It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Today was the first morning that I woke up and didn't have to get ready for work or take the kids to school. It was bliss. I opened my eyes and immediately felt jazzed about the day, and the next ten to come. No work, no school. I guess one of the truest perks of working (beyond income) is that it really makes you appreciate spending time with family.

The morning started with cookies being made, honey labelled with ribbons for gifts,and last minute wrappings of some felted ornaments that we have been making in the afternoons and evenings.

We met with friends for lunch at their home, and enjoyed spending time and exchanging gifts. This was one of the handmade gifts from my friend (above.) Isn't she so talented?! It is one of the most beautiful ornaments I have ever received. Today we took pictures of our children in front of the tree for their ninth year together. We have done this every year since they were born, and it is something that is a hallmark of Christmas for me now.

Every year, I remember the years before when they were all so much smaller, when somebody fell apart, when the picture was less than perfect, and we shook our heads and took the picture anyway. It is such a lovely way to capture each year as it passes in a tradition of being together and being who we are.

Presents aren't under the tree in our home yet, but there have been many closed doors in the house though out the past couple of weeks, with whispering and planning. Tomorrow is the day. Things will be wrapped and placed. There will be inspections by the 5 and 8 year old. What has their name on it and does it rattle when shaken?

A gift for our solstice this year from my parents. It is an heirloom that will be cherished. We grew up with one of these on our table every winter, and the candles were always lit for Christmas dinner. I was so touched, and we have lit it each night since the solstice. It has been an unspoken dream of mine to have one for our family, and now we do.

So.... I'd like to wish you all Happy Holidays. It's my hope that they are filled with peace, joy, and love where ever you are in this world. Many blessings.

Fairyland

My daughter received a wonderful gift from my parents which has inspired hours of play on her part. Many of the items within the gift were ones that my parents or my husband and I could have made (had we the time.) The mantra was "simplify" though, and the investment was well worth it. These tree blocks and furniture for the fairies, along with some small baskets, green wool roving, and a family of little felt gnomes were the contents of the gift.

There were some additions that were not purchased items, but things collected from outside. My mom and daughter glued some pine cones and bark for trees. They made their own little table and chairs with twigs and bark. Then my daughter added in her little felted bunny, and we felted food for the baskets. Really, it has inspired additional creativity and endless variations of imaginary play. The most important part has been that it has contributed to all inside play during these twenty degree days. There is no dollar value that can be placed on a mama's sanity.

This is one of my favorite kinds of gifts for my children. (I've become kind of picky after nearly seven years of watching toys come in my door.) It's important to me that toys generate imaginative play, but also allow my children to create the "stage" for the play as much as possible. It seems that the less "props," the better. Shoe boxes become sleds, blocks become houses, wide open oceans and pastures are created with blankets, fabrics, or silks. I am realizing that less is really more. My children are teaching me all along the way.

Since the holiday stress is over, I'm ready to try my hand at making a few fairies of my own. I borrowed a lovely book from a friend that I plan to use to make some of my own. It's titled "Felt Wee Folk: enchanting projects" and written by Salley Mavor. If I didn't already have many of the supplies, plus the book to guide me along, I would most likely purchase this little kit. It seems very fairly priced, and similar to what I envision making for my little girl's birthday in just 3 months.

So, how about you all? Was there a favorite gift for your child, grandchild, niece, or nephew? Sometimes the most unlikely things are the biggest hit. I know, don't tell me. Your two year old was just enamoured by the cardboard box and that one year old? All you needed to give him was wrapping paper to crumple again and again. It really is amazing isn't it? Kids need so little to entertain them.

Giving up the goods

Alrighty, then. It's time to share some of what we created before the holidays, now that it's no longer "top secret." There really were some good reasons for why I was so tired the other day. Even though I did simplify, there were still gifts I wanted to make, and I'm glad I did. It is gratifying for me to give handmade. The excitement of making something for someone is what jazzes me up. I love to make things and give them to people, but find I have less and less time for it.

I needle felted an entire flock of birds, but neglected to take pictures of most of them before I gave them away. There was a cardinal, a gold finch, a chickadee, this blue bird, and a brown robin (of course.) Then I got busy on a honey bee for my husband, and this sweet little cat for my sister. Needle felting can be a wee bit obsessive, but I love sitting quietly and being toasty warm when I work. My sewing "porch" is drafty and I would much rather be curled up on the couch or my bed this time of year. Really, these ornaments were my selfish pursuit of evening meditation.

My daughter, who has gotten really good at felting cookie cutter ornaments wanted to make her own three dimensional animal. I explained some of the concepts to her, and she barely paused. She's six and half years old and felted this bunny, almost entirely by herself! Then she needed some food for the bunny...

The month of December is really not complete until my husband and I make beeswax candles. Making candles was one of the nice parts of the snow storm. Between the two of us, we melted and poured almost six pounds of bees wax. That's a lot of candles!

This was my first time to purchase sheets of beeswax for rolled candles from Brushy Mountain Bee Farms. We buy all of our beekeeping supplies and beeswax from them; they are a wonderful North Carolina small business. Then I found some polymer clay "cookie" cutters. We stamped these shapes and my daughter rolled the candles and put different shapes on simply by applying pressure (sometimes with the warmth of a hair dryer to help in melt in a little.) This activity was a little frustrating for my outgoing three year old, but a thrill for my six year old.

During nap time one afternoon, I made peppermint bees wax lip balm. This is something I've wanted to try for a long time. I bought a $20 kit from Brushy Mtn. It was easy peasy and so much fun! Now I want to experiment more with other recipes and try some body balms as well. I was simply amazed at how well the lip balm turned out, and between beeswax candles and beeswax lip balm, I had plenty of teacher and friend gifts. (Just so you know, all the ingredients and the containers, plus the recipe came in the kit.)



For teachers, I made each a little quilted zip pouch with a container of lip balm tucked in side, along with another treat or two.

I had big plans of making more for my friends and sisters, but that was one of the things that got nixed in the interest of simplifying.

Now, if you haven't had enough yet, come back tomorrow and I'll share just a little more.

Gratitude necklaces and corn husk dolls

We have been busy little bees. Everyone in our family helped with the makings of these. The kids gathered acorns, daddy drilled the holes, and I felted many little colorful balls. We call them our gratitude necklaces and it really was such a fun project to work on together. Honest. We made about 60, enough for all of the children in both kids' classes, plus some to share with friends.

We sent in a little note to the teachers of both classes for them to read when they hand out the necklaces if they chose. It said:

Bears, squirrels, and deer all feel grateful when they find acorns on the ground for their food.

These necklaces can be a little reminder of the things and people in our lives that we are grateful for.

Our son and daughter were so excited to take them to share with their friends at school. It made the effort worth it. My favorite part, though, was how it engaged us as a family. We were all focused on our little project, and it inspired a sense of pride in even our youngest when our task was accomplished. Last night, my husband and I stayed up talking while we glued and threaded necklaces together. If only life could be so simple all the time.

These are the corn husk dolls that we made yesterday in preparation for a craft project that I am leading at my daughter's school today. A very nice tutorial explains the process here. Now, my six year old wants to make a horse to go with the dolls. Hmmm. I hadn't counted on that, but we might have to give it a go.

So... we are looking forward to the holiday tomorrow and through the weekend. We will be spending time with several dear friends... sharing meals, walking in the woods, and maybe even a little crafting. My wish for each of you is a peaceful and joy filled holiday. I will be reminding myself to slow down and take a moment to consider all that I am grateful for.

Heads up for a sweet little giveaway!

Happy Fourth of July, friends! This at Crafty Crow... sorry it's such short notice. You have till midnight tonight to leave a comment on her post. Hope that you're having a wonderful and relaxing weekend. So far, so very nice around here.

kids love to felt

I have discovered that kids LOVE to needle felt! Upon a suggestion from my friend, a Montessori teacher, we brought out the cookie cutters for our adventure. I also later learned from Golden Sun Family that you can use chop sticks to hold the felt out of the way of these painfully sharp needles.

For our crafting event, long time friends came over to join us. As is often the case, this mama and I were on exactly the same page. She had planned to felt with cookie cutters, as well, after reading about it in Jenn Docherty's new book, "Sweet Needle Felts: 25 Projects to Wear, Give, and Hug."

Our five and six year old daughters had no trouble getting the hang of felting within the cookie cutter. Soon they were creating their own work, adding wool and colors as they pleased. Each girl, I think, suffered one needle poke, but it was all they needed to learn and really no big deal.

They made several beautiful pieces. To some, we glued pin backs on. These looked so sweet on various friend's and family member's jackets. They would also make wonderful ornaments.

Of course, I had to give it a try with my trusty elephant cookie cutter. I love that little guy. (I swear I didn't have kids just so I could have an excuse to sit around and craft!) So... in Jenn Docherty's book, there is instruction for putting your felted object on a t-shirt. I gave it a try, and it turned out pretty cute. You simply needle felt the object onto the stretchy t-shirt with the foam underneath. Easy peasy. Then I hand sewed a button on for an eye. Now, I have to see how it washes. Stay tuned for more detail on that.

I definitely see more needle felting in our future. I can't rave enough about how inexpensive and fun it is.

(P.S. for you locals, this book is in our library system... go check it out!)

(P.P.S. I did wash this shirt in cold with my machine which has an agitator, and hung it to dry. It turned out great!)

brown robin... felted, that is

You just wouldn't believe the little pile of wool this was before I made my feathered friend. I should have taken a picture. This newest undertaking for me has been a wonderful diversion from the winter blah's. It comes together really quickly and is so satisfying, like a good pot of chili. It's a very inexpensive adventure, as well. A huge bag of wool, plus the needle, plus the foam pad was all of ten dollars. I have plenty of wool to make several more. Holiday ornaments for next year? That would put me more ahead of the game than I've ever been in my life.



My friend who introduced me to this latest bit of crafting checked out two books from our local library which she shared with me. They're both fantastic, and super helpful. The first is Wool Pets by Laurie and Kevin Sharp and the second, is titled Little Felted Animals by Marie-Noelle Horvan. You can bet I'll be checking them out once I reach the top of the wait list.



Now I'm wondering if my almost six year old could try her hand at felting. I was inspired by this lovely woman's blog. In this post, her daughters made a felted landscape with some help from their grandmother. My sweet girl is chomping at the bit. She asked repeatedly if she could try when I was working on the robin. I kept telling her I didn't think it was a good idea. Now I'm reconsidering. Speaking from experience, it really hurts when you prick yourself with that needle. On the other hand, a needle piercing probably won't lead to death, and she's really good at fine motor work. (She's been weaving up a storm on her little loom from Christmas. ) I have a Montessori teacher that knows my daughter really well whom I could consult. Hmmmm...