Recreating the Declaration Room in the House of The Bab

A couple of years ago, for the Declaration of the Bab, the kids and I made these stained glass windows. They took awhile to put together (if you don't have cats or toddlers you can probably do it in less than half the time it took us, which was approximately 3 full days)  and are super fragile but are infinitely worth it. We have used them both for community functions as well as at home and they really do help promote a special ambiance. These is something both magical and spiritual about these windows, especially when the light filters through the "stained glass" frames and you add a samovar and flowers and prayers- suddenly it is as if you are there, in the house of the Bab, in Shiraz.

Since we have done this, especially over the last year, I have had countless people asking how we made them. So, for everyone wondering, here's what we did.

You will need: 15 sheets of poster board in brown.
4 packets of tissue paper in blue, green, white and red.
Glue that you can paint around the edges of the stained glass shapes.
A paint brush (fingers also work fine.)
A craft scalpel (I used the blade from a Fiskars Paper cutter as this was what I had and was also safer for the kids. You could use scissors but it would be harder.)
Tape. (I used a small roll of colored duct tape.)
A picture of the room in which the Bab declared His Mission.
Scissors for cutting the tissue paper.
A pencil and ruler for marking the design on the poster board.
Velcro dots and a curtain rod to hang the windows from (or another method of your choice.)

Step 1.
Place 3 poster boards on the floor, back side up and tape them together. Make sure that they just barely touch so that when you want to fold them for storage they will still be able to bend easily. Do this another four times so that you have 5 panels with 3 poster boards in each.

Step 2). If you want them to be perfect you will need to measure the poster board and plot the individual stained glass portions of the window in relation to the overall size of the board, using the picture of the Bab's house as a reference. With a cat walking across my work surface and children hanging off of me I let perfection go and just measured out the centre of the top poster board, and positioned the main square in the middle. I roughly eyeballed the rest of the pattern making sure to leave enough space to stick the tissue paper down.

For the bottom two pieces of poster board I used the line where the poster board was stuck together as my centre and again measured the rectangles that went in the middle and estimated the rest of the pattern. Does that make sense?

Step 3). Once you have the first of the five panels drawn up, cut out around all of your shapes with a cutter or craft scalpel. Use this panel as the template to make the rest. So just go ahead and stick this on your other panels and, using a lead pencil, trace around the "stained glass" pattern (like a stencil). Then simply cut them out.

 Step 4). Refer to the picture of the Bab's house to check your colour scheme. Essentially you will be making two predominately blue panels, two green and one red. Cut pieces of tissue paper that will fit the portions of the stained glass panels you wish to fill -making sure that the colours don't go past the brown edging.

 Step 5). Using your fingers or a paintbrush place glue around the edges of the "stained glass" areas you want to fill and stick the pre-cut pieces of tissue paper down.

 Step 6). Place Velcro dots on the back of the panels and attach to a curtain rod (approximately 2-2.5 meters). Hang the panels. Add finishing touches: photos, prayer books, flowers, candles, samovar, etc.

 Step 7). Stand back and admire your work.

It makes an incredible place to say early morning or late night prayers on Holy Days.

The Declaration of The Bab (a little bit late)

We have been in a mad scramble around here (I know - what's new?) and, like usual, I wanted to post about what we did for the Declaration of the Bab not only because it worked so well, but because of how simple it was to organize. Leading up to the day I had been reading the story of Mulla Husayn to the kids (the one found in The Three Crowns) but hadn't had a chance to plan anything special for the occasion. That night, as we were late finishing off the dinner dishes and the kids were all acting overtired and emotional I decided I wouldn't try to rush and race them to the community commemoration and that we would do something simple at home. But what?...

Because the evening is all about the Bab declaring that He is a Manifestation of God and is interwoven with Mulla Husayn's search to find Him that became the focus and inspiration. First we lit candles and said prayers. We talked more about the Bab's story after watching a couple of you tube presentations and then I brought them into the dining room and placed 18 jewel-like gemstones on the table. (I grabbed these from the beading box moments before. Any type of bead or shiny, special, object would work providing that you had one of the same type of thing but in a different physical shape - you'll see why in a second.) I asked the kids what they thought that these "jewels" represented. There were a couple of random guesses but once they worked out that there were 18 they quickly realized they represented The Letters of the Living (the first 18 individuals to recognize The Bab through their own personal searches). One jewel was shaped like a crystal while the rest were octagonal and I asked them who the crystal represented. They immediately said Tahirih (the only woman and the only one to never meet the Bab face to face - she recognized Him in a dream.) We talked about how the other jewels were all the same shape (all men) and how they were different colors. We talked about how even though they were all special gems that they had different capacities and different destinies, different roles to play in the unfoldment of Babi history. I asked each of the children to choose one gemstone, which they then gave back to me. I told them that I was going to put a small lamp somewhere in the house and place their gemstones around it. Like the letters of the Living they were going to have to search for this lamp. Once they found it they could retrieve their gemstone but they were not to tell anyone what they had found. Like Mulla Husayn they would be bound to secrecy. Each of them would have to find the lamp (The Bab) for themselves. They would have to follow their hearts, spread out and search.
I "hid" the lamp in plain sight and then turned out all the lights to represent the darkness of that time.  I told the children that The Bab too was hidden in plain sight. He was there all the time but it was the superstitions of the people and the darkness of the age that hid Him from view. The older kids each took a candle from the prayer table to help them search. Maryam got a flashlight. Their light represented their faith and their belief in the Promised One and it was their light that would lead them to The Bab (the lamp). Are you with me?

I hovered in the shadows while the children searched. After about 5 minutes Anisa found  it. She was so excited that she called out: "I found it!" as she grabbed her gemstone. At this point I intervened, collected her gemstone and hid the lamp and stones again. I'm mean like that. It was actually great that this happened because it gave us the opportunity to talk about how wonderful it feels to find something, especially something that you are really searching for, that you want with all your heart and that you know others are searching for too. As well as how hard it would be to keep it a secret. Anisa, especially, really appreciated how difficult keeping the Bab's identity a secret would have been for Mulla Husayn.

As it happened, after another five minutes she was the first to find it again. While she was pleased as punch about that little fact she did a wonderful job of keeping the secret. Bayan and Ruhi kept searching over the same areas convinced that the Lamp was somewhere there. I reminded them repeatedly that Mulla Husayn (and everyone else for that matter) was told to leave his home and search far and wide aka: expand your search. Bayan was the next to find the lamp and Ruhi was the last. Something that she was very disappointed about because she was the oldest. Again this provided great opportunities for discussion. We talked about Quddus (who was the last individual to recognize the Bab) and how his name, out of the 18 Letters of the Living, is one of the most recognized. We talked about how his story inspires others and about the greatness of his destiny. It didn't matter whether he was the eighth or the eighteenth, the point was that he recognized The Bab and that he achieved such greatness and fulfilled his destiny.
We ended with a prayer and then had tea and refreshments and even though it was very last minute, they got more out of this activity that I could have possibly anticipated.

I am so excited to do it again and I would love to try it with exactly 18 kids... Maybe next year...

Post script: We actually did this two years ago now and last year I got the opportunity to try it with extra kids, not quite 18, but close. What I found is that, unless you have a huge house or a large space where people can really spread out it is much more effective to do with a smaller group of kids simply because they have to search for themselves and will be less likely to follow others or to see where someone else gets it if they wander in at the same time. I was also - so I thought- better prepared and found green gemstones that we used to represent the male Letters of the Living and a green star for Tahirih. Though I think I prefer the different colors of the same shape as it lends itself to further discussion on the different capacities and destinies of these distinguished individuals. If you try this please let me know what you think.

Cats, Cookies and Coupons

We have had a busy and pretty frugal Ayyam-i-Ha, but it has been fabulous and fun for the kids and filled with purpose for all of us.

We started with our annual countdown calendar which the kids love. Bayan really got into the spirit this year
and I love how Maryam is old enough now to start 'getting it'. Each day we alternated between a quote and activity and a little "gift" (generally things that are useful or things that they need). For anyone who is interested here is what we did:

Day 1: Quote: "Do not be content with showing friendship in words alone, let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path." ~ Bahaú'llah  (The kids had a long play date with friends while Mehran and I attended a financial planning meeting. Thank you Martha!!!)

Day 2: New pencils

Day 3: Quote: "Ye are the stars in the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men."  ~Bahaú'llah (Star gazing, we have a telescope that was given to us ages ago that doesn't get much use... this seemed like a good occasion, of course laying on a blanket and gazing at stars would work too.)

Day 4: New toothbrushes

Day 5: "From the sweet scented streams of Thine eternity give me to drink o my God and of the fruits of the tree of Thy being enable me to taste. o my hope..." (Went to the Boost Juice Bar and had fruit smoothies.)

Day 6: Chapstick

Day 7:  Quote: "Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul..." ~ Ábdu'l-Baha (Flashlight tag)

Day 8:Chewing Gum

Day 9: Quote: "Cause me to taste, O my Lord, the divine sweetness of Thy remembrance and praise." ~Bahaú'llah (Sharing a homemade cake, talking about the Faith and playing with friends.)

Day 10: Hair ties and mini machiene

Day 11: Quote: "Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbour and look upon him with a bright and friendly face."
(We made cookies and brought them over to the neighbours and then invited them back for a playdate.)

Day 12: Quote: "Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths."~ Bahaú'llah (We went to a swimming centre with some friends. They had 2 $ entry, unlimited use of the pools, a free bouncy castle and wipe out style obstacle course in the big pool for the kids. They had a blast!)

Day 13: A gold coin

Day 14: Quote: "you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the acquisition of science and arts. The greater your attainment, the higher your standard in the divine purpose. "

`~'Abdu’’l-Baha (We were supposed to make gifts and things for friends but we only wound up brainstorming ideas...)

Day 15:Special erasers and a pencil sharpener

Day 16: Screen Time Coupons (The kids got a coupon for 1 hour of screen time)

Day 17: Quote: "The beloved Guardian says every pioneer who is going out of his community for pioneering is not only inspiring and useful to his future post but is also going to be a source of help and inspiration in his own community." ~The Universal House of Justice (More on this later)

Day 18: Stickers for making cards for friends

Day 19: A special treasure hunt with friends

Then for Ayyam-i-Ha!!! In the days leading up to Ayyam-i-Ha I had made about 50 gift tags, using craft punches a jewels, which we put to various uses over the next few days.

Day 1
The kids knew that something special was planned for this day, something that Baba had to go out the night before and collect, something that they were not, under any circumstances, allowed to see. They had to stay in bed, or at best in their rooms. They did, and in the morning they got up to find their 'presents', as is custom, waiting for them on the breakfast table.

Bayan was the first one to clue in, he took one look at the beribboned Fancy Feast laying on his plate and in a shocked tone, with a twinkle in his eye, cried out: "Cat food!?" I mentioned that their might be additional information on their Ayyam-i-Ha gift tags... They flipped those tags over lickety split and susssed out that each had one word and that together, in the right order, these words would lead them to the real gift...

Which is where they found this:

Over a breakfast of omlette and pancakes Anisa came up with the name Twilight and everybody, after tossing around a few other ideas, agreed that this would be perfect. So, Twilight, the playful cat, has come to join the family and the kids could not be more thrilled, especially as we have been petless for some time. I am glad that we were able to save the sweet thing from a less than stellar end and Mehran was thrilled that she was free. Win, win, win.

I stayed up way later than I should have and made wrapping paper for the kids lunches and sent them off with these...

We have been reading the story  The |Ayyam-i-Ha Camel for years now and this year the children were visited by the camel each day.They were left a note which conatined a special "gift" such as generosity,gratitude, hospitality, service, etc with tips on ways to show it or use it during the day, she (the camel in the story is female) would write back about how she loved the ways they had used their gift before bestowing another, sometimes she left them camel kisses as well. While some may think that camel kisses are sloppy or disgusting, what with their tendancy to spit and all, the Ayyam-i-Ha Camel is quite different. Her kisses are made of chocolate (with the help of Hersheys) and are perfectly delightful. Just so you know.

While the older kids were at school, Maryam and I hosted some surprise visitors for an impromptu morning tea and later got busy in the kitchen making a plate of cookies to take to the police station after school. 

We wound up having more delightful visitors after school and wound up making our cookie service drop just before dinner. We made a card to go with it, thanking the police officers for their service and courage in keeping our community safe and told them all about Ayyam-i-Ha.

So glad we did this.

Day 2:

Was a bit of a rush in the morning, as the kids had school and I had to work. We did another "sharing present". I saw these stacked boxes at Christmas time and almost bought one, thinking that they would be perfect for Ayyam-i-Ha, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to pay $12  for them. My neighbour bought a few and knew  that I liked them so when they went on clearance she wresteled her way through the throng of post Christmas shoppers and grabbed one for me (less than 3 dollars, I might add) without even asking. We were away, but she knew. Bless you Ali.

After school we raced home to collect presents and cake for our annual, Ayyam-i-Ha gift exchange with friends, quickly whipped up one more "homemade" jar and drove into the hills for more Ayyam-i-Ha fun. I love how Maryam insisted on holding Leila's present the whole way there. 

The kids in each family took turns handing out presents to everyone.

Haleh made a fabulous cake which all the kids wolfed down. And we had lots of time to play.

Day3:

Anisa has been sharing her excitement with her classmates, who have been enjoying Ayyam-i-Ha viacriously through her, so after checking with her teacher, we prepared a llittle talk and organized a basket of chocolate lions for her to give out to her classmates. Bayan did the same. The kids recieved the Ayyam-i-Ha jar this morning, filled with fun things and outings to do throughout the year as a family. We were running late so I told them that there would be a little something else after school.

We have had bills coming out of the woodwork lately and the kids have so much stuff that Mehran and I really don't want to just give them more for the sake of giving them something, but they love gifts and I love giving them things so, with the quote: "The best thing to spend on your children is time." in mind, without spending a cent or adding to our clutter I made them a lucky dip bag with coupons (the advent calendar one went down really well) and put in things that I knew they would love: computer time, exchange for one chore, late night movie, lunch date, breakfast in bed, etc. The kids took turns pulling the coupons out of a gift bag. This went over really well. Bayan, as luck would have it, pulled out almost all of the computer time. He was super thrilled.

 I told the kids before we started that whatever they pulled out was what they got and that there was no double dipping, but that they could and may actually need to exchange a couple coupons. For instance Maryam pulled out a late night movie (which was not gonna work for her) so she did a trade with Ruhi

and Bayan really wanted a Lunch Date and Ruhi really wanted some computer time so they swapped. Then Bayan swapped his Late Night Movie for Anisa's computer time. (She loves those late night movies and he would do just about anything for extra computer time).

 It worked out well, lots of smiles and excitement, lots of cooperation and negotiation, nothing spent but time.

After our lucky dip we scarfed down some leftovers, so much for my plans for a special, five course,
 Ayyam-i-Ha dinner, but the girls had Bollywood dance practice and I had about 300 cookies to bake for the community Ayyam-i-Ha pool party I was helping to host the next day. I arrived late to drop off the girls as a friend had agreed to take them to the city for me so I could get started on the baking, (Thanks Haleh) so we swapped kids and I raced home with the intention of getting straight to the baking. The boys (Bayan and his sweet friend) were brilliant and totally entertained themselves thanks to one of the computer coupons. Maryam had other plans witch included me laying beside her while she drifted off to sleep...three times, but we are used to that around here. So the baking started at 7:15 and finished at 10:45. When the kids returned from Bollywood there were many taste testers to help determine quality and size so I knew I was on the right track and once they went to bed I started wrapping the cookie parcels up to give as party favors at the end. We brought a couple extra plates for the adults to enjoy as well.

Day 4:

The older kids got up a little later than intended, but that was ok because Maryam, my trusty sidekick, was up at 5 to help me finish wrapping the favors for the pool party, (Oh, and FYI, sticky tape does not stick to crepe paper - learned that the hard way)  it also gave me time to organize their final gifts and a quick treasure hunt as well as to write the note from the Ayyam-i-Ha camel (who was too tired from the night before to do it herself). They got their first and only individual gifts today and they were so excited.  Mostly it was just clothes for the older girls (which is what they wanted) a gently used pram for Maryam and a couple of outfits and Bayan got a shirt and science kit. I loved how he was grateful even for the shirt, as clothing doesn't really count as a "present" in his book and he was over the moon about his science slime kit.

Before they had breakfast they had a treasure hunt to complete for one last thing: new thongs (flip flops), even these they were thrilled about. Check out the smile. Bayan needed some new boy ones anyway as he had been wearing Ruhi's old Hello Kitty ones into the ground. Hello Kitty was long gone and they were black so'he felt they were socially acceptable but wow was he thrilled with an actual boy pair. I love how he brought his science kit along for the treasure hunt.

We had printer problems and so the camel note didn't eventuate after all, instead we had a brief discussion about hospitality in the car on the way to the pool, about how the camel was really impressed with the ways people practiced sharing on Friday and about the ways we could use today's gift of hospitality to welcome and bring happiness to others.

The pool party was lovely, less people than we had anticipated, but the weather was a bit cool and some poeple, sadly, called in sick. We had snacks and swimming and a bbq and were going to do some games as well, but the kids were so happy in the water (heated pools) that we just left them to it.

The boys enjoyed a cookie picnic while waiting for the party tables to arrive.

The little ones enjoyed playing chasey among the trees.

Ruhi was super helpful and, when she wasn't in the pool, was busy keeping Maryam entertained.

The kids got to practice some more hospitality by bringing a friend home after the party and Ayyam-i-ha ended with the childrens gifts this year: Coupons for each member of the family. Love the things they came up with

We didn't get to the food bank yet but will do that in the days ahead. Wishing everyone out there a very Happy Ayyam-i-Ha and a wonderful Fast.