Sewing with seven year olds

Santa brought her a Singer 1507 sewing machine for Christmas. It was the one thing she asked for, so I was very relieved that he got it right. She's had a ball with it. Although she's used my machine a few times, we started with the basics. I let her get used to the petal on her new machine first. We did this without threading the machine. She ran the pedal with her foot, hands under her bottom, until she was able to start slowly and maintain a steady rhythm. Then we put thread in the machine and worked on stopping, starting, and following lines drawn on paper (straight, curvy, and angles.) It was worth the time at the front end to explain some use and care of the machine, along with the mini tutorials. We talked about the fact that everybody has to practice if they want to get better at something. I think that's such an important insight for kids, so I slip it in whenever I can. (Once in a while, I get some eye rolling from them, but I think they appreciate the reminder!)

Next, she moved onto making fairy quilts. She pieced blocks of fabrics, designing her layout beforehand. She created the entire mini quilt, start to finish, and was so thrilled. She made about ten more. The part that absolutely awed me was how she went about quilting each one. I was actually a bit nervous at first. She ran the machine like she was running a race; she looked more than a bit like a mad artist. I stopped myself from saying anything about needles and fingers, and just watched. I realized that she was essentially free motion quilting, just like she's seen her mom do so many times. The even more extraordinary thing (which will only mean something to you if you sew) is that she never dropped the feed dog, AND her stitches looked great! Hmmmm. If only I sewed as well as her when I was seven.

(Another one of her quilts, a felt bird that she made, and the pincushion I made for her to use with her first machine.)

What daddy made him and why it's so amazing!

How cool is it when you're four and your dad makes you your own workbench? Especially if it's nicer than the average bear's! This creation has inspired hours of activity for our little guy. It has real child sized tools with it, including the safety glasses. It even has a handsaw that was his great grampy's. My favorite tool is the drill which is a Fiskar's old fashioned hand crank drill that really works. I've used it!

In this picture, he's got his piece of wood in the vice. It's cranked down and he hammers nails into the wood, saws it, drills it, colors it with markers.... you name it. When he was three, I remember starting to consider if little boys could be trusted to use tools safely. The resounding reply I got from several smart mamas was "ABSOLUTELY!!!"

Now that I see my little guy in action, I get it. He bangs on things anyway. He does big, loud, silly things. He takes risks that make me cringe sometimes, and I'm not a helicopter parent. He has this energy about him that is very, very boy. (Sorry to use the gender stereotype.) But... he can also be sweet and thoughtful and very directed in his activity. Giving him the responsibility for his own tools, the safe use of them, and a proper place to store them, has directed his energy and activity. Really. I'm a total convert. "Got some energy to get out? Why don't you go make something at your workbench, buddy." Bang, bang, bang. Everybody's happy.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Six more weeks of winter?! No way. We can't take it, so we're bribing our groundhog. A few carrots maybe? We dug these up yesterday! We were completely surprised and there were plenty of squeals. It's so much like an Easter egg hunt, digging up root vegetables. These had been totally forgotten about in our garden. They were seeded this summer and we only found them when we were getting a bed ready for potatoes. It never ceases to amaze me that our food can grow into something so sweet and crispy from a teeny tiny seed.

His gift to her

My husband totally gets little girls and fairies. He constructed an outdoor fairy house with her a couple of years ago, and together their fascination with the fairy world has grown. (He's been known to visit crystal shops on secret missions.) When we were talking about what to do for the kids for Christmas, I mentioned that she would love an indoor fairy habitat. That was all. If there's one thing you should know about my husband is that he usually goes all out.... in everything. So this is Christmas morning (at 4:30ish, thanks to our four year old.) A fairy world awaited her in the living room. She was awed, as is everyone who sees it. I, myself, long to sit and play with it for hours. It is simply extraordinary fodder for the imagination.

I tried to take pictures of it for you, in case you feel inspired to make your own. Unfortunately, the pictures just don't do it justice. However, each is constructed on a wood pedestal, and each can be moved around so the configuration of the group can change. It is all coated in shellac, which is a fascinating natural substance made from bugs, worth reading up on in all your spare time.

He wired all of the Mountain Laurel branches with bonsai wire. The Laurel is cut live from our property. It should hopefully dry well, strengthened by the wire .

He also made tables, chairs, and beds out of wood rounds and Laurel. Each is carefully pieced, glued, and coated in shellac . (Below is a dog sled out of paddling foam, they made together on another occasion. I'm telling you, he gets little girls' imaginary worlds.)

I love walking through the room and seeing what new scenarios have evolved or which fairies are doing what. I imagine what scene may have been played out in her mind, or make up my own.

I was responsible only for dying a few play silks to use as hammocks. So easy in comparison to what he created. One of the things I've loved about this gift is that she took all the animals, fairies, wool roving, scraps of fabric, tiny boxes, etc. from around the house and created her fairy world. I guess what I mean is that it wasn't a gift given to her with all the parts included, it was something that she took and made into something uniquely fitted to her imagination.

I was wondering if these two owls were pairing up to provide us with some spring babies. Now wouldn't that be fun?

Now I'm going to start hinting around to him about a whole slew of fine furniture I'd like for the house. It's that, or he could start selling a few fairy habitats. Hmmm. Not a bad idea.

Blink, blink.

I don't know where December and January went. They got covered over in snow and forgotten about on this blog. I laughed out loud when I saw that our school's billboard states "think NO SNOW." That's a new mantra that I think pretty much everyone around here shares.

I got jolted back into reality yesterday when reading an email titled "brown robin, where are you?" (So... this one's for you Jen.) Then there was a sweet card from my sister with a long list of thank you's. It had things on the list like, " thanks for always listening to me and gently confronting me" or "inspiring me to be brave." Now, that just whopped me upside the head. I have really been so down on myself lately, it never occurred to me that someone thought I was absolutely wonderful and thanked me for it too!

The winter blaws can just creep in I guess. They're stealthy like that. Not enough running and sunshine this time of year. It's not that I'm blue, it's just that I'm undecided about things and more than a little unmotivated. No fun. I'm looking forward to some kinder weather and being gentler with myself. Plus, I have oodles of pictures to show you from the past two months of lovlies that folks have made around here, so I best get back to blogging!

Sheet bees wax candle making tutorial

This is the second time in a week that it's snowed! Frigid temps have made is it easier to stay inside and craft. We made about a dozen of the candy cane striped candles together. They're so easy that my 4 year old was able to fully participate. This is such a wonderful way to make candles if you're not ready for dipping or molds. It's incredibly easy, and instant gratification .... really! I promise.



This is my version of a tutorial for bees' wax sheet candles to create a two tone spiral candle. We ordered our wax from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. This is where we get all of our beekeeping supplies. They are a wonderful North Carolina small business with excellent customer support. If you're local and want to make these tomorrow, you can also visit the Earth Guild in Asheville.


Ingredient list:
1) bees wax sheets (2 different colors for this craft)
2) wick, enough yardage to make the number of candles (1 yd for @ 3 candles is my guess,but don't trust my math. It depends on how tall your sheets of wax are.)
3) hair dryer (a necessity, so borrow one if you don't have one.)

Here we go....

Cut the wax upper left corner to lower right corner, making a triangle like the pic above. Do this with both colors of wax sheet. You will be able to make 2 candles total.


Layer the two colors of wax sheet like the pic above. The other two sheets of wax are sitting to the side ready to use for the next candle.

Tear a small corner from the top sheet bottom left corner (look closely at the white wax.) Use your hair dryer to warm the wax up, making it tear smoothly. You will use this bit of wax to prime your wick. Again, a little blast from the hairdryer will help to mold it right around the end of the wick. It should look like the pic below.

Now, you will lay the appropriate length of wick at the far left side of the candle. Use your hair dryer to heat up the wax. You can't hurt the wax. Just experiment with intensity of heat so that you achieve pliability. I use low heat when working with my kids, but high heat when I'm doing it myself. When your candle is mailable, start rolling. Once we get it going, I turn the candle toward the child so that they can roll TOWARD their body (rather than left to right.) My seven year old is good to go on her own. My four year old needs a little assistance with keeping the end of the candle flush. You'll see... and you'll quickly get the hang of it.
These are spectacularly easy and so much fun to make. Even if you don't have kids, it's just a wonderful craft that yields beautiful results. Need some inexpensive gifts? Give it a try. My guess is that you won't be disappointed.

Ornament Idea for you... or, some like it hot!

We happened to have acquired quite a few peppers this fall....

Well, a lot, actually.

I got kind of inspired by all that red. I took out a needle and thread.... and got busy.

After a two hour movie, I had about a hundred to hang on the tree. The best part is that next year, I'll get to use them again. One of the cheapest, easiest, and most beautiful ornaments ever.
The secret to the effect is definitely in the sheer quantity, though. Somebody had a rockin' garden this year (and it wasn't me.)