Tea Bag Folding Techniques

      Teabag folding is a form of origami the development of which is credited to Tiny (pronounced Teeny) van der Plas, who as a practitioner of origami developed the technique in 1992 as a paper craft art for embellishing greeting cards. It uses small square pieces of paper bearing symmetrical designs that are folded in such a way that they interlock and produce a 3 Dimensional version of the underlying design.

      Origami (meaning literally "ori" folding "kami" paper) the Japanese art of paper folding dates back to antiquity. The name Teabag folding was coined after Mrs van der Plas first set about folding the greetings cards. The wrappers were essentially square and of equal size, the two main prerequisites for producing symmetrical and pleasing imagery.

      Like many crafts or art forms the expression continues to be developed. The basic kite fold is used to produce rosettes that are a 3 dimensional version of the 2D design. There are many other folds and designs in existence and they are only limited by the imagination of the artist. Typical designs show birds, butterflies, flowers and generally imitate some of the raw beauty found in nature.

      The basic rosette design requires eight matching squares to be folded into the 'kite' design. Maths teachers find the designs very useful as a practical way of demonstrating some of the basic properties of symmetry.

• British Origami Society The UK's main origami organization.
• Origami USA The biggest origami organization in the US.

How to mosaic a bird house . . .

I purchased this prefabricated, wooden birdhouse 

from a craft store called Michael's. It is an actual

 birdhouse that may be used outdoors.

       This mosaic birdhouse can be hung outside if you would prefer. My mother kept it inside in her sunroom.

Supply List:

• Selection of mosaic tiles, glass marbles, tiny mirrors, seashells... 
• Cement grout 
• Elmer’s wood glue 
• Plastic-like gloves 
• Old damp rags or paper towels 
• Prefabricated wooden bird house 
• white acrylic paint 8. burnt umber acrylic paint 9. bucket of clean water

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Glue the tiles directly to the surface of the prefabricated wooden bird house. 
2. Let the applied tiles dry over night to ensure that the glue has hardened. 
3. Check to see if the glued tiles have stuck to the surface permanently. Some of them will, some of them may only seem temporarily attached. The application of this step is necessary to help the tiles to stay in place before grouting them primarily. 
4. Mix the grout solution according to the directions on the label. 
5. Wear gloves if the label says that it is necessary. 
6. Gingerly apply the grout directly onto the surface of the tile work. Make sure that the grout does get pushed into as many of the cracks as possible. This is a bit messy. 
7. Wash your gloves thoroughly and you may put them back on or choose to remove them all together at this point. Be cautious about this removal however, some people do have mild skin allergies to grout and will develop a rash when coming in direct contact with it when its wet. 
8. Now your going to delicately wipe down the surface of your tiles with a damp rag or paper towel. You will be throwing these towels away. 
9. If you wish to rinse and squeeze out a sponge or towels as you work, keep an old bucket full of water for this procedure. Do not wash this contaminated water down a sink! Grout will collect in pipes and harden. You will need to pour this old water down a sewer pipe outside or simply find an area of your yard where you may dispose of it. Grout won't hurt an old leaf pile or the ground where plants are not growing. 
10. You want your project to look clean on the surface of the tiles when you are finished. The cracks between the tiles should also be completely filled with grout. 
11. Leave your mosaic project out over night to harden properly. If you see remaining grout on the surface of your tiles after it has hardened, you may go over the surface of these tiles with a light weight sand paper and damp sponge again. 
12. You may wish to seal the exposed wooden areas with a tough varnish if you choose to hang your bird house outdoors.

More Crafts About Birds:

• How to draw a peacock, an ostrich and a blue jay...
• Download bird coloring pages to practice your fine motor skills

Assemble a birch bark bird feeder...

       This bird feeder is easy to make because you start with a prefabricated wooden bird feeder. I made it many years ago while camping at Arcadia. I collected the bark from a peeling birch tree in the woods and glued it to the bird feeder, simple as that! 

Supply List:

• prefabricated wooden bird feeder
• wood glue
• small stones, about 30
• large rubber bands or twine
• hot glue and hot glue gun 

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Make sure the surface of the wooden bird feeder is clean before your begin.
2.  Glue strips of birch bark to every surface area of the feeder excluding the "floor" of the feeder. 
   
3. You may need to wrap twin or rubber bands around the exterior of the feeder to help keep the bark from sliding off while the wood glue dries. 
4. After the bark is dry, hot glue the stones onto the floor of the bird feeder with a hot glue gun.

More About Birds:

• Visit our secret listing of "bird" crafts, printables, poems etc... for young crafters and their teachers here.
• Craft a bird-feeder toy for your dolls here and then learn how we made an outdoor garden bench for our dolls here.
• Learn how to make a bird with feathers too!

Paint and Design a Giant Egg With Watercolors

         This giant, bright colored Easter egg was painted using a soft camel hair brush dipped in watercolor paint. First the student used a black marker to draw her whimsical butterfly, fish and flowers. Then she painted in her picture with bright, festive colors. I have discovered that very young students produce marvelous watercolor paintings but grow apprehensive about the resulting finished product as they age. This is because the younger an art student is, the less inhibited they are about "how" their artwork looks. Their inhibitions are the unfortunate result of growing old, I'm afraid...

watercolor painted egg

Supply List:

• giant sheet of white construction paper
• watercolor set
• a soft camel hair brush among several other sizes to try
• one black permanent ink marker
• pictures of fish, birds and flowers to work from

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Cut white butcher paper or construction paper into large egg shapes. The teacher may wish to do this step in advance or not depending upon the age of the students.
2. Give the student black permanent ink markers to draw with. You may want to cover their tables with newsprint for this step and also give them aprons. Some young students get a little enthusiastic about using these markers where they shouldn't so keep an eye on the process to avoid disasters!
3. Teachers can hand pictures of what students can draw on their eggs around the room too. Things like insects, birds, symbols of Easter etc...
4. After drawing with permanent pens, collect these.
5. Now give each student a watercolor set and a small jar of water plus several kinds of paint brushes to fill in all of the white areas.

You Are God!

For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Psalm 86: 10

The Cross by John Donne

Since Christ embraced the Cross itself, dare I

His image, th’image of his Cross deny?

Would I have profit by the sacrifice,

And dare the chosen altar to despise?

It bore all other sins, but is it fit

That is should bear the sin of scorning it?

Who from the picture would avert his eye,

How would he fly his pains, who there did die?

From me, no pulpit, nor misgrounded law,

Nor scandal taken, shall this Cross withdraw,

It shall not, for it cannot; for, the loss

Of this Cross, were to me another cross;

Better were worse, for, no affliction,

No cross is so extreme, as to have none.

Who can blot out the Cross, which th’ instrument

Of God, dewed on me in the Sacrament?

Who can deny me power, and liberty

To stretch mine arms, and mine own cross to be?

Swim, and at every stroke, thou art thy cross,

The mast and yard make one, where seas to do toss.

Look down, thou spiest birds raised on crossed wings;

All the globe’s frame, and sphere’s, is nothing else

But the meridians crossing parallels.

Material crosses then, good physic be,

And yet spiritual have chief dignity.

These for extracted chemic medicine serve,

And cure much better, and as well preserve;

Then are you your own physic, or need none,

When stilled, or purged by tribulation.

For when that Cross ungrudged, unto you sticks,

Then are you to yourself, a crucifix.

As perchance, carvers do not faces make,

But that away, which hid them there, do take:

Let crosses, so, take what hid Christ in thee,

And be his image, or not his, but he.

But, as oft alchemists do coiners prove,

So may a self-despising, get self-love.

And then as worst surfeits, of best meats be,

So is pride, issued from humility,

For, ’tis no child, but monster; therefore cross

Your joy in crosses, else, ’tis double loss,

And cross thy senses, else, both they, and thou

Must perish soon, and to destruction bow.

For if the’eye seek good objects, and will take

No cross from bad, we cannot ‘scape a snake.

So with harsh, hard, sour, stinking, cross the rest,

Make them indifferent; call nothing best.

But most the eye needs crossing, that can roam,

And move; to th’ others th’ objects must come home.

And cross thy heart: for that in man alone

Points downwards, and hath palpitation.

Cross those dejections, when it downward trends,

And when it to forbidden heights pretends.

And as the brain through bony walls doth vent

By sutures, which a cross’s form present,

So when thy brain works, ere thou utter it,

Cross and correct concupiscence of wit.

Be covetous of crosses, let none fall.

Cross no man else, but cross thyself in all.

Then doth the Cross of Christ work fruitfully

Within our hearts, when we love harmlessly

That Cross’s pictures much, and with more care

That Cross’s children, which our crosses are.

The Poverty Which Maketh Many Rich

       We sometimes come across passages in the Bible with statements that are antithetical and which seem really to contradict one another. One of these is found in 2 Cor. 6, 10: “As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” “How shall we explain this?” How can such a thing be possible?” you ask. Well, let us look into the matter a little. Let us take our dear Savior as an illustration. Surely, He could be said to be poor during His state of humiliation here on earth! His first days on earth were spent in a manger, for there was not room for Him — as it seemed, on account of His poverty — in the inn. Even after having taken up His Messianic calling, this poverty pursued Him. When, for instance, the representatives of the government asked of Him the tribute-money, the common treasury of Jesus and the little group of disciples was found to be empty, so that Peter must needs be sent to procure the necessary coin through a miracle that Jesus wrought. At another instance, Jesus Himself said: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay His head.”
      Yes, He was poor, and yet, did He not make many rich? Could we have asked the hungering multitude in the wilderness after they had filled, and the twelve basketfuls had been gathered of pieces left over from five loaves and two fishes; or the frightened disciples on the Sea of Galilee, whose lives had been saved by the stilling of the tempest; the widow of Nain, whose only son, having been dead, was returned to her living; Lazarus and his sisters after the former had been called forth out of the tomb, — their answer would surely have been in the affirmative. Again, the woman taken in sin to whom Jesus said: “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more;” the malefactor on the cross receiving the forgiveness of his sins and the assurance of a place with Christ and Paradise– in short, the multitude of weary and with sin heavy-laden souls, to each of whom Jesus spoke words of hope, of peace, of joy, saying: “Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,” — could we have asked all these, they would surely have answered that Jesus had, in truth, made them “rich;” that there are no riches to be compared with those that we receive from Him, “who, though immeasurably rich, was made poor for our sakes.”

       But how shall we, who are poor, make many rich? By becoming truly “poor in spirit,” by realizing that we have, indeed, nothing in ourselves. When we have come to that point, realizing that we are poor and helpless, yea, destitute in ourselves, then the Lord can fill our hearts with “riches” that know no measure, with treasures that fade not away, “that neither moth nor rust can corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” From such a storehouse of real treasures we are then enabled, through the grace of God, to “make many rich.” Sermon by Rev. Carl J. Segerhammer.

"Treasures of Heaven" by the Oasis Chorale

God Gives Us A New Chance

Ella Higginson, under the title "When the Birds Go North Again," sings a pretty little song of hope, illustrating the goodness of God in giving to the saddest heart a new chance for blessing and achievements.

Oh, every year hath its winter,
And every year hath its rain -
But a day is always coming
When the birds go north again;

When new leaves swell in the forest,
And grass springs green on the plain,
And the alder's veins turn crimson‚-
And the birds go north again.

Oh, every heart hath its sorrow,
And every heart hath its pain -
But a day is always coming
When the birds go north again.

'Tis the sweetest thing to remember
If courage be on the wane,
When the cold, dark days are over -
Why, the birds go north again.

 

The Hope of Immortality

        Such worshipers of the new are all made by the creative genius of our era, that in order to appreciate the old you must ask your imagination to picture them as coming up before you for the first time. With what tears of joy would you hail the hope of immortality had that hope just come into the world! If dust had been the assumed end of man, what discovery of science or art would compare in sublimity with the sudden assurance of a second and blessed life? Such an expectation dwarfs all the common hopes of this world. A Prince yearly approaching a throne, a gifted mind gathering up the honors of learning or power, a citizen drawing near a fabulous fortune, are all small scenes or outlooks compared with that of a humble child steadily moving toward an endless and painless being. When you remember how you all love life and feel sad over the fact that the grave is before you, you may well be amazed at the height and depth of the doctrine of a second existence that shall be in all ways higher and sweeter than this. The slowness with which this notion came to man has hidden its vastness. Its age is a witness for its truth, but is against its grandeur as a thought. It is modified by its antiquity as mountains are made treeless and cold by intervening miles. Their verdure, and cascades, and song of birds are all toned away from the senses by their distance. They are spoken of as "gray," or "hazy," or " blue." One simple attribute thus remains out of a marvelous richness and variety. From many old doctrines has the multitude moved away until ideas are seen in some one dead color - ideas vast as God and beautiful as Paradise.

       When love once fears that it may cease, it has already ceased. It is all the same to our hearts, whether the beloved one fades away or only his love. Prof. David Swing

"Immortal, Invisible" Hymn, 

This version by Tommy Walker Ministries

At Easter

At Easter by Kate A. Bradley

I wonder if the anguished moon looked
down
Through all that long last night
And buried in her scarred breast, lean and
brown,
The memory of that sight!
I wonder of th' uneasy birds awoke
As glowed that strange, great light
Which paled the purple east where morn-
ing broke.
And sang, inspired by God's own breath,
"There is no death! There is no death!" 

There is no death, O hearts that throb in

vain

With longing, pulsing tide,

Or in love's fullness, nigh akin to pain,

Unfearing abide;

There is no death, O soul whom niggard

fate

Has left unsatisfied.

The cycles swing and joy those lips await

Who oft have sung on earth in pain,

"I rise again! I rise again!"

No sacrifice, O Self, can blot thee out,

Or satisfy the debt

Which binds thee to the usurer of doubt

With interest of regret!

Still is not life to even thee denied:

One way remaineth yet-

As was thy Christ, must thou be crucified.

But with those wounds in hands and feet,

E'en Self finds resurrection sweet!

Rejoice, O soul whose work is just begun,

That all time lies before!

Rejoice, O heart whose treasure all have

won

That dimmer, farther shore!

The stone that angels moved away that

night

Was rolled from Heaven's door;

Awake and stand forth in hope's sudden

 light,

And sing as sang the birds that morn:

"There is no death, for Life is born!"

A nostalgic cross stitch by Helen Grant

       This design by Helen Grant includes: old-fashioned children (the boy with a hoop and girl with bonnet), birds, roses, peacocks, butterfly and cat. Find more patterns by her in the links below.

• The Crisscross Kids Cross Stitch
• Learn more about needlework samplers by young girls
• A Sampler from 1927 by Helen Grant 

        The text on this needle point pattern reads:

"My portion is not large indeed, 
But then how little do I need? 
For Nature's calls are few-
In this the art of living lies:
To want no more than my suffice,
And make that little do. 
wrought by "

Man, Body, Soul and Spirit

 MAN, BODY, SOUL AND SPIRIT.
REV. F. W. ROBERTSON

       The apostle Paul divides human nature into a three-fold divisions. This language of the apostle, when rendered into English, shows no difference whatever between ''soul'' and ''spirit.'' We say for instance, that the soul of man has departed from him. We also say that the spirit of a man has departed from him. There is no distinct difference between the two; but in the original two very different kinds of thoughts, two very different modes of conception, are presented by the two English words ''soul'' and ''spirit.'' When the apostle speaks of the body, what he means is the animal life- that which we share in common with beasts, birds, and reptiles; for our life, our sensational existence, differs but little from that of the lower animals. There is the same external form, -the same material in the blood vessels, in the nerves, and in the muscular system. Nay, more than that, our appetites and instincts are alike, our lower pleasures like their lower pleasures, our lower pain like their lower pain; our life is supported by the same means, and our animal functions are almost indistinguishably the same.
       But, once more, the apostle speaks of what he calls the ''soul.'' What the apostle meant by what is translated ''soul‚'' is the immortal part of man-the immaterial as distinguished from the material; those powers, in fact, which man has by nature-powers natural, which are yet to survive the grave. There is a distinction made in Scripture by our Lord between these two things. ''Fear not,'' says He, ''them who can kill the body; but rather fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in hell.''
       We have, again, to observe, respecting this, that what the apostle called the ''soul‚'' is not simply distinguishable from the body, but also from the spirit. By the soul the apostle means our powers natural- the powers which we have by nature. Herein is the soul distinguishable from the spirit. In the Epistle to the Corinthians we read, ''But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things.'' Observe, there is a distinction drawn between the natural man and the spiritual. What is there translated ''natural‚'' is derived from precisely the same word as that which is here translated ''soul.'' So that we may read, just as correctly, ''The man under the dominion of the soul receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things.'' And again, the apostle, in the same Epistle to the Corinthians, writes: ''That is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural;'' that is, the endowments of the soul precede the endowments of the spirit. You have the same truth in other places. The powers that belong to the spirit were not the first developed; but the powers which belong to the soul, that is, the power of nature. Again, in the same chapter, reference is made to the natural and spiritual body. ''There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.'' Literally, there is a body governed by the soul, that is, powers natural; and there is a body governed by the Spirit, that is, higher nature. Let, then, this be borne in mind, that what the apostle calls ''soul'' is the same as that which he calls, in another place, the ''natural man.'' These powers are divisible into two branches-the intellectual powers and the moral sense. The intellectual powers man has by nature. Man need not be regenerated in order to possess the power of reasoning, or in order to invent. The intellectual powers belong to what the apostle calls the ''soul.'' The moral sense distinguishes between right and wrong. The apostle tells us, in the Epistle to the Romans, that the heathen-manifestly natural men-had the law ''work of the written in their hearts; their conscience also bearing witness.''
       The third division of which the apostle speaks he calls the ''spirit;'' and by the spirit he means that life in man which, in his natural state, is in such an embryo condition that it can scarcely be said to exist at all,-that which is called out into power and vitality by regeneration, the perfections of the powers of human nature. And you will observe that it is not merely the instinctive life, nor the intellectual life, nor the moral life, but it is principally our nobler affections,-that existence, that state of being, which we call love. That is the department of human nature which the apostle calls the spirit; and accordingly, when the Spirit of God was given on the day of Pentecost, you will remember that another power of man was called out, differing from what he was before. That Spirit granted on the day of Pentecost did subordinate to Himself, and was intended to subordinate to Himself, the will, the understanding, and the affection of man; but you often find these spiritual powers were distinguished from the natural powers, and existed without them. So, in the highest state of religious life, we are told, men prayed in the spirit. Till the spirit has subordinated the understanding, the gift of God is not complete‚-has not done its work. It is abundantly evident that a new life was called out. It was not merely the sharpening of the intellectual powers; it was calling out powers of aspiration and love to God; those affections which have in them something boundless,-that are not limited to this earth, but seek their completion in the mind of God Himself

"Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is" from Life.Church

The Easter Message

THE EASTER MESSAGE
BY CHARLES E. HESSELGRAVE

       Less than a century ago there were growing up in some of the cultured Christian homes of New England many children who later realized with regret that during their childhood days they had never known the symbolism or ever heard the name of Easter. Yet no more significant, spontaneous, or universally attractive festival has ever been instituted than that which celebrates the return of spring, the budding of leaves and flowers, and the triumphant hope that eternally beckons forward the human race.

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone."
Song of Solomon 2:11

       Older than Christianity and deeply rooted in the love of life itself, the spirit of Easter finds its most perfect expression in the Resurrection story of Jesus, There is, indeed, good cheer in the sight of flowers lifting their faces once more toward the sunlight, after the frosts and storms of winter have spent their force. The swelling seeds and changing tints of green give promise of the coming harvests and assure us of nature's ready response to our physical needs. The songs of the birds and the humming of the bees remind us of the rising tide of life that surrounds us and through countless channels is rushing onward with the pulse beat of recurring years. In all this stir of creative energy, this bursting of winter's fetters and the renewal of life's struggle for undisputed supremacy, we feel a kindling interest and secret joy, which carry us outside the old limitations and broaden the horizons of our purposes and hopes.

       But did the springtime come and go with no other message of inspiration, the world of mankind would grow old and weary and discouraged with its toil and disappointment, its wasting wars and ceaseless oppressions, its heroic attempts and saddening failures, and the oft recurring sight of its shining ideals cast to the earth and trampled upon by the gross feet of selfishness and indifference. Humanity knows but too well its own weakness and defects. Memory as well as science reminds us that one spring is like another, that man's life too is but a coming and a going, as the budding spring bursts into summer and comes at last to rest beneath winter's snow. But Easter adds the everlasting crown to man's hope and inspiration in the Resurrection story. Therein we pass from intimations of nature into the realm of human struggle and aspiration where the organizing forces of life surge to and fro with tragic consequence and man more often questions the worth of the final result.

       Back to the Gospel source go those whose faith in human possibilities and courage for unmeasured tasks must needs be renewed in some lifegiving stream. Not only in the buds and blossoms may we see the victory of life, but also in the story of Calvary and the Garden, where we find goodness and righteousness eternally triumphant over villainy and injustice, non-resistence over aggression, humility over pride, holiness over sin, love over hate. We are assured that though evil may hold the reins for a season, dominion and power belong ultimately to justice and right. However complete may be the temporary defeat of truth, error shall not always abide.

       Easter proclaims that man shall overcome all his foes, including death itself. His pathway may lead him through the sorrows of Gethsemane, the pain and darkness of Calvary, nevertheless his winter of distress will yet turn to the spring of delight, defeat will be forgotten in the joy of final victory, and the life of the spirit will rise in glory from the shadows of the grave.

• God's Life-Giving Waters 
• Streams of Water In The Desert 
• What gives you life?
• Stream, flood and spring

The Soul Does Not Sleep.

       I cannot agree with some people, that Paul has been sleeping in the grave, and is still there, after the storms of eighteen hundred years. I cannot believe that he who loved the Master, who had such a burning zeal for Him, has been separated from Him in an unconscious state, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou has given me." This is Christ's prayer. Moody

Decorate Your Easter Table With a Zoo!

Mrs Marchand puts the finishing touches on a porcupine. 
On the table stand a finished ostrich and deer.

      Berthe Marchand used her ingenuity. Needing something original for the Easter table—something for the children to admire—she hit on the idea of making an entire zoo of animals, using colored Easter eggs and other odd bits of material easily obtained for a few cents at any stationer’s.

      Why don’t you do the same? It just takes patience, nimble fingers, and extreme care in handling the eggs— which can be dropped only once!

More Animal Shaped Easter Eggs:

• Birds from Russia
• Easter critters by Lia Griffith
• Owl painted Easter eggs
• Octopus Easter Eggs
• Four little bird egg ideas
• Eggs painted like farm animals: cow, pig, chicken and bunny 

More Fun Egg Video:

• Screaming Eggs and Scared Eggs 

Far left, Making a porcupine. A paper-shell nut is inserted into a clay neck on an egg. Next, the peanut legs are being carefully affixed to the roughed-out figure. Head feet, and all parts of the body not covered by clay are painted. And last, after he's got his paper eyes and comb, "Porky" receives his quills.

The finished porcupine with toothpicks for quills.

Left, Mr. Penguin. Egg, peanuts, clay, felt toothpicks. Center, The giraffe
has neck and legs of red soda straws, of course. Right, The kangaroo,
above, has a yellow-painted-egg body, a cotton pouch, and peanut legs.

The swan, just above, is made of egg, cotton,
paper fringing, and colored pipe-cleaners.

Left, The ostrich--with egg body, pipe-cleaner legs and nick, ad a
ball -with-a-hole head. Right, The most fee-ro-cious lion ever made.
Walnut head and peanut feet.

The Children

Cantoria (singing gallery) by Luca della Robbia, from the Basilica
di Santa Maria del Fiore, now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo.
Photographed in 2009.

      Longfellow said, "Ah, what would the world be to us if the children were no more?" for in their hearts "are the birds and the sunshine." in their thoughts "the brooklet's flow." In Florence there stands in the museum one of the best sermons in stone the world has ever enjoyed. "Frozen music" indeed are these exquisite "Singing Children" of Della Robbia.

      Just of the Via Propose, in Florence, that city called most appropriately the Lily of the Arno," is a narrow street wherein is located the Bargello. This building is veritable casket enclosing priceless treasures: a very sermon in stone, this mass of carving, this play of light and sunshine over the old columns and courts. Standing here since before the memory of man, history tells us it was erected for the chief magistrate of Florence and was renovated in 1373.
      Pass through the court of the stairway and loggia where Dante walked. Here we come to the superb Hall of the Judges, and find that for which we seek--the "Singing Children" of Luca Della Robbia. These exquisite carvings were executed for the organ loft of the cathedral. The choristers now rest in this magnificent hall. The figures of these animated children are an interesting study, separately or in groups. The merry faces; the dancing bodies; the eager fingers holding the choir books or instruments of music; the parted lips singing praises to the Lord.

Serene in the rapturous throng,

Unmoved by the rush of the song,

With eyes unimpassioned and slow,

Among the dead angels, the deathless

(Children) stand listening breathless

To sounds that ascend from below--

From the spirits on earth that adore,

From the souls that entreat and implore

In the fervor and passion of prayer;

From the hearts that are broken with 

losses,

And weary with dragging the crosses

Too heavy for mortals to bear.

      The creator of these exquisite carvings was Luca Della Robbia, born in 1388 in Florence. The world rolls on leaving behind a wide track of history. Here in the peaceful city, the quietly flowing river, the beautiful Arno, rolls murmuringly by this treasure-house on this narrow street, this home of the "Singing Children." Within, near the blue arch of heaven, the singing and dancing and playing girls and boys lift up their silent timbrels, as they have been doing during these centuries, as if in Easter rejoicing.
      The world rolls on, up the slopes of progression, and the world of art fills with pictures of beautiful children, good to look upon. Madonnas and the Christ child, playing children and singing children, mirthful children and sorrowful children. Truly what would this world be without children!

Assembling An Easter Egg Tree From Scratch

      For many years I have assembled Easter egg trees from scratch. In part this is due to the lack of them that may be purchased. I do have an artificial Easter egg tree that you will see in a later post after I have decorated it. This year my youngest begged for a "real Easter egg tree" similar to the ones she grew up with. As you can see by clicking on the photo below, this one is made with real branches that have been manipulated with great industry. If you have access to lovely branches that need pruning, it is totally unnecessary to paper mache over the branches. Unfortunately, this year I was unable to find suitable branches for such an assembly. The branches that I used were those that I picked up off of my front lawn after a early March storm. These were fragile and uninteresting at best. So, I decided to improve them myself, thereby, demonstrating that one can have only a few options and still create a truely lovely Easter display.

      Left, are the river rocks brought to me by an Easter guest one year. These are highly unusual quartz. I have saved them for many years and I think they will indeed become a traditional inclusion in my Easter decor. Next, I have photographed an old ceramic pot that has very decorative raised designs. I love the patina on the pot and it also goes with the colors on the walls of the study area where I will be displaying my Easter egg tree. In the middle, you can see I have very little to work with in terms of nicely shaped branches and these are falling apart as well. In the following photo, I have begun to hot glue and tape my little tree. Last photograph, I completed the shape as it pleased me and also assembled the mache covered branches into my ceramic pot between the river quartz. This process took approximately three hours. I only need now to hot glue the pink silk, floral buds onto the little egg tree to complete it's final look.

      I layered onto my branches masking tape and then brown paper with tacky white glue. The finished tree structure is really quite strong. I could probably save this little tree for a few more years to use in displays if I wanted to. A few trimmings and a little hot glue are not normally worth the storage space to me. 

      Young teens could craft such a project and create even more elaborate additions. Next year I will include some more examples of egg trees for my visitors to think about crafting for themselves, but for now this classic version will suffice.

On the far left you can see the finished Easter egg tree. Center, a closer view.
 Right, a close up of the Easter figurines below.

A few things included on this egg tree are tiny white doves, Easter lilies, birds, and very light
weight Easter eggs. The pink silk flowers and rustic ceramic pot are complemented by the brick
 colored walls and concrete counter tops.

I have tied a paper cross to the very top branch.

The Easter Egg And The Easter Hare...

Bunnies should use caution when
prepping their eggs.

      The Easter egg and that ubiquitous little Easter hare that defies all the natural laws governing mammals are well known to childish fancy. What child has not discovered on Easter morning a whole basket of beautiful pasque eggs and just missed the sight of the little Easter hare that laid them? He is almost as familiar a household personage as Santa Claus. Long hours have the children watched in the woods for him, only to go home and find they have just missed his visit there, and there are those beautiful eggs he left behind, in pink, pale blue, yellow and all the colors of the rainbow, some of them parti-colored, some painted with roses and some tied with ribbons. Of late years this enterprising little animal has gone far as to leave china eggs filled with bonbons, and that he leaves them there is no more doubt than that Santa Claus comes down the chimney on Christmas Eve, and who is so disloyal as to doubt that?

      There are various ways of preparing Easter eggs that give so much delight to little ones. The most elaborately decorated eggs should be emptied and washed of their contents before they are prepared. This is the most economical as well as the most satisfactory way to do: Pierce a small hole through each end, blow out the contents, wash the shells and leave them for several days to dry. Some eggs shells may be gilded, some silvered and some painted in oils. Simple gifts such as are suitable at Easter time may be conceded under these eggs.

      Plain boiled eggs, such as are served on the Easter breakfast table, may be easily dyed with vegetable dyes, which can be procured at caterers or dealers in confectioner’s supplies. It is not in good taste to make these eggs eaten at the breakfast table especially elaborate. The elaborate eggs are those which are supposed to be found incidentally after breakfast, on Easter morning, and are for the amusement of small children. A dish of pale green, white and yellow eggs at one end of the table or robin’s egg blue and pale yellow and white at the other end gives the breakfast table a festive appearance. It is easy enough to prepare a few eggs in each of these colors to obtain this effect. It is a little difficult to get a good green in eggs. Owning to the quantity of lime in the shells all eggs do not take this natural green color as some others will, and it is better to color eggs a simply as possible than to use any powerful dyes when eating them later.

      It is possible to decorate more ornamental eggs of which the contents have been blown out. Eggs may be prepared weeks before Easter and may be hidden away until the eventful morning. These simple eggshells when decorated in natural colors using roses or forget-me-nots and each strung on a fancy ribbon will last a long time, if taken care of.

      The eggs of nearly all ordinary birds, from the gigantic ostrich, whose shell is firm enough to be set in silver, to the smallest bantam, where at one time represented in many shops at Easter time. These were decorated, to hold various kinds of candies or for ornamental purposes. You will net to be diligent to find decorative eggs like these in antique shops or vintage resale in time for Easter if you live in the United States, for it is nearly impossible to find these mouth-blown, decorated eggs for sale. When my children were young, there was a chocolate shop down the street that sold these but that was highly unusual.

How to blow out an egg from Modernmom

More Related Content:

• Dye Easter Eggs in Nature's Hues
• Egg Dying Tips
• How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally, Without a Store-Bought Kit

"The Little Lamb" tract

      The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.

      The RTS is also notable for being the publisher of the Boys' Own Paper and Girl's Own Paper.

      The founders were of the same type of evangelicals who founded the London Missionary Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society, for example David Bogue.

      The society started by publishing tracts, but rapidly expanded their work into the production of books and periodicals. Their books were mostly small but did include larger works such as the multi-volume Devotional Commentary and the massive Analytical Concordance to the Bible of Robert Young.

      From the 1860s, the Society began publishing novels aimed at women and children, providing a platform for a new generation of women writers, including Rosa Nouchette Carey. 

      In 1935 the RTS merged with the Christian Literature Society for India and Africa to form the United Society for Christian Literature (USCL). In 1931, there was a change of imprint to Lutterworth Press for all RTS publications intended for the home market.

Cover of the tract.

 The Little Lamb Showing how it wandered, how it suffered,

 and how it was saved by the Good Shepherd.

London: The Religious Tract Society

The Little Lamb.

* * * *

      A friend of children, who loves them very much, one day went to see a school of infant orphans. He had been to visit them before, and had talked with them, and they knew him again. When he came into the schoolroom, their eyes looked bright, and they were very glad that he was come once more. Then they marched in a row, and went into another room, where there was a gallery, on which they were soon seated.

      Their friend talked to them kindly. He asked them about many things. He spoke to them about the Bible, and the good and true things in it. He gave them some short rhymes and verses, of which they were very fond, and they said them after him. He then told them some little stories about children, and about good men and women, and about many things which God had made and given to us. There was one story that pleased them very much, and as other children may like it too it is put in print that they also may know what he said about it.

A young shepherd by plays of flute while watching a flock of sheep.

 

 The Little Lamb

Showing how it wandered, how it suffered, and how it was saved by the Good Shepherd.

   

      There was a Little Lamb that lived in a very beautiful green field, 

Where flowers blow, and streams flow. 

      He was under the care of a very kind Shepherd, and was kept quiet safe. The little lamb ran about among the grass and played there, glad and happy. There were many other lambs, and they were never angry, they never hurt each other; but they all lived in peace and love.

      One day the little lamb of which we speak ran away from the rest, and went to the end of the field. All round it there was a bank and a hedge, to keep the flock from going astray. The little lamb went up to the top of the bank, and looked through the hedge. Everything seemed very pretty on the other side; there were many fine plants and the  

The little lamb leaves his flock.

birds were singing in the trees, and there was a large broad path that seemed to lead to some green fields beyond.

      For many days the little lamb went to the bank, and looked through the hedge. Then he did not seem so pleased as before with his own field, 

Where flowers grow, and streams flow;

but he wanted to go on the other side, and to run in the broad path.

      After some time, he looked about along the hedge to try and find a hole through which he might creep, and then go just a little way on the other side, and soon run back again. After looking a long time he found a hole in the hedge. He put in his nose, and then his neck, and then part of his body, when a sharp thorn give him a prick on the breast that covered it with blood. He pushed it aside, and went further in, when many thorns pricked his face, and his back, and his feet, and made his eyes almost blind. He ought to have gone back, but he saw a place where the hedge seemed thinner, and he pushed towards it. It was hard work; the wool on his back was torn, and he was hurt all over; but at last he got through the hedge to the other side. He now seemed glad, and rested on the grass, and heard the birds sing, and looked 

The lamb sees a storm brewing.

round and saw what a wide country there was all around, where he could rove about from place to place.

      The little lamb then rose, and went into the broad way: he found that it led into many other paths, and he ran on into one and another, and into a great many more paths. He seemed glad for a time, but as the sun was setting he wanted to get back again to the field,

Where flowers blow, and streams flow.

So he tried to find his way back again, but the more he went from one path to another he seemed to get further and further away. He was quite lost, lost. He then lay down under a tree, for he was very tired, and oh! how he wished that he had never gone astray! Then it began to get dark. The clouds were very heavy, and the rain fell fast, and a great storm came on. The lightening began to flash, and the thunder to roar, and the limbs of the little lamb shook with fear. The tree under which he lay was struck by the lightning: 

he was only just able to run away before it came down upon the place where he had rested. Some of the branches fell on his back as he was going away, and gave him great pain.

     The little lamb now ran into a thick wood, and tried to find shelter there. The night soon came on; not a star was to be seen; all was dark, dark. The lamb was cold and wet, hungry and weak. He knew not where to go or what to do.

      In the dark night the little lamb heard the cries of wild beasts. Then a great lion roared aloud, and came nearer and nearer. He saw the little lamb and soon came near to him. Oh! how did he shake with fear! He rose and tried to run away, the lion was about to spring on him, when, lo! the little lamb fell down into a deep and narrow pit. The lion stood over the pit and roared and lashed his tail. The lamb fell to the bottom of the pit, among thorns, and mud, and creeping things. Oh! how did he suffer! His wool was torn and dirty, his body was full of pain, and the lion was

near him. There the lamb lay, and his cries became more and more faint, and he seemed ready to die.

      While the lamb was going astray, the kind Shepherd, on walking round the field, missed him. He saw the foot-marks, and found the hole in the hedge, and some of the wool left there, and knew the sad state of his little lamb. He then took his crook in one hand, and a lamp in the other, and went after the lost one. When he came into the dark wood he stopped, for he heard the faint cries of the little lamb. He then ran to the pit. The lion saw him and his lamp, and turned round an ran  away, for he was afraid of the Shepherd. The cries of the little lamb had almost died away when the Shepherd came near. By the light of his lamp he saw the lamb, and spoke kindly to him. Then with his rod and with his crook he drew the little lamb out of the dirty pit.

      The kind Shepherd then took the little lamb, and washed him quite clean, and put oil on his wounds, and bound them up, and took him up in his arms and carried him in his bosom. Oh! how happy was the little lamb now! When he heard the lion and the wild beasts roar, he clung

the closer and closer to the arm and the heart of the kind Shepherd, who bore him back to the field,

Where flowers blow, and streams flow.

      Now the little lamb no more wished to go astray. He loved to keep near the Good Shepherd, and was safe and happy in his fold.

* * * *

      When the kind friend who had thus spoke to the children had done, he and they had a great deal to say to each other. He first of all asked them "Who is like the little lamb?" Several said, "We are sir." He stopped as if he wanted some other answer, when at last a little girl added, "I am sir." He then said, "That is right, every one should feel that he or she has gone astray like the little lamb." Then he taught them, a line at a time, to say this text after him:

"All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned every one to his own way;

And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

      "Yes," said he, "Jesus Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that is, the cross. Oh! how we ought to love Him who saw us going astray, and came to seek and to save the lost."

      Then they talked about the naughty ways of the little lamb. How he wanted to get out of the field. How he would not go back when the thorns pricked him; like children, who know what is right and do what is wrong. And of the lion, and the text which says, that Satan, "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." And of the cries of the little lamb, and how the kind Shepherd was so quick to hear him, and how the true Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, is always ready to hear all who pray to Him.

Satan, "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

      Then their friend asked who was like the kind Shepherd, when many little tongues said, "Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd." "Yes," he said "you are quite right; and now say these words again after me.

"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd;

He shall gather the lambs with his arm,

And carry them in his bosom." --Isaiah 40:11

      The little orphans said these words over and over again. Then their kind friend said, "Yes, my dear children, Jesus is the Good Shepherd; and you all know how he took little children in His arms, and put His hands on them, and blessed them. And He is now ready to bless you, my dears. He is as kind now, He is in heaven as when on earth. And let us never forget that Jesus Christ said, "I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life

The Good Shepherd carries his lost little lamb.

for the sheep," John 10: 11. And He did give up His life on the cross to save us. We must believe on Him, love Him, and obey Him.

      "Now let me add, that Christ, after He had died for us and rose again, and before He went back to heaven, said unto Peter, "Feed my lambs." Oh! how kind He was! Oh! how kind He is! How we should love Him!

      "Now, my dear children. I have been trying to feed you little lambs before me, and to lead you into green pastures and beside the still waters, so I hope you will all try to think of what I have said and taught you from the Bible."

      It was past school-time, and play-time was come, but the dear little children wanted their friend to stay longer: he did so; and they had much to say to one another. As he left the room, the eyes and faces of the little ones seemed to say, "We hope, sir, you will come to see us again.   

Jesus welcomes the little children.

The 

Green Pastures.

"The Lord is my Shepherd;

I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul;

He leadeth me in the paths of righteouness for

His name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the

shadow of death.

I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me;

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me."     

The Little Lamb.

O Lord, our Shepherd, deign to keep

Thy little lambs, Thy feeble sheep,

And when our feet would go astry,

Uphold the guide us in Thy way.

Our Shepherd Jesus, kindly gave

His precious life, the flock to save:

Oh may we hear and know His voice,

Ans in His love alone rejoice.

When faint and trembling with alarms,

Oh gather us within thine arms:

Kind Shepherd, on They gracious breast

The weakest lamb may safely rest.

Lead us to pastures rich and green.

Where Thy free bounties most are seen;   

There may Thy gentle waters roll,

To cheer and save the fainting soul.

Thus blest, though we should walk the vale

Where death's deep shadows will prevail,

We shall our heavenly Shepherd see,

His rod and staff our comfort be.

Surely Thy goodness and our praise

Shall fill up all our fading days;

Then dying, gather us above

              To Thy own fold, the heaven of love.