Faun Hooves

Honestly, this guy was my favorite character next to Edmund and Alsan. Mr. Tumnus was so kind towards Lucy after his *ahem* mistake. I mean, is that not the cutest pic!!
Anyway, I found the idea for faun hooves and thought, "Hey! That would be a really fun idea! I need a good project to work on." And then never started.
Well, I've sat on that project idea for 3 months now and have finally decided to do it! They went together easier than I ever thought they would so I decided to share and maybe you can make your own! I love projects that actually work don't you?
Step 1 The Things You Need.
The things I needed to buy where,

• a pair of high heels
• 3 pairs of trouser socks
• pool noodle
• Yarn

The rest was stuff I had like,

• Low temperature hot-glue gun.
• Jig-saw
• scrap wood
• power drill
• screws
• thick fabric
• a whole lot of improvising.

Now let's get started. The first thing is you need to analyze your high heels. Here are the ones I used.
 
 The must-have criteria on these things are the covered toe, ankle strap, and heel cover. Those are a must and you will see why later.

Step 2 Get rid of that heel
 The heel on these puppies need to go! So take that jig-saw and get going! Here's how much I hacked mine.


 Step 3 Padding
 You don't want that curve on the bottom of the shoe. So I cut some strips of fabric and padded it up. 
 You can see that the curve is gone. On to the next step!

Step 4 Give it a lift
As you can see, a faun's heel is much higher than any high heel will be. His heel is quiet up there. Now, that's CG but you can get pretty close by cutting out some wooden lifts.


 I traced the flat toe of the high heel on a plank of wood, then cut them out. They're pretty thick as you can see here.                                                               

 Step 5 Attachment
This step can be pretty hard. You have to drill through the shoe and into the wood below, making sure that they are lined up. In hindsight I would probably have cut away a bit of the top. As it is I shredded the screws, which ended up sticking into my feet. I padded those up later and am none the worse for it. But I want to save you the trouble of all that.














Step 6 First layer of trouser socks
I had the hardest time finding a pair of cheap trouser socks. Finally did at Target! YAY! But they came in three different colors. Nude, Brown and Black. Do Nude first. Make sure you cut the toe open so you can hot glue the sock in the slit where the shoe meets the wood.

(Trying to take a picture of my own leg. Not an easy task.)

Step 7 More padding!
You need to give your foot a fauny appearance. So get ride of that dainty toe with layers of more felt.

On this project you really need to feel out what works for you. But you should defidently pad the toe and ankles.
I also padded the heel to make it come to a sharper point. (You can't see it because I didn't figure it out till later and didn't bother taking another pic.)

Step 8 Getting messy with the pool noodle.
This part was a bit of a challenge and took a lot of patience. You need to cut and glue little bits of noodle to create the cloven faun hoof. You need to make it really smooth because it will stand out after the paint job.

The great thing about pool noodle is that it melts with the hot glue, fusing is together.

Step 9 More trouser socks
 Next layer is black. That way the last layer, brown, shows distinctly. Be generous with the hot glue. You don't want these socks detaching while you're wearing them.



Step 10   Painting and more!
Now comes the fun part! You take the hot glue gun and swipe it over the surface. This creates a rough surface and smalls grooves. I broke up the solid brown by adding a tanish color. Make sure you avoid those small silky threads that trail on the end. It looks odd if you have them. I also painted a little black on the inside of the clove to hide the place where the pool noodle meets the wooden block.

 Pointer!! If you are wanting to wear these outside you need to use waterproof paint. I did not and the paint began washing off when I wore them outside.

Step 11 Final sock layer and hair
Add the final layer of socks and glue on. Now comes another tedious part. You are going to add hair to the edge, where the sock meets the hoof. That will hide the seam.
I used this kind of yarn.                                             
You take the end and shred it with a brush.

 This part takes a long time because you don't want the entire hoof to be covered by hair, but you want it to cover some. So you are snipping little pieces and gluing them to the seam all around the hoof. I went longer in the back so it covered almost all of it.

Voila! You now have an amazing pair of faun hooves!


 I debated whether or not to glue hair up the bottom to the heel and up the back of the leg. I decided not too because I want to buy some furry fabric and make pants.

If you ever try this or have tried it please comment! I would love to hear how you did it or how it goes!!
 

Do Something

I wasn't exactly the normal girl growing up. Wait, take that back. I'm still not a normal girl and I'm a teen now. There are the girls that bought Barbies, baby dolls, play make up and that stuff. I can be summed up pretty good by the picture above. I was usually off doing something odd. It could be anything from making a centuar body out of cardboard boxes to sitting on a pile of dirt and seeing just how dirty I could get!
Now, I'm not doing that kind of stuff now. I've changed it to different things. Like river swimming and bow hunting. But I notice that I was having a big problem. I was getting sucked into the "teen" category. That may sound really weird, but it has a big meaning behind it.
What do you think of when you think of a Teen. (If you're a teen I'm still asking you to be honest) Maybe things such as,

• Parties
• Video Games and computers
• High School.
• Hanging out with friend 
• And then there are the bad things that teens do. (I needs to list those)

Do any of those apply to you? I didn't want to be one of those. Honestly, a teen is usually associated with...well...nothing. (And by nothing I mean nothing truly useful.) The teen years are meant to be a time of fun right? Not work or chores. Now, what if I told you that, right now - this very instant, you are an adult? Would that change the way you acted and the decisions you made? Why is that? Why is there such a huge difference between an adult and a teen? Maybe things such as,

• Work
• Responsibility
• Bills
• Lack of spare time
• And the millions of other things adults do.

Just take a moment and compare those two lists. Which one looks better? Duh, the teen one. Ah, but which one accomplishes more? Erg, the adult one.
A lot of this has to do with the laws. A teen can't really get a full time job at 13. At least, not by the world's standard.(More on that another time) So what does that leave teens with? A whole lot of extra time to goof off and do...well...nothing. Teens have hours and hours when they don't have anything to do.
Stay with me now and picture this. Stop squirming because it's only going to get more uncomfortable. What if every teen took that extra time to do something? They took the extra, say, 4-5 hours to develop a skill instead of playing a video game or watching TV. What would happen? You would get a lot of teens that have great skills and know how to use their time effectively. Then once they get to college, they know what they want to do with their life.
At our house there are two words you don't EVER say. "I'm bored." As soon as those words are out of your mouth a mom or dad will pop out of nowhere and begin dishing out jobs. After that you will be doing something for the rest of the day. When I was younger I just hated that. I didn't want to work! I wanted to do something fun! But it's helped change me. Now that I'm a teen when I'm bored, I look for a job to do. 1: Because I know it helps the family. 2: What else am I going to do? At least I'm doing something. I'm living by Chokmah because I'm not just wasting the time God's given me. (See http://chokmahkishron.blogspot.com/2016/01/having-successful-life.html)
Now does it have to always be work? Not always. I said I didn't want to get sucked into the "teen" category. So I had to run and get out of it. That doesn't come naturally. You have to focus and work on it. I started learning Spanish. (Don't ask me to try and speak yet though) I'm using the extra time I have to learn and grow. I take more time to study the bible and learn about our amazing God. I started by really working hard to be good in school. Not being satisfied with "good enough"
I started teaching myself guitar a year ago. No particular reason for that one. I love music but I couldn't bring myself to play piano. I took lessons for a year and decided the piano just wasn't something I enjoyed. My mom has always had her guitar in the corner and nobody knew how to play. So I picked it up and started hammering Google. At first I was satisfied with "good enough" playing - like I was with school. But I realized it wasn't helping me. Sure I could play a good celtic jig, but I would hit a few stale notes and I didn't mind doing that. At first
I started to push myself and actually Work (Yes work) on being really good. Amazing guitar players don't get good by just diddlying around on the strings. I played a song over and over until the notes were clear. I worked my hands to be stronger. I had to push myself to go beyond what was comfortable. You'll never learn new things if you don't move from the subjects you know. I'll never grow stronger if you don't push your body to do more. Now I can play a really good celtic jig, faster, better and it's more fun. I finish playing with a feeling of accomplishment - knowing that I've done something.
Don't stay in the teenager mindset. You can always do something!

What are you doing now? Are you pursuing college? Great! Now focus on what you hope to accomplish! Don't do it just because. Are you applying for jobs? Cool! Now focus on what skills you hope to gain by that. Skills that will affect you down the road. Still in High School? Two positive thumbs up! You have SO much time on your hands to develop skills that God has given you!   
1 Corinthians 12: 7-11 says. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,^[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.^{[b] 11} All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.


The most important thing though, is to stay tuned with God. He has a plan for you and wants to help you. God holds that stars in place and sets the galaxies spinning. He knew who you were before you were born. He can see things down the road that you can't. Trust Him. He's the guide with the lantern and you need to hold his hand or you will fall in the dark.
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future."

P.S If you have never read the book Do Hard Things - by Alex and Bret Harris. I highly suggest you give it a try.

CHANGE

When I think if seasons the first word that comes to my mind is.......
     That one word has the ability to prick ever nerve and amp up my fighting instincts. For years Change has been a terrifying thing. I have 4 younger siblings with another on the way! Everything is changing with that many people. I just had one of them move into my bedroom, which I've always had to myself. That equals Unwelcome Change.

     So why this phobia of things changing? For me, it was because I didn't like what happened after change. I didn't like moving away from my best friend. I didn't like having another person in my room. I didn't like having plans cancelled. I really didn't like the change growing up brought along with it. That is all Unwelcome Change. Change always pushed me out of my comfort zone. It forced me to step into the area of life that I didn't want to explore. I once read that the 3 C's in life are Choice, Chance, and Change. You must make the Choice, to take the Chance, if you want anything to Change.
But for me, I didn't want anything to change. I was perfectly happy living life the way I saw fit.
                                                     That all changed really fast.

     My dad was offered a position at a University which is nearly 6 hours from where I live now. That would mean we might be moving WAY away from everything that was comfortable and familiar. I did NOT want that. My dad also was offered a position where we lived. Both of the offers were great! So which one would we decide on. I completely voted against moving. And then God stepped in, like He always does. He started knocking on my mind and getting my attention. I already knew arguing with Him never does any good. So I listened. He made me realize that He knows what's going to happen and that He loves me. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "" For I know the plans I have for you," Declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.""
I have this verse painted on my wall in huge letters. And it was now staring me in the face.
     My whole life I've heard of people praying and having God give them peace about the decision and I never quiet got it. You could say I doubted. I was skeptical and wanted proof. But when I came before God, I wasn't wanting proof of His plans. I wanted peace. I wanted to know where I should be go. I prayed God would change my heart to go where He wanted. The change wasn't instant. But it came and I was soon game-on for moving. The Change is still hard. I will miss everybody I know and my family members who live here. But I trust that whatever God has up His sleeve, is far better than I can imagine.
   And no matter what happens I now that,
He will always have my back if I totally surrender and trust His plans. Nobody said it was easy, but at least I have a helping hand to pull me out of the deep water. By placing yourself in the hands of God, you are allowing Him to use you for the Plan that only He can see. God created us and everything else. Shouldn't we trust He knows what He's doing, even if it seems scary or hard? Looking back I've realized that the hard changes in my life have made me into something so much better. With so many siblings there's never a dull moment, and I've learned a lot of valuable skills I will need when I'm a mom. Having my sister in my room has actually been really good for me because I now hang out with her a lot more. Moving away from my friend....OK that one is still hard. But who knows what would have happened if I had stayed. God doesn't always take us away for something better, but to prevent something worse. Some of the plans we've had to change have resulted in something so much better than I knew of. Through the change of growing up I've had to make a lot of important choices that have led me to depend on God more. Those are all really good things! A diamond has to be heated and put under an insane amount of pressure before it finally can be chipped and shaped in the glittering jewel for all to see.
 

Macaroons

Honestly I can eat a million of these at one sitting! They are SOOOO good I can never get enough! Plus! It is loaded with coconut. Here is my favorite recipe!

Ingredients
1 1/2 c dried, unsweetened shredded coconut.
3/4 c almond flour.
1/4 c maple syrup.
3 tablespoons coconut oil.
1/2 teaspoons vanilla.
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. (Optional)

Directions
1. Melt the coconut oil and mix all of the ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
2. Using a small ice cream scoop or a tablespoon, spoon rounds of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. cookies can be refrigerated and eaten at this point, or can be baked at 135F until the cookies are crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. About 1 hour. (I've done them both ways. But I actually suggest just popping them in the refrigerator. They taste better that way! ;)

Enjoy!

pssst! If you melt some chocolate chips and drizzle it over the macaroons it tastes AMAZING!!!!

  Really random but hilarious!

C. S. Lewis

Allow me to introduce you to my absolute favorite writer! (Alongside Chuck Black.)
Clive Staples Lewis was born in 1898, and was called Jack by his friends. I just call him Lewis. I always thought it ironic that in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader he write, "There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." When Lewis' own name wasn't exactly catchy.

Here I want to share you some super interesting facts I've learned about Lewis. Along with my favorite quotes from his book and from the man himself. Because not only did Lewis write the fictional Narnia - he wrote Screwtape Letters, the Great Divorce, Mere Christianity and others.

Facts about the book!

• At 15 Lewis was sent to England to study with a private tutor named W. T. Kirkpatrick. Lewis honored his tutor by naming a character Professor Kirk.
• Lewis formed a club with a group of his friends, who all shared an interest in writing, called The Inklings. It was in this group that he met J. R.R. Tolkien.
• Lewis got some of his inspiration for Aslan from his favorite book The Place of the Lion by Charles Williams.
•  In 1939 Lewis began writing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. But ideas had been forming in his mind long before then. He was inspired by the myths his Irish nurse told him when he was little. The idea of a fawn carrying parcels was first concocted at the age of 16, and during World War II he had four children stay with him at his country house - stirring his imagination even more.
• The Pevensies original names were to be Ann, Martin, Rose, and Peter. Instead of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. (That seems to hard to imagine) 
• 10 years later, in 1949, Lewis completes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. 
• In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The island where nightmares come true was based off of Lewis' lifelong struggle against nightmares. 
• Lewis did all his writing with a pen because he never learned to type. One reason was because of the clumsiness caused by Lewis’s only having one joint in his thumbs’ preventing him from using a typewriter properly. Yet, it wasn’t just his thumbs keeping him from the typewriter, he chose not to type. “This mechanical mode of writing”, he believed, “interfered with the creative process in that the incessant clacking of the typewriter keys dulled the writer’s appreciation of the rhythms and cadences of the English language.”
• Aslan is Turkish for Lion

 Now, I'm hoping I'm not alone in saying I LOVED the Narnia movies as well as the books. So there are a few funny facts about the movies I thought I'd share.

•   During the production on the LtWatW, Edmund's voice was cracking. His older sister actually had to do some voice over work to make up for her brother's puberty troubles.
• The older version of Queen Lucy is actually played by Georgie's (Lucy) older sister.
•   Peter completes a perfect Vaulting mount. (Not something to take lightly.) Caspian later says in the behind the scenes, "I tried to do it and....I just can't." Peter insisted on doing all his own stunt work.
• Warwick (Nickabrick) Would continually get lost because he was so short. So Ben (Caspian) took it upon himself to watch over his little buddy.
• When Caspian goes through his wardrobe, following his tutor, he stops and peeks back out to watch what happens. This is the exact same thing Lucy does as she's watching the door to see if Peter comes in. Peter also does it when all four of the Pevensies go into the wardrobe.
• In the scenes where Lucy his hugging/petting Aslan, she was fondling either a stuffed animal of the directors elbow.
•  
•  
• When Lucy is exploring the lamppost Tumnus comes upon her. This was the first time Lucy had seen him in costume so she actually shrieked in terror.
•   Lucy was brought onto the set of the lamppost blindfolded. So the wonder on her face as she looks around is completely genuine. She is exploring Narnia here for the first time.
• Around this time and when they are all talking at the edge of the River Rush, Edmund turns a corner and runs into a metal pole. He get's a good fat lip from it, which you can see him trying to suck in whenever they are doing a close up.

•   The scowl on Trumpkin's face was prosthetic. But because it looked so real it would trip the director out. "I couldn't understand why he was frowning at me." The director said. "Finally I asked him if something was wrong. He just waves his hand over his face and says, 'it's not real.' "

Favorite Quotes!!