The Feast of Purim

 Hello dear readers,

Last week was one of the saddest in the history of Israel. We mourned the return in caskets of the remains of Shiri Bibas and her two innocent kids.  The funeral began in my town and went a long way to the burial site. Thousands of citizens with tears in their eyes stood along two sides of the road to pay homage to the victims.

But, as always, life goes on and next week we celebrate PURIM, a merry feast, especially for the kids who love masquerading.  Purim falls next week. 

After what we've gone through, our municipality, to lift our spirits, is preparing a Purim Pared with clowns.  

On my witch, Baalatova's command, I dressed up Solly who was excited to join the festivities.  Here are two options.  You are invited to let Solly know which you like best. Kitty the cat girl refused to change her beautiful dress and boldly said no to Baalatova.

The third bags rack was a hit and sold on the spot.  Since it was the order of a special friend I made a taller rack and added 4 extra bags. There are now three more orders and all three are for my friends I'll have to do 12 extra bags.  My friends will have to wait patiently. 

LET'S ALL WISH FOR A BETTER WORLD, NO MORE WARS AND PEACE .

Blessings and hugs to all my friends and readers.

we love it and look forward to it every year. This year, to raise the mood, the municipality is planning a real festival and the following photo shows one of the preparations for the parade. And you can already see the crowd of curious people around

Bags and Hats rack completed

 Hello dear readers,

The bags and hats rack is finished.  I made wicker rings as hangers, which are also good as bags handle.

Wicker rings experiments.  I'll need some for a future project which may end up as a tutorial.

It's unusually cold and dark today with random electricity power cuts. The pictures aren't clear enough because of this.

I managed to pull out one more planter from the plastic eye dropper (Please don't laugh at me) I was just curious to know what sat at the top of the bottle beneath the dropper tube and found a perfect tiny planter, I only had to glue a little paper disc to its bottom and paint it all over.

Three planters out of one little eye-drop container is not a bad achievement. The little planter is pretty cute.

Let's hope there will be no more power cuts here and nowhere else where needed, leaving me able to finish this post.

Blessings and hugs to all my dear friends and readers.

New rack for bags, hats, and more

Hello dear readers,

I've been working hard to craft a new rack for the daycare center.  There will now be 3 models, one with planters, one with cakes and sweets, and the one I'm still working on which will be filled with crocheted goods.  People at the center buy them as gifts for their grandchildren. I hope it will sell as well as the two others but I need help with the crochet work and wish some ladies would be able to collaborate.  

I'm still working on how to hang the bags on this rack.  Hopefully, the problem will be solved by my next post.  Meanwhile, I made new easels for Adi's beautiful paintings. 

 

Until a few days ago we enjoyed a very mild winter but all at once we are going through a very cold and rainy term.   My apartment is warm and cozy, otherwise I wouldn't be able to work or type. Good thing I completed the crochet work. The daycare center too is heated and warm.  There are a lot of people, especially elderly ones, with flu and pneumonia.  It's good I was vaccinated against these diseases in time.

I wish all my dear readers good health and a warm and cozy home.

Hugs!

Cakes and sweets

 Hello dear readers,

Let the new year be a better one than the year before! War and enmities still prevail here, but life must go on.

I'm filling new racks with cakes, cookies, and candies to sweeten the situation  The picture below shows the first model. My friends at the senior day center love the model and from now on we will start working with both sweets and plant racks.

A young girl, who serves a term in doing national service instead of military service at our senior day care center. The girl's name is Adi, the same as my granddaughter's.  Adi was supposed to help me paint the racks. I discovered that she is a very talented painter so now she paints little paintings on egg-carton pieces and I make easels for them from coffee stirrers.  (I'd love to see Monet and Van Gogh's reactions)

The Hanukka bazaar at the center was a great success.  A large quantity of knitted items of clothing,  bags, rugs, and toys were sold.  For the first time, our plants' wooden racks and easels were displayed. They were all sold out.

As usual, I try to make an impact at work on the importance of recycling.  Lovely things can be made from everything around the house..  The sales help the Center purchase materials for giving work and purpose for life to the 200 permanent senior visitors.

Hugs and blessings to you all.

2024 Christmas gifts

Dear friends and readers,

My dear friend, Birgit from Germany, sent me wonderful and generous gifts that miraculously arrived before Hanukka and Christmas.

And who is right on the spot to watch me open the parcel?  (sorry for the bad photos)

 

Solly:

Wow! A beautiful 2025 calendar with my famous siblings having a good time amidst gorgeous flowers and tree branches in Birgit's lovely garden.  It will stand on the P/C desk for Drora and me to see daily.

I notice and it's good to know, there are many new members in BiWuBar

I'm looking at one gift, specially sent to Drora and myself, a glass bear with a wishing star.  We shall wish for the end of the war in Israel and everywhere else, for the captives to return safely to their families and homes,  for justice and honesty among leaders, an end to racism, and for a lot more tolerance and patience between people of all nations.

Kitty:

Wow! This is a lovely cat by Janny from Artofmini! Baalatova will allow me to play with her; after all, I'm a member of the cat's clan.

Baalatova:

Yes, Kitty but first you have to give her a name and then we must decide to paint her over and make her more beautiful/

Thank you so much dearest Birgit for these generous, thoughtful gifts and your never-ending kindness.

I am lucky to be your friend.  (big hugs)

Happy New Year 2025!

Hugs and Blessings

Hugs and blessin

MACETAS - PLANTERS

Hola queridos lectores,

Una vez más estoy aquí, participando en el Calendario de Adviento 2024 organizado por Matxalen. Muchas gracias querida Matxalen por invitarme nuevament. 

Mi aportación es un tutorial paso a paso de 2 macetas.

Hello dear readers,

Once more, I am taking part in Matxalen's 2024 Advent Calendar. Thank you very much, Matxalen, for inviting me again. 

My contribution is a step-by-step 2 planters tutorial. 

Se trata de un sencillo tutorial de reciclaje con materiales fáciles de conseguir. La cadena de crochet se puede sustituir por otras tiras decorativas. Además, es más fácil cortar el plástico con un cutter caliente.

It's a simple, recycling tutorial using easy-to-find materials.  The crochet chain can be replaced with other decorative trimmings. Also, it is easier to cut the plastic with a heated cutter. 

,

 

Herramientas y materiales

Tools and materials

1.   Una pequeña botella de plástico médica (como se muestra en la foto)

2.   Hilo de crochet o de bordar y aguja de crochet.

3.   Pegamento fuerte y pegajoso o pistola de pegamento.

4.   Botones o pequeños discos de madera. 

5.   Cortador. 

6.   Lijadora o papel de lija

7.   Una tira de cartulina. (utilicé cartón de huevos) 10 cm de largo por 1,5 cm de ancho.

8.   Pintura acrílica

1. One small medical plastic bottle. (see photo)

2.  Crochet or embroidery thread and crochet hook.

3.  Strong tacky glue or glue-gun

4. buttons or small wooden disks.

5. Cutter.

6. Sander or sandpaper

7.  A strip of cardstock (I used egg carton) 10 by 1.5 cm.

8.  Acrylic paint

   

a) 1. Corta con cuidado la parte superior de la botella como se muestra en la foto.

    2. Envuelve y pega la tira de cartulina en la parte inferior de la botella.

    3. Corta por el borde superior de la tira.

    4. Lija las partes superior e inferior de la botella tanto como de la tapa.

(No tires la parte envuelta ni el gotero, se pueden hacer más miniaturas con ellos.)

a)    1.  Carefully cut the top of the bottle as shown in the photo.

       2.  Wrap and glue the strip of cardstock to the bottom of the bottle.

       3.  Cut along the upper edge of the strip.

       4.  Sand the upper and bottom parts of the bottle and cover.

(Do not throw away the wrapped part or the dropper.  More miniatures can be made with them.)

Montaje

 Assembly 

b)  1. Teje dos cadenas lo suficientemente largas para rodear la botella y la parte superior de la tapa.

     2. Pega las cadenas alrededor de las copas grandes abiertas.

     3. Pega un botón pequeño a uno más grande. (haz otro juego para la tapa.)

     4. Pega las copas a los botones

b)  1.  Crochet two chains long enough to go around the bottle and the cover upper part.

     2.  Glue the chains around the large open cups.

     3.  Glue one small button to a larger one.  (make another set for the cover.)

     4.  Glue the cups to the buttons.

 

Listo para pintar. Se necesitan aproximadamente 3 capas de pintura acrílica para cubrirlo.

Ready for paint.  It takes about 3 layers of acrylic paint to cover it.  

 

Listo para plantar.  Las macetas están rellenas de plastilina marrón flexible.

Ready for planting.  The planters are filled with pliable brown Plasteline.

Les deseo a todos una Feliz Navidad. Feliz Hanukka y un Feliz, Próspero y Pacífico Año Nuevo 2025

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, and a Happy, Prosperous, and Peaceful New Year 2025!

THE 2024 SPANISH ADVENT CALENDAR

 Hello dear readers,

After a very long, restless time of war and worry, I'm looking forward to a ceasefire, I'll hopefully begin to post again, starting on the 5th of December with a tutorial.

I hope you'll enjoy all 24 tutorials organized by Matxalen, and contributed by experienced bloggers

Blessings and hugs!