What are the best bird foods to put out for birds during the cold Winter weather? by Haith's Bird Food.
A house made using edible decorations.
You can feed the birds by decorating a little gingerbread house with seeds, beans, pees, cranberries, orange slices and peanut butter. If you don't have someone to cut the gingerbread into a house, use graham crackers to build this instead. Here you can see the little house built by children from our home. It is has decorations glued to the surface of a cookie house using peanut butter. The birds love festive treats for Christmas just like you and I! But, you should use trimmings that are edible for them instead of candy...
The kids are in show biz the minute they unwrap this Old Mississippi showboat. It has stage scenery, cutain, cut-out characters, and the script of four plays in big, easy-to-read type. Everyone gets into the act! by Remco.
Children get a great kick out of watching things grow. A "Little Garden" electric greenhouse comes with a supply of seeds, growning medium, trays, implements, and an instruction book. by Westinghouse Electric Corporation.
Youngsters with inquiring minds will be stimulated by Add-Venture kits. One of a series, the Lite-Writer introduces the magical world of phosphorescence. Special constellation cards encourage study of the stars. by General Electric.
The simplest gifts are greeted with the most gleeful gurgles from the tiny tots. A barn full of unbreakable farm animals in fantastic colors fit into stalls matching their own shapes. Safe and washable. Lakeside Toys.
Model motor racing provides thrills for all ages. Different track layouts can be assembled and racing of the miniature cars takes real skill and co-ordination. Buildings, new cars, and equipment can be added over a long period of time. Scalextric by The Lionel Corporation.
"It is time to light the Christmas candles. Light them, you and you, and let them burn with clear joyous flame. Big candles and little, colored candles and plain, let each be blazing! The little candles must give all the light they can, and the big candles all the light they will, for there can never be too much radiance on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning. Bring out the half-burned last year's candles, too, even though the memory of last year calls tears into the eyes for this is the day of such joy as shall change sorrow into peace. Bring out all the candles! The room may be bare or sumptuous. The gifts may have been chosen with painful thought and paid for with hoarded pennies; or they may have been purchased lavishly, and more from habit than from love. But never mind now: they shall all be sacred and beautiful in the gleam of the Christmas candles. Has the gospel story first been read, and, if children were not too little and too impatient, Milton's "Ode on the Nativity?" If so, then light the candles! There is no other Christmas tree quite so fine as a fir balsam, itself shaped like a tapering flame and redolent as incense. But any tree will serve, or for that matter no tree at all, for the real Christmas candles, surely, are the CANDLES IN THE HEART." Perry
In 1962, Christmas candles came in every shape and color to light your holiday home. (photos included)
1. Tall Round, 12" by Flair Candles. 2. Zarape Pillar, 6", by Clare Candles. 3. Bird in Flight, 13", by Flair. 4. Pottery Shape, 9", by Flair. 5. Party Pagoda, 7", by Flair. 6. Dinner Tapers, 15", by Paragon. 7. Party Ball, 4 1/2" diam., by Flair. 8. Giant Folding Prism, 15", by Paragon. 9. Marble Prism, 10", by Paragon 10. Flower Tapers, 15", by Paragon. 11. Vertagrain Pinnacle Prism, 10", by Paragon. 12. Chessman, 18", by Flair. 13. Rainbow Drip, 12", by Flair. 14. Royal Cierge, ribbed and plain, 14" and 10", by Bee Industries.
15. Sun, 12", by Flair. 16. Baroque, 12", by Paragon. 17. Spool, 12", by Flair. 18. Spindle, 15", by Flair. 19. Vertico Stripe Rectangles, 12" and 6", by Flair. 20. Obelisk, 15", Party Bazaar-Dennisons. 21. Left, right, Plantation, 4 3/4" and 3"; center, Cathedral, 6", by Carolina Soap and Candle Makers. 22. Glowing Prixm, 10"and 15", by Paragon. 23. Colossal Royal Queen, 20", by Bee Industries. 24. Zarape Tapers, 15", by Clare. 25. Drop, 4", imported by Svend Jensen of Denmark. 26. Square Taper, 10", imported by Svend Jenson of Denmark. 27. Classic Marble Obelisk, 15", by Paragon.
The earliest known candles originated in China around 200 BC, and
were made from whale fat. Candles did not appear in Europe or the Middle
East until sometime after AD 400, due largely to the availability of
olive oil for burning in lamps. The early European candle was made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax. In the 18th century, spermaceti, oil produced by the sperm whale, was used to produce a superior candle. Late in the 18th century, colza oil and rapeseed oil came into use as much cheaper substitutes.
Paraffin
was first distilled in 1830, and revolutionized candle-making, as it
was an inexpensive material which produced a high-quality, odorless
candle that burned reasonably cleanly. The industry was devastated soon
after, however, by the distillation of kerosene (confusingly also called paraffin oil or just paraffin). Recently resin
based candles that are freestanding and transparent have been
developed, with the claim that they burn longer than traditional
paraffin candles. They are usually scented and oil based.
In the Middle Ages in Europe, tallow candles were the most common
candle. By the 13th century, candle making had become a guild craft in
England and France. The candle makers (chandlers) went from house to
house making candles from the kitchen fats saved for that purpose, or
made and sold their own candles from small candle shops.
Before the invention of electric lighting,
candles and oil lamps were commonly used for illumination. In areas
without electricity, they are still used routinely. Until the 20th
century, candles were more common in northern Europe. In southern Europe and the Mediterranean,
oil lamps predominated. In the developed world today, candles are used
mainly for their aesthetic value and scent, particularly to set a soft,
warm, or romantic ambiance, for emergency lighting during electrical power failures, and for religious or ritual purposes. Scented candles are used in aromatherapy.
Christmas in Millionaire row! Is it a day spent in fairyland, where one has but to wish and all sorts of lovely things come tumbling down from somewhere?
Does Santa Claus come decked in gold and diamonds when he dashes over the roof tops as the little children of the rich he softly cradled in their beds? Not a bit of it. Santa is the same jolly old saint when he drops down the chimneys of Fifth avenue, New York, as when he leaves a toy on the ash strewn hearths of the east side. He knows that, although the big nurseries and playrooms of the avenue already hold stacks of toys and beautiful things, somehow when the flavor of fir and holly is in the air there is the same thrill in the hearts of the tots in fur and velvet as in those in cotton. And blessed old Santa smiles on both!
To all youngsters, rich or poor-yes, and old or young-he is the embodiment of the blessed Yuletide spirit which brightens the entire year.
Exodus 22:21 "You must not mistreat or oppress foreigners in any way. Remember, you yourselves were once foreigners in the land of Egypt." Leviticus 19:10 "It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God." 1 Samuel 2:8 "He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor." Job 31:16-23 "Have I refused to help the poor, or crushed the hopes of widows? Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans? No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows. Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes and the needy with nothing to wear, did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm? If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side, then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket! That would be better than facing God's judgment. For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there?" Psalm 12:5 "I have seen violence done to the helpless, and I have heard the groans of the poor. Now I will rise up to rescue them, as they have longed for me to do." Proverbs 22:22 "Don't rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court." Romans 15:26 "For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem."
There are a number of scenarios to keep in mind when one is considering the use of an unfamiliar material in a craft project. I hope to clear a few of these up for those students who craft frequently and who also are of the mind that one's craft can potentially lead to a small but necessary profit. How does she manage to crack walnuts into perfect halves you may ask? For if you have ever attempted to do so by means of a common nut cracker, you will indeed discover that this is impossible.
Walnuts, as you will soon discover, are not exactly cheap and one can hardly afford to crack dozens and have only a very few of those shells be cracked exactly in half. When crafting with walnuts, always select an English Walnut not a Black Walnut. No matter how superior in flavor the Black Walnut is, it is still not the walnut that is easiest to craft with. Even though the skins of Black Walnuts do make beautiful dyes for textiles, one must avoid them altogether if you should need to crack them perfectly; the English Walnut is by far the superior prospect. Fortunately for crafters, English Walnuts are the most commonly sold in grocery stores across North America, so students will have little difficulty in acquiring these for the project below.
As you can see from the picture above, I have split the English Walnut perfectly. As implied from the photo, it was done with the aid of a single sided razor blade. Use a hammer and a wooden chopping block to split the walnut into two perfect halves as well. This part of the process must be done by an adult.
Glue the ribbons into place prior to adding
the clay figurine.
Make sure your walnut is clean and dry.
Place the walnut in the center of a thick wooden chopping block.
Firmly position, by hand, the sharp end of a single sided razor blade into the natural seam or crevasse of the walnut shell.
Tap lightly the wrapped dull edge of the razor with a hammer until you are certain that the sharp side of the razor is fixed into the walnut's seam firmly and will not slip out during the process.
Then carefully hammer the blade down into the shell with a few downward strokes of the hammer.
You will find that this technique gets easier as you become familiar with it. However, be cautious, you can seriously injure yourself with the razor blade or hammer
Be sensible to use a clean razor for the project if you intend to eat the walnut meat. And by clean, I mean "never been used previously" for any other purpose before, just to be on the safe side of things. When in doubt, don't eat the walnut meat; feed it to the birds.
After splitting your walnuts in two, make sure the outside surfaces are clean and smooth and the inside walnut meat is completely removed. Then you can line up the nut shells, smooth side up on top of newspapers and spray paint these with your choice of metallic gold or silver spray paint. As with most Chrismons, the colors of choice are traditionally gold and white, I have sprayed my versions shown above and below with gold paint.
The next step in the assembly is to glue down the ribbons of the walnut ornament used to create the hanger. Sandwich the ribbon, wire, or gold thread (whatever you are using) between the clay and the shell of the walnut. Make sure that the hanger has been secured with glue to the shell prior to adhering the air-dry clay figurine of the baby Jesus. This step will give the ornament a professional appearance. (Pictured right and above.)
The baby Jesus in a walnut shell Chrismon. This particular one is made with a molded baby laying in a bed of straw. The molded piece is made with air-dry clay and is glued in place with tacky glue and then left over night to dry. I then painted it with acrylic paints and varnished it with Mod Podge. The halo was painted with gold glitter glue.
The baby Jesus may be made either from a homemade press mold or push mold (see video here) , a purchased mold or from a tiny prefabricated baby or even a small wooden dowel. This part of the craft project will be completed according to the supplies that are available. I have linked to a wide variety of examples of the ornament below.
This traditional Christmas ornament craft may be turned into a Chrismon by using a gold and white color scheme and by teaching little ones the importance of celebrating the baby Jesus' birth found in the Bible, Luke Chapter 2, during the month of December.
I finished painting my porcelain cup cakes for the St. Louis Lutheran
South Craft Fair early this morning. This one is chocolate cake with
strawberry icing topped with a whole strawberry and sprinkled with extra
chocolate chips.
For this Chrismon ornament you will need to make a small press mold using Sculpey clay. I've included a video below that introduces a product that may be used in a similar fashion to my own mold. This young craft artist refers to the mold as a push mold, but the two are close enough. You will also need to purchase a 'dried' sea horse as well. You can find these in craft stores like Hobby Lobby or in small tourist centers by coastal towns.
You will need many sea shells as well; one per ornament. I choose to leave my sea shells unpainted on the back side. I prefer to leave all of the nicks and anomalies on the shells. These seem appropraite given the context of the Chrismon. People come in all shapes and sizes and we are full of scars and mistakes on the outside. However, on the inside, Jesus puts a piece of himself, The Holy Spirit, and this is one of the two original interpretations of the pearl of great price; the pearl that Christ Himself seeks in us. The second interpretation is about the pearl we seek, The Kingdom of God, that is Jesus. Jesus transforms us through the power of the Holy Spirit and so it is appropriate then that the side of the shell with the pearl could be represented as precious or if you use the second analogy a valuable kingdom would also be represented as thus. For a chrismon, gold would be a logical choice given that all chrismons are either gold or white or a combination of the two.
Make a simple hanger with gold thread in advance of molding the sea horse so that you may press it between the clay horse and the gold cord along with a little tacky glue for added strength.
Choose gold thread that is strong but also narrow. This will not change the clean appearance of the finished ornament if you should get gold spray paint on it during the process of assembly.
Cut off the excess clay after pressing and removing the molded sea creature. Use an air-dry clay for this part of the project. Air-Dry clays such as those made by Crayola are good alternatives to Sculpey for the mass production of this Crismon. However, these should be used only when gluing the objects to sturdy items like sea shells because Crayola air-dry clay is fragile and will break in time. Sculpey is much stronger but it also costs much more and it must also be baked. When you bake Sculpey it shrinks slightly thereby making it necessary to remove it from the shell to reglue. The sea horse may then break. This is why I use two separate clays for this particular Chrismon craft. The air-dry clay will not shrink as it clings to the surface of the shell and I can also apply some glue to the back of the sea horse as I position the creature on the inside of my shell's surface. Allow a good 24 hours for the sea horse to dry. Then spray paint the entire inside suface, let it dry approximately twenty minutes and glue down the faux pearl within the curvature of the sea creature's tail.
The Parable of the Pearl (also called the Pearl of Great Price) is a parable of Jesus of Nazareth. It appears in only one of the Canonical gospels of the New Testament. According to Matthew 13:45-46 the parable illustrates the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 13:45-46: King James Version (KJV)
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
This parable is generally interpreted as illustrating the great value of the Kingdom of Heaven (pearls at that time had a greater value than they do today), and thus has a similar theme to the Parable of the Hidden Treasure. John Nolland comments that it shares the notions of "good fortune and demanding action in attaining the kingdom of heaven" with that parable, but adds the notion of "diligent seeking."
This interpretation of the parable is the inspiration for a number of hymns, including the Swedish hymn Den Kostliga Pärlan (O That Pearl of Great Price!), which begins:
O that Pearl of great price! have you found it?
Is the Savior supreme in your love?
O consider it well, ere you answer,
As you hope for a welcome above.
Have you given up all for this Treasure?
Have you counted past gains as but loss?
Has your trust in yourself and your merits
Come to naught before Christ and His cross?
An additional interpretation of the parable is that the merchant represents Christ, and the pearl represents the Church. This interpretation would give the parable a similar theme to that of the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son.
The phrase "Pearl of Great Price" has also been interpreted more
widely to apply to things of great value in a number of religious
contexts.
The pearl itself is a beautiful, single entity, formed through
suffering in the heart of the oyster (in the same way that believers
endure lack of wealth or comfort) and like the Church, will be put on
display in a coming day. Unlike precious stones which must be cut and
polished to reveal their clarity and beauty, the pearl is perfect as it
comes from the oyster.
After the much larger, elaborate wind-up machine art declined in
interest, wind-up toys were created very cheaply and in very large
numbers by the 1800s. Wind-up machines then became known as wind-up
toys, and were designed in all different forms to move around.
European toy makers created and mass produced the first tin
windup toys during the late 1880s. Over the next 60 to 70 years, more
manufacturers created ever more intricate designs. The trend stopped
with the introduction of the small and inexpensive Alkaline battery in the 1960s which allowed motors to run without a wind up mechanism. Over the next 20 years, wind up toys lost popularity.
Plastic Wind-ups started in 1977 when the Japanese company Tomy
made the classic walking Robot (Rascal Robot). Tomy's ability to build
small precision plastic gears and parts allowed them to greatly reduce
the size of the gear box (housing the spring drive).
The earliest toy trains date from the 19th century and were often made of cast iron. Motorized units running on track soon followed, powered by a steam or clockwork engine. Some of these trains used clever methods to whistle and smoke. Above, "Val Ease East" turntable and yard scene
showing a 2-6-0 "Mogul" steam locomotive being turned. A scratch-built
Russell snow plow sits on a turntable spur. Scene shot on the Val Ease
Central Railroad (VECRR) layout in Z-scale (1:220).
Toy trains were revolutionized when Märklin, a German
firm that specialized in doll house accessories, sought to create an
equivalent toy for boys where a constant revenue stream could be ensured
by selling add-on accessories for years after the initial purchase. In
addition to boxed sets containing a train and track, Märklin offered
extra track, rolling stock, and buildings sold separately, creating the
predecessor to the modern model train layout featuring buildings and
scenery in addition to an operating train. Left, A simple Märklin model. Center, Märklin model 33190.10, from set 2881; model of KPEV S10 nr. 1008, later DB 17 008; Schwartzkopff factory number 4760. Left, Märklin Mobile Vision (digital camera mounted on a locomotive.
Electric trains followed, with the first appearing in 1897, produced by the U.S. firm Carlisle & Finch.
As residential use of electricity became more common in the early 20th
century, electric trains gained popularity and as time went on, these
electric trains grew in sophistication, gaining lighting, the ability to
change direction, to emit a whistling sound, to smoke, to remotely
couple and uncouple cars and even load and unload cargo. Toy trains from
the first half of the 20th century were often made of lithographed tin similar to the A No. 42 Trolley and Trailer in the permanent collection of The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis pictured above. The trolley was made between 1904-1909. Later, Carlisle & Finch made trains were often made mostly of plastic.
Prior to the 1950s, there was little distinction between toy trains and
model railroads—model railroads were toys by definition. Pull toys and
wind-up trains were marketed towards children, while electric trains
were marketed towards teenagers, particularly teenaged boys. It was
during the 1950s that the modern emphasis on realism in model
railroading started to catch on.
Consumer interest in trains as toys waned in the late 1950s, but has
experienced resurgence since the late 1990s due in large part to the
popularity of Thomas the Tank Engine. Left, Thomas the Tank EngineThomas & Friends season 1 story: Thomas & Gordon. Center, Thomas was designed after The E2 0-6-0T. Right, Life sized Thomas the Tank Engine at Ropley station on the Watercress Line
Today, S gauge and O gauge railroads are still considered toy trains
even by their adherents and are often accessorized with semi-scale
model buildings by Plasticville or K-Line (who owns the rights to the
Plasticville-like buildings produced by Marx from the 1950s to the
1970s). Ironically, however, due to their high cost, one is more likely
to find an HO scale or N scale train set in a toy store than an O scale
set. Above, An O gauge Marx toy train set made in the late 1940s or early 1950s
Many modern electric toy trains contain sophisticated electronics that
emit digitized sound effects and allow the operator to safely and
easily run multiple remote control trains on one loop of track. In
recent years, many toy train operators will operate a train with a TV
camera in the front of the engine and hooked up to an screen, such as
computer monitor. This will show an image, similar to that of a real
(smaller size) railroad. Above, The Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg/Germany - the largest model railway in the world.
Our family visited a Christmas tree farm last weekend to cut a small tree for our home. At this farm there is a small train for children to ride up into the woods with their parents.
Inside the farm's store was a marvelous model train and display.
An elderly gentleman told me that the small village had been built with discarded lumber from an old barn nearby. A larger picture of the entire display is included forth from the top in this series of photographs.
I snapped a few photos of the buildings. This is the log cabin was nestled by the tunnel.
One of many small, Western figures in the display, a cowboy, his wagon and horse, and his Christmas tree of course!
The cowboy drives past the barber shop on the far right.
A train engineer shovels snow near the old wooden water tower.
Santa waves to the train is it leaves to deliver toys and gifts to all the visitors at the station.
The climbing boys, and sometimes girls, were technically called chimney sweeps apprentices, and were apprenticed to a master sweep, who being an adult, was too large to fit into a chimney or flue. He would be paid by the parish to teach orphans or paupers the craft. They were totally reliant on him - they or their guardians had signed Papers of Indenture, in front of a magistrate, which bound them to him until they were adults. It was the duty of the Poor Law guardians to apprentice as many children of the workhouse
in their care as possible, so as to reduce costs to the parish. The
master sweep had duties: to teach the craft and its mysteries, to
provide the apprentice with a second suit of clothes, to have him
cleaned once a week, allow him to attend church, and not send him up
chimneys that were on fire. An apprentice agreed to obey his master. Once his seven year long apprenticeship was completed he would become a journeyman
sweep, and would continue to work for a master sweep of his choice.
Other apprentices were sold on to the sweep, or sold by their parents.
Prices ranged from 7 shillings to 4 guineas.
Antique postcard of child chimney sweeps.
It was generally agreed that six was a good age to train a boy. Though Lord Shaftesbury once encountered one of the age of four, they were considered to be too weak. A master sweep would have many apprentices, they would start the morning by roaming the streets calling out "Soot -Oh, Sweep"
or another cry to let the house-owners know they were around - this
would remind the owners of the dangers of un-swept chimneys. When
engaged, the master sweep would fix a cloth over the fireplace,
and the climbing boy would take off his boots and any excess clothes,
then get behind it. The flue would be as tall as the house and twist
several times, and its dimensions would be 14in by 9in. He would pull
his cap down over his face and hold a large flat brush over his head,
and wedge his body diagonally in the flue. Using his back, elbows and knees, he would shimmy up the flue in the manner of a caterpillar
and use the brush to dislodge loose soot, which would fall over him and
down to the bottom, and a scraper to chip away the solid bits, as a
smooth chimney was a safe chimney. Having reached the top he would slide
back down at speed back to the floor and the soot pile. It was now his
job to bag up the soot and carry it back to the master sweep's cart or
yard.
Soot was valuable and could be sold for 9d a bushel in 1840.
An apprentice would do four or five chimneys a day. When they first
started they scraped their knees and elbows, so the master would harden
up their skin by standing them close to a hot fire and rubbing in strong
brine using a brush. This was done each evening until the skin
hardened.
The boys got no wages but lived with the master who fed them. They
slept together on the floor or in the cellar under the sacks and the
cloth used during the day to catch the soot. This was known as "sleeping
black"
The boy would be washed by the mistress in a tub in the yard, this may
happen as often as once a week, but rarely did. One sweep used to wash
down his boys in the Serpentine. Another Nottingham sweep insisted they washed three times a year, for Christmas, Whitsun and the Goose Fair.
Sometimes, a boy would need to be persuaded to climb faster or higher
up the chimney, and the master sweep would either light a small fire of
straw or a brimstone candle, to encourage him to try harder. Another method which also helped stop them from "going off" was to send another boy up behind him to prick pins into the soles of his feet or buttocks.
Chimneys varied in size. The common flue
was designed to be one and a half bricks long by one brick wide, though
the often narrowed to one brick square, that is 9 inches (230 mm) by 9
inches (230 mm) or less. Often the chimney would still be hot from the fire, occasionally it would actually be on fire.
Careless climbing boys could get stuck with their knees jammed against
their chins. The harder they struggled the tighter they became wedged.
They could remain in this position for many hours until they were pushed
out from below or pulled out with a rope. If their struggling caused a
fall of soot they would suffocate. Dead or alive the boy had to be
removed and this would be done by removing bricks from the side of the
chimney. If the chimney was particularly narrow the boys would be told to "buff it", that is to do it naked, otherwise they just wore trousers, and a shirt made from thick rough cotton cloth.
The Chimney Sweeper: by William Blake
When my mother died I was very young,
And my father sold me while yet my tongue
Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.
There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."
And so he was quiet, & that very night,
As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;
And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
And he opened the coffins & set them all free;
Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.
Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
He'd have God for his father & never want joy.
And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
