Mandarin Mondays: 中国

Because of China's National Day (guó qìng jié, 国庆节), we're studying about China this month. Each Monday I'll be sharing a few of the facts we've learned about this fascinating country. In this last week of learning facts about China, we focused on things that represent China.

China calls itself the Middle Kingdom (zhōng guó, 中国). This name comes from the belief that develop during the Zhou Dynasty (Zhōucháo, 周朝) that China was the center of the earth or at least the center of civilization. China is still an important center of industry and world trade.

China's National Flag (guó qí, 国旗) is red with five yellow stars in the upper left hand corner. Red represents revolution, and the four yellow stars around one larger yellow star represents unity under the Party.

Their national anthem is the march of the volunteers (yì yǒng jūn jìn xíng qǔ, 义勇军进行曲). It is a musical march that was first a part of a play in Shanghai in 1934. It talks about one million hearts beating as one.

DIY Scrap Pumpkin

This pumpkin takes a little more time to sew than the sew easy or sleeve pumpkin, but it is really cute. It is also a great way to use up small scraps and the odd button or piece of ribbon you might have lying around. You could also use this process with all red fabrics and short green leaf piece like this one to make scrap apples.

Scrap Pumpkin

• Fabric scraps in fall colors
• Green and brown fabric scraps, felt, or ribbon pieces
• Needle and thread
• Somthing to stuff the pumpkin with
• Extra embellishments if desired (buttons, ribbon, lace, etc.)

1. Cut several strips of fabric the same length to sew into a tube for the body of the pumpkin. For my pumpkin I used four strips of alternating fabric that are the same length and roughly the same width as well. However, you could use more types of fabric, less strips, or vary the widths of the strips as well.
2. Cut a piece of green sleeve, a green square to sew into a tube, or a green circle to gather for the pumpkin top. Cut a brown strip of fabric, felt, or ribbon to use for the pumpkin stem.
3. Sew the strips of fabric together to form a square. I then chose to stitch some scraps of orange lace i had on. You could also stitch contrasting fabric scraps on at this point.
4. Fold the square over and stitch the long side of the square together to form a short tube.
5. Gather the bottom of the tube, and stitch closed tightly.
6. Stuff the pumpkin.
7. Gather the top of the tube, and stitch closed tightly.
8. Fold over the piece of green sleeve, and gather the unfinished end together, or gather the green circle.
9. Fold the brown strip together to look like a stem, and stitch into the green pumpkin top.
10. Whip-stich the green pumpkin top to the orange pumpkin.
11. Add any extra embellishments you like.

DIY Sew Easy Sleeve Pumpkin or Apple

Out of part of the sleeve from the orange shirt I used to sew a larger pumpkin, I made a cute little pumpkin. The way I did the green part on this pumpkin makes it look sort of like an apple though. You could use this process with red fabric to make apples just as easily.

Sew Easy Sleeve Pumpkin (or Apple)

• Orange (or red or green) sleeve, or a square of fabric sewn together to make a short tube of fabric
• Green and brown fabric scraps (or ribbon) for a leaf and stem
• Needle and thread
• Something to use for stuffing

1. Cut out the sleeve or sew a short tube of fabirc.
2. Cut short pieces of green and brown fabric or ribbon to use for a leaf and stem.
3. Gather the bottom of the tube, and stitch closed tightly.
4. Stuff the pumpkin.
5. Gather the top of the tube, but before closing tightly, insert the brown stem and green leaf. Stitch closed tightly, and stitch through the stem and leaf a couple of times to secure them.

DIY Sew Easy Pumpkin

This is a super easy fall decoration I made out of an old orange shirt and some other fabric scraps. You could use many other types of fabric as well.

Sew Easy Pumpkin

• Orange, green, and brown fabric or felt scraps
• Something to use as a circular template
• Scissors
• Needle and thread
• Something to stuff the pumpkin with

1. Cut out a large orange circle, a piece of green sleeve to fold over or a smaller green circle, and a brown strip to fold over and use as the stem of the pumpkin.
2. Sew a loose gathering stitch around the orange circle, begin to pull it tight, stuff the pumpkin, and then finish gathering it together, stitching it closed tightly.
3. Fold over the piece of green sleeve and gather the unfinished end together, or gather the smaller green circle.
4. Fold the brown strip together to look like a stem, and stitch it into the green pumpkin top.
5. Whip-stich the green pumpkin top to the orange pumpkin.

Family Fridays: Sick Boys

No pictures for this post, and you'll thank me for it. The boys caught some sort of stomach bug this week. Aaron threw up a miniscule amount twice on Monday and then has has mild diarrhea since. Andrew was fine until yesterday and then threw up all day long. It was one of those days where I went from holding sick baby, to cleaning up throw up, to wiping the toddler who still has diarrhea, to starting some laundry, and then repeating. No, this was not my most fun day ever.

However, these days have been so few and far between for me that it is making me stop and count my blessings at the same time.

• Generally, we all have been blessed with remarkably good health.
• The boys are healthy enough that a minor illness like this doesn't seem to affect them much at all in the long run.
• I'm really appreciating our all hard floors in this house right now.
• So thankful for a washing machine to wash dirty laundry.
• This week has been warm and sunny, making laundry dry fast and our water nice and hot for bathing and washing.
• We aren't moving, traveling, visiting, or required to be any where right now that would make this illness more bothersome.
• Walmart sells real Gatorade here.
• The sweet sick baby cuddles and says, "hug, mama, hug, mama."

And today I am so thankful that both boys seem to be doing better. Baby's fever broke today and no more puking. Stopped by a friend's house briefly, and she had real chocolate stuffed Oreos for the boys, and both ate some with no ill effects.

DIY Pumpkin Bars

These are great fall treats. You can make this recipe either regular or light, both are quite tasty. This is one of my husband's favorite desserts.

Homemade Pumpkin Bars

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil (or half oil and half milk for a light version)
• 15-ounce can pumpkin or 2 cups homemade pumpkin puree
• 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8-ounce (1 cup) cream cheese (homemade works great) softened
• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar (homemade works great)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Combine all ingredients for pumpkin bars in a large mixing bowl, and stir until thoroughly combined.
2. Spread into a greased jelly roll pan or a 9x13 cake pan for thicker cake-like bars.
3. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes (may vary based on thickness of bars). Allow bars to cool. Top with cream cheese frosting for a rich dessert or lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar for a lighter version.
4. For the frosting, beat powdered sugar into cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. If you desire a stiffer or sweeter frosting, continue to add powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency. Spread on top cooled bars.

DIY Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

If your already processing your own pumpkin, why not roast up the seeds for a salty snack intead of throwing them away.

Homemade Pumpkin Seeds

• raw pumpkin seeds
• about 2 Tbsp oil or melted butter
• salt for sprinkling (regular table salt, season salt, or sea salt will all work great)

1. Lightly coat the pumpkin seed with a small amount of oil or melted butter.
2. Spread them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet or baking pan.
3. Sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake at 350 F for 15-30 minutes or until nicely browned and crispy.

DIY Processed Pumpkin

If you can get a great deal on pumpkins, you can save a lot of money by processing them yourself instead of by pumpkin puree or pie pumpkin already in a can. If you do a large batch at once and freeze it, you can still have the convenience of ready to use pumpkin at a fraction of the cost. We got an interesting looking thing that Walmart here called a pumpkin. It doesn't really look much like a pumpkin, but tastes just the same as the big orange guys back in America. It works for us.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

• Pumpkin
• Water

1. Begin by cutting the pumpkin in half lengthwise.
2. Scoop out the seeds, and save them for making roasted pumpkin seeds if desired. Scoop out the stringy center, scraping the firm flesh free of strings.
3. This year I did something different that really worked well. I cut off the outer skin next, like peeling a cantaloupe. Then I cut the pumpkin into small pieces.
4. Next boil the pumpkin in a pot of water on the stove top, or bake in a shallow baking dish in the oven at 350 F. With the pumpkin already peeled and chopped small, both methods seemed to only take about 20-30 minutes for the pumpikn to cook up nice and soft.
5. After the pumpkin has cooled slightly, blend the pumpkin with a small amount of water until very smooth.
6. Use as you would pumpkin puree or freeze for later use.

Mandarin Mondays: 历史

Because of China's National Day (guó qìng jié, 国庆节), we're studying about China this month. Each Monday I'll be sharing a few of the facts we've learned about this fascinating country. This week we're learning facts about China's history (lì shǐ, 历史).

Ancient Chinese civilization grew rapidly along the Yellow River (Huánghé, 黄河). The ancient political system was based on hereditary monarchies, beginning with the Xia dynasty (Xià cháo, 夏朝) about 2000 BC, and ending with the Qing dynasty (Dà Qīng Dìguó, 大清帝国) in AD 1912.

On October 1st, 1949, the People's Republic of China was officially declared a nation and the current system of government began. This is why October 1st is celebrated as national day.

Today the People's Republic of China has the fastest growing economy. It is also the world's largest exporter of goods. Which is easily seen since you can by goods made in China just about anywhere.

DIY Scrap Wreath

This is another way to use tiny scraps of fabric to make something beautiful for your home. It is a smaller project than the fabric scrap garland, taking less time and scraps. Again, if you did a lot of seasonal sewing you could make a wreath for every season or holiday for free, if you felt like it.

Homemade Fabric Scrap Wreath

• Wire hanger bent into a round shape, florist wire coiled to make a small circle and loop to hang, or a very small/thin wreath form
• Fabric scraps cut into small strips (I think 1" by 5" to 6" works best)
• Extra embellishments (ribbon, buttons, etc.)

Simply tie the fabric strips around the wreath form you have chosen in single or double knots. Continue tying fabric strips, spacing out the colors and patterns fairly evenly, until you like how full the wreath is.  Add any extra embellishments you like, I tied a green fabric tie and sewed a button on this particular wreath. Hang it up, and enjoy your new decoration.