little wooden houses as waldorf classmate christmas gifts

Every year as we snuggle down during Advent and try to spend the long winter nights together with stories and baking and wholesome good work, we attempt to come up with a simple craft that we can create together for little classmate gifts for Christmas.  
(Spoiler alert, dear Waldorf friends, we've got a basket of these little houses coming your way on the day before winter break!)

This year, since we're still house hunting and living at my mum and dad's, we had access to some good tools and even better helpers.  Opa and his table saw started us off in our production by sawing a pointy edge from a regular ol' 2x4.  (Cost: about $3)

He then chopped it up into smaller pieces.

Then Naiya, Oma and I sanded down the rough edges.

Sanding can be messy business so we stood out in the 30-something degree weather smoothing down those splintery corners.

Back inside we mixed up a platter of rainbow goodness and set to work with our acrylics.

They sat on the table for a couple of days and got more and more elaborate with glitter, fancy paper and lots of painted embellishments.

We finished them off with a screw eye and bit of ribbon for simple ornaments we hope the kids will enjoy.

may day hair garland

Each year for May Day and for the May Faire at Naiya's school we have been putting together hair garlands to lend a bit of natural decor to our festival garb and liven up our merry making.  I've even posted a garland tutorial.  (Click here if you're interested in checking it out.)

Often, however, these coronets stay in place for a picture or two and then end up on our gathering blanket to wilt in the afternoon sun.  They're lovely and Naiya and I both enjoy putting them together but, she complains, they can be a bit cumbersome and, especially for active children, not really that practical.

That's why this year we decided to try something new.  What you see in the photo above looks like a  garland but is, in fact, just a series of hair clips holding little bunches of flowers onto her hair in a circle round her head!

To make it, I pulled a little hair back from the front of Naiya's head, made a braid on each side and bound the the two plaits in the back.  I then gathered very small flowers into two-ended bunches and clipped them onto the braid in the middle.  She has five clusters round her crown with the largest in the back covering the band where the braids meet.

She loved her "garland" this time around and it stayed in place until her night-time bath.  No wires.  No floral tape.  No complaining.  And put together in about 4 minutes.  I don't know that we'll ever make a proper garland again!

screen-free week: play dough

Painting, drawing, sculpting and crafts of all kinds are great ways to give children

a creative but focused outlet for their imaginations.  

Many parents find that meal preparation times are an especially difficult hour to keep kids occupied and free of screens. When having children help with cooking is not an option, dough modeling can be a fun way to engage a child’s hands, heart and mind while parents are busy.

Every child loves to shape malleable materials and children can parallel adult kitchen activities by pretending to bake and cook or they can use whatever inspires them to sculpt shapes, figures and even tell stories through the medium of dough.

 I can make it 

You will see 

I roll and squeeze 

Then one, two, three 

From my hands 

Something will grow 

What it will be 

I don’t yet know...
a castle... 

an elephant...
a spider... 

a vase... 

a flower...
a snake... 

a cave... 

a tree...
what will it be? 

what will it be?

 “Children love to practice rolling out with a rolling pin and cutting shapes with cookie cutters. I have a collection of small animal- shaped cookie cutters, and after they have rolled and cut a few, I then encourage the children to play with them at the table. They can roll a little more play dough to make fences, or a barn, or nests. This encourages them to use their hand- dexterity in service of their imaginative skills. Great training for life!”
                                                        - from Heaven on Earth by Sharifa Oppenheimer

To make your own play dough, try this easy recipe:

 Play Dough

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/3 cup salt
2 Tblsp. cream of tartar
1 Tblsp. vegetable oil
food coloring

In a medium sized pot mix flour, salt and cream of tartar.  Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.

Once the dough forms a ball, remove from heat and allow it to cool. Once cool, knead the dough on a floured surface. 
That's it!  You've got play dough!  If you'd like to add some color...

 

Separate into various balls (depending on how much of each color you would like).  Indent each ball and drop food coloring into indentation.  (For the colors seen here I used 10 drops.)

Knead until the color is distributed evenly throughout the dough.  Once the coloring is mixed into the dough it will, oddly, not stain hands or surfaces.  (During the initial kneading, however, watch those clothes, countertops and hands!)

Store in an airtight container or sealed plastic bag.

“Artistic expression is an essential element of a balanced “diet” of experience for our young children. In artistic work, we accomplish two essential tasks of childhood: the training of the hand and the training of the heart. Together these lay a firm foundation for the training of the mind.”
                                       - from Heaven on Earth by Sharifa Oppenheimer

super quick doll clothes

   Like many Waldorf moms, over the years I've hand made my daughter some beautiful dolls only to have her cast them aside for simple store bought versions that relatives and friends have given her.  It took me quite a while to figure out that it wasn't so much the manufactured playthings she loved more than those I lovingly and painstakingly crafted; rather, it was their fancy clothes collections and ease of dressing that were the magical draw!    (How come our children won't just love the toys WE love?  A post for another time...) 

  Of late, her favorite dolls for dressing and playing are two Groovy Girls.  There's something about the size (and freakish proportions) of these particular dolls that just really appeals to my daughter.  I've embraced them but, if you're not familiar with these gals, they often come with some pretty racy outfits.  We use them but have tried to add some fun, more young-girly ensembles through our crafting.  Oma's been knitting them sweaters and skirts and I've sewn a few pairs of pants and skirts as well.  But last week, Oma had a designer breakthrough and came up with this super-quick-and-easy-doll-clothes-in-minutes idea!  

  

Basically, it utilizes the sleeves of old pajamas and whatever trim is laying around.  In no time at all Groovy Rainy and Groovy Toni had garments for nearly every occasion.

We're always outgrowing cotton pajamas and they come in  a pretty interesting variety of colors and designs.  Simply chop off the sleeves, finish the cut edge (or don't) and add a little something to give the wardrobe some style...

Since Naiya started gymnastics, she wanted Toni to have her own leotard.  We cut holes for the arms to go through and put in a few stitches by hand to separate the two leg holes.  (Naiya insisted on the little circle of yellow felt for "decoration".   The kid loves adornment.)

This cute summer dress has a ribbon sewn around the stretched bottom.  Stretching the fabric as the trim was sewn on caused it to curl into the frilly pattern seen here.  Straps and buttons (those were Naiya's idea) finished this summery selection.

Pants are basically a skirt cut and stitched for legs up the middle.

Roll those pants out and pull 'em up for a trendy jumpsuit.

(Wait... are these ridiculous things still in style?)

It's hard to tell in this shot but this mini dress has a white lace layer on top of the printed under layer. 

A little gold lame fancies up any simple design.

Who doesn't have packets of mint green ric rac just waiting for the perfect project?

(And a child that thinks a bell would make for a fine bit of embellishment?)

Another gown dressed up with a small bit of lace and ribbon straps that tie around the neck.
















Thanks Oma!  Now we've got playtime outfits for every occasion for weeks to come.

felt finger puppet valentine

   With Valentine's Day coming up, Naiya and I have been trying out a few ideas for little classmate gifts to share.  Since we're planning ahead this year, we decided to tackle some things that might be a bit more challenging.  This took rather a lot of time and my dear six year old wasn't able to help much so, I'm guessing, in the end, this won't be what we'll create twelve of to pass out on that special day.  We did like it a lot though and Naiya said I should "totally put that on the blog."  But of course.
   I did this all in the midst of playing and so all the sewing was done by hand.  To reduce project time (and if we did decide to make more) I would instead use a machine for most of the stitching next time around.

I based this pattern on a tri-fold concept.  The face/body will reside in the center piece, the ears slightly behind and the tail will line up with the center of the back when its folded and sewn together.

I traced the pattern and cut it out from wool felt.

Onto the center third (which will ultimately be the front of the raccoon) and around both sides of the tail, I sewed various felt pieces.  The raccoon required these extra color flairs but if one is making a cat, mouse or some simpler-faced critter, this step would be skipped.

Onto the back side of the felt (which will face forward once folded), I sewed some ear highlights.

I then embroidered on nose, mouth, eyes and some little paws to hold the heart.  (I think my eyes are a little wonky and somewhat hostile looking.  Embroidery is obviously not my forte.)

I folded it into thirds and sewed it up with the tail sticking out in back.

I figure there are lots of animals that can be made in basically this same fashion:  bear, mouse, bunny, cat... whatever suits your fancy.

With a little effort, my second go will likely look much sweeter and more polished than this one but, chances are, I won't get any pictures next time around.



Turns out Naiya isn't letting go of this one.

She said she would like a piggy next.

transparency silhouettes

   Back when I had just finished up with our school's Advent crafting festival, I mentioned that I would do a little how-to post on the transparency silhouettes that were such a hit there.

   I've since discovered that directions for these can be found in the popular Waldorf calendar of celebrations book All Year Round and it's likely that instructions appear elsewhere online as well.  I'll go ahead and offer up how I put them together anyhow (because, you know, I already started).  Also, if you're looking for some images for inspiration, you can check out a collection I've gathered from crafty folks the world over on my Pinterest page.

   To make these sweet seasonal and story-telling pieces of window art you'll need card stock, a pencil, tissue in various colors, small scissors or a craft knife, a glue stick, a steady hand and a lot of patience.  The product is lovely and the principles are simple but the cutting of the image can be quite fiddly and time consuming.  (Let it not be said I gave no warning.)

   Drawing the desired scene directly onto the wrong side of the card stock is the easiest way to begin.


One can harvest images from favorite picture books or, of course, simply forge them directly from one's own imagination.

I have a hard time free-handing drawings, so I borrow those I like by pasting them onto a Pages document on my computer and then tracing the image onto a piece of paper.





Unfortunately, the heavier card stock desired for the finished product is thicker than can be easily seen through in this way so I've traced like this, cut out a pattern and then re-traced the pattern onto heavy card stock.  (This is extremely time consuming and I only did it because I needed patterns for others to use at the crafting gathering anyway.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend doing all that cutting twice!)  

So...  Working on the back side of the heavy paper, draw the chosen silhouette remembering to leave at least a 1" margin around the perimeter and to attach all figures to some edge.

(Note that silhouette figures not attached to an edge could be directly glued onto the tissue backing in later steps as seen in some of the collected inspiring examples.)

With a craft or exacto knife or small scissors (I prefer the latter), cut the design from the paper and trim the outside edges as desired.

(Remember to leave that 1" exterior frame to have something to attach your tissue to!)



(If you'd prefer to create a free standing display that can be placed in front of a candle or other light source, leave 3-4" of the card stock on each side of the image.  This excess can to be folded (on the dotted line) to a 70° - 90° angle to help the piece stand on its own instead of being taped or propped against a window.)

When the cutting is complete, prepare a piece of the lightest color tissue (in this case the lightest blue) to be placed over the entire back side of the image.  Cover the back side of the frame (and perhaps some of the larger figures) with glue stick or craft glue and gently press on that first layer of tissue.

Continue adding progressively darker tissue colors and variously shaped highlights and layers as desired to make the color effects you choose.  (Layering from lightest to darkest seems to work best.)
The subsequent layers can be kept to the edges or be carefully glued directly onto the first layer of tissue.

Even one color of tissue layered many times can create an interesting effect.  Combining colors as seen through light is an art of its own I think.

Once complete, turn the silhouette right side up and display it in a brightly lit window or in front of a protected candle.

   If the tissue outline can be seen because of strong back light (as shown above) or if your finished product is too floppy, the whole project can be "cleaned-up" and reinforced by adding an additional card stock frame piece on top of the tissue on the back side.

   I can see us producing a library of these to have for each season or even creating scenes to gift to our friends with images from their favorite stories.

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?

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.