STAIN!

A couple days ago, I decided to make a holster pocket for my new cap gun that I bought a week before. I had just enough leather to make one. I had made a holster for my old gun, but it was too small. After the new holster pocket was done, I tried it on, and it fit perfectly! Now all I needed to do was stain it, and it would look just right.

I asked Mom if we had any leather stain, and after looking for some, she said there was none. We were a little disappointed, but Mom said we could make some stain out of black walnuts. Black walnuts are one of my favorite kinds of nuts to eat. They can be used to put in banana bread and cookies. You can also roast and eat them, too. Settlers used the nuts for stew, to snack on, and to grind up to make their bread.

Isaac and I got a bucket and went down to the bottom of the cow field to look for some. A walnut tree can grow up to 100 feet tall! That’s a tall tree. The wood from the tree is made into furniture, like chairs and cabinets. There was a walnut tree that fell a couple weeks ago, so Isaac and I got the nuts that fell off the tree. 

We got the black nuts that were heavy and not dried out. When we got about ten to twenty nuts, we took them to the house, and put enough water in with them to cover them by a couple inches. Then came the hard part. We left them to sit for a few days. 

It is hard to be patient and wait.

I am getting ready to try out the new stain. The walnuts turned the water black, and it doesn’t look very pretty, but when it is out of the bucket on a piece of hide, it looks perfect! 

I am glad Mom told us how to make the stain, and when it runs out, I will be sure to make more.

~Jonah