Blue Knights craft idea: Fear of God

Here's a craft idea excerpt from the Blue Knights Craft Companion for Year 1 by Karina Fabian:

Spear of the Fear of God

Dowel Spear * S

Fear the Lord, you holy ones; nothing is lacking those who fear Him.--Ps 34:10


Preparation Time: None

Craft Time: 20 minutes

Materials:
Per boy: One 1/2” or ¾”dowel, about 5’ long or shorter for shorter boys
Paint or markers
Aluminum foil
Sandpaper (optional)

Tools:
Scissors
Pocket knives
Paint brushes

Preparation: None

Craft: Boys will sharpen one end of their spear into a dull point. They may want to sand it down to smooth the tip. Decorate by covering with foil or painting or using markers to make designs.

Simplify: None

Embellish: Use this in combination with targets for a game. Place the targets on the ground outside and the kids can have a throwing contest.

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For more great Blue Knights craft ideas for all nine virtues of Year 1, check out the Craft Companion on our website! http://www.eccehomopress.com/

Scabbard from a Sock

Need a fast scabbard? A lost sock will do the trick!

My son Liam has discovered the Star Wars series. (At last, our geek genes are showing true!) Like Count Grievous, he's collected for himself a rather large collection of light sabers, and one day, he wanted to take them all to a friend's house. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough scabbards to hang them off his belt. We do have plenty of orphan socks, however.

Two minutes, an orphan sock and some scissor work later, he'd made himself this handy scabbard. I thought I'd share his genius with you:


Find a volunteer sock. Smaller ones are better, especially since they stretch.


Cut an inch or two off the top. Discard the rest or use as dusting rags. (My favorite use for the unmatched.) (Liam also likes to do this to make wrist guards.)


Cut about 3/4 of the way through.


If the hole is too big for the saber or sword, you can tie a half-knot to make it smaller.


Thread the belt through and voila! A universal sword scabbard.


Here's Liam modeling the scabbard and wristband.

If you want to read more about our adventures with orphan socks, check out www.fabianspace.blogspot.com.

Cardboard Box Bird Feeder

Spring is in the air! In Minot, North Dakota, that means that the temperature is above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and folks are putting away the winter jackets and putting on the shorts.
It's also time for birds to return. Here's a nifty little bird feeder my son Alex (9) put together.

One thing I love about Alex is that if I leave him alone long enough, he'll grab some spare stuff, make up a project and put it together himself. He did this one to fulfill a boy scout requirement.

Get a thick cardboard box--Capri Sun boxes work very well.
Cut a door about 3 inches tall by 4 inches wide in the top for putting the food in. (Alex gave it a bend to make it easier to open.
Cut a slot about three inches from the bottom. Slot should be 2 inches tall by 3 inches wide.
Put two eyelets into the area below the slot, about half an inch in from the sides. Feed a dowel through the eyelets.

Intro: Karina Fabian

Hello! Joan was kind enough to invite me to join this blog. As most you of probably know, I wrote the Little Flowers and Blue Knights Craft books. I did this mainly as a fun project to share with my kids, and the illustrations you see in the books are done by them. (My seven-year-old likes to brag to his friends at school that he's a famous model on the cover of a book!)

What you may not know is that this was a an enjoyable sideline in my writing career. For many years, I wrote articles on parenting and pregnancy and in 2003, made the decision to devote my efforts to fiction. Currently, I have a Catholic anthology of science fiction out. Infinite Space, Infinite God won the 2007 EPPIE for best sci-fi and has garnered great reviews in magazines like St. Anthony Messenger and SFRevu. I've had many people comment on the thought-provoking nature of the stories and one homeschooling mom say that she thinks it’s a must for Catholic teens to read because of the issues presented. I'm working on a study guide for it now and should have it up in April. Check it out at www.isigsf.com.

Also on the SF-side, I have Leaps of Faith, an anthology of Christian sci-fi, and the contract for Infinite Space, Infinite God II. (Are you w writer? We're looking for stories. Find guidelines at www.isigsf.com/guidelines.) In addition, I'm working on novels and stories about my order of nuns who perform search and rescue operations in space. I have several Rescue Sisters stories in our anthologies and a novel in the works. (No contract yet, alas.)

On the fantasy side, I have a lot of fun with my noir-style dragon detective, Vern of DragonEye, PI. He's a down-and-out professional problem solver on the wrong side of the Interdimensiaonal Gap working off a geas by St. George by serving God and His creatures through the Faerie Catholic Church. With his partner, Sister Grace, he solves crimes, find missing objects, saves the world...whatever pays. Check out his website at www.dragoneyepi.net.

Finally, I'm involved in several writing groups, most especially the Catholic Writers Guild, where I am president. I also present workshops at online conferences. In fact, I'll blog next week about the Catholic Writers Conference Online. In the meantime, if you're interested, check out www.conference.catholicwritersguild.org.

I'm toying with the idea of a trivia game for Little Flowers. Right now, Joan and I are trying to figure out the art and the board. More as things develop!

If you'd like to know more about me or my work, or want to contact me, go to www.fabianspace.com.

Blessings,
Karina Fabian