Crafting

Garland

Tuesday we spent the evening stringing popcorn and cranberries for the Christmas tree while sipping apple cider (homemade - from our dear friend, Linda).  We listened to Hubby read our nightly Advent reading, and then to this wonderful music.  Peaceful, joyful.  Now, this is Christmastime.

Our tree has very densely packed branches, so we voted to leave off the paper chains and candy canes this year – they’ll be hung up elsewhere in the house.  Tomorrow night – ornaments and icicles!

Repurposed Christmas Cards

This coming Friday, the kids and I are participating in the Portland Homeschool Children’s Holiday Market.  Several families are making crafts and baking goodies to sell at this fair, and all of our family’s proceeds will go to a few charities (Heifer International, OutsideIn, and the Oregon Humane Society). 

The girls are VERY excited about this whole project.  We had originally planned on only making homemade marshmallows, peppermint bark, and a few other easy holiday goodies that children their age could make on their own with only a little supervision (we’ll be making those later in the week).  

Over the weekend, Little Hen asked if she could make gift tags to sell, as well.  I think she was inspired by the few tags we had made together for a baby shower yesterday.   We have a big box of odd-sized cardstock in the attic, just for crafting, and I had saved all of last year’s Christmas cards. 

Throw in some glitter glue and you’ve got a craft a kindergartener can really take over and make her own.  I was really impressed with Little Hen’s precision with the glitter glue.  That girl’s got a steadier hand than I do and quite an eye for detail!   

Firecracker helped make a few, too!

 

By the end, Little Hen had made 57 cards, I made 4, and Firecracker made 3!  They really did the work largely by themselves while I fed the baby.  I helped fold the cardstock, cut out some shapes when the girls asked for help, and get the caps off the glitter glue.  And of course, I helped pick endless little Christmas card snippets out of the carpet…

Some of the finished cards, before Firecracker and I tied them up with ribbon in sets of 4:

 

I love how she knew just where to put the glitter glue – not over-done, a perfect accent.  This was a project she really got into – working for over an hour without interruption.  I have such admiraton for her ability to focus in on something that interests her!

Tree of Thanks

Lord, for these we thank you

 

Well said, Little Hen.

Back later with pictures of our thanksgiving!

From the portfolio of a 4 year-old

 

A dear friend from college gave Firecracker some Stockmar beeswax crayons a while back.  They were quickly used up to little nubs, and now we’re on our second box ( Portlanders, I just saw that a local Waldorf supply shop, Gossamer, stocks these!). Â

The other afternoon, Firecracker did a little drawing with them. Â

 The first picture, is, of course, a fairy.  The second is Firecracker’s conception of what “vacteria” look like (I just love how she’ll say “vacteria“, but also “Mt. Eberest” – too cute.)

Simple Skirts

Firecracker has been begging me to make her a skirt out of some blue fabric with white flowers that I picked up at the thrift store.  So, this week, I pulled my sewing machine down from the attic, and we all sat down to make some skirts. 

I’m no seamstress, and with one little girl or the other sitting in my lap to help guide the fabric or work the pedal, the seams are less than perfect, but it was a great learning experience for them, and we had a lot of fun.  I used this pattern as a guide, but made some alterations.

I have to admit, we got carried away, and over the past few days the girls and I have made 18 skirts!!!  I have a feeling that several little girls we know may be getting skirts for Christmas gifts.  A few of the finished skirts:

All the fabrics and all of the lace and ric-rac and ribbon are from the thrift store, except for the pink wool, which my grandmother-in-law gave me.  I estimate the total cost to be less than $3, for all 18 skirts.   

Next skirt project  – the tiered skirt from Just Tutes!!!

I hope your day is full of straight seams and lacy trim!

Doll Making – Freestyle, Part II

WordPress is being a little wonky, and wouldn’t let me put everything in one post – so now we conclude our impromptu doll making.

Where were we?  Oh, yes - next we cut the doll out of the fabric, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance, and using a spoon handle and tweezers, we turned the dolls right sideout, stuffed them, and hand stitched the side closed. 

After that, we laid the dolls down on top of the dress fabric, and free-handed a dress out of the main fabric, and an apron out of the contrast fabric (for little girls fascinated with Little House on the Prairie, aprons are as much a fixture around here as bonnets.)  We sewed the aprons to the front of the dress, then sewed the two dress pieces together, flipped them right side out, and slid them onto the doll.

We may eventually add some wool roving for hair, but for right now, we all liked the very simple look of the dolls.  Little Hen likes her’s so much, she took it to homeschool group for her show and tell. 

Firecracker’s little doll with the bright pink dress has been named Mary, Little Hen’s with the pale blue dress is Lucy, and the girls named my doll Caroline (I guess I don’t get a say in these matters).

Overall, I don’t think this was a bad way to spend the afternoon.  Next time I’d make larger dolls (it was hard to turn the thick wool fabric right side out on those skinny arms and legs), and we might get brave enough to try making a Daddy and a brother doll dressed in pants and shirts.

Doll Making – Freestyle, Part I

Last Christmas, my mother gave me a box of 100% wool fabric scraps that were leftover from a Christmas tree skirt she had made.  This past week, we used a few of those scraps to make some very simple, rustic wool dollies.  (The girls wanted to make each other handmade dolls, like Mary had made Laura a doll in Little House in the Big Woods.)

The girls picked out which fabrics they wanted (and I picked out some  for my own doll!), and we free-handed a doll shape on a double-layer of the skin-tone wools.

We took the sewing machine down from the attic, and set it up on the kitchen table.  Each girl took a turn sitting in my lap and together we guided the other girl’s doll around until it was fully stitched, except for a slit on the side.  I gave them each a chance to work the pedal while we sewed my doll, as well. 

In the next post we’ll finish the dolls…

Traditional Toys IV – Handmade Dolls

Below are a few of our handmade dolls, including three we made a few days ago (I’ll post on that adventure in a day or two).  We didn’t make all of these, but they are all lovingly handmade, and somehow I think that children can tell when a toy is handmade – they can feel that love sewn or knitted into every stitch.  

Their great aunt made the Raggedy Anns just like my mom made mine.  Very special, and very played-with.

 

The handmade doll has something special – she has quirks and imperfections that make her a unique little personality.   

 

My girls do have some factory made toys from their aunties and grandmas, but the handmade dolls hold a special place in their play.  These are the dolls they choose to take to homeschool group for show and tell, these are the dolls they sleep with and tuck into their dolly slings for trips to the park.  These are the dolls they will pass on to their daughters.

Traditional Toys I – Paper Dolls

We place a lot of value in traditional, open-ended toys that foster imaginative play (Let’s just say I’m not a fan of most things Disney, plastic, made-in-China, battery-operated, etc).  I thought I’d take a few posts to highlight some of those toys that kindle my children’s creativity. (Sorry for the photo quality, the lighting wasn’t so hot, and I was trying to snap pictures while feeding the baby!)

After spending their entire Monday morning and most of the sunny, gorgeous afternoon at the park, the girls spent two hours quietly playing on the living room floor with paper dolls that their aunt gave Firecracker for her birthday. 

I sat knitting and snuggling with a fussy Tum Tum (he’s cutting his first tooth), listening in on the girls as they told the most complicated, meandering, multi-layered story with their dolls.  It was quite a saga!

More of our favorite traditional toys tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out Grosgrain’s new giveaway and the opening of her store!

Autumn Nature Table Progression

The girls have been adding items to their nature table almost every day.  We’ve been collecting buckeyes from the neighbor’s tree and pine cones from ours, acorns from the park, pumpkins from the farmer’s market.  Little Hen and I have also been needle felting in the afternoons. 

Some updated pictures of the ever-evolving autumn table in the fading sunlight of late afternoon:

Magazine Tree Tutorial

Today’s craft was quick and straightforward, but Little Hen really enjoyed it.   The inspiration came from a colle project in the book below. (Don’t you love old craft books from the thrift store?)

Materials: various pages from the October issues of Sunset and Mother Earth News, construction paper, scissors, glue stick.

The goal of the project was to get the girls to look at textures and images in a new way – to use an ad for hardwood flooring, or a picture of a canyon wall as the tree trunk, for example.  Firecracker thought that images of pumpkins would be good for fall leaves, and I added in pictures of pillows and corn from the pages of the magazine.  The girls got a real kick out of taking one type of image and repurposing it/reimagining it as something else (in this case, parts of a tree.)

 Firecracker and I did this one together – she picked out the images, and had me cut them out, we arranged them together and then she glued them down.

Little Hen did her own – I love how she chose a sandy beach for the grey fall sky, and an image of a canyon wall for her trunk – the rocky texture really looks like bark.

Now, off to clean up the oodles of little magazine snippets littering the living room floor!

Toadstools sprouting up around here

The girls’ interest in all things “fairy” as of late has sparked an ongoing exploration of toadstools (afterall, they do make up fairy rings!).  We’ve discussed various types of fungi, their physiology, their purpose as decomposers, etc.  It’s been a really fun topic!

Firecracker’s birthday is coming up on Halloween (Reformation Day), and I wanted to make her some little felted toadstools for her nature table.  At the local thrift store last week,  the design took a slight turn – I found 3 vintage paper and wax toadstools for $0.65, and knew they would be perfect.  While Firecracker was on a walk with Daddy, Little Hen felted them (with supervision!) into some white roving and scraps of wool yarn to make 2 mini play mats.  I think Firecracker is going to love them, and so will her little Play Mobil dolls and wool fairies!

MayaMade  and Little Seedlings have also been crafting up good shroomy-themed things lately. Check them out!

Little Hen’s Cafe – Tutorial

This morning Little Hen was up early, all excited about her idea – she was asking if she could create “a cafe with a menu and everything” for homeschool today.  We don’t eat out much, and I’m not sure of the source of her inspiration, but what a great idea!

She had very specific ideas about what she wanted – the cafe must 1)serve autumn food 2) have a tri-fold menu in fall colors and 3)offer appetizers, drinks, entrees and desserts and 4) she would be the waitress, I would be the customer, and Firecracker would be the chef.

Here’s how we made it:

Little Hen writing the title page.

and decorating with fall stamps

Then we made the inside pages.  Little Hen wrote the titles and asked me to write in the dishes (She is only 5, and gets tired writing so much, she explained).  She and Firecracker decided on what dishes the cafe would serve – all things they felt were reflective of the fall season. 

Don’t you love how she spells “entree” (at the top of the picture)?  So adorable.

Then we glued two pieces of construction paper together, glued a coordinating piece on top, and glued our three menu panels over it all:

After folding it into thirds, we spent the morning play Cafe – the girls took my order and served me playfood.  After I “ate” my entree, Firecracker said, “Now, who has room for dessert? We have a lovely selection.”  Too cute - she sounded just like a waitress!

Nature Table – Autumn

We have slowly been making and collecting items for our fall nature table.  I know that many more things will be added as the season progresses, but for now here’s what the girls and I have assembled.

also, check out a giveaway of homespun yarny goodness here

A Little Beading

My sister-in-law just had her birthday, so I thought i’d whip up some earrings for her.  I spent 15 minutes making two pairs of earrings, and then the girls spent about half an hour quietly playing at the table with the beads – stringing them for a while, then acting out little scenes with various beads as characters in their stories. 

Little Hen Beading
Little Hen Beading

I love homeschooling and the freedom it provides the girls to craft and free play without the pressure to produce a finished product. 

The girls playing with beads
The girls playing with beads

Leaf Box Craft

The last few days Little Hen has been collecting fall leaves and saving them in her pockets.  Needless to say, this doesn’t preserve them too well, and they have been ending up in the laundry instead of the nature table.  So, today we made her a little box in which she can collect her leaves.

Materials - paper bag, old candy box, glue stick, scissors
Materials – paper bag, old candy box, glue stick, scissors
Firecracker uses bird hole punch, fall color construction paper
Firecracker uses bird hole punch, fall color construction paper
Firecracker's finished birds
Firecracker's finished birds Little Hen Glueing the paper to the box

 

Little Hen finishes glueing the paper
Little Hen finishes glueing the paper

 

Firecracker anf Little Hen glue the birds
Firecracker and Little Hen glue the birds

 

Finishing the box - let's go find more leaves!
Finishing the box - let's go collect more leaves!

Simple Sequin Craft

Hmm…It’s a grey, dreary day, and I need a cheer up.  The girls are asking for a “sparkly craft”.  Solution?  A 39 cent bag of sequins from my favorite thrift store down the street, some glue, colored pencils and scrap paper.

Sequin Flower Garden

Momma's Flower Garden
Momma’s Flower Garden
Firecracker's Flower Garden (age 3)
Firecracker’s Flower Garden (age 3)

Getting it together

 

Mocha Chip Cake
Mocha Chip Cake

This crafty/knitting/baking/homeschooling mama blog under construction   Please check back ina  bit!  thanks!