This is a bit of a departure for me - I've never posted a recipe before!  But when I put the picture of this silly cake on instagram, people started asking.  So here I go - venturing into the unknown.

My husband is Mtn Dew obsessed.  He doesn't drink it regularly enough for me to call him an addict - it's more like his special treat.  For Valentine's, instead of chocolate, he got Dew.  Said it was the best Valentine's EVER.

So when his birthday came up, I decided to surprise him with a Dew cake.  I looked at several recipes, and, as I usually do, ended up combining ideas from a bunch and then added my own twist.  Which is why I'm posting rather than just providing a link. (Not that the world needs one more Dew Cake recipe. I was surprised to find so many!)

The big difference between mine and every other recipe I saw is orange juice.  I didn't see any that included orange.  Lemon, vanilla, almond, even coconut - but no orange.  Yet Mtn Dew isn't a lemon-lime soda - it's orange based.  In fact, a friend of ours (also a Dew lover), told me that he remembers when Dew used to have orange pulp in it.  I don't add a lot of orange to this cake/glaze- and I think I'd like to even experiment more with upping that quantity (though the cake is already so moist I'll have to be careful about my liquid ratios), but the results are quite good.

Out of my 8 tasters, 5 say the cake tastes just like Dew.  The others say it doesn't, taste like Dew, but is one of the yummiest cakes ever.  I'll take that!  So without further ado:

Mountain Dew Cake:
1 box lemon cake mix
1  3.4 oz box lemon pudding mix
4  eggs
1 1/4 c Mountain Dew
2 tsp lime juice
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c oil

Preheat oven to 325 if cooking in a bundt pan like I did. (Don't bother asking about different pans - I haven't tried yet so I don't have a clue!).  Spray and flour pan.

Combine dry cake mix with dry pudding mix. Add eggs, oil, lime juice and orange juice.  Very slowly add Mtn Dew. (V-E-R-Y slowly, unless you like cake mix foam all over your counter top).  Mix at medium until blended and there are no more lumps.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 45-50 min. (again, I'm clueless as to times for other sizes of pans - maybe follow directions on cake mix box?)

Let cake cool a bit (5 min or so) then turn onto plate or platter.  Cool a little more while making glaze, then poke holes in cake using a fork.

Glaze:

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c Mountain Dew

2 Tbs orange juice
1 tsp lime juice

Neon green food coloring (optional)

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Add sugar.  Stir to incorporate. SLOWLY add Mtn Dew, then add lime and orange juice.  Bring to a boil, turning up heat if needed, stirring often.  Boil for a few minutes until glaze is clear and begins to thicken to a syrup.  (At this point, I added a few drops of neon green food coloring to make it Dew colored.  It doesn't show up much on the exterior of the cake, but on the slices, it gives the edges a fun Dew-green halo)

Spoon glaze over cake previously perforated with a fork.  Cool cake completely before serving.  In fact, it's better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Final note, it may be overkill, but a dollop of whipped cream (or some spray cream in my case) on each slice of cake is just heavenly!









**UPDATE** Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing:
In the year since making this cake, our family has discovered the dangerously delightful combination of vanilla flavored additions to Mt. Dew.  Adding vanilla creamer to Dew, or making a Dew float with some vanilla ice cream.  Thus it followed that if I added a vanilla cream cheese icing to my Dew Cake, it couldn't help but be fabulous...and I was right.  Here's the recipe I used:
1/4 c butter (softened)
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
3 tsp vanilla
1-2 c powdered sugar
milk (if needed for consistency)

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar.  If necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency, add milk a very little at a time - not exceeding 2 Tbsp. The icing should be thick enough to not run, but thin enough not to form stiff peaks.

Enjoy!

(Funny little inside story, just because it makes me laugh.  Several years ago I begged my husband for a bundt pan for Mother's Day because there was a specific recipe I needed it for.  He has a policy of not giving me kitchen supplies as gifts, so it wasn't until Christmas that he actually gave in and got me the pan I refused to buy myself- by which time I had completely forgotten why I wanted it!  To this day I cannot remember the recipe that made me NEED a bundt pan.  Consequently, THIS CAKE is the FIRST time I've ever used the pan I harassed my poor husband into breaking his gift policies for.  It's fitting that it was for his birthday.)

One of our go-to crafts around here is shrink art.  Ever since my sister gave us the mind-blowing information that #6 recyclable plastic is shrink capable, whenever my kids want a craft, and I'm feeling non-mess, more independent crafting shrink art is what I can pull out.  Wait, you say, did I hear that right?  #6 plastic is shrink art? YES, it is!  I save packages from deli sandwiches,  some produce, lots of take-out - wash it out and VOILA! Shrink art extravaganza! Free crafting is the best crafting!!  

A few cons I've discovered - #6 doesn't shrink as uniformly as the store-bought stuff, and even if you rough it up with sand paper, colored pencils don't work as well on it (colored pencils don't work AT ALL if you don't sandpaper it).  So we use a set of permanent ink markers and all is well.  My kids like to trace their favorite characters or make freehand art.  Punch a hole before baking, and make necklaces, charm bracelets, sun catchers, whatever!  They love the detail they can get in such tiny charms.  You can tell the detail varies with the age of the artist - as always!

RINGS

The last time they got out the plastic, I wanted to try something I'd seen on Pinterest - making rings.  Only I couldn't find where I'd pinned it, so we made it up as we went along.  (note to self: clean out and organize Pinterest boards!)

The first thing we discovered, #6 plastic DOESN'T WORK WELL FOR RINGS.  It was OK, it shaped fine and looked fine, but the inconsistent shrink rate meant that every ring was a whole different story.  Sometimes it worked great, sometimes a warped mess.  Also it's a bit thicker, which was not ideal. So while we still love #6 for other art, we had to try something else if we wanted rings.

Solution?  Pull out the professional stuff.  I had a package of Shrinky Dinks Frosted Ruff n'Ready, and we were set to make rings.  A little experimentation with size and we were off.

For my older kids (9-13 years old), we found the right pre-shrunk size to be 5 1/2" x 3/4".  For my younger girls (5 & 7 years old),  5" long was perfect.  The 5" length is great because the sheets of shrink art are 8" x 10", so cutting a sheet right down the middle gets a high yield of rings per sheet.

We chose to make CTR rings with our shrinky dinks - though after they were done, there were many other varieties of original art rings as well!  The first and VERY IMPORTANT thing we discovered was that the rough side, the side you draw on, is the inside of the ring.  This means that any writing needs to be done MIRROR IMAGE. I printed out a backwards CTR, and the kids chose their colors and got tracing.

The kids went to town on their designs.  I love how their personalities are reflected in their unique rings.  For my youngest, who lost interest, I finished her sunshine ring.  Just remember to draw on the ROUGH SIDE of the shrink art, and you can use colored pencils on this stuff, but if you use ink use PERMANENT INK.  One of my daughters just grabbed a felt tipped pen and after wearing the ring for a while, her finger was black with ink and the ring was smudged.

Shrink the rings according to the package directions (mine says 325 degrees for a conventional oven for about 3 min or until it lays flat).  This is the fun part for kids, so turn on the oven light and let them watch the antics of the shrinking plastic!  Remember to place on brown craft paper for baking - I use grocery bags cut in half.  NOTE - these do sometimes stick to themselves while baking.  Carefully, and I wore light knit gloves for protection, pull the pieces apart and return promptly to oven.

Remove from oven and quickly (again I wore gloves), wrap around a round object of the right size.  

You've got about 10 seconds to get this done, so have your mold ready.  We looked around the house

and ended up with markers and fingernail polish lids as offering the best diameters for rings.  If you mess up, it cools too quickly, or something else goes wrong, just put the ring back in the oven for a couple more minutes and try again.  We did learn though that this has its limits.  Notice the difference in color in the floral ring above - it was baked repeatedly because we couldn't get the size just right.  Repeated baking affected the color, but it also made it brittle.  The ring broke a couple days later and we had to try again with a new ring.

Finished Rings:

Had to throw in the Green Lantern ring too - for good measure!   My kids made magic rings, name rings, rings until I ran out of patience!  The only ring they couldn't get to look just right for them was the One Ring ;)

As always, I love to hear comments, especially if you try it yourself.  Send me pictures and I'll post them!  Have fun!!

Top o' the mornin' to ye.  Not much to say about this wee crafty.  My kids were hankerin' for a craft - I was feelin' the lack o' the green round our house now that March is here.  Went lookin' for ideas and came across this Valentine craft on Pinterest, which I adapted for St. Patrick's Day simply by changing the shape and the color of the crayons.

It's a super simple craft, and it's extra fun because it surprises the kids - they don't know what's going to happen to the crayon bits, making it sort of science-experiementy to boot!  The final results are so pretty!  I keep finding myself in front of my window studying the individual patterns in each shamrock.

Supplies Needed:
Wax Paper
Crayons
Pencil sharpener or knife
Iron & ironing board
Craft paper

1. Place a sheet of craft paper on the ironing board to protect it from the melting wax (I ended up doubling this, just in case)
2. Place a sheet of wax paper on top of the craft paper.  This will be one side of your "stained glass" shamrock.
3. Shred crayons onto wax paper.  We started out using the pencil sharpener like the valentine's tutorial explained, but found that it was easier, quicker, and more effective to chop the crayons finely using a knife and cutting board (mom job, not kid job!). **NOTE: Use multiple shades of colors for the best effect.  You'll notice that we have some yellow, some blue, and several shades of green.  These blend together to end up green overall, with spots of neat variation, but otherwise it's drab.
4. Place a second sheet of wax paper over top of the shredded crayons.
5. Cover your wax paper - crayon sandwich with another sheet of craft paper to protect your iron. (Just so you know - it doesn't REALLY hurt the iron, and looks really cool to see the crayons melt and blend if you want to show the kids what's going on for just a second before you cover it all up to really go to town on the whole thing.  I tried it ;) )

6. Using the iron on a low to medium heat, and working from the center to the outside edges, press the crayon shreds until they are all melted to desired effect. 

8. Cut out traced shamrock shapes

Hang and Enjoy!!

I adore Autumn!  The colors of Fall are my colors, and I'm not sure my house ever looks better than it does in the autumn.  One of my favorite decor items are gourds - mostly just the plastic kind from craft stores, but I do have a few pretty real dried ones I've bought.  Last year, my wonderful neighbor noticed my love of gourds and brought me a bunch of fresh gourds from the garden.  They were beautiful!  (I wish I'd taken pictures)

 I had about a dozen assorted sizes and shapes that I spread throughout my different Fall arrangements.  After Thanksgiving, I didn't want to just throw them out, so I decided to try my hand at drying out and preserving the gourds.  I did some research online and went to work.  I set aside an area in my backyard and set the gourds out to dry.  From what I read, the main concerns are air circulation and moisture drainage.  The gourds can't sit in water, and they must have constant air circulation.  Temperature can change - they can even freeze - but no standing water or stagnant air.

As the water leaves the gourds, mildew forms on the surface and then dies.  This creates designs on the skin that discolors the gourd.  In order to minimize this effect, I tried one of the suggestions to periodically wash my gourds with a bleach-water solution to remove the mildew build-up.  Even though I read that it was ok for the gourds to freeze, I was afraid of how wet they'd stay in the snow, so I moved them inside to my basement after they got past the initial wettest stage (which my kids call the "stinky" part).  Despite equal treatment, at the point of moving to the basement, my gourd count was down by half.  None of my gourds that were similar to pumpkins in shape made it - they got mushy and rotted.  One of the instructions I read explained that in order to dry a gourd, it needs to have a stem of at least 2 inches long.  My gourds with stems fared best, so this is good advice.  After their time in the basement, the surviving gourds were down to 3.  They are a good three though, so I'm still happy!

The largest of the three gourds is my favorite of the whole group, and I knew I wanted to do something special with it.  I read about carving gourds, painting gourds, staining gourds - WOW - I had no idea of the gourd crafting out there!  But what I had in mind was a little bit different.

This is what my gourd looked liked when it was all dried and ready to go.  I read that it needed to be prepped by rubbing it down with some steel wool, however, my husband used all our steel wool to stuff any exterior holes to prevent voles from burrowing around our house, so I resorted to a super-fine sandpaper.  It took off any of the peeling skin left from the drying process and prepared the surface to receive paint.  I should note that when the gourd is dry, it is very lightweight and often rattles with the dried seeds inside.  It feels very fragile, but I've read that it is as hard as some woods.

After my gourd was sanded, I drew designs on it with pencil.  Then I carefully traced over my pencil designs with hot glue.  This was quite the adventure since by the end my hand and arm were shaking from trying to hold steady and get a smooth bead the whole time!  When I look at this project, I can instantly see the difference between where I started and where I ended based on the quality of the line!

Here is a close-up of the design on the surface of the gourd.

Next I spray-painted my little friendly gourd.  The first coat of paint I wasn't too smart and sat it on the ground.  For the next coat I wised-up and hung it in our tree so I could get the bottom too.  I thought I was going to stick with this color, and even finished it up with this color, but then ended up not liking it after a couple of days living with it.  I didn't like it glossy, and the color was just not as deep as I wanted it.  So I grabbed an acrylic dark brown that I had on hand and brushed on a coat.

To achieve the final finished look, I used a watered down antique gold acrylic paint to create a wash that would make the design stand out and give it a little sparkle.  I'm still wondering if I should have gone a little darker with the brown, but overall I'm quite pleased with my silly little gourd project!  I'm so glad my fabulous neighbor brought me some fun gourds so I could play!!  Not quite as pretty as when they're fresh out of the garden - all harvesty goodness, but still fun.

It has been a LONG while since I've posted anything, which is very sad.  I have so many fun things to share that have been put on the back burner.  Why?  One word: HALLOWEEN!  We are crazy people when it comes to Halloween around our house.  I sew nonstop to create costumes for my kids and sometimes for my husband and myself if there's time (hardly ever is!).  There have been years when I question if it's worth it.  If all that work for one silly holiday is just plain ridiculous.
But halloween is actually the origins of my sewing skills (well, there was that skirt I made in 4H as a girl, and the tote-bag I made in home-ec, but does that really count?).  Costumes are a safe, fun place for beginning sewing because mistakes are ok, puckers are overlooked, sleeves can be different lengths and no one cares, and everything - EVERYTHING can be fastened with velcro eliminating the need for those nasty buttonholes and terrifying zippers!
So I made costumes for my babies and toddlers, who grew quickly into kids who now think I can make anything and every year push that to new limits.  Someday I'm going to have to utter the words, "I can't," but until that day, halloween makes me supermom - and since, like every other mom out there, I feel completely inadequate every day, being supermom for a while feels great!  I can't keep up on their homework, there's always at least one kid who hates what I make for dinner, I'm never sure if I should force the chores or let them play, I'm always conflicted between work and time with kids, I'm always a little bit late and a lot of energy short to be the mom I want to be - but at Halloween, I rock!  And the reward is the joy I get from seeing how much fun my kids have becoming whatever they've chosen to be that year.  They move differently, they talk differently, they get to live a day in imagination and I love it.
I hope to get a bunch of fun posts up soon, but in the meantime, I'm posting pics of the costumes that have kept me from blogging (or cleaning, or doing laundry, or eating.....) for the past several weeks :)  Maybe I'll even get around to posting some of my costumes of the past sometime - a gallery of insanity!

My youngest was Cinderella - obviously.  This costume was made using Simplicity 4764 for the dress, a modified sleeve I designed myself, and the peplum from McCalls 6420.  The bodice design I made up and painted in puffy fabric paint sprinkled with super-fine glitter  - there are also Swarovski crystals throughout the design. 

The headband is made in the same way I made my nautical headbands, with craft foam covered in fabric - and then painted, glittered and bejeweled to match the bodice of the dress.  The gloves were store-bough child stretch satin that I modified to slim down and actually fit. 

Under the dress is a full slip with net ruffles for fullness.  I also made a white polar fleece cloak trimmed in that curly fleece stuff that looks like fur but feels silky - that way the costume doesn't get covered u by a pink parka for trick-or-treating and ruin the whole princess look.

One more funny note - the choker, a necessary Cinderella element, is actually a bra strap I saved when the bra broke :)  My husband mocks me for saving everything, but it's times like these I am justified.  I wanted the necklace to be elastic, so it would fit snuggly without being restrictive like ribbon would be.  But most elastic is dull and looks, well, like elastic.  The bra strap had a satin finish, was elastic, and was absolutely perfect!  Sew on a snap, & voila! 

The next daughter was another Disney Princess - and probably my favorite of all time too!  I was really excited to do a Merida costume.  It was really difficult finding fabric the right color, and I'm still bummed that I had to go with satin - I wanted something that looked closer to a homespun - but it is just a costume, after all.  And the satin worked out pretty.  

I used McCalls 5499, which is perfect for the dress, but I still had to figure out those really crazy sleeves.  I opted to put in a full under sleeve rather than a false poof at the elbow & shoulder.  This gave her a level of movement and comfort as well as realism.  The undershirt at the neck is just an inset though.  

The wig is store-bought, the bow is home-made (and likely my next post!).
Of course, Merida also has to have a cloak, and though the color here was a problem again, I was finally able to find a fantastic shade of green-grey polar fleece.

My oldest daughter wanted to be a pirate, which was a very exciting costume to make.   I was surprised at the lack of female pirate costumes (especially any that weren't skanky) for ideas.  This one is a combination of patterns.  The shirt is from a pajama pattern, Simplicity 4767, with cuffs and lace ruffle added at the wrists and lace at the neck.  The vest is actually from a fairy costume pattern, McCalls 4887, but made out of a lightweight printed leather.   It has a high waist with an almost full circle skirt attached.  Mine overlaps to button, which differs from the pattern.  I love the vest so much I'm not putting it away as a costume, I've put it in her closet to wear with jeans! The skirt is super fun - McCalls 6391 view C.  It is actually a giant rectangle that is tacked up in specific places to an under-skirt stay.  Boots and hat were Savers finds (I added the lace to the hat), and the belt we've had in our dress-up for so long I can't even remember where it came from.  The attitude this costume gave this girl is delightful!

If you're not sure, this is Frodo Baggins.  He's wearing a shirt made from Butterick 5656, (out of an torn sheet, btw! I love repurposing!!).  The vest is McCalls 4290, and turned out a little shorter than I planned, but if you won't tell him, I won't!  The cloak is, again, polar fleece (I make up my own pattern for cloaks - I try to get as much of a circle as I can with whatever fabric I end up buying, and then use the leftover edges to make a hood.  No hemming or anything - just cut, attach the hood, sew on a clasp, and go!)  

The feet were the hardest part.  Anyone know how to make feet?  But a hobbit in shoes just isn't a hobbit!  I found a couple of cool ideas online, but way out of my price range.  So I used a tan felt and trial and error.  What I ended up with was an upper section inspired by a felt slipper pattern with a seam down the center for shape.  Then I designed a bare-foot toe section and cut it out - just the toes, I wanted the bottom totally open so the whole thing would go over his shoe.  I sewed the flat toe section to the slipper upper section, right sides together.  Turning the toes right side out, I sewed up about an inch in between each "toe".   A little stuffing in each toe bulked them out and gave them shape.  I used furry fleece for the hobbit hair on top of the feet.  The overshoe worked well through the day's activities, but by trick-or-treating, as you may notice, they were getting floppy - sort of stretched out.  So I just grabbed some clear tape and taped them to the shoe for the night and we were fine :).

He started growing his hair out about two months ago to try for the long, curly hobbit hair, but since his hair is stick-straight, he had to sleep in curlers for the curly part.  I was kind and didn't take any pictures!

Finally, I found the One Ring to Rule them All on Amazon for $7.  Free shipping :)  Frodo should have thought of that - he could have just shipped it to Mordor!

 

Not many pics of my oldest.  He's at the age where he's not quite sure what he's supposed to be doing with Halloween.  So a grim reaper robe works well, with some creepy gloves I had when I was his age!  It depended on when you asked him, what he said he was - which I found hilarious.  Sometimes he was a reaper, sometimes he was a ring-wraith, sometimes he was just scary.

I love pook a looz plush toys, and used that style as my inspiration when I designed my scriptural character puppets.  The simplicity of the wide-set, simple oval eyes, the lack of or minimal other facial features, all give the faces a charm that makes me smile.  Pook a looz are slightly melancholy, but in a sweet and vague way that is just enchanting!  That was exactly the feeling I was hoping to capture, and felt was lovely and appropriate for scriptural figures.

 Since my purpose in making the puppets was to teach the song "Nephi's Courage", and the song has specific characters in the lyrics, I made Nephi, Laban, Laman & Lemuel, and a boat to teach the first two verses. My kids are already requesting the rest of Lehi's family (at least)! And it is pretty obvious that if I wanted to, Laman or Lemuel could double as Noah, and the boat could be an ark - opening up the possibility of Bible story play as well.

Really, though I've never missed scripture puppets in my life - never sat around thinking, "oh man! If only I had some handpuppets of scriptural characters!" I have found already so many family and church uses for these fun guys that I'm so glad now that I have them!

Materials & Pattern
Now, if you're like me, when an idea strikes, I want to get going, not go shopping, so I used materials on hand.   I'm not sure that if I were BUYING supplies that I'd chose the same exact colors or fabrics, so don't feel restricted by what I chose - go crazy!  I love the way my turned out, and I'm just so glad that I don't ever throw anything away, but a whole craft/fabric store of options would be too much fun!

Start off with either fleece or felt - maybe about 3/8 of a yard.  I used fleece remnants (again, because I had it - also because it's soft).  Why fleece or felt?  They don't fray and you can sew them leaving the seams exposed rather than having to edge finish and turn inside out.  Faster, easier.  It is a definite look to leave the seams around the edges with the top stitching rather than hidden seams - but I like it for the "ancient" puppets.  You could turn the seams for a more finished look.

The body is cut from the main color, head and hands from whatever flesh color you like.  For bearded characters I worked out a beard shape, which I cut out of fleece of varying fancy furry styles or plain fleece in hair tones.  Trims and chording make belts, headbands, whatever clothing decor your creativity can come up with. The last bit you'll need is a head scarf, in two pieces, out of a remnant of fleece, felt or a non-fraying knit. Trims, ribbon and rick-rack make excellent headbands.

You'll also need some polyester fiberfill and black embroidery floss.

print pattern sheets on 8 1/2 x 11

The shape of the body may seem a little strange, but really it's not.  Just think that the puppet's head is stuffed, and the fingers need somewhere to go to support the head, and suddenly the shape of the body makes perfect sense.

Construction

A diagram of the pieces,
unassembled

1- Attach the hands to the body.  This one IS done right sides together (I know I said earlier that it's all done with top-stitching, but this is an exception.  Hands are put on right sides together).

Sword made out of 1/2 inch silver ribbon,
simply cut to shape and top-stitched

2- Tack any trims or decorations to the body (if it's something like a waistband, that will get caught into the side seams when the body sections are sewn together, tacking in place is all that is necessary.  If it is something that does NOT get caught in the side seams - such as Laban's sword - sew down permanently rather than simply tacking).

3- Once the hands are attached and the body is accessorized as you'd like it, sew all around the body, wrong sides together, leaving the bottom open, taking the smallest seam allowance you feel comfortable with.

Set the body aside for now.

4- Sew the head pieces together, wrong sides together, leaving the bottom (neck) open.  (Optionally, if you'd like to embroider the eyes on before sewing the front of the head to the back of the head, you can do that.  I like to wait until after the beard is on and the head is stuffed so that my eye placement ends up exactly where I want it to be.  But if it's easier to put the eyes on the separate face piece, now is the time!)

5- If the character has a beard, pin it in place and sew around on the same stitching line as around the head, from dot at cheek, around the top of the head to dot at other cheek.  Sew across the top (lip) of the beard by hand with a running stitch, so as not to go through both layers of the head - it should just end up tacked to the face, not the back of the head.

6- Stuff the head and attach to body by hand using a running stitch.  I just left the raw edges and let my running stitch show, as I had done with the machine sewn parts - but feel free to turn the edges under and slip stitch for a neater, cleaner look.

7- For the head scarf, attach headband to the front (half moon shaped) section.  Then sew the two pieces together - this time right sides together - and turn right side out.  Hand stitch in place by "stitching in the ditch" - in other words working your stitches through the seam of the scarf and attaching to the top of the puppet's head.  I tried just tacking the head scarf on in two spots, but it was QUICKLY dismantled by little hands - so I recommend stitching all the way along the top of the scarf.

8- Finally the face.  I like to leave the face till last to make sure the eyes don't end up too high or too low relative to the scarf or the beard or whatever - since those shift around in sewing and nothing ever ends up perfectly where you plan it.  The charm of the pook-a-looz is the simplicity of features.  Just eyes, or eyes and a distinguishing feature that adds expression.  Mark where the eyes should go with a pencil, then, using all strands of black embroidery thread, add eyes using a satin stitch - starting at the top of the eye, increasing length of the stitch, then decreasing at the bottom of the eye to make an oblong shape.  Laban is "wicked," so he gets evil eyebrows and a shady mustache.

Details like Laban's brass plates are added on at the very end.  I made my "plates" out of craft foam, laced with beading wire and painted with pseudo-Egyptian characters.

The Boat
Since the second verse of the song has a boat - I designed a simple boat that the kids could use as a visual/ puppet show prop.  Then it was my daughter, Lily's idea that I actually make the boat double as puppet storage!  Clever girl!  The boat base is craft foam.  Then I simply topped it with a layer of batting and brown fleece - machine quilting in windows.  Another piece of fleece becomes the hull of the boat - sewn top-stitches in bright yellow give some "planks," before it is top-stitched on as well and the whole thing zig-zagged around to seal the edges which were fuzzy white from the batting (not boat-like at all).

So those are my first scripture puppets! I can't wait to try some female characters!  And I'm SURE my kids will have ideas for other favorite scripture stories they want to enact - so off we go back to the scrap box!  Send me your ideas and pics if you try these - especially if you do get some women done.  I'd love to see them!!