finger knitting and no work stuff

I promised myself that this weekend I would not do work stuff.  I mostly kept my word and instead dyed lots of fiber, made some yummy treats for the class I'm teaching tonight, and taught my youngest how to finger knit.  She caught on right away and soon she had taught her big brother how to do it.  So far she has made herself a scarf and a bracelet, with plans for a blanket in the works.

I just might have to learn to spin some of this wool, to keep her supplied with yarn.

How was your weekend?

Happy Monday, all.

making acorn ornaments with the kids

With the weather so dreadfully cold, and the kids getting squirrely from cabin fever already, I thought we'd do a little crafting to help keep their fingers busy.

I had some of these acorn caps left that I had painted with metal paint a few years ago and a bag of beads that I thought would make good acorn bodies so we put the two together to make ornaments.

I had hoped to sew through the beads and cap but the kids found it a little too difficult to manage so we compromised.  First, I drilled holes in the caps and put a hanging loop in.  Then I sewed the tiny bead on to the bottom of the large bead, a step I could have skipped but I liked that it made them look more finished, and the kids glued the bead into the cap.

The results are pretty cute, I think.  They each made enough to hand out to some of their friends, with a couple left over for the tree.

I think that glass marbles would work well too, in lieu of beads.  Wouldn't they be pretty hanging in front of the window like this?

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend.  Happy Sunday.

into the trees

It's deer hunting season here in Minnesota which means we haven't been out walking in the woods lately.  Since we're surrounded on three sides by hunting land, I get uneasy about letting the kids play outside, even with their blaze orange hats on.  All of this indoor time has made us all a little stir crazy.

I tried to quell some of that excess energy that was coursing through my kids yesterday by having them make some little tree ornaments for the upcoming holidays.  The older boys cut circles out of felted sweater and they all worked on stacking them for a while.  The activity held their attention in spurts but over the course of the day a small forest grew on our table.

The next job will be to sew them all together and add the trunks, something we'll work on together.

Since yesterday was the last day of rifle season we'll be able to venture back out in the woods today to be among real trees.  I can't express how much I'm looking forward to that.

***

Julie made some colorful little trees this weekend too.

Today I'm mailing off stones to their new homes.  A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to look and to those of you that gave my pieces a home.  Thank you.

I hope your week is a good one.

nestled

 Their own nest, carefully cobbled together from ferns and twigs (and is that poison ivy? yep).  Like little momma birds.  Slightly itchy momma birds.

Acorn eggs and a cap to represent the shell of one that already hatched.  Nestled together.

Their imaginations soar when their toys are nature and time is their own.

That's probably true for a lot of us.

We should do that more often.

very fancy

 

I've been putting together some little wool acorn ornaments for an event I'm doing later this month, and when I fit the wool bead into its cap, I nip off just a little of it to make it fit snugly.  My youngest  took those nipped off bits and strung them up to wear.

 

She's very fancy with her new necklace and her "Mary" dress. 

 (we're reading the Little House on the Prairie series and she thinks this is her calico, and since she has golden curls, she thinks she's Mary.  Though I know she's far more like Laura than Mary)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

tippity toppity toe

 

I love these kinds of mornings.  We were all up and outdoors early, each of us working on our own projects.  Except, of course, the teenager who is likely to rise at the crack of noon.  With the threat of more rain on the way, I think we all wanted to take advantage of today's sun.

 

I've been wanting to put a little tic tac toe game (or tippity toppity toe, as my daughter calls it) on this stump for a while now, so that was my project.  (As you might be able to tell, my yard has had plenty of rain lately)

 

A few quick swipes of paint and the kids were off and playing.

 

The boys even gave their sister a turn but as you can see, she cheats.

The stump sits right outside of my gazebo where pea plants are slowly reaching up towards the metal and twine.  I'm hoping they grow to cover it soon and give us built-in snacks.  (I shall call it my pea palace)  I think it's going to be a lovely little place to sit and watch the kids play.

I hope you are all enjoying this weekend too.

like momma

 

My big helper has stitched her first (and second, and third) stones.

 

Just like everything lately, she's done it all by herself, only reluctantly allowing me to help with threading her needle.

 

Clearly she's a natural.  A grubby-handed natural.

I'm so proud.

an acorn boat afloat

  

My teenager is making his gifts for his brothers and sister this morning, these adorable little boats made of acorns and toothpicks.  I saw this idea on pinterest from this blog. (lots of fun projects on there)

 

They even float!

 

I'm finishing up on the last of my projects too, and today we'll decorate gingerbread trees (ice cream cones turned upside down) and do a little baking.  We're tucking in for a cozy couple of days of nibbling in front of the woodstove.

Hope you're cozy wherever you are too.

a smiling turtle

 

Thank you so much for your kind comments after yesterday's blog post.  Parenting is without a doubt the most difficult job I've ever done and I don't always feel like I'm doing it right, and often probably am not doing it right, but it made my heart much lighter reading your words of support.

 

There will be more tough days ahead, of that I'm sure, but we're taking it one day at a time.  Strong and steady like the turtle.

After our talk, my boy wanted to make an ornament for the tree out of wool.  He needle-felted it first, then together we wet-felted it.  He included the important details like toenails and my favorite...a smile.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

Sunday morning felting

 

Sunday morning projects.  PJ's and felting.  Coffee and muffins.  I love weekend mornings like this.

 

The kids wanted to make a felted picture.

 

Sometimes they like to free-hand their felting but today they asked me to draw something for them to "color".  Using a Sharpie, I drew simple pictures on a piece of wool blend felt for them to fill in.

 

They know to keep their fingers far away from the needle and to go slow, but they still require lots of reminders.  There were a couple of finger jabs for the boys but my youngest, who gets more felting time than they do, remained poke-free.

I love seeing the colors they chose and how much work they decided to put into their pieces.  I also thought it was interesting that Avery's bird looked so much like a Painted Bunting, even though he had never seen one before.

I hope you're having a relaxing Sunday too.

villagers and evil queens

 

More rainy weather yesterday demanded a project for a couple of wall-climbing kids.  I had been saving some clothespins and stands and thought now was a good time to pull them out.  I haven't made much time to create with the kids, with everything going on around here lately, so we were due for some fun time.

 

I pulled out some matted pieces of wool roving, some hemp cord, scissors, and glue and let the kids go.  They jumped right in, wrapping wool and cord and drawing little faces.  I was surprised at how excited they were about the project.

 

Some wore wool and some wore nothing but a smile (fitting, with how often my kids are running around nekkid).

 

 

Some had hair and fancy hats.

 

I suggested that they make up a story about their dolls and they launched into a tale about an evil queen (the one with the spiky hair, the one with the brown hair is me) and the villagers who were growing vegetables.  The queen was keeping them from tending their gardens and I couldn't help but mutter a little "hey, mother nature they're talkin' about you."

 

It was time well-spent for all of us, and the sun is up today so perhaps the villagers will get to tend their garden after all.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

tissue paper flock

It's a rainy Sunday morning. 

My niece and nephew are here, bringing the "child aged 7 and under" count to 5.  I figured a little art project was in order to keep them entertained for a while and out of the mud lakes puddles outside.  I had seen these little tissue paper suncatchers on Pinterest and thought they'd be a great way to bring a little color to the day.

My niece is a natural artist, and the bird house, flower, and little sack of bird seed were her ideas.  So clever!

I think this little flock will have to stay for a while.

Our forecast calls for 2-4" of snow tonight so I'm going to need all the colorful flowers I can get.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone.

Mr. Sun - son

Mr Sun has had a son.  Of sorts.  Created by my son, sorta.

About a week ago the boys and I created a woven sun out of a vintage bowl, some twigs, and strips of vintage fabric.  My youngest enjoyed the process so much that he's been asking to do it again.  When he told me he wants to make some to sell so he can earn money to go on vacation, well, how could I say no?

I mean, kindergarten can be really tough on a guy, so he definitely needs a vacation, right?  Funny guy.

I painted the face based on a drawing he did and assembled the piece from some twigs and an oak branch but Avery chose the fabrics and did the weaving.

My kids know that I make and sell my work so I'm sure it's not a big leap for him to think of doing the same, but I have to tell you, his hands-on approach and can-do attitude made me pretty proud.

So, I've put the sun in my shop.  It's been signed by both of us but Avery will get the money, should it sell, to put in his vacation fund.  I'm not sure where he's headed, but I hope he takes me along too.