Manuscript Anatomy for the Beginner Scribe

 Over the last year or so, our family has immersed ourselves in the wonderful world that is the SCA (Society of Creative Anachronisms)!  We've jumped in with both feet with all the garb creation, archery, thrown weapons, armoring, sword fightings, arts and sciences, and (my favorite) scribal! But researching manuscripts is a whole new world that felt completely overwhelming.  There's a lot of information out there and much of of it is misinformation.  

Next week I'm gathering a group of scribes together to learn and grow together.  I couldn't be more excited!  They'll be coming from all artistic background and skill levels, so I'm trying to gather helpful info for them.  This morning I put together this little zine of terms and concepts that were new to me last year.  I'm hoping is will be useful!  What would you add?  References below.  Click on image to enlarge.

1. "A Beginner's Guide to Working With Manuscripts" ( ) Wordsworth Collections.  Last viewed 9-14-23 from https://collections.wordsworth.org.uk/GtoG/home.asp?page=ABeginner%'H27sGuidetoWorkingWithManuscripts

2.Doyle, Lovett ( ) "How to Make a Medieval Manuscript."  British Library.  Last viewed 9-14-23 from https://www.bl.uk/medieval-english-french-manuscripts/articles/how-to-make-a-medieval-manuscript

3. Hindman (June 3, 2021) "A Beginner's Guide to Medieval Manuscripts." Abe Books.  Last viewed 9-14-23 from https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/beginners-guide-to-medieval-manuscripts

4. Kwakkel, (Sep. 7, 2018) "The Architecture of the Medieval Page." Medieval Books.  Last viewed 9-14-23 from https://medievalbooks.nl/tag/layout/

5. Ray, (Sep. 27, 2021) "Reading the Manuscript Page: Design Features of the Medieval Book." Trinity College, Dublin.  Last Viewed 9-15-23 from https://www.tcd.ie/library/manuscripts/blog/2021/09/reading-the-manuscript-page/

6. Getty Museum, (Jan. 27, 2009).  "The Structure of a Medieval Manuscript."  Getty Museum.  Last viewed 9-14-23 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKBJkf2xbqI

 

Free Fish Windsock Printable

The leaves are turning colors! The temperatures are finally headed toward a comfortable range! Could it be that we're returning to autumn!? SO excited!

As promised, I wanted to share with you this free printable for our fish windsocks. The breeze has been just right for these lately! After the little ones saw a few of these in shop windows, they started begging us to get one. But we decided to do one better and make them ourselves! They loved making their fish exactly how they wanted them and even deciding where they wanted all the fins on the sides. All through the day they report on how quickly their fish are “swimming” through the winds!

As for method, simply color in the print out as desired and tape strips of streamer (crepe) paper along the bottom of the uncolored side.  Roll so short ends are just overlapped and tape down.  With a scissors or hole puncher, make two small holes just above each the eyes though which to tie off a length (mine was about 18") of yarn or string.  Then you may choose to tape on extra fins on the sides as my little ones did. 

To open the template to print, click on the photo below:

As I've had so much interest in my other Sunday School printables (see Babel and Daniel), I just couldn't help but think that this could make such a great project for a class, sometime. Although I haven't used it yet, I feel like there are so many stories you could tie in with fish: Jonah, the feeding of the 5,000, fishers of men, creation, the symbol of the early church. We're starting up our regular classes after the summer break, and now I really want to find a way to tie these in! =)

 

 

Free Printable of Daniel for Sunday School

Happy Fourth of July!  This is such a wonderful (but crazy hectic) time of year for us!  A visit to all the grandparents, aunts and uncles has been a joy!  It's always bittersweet going back to your hometown and see all the familiar sights and faces, yet there's so much that has changed and, in fact, you yourself aren't the same person you used to be either...  Moving is strange like that, I suppose.

 

But more to the point of this post, I've been noticing an increased interest in Sunday School printables, so I want to share more with you today.  We've decided to take our Sunday School down a notch or two during the summer.  The barn-turned-community center we're meeting in has a great playground just outside that the kids can't resist this time of year!  The teachers still bring a craft and have a story, but it's much more relaxed!  One of the last lessons we completed before our break was that of Daniel in the Lion's Den and I thought I'd pass along the printable of the craft we made to go with it. 

 

 

 

Before I get too far, though, I thought this was a good re-telling of the story:

Daniel Retelling

 And of course, there's always Veggie Tales!

But the original story is from the book Daniel chapter 6. If you're not super familiar with it, it makes more sense if you read the five chapters previous.

 

To set up, I moved the tables into a big square and threw a bunch of pillows in the center to create a "den" that the kids all climbed into to hear the story that morning.  They had a ball all pretending to be lions! 

 

To complete the craft, after everything is colored in as you want it, cut the paper vertically to separate the den section, then the opening in the ceiling. 

 

Next cut the outline of Daniel out.  Attach yarn/string to the back of Daniel's hand for him to hold on to as he is lowered into (and later raised from) the den. 

 

I like to tape the other end of the string to the back of the rectangle, too so pieces don't get separated.  Then all together it works as a teaching tool as your reading the story or for the little ones to play with later.

 

Click on image below for full sized printable:

 

 

 

 

 



There are so many great Sunday School programs out there, but sometimes you just need one story, and for that purpose, I hope some of you can find this useful!  I hope we can impart to our kids what faith looks like and how awesome and in-control our God is! He knows what we're going through and when we choose to be faithful, just like Daniel.

Triple Valentines! Free Printables

Victory!  For those of you who have not been following of late, I have been having much difficulty with (what I thought) was my printer.  After countless hours on the phone with tech support, near tears moments when I just had to walk away for a while, and reboots, I am pleased to say that I printed something today!!!  It took a factory reset on my computer, but I think we're finally past this battle. 

All this to apologize.  I have three Valentines options that I've been wanting to share with you, but have not been able to with this whole fiasco.  While I know I've completely missed the school crowd, I'm choosing to still post these in the chance that someone might still be able to use them before Sunday, or save the ideas for next year!

While contemplating this post, I realized that I really couldn't remember the origins of Valentines Day.  That meant I had to study up for the multitude of "why" questions that always accompany holidays in this house!  I read from History Channel's page that there were as many as three Saint Valentines, but the most popular legends claim one of two events.  First, the Roman Empire chose to ban marriage for young men as they found relationship free men to be better soldiers.  Saint Valentine saw this as unjust and married young couples in secret.  The second thought was that while the young Christian Valentine was in a Roman prison, he slipped a note out to his love and signed it with, "from your Valentine." 

1) Entirely Homemade: this one you'll need to start ahead of time a couple weeks to allow the paper to dry.  But basically our goal was to buy nothing! 

Paper: We saved paper scraps, pencil shavings, and even some natural elements and filled up our blender's pitcher.  Then we filled in around it with water and blended it until it was a fairly smooth paste.  Then we spread it out as thin as we could on a window screen (that had torn last summer and since been replaced) and waited for it to dry!  I set it up on a pan to allow air to flow underneath.

Ink: Leftover frozen blackberries from last summer were thawed, smooshed (kids' favorite part!) and strained into a small jar.

Quill: We used one pheasant feather and one seagull (?) feather, the latter of which had a much larger shaft (could hold more ink). 

 I somewhat simplified Sun Hats and Wellie Boots' instructions by shearing off some of the down and vane , clipping an angle then clipping flat the tip.  Ending with a vertical slit up the shaft.

They loved making little cards with all the elements they had put together all by themselves!  I feel like that kind of independence is so liberating!

2) Sunday School Dragonfly:  "We love because He first loved us" 1st John 4:19 is inscribed on dragonfly wings to focus on how this holiday of love can even be possible.  Two quick slits allow a lollipop stick to weave through to create the body of the dragonfly.  Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge and print:

3) Woodland Critters Valentine: This is what my little ones are giving all their friends.  I decided to leave the template black and white so each could be colored individually.  I think it makes it just that much more special for the recipient!  Another option would be to print it on colored paper of your choice. 

 The same basic idea of two slits is used to weave a pencil through to make sense of the phrase, "Valentine, you're just WRITE for me!"  Click on the image below to enlarge and save:

I hope you have such a lovely Valentines day and can find much joy in celebrating the love in your life!

Involving the Wee Ones in the Thanksgiving Fun (Plus a Free Printable!)

My Helpers getting ready for the Grandparents' arrival!

 

Wow, is it ever a Monday!  Whew!  And just before Thanksgiving, no less!  Actually, that thought is making me feel happier!  I'm so excited for Thanksgiving this year!  This is the first year since we've been married to have this holiday with ALL our family (AND some new friends!) together.  And its going to be in our tiny house!  Yeah it's going to be cozy! =)

 

Maybe I should be a little more stressed, but for whatever reason, I'm not really feeling it!  And I'm grateful for that.  My simple goal is that one will leave with empty stomachs or hearts.

 

One of the jobs I love as a Mom is the tradition maker/keeper.  I get to bring and teach the meaning of these holidays to our little ones.  The past several years we'd already been covered in feet of snow and ice, so this has been a bit of a new feel to Thanksgiving this year.  Trying to keep it simple and fun (we are dealing with toddlers/preschools after all) here are some of the ways I've tried to get them involved and just keep the celebration fun.

 

1. Thankful Tree: tried and true idea, new printable!  We did this with our play group last year and for the last several on our own.  You can just draw leaves on or cut them out and glue them on.  I'm going to try to have our oldest write out his own thankful words to put on the tree this year as he's just starting to figure that out!  If you open the blank tree in a new tab, it should be big enough to print out for your own thankfulness.

 

2. Coffee Filter Leaves:  As I mentioned before, colorful leaves were a scarce commodity by the time Thanksgiving rolled around in Fairbanks, so these colorful substitutions were a fun craft for the littles.  I cut out a simple leaf shape from a small stack of filters, drew the veins on some in permanent marker the set the young 'uns loose with their watercolors.  It's fun to watch the colors bleed so well into the loose filter paper.  We tried to stick to autumn colors, but our little lady was bound and determined to have a blue leaf this year!  They also look very nice in a window with the light shining through!

 

 

3. Leaf snack bowls: our super creative friend invited us over to make these fun little bowls!  I love how they turned out!  We rolled out oven baked clay, pressed a leaf into the clay then removed the leaf to leave it's impression.  After trimming the edges, we gently pressed them into oven safe bowls to give them shape and let them cook according to the clay package directions (I believe it was 15 min. at 350).  Once they had cooled, we did a coat of acrylic paint, then a metallic top coat.  I think they turned out so cute and we are definitely setting them out on Thursday!

 

 

4. Pumpkin Votives: I was seeing this idea online in several places and thought it would be a fun, quick addition to the tablescape.  I did have to go buy the right drill bit (1 1/2" to fit a standard tea light candle).  Actually, my husband and son took over this project on their own!  I love it when the guys get excited about these types of projects!  The only things I would warn is not to get too small of gourds: they just crack.  And then just be careful not to drill too deep!

 

 

 

I had plans for thankful list napkin holders or placemats and coloring sheets for the kids, but my printer machine decided to bite the dust last night!  And I still need to find a good story of Thanksgiving to read (any suggestions?) As far as setting the table, I usually just like to use what we already have laying around like harvested ptarmigan feathers, pinecones, doilies and gourds.  Those all feel so autumn-ey to me!  If you'd like to see how the day comes together for us, check out our instagram account https://www.instagram.com/growwildmychild/ 

 

More fun ideas for the day of Thanksgiving:

 

1. Coloring page

2. Hidden Pictures

3. Thankful List Silverware Sleeve

4. Trail Mix and Poem

 

 

 



 

Autumn Trio: Printable Nature Art

Quick post today because my kids want to go on a picnic and, well, priorities.  I wanted to give you some free autumn printables should you so desire.  If all goes as planned, high quality prints will soon be available at my Etsy shop's grand re-opening!  Click on the photo to open the larger version. I hope you enjoy and cherish this day!

Healing the Hurts: Free Play Bandage Printable

Our daughter isn’t even two and her caretaker instinct sure has kicked in.  She makes sure everyone has all their food at meal times before she starts, things are shared evenly, gives the best hugs and makes sure each cut and scrape is urgently tended to. I think every little one can have most of their minor wounds miraculously healed by an adhesive bandage (trying to avoid brand-names!), but she wants to make sure everyone else has one, too!  And her dolls, and stuffed animals, and sometimes the wall… And, boy can the cost of bandages adds up quick!  Especially when you pick up those cute character ones.  We want to teach her that bandages aren’t stickers, but encourage her caring heart as well.

Then last week I found a pack of 300 labels (I used Avery 1” x 2 5/8”) and decided to whip up a pretend-play alternative.  Feel free to print and play with this pattern any way you like!  It’s saving us a pretty penny while our little one is saving the world as it is in her mind!  I’m rounding here, but we went from each bandage costing 30 cents to only 2!
 

Click here to open printable sheet

All these bandages got her brother talking about doctors and nurses, what’s the difference and who’s better.  Naturally (being a nurse) I set him straight! =)  But then I was realistic and explained how they work together with a whole team of helpers to try to increase the health of others and themselves.  And now, he wants to be a doctor!  Who knows what might come of a sheet of play bandages!? 

Although not outdoors, one of our adventures this week included driving out to the science museum in Portland (OMSI).  I feel like a lot of their exhibits were over our little ones’ heads, but I still love the concepts their observing.  I remember not enjoying reading the placards at the museums growing up, but then when I later read about concepts in textbooks, I could visualize them because of what I had already seen.  So hopefully it will stick with them!  I’m only disappointed we didn’t even get to the human body exhibit!  I think they really would have picked up a lot as it’s something they’re interested in right now.  Just too much to see!  I guess we’ll have to go back! =)

Are you looking for more pretend medical play ideas?  Check out these free doctor's office exam forms, and this great freebie idea for play x-ray print outs!  Sure to be hours of fun!  Or even better, make your next doctor's office slightly less traumatic.