treasure yarn

My favorite of all the gifts Naiya received for her birthday was this beautiful wool treasure yarn.
As it is unwound, tiny, magical gifts are revealed...

This one came from her dear friends and held shells, beads and little clay and glass figures.  The tiniest beads were held inside on mini safety pins.  

I imagine that finding the little treasures is supposed to inspire the child to knit or crochet in order to bring forth more of the goodies, but Naiya said she would get to that later and just wanted to unwind the whole ball at once.
Being pretty excited myself, I let her unravel the entire thing.

At the heart of the ball was a sweet little heart.

The perfect, simple, useful gift to inspire hours of focused handwork, play and creativity.

this year's birthday treasure hunt

As in year's past, for Naiya's birthday we hosted a gathering at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island.  Once again we put together a little treasure hunt with some natural, hand made gifts for all the wee ones.  Some Waldorf friends of mine occasionally ask about ideas for natural party favors, so I thought I'd share this year's collection.

We began with a basket full of gathering bags made from twill tape and scraps of felted sweaters.  The children were able to fill the bags with treasures along the way and then take them home to use and fill with all manner of leaves, pine cones, stones and whatnot on their seasonal nature walks.

A birthday’s a day for the special one
But we like for everyone to have fun!
Using this bag collect riches you spot
Your parents can help (just a bit or a lot)
Begin looking high where a fairie might rest
Your first prize awaits there and clues to the rest...

 The felt piece measured about 6" x 18" and was stitched onto a 3' length of twill tape leaving a few inches to be folded over for a flap.  I had thought of them as gathering bags but with quite a few left at the end of our party, I fear some of the boys may have seen them more as "purses" and opted to carry their treasures in their pockets instead.







In a tree nearby, the children found their second item and a fairie offering a clue to the next.

We hope you can find your own name in this tree
Right after this there are more things to see
A gnome watches over a tiny collection
of critters to share - find and make your selection

The idea for these name tag pendants came from those worn by some children I spied at summer camps in the wild parks of Portland.  The wood rounds were cut from a branch of a hazelnut tree that our neighbor had left on the curb for firewood and we wrote the names with a wood burner pen.  






The tree fairie lead the adventurers to our garden gnome who overlooked a field of sweet critters.

Into your pouch one sweet critter will go
Which one you’ll chose, only you know
Next look for pixies who seldom we spy
Perhaps their small village is somewhere nearby

With so many children in attendance this year, I cheated a bit and purchased one of the prizes.  We found these little glass critters at Audubon Society of Portland's Nature Store.








After tarrying a bit with our gnome and selecting a critter, the children were led to a pixie village.  The pixies (as is often the case) were not to be found, but they left their little homes for the kids to have as their own.

The pixies away by the wind have been blown
But they’ve left you their houses to have for your own
Tuck one into your bag now, then run off and play
We ‘re so happy you joined us for this special day

These are surprisingly simple and quick to make.  They're formed out of Super Sculpey and baked in the oven for half an hour.  I painted them with water colors and I think this gives them a nice translucent, magical quality.  The downside is that the watercolors will just wash off if they get wet.  I figured that made them, in the long run, a more interactive play thing... the children could repaint them themselves!

birthday treasure hunt & some natural party favor ideas

Included in Naiya's birthday celebration at the farm last weekend was a delightful birthday treasure hunt.  I thought I would post about our search and find game both as a way to record our fun adventure and because I've had several folks in the past ask me for ideas for Waldorf style party favors made from natural materials.  Feel free to share one or all...

We began with a basket full of simple sewn fabric bags which had the name of each child on the drawstring in letter beads. 

In field and farm and all around
Our elemental friends abound
Fairies, gnomes and mermaids too
A dragon even, in one clue!
Take a bag and start your search
Begin where birds and pixies perch...

I got the beads at the craft store, and this was a handy feature that proved useful in helping avoid conflict over which bag belonged to each child after they were all left laying about.









Using the first hint, the children located a tree close by where hung a number of sweet fairie necklaces.  The next clue also dangled from the branches below a fairie cut out that swung overhead. 

Take one fairie flying sweetly
In the branches so discreetly
Seek next for an underground dweller
He’s a jolly little feller...

The necklaces hanging in the branches were made of wooden nickles (purchased at a craft store) which had been drilled with a tiny hole.  The hole had a little wire loop through it and the pendants hung from an assortment of colored ribbons.  I used a regular stamp and stamp pad to mark a different image on each side of the medallion.  I couldn't decide whether to coat them with beeswax polish or not so I did some with and some without.  (The wax seemed to very slightly blur the image but made the whole thing look richer.  The one shown is without the polish.)




Following the fairie's directions, the children next found our beloved garden gnome behind a nearby shrubbery with a basketful of gnome hats. 

One hat is for me and one for you
Choose one and follow your next clue.
Look for the place where mermaids hide
A silky blue beach where they play in the tide...

The hats were super simple to make and could be done from either fleece or wool.  I don't know where I got the pattern but there is one similar in the Fall 2010 issue of Living Crafts Magazine.  They're cut on a fold and require only one sewn seam.  Each hat took less than five minutes to make.







The gnome's clue led the children to a tableau of the sea complete with toy boat and seashells.  Sprinkled on the silky tide were little mermaids for each child to put in her collection bag.

You’ve found us here! Take one mermaid tear home
We’re glad to go wherever you roam
I know of a dragon who hides in her lair
She’s friendly and wants us to find her there...

At our festivals the children often dig for small "dragon tears" in the sandbox.  I'd seen this larger mermaid "tear" idea at several craft fairs and shops including our own school store.  I hope I'm not giving away any trade secrets by revealing how simple it is to make these magical stones.

The clear glass gems are about an inch in diameter and can be found in the floral section of some craft stores.  The images were collected from the internet and sized in my photo program to fit the stones.  (Alternately, pre-rounded 1" images can be purchased cheaply through lots of folks on Etsy for very little money.  Try searching "digital mermaid image" or "digital fairie image" to see or buy the cool collections enterprising folks have created.)  I printed my mermaids on a heavy card stock on my own printer and after cutting the pictures to fit the stones, I painted some Mod Podge (non-toxic, clear drying adhesive) onto the printed side and stuck them face-up onto the flat underside of the glass.  To give them a nice finish I painted the blank backs gold.






Lastly, the mermaids led the treasure hunters to the dragon hidden under the canopy of a low tree.  I made this papier-mâché life sized dragon for no good reason about 20 years ago.  I was just really into papier-mâché I guess.  She's been sitting in the garage and it only occurred to me a few weeks ago that I might put her to good use.  As much as the children seemed to like her, it was her eggs which were their final prize. 

I’m a friendly dragon just relaxing
I know all this searching can be taxing
So glad you made it all the way through
As a final prize, one egg is for you!

The eggs were made using the simple wet felting technique shown here and filled with a couple of dragon stickers I purchased at one of our favorite local toy stores.



The children seemed to enjoy the treasures and the quest and I too had loads of fun putting the whole thing together.

birthday the fifth

After a quiet morning at home with a simple breakfast and search for the now FIVE birthday fairies (I'm still wrapping my head around that number), we once again celebrated Naiya's birthday at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island.

We love the relaxed, natural atmosphere and the wide open space where the children can run, play, visit the giant pig, hide in the corn and search for the perfect pumpkin. 

Mostly we just like that we're able to have this gathering out of doors.  We're lucky to have given birth to our child in the early Autumn when the weather here in the Pacific Northwest can be somewhat wet but is almost always comfortable.  With outdoor celebrations it seems like Nature does a lot of the decorating and hosting on her own and even provides a fair amount of entertainment.

We did furnish a spread for both adults and children that included five cakes.  Yup.  Five cakes.  This bit is really Ryan's doing.  On Naiya's third birthday he couldn't decide which cake to make her so he made three.  We both thought it was kind of cute because, you know, she was three.  But then came four with four cakes and now five with cakes a-plenty.  At some point this will have to stop obviously (or we'll need to get some smaller cake molds).  Naiya helped with the decorating of one of the sweet treats and, not surprisingly, this was the one that nearly all of the children wanted to eat.  Any guesses?

 We laid out a table with tiny pumpkins and stick on decorations and these ever so creative children were in fine form.

Like last year, we had a treasure hunt for the little ones to follow at their own pace.  Most tried it out as they arrived alone or in pairs and it worked out quite well.  (I'll post more about the crafts for that soon.)

 We also took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch where all the children found the very best of pumpkins.  They, of course, have to be just so.

I tried out my amateur face painting skills but I think what the children liked most was decorating the mommies and daddies.

Most of the day was just spent frolicking and enjoying the farm and its many inhabitants.

We were lucky to avoid the rain and enjoyed a beautiful, festive day with many of our beloved friends and family.  Just as we unloaded the last party remnants from the car at home the sky opened up and poured out a storm. 

Happy birthday to my wonder-filled little girl.

she's five

Happy Birthday to my dear five year old.

When I was One, I had just begun.

When I was Two, I was nearly new.

When I was Three, I was hardly Me.

When I was Four, I was not much more.

              Now I am Five, and I'm so alive.

(poem adapted from Now We are Six by A. A. Milne)

birthday treasure hunt

 Unlike in years past, this year I came up with a fun activity for the children at the party in plenty of time to prepare.

The hunt began with a collection bag containing the first clue:

To begin your treasure quest, 

find the airplane with the name of each guest.

Follow the picture clues from there.

(Help from a grown-up is perfectly fair!)

 In the clip of each plane was a simple photograph of the garden gnome which the children had to find in his hiding place under a tree.

The gnome's clue read:
Take a mushroom and under the cap
is the next clue which you need to unwrap


(The mushrooms were made of clipped branches of the hedge laurel in our front yard and felted sweater rounds with needle felted spots.)

 Inside the stem of the mushrooms was a simple photograph of the scarecrow hidden behind the rose bushes.

The scarecrow's clue read:
One tossing ring is for you.
This picture clue is too!



(The toss rings are heavy wooden rings with various ribbons attached...great for fancy flights.)

The photo on the scarecrow's clue was of the treasure chest (hidden under a nearby table.)

Inside the chest read:
Congratulations, your hunt is done
Choose a crown and go have more fun!

The bags, in the end, were filled with the little planes, the mushrooms, the wood & ribbon toss rings and the felted crowns.  Really, it wasn't nearly as much work as one might think :)