Physical Science, Module 3, The Atmosphere

•What we did 2010
•Videos for this module


In learning about the atmosphere, I wanted to do a few more things about air this time as well as the experiments we did in 2010.  This post is only about the new ones.  =)
Air presses on us from all sides.  We don't feel it, but it is there.  That is why if you take a large, thin board and wave it in the air, you feel resistance.

Flatten an Index Card
I had the kids fold an index card in half and flex it a few times, then place it on the table so that it made a low "tent."  They could blow under it to make the tent flatten.
This was because blowing some air molecules from under the index card temporarily allowed the air above the card to have more pressure than the air under the card.

Rising Paper
I also had them place a short strip of paper on their chin and blow, causing air molecules above the strip to be temporarily displaced, making the strip of paper to rise.  This is also like air blowing over the wing of a plane.

Straw Fountain
The boys loved this one!
And as you may have guessed by now, this is because of pushing air molecules out of the way, allowing the air pressure that is pushing down on the water in the cup to be temporarily greater than the air pressure pushing down at the top of the straw.
(We taped the inside straws in place before adding water.)







Rebellious Paper Wad (p. 14)
This works if you tell the kids to blow HARD! =D




We also did the can crusher experiment from the 2nd edition, but we're using the first edition and had no directions except for things I found online, so maybe that was why this one didn't work like it was intended?
No crushing.

But... the can did suck up the icy water.
How?
Since the molecules in the can were hot, they were more spread out.
When we inverted the can into icy water, this cooled the molecules in the can, causing them to take up less space.  Since they took up less space, it drew the water up into the can.

LOL, the hot stove eye looks PINK!  How funny.


►Video of how it is supposed to work.
(You'll see my name under a comment, but my comment was apparently deleted... In case you're wondering what my name is doing there!)

►Find more air pressure experiments here.


sMiLeS,

To Build a Kingdom...

Why am I here???  What is my purpose?  What does/will God want me to do?

I've heard the song "To Count for Jesus" many times before, but several times this past week I've heard it again, and the phrase "to build a kingdom" has really jumped out at me!
That's what we're supposed to be doing.
But what are we doing???



Or listen here.  (music starts around 1:00)

♪ ♫ To Count For Jesus 

All want their lives to count for something;

To leave their mark when life is through.

But vain pursuits will count for nothing:

Time will erase what ‘ere we do.

I want my life to count for Jesus,

For earthly things will quickly fade.

No need to add to worldly riches;

I only seek eternal gain.

Inside my heart there burned a question,

What was I placed on earth here for?

It truly was to build a kingdom;

Not of my own but of the Lord’s.

I want my life to count for Jesus,

For earthly things will quickly fade.

No need to add to worldly riches;
I only seek eternal gain.

Matthew 6: 19-21
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."


I've been reading in Ezra and Nehemiah about God's people who were carried away captive to Babylon and later returned to Jerusalem.  Under much opposition and accusations, they re-built the temple.  And then began re-building the walls and gates of Jerusalem.  Again, more opposition!
One thing that spoke to me was when the men were building the walls, knowing there were enemies trying to stop them, that "one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon."  (Nehemiah 4:17)
Sometimes we are so busy trying to keep the enemy out, that we aren't really doing God's work.
We dress right outwardly, talk right, don't watch ungodly movies, go to the right places, help in activities, and as far as anyone knows, we are generally good people.

But do we tell others about Jesus?
We are here to build a kingdom for Him!

Mark 16:15
"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

At a revival service last night, "To Count for Jesus" was one of the songs sung.  There was a lot of testifying, and one man said, "Why wait for somebody else to do it when God can use you?"

I have three more years homeschooling my children.  I may not know where I will be after that, or exactly what God wants me to do then, but one thing I know -- He wants me to win souls, now and always.

Apologia Physical Science, Module 2 - Air

•What we did 2010
•Videos for this module

Air takes up space!  I mean, it really does!
Just look at these pics of kids trying to blow up a balloon inside a 2-liter bottle.
Since the opening of the bottle is sealed with the balloon, and the bottle is full of air, there is no room for the balloon to expand.

But Look!  What is this???
Why can JohnDavid blow up his balloon???





We all had a good laugh over that one!  =)



In Experiment 2.2, Oxygen and Fire, I also added Carbon Dioxide.  I wanted them to remember that oxygen feeds fire, and that the heavier carbon dioxide displaces the oxygen-containing air around the candle, suffocating the fire.
(Here is a neat way to pour CO2 onto a lit candle and extinguish it!  With a bit more explanation about displacing oxygen.)

Hydrogen peroxide and yeast produce oxygen.
Vinegar and baking soda produce carbon dioxide.

But first, an overflow!  Woopsie! =D



Okay, here we go...
CO2 in the yellow balloon; oxygen in the white balloon.



They always have fun when we make a mess!

sMiLeS,

I Have a Goodly Heritage ♪♫

Chick-fil-A, after a revival service.
(my girls are the ones in the purple and green sweaters)




sMiLeS,

I have prepared with all my might...

King David had wanted to build the LORD a temple, but God chose David's son Solomon to build it.

I Chronicles 28
2. "Then David the king stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren, and my people: As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made ready for the building:
3. "But God said unto me, Thou shalt not build an house for my name, because thou hast been a man of war, and hast shed blood."
5. "...he hath chosen Solomon."

How many times do we feel slighted if we are passed over and someone else is chosen?
Do we sit down and pout and say, "Well then, I just won't do anything."
David didn't sit down and give up.  He got busy preparing for the work of the temple!  Even though he himself wouldn't be able to do the work, he wanted to do what he could.

I Chronicles 29
2.  "Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance."

I love that phrase, "I have prepared with all my might..."  
Do we do that?  Even though we're not able to be in the limelight, or get to do a job we like, do we do the background work with all our might?
Maybe we need to do a job we even dislike, but if it is for the Lord, do we do our best?  Or are we half-hearted because we feel we should be chosen to do something more "important."  Do you presume any work of the Lord unimportant?

What was the result of David's preparation and his willingness to also give his own offering?

I Chronicles 29:9
"Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy."

The next time you're cleaning toilets at the church, or staying behind to do cleanup after everyone else has left, and maybe no one even notices, just remember that you should be doing it for the Lord.  If you're disgruntled because no one notices, you're doing it for man's approval; for self-gratification.
What you do in the background may not seem important, but it isn't done for man; it is for the Lord.

I Chronicles 29:1
"... the work is great; for the palace is not for man, but for the LORD God."

sMiLeS,


P.S.  Homeschool moms, and stay-at-home-moms, there was once a time when I felt so useless.  I felt like a candle burning at both ends.  My Mom told me that I was a candle.  And I was being used.  And I should be letting my light shine in my little area for my kids, because I was doing a work with them in preparing them.
You never know what your kids can become if you just let His light shine through you!

But... a confession... I didn't do that.  I was the disgruntled person.  My husband took my kids to multiple youth meetings and various revivals for years, and they eventually began reading their Bibles on their own.  They began to want to go to other church meetings.  So much so, that I never kept a calendar for I knew they'd remind us when a meeting was coming up.
I didn't always go with them, and that almost became a costly mistake.  I noticed that only one of my children always wanted to go; the other two varied, and sometimes wanted to stay home with me.  One more than the others.  I got worried and decided I'd better go with my family as much as I could, even though I like being at home.  But I began to love going as well!  The Lord has something in every sermon for me, and sometimes I'm sure it's not what the preacher intended, but I get something I need!
He does always know what we need, doesn't He?  =)

Colossians 3:23
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. 

I Corinthians 10:31
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Apologia Physical Science, Module 1, The Basics

•What we did 2010
•Videos for this module

This is my second time around with Physical Science!  And I think I like it the best.  (But I also said that about Biology, and some modules of General Science, haha.)

Exp. 1.1, Atoms and Molecules
A 9V battery and copper wire in water w/ baking soda... bubbles coming from the ends of the wires...
Copper atoms were able to link together with oxygen atoms, hydrogen atoms, and carbon atoms to form molecules of copper hydroxycarbonate on the end of one of the wires.

Basically atoms and elements are the same thing. 

But an atom is just the smallest amount of an element.

Read this ice cream analogy.

We talked about how atoms link together to make molecules, and how formulas for molecules were written to indicate how many of each atom actually made up a particular molecule.  H2O means that there are 2 atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen in a molecule of water.
I had written out several chemical formulas and assigned colors to each element (atom).  The kids used Legos to "build" the molecules.  They used a variety of ways to put them together, haha, but I only cared that they knew how to read a chemical formula, and that individual atoms were what made up a molecule.

From left to right:  JohnDavid (my son), Caleb (my nephew), Bethany (my daughter
and JohnDavid's twin), Sarah (who is new this year!), and Courtney her sister.  =)

As you can see by the grins in these pics, my son keeps us laughing.  =)

We also did Exp. 1.3, Concentration, with the Tums and vinegar, and we did some conversions between units using the factor/label method.  It was pretty simple once they got the hang of it.  And they could watch the videos at home for review (in section 4).


sMiLeS,

Update on the Dead Body!

Read the first post if you haven't already.


Update:
Upon posting about this on facebook and getting feedback and (hindsight) advice from my friends, we have determined that there WAS a dead body, and the "surveyors" had to keep up their deception so we wouldn't suspect anything.
And the police were here to set up a sting, but when the surveyors got here, my son and I walked out and ruined it.
But a couple of weeks later, the surveyors came back!  We figured they thought the coast was clear!  We hid inside and pretended no one was home.  We purposely didn't look out the windows so that we wouldn't be witnesses.
Since it has been 3 more weeks, and they haven't been back, we've concluded they're not coming back because they did indeed do away with the body.
Whew!  So relieved.  I could not stand being the Witness Protection Program!  I like the name Marty, and no way I could give up homeschooling and blogging.
They'd find us in no time!

P.S.  Should I delete the facebook post?  hee hee! =D


sMiLeS,

"Anonymous" Strikes Again!

Strange people.  This cracks me up so much!!!  =D
Leaving comments like this:

" MK2227 can easily chronograph should be a rectangle shaped example absolutely 36mm tall moreover 10mm deep completed in some older plated metal obtaining wine pigmented dial based times quartz routine. The type of get pleasure from speaks of grace even so also can nice looking overall given that it's Or even more sub-dials towards two or more, 5 but six o-clock, luminous kiddy hands, each dark fabric little keep tabs on and moreover uncommon strengthen numbers. The afternoon has been revealed at only Nine 50. An important spring window clear protects a person's face. An individual associated with the specialist products in regards to this get stands out as a purses brushed buckskin bracelet your contraptions occasions everywhere in the arm offering up the application a bit of a ring face. Some sort of sub-dial over at Eight o-clock highlights"

This comment was on a recipe! (Easy Sticky Breakfast Buns)
Sounds like it was written using Mad Libs, hahaha! (Play here)

I read this in my inbox and said, "Seriously???  Again???"
Oh, My, Word!  This made me laugh so much.  I get strange stuff like this all the time and delete it/mark as Spam.  I get that English may not be a first language for some people, but most of these comments can't even begin to "fit" the post they've commented on!
I almost published the original commentor for the ridiculousness of it, but there were web links, so I didn't.

And of course it was Anonymous.
And always on the most current/top post on the blog.


Dying laughing over here,

Orange Sticky Buns and Cinnamon Sticky Buns

My girls were in a wedding recently...

Mine are the 2 on the left, then my niece, and a best friend.  =)

sMiLeS,

COMPLETE or FINISHED? (Which do you want to be?)

No English dictionary has been able to explain the difference between the two words "complete" and "finished" in a way that is easy to understand.
Some people say there is no difference between COMPLETE and FINISHED, but there is:
When you marry the right one, you are COMPLETE.
And when you marry the wrong one, you are FINISHED.

This is so hilarious, right?  =)
Most jokes that we can actually relate to are hilarious, and sometimes sad but true, or funny but true, etc.

My oldest daughter taught at a girls' camp recently, and one thing she said was to work toward being the right one and not just looking for the right one.
The other person out there is looking for the right one too, and if you're not being that person, you may miss out.
And you grow into it too (or out of it!), so you can't wait until the last minute!  Because you may one day find that right person... but by then you may not be the kind of man/woman they are looking for.  =(

You will only ever be COMPLETE with Jesus.
If you're not reading your Bible, start with one chapter a day in Proverbs.  Today is the 21st, so you can read Proverbs 21.  The Bible is a mirror to examine ourselves.  Gradually you will begin to see areas you need to change.  If you really get close to HIM, it will be easier to change them.
After reading through Proverbs multiple times, I'm still finding things to help me each day!  =)

sMiLeS,

A Dead Body! (lol)

Earlier this morning, the dog starts barking and we look outside to see 2 police cars parked up here at the top of our driveway... parked like they were talking to one another.
Now our driveway is ¼ mile away from the road, and no one ever comes up here.  And I’m wondering if they just needed to talk, they could have parked out at the end of the driveway.  So I'm getting on my shoes to go innocently ask, “Is there anything I can help you with?” when they drive off.
Okay...  so I still know nothing about that.
...........
Then about an hour ago, one of the kids says, "Mama, someone is outside digging!"
And my mind thinks, "a dead body!"  (lol)
So I look outside, and sure enough, there's a man digging next to the driveway.  On the side away from the house, next to the woods.
Then as I'm getting my shoes on, one of the girls tells me another man came out of the woods, and that both men have machetes!  So I tell my six-foot son JohnDavid to get his shoes on  too, because I'm making sure he goes with me.  And I take my cell phone.
Turns out they were surveyors, and some land next to ours is being sold.  They were digging and hacking in the edge of the woods on the opposite side of our driveway, looking for the pin that marked the corners of the two tracts of land that are adjacent to ours.  And of course they needed machetes.  No other way one could get through some parts of these woods!
Turns out my MIL and FIL know the man whose land it is, and I'm sure my hubby does too.
Anyway, I told the men about the "dead body," and they laughed.  =)
Still don't know why the police were here, though...  I should stay alert, hmmm?  =D


sMiLeS,



►Read update here.

Oh, Sleep... How do I love thee?

sMiLeS,

Apologia General Science, Module 15, The Human Lymphatic, Endocrine, and Urinary Systems

►Videos, etc. for M15

The kids did not find this module all that appealing.
I had no interesting games. =(
It was nearing the end of the year, and they all had spring fever.
It was about body systems that, frankly, few teenagers think about.

Some teenagers don't even know what a lymphatic system or an endocrine system is.  They knew about the urinary system, but didn't really care to absorb into their minds the vast knowledge I had to convey.  (lol, about as vast as a pea, haha)


Kidney System
As usual, I went straight to an experiment to try to get them interested, and then previewed other parts of the chapter.  (I usually do things out of order anyway, haha)
You may know that your kidneys are filters.  They clean blood and blood plasma.
But they only clean out chemicals that are not dangerous yet!  They aren't dangerous until they reach certain levels.  So their levels in the blood need to be monitored and maintained.

We did Experiment 15.2, A Model of Kidney Function
Very simple: tea bag, coffee filter, boiling water, you get the idea.

Boiled water poured over loose tea grains (no longer in the tea bag) 

Using a coffee filter in a funnel to strain out the tea grains

The first thing kidneys do to blood is filter out any large chemicals.

Folded paper towel, more filtering.

The water and tea ALL will go through the paper towel, but not all will end up in the glass.

Nephrons filter the water and chemicals in water out of the blood.  Then they put some of 

the water and chemicals back into the blood, and the rest will be sent out the ureter as urine.

Learning the path of blood and urine, etc. is a little complicated, so we spent some time discussing it and learning the terminology.  They listen pretty good since they know there will be questions later... and chocolate!
Not really a game, but they paid attention so they could get chocolatey goodness.  =)



Lymphatic System
In contrast to the kidneys (which clean blood and blood plasma), the lymph nodes clean... lymph!
You have probably had swollen lymph nodes before, but what is lymph?
(That's what the kids said.)

There is a clear fluid that is in between the body's cells, that leaks in and out of capillaries and in and out of cells, carrying out the exchange of oxygen and CO2 between the cells and the blood.
This fluid needs to be cleaned before it can return to the blood, and the lymphatic system does this.
This fluid is called interstitial fluid, but while in the network called the lymphatic system, it is called lymph.
The cleaning sites along the lymphatic system are called lymph nodes.
(See image)

I won't go into it here since you can read about it in your textbook or google it to learn more, but a lymph node has quite a job.



Endocrine System
I'm sure you've heard of hormones.  But what do they do?
Hormones send chemicals to cells, causing them to change their behavior in a specific way.
There are several kinds of endocrine glands.  (see image)
The hypothalamus has several jobs, including controlling the pituitary gland.  The pituitary gland is only the size of a pea, but controls other glands, and is often called the "master endocrine gland."
There is also the thyroid gland which affects the basal metabolic rate.
Adrenal glands, through a complicated series of one thing causing another to happen, are responsible for the production of adrenaline.
The pancreas is a digestive gland and an endocrine gland, and makes insulin.


These body systems are all rather complicated, and I don't know of one that isn't!
I can't imagine how someone can believe in evolution.  We NEED all these body processes to work correctly, and if they don't work correctly at birth, there are immediate problems.
How can someone say we evolved to be how we are today?
We wouldn't even live long enough to bear offspring!
I'm glad I know Who the Creator is!  =)


sMiLeS,

Apologia General Science, Module 14, The Human Respiratory and Circulatory Systems

►Videos and Resources for M14

Breathe!  Just breathe.
Isn't that wonderful?
Without conscious thought (except now you're probably thinking about it), we breathe and exchange carbon dioxide for fresh oxygen every moment of every day for our entire life.
How many breaths do you think you could have in a lifetime?
WikiAnswers says it could be 672,768,000!!!
Time how many breaths you take in one minute and figure it out!

We did this experiment to see how many cups of air our lungs can hold.
Experiment 14.2, The Capacity of Your Lungs

Abigail blowing ALL the air out, and her brother Caleb holding the jug still

Each one had their own length of aquarium tubing (about 2 feet each), and we filled up one jug while another was being blown into.  This helped speed things up a bit.
They filled the sink halfway with water, and filled the jug all the way up and put on the lid, then removed it once the jug was upside down in the water.  Keeping the opening down in the water, and the tubing just inside the jug (needed extra hands for all this, so usually another student held the jug still), they blew and blew and blew to see how much could be blown out with one long breath.
There are 16 cups in a gallon, so we measured what water was left and subtracted from 16.
Caleb and Abigail were able to blow all the air out of the jug, and JohnDavid was able to blow just a bit longer!
Courtney and Bethany blew almost all of it out (within 1/3-1/2 a cup), but Rebekah had a cold and only blew out about 12 cups of air.

Purple lungs!

Experiment 14.3, A Model of Your Lungs
I also made a model of lungs for them to observe.
Which didn't take very long, haha.
(Observe sounds better than look at, lol.  And yep, I do know that isn't even correct grammar.  But around here, we'd never say, "at which to look."  Could you imagine?)  =D
It looks pitiful, but it worked okay, lol.
I blew up the balloon to get it stretched, then when they pulled on the baggie (diaphragm), giving more room for the lungs, the balloon (lungs) inflated.
When you relax your diaphragm, it pushes air out of the lungs.
Yes, relax.
When you breathe out, the diaphragm is relaxed.
When you breathe in and hold it, you will feel more that you are holding a muscle in place.


In our lungs are bronchial tubes that branch and end in tiny sacs called alveoli. (see image, source)
These alveoli are covered with capillaries, like spider webs all along the surface.  These capillaries are the ends of branched out arteries.  They have branched many times, and now have such thin walls that they allow the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
They also allow nutrients to get into your system!  Did you ever wonder how the nutrients from food get to the parts of the body where needed?  They travel in the blood!
These capillaries cover the aveoli so that when you breathe in, the red blood cells in the capillaries that cover the aveoli collect the oxygen to carry to all the other cells in the body.  Oxygenated blood flows in arteries away from the heart to all parts of the body.
If blood flows away from the heart, it is traveling in an artery.

As blood cells distribute oxygen to all your cells, they also pick up carbon dioxide that is a waste product.  The blood is now DEoxygenated, and will travel back to the heart and lungs.  When blood flows toward the heart, it is traveling in a vein.
As the blood cells travel past the aveoli, they drop off carbon dioxide, which is then breathed out, and pick up fresh oxygen that has just been breathed in.  This is a constant process as a constant stream of red blood cells travel through the capillaries on the aveoli.  The capillaries are so thin, the blood cells travel through them in single file.

Blood carries gases (oxygen and carbon dioxide), nutrients, and wastes to the parts of the body where they need to go.  But the oxygen and carbon dioxide must be carried by a blood cell.

Kids like games, so after my preview lecture of Module 14, discussions, and lung experiments, we played this until class was over.
(Links to game and instructions, as well as the printable seen in the pic can be found at the Video link at the top of this post.)

Rather than using a spinner to move the playing pieces, I asked questions from the lesson.  If they got it right, their team went 20 spaces.  (I knew this was going to take a long time!)  If they needed a tiny hint, they went 15 spaces.  More of a hint, 10 spaces.  Teammates weren't allowed to give hints, only me.
I gave hints because (1) this was new material, and (2) I wanted them to think a little more, rather than just telling the correct answer because they didn't know it.
They knew questions would be repeated so they paid pretty good attention!
There were red blood cells for the oxygen and carbon dioxide to travel on, but the nutrients and waste products could jump right into the blood stream to travel to their designated spots.
►The first team to get all their oxygen and food to the cells, all the waste to the kidneys, and all the carbon dioxide to the lungs would win the game.

I was keeping individual points (2, 3, or 4 per question) because I knew we wouldn't be finished in time, and it would be hard to figure who won with pieces all over the board, some in their spots, and some partway there.  The team that won got candy, and the high scorer got extra.  =)

They had a really fun time.  I allowed them to look at the notes they had made in class on the backs of their heart model printouts, and I had a few things written on the dry-erase board that I left up.
The purpose of the game was to familiarize them with the direction of blood flow, and that blood cells are what carries various things, and where they go.
The questions further re-enforced other things we were learning in the module.

Close up:
All arteries flow away from the heart.
All veins flow to the heart.
     You can see the path of blood (starting with the deoxygenated blood, returning to the heart):
Vena cava (a vein), right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery (not labeled, purple), lungs (where the dots are; drop off CO2, get more oxygen), pulmonary vein (not labeled, red), left atrium, left ventricle, back to the body through the aorta (an artery).

You can see that just for a moment, deoxygenated blood can travel through an artery when it is traveling away from the heart to the lungs.  Then oxygenated blood travels through a vein when it is traveling from the lungs back to the heart.
These are the exceptions to arteries carrying oxygenated blood, and veins carrying deoxygenated blood.  Arteries and veins are not distinguished by what kind of blood they carry, but whether they are traveling to or from the heart.


Fun, fun! =)

sMiLeS,

Diaper Cake

 Beautiful isn't it? 

My mother-in-law and I made it.  I can't remember how many diapers we used - it was over eight years ago, but I'll explain it the best I can.

~We used white diapers, not patterned.

~I know we used size 2 diapers.  That way the mother could wait a little while before taking it apart.

~We opened the diapers and wound them around length-ways.  I used a piece of masking tape to attach one overlapping diaper to the next, since I didn't think that would stick to the diaper as much and ruin it.  Seems like I stuck the tape to my skirt first to reduce the stickiness.  We did this until the last layer, where the tape would be seen, then I think we used a loop of inside-out tape under the edge of the diapers.  Prob only 4 or 5 diapers on that last row.

~We used ribbon on the top and bottom edges on the bottom and middle levels, and this helped the last layer of diapers stay put.


Here's what we used as decorations:

• about 3 dozen rosebuds (different shades) already fastened to thin wire.  These we bent the sharp ends over and pushed between the last 2 layers of diapers on each level, and bunched 3 together at the top.
• Small strings of beads, looped over the rosebuds, and hung in a U shape
• Beaded, lacy ribbon around the top and bottom edges of each level.  This helped the hanging beads stay in place.  I'm sure we used tiny bits of tape here under the ribbon, too.
• Extra lace that was wider, that we pushed under the edge of the bottom level, and affixed to the $1 store pan with small pieces of tape
• pair of black shiny shoes
• comb and brush set tied with ribbon
• $1.00 wrapped in ribbon
• lacy socks
• pink toothbrush tied with ribbon
• fork and spoon set tied with ribbon
• translucent pale pink teether
• several light pink hairbows at the base of the top level
• tiny doll for the topper

~In the top level of the cake, we folded the diapers in half length-ways, because the regular width of the diaper was too tall.

We started with the bottom level, and kept wrapping until we got it nearly the size of the pan.  It's a silver pizza pan, and you can barely see it under the edge of the lace.

Then we did the middle until we got it to size, then the top.

~It's good if you have a slim dowel rod or something to go down through the middle to keep the levels lined up, and so the top ones won't fall off. 

~We positioned the doll topper and shoes as the main accessories, then filled in the other pieces by carefully pushing between the layers of diapers.

We probably used a little tape to keep the socks, shoes, and the doll topper in place.

~Remember, your accessories need to have a little color.  The white socks have a little dark mauve in the lace.  You can have everything lacy and dainty, or go more colorful, or more boyish. 

The Mom-to-be that received it said she was going to have a hard time taking it apart!
This was definitely not a quick project, but it was worth it.
I just L♥VE this picture! ♥♥

sMiLeS,

2 New Tabs!

See top right of blog -- "Fun Stuff" and "The GOOD Stuff!!!"  =)


sMiLeS,