Pinewood Castle

Hedgehog

When I saw this embroidery kit advertised at Creative Kidstuff I salivated, but waited to for weeks and weeks to buy it. When I finally did, my daughter beat me to it. She stitched up this cutie in just two evenings.

Good thing more patterns are available penguinandfish.com - a different animal for all 26 letters of the alphabet!

One Woman's Trash is Another Child's Treasure

Obviously, one of my children needs more time for independent art projects!

Free to a Crafty Person

Last year I was thrilled to find what I thought were pre-made ornaments for the Twelve Days of Christmas. I bought them on impulse for $30. Don't these look darling?

But when they arrived, my heart fell when I realized it was a kit. It was from Herrschner's Quality Crafts after all. Silly me.

Also silly me for actually opening the package and starting to cut out the patterns instead of returning the item asap. After looking through the instructions I realized that there's no way I would ever be able to complete such a project until I am an empty nester with a designated craft room!

If anyone wants this kit, it is free to a good home. Just leave a comment and I will email you to ask your address. OR, if there is anyone out there who would be willing to complete the kit and sell the ornaments back to me I would consider that too. I just don't know how much a fair price would be - it looks like sooo much work!

More Fall Fun

In between coughs and fevers . . .

Pumpkin treat bag - kits from Oriental Trading Co

Leaf Mat weaving from Oriental Trading

Pumpkin grid drawing from mathwire.com -

beeswax candle rolling kit from Magic Cabin

still life

ideas from Jamie

Hope you are having a wonderful fall day!

Fall Fun Things

Here are a few activities we picked to tie in with Fall Circle Time themes -

From Be Nice to Spiders

 

$1 at Michael's

 

 

afternoon snack

 

From Art Projects for Kids

Art Supply Organization

Remember Jen's post about her amazing learning room and her clever art supply organization? Many of us went straight to our arts & crafts cabinet to reorganize!

I recently came across some more great organizing tips in the September issue of Parents magazine. I wish I could find a link or photos, but here are a few of the tips:

• put glitter into salt and pepper shakers, place high on a shelf
• old fashioned glass straw holders for chenille sticks
• a rotating spice rack for small items - buttons, brads, beads, sequins
• glass sugar dispensers for yarn and ribbon - thread the end through the spout
• pom poms and feathers in plastic or glass jars with lids
• turn cereal boxes into organizers for paper
• use a silverware tray for markers, highlighters and colored pencils

I don't know about you, but I know I need a bigger craft cabinet!

Hey, Sarah! (my cousin Sarah)

Look what the girls (and I) finally got around to making ~

It's unanimous - we all want to move into this thatched cottage. How much would a place like this go for in the English countryside?

(My cousin sent these to me from England - English Village Designs - aren't they charming?!)

Candle Decorating

Don't be intimidated - this is easy.

First, for many reasons, get a good quality 100% beeswax candle. I like the pillars from A Cottage Stillroom lately.

Second, purchase sheets of candle decorating wax from a place like Nova.

Third, make your design on paper first to get the proportions right. For some designs it helps to make a paper pattern first. A book like this one has some design ideas that we used at Christmastime.

Then, just cut with little cookie cutters or table knives and press into the candle. The warmer you get the wax the better it will stick.

Light and burn as usual. The decorating wax will melt along with the candle.

Here are several sides of one spring candle. The flowers were made from one of these pattern cutters:

Kids to great at this - here is one Sunshine did all by herself!

Snowmen!

Thanks for the idea Jamie! This was so fun!

Back to Beading

Advent napkin rings ~

These are so easy! Here's what you need:

• needle nose pliers
• side cutters
• bracelet sized memory wire
• beads

Directions:

1. Cut the memory wire in an overlapping circle.
2. Use the needle nosed pliers to curl one end. 
3. Thread on beads. Make a pattern, or just place on randomly.
4. Save enough room at the end to curl the wire.
5. Insert cloth napkin!

That's it! We have saved soooo many paper napkins since I first made these. A set of six would make a great homeade Christmas gift!

Nuts about Nuts

It's that time of year - to buy nuts IN THE SHELL! Try finding them in March. Impossible.

Nutcracking was the girls favorite "work" the year they went to Montessori. The nutcrackers pictured above were a stocking stuffer that Christmas.

And those perfect halves of walnut shells? They can be made into little candles as pictured in my last post. Those candles can float, bty.

They also make sporty boats:

colorful turtles:

Fairy Baby Cradles

And I'm sure much more.

So stock up while you can!

And be sure to check out these free nutty Montessori three-part cards.

Wax + Fire = Save Big Money

The candle molds and the $5 hunks of beeswax from Hillside Honey finally descended from the shelf of my laundry room to be transformed into these:

The orange and walnut shell candles were ideas straight from Living Crafts.

I just love how everything turned out, especially the golden color of the pillar candles. Didn't I my husband do a good job? Must be that element of fire that inspired him to help me do most of the work? Or maybe he was just happy that I didn't spend $100+ stocking up on beeswax candles for the winter. The molds and pouring pitcher are definitely worth the investment!

Getting into the Mood of Winter

To say the least, I have not felt ready for the cold blast into we have plunged after a lovely Indian Summer that I personally wanted to last well into December. I feel as though I failed to glean enough energy from the summer sun and worked too hard to finish the Alphabet Path instead of taking more time to relax and recharge.

Now it is time to winterize and am I feeling uptight about how behind we are around the house. We never got the driveway refinished and never ordered a mountain of mulch. Tulip bulbs were purchased but remain in the bag.

My husband did get our square foot gardening beds made out of the leftover lumber from our playset. He emptied out all my flower pots and cleaned then out before putting them away.  He even washed the windows on the main level, a task I was very close to hiring out. For all of this I am truly grateful, especially since I am still struggling with low back/hip pain after the car accident and am not much help! But what remains is still daunting, at least to me - cleaning out the garage, hanging up bicycles, obtaining firewood, putting up lattice to keep opossums from living under the porch this winter. I hope he can do it all while I sit on ice packs and watch out the window!

The only hope for brightening my attitude about our gloomy weather and all the work that goes with it is the prospect of getting back to some long-neglected crafts. That and sipping some really good hot chocolate.

Remember when we made these napkin rings from Chinaberry kits? They worked out so well that we did some more to color coordinate with our autumn-hued napkins. Memory wire, beads and needle nosed pliers are the only supplies and this time I found what I needed at our local bead store. I even went back for pink and purple beads for advent/lent napkin rings!

Another easy and fun project we accomplished in October were these Treasure Pumpkins from Living Crafts. The wool was wet felted around a tennis ball, dried and cut open. Pop out the ball and you have a little vessel. I am still working on making little brown wool acorns with which to fill them. The girls put some special stones and crystals in theirs.

 

Next up is knitting. I, along with some friends of mine, have been bugging a mutual crafty friend to start a knitting club. After three years of dropping small, medium and large hints she is finally willing to take the lead! Our first meeting is this Wednesday so I am reviewing the basics of how to make a slip knot (the directions always tell you to do this first and I always have to look it up!) and how to cast on. I am getting the girls started on their first doll scarves and I am trying to finish a scarf I started last year.

Here is a little verse I found somewhere (a Waldorf book? Soule Mama?)

Knitting Lessons

In through the front door,

Once around the back,

Peek through the window,

And off jumps jack!

 

Other projects I am excited about are the kits I just received from Bear Dance Crafts: a Little Star Child, Three Holly Children and Winter Fun. Bear Dance is at-home business run by quite a nice lady named Natalie in British Columbia. We enjoyed chatting on the phone when she called for my payment info.

 

Oh, and I also have to get around to making candles from all that beeswax I got at the honey farm and the molds I invested in ($$) at the craft store.

So as you can see we are not experienced crafters here with an Etsy store, just simple and doable projects for us. Happy Hibernating to all you Northeners! And no, I do not want to hear what beautiful weather you are still having in Texas and Oklahoma, though I'd lve to hear how you are!

Hey Teri . . .

Teri-with-one-R from church, that is - my sister is also named Terri but with two R's.

After Mass today Sunshine wanted to show your girls the doll for whom she sewed a dress. Somehow she didn't make it over to your van so I promised her I would put a photo on my blog for your girls to see. Thanks for obliging . . .

EASY Craft

These Sparkly Spiral Napkin Ring Kits are still on sale over at Chinaberry! I have been wanting to reduce our wasteful use of paper napkins and break out the cloth to use on a daily basis, but was blown over by the price of napkin rings. I mean, napkin rings for heaven's sakes! Well, God is goodfor putting these in my path. They were easy enough for the girls to help make to boot.

Using these have helped the children to put their napkin in their laps and encourages them to eat neatly, knowing that they will have to use the same napkin for several meals!

Rainbow Felt Flower

Renee was wondering how the Rainbow Flower Felting Kit turned out for us.  I am happy to announce that we did indeed finish the project.  It turned out well though it was a bit tricky.  Here's a little review, in case you are planning to try it someday!

Here's the finished project:

The concept of the  project is basically making a ball inside a ball inside a ball . . . not unlike a matryoshka doll.  Felting involves nothing more than rubbing the wool with warm soapy water to help the fibers mat together.  So first you felt a yellow ball from yellow wool.  Then, you wrap this ball in plastic wrap, wrap orange wool around it and felt that.  Wrap the orange ball (with the yellow inside) with plastic, wrap red wool around that and felt.  So on and so on with purple, blue and green as the last layer for the leaves.  The plastic in between the layers just prevents one color of wool from sticking to another color of wool.

The tricky part, for us, came after the green layer was finished.  You find the littlest sharpest scissors you own and cut the green layer from pole to pole.  Then you cut two more intersecting lines and get the blue ball out.  The lines that are cut make the shape of the leaves and petals.  Then you cut the blue ball the same way and take out the purple ball.  You continue the same way until you get to the yellow ball which makes the center of the flower.

Some of my cuts were a little off and I got some funny shaped petals.

We're planning to give this to the baby for her first birthday as a nesting toy.  This was the #1 motivator for getting my kids to help!  Otherwise, they (surprisingly) don't seem thrilled about getting their hands wet and soapy.   Though I was able to entice them to take turns, I did most of the work of wrapping the plastic, wrapping the wool and the cutting.  But - the kids did marvel at the process and looked on with excitement as each layer was cut and a smaller ball emerged.  And we are looking forward to giving something soft and fun to the baby!

Paper Dolls

Sunshine has been making paper dolls for months now.  Recently, she has taken her art to a new level.  She now produces a sheet of paper with "scenery" on the front and a nifty pocket on the back to hold the clothes:

She uses chenille sticks to attach her new invention she calls "paper paper dolls".  The girl is drawn on the paper and she makes slits for the clothes:

The whole set:

Two Crafts New To Us

What have I been doing with my little ones all these years?  Apparently not potato stamping or making snowmen out of marshmallows.  Well, there's a first time for everything.  Both were a hit, especially the edible craft (the marshmallows, not the potato!).

Another Waldorfy Craft De-Mystified!

Window stars.  I thought they would be much more complicated.  They weren't!

You fold each point out of kite paper

And glue them together!

Age appropriate factor: My 5 almost 6 year old charged into folding, however imperfect.  My 7yo folded them more carefully but was easily frustrated if things didn't line up.  Both were happy helping with the glue.  My 4 yo paid no attention.  All were pleased with the result!

We added some more:

Pressed Flower Bookmarks

Here is a little extra something some of our friends and relatives will be receiving in their Christmas cards this year.  While the garden was still in bloom, we picked some blossoms and pressed them for a few days.   

I cut off strips from some of the children's watercolor painting and secured the flowers to the strips with rubber cement.  After they were dry I ran them through the laminator.  Hopefully these bookmarks given in the dark days of winter will be a reminder of the glory days of summer and the promise of another season of sunshine and flowers!   

The Do it Yourself Network offers more tips on picking and using pressed flowers for notepaper and candles.