DE-STASHING CONTEST

I’ve found another batch of books from my stash that I want to GIVE AWAY. Hot Diggity! Another contest is born.

annies-pattern-club-number-43 This is Annie’s Pattern Club #43. In this batch, there are 5 other Annie’s Pattern Club books and a digest sized Red Heart ‘Super Simple Fashions to Knit and Crochet’. These are all in great condition and in need of a good home. Could that home be yours??

To win this stash batch, you gotta jump through a hoop or two. Here’s the contest:

Planning ahead to Christmas. We have to start now if we want to crochet some great Christmas gifts. What I want you to do is find a special Christmas themed doily that’s a free pattern somewhere on the internet. Post a LINK and the NAME of the doily (if it has a name) in the comment section of this blog article. In addition, send an email to me ([email protected]) containing your name, snail mail address, and the link to the doily pattern.

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON please! Any skill level, size, or shape doily is fine so long as it’s Christmas themed. That would include things like angels and snowmen in addition to Christmas trees, stars, Santa, reindeer, elves, etc. So, while the category is flexible, it needs to be clearly linked in some manner to Christmas.

Further, I’d LOVE for you to find a doily that is special to YOU and some tradition or heritage shared in your home. Please include that information – say, you’re of Swedish heritage and you find a doily that contains a traditional Swedish Christmas theme. Briefly explain the reason the design is special to you so that we’ll all understand. No need to write a book, here. Just a brief explanation should suffice.

REMEMBER THAT THE WINNING ENTRY WILL BE DETERMINED BY ME ALONE. I have my prejudices. That’s just the way it is. DO NOT SEND THE LINK OR PHOTO IN AN ATTACHMENT. BE SURE TO PUT ‘CROCHET CONTEST’ IN THE SUBJECT LINE, PLEASE!

Hope I’m not making this too complicated. It should be FUN rather than work. I’m looking forward to seeing what you send me. BTW – a link to an original design of your own is fine. Does not have to have been previously published on the web.

PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS IN YOUR EMAIL TO ME!

PLEASE honor design copyright guidelines (laws) and do not link a pattern from a page depicting a published work appearing in a book or magazine – the kind that one can find easily on Russian sites (and others too). These will be deleted, rendering your entry ineligible. Entries linked from other free pattern sites are fine as are entries from blogs, other websites, and other online sources offering free crochet patterns.

The contest will run from today through Saturday, August 15, 2009. Winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

Have you read?