What you need to do:
For the basket, start with a 25-foot piece of 1/4-inch jute rope. To make the base, coil the rope, using glue to hold it together as she goes, into a 4 1/2inch circle. Begin gluing the rope on top of the outer ring. Continue building the sides by adding glue every
1 to 2 inches, until the basket is 4 1/2 inches tall.
To make the ears, bend the rope into an ear shape, then glue it to the rope on the layer below and on either side of the ear. Leave a 2-inch space, then repeat for the second ear. Trim the end, glue it down, and let it dry.
Draw the eyes onto the white craft paper with a marker; glue in place.
Glue a 12-inch piece of rope to the back bottom edge of the basket to make the tail.
Your pretty basket is ready.
If you are bored with your old pen-stand or sewing kit, this cute rope basket is your perfect solution.
Rila Monastery was founded in the 10th century by St John of Rila, a hermit who was canonized by the Orthodox church.
The hermit lived not far from the monastery’s location, while the complex was built by his students, who came to the mountains to receive education.
His ascetic dwelling and tomb became a holy site and were transformed into a monastic complex. Destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 19th century, the complex was rebuilt between 1834 and 1862.
The main church of the monastery was built by architect Pavel Ioanov, who worked on it from 1834 to 1837.
Situated in the southwestern Rila Mountains, 117 km south of the capital Sofia in the deep valley of the Rilska River at an elevation of 1,147 m above sea level, inside of Rila Monastery Nature Park, the monastery is one of the symbols of Bulgaria and is also a popular tourist destination.
Built on an 8800 sqm area, the holy cloister includes the church, t he monastery courtyard, the Birth of the Virgin Mary Temple, Hrelyo’s Tower, the museum, the residential and the farming buildings. There are around 300 rooms in the monastery.
The museum of the Rila Monastery is famous for housing a wooden cross decorated with exquisite miniature wood-carvings by Father Rafail.
The master wood-carver used the finest chisels and tools and worked for years until he finished his masterpiece in 1802, when he lost his sight as a result of the hard toil. It depicts 36 biblical scenes – 18 on each side, and over 600 miniature figures.
In 1961, the monastery gained the status of a national museum and in 1983, it was included in the list of world cultural heritage of Unesco.