Stamped Thank You Notes

The fairies came back in January and suggested we start the year in gratitude by making and writing thank you notes for all the gifts we had received over the holidays. Well, it took us a few weeks to do it, but it was a fun way to practice a bit of gratitude.

It also taught me that I can be a bit of a perfectionist (no surprise there!) when it comes to making things for other people. I did a lot of breathing and cutting myself off mid sentence to get through it. LOL! In the end, they are really charming and full of character and something she enjoyed.

My favorite part was taking dictation from her about her gifts. She has such a sweet heart, and it's fun to give her an opportunity to express it!
















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Breaking In Our "New" Colored Pencils

One thing I love about working with children is that they inspire so much creativity! It was true for me as a Waldorf teacher, and it is definitely true of me as a homeschooling mom...when I allow it! And today was that day!




I bought myself a set of nice colored pencils back in May as kind of a Mother's Day gift to myself...ok, it's January, and I haven't used them yet! I bought her a pad of paper for us to draw together back in August as part of our homeschool supplies...hadn't used that yet. I gave her a set of colored pencils over the holidays...because she has not alternate to-do list or other agenda, those puppies have been used! But today, we finally drew together, like I have been aching to do since I bought those pencils in May.



She wanted to draw a beautiful girl in a pink and black dress and wanted help. So I set us up on the kitchen table and threw out the to-do list, because this felt like it needed to be a priority. And then I just started drawing. I told her a little bit about what I was doing, and she drew right alongside me. Once we had finished drawing our beautiful girls, I asked where we wanted her to be. She said at a wedding. So we added in a red carpet for her to walk down and put flowers in her hand. Then we decided it should be outside and added grass and sky. Viola! We were done. She was ready to move on to the next drawing, but dinner time had arrived. I took the time to date and title the back of each of our drawings. Then we took the time to lovingly put away our drawing materials so they would be ready for us again. I really want to keep doing this with her. It felt so good to sit down and be creative together!


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Pre-needle Felted Ornament

On the 13th day of Advent, the fairies left a note instructing us to use some wool roving to make a pre-needle felted animal ornament.

Girlie chose a reindeer cookie cutter and bright pink and purple roving for her ornament. We stuffed the wool into the cookie cutter and sprayed a little bit (less than you think) water mixed with a tiny bit of Dr. Bronner's peppermint liquid soap.

The next step is using a chopstick to mash it down into the cookie cutter and start working the fibers together. We've done this before as part of our Waldorf homeschool curriculum, and it feels like a soggy mess at first. We added a bit more wool to help soak up the moisture.

The cookie cutter will need to be turned over while keeping the wool inside. I simply placed my hand over the top of the cookie cutter and turned it over cutting board and all to keep it together. That way the chopstick can work the wool on both sides.

Continue turning and poking until the wool is dry and mostly together. In the couple of times we've done this, we had some wool that just wasn't sticking. Maybe we added the wool too late into the wetting and poking process. We tried using a fork, but to no avail. Both times, I simply touched it up with a felting needle to get the wool to stick.

Mother's Day Gifts

This year for Mother's Day, I put together little herb gardens for gifts. An article from MaryJanesFarm Magazine inspired the idea. I reused berry trays, lined the bottoms with fabric, and added the soil and seeds. I printed directions on some pretty card stock and dressed them up with stamps. When tied on with some ribbon, they were ready to be presented as gifts.

Developmental Ball

I found this pattern online and, believe it or not, followed it pretty closely to make another toy for my daughter. I did make the mistake of putting it in the washing machine instead of hand washing it, which flattened it a bit. She still loves it, though!
I crocheted this with white and red cotton yarn. The red yarn was one deviation from the pattern. I figured it would be just as eye catching as the black and white, but a little happier and using the yarn I had on hand.

Knitted Kitty

I knitted this cat in a handwork class while at Waldorf teacher training one summer. It's basically a knitted square sewn and stuffed in the shape of a cat. I added the embellishments using the same yarn used to knit the body. The yarn and stuffing are both 100% wool, because natural materials are best for developing children's senses, according to Waldorf methodology. I agree with this premiss and hope to make more toys for my daughter using all natural materials, which means more blog posts. :)

Four Leaf Clover Bookmark

I crocheted a four leaf clover bookmark for a St. Patrick's Day swap. I started to write down a pattern, but I was being too perfectionistic about it. So, I abandoned the pattern and went free form. One day, I'll have patterns to post on this blog. For now, here's my Irish creation.