The latest project

After fixing up Miles's old bike, cleaning out the garage (we really should take some pics of that. It looks great), and making violin teaching helps, Miles and I were ready for some more projects. We really reallly like making things together, especially when there are tools involved. I had an idea (ok, yes, 500 ideas) I wanted to try off of pinterest, which is the ultimate crafty idea-sharing website, and Miles and I made it together. Only of course we made some improvements! We can't just be COPYCATS!!! Here, so far, is our finished product, hanging on the wall in the kitchen.

...and if they really work, then we do want to make another set to hang above. How fun!

These are some of those great canning jars, not full of meat OR applesauce anymore, and filled with dirt and rocks in preparation for the little seeds that we planted in egg cartons. The improvement we made was to drill holes in the glass. Yep. I can't speak for Miles here, but I know I definitely felt like a scientist or something, because I never knew you could DO that. Turns out the key is to keep water over the holes you are drilling to catch any dust and keep things cool, and use diamond bits, because they are hard. We used Miles's dremel kit, and it worked GREAT. This way our plants can have drainage, and we added a little layer of rocks at the bottom to keep the soil from leaking out. Then we just attached the bottles with hose clamps to some wood we pulled off a pallet we scavenged from our alleyway, and hung it on our wall. This is what we hope they will look like pretty soon here--------->

You know that church basketball...

Yep. This is, of course, an injury story, as are most stories with the words "church basketball" or "MTC basketball" involved. Don't worry, though, everyone's ACLs are still intact!
Miles and I went to our first church basketball game this Saturday, and it was a lot of fun. I got to sit on the sidelines and watch, trying (not very successfully) to curb my instincts to yell and cheer the whole time. Miles only got to play for a little of the first game...he said he "wasn't in the line up," so I guess they've been practicing their moves. During the second game I got distracted talking to the other wives behind me, and when I looked up I saw Miles walking up and down the sidelines with a limp. Turns out he rolled his ankle going to block a pass or something, and by the time the game was over his ankle was all swollen around his shoe. Luckily they were pretty tight, so it kept the swelling down on the lower part of his foot.
We didn't have an ACE bandage, so we headed to WalMart. I figured I'd just run in and leave him in the car. Not Miles.
I dropped him off at the front of the store and then parked and came in looking for him. I couldn't find him anywhere, and I started thinking that maybe someone saw how bad his limp was and kidnapped him or something. Oh no! I decided to look through the store before having them page him or something, and found him happily cruising up the aisles.

I'm not sure if the sound is working on that video or not. I took it on my phone, and I can't figure out how to turn it so it's the right way yet. Sorry! If you know how to do that, let me know, and I'll change it to be the right way.

The happiest camper in WalMart!

Anyway, we iced it*, raised it, ACE bandaged it, and by Sunday it was feeling better, until Miles stood up and put some pressure on it, and it started hurting a LOT. He stayed home and kept it wrapped and elevated, and I went off to church solo for the first time since we got married. Luckily, after church our home teacher brought over some crutches, so Miles has been swinging all over the house, and off to work today (after staying off it all day things were feeling a ton better this morning).

*A couple days ago I noticed a recipe online for a DIY ice pack. I call that a blessing! Here it is:
One part rubbing alchohol
Three parts water
Freeze it a couple hours and you're good to go! The alchohol makes it so that it doesn't freeze completely, but is moldable to the shape of whatever you're icing. Just make sure you have some fabric between the ice pack and the skin, or you may freeze!

No cardboard involved! well, maybe a little...

 Now. I said I'd write more about the other thing I'd been up to soooo....

With a LOT of Miles's help and both of our good ideas all put together, we've made what I consider masterpieces, which you'll see in a sec! Or now, since the page is pretty big. Oh well, less suspense.

The story behind this post is that I'm working on building my violin studio and needed some little practice violins for young beginners. I teach them to hold them correctly and use their bow, and THEN we begin to use the instrument, so they develop good technique before we start strumming/bowing away like crazy. :) Anyway, I had used a cardboard box "violin," like this, 

but I didn't love it--violins are NOT shaped like boxes! There are two options I've found online that a lot of teachers use-- the "foam-a-lin", and the "cherub box violin". Both of them have their plusses and minuses, but 10+ bucks for a cardboard violin!? I figured with Miles's and my mad skills combined, we could make something just as good for a lot cheaper, and make it look a little more like the real thing. 

After a quick trip to Lowe's and one to JoAnn, we were ready. Our front room became a construction zone, which lasted until I taught on Friday, when it moved to the bedroom until we got everything put together. The violins were pretty straightforward; cut, paint, seal, but the bows...here is where Miles's genius came out. I just knew that I wanted to use 3/8 inch wooden dowels and put a wooden frog (the little square part on the end of a bow) on them, and I thought maybe we could just drill out a half circle from each little rectangle frog piece. I guess I figured I'd just hold it real tight with one hand, and drill with the other? Luckily, Miles knows his tools better, and we ended up drilling a couple frogs at once, clamped between some other wood so that it was secure. (thanks for the clamps, Mom and Dad Nielson!) We had a 3/8 inch bit, so drilling straight through was the only tricky part, but once we got that down we were cruising!

Stage one. Bows are glued, and violins cut out. :) I toyed with the
idea of covering them in cardboard, but decided to paint them instead. 

And here is the finished product. TA-DAAAA! Well, except the dot on the frog.

Next to my full size violin. Since I'll be using these in my JumpStart class,
I looked up the measurements of smaller violins and made a scale model
(I put mine halfway between 1/10 and 1/16 size, violin-ers out there :))

 Anyway, there you go! I should also probably mention that while we were painting, cutting, and gluing we succeeded in watching the entire series of David Attenborough's BBC "Life of Birds" videos on pbs.org. . . yes, we are nerds, but I now am chock full of fun facts about birds all over the world (p.s. you really should look up the lyrebird. Just do it!), AND have a set of little practice violins and bows to use with my younger students. :)

Happy Groundhog's daaaaay!

 That's about all I have for this one, because I think I'll save the other news of what I've been up to for the next posting, which will hopefully follow soon after this one. This week has been a monumental one, though: I MADE HOMEMADE BREAD FOR THE FIRST TIME. The level of domestic-ness in this little apartment is drastically increasing...maybe the next time you come we will have curtains and a tablecloth. And here it is!

Granted, they aren't the prettiest little loaves in the world, but they are just about the tastiest, and I made them from scratch. And the verdict is, you don't really need bread flour. I went all daring and used all-purpose instead of the bread flour it called for, and this bread is GREAT.

 That, however, has nothing to do with the real reason for the post, which is to wish you a happy Groundhog's Day! No one ever knows what day this is, because it's one of those unfortunate un-celebrated holidays, but I happened to look at our calendar yesterday and saw that it's today!
I figured that any holiday is worth making treats, and so now I'm waiting impatiently for Miles to come home from work so I can surprise him with these:

haha! best way ever to use the last of the chocolate chips!