Orphanage part #1

I went to the orphanage again today to drop off items I had and that I had collected from others. I drove in the gate and the guard was much friendlier this time. My friend Dilek and I got out of the van and gave our IDs and then unloaded the van and left.

I have been on a slow search to find this orphanage that I knew was in our town somewhere. Finally my friend and I went together and she helped me find it one day about a 2 weeks ago.  The place is large and the areas we saw were clean and the whole place smelled fresh.  There was a nice park in the garden area and the people I did see were dressed nice and seemed to each have a purpose and position. We were able to talk to one of the managers, not quite sure her title.  There are 100 children in the orphanage. The children attend public schools for their education and the largest group they have right now is 17 year old girls. We were not offered a tour and didn't press it, however did ask how we could help. I really want to get my foot in the door here. I want to see the living conditions of the children. I want to see the children interact and see where I can possibly use whatever giftings God has given me to reach out and be a hand of love. Praying for an open door.

~

11 years ago I visited Turkey and we visited an orphanage while we were in country. I want to share my story ~ it is heartrending and one that I will never forget.  However it is just past 11:00 pm and it is my bedtime and it is an emotional draining story for me especially when I am already tired, so I will try and finish tomorrow...until then, goodnight.

"Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." James 1:27


In my west corner,
Becky

I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

Our Thanksgiving ideas, crafts and SHOW

Our Turkey Veggie Tray! (or is it a Dog ??)

We had a few Turkish friends over during the Thanksgiving dinner, we asked one of them what he thought this was.  He thought for a bit and then said a DOG! Ha ha ~ I laughed pretty hard because of course all the Americans said a Turkey because they knew that is what it is suppose to be. So really what does this veggie try look like?(lol)

If you remember our little tp tube pumpkins, they became our napkin and name tag holders!!! This was a great way to reuse our craft for the Thanksgiving table. :)

In order to teach my kids about Thanksgiving and the history  I decided to do a few crafts to help as aids. It helps me to tell the story, I am not the best teacher but I can do much better when I have a craft to point to. So here is what we did..

Thanksgiving Crafts 

Pilgrim paper bonnets and pilgrim paper hat.

Water bottle boats to represent the Mayflower.

Our fun corn craft. Popcorn corn of plenty.

This is a PERFECT craft for little boys. My little guy doesn't love crafts so much right now but he loves to EAT and sooooo this worked out perfect, half in the mouth half on the craft.

Cardboard tube pilgrims and Indians.

We used one long thin tube and turned it into the pilgrims and Indians.

My oldest daughter came to me a day before we celebrated Thanksgiving and asked if she could do a show. She incorporated all the crafts we had made and came up with a show all on her own, that she preformed at our friends house on Thanksgiving day. We were really proud of her. It was fun for her to be excited about her own cultures history and watch her talents come out.

She used the corn to show a great harvest had finally come to the Pilgrims. 

Here she is at the beginning of her little 'show'.

Off I go to start thinking and planning for her 8 year old Birthday and Birthday cake that is in 3 days. ~ 

In our west corner of Turkey having enjoyed a weekend of our American traditions.

Becky

My tea cup of love ~

This little tea cup is mine, giving to me by my hero (husband), it has a lid for the top to keep my tea hot and has a sweet story of romantic love attached to it.  I am thankful for my tea cup and that my husband knows me well. It also came in the sweetest little tin. 

 I like to fill it with green tea these days. :) 

~ Thanksgiving in the little things breeds thanksgiving for life. 

Becky

I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

Thanksgiving Mail opened!

Thanksgiving morning (or rather Friday morning when we celebrated our Thanksgiving) the kids ran to get our Thanksgiving Mailbox, it was mail time!

Over breakfast of homemade scones and tea/coffee, everyone received an envelope with notes inside from each of us about the things in that person we were grateful for.  The  two older girls LOVED it and just shined when they read or we read to them all the encouraging notes. 

 We also read all the things we had written over the two weeks that we were grateful for. The kids enjoyed it more than I thought and it was a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving morning.

With a heart full of gratitude. 

In our west corner enjoying our mail,

Becky

I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

Cardboard love Part #2- mini CARDBOARD WREATHS by my kiddos

Our mini cardboard wreaths made from yarn, fabric and felt come and see...

Mini yarn and felt flowers wreaths

my girls did these all by themselves they took a bit of diligence but the end result was worth it!!

Here is a great tutorial for making felt flowers that my kids did with ease. 

Click on the link

How to make simple felt flowers

What we did and used:

 *(thick) Cardboard for the mini wreath cut and prepared

*yarn  (I cut peices that were not to long so the girls could easily bring them back and forth)

*Felt and scissors to make the flowers

*Glue gun to glue on the flowers

*Ribbon for them to hang

These are their little wreath ornaments that they want to hand on the tree. :)

Oh and I decided to try my hand at it too...I used some of my fabric scraps and this is what I came up with.  

A sweet little scrap fabric wreath. I actually would like to make another one and pick some fun fall colors, wouldn't that be fun. Maybe next year. :) 

I just tied the scrap fabric around the cardboard 

pushed them tightly together 

and then trimmed the fabric when I was all done. 

 Looks more like spring then fall. :)

Fall is leaving us, as we begin to leave the chillness of autumn and enter the cold of winter.  I found a string of colored leaves the other day that made me so very happy. I love how Thanksgiving helps us to enter into the fun Holiday season of Christmas and helps me say goodbye to a fleeting Aututmn. :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, especially our dear family back in the States. We miss you and love you.

Wanting to practice a heart of gratitude and joy no matter the season or day...
In our west corner celebrating the Gods provision, care and closeness.  
Becky
ps. i am excited to open our Thanksgiving mailbox tomorrow..:) 


I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

Sewing an ugly quilt

My cardboard love series will start next week mainly because I have been sewing like crazy lately and if I am on a roll I better not stop.  I am trying to learn how to sew proficiently. The struggle for me is that I am not the best at details and reading directions really is a challenge for me.  I like to SEE pics or SEE others demonstrating it. I think I would do great at a sewing class.  I could take one here but they are such a time commitment every week day for for 3 hours for about 4 to 6 months. (crazy) So I am slowly making progress on my own...

I have had this VERY flowery 100% cotton fabric (impossible to find cotton in my town).  The State flowers fabric series...someone gave to me. So I cut it up in squares and I recently starting patch-working it together. The top part is finished and now I am working on tying it instead of quilting because I think it is too ugly to spend that kind of time on it.  So I will show you a picture of the finished product soon. It is very basic but hey basic is where I am at. I think I will make it into a picnic quilt.

Also because I have my machine out I decided to try and upscale or up-cycle my wardrobe.  I am excited to show you the results of that too.  I have put together a full outfit that I never would have worn together before the remake.  A pregnancy dress and a sweater turned into something ~ simple and trendy, but most importantly me!  Here are the before pics, I have no idea if I will have the guts to model the outfit we shall see. :)

I have finished the sweater so off I go to finish up the dress. Until next time...
In my west corner,
Becky

Thanksgiving Mailbox ~a guest post at Thrive

My sweet blogging friend Nike from Choose to Thrive asked me to share a Thanksgiving craft or idea ... so what do you think I used??

Cardboard and tp tubes! Come and take a look at our made from magazine envelopes and cardboard mailbox. This will be the beginning of my Cardboard love Series. Come on over and see some cardboard love. Click HERE for a fun out of the box Thanksgiving idea. ;)

UPDATE: Here is us on Thanksgiving day opening our mail!

Mail Opened

Choose to Thrive

I would say that Nike's blog is by far one of my favorite blogs, she is truly ingenious and makes the most beautiful things without spending a dime. She has a way of making you laugh with her fun posts and her ideas always make me eager to see her next post. Also she has six kids and has great ideas on how to save money as a family. She is determined to thrive and make the most out of life despite good or bad circumstances.  Please take a minute to browse her blog she has featured me twice and I so appreciate her true interest in me and my crazy fun life over here. Here are a few of my favorites on her blog. She doesn't know I am featuring a few of her projects but I so want to return the love.: :)

Wheat Wreath...
she went gleaning for this wheat. :)

From knee highs to girls tights! 

This is such a fun post!

 Knock off wall pockets  

made from diaper boxes. 

Also welcome to all you Thrive guests visiting. So happy to have you. :)

Keep your eyes open over the next week or two I as I post a lots of ideas for uses with cardboard. I am really looking forward to this new series. 

From my west corner ~ Becky

Our town in color. Enjoying what we have.

Ok dear ladies here I am again showing off my life and the colors of it. 

My town is fairly small and not to close to much and so there are days where it can feel dreary, so I am dedicating this post to "my colorful little town" ~ . The past 4 days have been a religious holiday here everything was closed for a few days and our kids had a 5 day weekend so our family went out yesterday and hit the town to try and find something new to do. Today, Wednesday is the last day of Kurban Bayram.

This is what we found to enjoy:

Each other! 

A sunny fall day. 

Horse drawn carriage (mind you it is an ugly work horse but still a carriage).

Homemade crocheted items displayed that celebrate Turkish creativity and style.

Sweet delights like: feeding the birds or finding a small pet store.

Balloons, that my kids seemed to be mesmerized by at every corner. 

Isn't this crocheted baby blanket beautiful?

I also love the scarf my daughter is modeling!

This is a picture of our downtown before the crowds hit. Turkey is typically a late night culture and so anything before noon on weekends or Holidays is out of the question. :) 

Our horse drawn carriage ride was full of laughter, cars almost re-ending us, 

a slippery seat that kids kept falling off of and an ultimate success experience! 

It is easy to allow discontentment to creep into my heart and thoughts. This post is for me because I am grateful and I want to say it and see it, even if I am struggling feeling it, I know it will help cultivate sweet joy in my heart. This post is about me enjoying where I am and what I have. I want to stop wanting more than I have and enjoy thoroughly what is around me, to notice the small pleasures that are there to eyes full of contentment. Often my attitude dictates what my eyes see. ~

Today what do you see? :)

"Truly my soul silently waits for God; from Him comes my salvation. My soul wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him." Ps. 62:1,5

I hope you have enjoyed a few moments into our (my) world. Until next time...

In my colorful west corner, 

Becky

I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

A little tp pumpkin ~ Free in your toilet paper bag

Yes, once again my obvious 'use what you have' theme

seems to lead me to the bathroom. ;) 

Toilet paper tubes the free gift for crafters inside every toilet paper pack. :)  

I don't have much paint left these days but we had orange

 and so for fall this is what we came up with. 

My oldest duaghters nick name is 'Pumpkin' so it is fitting that she had the most fun with this project and she basically put together the 'pumpkin patch center piece'.

I will be saving these little pumpkins for Thanksgiving place cards I think. :) 

The pumpkin or tp tube could have said:

Mom is that you?

So are we distance cousins?

But your so short and stumpy?

I am sure I could go on... I will stop though.

*What would you of said?

Cardboard love posts: In the next few bits (that is my non committal way) I will be posting a series called Cardboard Love series.  I have a series of 5 to 6 projects where cardboard was the king and proved to help me create some fun toys, learning aids and crafts.  I really look forward to sharing these with you. I would love to do a linky party for just cardboard projects during this series of posts but truth is that probably will NOT happen. :) We shall see. So be looking for some Cardboard love.





~From my West corner in Turkey,
Becky



Moments of reflection: Contentment is a practice that daily I must choose.  Joy is a practice that comes from a heart of gratitude in the little and the lot.  I love you dear heavenly Father for your kindness and wisdom that keeps me away from self-pity, discontentment and bitterness. Contentment and joy are beautiful jewels that I want to wear around my neck.

I HAVE LEARNED THE SECRET OF BEING CONTENT IN ANY AND EVERY SITUATION, WHETHER WELL FED OR HUNGRY, WHETHER LIVING IN PLENTY OR IN WANT. I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH." PHIL. 4:12,13

 linking up: Sew happy Geek,Skip to my Lou, Making the world cuter, Round Tuit, Keeping it simple,
Sew can do, Delicate Construction,Homemaker on a dime,life made lovely, The Southern Institute,The gunny sack

Playing with food again ~ Saturday sillys

We are olive lovers here.  Black and green both, pits or no pits. 

Turkey is known for its olives and olive oil. My kids can eat handfuls of olives. :) 

So even though peanut butter sandwiches don't seem to go with olives...they do in this little west corner.  

Enjoy your weekend and play with your food. Go on go play with your food (or your kids food anyway) :)

Car sandwich on the go.

*Peanut butter sandwich for the car body

*Olives for the wheels

*Cucumbers for the road and exhaust smoke. 

Sunflower love Sandwich
Little extra tidbit:
(There happens to be a Sunflower field fairly close to our apartment and in the spring it is simply gorgeous.)

*Peanut butter sandwich for center of sunflower

*Maderins for petals

*Cucumber for stem

*Olives for leaves

Today is a holiday here. (Kurban Bayram) 

So to all of my dear Turkish friends ~ Bayramiz Kutlu Olsun.
I am looking forward to Thanksgiving more now as I watch my Turkish friends prepare for their Holiday.

In our little west corner,

Becky

Upcycling clothes into doll clothes.

Here is the post I did from over from at 
Creating your way to Success 2 weeks ago. 
It was featured on Craft Gossip and One Pretty Thing! How fun.

Hi,
On this fun Friday I want to share how my girls and I put together a few outfits for their dolls by simply upcycling/recycling some unwanted clothing.

A Sock hoody, Pant leg jean skirts, a Sleeve sweater 
and a Sock dress. 

I made these two yellow haired dolls some time ago for the girls. The third doll is a muslin ready made doll my daughter put together. They were scantly clad for way too long. So my girls and I went to work. I have put together a picture tutorial for each piece of doll clothing. They are very simple and take little time to create.

Sleeve Sweater

1. Find an old sweater.

2. Cut off sleeve according to the length of dolls waist

3. Take the doll's arm and measure from what is left of the sweater sleeve.

4. Cut a piece of sweater that is long enough and wide enough for a sleeve. Do this twice for two sleeves.

5. Sew newly cut sleeves closed - into a cylinder shape. Set aside.

6. For sweater bodice, take the piece cut off from the sleeve in step #2 and cut small holes in each side for the arms. 

7. Now take the sleeves you made and insert them into the arm holes of the bodice.

8. Turn sweater inside out, then take the sleeve that is poking through the arm holes and turn it towards the sweater. Sew the small piece of  sleeve around the hole that you made for the arms, so that the sleeve is now attached to the inside of the sweater. Do other arm the same.
9. Turn sweater right side out and tada ~ a doll sweater.

Sock Sweater Hoody

This sock hoody is very simple:

1. Find sock.

2. Cut holes for arms and head.

3. Cut the head and neck hole larger.

4. Cut the sock to fit to dolls waist.

Pant Leg Jean Skirt

1. Find old pair of jeans (these were mine)

2. Cut off pant leg to the length of skirt you want. (These jean skirts could easily fit an 18" doll)

3. Turn inside out and fold down material.

4. Sew around pant leg and leave an opening then  run elastic through opening with a saftey pin.

4. Tie or sew elastic in place. Sew up opening.

5. Turn right side out.

Here are our models: 

Melek (Angel) and Sari (Yellow)

 Want to make your own rag doll? 

Here is the link I found to a pdf for the pattern to one of the rag dolls above. Click here. 

Here are a few more examples 

of our recycled/upcycled doll clothes.

I hope all of you reading have enjoyed these fun doll outfits and maybe just maybe some of you now have a few new ideas for those miss-matched socks of yours that are hanging out in your laundry baskets looking for a home.

My blog is a place where I record my creativity/art and highlight lots of kids crafts, simple sewing, my reflection of culture, faith and being a mom to my 3 kiddos in a country that is not my own. I am honored to have you come over and visit my corner of the blogoshere. Here are a few links of my posts to show you a bit of who I am, because my blog is just that, me. :)
Masking Tape Town
3 Tiered Skirt
Home but always a Stranger

From my little corner of the world to yours,
Becky

Linking up to these parties: Fingerprints on the Fridge, Creation Corner,Stay at Home Moms of Etsy,
Joyful Stamper,Finding Fabulous, Delicate Construction