How to Cover/Line a {rectangular} Basket!

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So we all know that those lovely covered baskets are expensive!  I set out to make one of my own--you can buy many baskets for a much cheaper price, and the one in this tutorial is from the Dollar Tree!

You will end up cutting two pieces of fabric; I used the same colour for both layers.  If you chose a patterned fabric, be careful that the pattern ends up on the outside!  Also, make sure you iron out all of the kinks before measuring and cutting.

Start by figuring out all of the dimensions of your basket (see how I figured this out in the photo to at the top-right). You need to know:

• the measurements for the bottom length and width
• the measurements for the top length and width
• the height of the basket
• the measurement from the top edge around the bottom to the top edge on the opposite side for both the long (let's call this y) and the short sides (and this x) - see the picture up to the right
• the amount of overlap you want over the top of the basket (we'll call this z)

Cut your fabric into a rectangle that measures [x + 1/2" seam allowance + 2z] by [y + 1/2" seams + 2z] - cut the pieces at the same tine to keep them the same size.  Make sure they are pinned together really well!

The corners will need to be cut out; I basically cut out the coloured-in sections of my diagram.  Measure where the bottom section of the basket should line up.  Around the edges and z + 1/4" in, mark the top-of-the-basket measurements. (I wanted about 1/2" overhang, so I measured in 3/4")

I coloured the sections I cut off on the fabric too (this helps me too!) and, also, drew the seam allowance for the corners.  Now cut the corners out (below on left), pin the sides together to make the box corners (below on right), and sew up the corners (I used a straight stitch)... 

[if you wanted your liner to fit more snug around the edges, this would be the time to add elastic-cut it about 2" shorter than the parameter of the top of your basket and stretch it along as you sew]

 

Put the two "boxes" together inside out (above) and sew around the top leaving about 2/3 of one of the shorter sides open to turn it right-side-out.  Iron around the corners and top seam and straight stitch around the top to close the gap and give it a nice finished look.

Put it in the basket, turn down the top, and Viola! You just lined your basket!

What to do at camp...?

Everything we do at camp we try to have revolve around music.  Sometimes it can be difficult!!

For Games: we have changed Red Light Green Light to Largo Presto - as the week goes on and kids learn more tempo markings, we add those in.  Duck Duck Goose/Grey Duck will probably become Bach Bach Beethoven.  But we can't play only these games everyday!!

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Crafts are easier for ideas, but harder because of the age spread!  At least one day of crafts will be devoted to props for each groups presentation.  Another day will be for the camp bandana or t-shirt (we haven't decided yet!).  The first day will be Paint the Music--we play a piece, have the kids listen with their eyes closed and then paint the shapes and colours, etc. they see.

And all of this has to fit our budget (although we have some leftover from last year)--so hopefully we'll find out soon if we have enough campers to start buying supplies!


If you are interested in camp (if you're in the Rochester area) visit our Facebook page or the Bethel CYF site.

Many of our plans that we got from the internets are on my Camp Board on Pintrest

Camp Again?...YES!

This year we are not able to run a full-day camp like last year, so we had originally decided to skip this year.  

However, SO many kids and parents were asking if it was happening again that we've settled for the half days! (We've been volunteering at VBS at our church - where most of our campers came from - and they asked us when they saw us.  Not to mention all of the emails we've been receiving from curious parents!)

The theme we've chosen is Music From Around the World--and we have a few ideas!  One is to put together a scenes from different musicals and movies that represent different parts of the world.  Some possibilities include: My Fair Lady, The King & I, Mary Poppins, The Lion King, Aladdin, musicals based on mythological & Biblical stories, and Mulan.

Hopefully we can get this together as well as last year with such a short time to plan - 7 weeks!! eek! - volunteers are always one of the most difficult things to get and a lot of them from last year are off at college now!

As we get more info up, it will be posted to our Facebook page and the Bethel Lutheran site (specific menu to follow).  If you have any questions, you can either leave them on our Facebook page or email us at bethelmusiccamp@gmail.com.  EDIT: visit our Bethel Lutheran Church CYF site!

We're super excited! :)

Explaining Ageing

 Warning: this is one of those sciencey things I warned you about a few months ago (the first strangely!)

 This is just WAY cool in my opinion - since learning about DNA and its purposes in high school biology, I have wondered how it is related to people growing older.  The DNA is the same right?  Wrong! :O  Scientists have been comparing the DNA of babies to the DNA of the lucky that live to 100+.  And guess what?!?  There are differences!  Not in what DNA codes for but the methylation.

 There is this thing called epigenetics that looks at how your DNA is different on the outside (e.g. methylation) and not what it codes for.  This external modification changes the expression of genes in your cells!  Methylation is the addition of a methyl group (-CH3) to the sugar backbone of the DNA.  External DNA modification changes how DNA is stored and how easily proteins that read and copy it can access it.  It has been discovered that as you age, you lose 7% of the methylation (starting at 80% of sites down to 73%) which leads to altered expression.  There are many things that can effect the amount of DNA that is methylated (or externally modified), some of which can come from your grandparents and could be related to when they may have experienced famine! (google it! I dare you - it's pretty cool, and PBS|Nova has a special about Epigenetics that is good)

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics

If you are so scientifically inclined, here is the article about the recent discovery: Epigenomic Differences between Newborns and Centenarians Provide New Insights into Ageing