shape.

There was something appealing about that mountain skyline. Add a few cardboard tube houses and we have a nice little mountain village all ready for winter. 

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 20

Some crafts I have all planned out in advance, only making adjustments as I go. Others sort of create themselves. Such is the case with this one. All I knew when I started was that I wanted to make a sock creature and that I had some partial Christmas socks I could use. This narwhal basically developed herself.

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 21

My first Christmas countdown, I made a paper mache hot air balloon that didn't turn out particularly well. With the time I put into it, though, I couldn't bear to throw it out. I've had it in my craft supplies ever since with plans to alter it. Which I have done, at last. I like this new version much better.

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 22

You can find a lot of ornaments at the dollar store, most of them tackier than I care to use. This reindeer, as it was sold, doesn't appeal to me. A little paint, though, makes it much more interesting.

And since it was a 2 pack, I was able to try different designs. 

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 23

I think my favorite Christmas image is the Christmas star. I found this simple star on Pinterest and had to give it a try. I used ribbon instead of raffia. It's a simple decoration but I like how it looks.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 24

Friends, can you believe it's December already?! It's time for my third annual Crafty Christmas Countdown.

I decided to hit the ground running this year with a puppet. If you've been following my blog at all you know I have kind of a thing for puppets. I thought it might be fun to make a Christmas light puppet. I started with a plastic Easter egg. A little multi surface paint gave the surface a sort of translucent quality. I used a pipe cleaner for the arms/wire. My favorite part, though, is the battery operated tea light inside which allows the bulb to glow.

Picture books for everyone

Let There Be Light and From Eden to Bethlehem by Danielle Hitchen

Technically, these books don't exactly fit my standards for this feature. Technically, they're board books. As such, they're not exactly going to appeal to your upper elementary reader. Unlike many animal or opposites board books, though, they'll grow with your tot. Each concept is illustrated in a simple way. We see concepts like light and dark or an image of an animal. Then, for the slightly older child, we're given a Bible verse that illustrates the idea and puts it into a larger context. For a child growing up in a religious family, religion can sometimes feel disconnected from the rest of life. Books like these build a foundation of greater life context for young children.
Advanced Reader Copies provided by NetGalley

Non fiction book review - Christmas

Christmas by Nikki Tate and Dani Tate-Stratton

There is no shortage of books out there that explore symbols and traditions of Christmas. I don't know that I've ever seen one aimed at children that explores the topic in such detail and wide scope. We see traditions from various regions and their source in cultural and religious traditions. Thus we get a brief introduction to the importance of winter holidays in several religions and parallels to modern Christmas. Each exploration is fairly brief but a complete overview. It's more of a quick reference for the curious than a source of complete research but would be a welcome addition to most children's book collections.

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Book review - The Brain

Title: Science Comics The Brain
Author: Tory Woollcott
Genre: non fiction graphic novel
Similar books: Smash! by Sarah Latta
                      Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks
Rating:

entertaining and informative

Summary (provided by publisher): With Science Comics, you can explore the depths of the ocean, the farthest reaches of space, and everything in between! These gorgeously illustrated graphic novels offer wildly entertaining views of their subjects.
In this volume, Fahama has been kidnapped by a mad scientist and his zombie assistant, and they are intent on stealing her brain! She'll need to learn about the brain as fast as possible in order to plan her escape!
How did the brain evolve? How do our senses work in relation to the brain? How do we remember things? What makes you, YOU? Get an inside look at the human brain, the most advanced operating system in the world . . . if you have the nerve!

My opinion: I went into this book expecting a basic "these are the parts of the brain and this is how neurons and electrical signals send messages". And that's certainly a part of it. We get a couple of pages about how neurons differ from other cells and a deep dive into the role of electrical signals. But this is more than simple biology. It starts with the development of brains as specialized tissue, the differences in brain structures in various species. We move on to different types of signals and intelligences and the importance of diversity in thought. That's a lot of information to pack into under 130 pages of graphic novel while also integrating a simple story.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley

Non-fiction book review - Primates

Primates by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

I had heard, of course, of Jane Goodall. And I had passing familiarity with Dian Fossey. Birute Galdikas was entirely new to me, though. It was fascinating to me to see how their stories parralleled and intersected. We tend to think of celebreties, even intellectuals, as almost inhabiting their own worlds. When those worlds collide it can be a little jarring for the outside observer. I loved seeing how each of these women went from interested novices to passionate, groundbreaking scientists.

Evaluating this book strictly from a storytelling perspective (rather then just fan-girling about scientists) the writing was a bit confusing at times. It may be that Otavani was trying to protect younger readers, masking some of the less savory parts of the story. I wasn't always sure what had happened. BUt the illustrations are charming and engaging. This books serves as a great introduction to some natural science ideas. Use this in conjunction with a documentary or more scholarly book and you could really learn a lot.

Book review - Louisiana's Way Home

Title: Louisiana's Way Home
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Jelly Bean Summer by Joyce Magnin
                      Okay for Now by Gary D Schmidt
Rating:

charming

Summary (provided by publisher): When Louisiana Elefante’s granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn’t overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny) and find a way home. But as Louisiana’s life becomes entwined with the lives of the people of a small Georgia town — including a surly motel owner, a walrus-like minister, and a mysterious boy with a crow on his shoulder — she starts to worry that she is destined only for good-byes. (Which could be due to the curse on Louisiana's and Granny’s heads. But that is a story for another time.)

My opinion: This book has all the charm of a standard DiCamillo novel. She has a real flair for world building and creating unique characters. It's that second point that I struggle with in this book. In some ways, Louisiana is too unique. While her voice is strong, she's incredibly overly dramatic. And since the book takes the form of letters, its entirely from her perspective, her interpretation of events. It gives the "looking for family" standard plot an almost soap opera tinge.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Fall decorations

I love these little wooden color-your-own ornament kits. Historically, I've painted them but I wanted to try something different with this fall kit. My experience coloring them with markers has never been very good. But, it turns out, colored pencils work quite well. It gives them a more muted look.

 

Non-fiction book review - Apollo 8

Apollo 8: The Mission that Changed Everything by Martin W. Sandler

I think sometimes that younger generations (my own included) are at a disadvantage. We don't fully grasp how much of a feat the space program was. We don't really understand the dangers they faced or the political climate it all happened in. Having begun in the Cold War, the eventual accomplishment of Mir is all the more interesting. Without any of that background, this book is a solid choice for a middle grade reader. Sandler presents a wide variety of information without overwhelming the reader with details. The tone is nearly conversational, making very readable. I learned a great deal from this book and it left me excited to learn more.

Looking for more about Apollo 8? A tie-in or something for younger readers? Give Earthrise by James Gladstone a look

Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.

Book review - The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge

Title: The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
Author: M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznik
                          The Enchanted Files: Trolled by Bruce Coville
Rating:

more political than magical

Summary (provided by publisher): Uptight elfin historian Brangwain Spurge is on a mission: survive being catapulted across the mountains into goblin territory, deliver a priceless peace offering to their mysterious dark lord, and spy on the goblin kingdom — from which no elf has returned alive in more than a hundred years. Brangwain’s host, the goblin archivist Werfel, is delighted to show Brangwain around. They should be the best of friends, but a series of extraordinary double crosses, blunders, and cultural misunderstandings throws these two bumbling scholars into the middle of an international crisis that may spell death for them — and war for their nations. Witty mixed media illustrations show Brangwain’s furtive missives back to the elf kingdom, while Werfel’s determinedly unbiased narrative tells an entirely different story. A hilarious and biting social commentary that could only come from the likes of National Book Award winner M. T. Anderson and Newbery Honoree Eugene Yelchin, this tale is rife with thrilling action and visual humor . . . and a comic disparity that suggests the ultimate victor in a war is perhaps not who won the battles, but who gets to write the history.

My opinion: Given the combination of Anderson and Yelchin, it should come as no surprise that this book is complex and dense. It's clearly a fantasy world with elves and goblins and assorted mythical beasts. It's also a heavily political allegory. We have two nations at war for generations with a long history of invations, slaughter, subjugation, espionage, and misinformation. Both parties are forced to face their biases and the lens through which they view the world. The interplay between the way the narrated passages differs from the visual passages and the two perspectives those sections represent adds to the depth. This is a book that a middle grader could enjoy as a fantasy adventure and then read again as an older teen and get more of the political commentary.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.