Baby Whales

Back when I was making the Denim Humpback Whales I came across some pictures of baby stuffed whales on Pinterest.

I worked on drafting a pattern for stuffed baby whales, and sewed a few to work out the bugs.

I really want to write out proper instructions for how to make these, with pictures and everything. But, for the time being, I only have taken the time to show you the finished product.

I think I started this project back in January. I have been dragging my feet when it came to stitching the eyes. I don't think that part is very fun. I have finally finished them all! I was very excited to be able to get them listed on my Etsy store, QuietStandards, this past week! You can check the listings out HERE.

Little Bits Of Wisdom

This is a cute little book that BMW picked out at the resale shop.

Isn't it adorable!

Thelma Christenson's illustrations are darling! This book was published by Hallmark and is copyrighted 1967. Little Bits of Wisdom is a collection of wise and witty sayings along with pictures that correspond to the sayings. 

This publication is 42 pages long. 

As you leaf through the book, you will find a saying on the left-hand page, and the matching image on the right-hand page. Every other image is color and the ones in between are plain pencil.
 I'll share a few of my favorite pages.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲

🍞 🍞 🍞 🍞 🍞 🍞 🍞 🍞

💲 💲 💲 💲 💲 💲 💲 💲

🍌 🍌 🍌  🍌 🍌 🍌 🍌 🍌

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Do you have any witty little sayings that you can share with us? I love to hear them in the comments section!

Fun Yeast Experiment!

I conducted a yeast experiment with my boys a few weeks ago. My oldest son is 4 and he loves science experiments. Technically, this wasn't a true science experiment because we didn't set up a control, but oh well, we had fun anyway.

Our experiment was about what types of fuel that bread baking yeast will produce the most carbon dioxide consuming. We had 5 plastic bottles and chose 5 fuel sources; sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, and all purpose flour.

Into each plastic bottle we poured 1 tsp. of yeast, 1 TBS. fuel, and 1/4 cup warm water.

We secured a balloon onto the top of each bottle to capture carbon dioxide.

We labeled the bottles as we went.

Within 5 minutes of setting up, the sugar bottle was in the lead.

At the 15 minute mark I noticed that some of the balloons had teeny tiny holes in the stem portion of the balloons. I used rubber bands to seal off the stems.

I took a picture of the bottles after 30 minutes,.....

1/2 hour

... At 1 hour,...

1 hour

... And at 3 hours.

3 hours

The next day I blew up the balloons for the children to play with. We discovered that one of the balloons had a teeny tiny hole on the top of the balloon. I didn't know which bottle it had come off. My first thought was that the holey balloon had been on the bottle with flour. I really had expected the flour balloon to do better than it did.

The next day I ran the experiment again, with a bottle with flour as fuel, and a bottle with sugar to act as a control.

After 4 hours,....

4 hours

There you have it folks, yeast really likes simple carbohydrates.

Bread baking yeast produced about the same amount of carbon dioxide with each of the sweeteners that we tried. There didn't appear to be any significant difference between using sugar, honey, molasses, or corn syrup as fuel. Sugar had a little head start, but after an hour the rest caught up.

Let us know how we could improve this experiment! If you have any ideas tell us in the comment section!

Carrot Jam; Layer Cake Filling

This post is for documentation purposes. I was "winging it" when I made this jam. If you are interested in a recipe for Carrot Jam, I will share the one I found and I used for inspiration. You can check that recipe out HERE.

After making Carrot Food Coloring For Icing.......

I had a bunch of grated carrot that I had squeezed a 1/3 cup of juice out of.

I added a 1/3 cup of water back to the grated carrots and put them into a sauce pan. I cooked them; steaming the carrots with the lid on the pot, for about 10 minutes, until the carrot pieces were soft and tender.

I placed the cooked, grated carrots into a blender, reserving about 1/2 cup. I thought that leaving some carrots un-blended would add some texture to the final product that would be pleasant.

I pushed the blended carrots through a mesh sieve. Why? I don't know. It seemed like the professional thing to do. I did want the jam to have some texture, so I probably didn't have to do this step.

I added the 1/2 cup of reserved grated carrots and 1 cup of sugar. I cooked the carrot mixture over medium/high heat until it started boiling, stirring as little as possible. Once it was boiling really good I cooked it for about 10 minutes, if my memory serves me correctly.

I allowed the jam to cool 10 minutes and then added 1 tablespoon of bottled lemon juice and 2 drops of lemon essential oil. I would have liked to add some lemon zest instead of essential oil, but I didn't have a fresh lemon. If I make carrot jam again I would add more lemon juice. I feel like my jam was lacking some acid. Carrots don't have any tanginess and most fruits that jams are made out of have a good amount of tanginess.

I used the carrot jam for the filling in a birthday cake. Everyone seemed to enjoy the carrot jam. Because of the color my mom expected the filling to be apricot. 

Carrot jam could be a little confusing on the taste buds, but it does make a very pleasant spread. I ate the leftover jam on oatmeal and liked it that way, too.

Hymn: In Times Like These

I keep hearing this phrase bantered lately, "....in times like these,..." Every time I hear the phrase this hymn goes through my mind. I hope you enjoy reading it. Go ahead and lift up your voice and sing along!

1. In times like these you need a Saviour,
In times like these you need an anchor;
Be very sure, be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

Refrain
This Rock is Jesus, Yes, He's the One;
This Rock is Jesus, the only One!
Be very sure, Be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock.

2. In times like these you need the Bible;
In times like these O be not idle.
Be very sure, Be very sure,
Your anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

Refrain

3. In times like these I have a Saviour;
In times like these I have an anchor.
I'm very sure, I'm very sure,
My anchor holds and grips the Solid Rock!

Refrain

Psalms 18:2
The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Homemade Carrot Food Coloring For Icing

Three years ago when I wrote a post on natural food coloring (Here) Mary from The Cotton Apron suggested trying carrots for food coloring. Thank you for the suggestion, Mary! I finally gave it a try! I was pleased with the resulting color. I, also, used the grated carrots to make a carrot jam filling between the cake layers. I'll be sharing how that turned out in a future post.

Carrot Food Coloring For Icing

1. Peel and grate a pound of carrots.

2. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar over the grated carrots. Mix well and let rest 10 minutes.

3.Pour the carrots onto a clean flour sack towel or cheese cloth.

4. Gather up the corners of the towel or cheese cloth, and squeeze out the juice from the grated carrots.

I got 1/3 cup of juice.

5.In a small sauce pan boil the carrot juice, stirring frequently, until juice has reduced to about a tablespoon of liquid.

6. Mix carrot food coloring into icing and stir until completely incorporated.

Before mixing

After mixing

8. Ice the cake!

Psalm 19:7-11

This portion of scripture is so poetic! It is reassuring of the confidence that we have in God's word. 

The law of the LORD is perfect,

converting the soul:

The testimony of the LORD is sure,

making wise the simple.

The statutes of the LORD are right,

rejoicing the heart:

The commandment of the LORD is pure,

enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean,

enduring forever:

The judgements of the LORD are true

and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

yea, than much fine gold:

Sweeter also than honey a

the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy

 servant warned:

And in keeping of them

 there is great reward.

This webpage has music to sing these verses with, verbatim. I am going to learn this song with our children this week! I am excited to have found this song!

P.S. Apparently, I grew up under a rock! This seems to be a fairly common song for children who grew up in Christian homes to have learned in their youth. Since writing this post I found a recording of the song that I really enjoyed. I'll share it here for your enjoyment, as well! :)

I hope you have a good week! Do you like to sing scripture songs? Do you have any resources that you would like to share? Do you make up your own tunes? I'd love to hear about it in the comments section!

Book Report: Lessons From Madame Chic

Lessons From Madame Chic

By Jennifer Scott

Lessons From Madame Chic is a compilation of 20 lessons that Jennifer Scott learned during her stay if Paris while she was an exchange student. The family she stayed with she loving refers to as the Chic Family, and the woman of the household is therefore, Madame Chic. Madame Chic made a big impact on Mrs. Scott. In Lessons From Madame Chic Jennifer Scott shares some of the ways Madame Chic stayed so distinguished and, well, chic. 

I walked away from this book intrigued. I definitely could use some lessons on being chic and polished. One thing that Mrs. Scott says is emphasized in the French culture is living life well. Enjoy the little things. For example, don't mindlessly snack on garbage. Allow yourself to become hungry between meals and then thoroughly enjoy your food. Don't let repetetive tasks become mundane. Take pleasure in your work, even when you have to do the same jobs everyday. Don't become slovenly or lazy. Be poised and always ready to do your best. 

Mrs. Scott relates that the French culture focuses on quality over quantity. Quality in every area of your life. Put quality foods in your mouth, quality perfumes on your body, quality information in your mind. Purchase home goods that are made to last. Buy things that will become heirlooms. Don't throw away your money on fad decor that you replace every season. Buy the best that you can afford in every area.

Mrs. Scott talks a lot about being presentable all the time. She says from your inner most garments to your outer most garments to wear nice things. Not only will it effect how others perceive you, but it will effect the way you feel and carry yourself. 

I found many elements of this book to be positive. On the other hand, I felt like some of the ideas are little frivolous and quiet high maintenance. Mrs. Scott tends to idealize the French culture. If the French are doing it, then whatever 'it' is, is wonderful. I have never had a positive impression of French culture. I had to open my mind a little and see if the French had anything to offer that would enrich my life.

One thing I would like to implement is treating everyday special. I want to abolish the notion of saving nice things for "later." As if it has to be a special occasion to use nice dishes or wear nice clothes. If I have clothes that make me feel pretty, than I should wear them. If I have a fancy tea cup or breakfast bowl that makes me feel special than I should use it. The same goes for my family. I can plate up our meals on a pretty serving platter. I can set the table every supper. I can use nice cloth napkins. We can light candles. I can do a spa day with the children. I can give Mr. In the Mid-west a back rub. I want my family to feel special everyday. I want to enjoy the small things in life and live well.

Another piece of advice I want to take away from Lessons From Madame Chic is, to cultivate my mind. I have been working towards this goal for around a year. I want to learn things on purpose. I don't want my brain to go to mush. Mrs. Scott, also, emphasizes seeking out the arts. If you are able, attend a live performance, visit a museum, take a class, learn how to play an instrument, volunteer at a local playhouse, or host a poetry reading. These suggestions sound a little out of my comfort zone, but I, also, think I would enjoy them. I want to try new things, and expand my horizons.

If you feel like your life has become dull and you would like some inspiration, or you feel sloppy and want a nudge in the right direction, I think you would enjoy reading Lessons From Madame Chic by Jennifer Scott.*

Ecclesiastes 5:18
 Behold that which I have seen: it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion.

What have you been reading? Tell in the comments section!

* Do I really have to write a disclaimer to say that I don't agree with everything that Jennifer Scott says? Okay, well here it is: I don't agree with all of Mrs. Scott's views or recommendations. :)