Frontier Dreams: Heart of Advent

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Heart of Advent

I just realized this whole week has been nothing but craft posts! Well, in my defense I had the pleasure of spending last Saturday at our school's Heart of Advent and that really got me going.

Kevin thankfully had the day off (after much fretting, on my end, that he wouldn't), and he and the little ones came to the school with me but to play outside instead.

This years Heart of Advent was even cozier and warmer than the last two years that I attended. I wish I could have stayed there for days on end. Friends, crafting and hot apple cider...what more could anyone ask for? Something new, and really one of my favorite things there, was a display where we all shared our family holiday traditions. It was so much fun to see what everyone celebrated and how they did it.

I only had two hours to get my craft on so I didn't take too many pictures. (well, that and I was having issues with the lighting, hence the dark pictures) I decided I would expand my horizons and try new things this year (ahem, or really just
dabble?). One thing I was really surprised at was the needle felted ornaments. I had never tried to needle felt a scene or picture before, only three dimensional objects.(and those take me hours to do, do I don't make them often) I have had this book for quite awhile to try one but just hadn't gotten around to it. I have to say I wish I did long ago because it was so fast and fun! Granted, I need to finish up my ornament and it looks like a child made it but I loved the process. Oh boy, another hobby...
I bounced from table to table like a madwoman catching up with old friends and making new ones all the while making as many things as I could. Of course with such good company, the two hours flew by like two minutes. I ended up only finishing one project - the treasure candles. (one for both of my girls. Each candle has dragon tears hidden inside. As the candle burns they will appear in the melted wax.)
I brought my other started projects home. Maybe I'll actually get around to finishing them before Christmas...

But I wouldn't quote me on that!

Comments (28)

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Kelly · 699 weeks ago

Ohh, the pocket people are delicious :-) I'm a newish follower by the way, warm wishes Kelly

1 reply · active 699 weeks ago

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Kathya B · 699 weeks ago

Those pocket people are just darling! i know my girls would love them.
Do you sharing where you got the kits?

1 reply · active 699 weeks ago

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April · 699 weeks ago

What a fun day! Love all of the crafts. Your needle felting is very nice, and so are the darling pocket dolls! Love the passage written about Festivals. Fun post!

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a little crafty nest · 699 weeks ago

Nicole, I am wishing I had been there, too! Our Waldorf Christmas festival is in a few weeks, and I always look so forward to it. Lucky you to have two whole hours of uninterrupted crafting/visiting/mama time! I love each and every thing you photo'd. And I'm inspired by some of the festival displays. Thanks so much for this!!!
xo Jules

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thiscosylife 81p · 699 weeks ago

Oh wow, that must have been so much fun! GLad to hear you got to go after all. Love the pocket people especially.

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Jessica · 699 weeks ago

What a wonderful day! I'm inspired by all the projects and festival ideas you captured.

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Gigi · 699 weeks ago

Oh what fun! So many wonderful things to make, it would be hard to choose. And I must look up dragon tears -- sounds like something my little granddaughters would love.
I finally got my yarn in for Phoebe's Sweater, but I don't love the color ;(. Oh well, guess it will have to do as I'm running out of time!
Blessings,
G

1 reply · active 698 weeks ago

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roxie · 699 weeks ago

Thank You so much for such a beautiful post . You inspire me to me Mum again ☺ I was in quite a slump this autumn and trying to take baby steps back into our homeschool . Your blog is so warm and gentle Thanks so much .

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PlainandJoyfulLiving · 699 weeks ago

Thank you for sharing these beautiful images Nicole - the needle felting is just gorgeous.

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lisa · 699 weeks ago

I would love a kit also!!!! So precious!

1 reply · active 698 weeks ago

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Sarah · 699 weeks ago

Wow Nicole! Love, love, love this post! Thanks once again for sharing so many inspiring ideas and such beautiful images! I'm really in the spirit now!

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Megan · 699 weeks ago

I would love to know how to make those pocket people as well. Please share!

1 reply · active 698 weeks ago

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Katie · 699 weeks ago

Say more about the process for the treasure candles, please. Those sound like fun. My son loves dragon tears (and fire.)

1 reply · active 698 weeks ago

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Nikki · 698 weeks ago

Thanks for sharing this beautiful event with us. I especially like the thank you note about festivals connecting us to the year. I find such comfort in festivals, celebrations, and traditions, and this is absolutely why. It makes so much sense.

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Galina Erkamp · 698 weeks ago

Hi,

I love festivals, and love the time before a festival. I really enjoyed your post. You always make such beautiful pictures!
I had a question about st Nicolas, i noticed the figure, the stuffed shoes and the jutte bag for presents. Can you explain a little how you celebrate st Nicolas. Im from the Netherlands, and we celebrate "Sinterklaas" big time, but its very commercial, and only foced on 'getting presents and candy' on tv we can watch Sinterklaas arrive on his boad from spain, with all the black piets, and then that evening all the children are allowed to place their shoe next to the fireplace or heater, and they recieve candy (from partens offcourse) and then on sinterklaas-eve, on december 5th the children recieve a big bag of presents, in the jutte bag. Most of the time the neighboor places the bag in the hall and bangs on the door really loud. And then the kids go outside and look if they can spot black piet...
We sing songs about sinterklaas, and we eat speculaas candies, wich are only available this time of the year. You can buy some decoration even, altough christmas is prefferred by the stores, And you can get sinterklaas books, but all the books are about a child recieving presents from sinterklaas. There are no stories about sinterklaas himself or about the legend available in a nice book. This frustrates me al lot!

I sort of develop my own sinterklaas storytelling with three little golden bags, and the ostheimer sinterklaas, and use whatever stories i find online and on wikipedia. It just feels kinda lame, living in Holland where Sinterklas is a national holiday, and i get all my stories online from an american website, and i have to translate them all. (which i do gladly but still....)

So how do you celebrate this, and how does your waldorf school celebrate this festival. Would you mind sharing with me?
Thank you so much!

2 replies · active 698 weeks ago

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Gwen Elliott · 698 weeks ago

Nicole, would you mind forwarding the Advent poem (or a link to where to find it perhaps) which talks about the celebrations in each light of advent? I can't quite read it in the photo and I've been searching for this everywhere! Many thanks and your Advent celebration looks so beautiful. We just had our Winter Fair at the Vancouver Waldorf School. So lovely. Best and blessings from BC!

1 reply · active 698 weeks ago

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khkhkh · 698 weeks ago

i'd also so love to get a quick tip on the dragon tear candles. I can tell from the photo that you do a layer of beeswax, let cool for a bit, then add some cut up colored sheets of rolling beeswax and a jewel. Am I right? These would be so fun to make. Thanks!

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FrontierDreams 111p · 698 weeks ago

Yep! We put the wick into the center of a paper cup and then filled the cup a little less than half way with beeswax. We let it set (about 15 mins). Then we placed two dragon's tears on top of that wax and a few pieces of colored beeswax, poured beeswax on top, let it set again and voila! Ours are just starting to show the treasures inside. I'll have to get pics :)

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Thank you for joining me here. My name is Nicole Spring AKA wife, Waldorf homeschooling Mama to four sweet little ones, homemaker of the radical kind, knitter, cook, seamstress, student of life as well as my children, crafter, girl of all trades... and always with a camera in hand to document our days so we may look back at these glorious yet exhausting times.

I enjoy hearing from you and would love it so much if you wouldn't mind taking the time to leave a comment. They mean so much to me (honestly, they make my day!). I appreciate not only seeing all that you have to say but also being blessed to get to know you better. If you ask a question please check back here for my response. I try my hardest to respond quickly. Thank you so much!!