Posted in Handmade, Inspiration, Seasons, tagged butter cookies, christmas, cookies, craft, decor, embroider, embroidery, handcraft, handmade, handwork, happy hedgehog post, holiday butter cookies, makers, makers gonna make, monthly subscriptions, peg person, seasonal, snowflake, snowflake baby, subscription boxes, waldorf, waldorf homeschooling, waldorf inspired, Winter, wool felt on December 15, 2016| Leave a Comment »
We really enjoyed the December envelope from Happy Hedgehog Post. I was pleased to finish the Snowflake baby just as the January envelope ships out to us. Have a look at a few of the pictures we took during our embroidering journey. We also made a cookie recipe similar to the one in the Post. We made so many cookies, there were plenty for the family and a whole group of Suzuki violin players.
Thanks for visiting!
Posted in Celebration, Farm and Home, Frugal, Handmade, Nature, Seasons, tagged bird seed, bird seed crafts, bird seed ornaments, birds, birthday party favors, crafts, frugal, handmade, Montessori, Montessori crafts, ornaments, party favors, sensory, sensory activity, spring, spring crafts, tactile experience on March 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »
March has come in like a lion with a huge snowstorm bringing more than a foot of snow, and now the spring thaw has begun 10 days into the month. Rain has been pouring down all day, the yard is flooded as the earth cannot swallow up the water fast enough.
We put a new bird feeder up on the outside of our living room window, during the snow storm. It has been such a treat to watch woodpeckers, cardinals, blue jays and all the pretty birds that cohabitate in our yard, but a little more up close and personal. We have always been avid bird watchers, journaling about what we see, blogging about what we observe and pondering over their cycle with the seasons.
Little Eagle has a big birthday coming up. He is hitting the double digits. We were so inspired by our bird friends that we decided to make bird seed ornaments as birthday favors. Little Eagle will give them out to friends at church, and cousins. We are not having a formal birthday party with his friends this year, because he had a big one last year. We decided as a family that each child gets to rotate having a big party. Each child gets a big party once every two years, until Cedar is older, then it will be every three years to include him. The amount of money, planning and time is taken into account, otherwise we gather as a family.
I got a recipe for bird seed ornaments off of Pinterest. There are many more recipes to choose from, if this one doesn’t suit you.
3/4 cup flour
1 pack of gelatin
3 tbsp corn syrup
1/2 cup water
4 cups of bird seed
Make sure you spray the cookie cutters with cooking spray. This is imperative. I did a test batch and basically ruined the shapes, because they did not pop out of the cutter easily. Then I laid them out on wax paper on a cookie sheet. The recipe makes about 8 ornaments. So far I have made 17 successful ornaments. The rest I will use here at the house.
When it was all mixed together I packed a handfull into the cutter and pressed from both sides filling it all in. Then I placed it on the wax paper and pressed the top down. With the test batch I used a straw to make holes in the ornaments for string, but decided not to do that with the other batches. I will take embroider floss or hemp and just wrap them to hang.
Here is a picture of the ornaments curing. The shamrock is delicate and won’t make it, so I added it to our home stash. The Easter egg, bunny, butterfly, flower and star works out. If you are in a pinch use ball jar lids!
To make tags I used a unique paint brush and made a pretty design on watercolor paper, both sides. Next I cut out shapes, punched holes and wrote “Little Eagle turns 10!” This will slide right on the string to hang them.
This craft takes a little planning and doing, very little money and it is a great sensory experience packing the cookie cutters with bird seed. You get to take a sneek peak early, because this mama has to plan with all the busyness of spring. Enjoy.
Posted in Farm and Home, Food, Handmade, In The Studio, Nature, Seasons, Spiritual, tagged ancestors, handmade, in the studio, seasons, soap making on September 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I come to you today feeling a lot grateful and a little tired. The rain is pattering on my tin roof, the turkeys are cooing, and life just got slower~ It has been a couple weeks since a friend and I got together and laughingly made soap. The sense of bonding over making soap for family is a sacred thing. Women and families have done it for centuries.
In the past few weeks, I have observed nature and people participate in the hustle and bustle. The end of summer frenzy to collect our nuts and check our stores. The desire to attend community events, yet the inner-longing to just stay home and look within. The grace to show our Creator our gratitude by saying so. And the harvest of a Community, through our beautiful children. There are so many beautiful babies around ~ And the desire to express our souls through art, which is synonymous with baby-making.
With those thoughts I bring you images of our soap making. Ever since 1999, I have been keeping a Materia Medica. A collection of recipes and experiments with herbs, oils and natural remedies. My basic soap recipe comes from Country Living – Handmade Soap – Recipes for crafting soap at home. I have gladly purchased essential oils from Creation Pharms, formerly of Boone, NC. Mike Hulbert wrote the text for this book, and now lives in Michigan with his wife, who is an herbalist. I have profound gratitude to Beth Jefferies Barnes, who took time out of her day to teach me to make soap, on that Ridge, back in time.
I wish my photos could truly express the richness of these experiments, but I find life is so much brighter and harder to capture. I have only included two images. The rest can belong to the art of your imagination. See yourself with a friend instead.
One begins by collecting ingredients. This time I used coconut oil, olive oil, grape seed oil lye, water, rosemary and peppermint essential oils. Prepare your lye and water separately and safely. Then, set up your oils on the stove. Have a thermometer handy to check the temperature of both set ups. When you achieve the desired temperatures, mix together slowly and stir. The first time I made soap, my teacher asked me to stir the entire time by hand. You’ll be ever more grateful for the batch. Otherwise I use a nice hand mixer, kept only with my craft supplies. After you reach a consistency where the soap traces, pour into your molds. I use a loaf mold made of wood by my husband. I slip a trash bag over the mold and pour into that. This way the mold slips right out to cure. Have patience for 4-6 weeks.
If you find you have always wanted to make soap, say it out loud. Say it several times. Then, write it down. Begin by going to your library and finding a book, or searching the internet. Collect your resources, which you may even have in your home now. Find a friend who might split the cost with you. Brew some tea and be a part of this generation learning what our ancestors did, and passing it along. Remember. Take Part.
Nurturing Spirit 
