Craft Time: Giant Chess Board

I found myself needing a giant chess board.

I am the parent advisor/teacher for my son's chess club and we like to do dress up and have a live action game now and then. Last year we used painter's tape and a permanent black marker on a white plastic table cloth. It was a one time use solution and the squares were too small (1 foot).

Then my son started helping a family friend plan a Harry Potter party, based on the Sorcerer's Stone. They needed a giant chess board for one of the scenes.

I volunteered to make one. I wanted a reusable board that would stand up to child use and provide enough room for live action players to stand comfortably. I started by searching for used sheets via my friends, freecycle, etc. It didn't work out.

I ended up at the fabric store with a small budget. I discovered some heavy "eco felt" (made from recycled stuff) marked way down from it's usual price. Bingo!

 It was 72 inches wide and I bought 4 yards of black and 4 of white. My son and I cut out 64 eighteen inch squares (32 white, 32 black).

The next part was the most daunting part for me. Honestly, sewing 60 straight seams sounded tedious. Afriend volunteerd to help. (Thanks, L!!) Things are friendlier and quicker with two, and in one evening, fueled by chocolate mint fudge, we sewed 16 strips of four squares each, alternating black and white. We used 5/8 inch seams, but any seam size will do as long as it is consistent.

 

A few days later, I pressed the seams open so they wouldn't be bulky.

Then, I sewed four sets of four strips together with right sides together, being careful of the checkerboard pattern.  I ended up with four pieces of 16 squares each. Again, I used  5/8 inch seams.

 I had considered various options for connecting the four pieces. I thought of Velcro (too likely to gather dirt), zippers (expensive and time consuming at 6 ft each) and sewing. In the end, I borrowed a solution from a blogging buddy: Duct tape: (Check out: DIY Cheap and Chic Outdoor Area Rug). This solution allows for maintaining the board in four pieces which are easier to store than one whole and the pieces can be washed at home, rather than in the commercial size washers at the Laundromat.

To use this solution:

Put right sides of two pieces together, being careful to preserve the checkerboard pattern. Pin the seams together:

 For each square, stretch duct tape from seam to seam on one side.

 Lift and press the tape down on the other side, forming a seam. Remove pins.

 

Repeat this with the other two pieces, taking care that this new side matches the checkerboard on the other side.

 

Then, pin and duct tape the two sides together, being careful to remove the pins. You then have a ready to use chessboard:

 

We look forward to using our chessboard many times. I hope this is helpful if you ever need something similar.

What crafts have you made lately?

 

First six photos by J. Parry. Final Photo by J. Brown.

 

Random Oddity

Just chalk this one up to random things that happen in homeschool settings. Or maybe it would happen in other settings, too.

We had a Valentine Dance last night. People dressed up. The lights were dim and there were battery operated candles, hearts on the walls, tables full of activities ("stack conversation hearts with chopsticks,"make a tissue paper flower) and snacks. Lights were projected on the ceiling

Girl's danced together at one end of the room. Boys swarmed all over the hall moving crazily to the music. For slow dances, mother's danced with sons or daughters, fathers danced with daughters, or siblings danced together. No kids have paired up yet.

So far normal for a family dance, yes? I think so, anyway. I haven't been to too many.

Then, two kids decided to lie down in the middle of the hall. A few more joined them. Then a few more. Soon all the kids and even some of the  Moms were stretched out on the floor in their finery. I would have joined, but for my crutches. They make it hard to get up.

I didn't really know what was going on, though. Well, I guess I did, I just didn't know why it was going on. At the end of the song, everyone got up at once. I asked my son what they had been doing. "Watching the stars on the ceiling. They move in a thirty second pattern." Oh. That makes sense. I had just never seen anything like it before. Not indoors at a dance.


How about you? Have you seen anything unusual lately?

Traveling Bug

 I have a bit of an itch to go somewhere. Now-ish.

I’d like to just get in my car, pick a direction and go. Take some clothes and snacks and music along and just drive where the road takes us, find a place to spend the night, and keep going for a few days.

We used to do that. We saw all sorts of unexpected things. It was fun. No real plans, no deadlines.

We stopped doing it after Jordan came along. At first, it didn’t seem to be a good way to vacation with a baby – sometimes you end up sleeping in the car – and then we just never got back to it.

I’ve decided I want to try it again.

Now, when is my next free weekend…………..

What’s your favorite way to travel?

I am participating in the January 2013 Ultimate Blog Challenge. 

Teaching Knitting ....not

I can knit and I can teach, but I can't teach knitting.

Multiplication, chemical equations, adverbs, and the significance of political movements I can get across. I can even instruct children in sewing. But I have never successfully gotten a child to move a stitch from one needle to the other, even when they were motivated.

I can demonstrate several different stitches -- I even presented a children's chat once in which I demonstrated knit, purl, knit together, yarn over, etc and likened the stitches to the various denominations that God will someday join together in one kingdom, represented by a completed piece. I know the vocabulary of knitting, too. Still, I can't teach anyone how to do it.

I don't why.

I also don't think I have a point here. I just needed to write a blog post today and this was what came to mind. Maybe because I recently took up knitting again.

Is there something you can do but can't teach to others?





This is my 21st post for the October Ultimate Blog Challenge. I am going for 31 posts in 31 days!

Mash Ups

Saturday, I got to try some yummy cookies that my brother's girlfriend brought to the house. Boy were they good!

They were an interesting recipe -- oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies. A mashup.

I have also seen a picture of a pie stuffed cake recently. Three types of pie each cooked into a layer of cake. Not sure what to think of that one. Might be good. Might be sickening.

This mash-up craze didn't start with food. It started somewhere in medialand -- whether with books, photos or movies, I don't know and I am not going to research it. But it seems to be permeating more and more of our culture.

I wonder what lead us into this mash up phase. Why are we combining things in this way? Are we bored with what was, but not wanting to create new things, are putting old things together in new ways?

I don't know. It's an interesting thing to observe. I wonder what part of our lives it will migrate to next.

Have a blessed day!

Paper from ...Poop

You can make paper from elephant dung.

That's just a random thing I learned yesterday. It's pretty good paper, too. I have a piece of it.

Apparently, it's good all around. Instead of killing elephants, former poachers are earning a decent living making paper. Instead of getting shot for their tusks, elephants are being fed and protected. Trees are being saved. Read more about here: Elephant Dung Paper. Pretty amazing, really.

But..how did anyone think of this. I mean really, paper from manure? Who thinks this way?

Well, somebody did and something ordinary... something disgusting in fact.... became something useful. Even beautiful.

I see the marks of  God's intervention here. After all, he can direct thought, or maybe it's just that He wired the right person's brain the right way.

When have you seen Him at work?

Wednesday Encouragements: A Solution

A few days ago I posted a rant about car keys costing $69.00 because of computer chips. I just wanted an extra key in case I got locked out again. A friend of mine made a suggestion that worked. I thought I'd pass it along.

She recommended that I ask the hardware store if they could make a key just for the door. It's only when you put the key in the ignition that the chip comes into play.

So I went to a local shop and asked. The kindly clerk wasn't sure but made a copy and sent me out to my car to try it. It worked, so he made another. I paid and went on my way.

A simple solution. Often there are such solutions to problems when we step back and take a look. God can provide a way to handle difficulties from the simplest to the most complex, if we just let Him. Sometimes it is through a friend, such as with the keys today. Other times, He leads us through our thoughts, a sermon, a song or a book. I have found it over and over again.

How about you?

How much?

I want to get a few extra keys for my car, so I went down to the local hardware store to get copies.

"We can do that for you but it will be $69.00."

Say what?

Apparently, there is a computer chip in my key. If someone tries to start the car with a different key, the cars computer crashes and the car won't start.

Ummm. Well. Personally, I think this is taking security to the level of the ridiculous. I drive an everday used get from Point A to Point B type of car. I am more likely to lose my keys than to have my car stolen. Or I might lock them in the car again, like I did the other night.

Oh, I know some people need to be more careful. High end luxury and sports cars, etc. need special protection. Perhaps everyone who lives in a high-crime area, too. But I am not in those situations and I am very frustrated!!

I wonder if this computer thing can be disabled so I can just buy normal keys?

Oh, well. Just ranting.

Have a good day!

Rambling

I have no time to blog today. I need to sew like crazy to have the dress done by tomorrow. I signed up for the Ultimate Blogging Challenge, though, so I am going to blog anyway. I don't want to get too far behind.

I get to be somebody else tomorrow. I'll be doing an historical re-enactment of Ann Hasseltine. Re-enacting is rather a geeky hobby, I suppose. I larp, too, which is even geekier, but I am proud of my nerdiness, so I am happy.


Well, that is really all I have time for.  And it's kind of a cheesy post. Maybe I'll upgrade it sometime.

Anyway, have a blessed day!!

Weird Stuff We Said Today

"Number four, reporting to be destroyed."

"How does a ghost get sick?"

"That was so three minutes ago."

"He needs serious training in geekhood."

"I thought he'd have pleny of time, being dead."


Theses are snatches from conversations held throughout the day -- and none of them in a game. There were other unusual things said, but you get the idea.

Out of context, each of these statements seem strange....maybe even horrible. Eeach one made sense at the time, though Serves to remind us to keep things in context, whether Bible verses, statements by politcal candidates or things our friends are reported to have said. After all, it's only fair.

But enough serious stuff.   What are some "weird" things said at your house today?

I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. This is post #10 of 30.

I am also hosting Wednesday Encouragements: A Christian Blogging Challenge. I challenge fellow bloggers who are also Christians to post an encouragement for their brothers and sisters in Christ each Wednesday from Easter to Pentecost. Join us!

Random Things I Learned This Week

In this information, we sometimes come upon information that is basically connected to nothing we are doing, Over the last few days I learned some random things a few of which I will share here, just for fun.

Caffeine is a pesticide.

  I had no idea. Apparently this is good for tea leaves and coffee beans. I don't know what it means for us, if anything. I have no idea if an organic pesticide could be made using that information either. But for some reason that tiny fact took me by surpise.

Passover is the origin of spring cleaning.

   Well not Passover, specifically, but the ritual removal of leaven from the home that precedes the holiday. I read about this on a fellow blogger's site. It makes sense now that I've learned of it, but I'd never made the connection before. The removal of leaven is a symbolic reminder to the Jews to remove sin from their lives. I conducted a devotion for a women's group a few years ago, in which I encouraged those present to think of Spring Cleaning as a metaphor for spiritual cleansing.

Beet Juice is a ph indicator. Add an acid and it turns blue add a base and it turns red. Pretty cool, although fairly useless unless you are looking for a science project.


There you go.  What random things have you learned lately?




I am participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge. This is post #3 of 30.

I am also hosting Wednesday Encouragements: A Christian Blogging Challenge. I challenge fellow bloggers who are also Christians to post an encouragement for their brothers and sisters in Christ each Wednesday from Easter to Pentecost.