The Acorns, Halloween and Ethiopia

Here are the acorns I made using Betz’s inspiration which I blogged about yesterday.    Aren’t they cute?  I used my Clover Small Yo-Yo Maker, some small printed fabric and a bit of stuffing to make them.  I love them and they went together in a minute or two. 

Since I tend to wing it and not read directions completely let me share with you what I learned by mistake with the Yo-Yo maker.  If you turn it over you will notice where to sew on the template.  Don’t make my mistake and sew it to the template!  I sewed with it upside down (the package shows to sew with it right side up) and that way I could be sure that the thread went under the guide. 

After I inserted the batting I pulled it tight (like wrapping a basket for Easter), then I sewed through a bit to secure it, wound the thread on the outside a few times and then sewed through the material and the thread to secure.  I then trimmed the material at the top to the top of the thread and glued them inside the caps.  And just like nature (or Mommy Nat as Vallen calls her) the caps are various sizes so you need to make them individually instead of assembly line style.  You will see the green one (top, right) is a bit big.  It was the first and I made it a bit too plump. 

Next, here is some pre-Halloween humor courtesy of the Today Show site.  Some of the pictures are really funny.  Now I understand why pets sometimes turn on their owners.  LOL,  just kidding!

Lastly, I was reading the current issue of Good Housekeeping (October 2007).  It had an article about Yohannes Gebregeorgis, the man who founded Ethiopia Reads.  He left his country to avoid persecution only to return to bring books to the children of his country.  What an inspiring article and a great opportunity to share with children, many of whom have never seen a book.  You can check here to see how you can help.    Please pick up the Good Housekeeping magazine to check out the article, the descriptions of the children and the quotes from them are inspiring. 

It’s Hump Day (aka Wednesday)!  Now the slide into the weekend!