last minute gift that kids can make quick

Naiya got it in her head today (two days before Christmas ?!!) that she wanted to have a little gift for everyone we'd be seeing on Christmas day.  Never fear, mama crafty is here...

In about an hour we made 15 of these pretty little "stained glass" window thingys.  Originally we had talked about giving them to people as bookmarks but seeing them all lined up together in front of the window, we started to think they could just be lovely bits of art.  Maybe even hang a few together as some kind of mobile?  Whatever they end up being used for, I thought they were beautiful last minute creations that kids could put together for any occasion.  They're basically the same as the "stained glass" hearts we made for Valentine's Day a few years ago with a variation in the shape.

We started by shaving some scrappy broken crayons with a cheese grater.

We sprinkled the shavings onto a sheet of wax paper that was sitting atop a towel.

(A few shavings go a long way.  If the distribution is too dense, all the colors just melt together and make a dark glob.)

On top of this we laid another sheet of wax paper and another thin towel.

(From past experience we know it's possible that some of the colored wax will weep through the wax paper onto the towels so we chose towels with this in mind.)

We then melted the crayon bits by pressing a fairly hot iron on top of the top towel (pressing the iron, lifting and pressing again) until the  shavings had melted and the wax paper sheets had stuck together.

Using our handy roller paper cutter, we cut some card stock down to about 2 1/4" x 6". 

Leaving about 1/2" frame around the edge, we cut out the center. 

We used two of these frames for each book mark, one on either side of the wax piece.

We cut our wax stained glass slightly smaller than the frames and then assembled them using glue sticks.

Naiya helped with every step and only needed some guidance with the paper cutter and, of course, the iron.

Kinda pretty, eh?  Who doesn't need a super fancy bookmark?

fanciful gift tags

Inspired by some gift tags I saw online (which I cannot seem to find again), Naiya and I have been making some fanciful labels for our Christmas givings.

The version I saw online started with little fingerprint sized pieces of fabric glued onto card stock. 

I set these in front of us and (much like we have sometimes made critters and people from our own fingerprints) we came up with some interesting and silly little pictures to display on our tags.

My favorite of Naiya's is the one with the mama bird feeding a worm to the baby bird in the nest that sits on the ground.

Not the most winter-y scenes but Naiya fixated on birds and they're super simple for kids to make.

winter solstice gift from the fairie queen

This morning the Fairie Queen left a little Solstice gift for Naiya on the back step.  The fey are gone in Winter but the Queen visits occasionally on full moons and holidays to leave a little something reminding us she's still around and will return to live in the garden sometime in Spring.

We forgot she was coming so the little box she and Naiya often exchange presents in was sitting on the kitchen counter.  Instead of using the box then, our pixie friend put the little snowman in a woolie bowl that Naiya has decided will be the perfect rabbit hole on our Winter Nature Table.

clothespin snowflakes - another advent craft

Back in Summer we were making suns and stars out of clothespins and all the while I was thinking they'd make much better snowflakes come winter.  So, basically, I'm re-posting those instructions and throwing a little cool colored glitter on in place of the warm tones we used before.


All that's needed are a bunch of clothespins and glue (and some glitter, if you're into that).  I've made them with both quick drying craft glue and a glue gun.  Actually, I'd say the glue gun works better.  Wood glue would probably work better than the craft glue as well.  (A few of our craft-glued creations fell apart a few weeks after making.)












Begin by taking all the clothespins apart.

(Depending on the specific size and shape of the pins used, the number needed for a complete circle will vary from about 22 to 30.)














 Glue the two separated pieces back together back to back.


(I have no idea what to do with the discarded metal springs.  If you think up a good use for them, let me know.)

(Wait! Note added Dec. 2013: I just found a great use for those leftover metal bits!  Check it out here.)





  

After they had dried, I glued the smaller ends together to form the snowflake shape.


To make an even, smooth inside edge, it helped to use a form to push the pins against.  For this circle, I found the perfect sized lid as a kind of mold.

They can be decorated with paint and/or glitter  or, of course, left in their natural state.



Since the sun is coming back (hurray!), perhaps we'll use one on our Nature Table to celebrate the return of the light as well.

the third week of advent

Advent Advent a candle glows

Advent Advent a candle glows

First one then two then three then four

Then stands the Child of Light at the door

The third week of Advent

Is the light of beasts

Who all await the coming

In the greatest and the least

As I mentioned last week, I was frantically making an animal a night to fill Naiya's Advent treasure bag in the mornings for this, the week of animals. We aren't able to place the animals on our Advent wreath for fear that some actual animal (read crazy savage cats) will rip the critters to shreds.  Instead they make their way to the manger on our mantel and await the arrival of the shepherds, wise men and holy family.

I think I could use some instruction in animal anatomy.  (This is supposed to be a camel.  There were camels right?  "The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum....  The camel hummed a tune, pa rum pum pum pum...")

When I looked up ox on the internet I found a lot of pictures of something that looked a lot more like a buffalo than a cow.  I was going for the draft animals with the yokes.  You know, with the big shoulders and horns?  Hmm...

All these fellows are built with an armature of floral wire wrapped in many layers of wool roving.   They're needle felted into shape and were sculpted while I sat looking at a number of actual photographs of real animals. 

I have a lot of un-carded, un-dyed wool which worked really well to create realistic coloration, especially in the sheep (which are, you know, made from sheep).



Tomorrow the shepherds should arrive to watch over the flock...

the grotto's 25th annual christmas festival of lights

The Grotto: The National Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother

 Of all the light displays we visit during the holidays, this is my favorite.  This year marks The Grotto's 25th Annual Festival of Lights.

 We have gone to this festival for a number of years and somehow, the only pictures we ever seem to get of our family of three together are those taken on these exceedingly cold nights.

winter terrarium

One of our simplest Advent crafts this year was a new one we came up with after failed attempts to fill those round glass Christmas bulbs with different varieties of sparkly goodness.  (They just looked trashy and we never put them up.)  Instead, we found this cool hanging glass terrarium (with a much larger opening that small hands can reach into) on sale at our local craft store.  Whereas the bulbs were just filled with texture and color, in the terrarium, we were able to build a small world and Naiya loved it!

We filled the bottom with white sand mixed with a fair amount of glitter (the closest we could get to snow) then our dear daughter found mini ornaments we weren't using and some bits of natural-ness to brighten up the tiny winter world. 
It's hanging in front of a window and Ryan says it's his favorite craft of the season.  Perhaps we'll have to gather more miniature goodies and make a couple more...

(I took about 40 pictures in various kinds of light trying to minimize glare and maintain focus.  This, which doesn't do it justice, is the best pic I could get.  As you can see, I was none too successful. )