a pretty

You may freely ooh and aah over my beautiful new scarf.Thanks, Aub. Love you.

two days

Let's see.
How's that list coming?

I finished up all the lotions and potions. :)!

I'm abandoning the second set of fairy wings for Right This Minute. We'll do that together later. I have the skirt done. She'll have some glorious things to spend the first few days in, she'll not miss them, I think.

I put the sticks on the Horseys, and little friend has been given hers.

The treats are done.
There are chocolate balls, chocolate cashew clusters, cream cheese peppermints, fudge, rice crispy treats, sugar cookies, pralines, and... that's it, I think.

The volcano and pond I think we'll do together in a few days (after the holidays). And the fort blocks.

Need to figure out how I'm presenting my sister with her botanical ornaments.

Need to make a few things for Grandma and Grammy. (sans sewing - I jammed the pointed end of a damned needle under my fingernail yesterday - iiieeeee! and my finger is mighty sore. I was trying to put the stray needle into the side of the thread. whoof. )

That's it!

We're at liberty to clean and create today.
How divine!

celebrating

Well, I suppose the beauty of celebrating and stretching things out over a few days instead of just one is that you get to add a few more days to The Day, hmmm? And a few more days to get things done.

While yesterday saw much merry-making and Holiday Spirit, it also saw a couple of last-minute trips to the store, and standing in the kitchen over pots with bubbling brews being made.

I'll tell you about that later, after I pass out the gifts to my two Loveys that check in on me here.

I think we have a celebration with friends tonight - so that means I have much to do in preparation for that.

If you have a good recipe for some of that Warping Time Dust stuff that The Chief uses, I could surely use it today.
Leave a note in the comments, and I'll be sure to send you the remainder of what I don't use to you in Thanks.

Blessings!

Solstice

We'll begin our official Merry-Making today.

All the usual stuff -

eggnog

making cookies and candies

lighting a fire

making our wrapped packages pretty with ribbons, fancifuls, and bows

singing jingly songs

opening a present or two

and hopefully delivering goodies to Loved Ones.

Hope your day is full with what you love best!

for the Poets

close your eyes, Aubrey.

i am sooo excited about this one.
feeling right proud of myself, i am.

a roll of adhesive-mag
sealant
lots of beautiful (printed) love words

Magic!


poetry magnets?
done!

a few more down

I finished Gentry's blocks. One side has been stamped with an animal for a matching game. I used five different animals, obviously. I didn't have permanent stamp ink, so I colored the stamps with an industrial Sharpie. That allowed me to mod podge the picture after it had been stamped.

I've made the swords. I think I did them well - I used a hanger to make the handle and beginning of the blade firm (along with firmly packed stuffing), but the blade itself is soft and loose - I don't think it's firm enough to hurt at all. They're not particularly cute, but I believe they'll be well-used. :) And I made them with materials on hand.

I've finished Meagan's plant press.
Made the sticker pages for Madeleine - I've printed out different biomes, and she will have a great time putting animals and insects -and probably Dora and Strawberry Shortcake, too- on different pages. There's the savannah, arctic, the rain forest, temperate forest, local desert, and coral reef. They're covered with contact paper for extended use. They'll eventually go in her sticker notebook that I made for her last year.

and the marshmallow shooters are finished.(never mind his So Serious expression.)

The candies are done - peanut clusters, pralines, white chocolate covered pretzels- I'll make more fudge today, another batch of rice crispies, and hopefully (cross your fingers) a batch of Sugar Coolies. Iced with candy cane bits on top. Mmmmm. (never done that before - let's hope it's good.

eight days

frufru apron for tea parties
two more for dolls

two swords (cloth, soft)

one cooking apron

two horses

finish blocks

another plant press

bath bombs

peppermint foot cream

something hand-made for Grandma

felt puppets

another fairy skirt with wings

goodies for neighbors


added:

sticker pages

fort blocks

volcano

pond


added again:

marshmallow shooters

poetry magnets

ornaments with basket

pretty for my Mom

oof.
i'm tired.
over and out.

shooters

Ha!
My friend Julie mentioned that she was making marshmallow shooters.
I looked them up today after I saw them mentioned somewhere else.... can't remember where.
Anyway - saw them and was thrilled!!

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with gift ideas for the four boys on Eric's side of the family (ages 9-17). Last year I gave each family a magnetic dartboard - a big hit.

Marshmallow Shooters?Absolutely Perfect!!

I've purchased the parts, cut them and built them this morning (cost me $17 and less than two hours total -including the trip to the store- to make four-and-a-half shooters), so now we just paint them!

funny note - when I went into Home Depot this morning, they were out of the caps for the ends. There was a box with four in it.... "Excuse me, Sir... are these all the caps you have?"
"Let's see...." punches a few things into his little hand-held computer.... "Looks like it... must be some sort of Craft Project thing going on...."
I grinned at him. "Yup. Marshmallow Shooters!" said I.
He tapped a few more numbers and letters into his hand-held - "No one else has them, either!"
I'm resourceful, so I picked up some coupling pieces and plugs to make do.
Funny.

11 Days

frufru apron for tea parties
two more for dolls

two swords

one cooking apron

two horses

finish blocks

another plant press

bath bombs

peppermint foot cream

something hand-made for Grandma

felt puppets

another fairy skirt with wings

goodies for neighbors


added:

sticker pages

fort blocks

volcano

pond

four more down

apron...check.

puppets
check.
(I fell in love with these faces today, and just had to make them for a little tiny person we know.)

Oh! And I cleaned my house. :)

two down

aprons?check.

horseys?check! (Thanks so much to my blogging friend Sarah for the how-to. These are awesome.)

14 days

Two weeks!!

frufru apron for tea parties
two more for dolls

two swords

one cooking apron

two horses

finish blocks

another plant press

bath bombs

peppermint foot cream

something hand-made for Grandma

felt puppets

another fairy skirt with wings

goodies for neighbors

what else???...

fairy wings

and skirt.
yay.

bags and bags

One for Baby
one for our little Friend
one for Trevelyn
and one for Mama.

Hand Made

Here's the tally so far.
Isn't this exciting? :)
(If you're here visiting for ideas, you may want to see the Sharing the Holidays posts.)

Botanical ornaments. They may go in a pretty glass jar for my sister, or they may go in a bowl. Either way, there will probably be pinecones and silk ornaments with it. The pinecones we will gather ourselves, of course!

A button ornament for me. I buy a pretty ornament every year, this year I've made it. (lace on a styrofoam ball, covered with buttons. very simple.)

You remember the star ornament from a week or so ago? This is the second one I've made - there will be more.

The hiker's plant press. More are coming.

Blocks.
Beads.Love these.

Last night's project - an art apron for Madeleine. It's canvas with calico trimmings. Very excited about this!

This morning's project was a table cloth for Maddie's little table in her room. I've made pretty linens (table cloth and napkins) for her tea parties.

Gift List

Let me just tell you how excited I am that we're making almost all of our gifts this year!
Well, aside from my children's gifts. Though I will where I can.

And let me tell you something else... all that crafting we've been doing? I haven't bought anything!! I think the only thing I had to buy was velcro strips for the plant presses (and I'll have to buy the plastic rings to secure them) and a large bottle of craft glue. Mine was a little one, and almost gone. That's it! Everything else we've had.
Ha!
Makes me feel justified in collecting things, let me tell you. (Not in a packrat, never-throw-anything-away way, but in a "Ooh, look at this pretty silver paint. And it's on sale for 59cents! That might come in handy someday...." sort of way. Let me just say again... Ha!

Doing handmade this year is not about the money, as we all know that often times we can buy it for far cheaper than we can make it, so when you already have the supplies, it sure cuts down on the angst.
It's about crafting. Making things with my bare hands and bare heart and bare spirit.
It's about being in that zone... where the ideas come faster than you can make the dream happen. It's about those famous, lovely, flowing Juices.

The energy is zipping and zapping in our house right now.
It seems that everything is "Step outside your regular self and let ingenuity and creativity be your guide."
Who could complain about that?

happiness in crafting

I've been at it this morning.
Evidently I'm consumed.

Since I get up before the sun (which means long before my Loves), and since all my happy chaos was still on the kitchen table.....

Here is a project that I hope the children will want to do for their grandmothers. I came across the idea yesterday, here. I loved it.
You just press a plant for a day or so until it's flat - but making sure it isn't for so long that it gets too dry and brittle. Then paint craft glue onto the glass votive holder, and press on your plant. Let it dry for a while, so it is sticking firmly, then glaze with glue again and put bits of torn tissue paper covering all of the glass.
I knew that I wanted to use plants in season, so I went to my mother's to snip some Holly from her gardens.
Here's mine.I think this idea might also be pretty with different colored tissue paper (sans botanicals), making it look like stained glass. Children might really enjoy doing that.

And my other accomplishment this morning - I'm so excited about this one.
I came up with this idea when I was doing impressions with leaves with my children a few weeks ago. I thought that pine would be beautiful placed in the plaster with red rosehips or Holly berries, and I was right (though I've used tiny pinecones here)! I'm so glad they turned out.
The children and I are doing this project today, so I'll post pics later of how we did it on olm.
I think they'll be beautiful in groupings of three or four, hanging next a doorway.
I am considering making such a thing for gifts, I think a set of some pressed herbs would be lovely hung in the kitchen.
This, too, would be beautiful for Thanksgiving, using autumn's colors and offerings.

That's all for now.
As I Really Must Clean.

holiday crafting

Today I got started on my crafting for the Solstice/Christmas Season.
Outside we use lots of traditional garlands and bright red velvet ribbons, but inside I like things to flow with the rooms - gold, sage, pinks and burgandy in the livingroom, sparkly white snowflakes in the kitchen, and a more rustic and woodsy sage and burgandy in the den.

I love getting things ready for the holidays! But if I wait too long, then I just get discouraged -- there's so much to do!

So this year, today!, I have begun.
Mostly in honor of the sharing that I look forward to.

I came up with this idea a few years ago. It's one of my favorites. I love things pretty, but I also like to honor Mother Earth's gifts.
What better way than with silk ribbons, candlelight, and tiny pinecones? This would also be beautiful with an Autumn colored ribbon with dangling acorns.

We're doing votive candle holders for gifts this year.
This one is a variation of the ones we'll make for others - pretty tissue paper from the holidays last year that I used (decoupaged) on a small glass bowl. I trimmed the top with rosehips from our gardens.
I started the hiker's plant presses that we're giving to the children in our family that hopefully will enjoy them on nature walks or camping trips.

And the children and I started a project, but we won't be able to finish it until tomorrow, so we'll share with you then! (I'm pretty excited about this one. I hope it turns out the way I envision.)

Here's another creation of the day.This one I've been meaning to do for years. I've even had the sticks cut and dried for ages.
It's just a star pattern with sheet moss in the center, dressed with different dried flowers and leaves. And it smells good! This would be beautiful and more special with dried flowers from the gardens. Here I've used mostly pretty potpourri.

And lastly, this. I just read about this idea today in one of my books.It said to put craft glue all over a 3" styrofoam ball, then roll it in potpourri.
Well - that didn't work. I tried a couple of times.
So I glued moss to it everywhere, then hot-glued different dried flowerheads and cones and pods to it, and finished it with ribbons coming up the sides. I think a few of these in different sizes and with different botanicals will be pretty in a bowl - with one or two silk ornaments in the bowl as well.
I'll let you know how that turns out.

Lots of lovelies today!

Holiday Gifts

Here's post number one!

A box of goodies (decorated shoebox?) filled with things you have in your craft cupboards, for your favorite little nieces or nephews - pipe cleaners, a bag of feathers, felt, stickers, pompons, sequins, buttons, a bottle of glue, maybe a piece of sandpaper, cut-outs, cardstock shapes, popsicle sticks, little balls of yarn, beads, stars, whatever you've got!
I gave my niece such a box last year, and she loved it! She had lots of new supplies for decorating and crafting.

A pretty planter filled with forced bulbs. A beautiful pick-me-up for the long winter months. Either time it so that they bloom at Christmas/Yule, or for a bit after for staving off February's blues.

Tub teas are super easy, and much appreciated by most girls. You can either put some bulk in a jar accompanied with a new white washcloth tied with a ribbon to keep the tea inside or use a culinary cloth with a drawstring. The natural markets also sell little linen bags with a drawstring -- or you can make your own quite easily.
Lavender with bits of orange peel is a favorite, and of course Rose, also Raspberry or Strawberry leaf are very nice. You'll want to have fragrant oils for it too, and a fixative, such as dried orris root. (iris root) This will help to scent the teas, and keep the scent for longer.

I have a fabulous recipe for Bath Bombs - so delicious.
10 T baking soda
5 T cornstarch
5 T citric acid
1 1/2 T sunflower, sweet almond, or canola oil
1 1/2 T water
1/2 t Borax
1 T essential oil of your choice
Mix baking soda, cornstarch, and the citric acid. Mix the oil, water, borax and sent in a jar, making sure to shake it well. Drizzle the liquid mix over the dry ingredients, and mix it well with your hands. You can press them into molds, or I just shape them into balls, that are about 2-3 inches big. Let it set for at least 24 hours to harden, but then wrap it in plastic or cellophane or store in a container to keep the oils fixed to the balls. If I remember right, it makes 2-3 per batch, but it's been about three years since I've made them!

Bath Salts are nice, too.1 cup of epsom salts
10-20 drops of essential or fragrance oil
1 cup of sea salt
Mix up the salts, then take about a 1/2 cup out and put it into a little bowl. Add the oils (and food coloring if you like) to the salts, and mix well. When it's blended, mix this into the remaining salts. Repeat the process until you have the color and scent you want. Pour the salts into a pretty jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake it every day for a week to keep the salts loose.

A felt board is a good gift for a little one - I made one for Trev and Maddie one year out of stiff cardboard and a giant piece of felt. I cut out shapes of letters, numbers, shapes, figures, clothes, etc.

A puppet theatre can be made pretty easily out of a spring-rod curtain rod (or two) put into a doorway. Just cut and hem a hole in your "stage material" somewhere in the middle toward the top for the window. Sew a piece back on at the top for the backdrop curtain, if you like. Make or buy tickets and play money to go along with the theatre. Hand puppets can be made easily out of felt, also.

A dream pillow is a lovely addition to anyone's favorite pillow, just make a pillow-sized flat pillow with maybe 2-3 cups of lavender flowers sewn inside of it. You can decorate it with a couple of slim purple ribbons or bows, or some embroidery if you like. They can insert your pillow inside of their regular pillow case, have it tucked in with their pillow. I made one for my mother a few years ago - she enjoyed it for at least two or three years!

We have a hiker's plant press that we keep in our adventure pack. This year I'm making some for loved ones. You only need very thin plywood, cardboard, and acid free paper, and for binding - non-adhesive velcro and a sturdy plastic rectangular ring. Perfect for nature walks!

A few years ago I made a cloth carry-all for my colored pencils and charcoals. It's made out of linen, and I was careful to make extra padding for the pencil tips to protect those precious expensive pencils! I made extra pockets for a soft rubber, a sharpener, and a regular eraser. I just roll it up, it's much lighter than my tin for the pencils. My friend Julie is making one with a place for a sketch pad for a gift -- here's hoping she'll let us have a peak at how to go about doing that!

Sharing the Holidays

Hi friends.
I've been looking over some books and websites this morning, and I've gotten some lovely ideas for the coming busy and sparkly season.
I think we'll be making many of our gifts this year (a rather large fete, as we are not exactly "Step into my Enchanting Etsy Shop" people at my house. We try, but....), and I have begun collecting ideas and getting ready.

Here's what I'm thinking:

I'll of course share my favorite ideas, as always, but I would really appreciate it if you'd share yours, too. You don't have to post directions or anything -- even if you could leave a comment saying "We did something cool today, make sure to check out today's post!"

I'm hoping this way we can share ideas, and I can keep everything in one spot!

It's pure selfishness - I'll see something beautiful that I think someone I know will love, then I'll forget where I saw it, and won't be able to find it again.
This way, I can have everything under one category, including the comments.

Anybody interested?