Charlotte Mason Inspiration

I love the theory and approach of Charlotte Mason in regards to
educating children. I have always believed, from the time I first came
across the books about her philosophies, that she was one to something.
Tonight, I had a "Charlotte Mason moment."

I have been thinking of crafts and other activities for the children to
do for the holidays. I am sad to say that most have come under the
heading that Miss Mason would have considered to be "twaddle" and not of
real substance. I am fully to blame. I failed in this. I lowered the
bar for the kids below their ability to the point of being patronizing.
I am not fully against the quick cutesy stuff that children do at public
schools or preschool. It all has it's place. Should that be a part of
homeschooling though? As homeschooling parents, we expect a higher
standard for our children. If we didn't, they would be in public
school. The cutesy crafts can be fun and can be a part of our
children's creative play experience. Having an "art box" with basic
craft supplies that the kids can do on their free time is fine. They
can get the instant gratification and free expression that creativity
brings. But should we leave it at that? I think we should go further.

What ever happened to teaching our children more meaningful skills? A
little girl learning to do embroidery or some other stitchery or a
little boy learning to make things from wood or other craft? Why do we
lower our standards and expect that these things are too difficult for
our children? Do we really believe that or are we simply lazy in our
own thinking? Maybe we don't have the knowledge of those skills
ourselves. Wouldn't it be a teaching moment for our kids if we learn
right along side of them? They would see that the skill is something we
value enough to learn ourselves, not just expecting them to do it.

Miss Mason rightly believed that teaching children the home crafts and
skills were beneficial to children. They learned to take their time and
finish something they started. Children learned a valuable lesson that
not everything comes instantly. Sometimes we have to work at a project
or task for a period of time before it is completed. When finished,
they have pride in the fact that they stuck to it and are proud of the
finished project. It can elevate their self-esteem.

In my Grandmother's generation and early, it was common for children to
learn the home crafts and skills from an early age. Yes, back then it
was more important due to lack of funds to buy new. Does that change
anything for us today? In an "instant gratification" society, are we
not wishing our children would appreciate the work and talent those
skills required? They don't gain that appreciation through osmosis. It
must be taught.

I remember when Little Miss made her first tied doll quilt. I had to
help her sew the quilt together, but she meticulously tied the quilt
with embroidery floss. She was so proud of it. She made it just
shortly after her 4th birthday! For her 6th birthday in March, I am
surprising her with her own little sewing box with a few basic
supplies. I have fabric scraps that she can use to make another doll
blanket, doll clothing, or some other project. I will have traced out
some simple doll clothing patterns that I have available so she can use
them to dress her doll. As a child, I used to make my Barbie doll's
clothing quite often and really enjoyed it. Who knew that making those
doll clothes would be the laying of the foundation for my being able to
make clothing for my family today? Back then, I was just having fun
with my dolls.

I am so grateful to have come to this realization while Little Miss is
still so young. I have time to correct myself in this area of lacking.
The home crafts can easily be included in her workboxes. Either the
project or a picture of the craft would suffice. Only other thing she
would need is gentle guidance and a quiet place to work. Both are
easily done. The Little Keepers program she is doing has excellent
beginner projects that she could start with. For embroidery, just a
sampler of a few stitches would be a good start. I find online quite
often free printable primitive style stitchery patterns & designs. They
are simple drawings in pencil on muslin that you use as a guide for
stitching. We could even take a favorite coloring book picture and
trace it onto the muslin for a design. My mind is spinning with ideas
now. She has been asking to learn to sew. This will be a nice start.
With Christmas approaching, I may draw out a few simple designs for her
to stitch up to be made into a framed picture, ornament, or other gift.
Whatever the project, she will enjoy picking out which picture she wants
to stitch up.

Homemade Art Supplies Recipes

One aspect of living a rural life is that you cannot easily just go around the corner to the store for every little thing.  This includes making a quick trip to the store for craft supplies.  From the stand point of being frugal with our resources, it is a waste of fuel and money to go buy new each time.  Another area where I take a lot of care is in the issue of chemicals.  I am working to cut chemicals out of our home as much as possible.  Already, I am gathering in a notebook recipes for homemade cleaners and other products that we can use in place of the store bought versions.  The next area that I am going to work on is homemade art supplies.  In past years, I have made a few art supplies like glue, play dough, and chalk.  Now, I am learning that there is much more that you can make at home with most ingredients being things you can find in your pantry. 

A wonderful place to start looking for the recipes is a website called, "Blessings for Life".  I found the website through a Google search and was thrilled to see it.  On the site, you will find a blog entry containing a long list of recipes for homemade school art supplies.  The woman who writes the blog was very thorough and the list is extensive.  I cannot readily think of an art supply that she did not include.

Whether you can use the recipes now or not, it may be fun to print out or otherwise save the recipes for your own reference.  You never know when it will come in handy.  The art supplies could be made for children/grandchildren in your own family, a preschool class, or church Sunday School children's class. 

Having the ready reference of the recipes can be a blessing if you ever find a need for such a supply item and no time or money to run to the store.  With the holidays coming up, it may be fun to make some play dough or other art supplies as a gift to a young child.  Then, in the gift basket, you can include the recipes for the child's Momma. 

I love the idea of making our own art supplies.  In a homeschool mindset, making the recipes with little ones can be a part of their schooling.  Math is used when measuring ingredients.  Science can be used in explaining why certain ingredients cause specific reactions.  Color theory is utilized when mixing food coloring to make colored play dough or paints.  You can even get into the history of making some of the supplies.  When was play dough first made?  What is the difference between the cooked play dough and the older salt/flour clay in both the ease of use and in the dried project made from them? 

One of the best lessons that making your own art supplies teaches is that of making do with what you have.  This goes right along with our family's attitude of living more simply and conserving our resources.  Why spend $$$ on store bought when you can make a similar product for pennies?  When it comes to play dough, our son doesn't like the store bought.  It is too sticky and he doesn't like the feel of it.  Give him the homemade and he is happy.  I am able to knead in just a bit more flour to get rid of the sticky feel of it for him.  Water color paints, which our daughter loves to use, are made very quickly & much less cost than the store bought.  If she runs out of 1-2 colors, I can make her just the colors needed instead of having to buy a whole new set just to replace the color(s) she ran out of. 

I am so happy to have found the website of recipes.  There is another good one called "Artists Helping Children" which has a large amount of recipes for art supplies.  You will also find art projects with well-written instructions on their website.   A quick search on Google will find you many more websites of recipes.  These two however, are the best ones that I have found thus far.

Enjoy!

Tending Our Fires

Living off-grid and using wood heat is a lesson unto itself. There is
much involved. You have to buy or cut well seasoned, dry firewood,
knowing what types of wood puts out the best heat. Your wood supply has
to be more than sufficient to get you through the season. You must have
sharpened chainsaw, ax, or other method to cut & split the firewood to
the size needed. Firewood needs to be stored in such a way that it is
protected from the rain, ice, and snow to keep it dry. You also need a
supply of kindling or fire starters. In the home, you need to maintain
the stove and chimney. Keeping the chimney cleared of any built-up
creosote to prevent a chimney fire is vital. Your wood stove's firebox
needs to be checked to make sure it is in good condition, as well as any
indoor sections of stove pipe. The seams in the pipe have to be checked
for any smoke leakage through a small test fire.

Once everything is ready and the temperatures dip down, you start using
the wood stove. Whether you use it for heat or cooking, the fire has to
be tended and maintained. Using our kitchen cook stove as an example,
it has a small firebox. The stove heats very well, but needs wood added
to the firebox every few hours to maintain the hot embers. If the fire
goes out and the kitchen cools down, it takes a bit of time to get the
kitchen warm again. If the wood you bring in from outdoors is too damp
from rain, ice, or snow, the fire takes even longer to start. If the
wood wasn't protected and became saturated in a rain storm, you may not
even be able to light the fire. It all takes careful planning and care
to keep the fire going and the kitchen warm. I often use the wood
cookstove to prepare meals in the cooler months. A constant fire is
needed for this. Again, it takes maintaining the wood supply to keep
the stove hot enough to cook as well as heat the rooms.

Let me paint a scenario for you. You stock the stove very well at
night, but sleep deeply enough to not stock it during the night. In the
morn, you awaken to a stove with only tiny embers and a bin of damp wood
to get the fire going again. It is still possible to get the fire lit
and heat the room again. However, the amount of effort you have to put
into it is much more than if you had maintained it all along.

How often do we treat our relationship with our Lord as the above
scenario with the wood stove? We begin the relationship by lighting
that initial fire, stocking it as needed to keep the relationship
going. Then one night, we allow ourselves to figuratively "go into a
sleep" instead of tending that relationship. We grow complacent or
become distracted from our spiritual journey with the Lord. Sometimes
it is a conscience choice, but often it isn't. Just as we can go to bed
with every intention of waking to tend the stove, only to sleep through
the night, we can sometimes "fall to sleep" in our relationship with God.

Think on the parable of the 10 virgins. All had lamps that were filled
with oil and had trimmed wicks when they started out. Only half had
extra supplies to get them through the night. The others were
complacent and had not stayed alert. Which one describes where you are
in your relationship with God? Are you diligent in your efforts to
build and nurture your relationship? Or are you simply content and
growing complacent with the efforts you have already put forth?

Our spiritual relationship with God is much like a fire that needs
constant tending. Not the the Lord needs us to continually tend and put
in an effort for His sake. We need to do it for our own sake. We need
to continually seek Him out and make Him a vital part of our lives. He
is always there. It is us who need to turn towards Him and answer His
gentle call to us.

Blessings,
Paula

Play Dough Recipe & Gift Idea

I found a website tonight quite by chance.  It is Sensory Processing Disorder.  I was doing a web search for a homemade Play Dough recipe and stumbled upon the website.  After glancing through as much as my phone would allow, I thought I would pass the link along.  What I noticed is that they have a lot of information about Autism and other types of sensory disorders.  If you have need of this type of information and resources, then that is a site that may be of interest.

As I mentioned, I was searching for a play dough recipe.  I used to have a really good one, but it was misplaced.  Our son is getting more involved and wanting to mimic what our daughter and grandson are doing.  With this in mind, I decided to make play dough again.  In the past, our son was not interested in anything that felt sticky or strange on his fingers.  Commercially made play doughs have a slight stickiness to them that caused him to not want to touch it.  In making homemade versions, I am able to control the dough consistency to match what he will tolerate.  I have been finding that if I knead in a bit of Cream of Tartar into the dough before giving it to him, it makes the dough more smooth.  Cream of Tartar also has a quality in it that will extend the shelf-life of the play dough.  The following recipe, found on the above mentioned website, will last about 3-4 months.

Play Dough Recipe

In a 2-quart pan mix together:
1 cup flour
½ cup salt
2 teaspoons Cream of Tartar

Add:
1 Tablespoon oil
1 cup water with food coloring in it

Cook over a medium heat.  At first it will appear to have too much water in it but will quickly begin to form into a ball of dough.  When dough pulls away from the sides of the pan, take out of pan and lightly knead until smooth.  If necessary, knead in a little flour to remove any stickiness.

Store play dough in baggies or air-tight containers for 3-4 months.

If you do a web search for play dough activity ideas, you will find many activities to teach fine motor skills and sensory activities for young children to enjoy.  With the holiday season coming up, you can make up a batch of dough without food coloring.  Choose a recipe that can be baked to harden the dough after it is formed into shapes.  Allow the kids to roll the dough about 1/4" to 3/8" thickness.  Cut out into shapes using holiday cookie cutters.  With a drinking straw, make a hole near the top of the shape for threading a ribbon through after it is baked.  Place the cut outs onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake according to the dough's recipe directions.  When hardened and cooled, use markers or paints to decorate the ornament.  Let dry.  Thread a length of ribbon through the hole to make a hanging loop.

One Christmas gift that the kids are making for their Grandparents are hand prints pressed into the clay.  The dough will be rolled out about 3/8" thick and cut the size of a dessert plate.  Once their hand print is pressed into the clay, it will be baked until hardened.  They will then paint the hand print, let dry and add the ribbon for hanging.  I will write our son's name and year on his.  Our daughter will write her own name and the year on her hand print.

If there are little ones on your gift list, consider making them a basket filled with various colored homemade play dough.  Include in the basket the recipe for their Mom to help them make more as needed throughout the year.  I have also seen batches of homemade play dough prettily packaged in little baskets or containers of about 6 colors each being sold in craft shows.  Using unsweetened drink mix, such as Kool-aid to both color and scent the dough is a fun option for doughs you give as gifts.  The only caution I would add to that is to be sure the scented play dough isn't given to a child who is likely to eat some of the dough because of it having a fruity scent.

Enjoy!

Paula

Home Canned Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving a week early in our home. Joe had the weekend at home, so we took the opportunty to celebrate together. As I was preparing the meal, I did something different this year that turned our really well.

I bought twice as much turkey as we needed and roasted both. One was served for the meal, the other was deboned and packed into canning jars with a bit of water & broth. I filled the canner with the jars of meat and processed them.

When I made the whole cranberry sauce from fresh cranbarries, I used 2 bags of cranberries instead of the typical 1 bag. I was able to fill 2 pints and 6 half pint jars. I processed the half pints and 1 pint jar for later and served the 2nd pint jar with the meal.

Sweet potatoes from the produce department were already diced and canned in pint size jars. I drained the liquid from a few jars and seasoned them as I mashed them for making sweet potato casserole.

I baked a whole pumpkin. It was then sliced into wedges that I peeled and diced to be placed into pint jars. I filled the jars with water and processed them also. I now have a supply of pumpkin to use for pies or breads this winter. I will be adding another whole pumpkin's worth of canned pumpkin as soon as I get that one baked as well.

I am now thinking that in the future, I will be home canning much of the holiday meal's foods ahead of time. Having the canned sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and cranberry sauce made preparation of the holiday meal so much faster and easier.

Joe is loving it. I made up a box of Thanksgiving foods in jars for him to cook on the truck. When he cooks the turkey, he will likely be adding a scoop of dried seasoned bread stuffing mix to the pan to make his turkey & dressing. Add the canned gravy and his meal is all set!

With the actual holiday still a few days away, I hope this may inspire others to give it a go.

Blessings,
Paula

Gratitude for Our Blessings

Thank you all for the encouraging comments to my blog about vaccinations. Joe and I never make such a decision without really knowing what we are talking about. We never take our children's health lightly.

Over the past week, I haven't blogged as much. I went to the doctor & found I had an upper respiratory infection, sinus issues, and had coughed so much my throat was raw & swollen. The doctor made the comment that it was as though I had strained something, which caused the swelling on one side of the throat. After taking Z-pack antibiotics, I am much better.

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. The time is going by way to quickly. We have so much to be grateful for this year. Joe's job is going very well. He doesn't get home nearly as often as we would like but we are blessed that he has a job that supports us. I have often felt that Joe's minstry is on the road. Each new student that he trains is an opportunity to share his faith. He has never been shy about living his faith in front of others. From this, he often has people ask him about his beliefs. God gives him opportunities to share His love with others.

Last week, we had a scare that turned into a precious gift from the Lord. My eldest son, who is a trucker driver, drives a tanker hauling fuels or other liquids. He was hauling an explosive liquid and rolled the truck several times. We finally learned that he only had minor injuries from broken glass and a sore leg from where it got pinned. He was very blessed! Semi truck roll-overs are rarely that good of an outcome. It was a blessing from the Lord that he was able to basically walk away from that accident.

Homeschooling Abbie is a treasure in my days. The little moments when she "gets it" and becomes animated are moments that I hold dear. Recently, she realized that she was not only reading sight words but was able to sound new words out all on her own. The pure joy on her face and excitement was a precious gift. When she realised that she was able to sound out words on her own she said she was so happy that God is helping her learn to read. Wow! At 5 yrs of age she already is gaining the understanding that our talents and gifts come from the Father. Abbie is wanting to learn to sew. I am putting together a little sewing kit for her. Collecting buttons and fabric swatches for her to use is turning into a fun project for me. I bought her an embroidery hoop and floss. With the muslin that I already have and some iron on designs, she will be able to learn to do simple stitchwork. I am going to let her make some of these from muslin blocks. When she is done with each one, I will date and save them to make into a patchwork quilt wall hanging for her.

Micah has been gaining so much ground in his development. He is trying to talk so much more and we are beginning to get a good glimpse at the sheer size of his vocabulary. Little things will trigger him to talk. One being when you get him a sippy cup of water. He uses a cup that has the Cars character "Speed McQueen" on it. When he sees that cup he says, "ca cu" for car cup. We are noticing that he often will drop the last sound of a word. One word that he has no trouble at all saying is "cookie" which is what he calls anything from a cheese cracker to a vanilla wafer. By simply easing off and treating him like a typical child, he is gaining far more ground than when he was getting a lot of the therapies. I still work with him in a prechool-type manner and is supporting the language he is able to use. We acknowledge his speech by responding to it. If he asks for a cookie, he gets one. In doing that, we are reinforcing to him that his speech has meaning and purpose. Micah is gaining independence also. He is learning to color, paint, dress himself with limited assistance, feed himself, and interacting much more. God is blessing him daily in his growth.

There is much more to be grateful for this year. The above is just a drop in the bucket. I will write more later.

Blessings,
Paula

Vaccination Nonsense

Took Little Man to the doctor.  He has strep throat and ear infections again.  He seems to get them once every 3 months or so.  The doctor said that some kids are prone to them and do better once their tonsils are removed.  They will document how often he gets strep then decide.

While at the doctor's office, I got into a "discussion" with her.  She first questioned why I said Little Man is autistic and who made the diagnosis.  According to her, he didn't look autistic to her.  Really???  So, what does an autistic child look like?  On one hand, I am thrilled that he is seeming to be more typical and stims far less.  On the other hand though, I am not happy that she questioned that we would call him autistic & suggest that we came up with that all on our own.  I told her who diagnosed him and their findings. She was accepting but unimpressed.  (Note: she works for a competitor company of the university medical center that diagnosed him.)

The next bit of "intelligence" that came out of her mouth was over the issue of our not having vaccinated him or finished vaccinations for his older sister.  She refused to hear our reasons, then told me it was "her job to educate the uneducated" people who come into her practice.  Are you serious???  She actually believes that the uneducated people are the only ones who don't vaccinate their kids?  Did I happen to mention that she is a young doctor?  I don't want to insult any blond readers, but you do share a hair color with her.  Unfortunately, she came off as the stereotype.  

Her following bit of "brilliance" came when she remarked about a medical convention she had recently attended here in Oklahoma.  According to her, there was an informal poll taken asking the doctors in attendance to raise their hand if they would REFUSE treatment to a child who did not have their inoculations.  By her estimation, 95% of the doctors in attendance raised their hands.  Only 5% were willing to treat a child who had not been vaccinated.   She said, "That should tell you just how important doctors think vaccinations are."   Oh really???   No, dear educated one, it tells me that 95% of the doctors are admitting to being prejudiced and willing to discriminate against anyone who does not vaccinate their children.  Doesn't matter to them if it is a religious or other reason that the parents have chosen to not vaccinate.  They are admitting to not being willing to treat a child for that reason alone......not having been vaccinated!  Where is the parent's right in this to choose whether or not to vaccinate?  I know that if you opt out of the vaccinating of your children while on WIC, you sign a waiver stating that you are opting out.  It is not illegal to refuse vaccinations.

The discussion then turned to schooling.  She noted to me that public schools would not allow our kids to attend without vaccinations.  That is fine, I told her that we are homeschooling.  She then argued that you can't homeschool a special needs child.  I let her in on the fact that there is no law preventing it and that many special needs children are homeschooled successfully.  She stated that a special needs child requires an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for their schooling.  Well, here again I educated her.  Every homeschool parent chooses a curriculum to fit the needs of each of their children.  In essence, every homeschool child has an IEP set up.  No homeschooling parent treats their children's education as a cookie cutter situation.

"But what about therapies that a child gets at the public schools?", was her next argument.  Well, last I knew, therapy was not a part of academic education and can very easily be done privately.  You don't have to go to public school to get speech, occupational, and physical therapies.  Parents can very easily hire therapists privately away from the school setting.  It is called, going to the office for an appointment.

I came right out and asked, "If you knew ahead of time that my son was not vaccinated, would you have refused treatment?"  She didn't reply.  Well, her silence said it all.  In her silence she admitted that she would have not treated him.  If she would have treated him regardless of whether or not he was vaccinated, she would have said so.  I asked if it was her hospital's company policy to not treat kids who are not vaccinated.  She replied that she didn't think so.  Good thing.  Had she told me that it was their policy, I would be making that fact widely known to every autism support group I could find in our state.

Joe and I have not believed vaccinations to be the reason for our son's autism.  We have our own reasons for not vaccinating.  Experience with our daughter proved to us how dangerous the vaccination program can be.  Our daughter became very sick with a 103*F fever for 3 days with vomiting & diarrhea for the entire 3 day period she had the fever.  When I called and told them, I was told that was a "normal reaction" and acceptable.  Really???  Well, it wasn't acceptable or normal in our eyes.  She was 3 years old and they had no concern for dehydration or her health.  They had given her 12 inoculations at one time in the form of 4 booster shots, 5 of the inoculations were for things she was up to date on and didn't need.  When I complained, WIC told me that "beggars can't be choosers" and gave her the shots anyways.  We never took her back for vaccinations again.

In our country, the FDA requires all foods and any products that are either ingested or put on the skin must contain labeling that discloses what it contains.  An exception to this rule is vaccinations.  How do you know that there is not an ingredient in those vaccinations that your child is allergic to?  With the vaccination schedule that children are placed on, being given several vaccinations at one time, if they have a reaction to something in 1 vaccination, how do they know which one?

I explained this to the doctor and she, in her vast and infinite knowledge, told me that there has never been a case of a child having a bad reaction to a vaccination.  Oh, give me a break!  She really believes that in all the years of children being vaccinated, there has never been a bad reaction?  Guess she never heard of the fact that if you have an egg allergy that you can't have certain flu shots, because of the flu shot containing egg in it!  Even the medical experts agree that if a person is allergic to a component in the vaccination (such as the egg in flu shots) then they are at higher risk of having a severe allergic reaction to that component.

By not knowing what is in the vaccinations, how can we say we are making an informed choice?  How can we protect our kids from the bad reactions to the vaccinations if we don't know what they are being given?

What it comes down to is that I will now be starting a search for a doctor among that 5% who does not discriminate against kids who are not vaccinated. 

Canning Meats

Today (Thursday) was errand day. Ended up driving to Tulsa while I was
out and took advantage of a meat sale at a large market there. It was
great. I was able to buy good quality meat for a fraction of the normal
cost. The store has the sale twice a year. I didn't buy as much as
usual, but enough to take care of our needs for a while. I bought large
quantities of ground beef and stew meat.

Ground Beef canning options:
Plain with a bit of sliced onions to use as a base in many recipes
Meatballs
Taco meat
Sloppy Joe meat

Stew meat canning options:
Beef stew
Plain, in broth for use in other recipes
Vegetable beef soup

I am planning to do up part of the meat in pint jars for Joe to have on
the truck. The rest in quart jars for use at home. As with all canning
recipes where meat is included, I always precook the meat nearly
completely before putting it in jars to pressure can. I process the
jars for the full length of time given for raw pack. Contrary to
initial thoughts, this does not overly cook the meat. It always comes
out very tender and moist. By cooking it so long before processing, I
am able to remove most of the fat from the meat. Fats will "climb" up
the sides of the jars, which then will affect the lid's ability to seal
properly. By removing nearly all fats, you are more assured to have a
proper seal.

You can find the proper processing times in the Ball's Blue Book of
Canning. You can also check online for canning recipes and instructions
through the USDA website.

Holiday Crafting: Votive Candles

As mentioned before, I will be posting ideas for crafts and activities that we are going to be doing. The first of these are Votive Candle Holders.

These are a recycle craft. I have a small collection of those little clear glass jars that dried beef come in. At a yard sale, I was given a small stack of packaged little decorative napkins that they had a surplus of. The only materials I have had to buy are Mod Podge and the little votive candles to put into the holders.

To make these candle holders, start by separating the layers of your decorative napkins so that you only have the decorative layer. Save the bottom layer to use for another project. Just a note: if you only have the white tissue napkins, use food coloring & water to "tie dye" the napkins then let dry before using.

Tear the napkin into workable sections. I recommend no bigger than 1 inch square. Lightly coat a section of the outside of your glass jar with Mod Podge. Lay the napkins over it and continue adding more pieces of the napkin, slightly overlapping each piece, until the outside of the jar is covered. Let dry completely. Add another light coat of Mod Podge and allow to dry again. You can add a total of 2-3 top coats of the Mod Podge. On the final coat, you may like to accent the candle holder with a fine glitter.

The finished candle holder is very pretty and an easy project even for young preschool aged children to complete with limited assistance. It makes a nice decoration as well as a cute gift idea.