Merry Christmas from the Haskins Family!!!

After waiting a few years for our cell phone contract to be up, we are happy to be owners of i-phones!  I still have so much to learn about all that it can do, but my son knew about an app called Mad Pad where you can record clips and put them together.  We try to do creative newsletters each year to share a bit about our year, so this seemed like a good idea!  We hope you enjoy it!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The $3.00 Boot Sock Project!

I saw a post on Facebook for a tutorial on making boot socks or leg warmers out of old sweaters.  I loved the idea and of course, couldn't wait to try it! 

I went to my fave thrift store here in Lincoln to find some sweaters to work with.  I chose a white sweater, black sweater and a black and white stripped tank sweater.  They were all only $1.00 each so I felt great about this project right away!

All who know me well know that I love black and white!
It is practical as it goes with so many outfits.

I started with the with cutting the sweaters using the sleeves as well as the
large area into as many pairs as possible.

My first try was with the black and white sweater.  

I cut it up and used as much of it as possible.

I used the trim and other scraps for flowers and ruffles.

I hate wasting anything!  I ended up using quite a lot of what I cut out.
You simply sew together the open edges to make a sock that can slip on over
your pant legs or leggings/tights.

Here's the pair with my Ugg-ish boots!

They also work well with zip-up boots!

The Boot socks completed!

Another pair in white with flowers made with scraps and a button in the center.

A pair in black with scraps from the black and white sweater that I
made into flowers and a green button in the center.

Here's a few more!  I am hoping to make my 14 year old niece
 very happy with some of these this Christmas!

Set Design- Large Modern Trees needed!

Sometimes I get the opportunity to use my creativity in my full-time job at my church.  I would guess that most pastors don't "get crafty" too often, but one of the ministries that I over-see is our stage design ministry. 

We change the look of our stage for every message series which is a lot of work, but worth it for the atmosphere and "sacred space" that we create.

So, we are now in the Advent season and just started a new series.  We decided on a clean modern look on the stage with the 3 large modern looking trees off to one side.  Our friend, Scott Byers, has been creating our set design projects over this last year, but needed some help for this current set.  He made the tree bases (trunks) but needed some kind of trees to place on top of them.

I was up for the challenge and spent half a day coming up with a plan, getting supplies, and putting it all together.  Here is what I did:

I decided to use the lampshade idea and create a "Tree Shade" using
 poster board as the base.  I wanted the trees to be big, so I simply
cut 3 pieces of poster board into a triangular pattern.

After cutting out the 3 triangular pieces, I attached them together
 with packaging tape on both sides.

I folded the two ends together and attached the ends
 with the tape to create a 3 sided triangular shade.

I wanted a taller tree with a smaller top, so I measured

from the top onto another piece of poster board to create

another 3 sided top.

Attach the two parts together and you have the structure of the tree.

Next, I attached the fabric with spray adhesive 

and hot glue.

The trunks needed a triangular piece of particle board

nailed to it so the flexible tree shade would stay in place 

and keep it's correct shape.

I was very pleased with how the three trees turned out and looked together!

    

 It was all worth it to see it come together and hear how others really enjoyed seeing it.  I love           

     celebrating the birth of Christ during Advent!  If you live in or near Lincoln, Ca., you should

     come see it for yourself at Emmaus Church Community!  Our church website is   

    www.emmauscommunity.org.