I Don't Do It All

A favorite photograph of mine taken in May (so, no you are not crazy for thinking Baby F looks smaller!)
 
Hey everyone! Has the thought ever crossed your mind that I seem to accomplish a lot? Well, I promise I don't! Want proof, such as my loathe of carpets and *gasp* my feelings on homeschooling? While I am at it, have I ever mentioned how creating keeps me sane?! Come join me over at my friend Bethany's blog Baking Humble Pie. I had the privilege of doing a guest post for her "I Don't Do It All" series. While you are over there check out the other posts in the series, too. I have so enjoyed reading each one of them.

Now off on some Oregon Trail adventures we go! Happy weekending, friends!

I Don't Do It All

Wool Felted Egg tutorial for Easter or Spring {Appearance of the Root Children}

This article/tutorial originally appeared in the spring 2010 edition of Rhythm of the Home. I was told by the editors that it was one of their most popular articles. It is funny to look back at this now. I can remember when we first started our Root Children celebration. This was before we celebrated Easter as a family (and before I joined the church). I wanted a way for my child (it was only K, then) to experience an egg hunt and all the fun associated with springtime. Now my three children still receive small gifts (like seeds) to welcome spring but our focus is more on the Easter season. These eggs, of course, could be made for whatever celebration you like!

I apologize for the quality of the photographs and that some of them are different sizes. That's how they were saved in my e-mail for whatever reason.

One of my family's favorite yearly rhythms is the arrival of Spring. My children look forward to it more than any other day of the year. That is the day the Root Children visit our home in celebration of returning above ground to play. Staying true to Waldorf holiday traditions, we start preparing about a week before the actual day by getting out our copy of 'The Root Children' by Sibylle Von Olfers and reading it every night before bed. I can see my little ones' anticipation build every time we read it, as they wait excitedly for spring to come. My oldest will often update me on what the Root Children living underground in our own yard are doing. She will see a flower emerging from the ground and tell it to wait until Mother Earth opens the door before it can blossom, or she'll see a beetle outside and tell me the Root Children just finished cleaning him and let him above ground to dry off.
When spring finally comes, my little ones wake up to find a Root Child waiting for them on our kitchen table in front of a decked out festivity stand. When they see her they know spring is officially here.
The Root Children are very generous and like to announce their arrival with small gifts for my children. To make it even more fun, they hide these gifts in wool felted eggs all over our backyard for my little ones to find. Here are simple instructions for making your own wool felted eggs to celebrate spring's arrival (or Easter!). You can do this alone to surprise your little ones, or you can have them help. This is a great craft for children of all ages. My youngest loves to play with the wool in the 'bubble water.'

Supplies needed:
- natural dish detergent (we like to use Seventh Generation)
- a large bowl
- hot water
- wooden eggs OR plastic easter eggs taped shut with packing tape or duct tape
- a washboard or bubble wrap
- wool roving in colors of your choice (we try to use bright colors so they really stand out when hidden in our yard)
- scissors

Instructions:
Wrap the plastic (or wooden) egg in a thin layer of wool with it all going in the same direction. Use just enough wool to cover it. Next, wrap or lay cross-ways another thin layer of the same wool or another color. The important thing here is to criss-cross the wool so that the fibers will lock together.
Now that your egg is ready to felt, prepare your bowl by adding a few drops of dish detergent and some hot water. The hotter the better but if little ones are going to be helping, make it more on the warmer side. Swish the water and detergent around to thoroughly mix together.
Start out by holding your wool covered egg in one hand and using the other hand to scoop a little bit of water at a time and gently sprinkle over your egg, very carefully patting the water in so as not to dislodge the wool.You do not want to pour or submerge your egg into the water until it has started felting. Once the wool is wet and beginning to cling to itself, you can start to lightly rub the wool in your hands. After doing this for a couple of minutes, you will see that the wool has begun to felt. You can now rub it more vigorously in your hands, or rub it on the wash board, or even wrap it up in the bubble wrap and roll it back and forth. Do this for about 10 minutes. You will need to continuously sprinkle more hot water on it or even submerge it in the bowl. The wool needs the heat along with the friction to be able to fully felt. After those first layers have fully felted you can add more layers one at a time, and just felt each layer as you did the first. I have found that adding many layers of thin wool is easier to work with than a few thick layers, so after each layer seems tough and felted I add another thin layer going in the opposite direction of the past layer. There really is no right or wrong with how many layers to add just continue adding until you are satisfied. Just remember : the more layers you add the sturdier your egg will be. One tip I learned recently is if you don't feel that the egg has felted well enough you can put the felted egg into the toe of a pair of pantyhose and knot them right above so it can not move and run it through your washing machine on a HOT rinse cycle. Once you feel it has enough layers, rinse your felted egg in cold water to remove any of the left over detergent and then let it dry thoroughly, this usually takes a day or two. Once dry, you can add designs to your egg by needle felting them on, or leave them as they are. To remove the plastic (or wooden) egg from inside the felted egg, cut horizontally in a straight line or zigzagged (so it looks like the egg was cracked open) about halfway to 3/4 of the way up the egg . Make sure you cut only a little more than halfway around the egg. If you cut it open too much you risk it ripping from excited little hands.
You can make the openings of the eggs look neater you can use some embroidery floss and do a simple blanket stitch around the edge of the opening.
Fill the eggs with whatever simple gifts you like. When the Root Children leave these eggs for our children they usually like to fill them with seeds to plant in our garden, crystals and stones, and perhaps a little wooden or knitted animal. Now place them outside all over your yard the morning of the first day of spring and let your little ones discover the magic of the Root Children in their own yard. Enjoy!!

Wool Felted Egg tutorial for Easter or Spring {Appearance of the Root Children}

Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids (AKA Spilling the beans)

Remember the good news I promised you all last week? I was planning on posting about it later in the week but I couldn't contain my excitement any longer. I'm not even sure where to begin. I can't seem to put into words the emotions behind all of this, and I know I won't do it justice, but I am going to give it a try.


Cutie K in the front of the book

I was contacted a little over a year and a half ago about contributing to a book with 19 other bloggers. The topic was crafting with children. I was very pregnant (and tired) with Baby L at the time so I wasn't sure if I was up to it or not. I always doubt my capabilities, too. I wondered why was I so fortunate to receive this? What could I really offer to anyone? I knew after a short deliberation (worked through with Kevin), that I needed to face my fears and accept this challenge and wonderful blessing. It was an offer I just couldn't refuse. I mean really, they had me at 'crafting'.



So began my adventure in the world of book publishing. Goodness, I am so thankful for it all. The whole thing just simply humbles me so very much. It really made me open my eyes and take a good look at myself. I feel like I have learned quite a bit. Not to mention the fun the girls and I had deciding on, and creating, our craft project.





After waiting a year and trying to keep my mouth closed on this adventure, our book arrived at our doorstep. I felt like Meryl Streep's interpretation of Julia Child when she opened up her book in Julie & Julia. Of course this is nothing like that, but if you've seen that movie it will give you an idea as to how excited I was. I showed my girls right away and asked them if they recognized any of the children in the book. They seemed quite confused, and I know they don't fully grasp it, but they were still all smiles upon finding themselves.

K already has projects she wants us to make from the book. At the top of her list is Ella's (of Little Red Caboose) felted flower bowl and Amanda's (of soulemama) blanket. We have the next two weeks off from school for spring break so maybe she'll get her wish. All of the projects look like they will be great for us to do together. I look forward to trying them all.



To see my name along with women who I have admired for quite some time leaves me speechless. Such an honor and so very humbling. I still can't believe it. Yes, I'm using a lot of "humbles" but that word pretty much sums up my whole experience.





I looked at my pages long enough to photograph them but that's all so far. I am quite silly, I know, but I just can't look at them yet - seeing myself and reading my words...it feels so different in print!



Like I said before, my post would not do justice to this amazing experience but I had to share the news with all of you. I've been wanting to spill the beans for so long now. The book doesn't come out until April 3rd but you can pre-order it here. Check it out, and I would love to hear what you think! Thank you to Jenny Doh for this chance and to all of you for your constant inspiration and support.

Hand in Hand: Crafting with Kids (AKA Spilling the beans)

Churning Butter, Bamboo Style!

Come join the girls and I as we share memories, recipes and a little history behind K's name in the autumn issue of Bamboo magazine. It is such an honor to be part of such a wonderful magazine.

Churning Butter, Bamboo Style!

Won't You Join Me?

*The ROTH site is gone. You can now find this tutorial here.*

Grab a cup of tea and join me for the latest edition of Rhythm of the Home. We contributed a wool acorn necklace tutorial. Ahhh yes, that's what all those acorn caps were for! This may be one of my most favorite issues yet, there are so many things I want to create from it. I am so thrilled to be a part of such an inspiring online magazine. I have been missing it since the last time.
Check out their blog, too, for some great giveaways - including one of our wool acorn necklaces.



I have an excruciatingly painful toothache right now, so I have lost the ability to concentrate. Please allow me to try to share whine for a moment. Quite frankly this toothache has been nothing but a thorn in my side. I have always had good, healthy teeth but then when I was about 20 I got a cavity. The cavity was taken care of but the tooth still hurt me, nothing horrible but more of a dull pain. None of the dentists I saw could figure out why it hurt as everything looked fine. A month ago I saw a dentist here in Oregon and he finally saw what the problem was with that tooth. The filling wasn't put in properly and there was a big gap allowing things to reach the nerve. He said he could fix it for me, Hallelujah, but our insurance doesn't cover me 100% so we had to hold off on it. Now all of the sudden, 12 years after it was first filled, that same darn tooth is killing me! The pain is traveling up my sinuses, too causing major sinus headaches. Ughh! I have my fingers crossed I can get in to the dentist before this long holiday weekend (Labor Day, for those of you out of the states). I just wish it was done right the first time, know what I mean? Anyways, that's enough whining out of me, go check out Rhythm of the Home!

There is still time to enter for your chance to win a copy of the union suit pattern. Enter here.

Won't You Join Me?

My Living Crafts Experience & a Giveaway

Baskets in progress

I am so excited to share something that is very special to me and dear to my heart. Many months ago I was fortunate enough to be involved in a project for Living Crafts magazine (You may remember me hinting to it quite a bit over the summer as my project took shape). This is one of my absolute favorite magazines, so to say that it was an honor to do this project would be a complete understatement. Honestly, I am still in shock over being part of such an inspiring magazine, surely I must be dreaming!



It was a group project compiled of creative women from all around the globe. We each created an ornament based on the German tradition of giving a newlywed couple a set of twelve ornaments, each representing a facet of a whole and nurturing home life. We had many different mediums to choose from but I decided to go with knitting, it's what I feel most 'at home' with.


Knitting apples

Although, I admit that I still feel like a beginner when it comes to knitting. I only learned 3 1/2 years ago when one of my dearest friends D'Anne taught me. I knitted on and off but didn't fully get into it until I became pregnant with C. Then I just suddenly felt the need to knit and haven't put the needles down since.


A rare glimpse of me knitting away

My biggest challenge was deciding on what symbol I wanted to use and how I would create it. I looked online for ideas and I came across the symbolism of fruit baskets.


A basket before the felting process

"Fruits, like plants, also convey positive feelings. Scriptures calls our virtues as fruits. We are asked to bear fruits which can be savoured by others to find happiness. In olden times, kings and nobles used to send fruits to others as symbols of friendship. Sending fruit baskets as gifts symbolises friendship and companionship."

That seemed like the perfect symbol for what this project was about so I went with that. I had quite a few mishaps in creating my pattern at first, and the girls had an endless supply of various failed prototypes. But in the end it all somehow came together.



What made my experience even more profound was the community that formed around this project. Even though we were thousands of miles apart I felt so close to everyone I worked with. We chatted daily bouncing ideas off one another, dealing with setbacks in our projects and/or even in our lives, and just getting to know one another. To have so much talent and creativity in one place was just awe-inspiring (Again, I squeak - How did I get to be a part of this?!).



I am happy to say our issue is out now! Much to my amazement my actual photographs were used in the article (Someone, seriously, pinch me now!!!). Due to size constraints there are only 5 of the 17 patterns printed within. The rest of the patterns are being revealed online in Living Crafts' craft room over the next couple of weeks leading to Christmas. My pattern is not up yet but I will let you know as soon as it is!



I don't think I will ever be able to forget this experience. Thank you, again, Fiona and everyone at Living Crafts for letting me be apart of this. Thank you to my wonderful community that I shared this experience with - you are all talented beyond words, and thank you to all of you that stop by my little blog leaving me words of encouragement and sharing your insights. I am so grateful for you all.



I couldn't think of anything better to share with you as a little token of my gratitude than something that means so much to me - one of my knitted baskets.
I wish I was able to knit one for each and every one of you but I hope you will accept this giveaway instead.

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment. It's as simple as that! Now, if you want more than one chance to win all you need to do is post about this giveaway on your own blog and come back and leave another comment with the link. If you do that you get entered not once, not twice but three times! I will close comments on St. Lucia day - Sunday December 13th at 6pm PST and announce the randomly chosen winner the following day.

I wish you all the best of luck and look forward to sharing something so dear to me, with you.

My Living Crafts Experience & a Giveaway

A True Hero

"I want to fight until the day I am no longer able. Fight for what? For the world, for life, for happiness, for fresh air, for songs, for the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea."
-Jacques Cousteau

Ever since I can remember I loved Jacques Cousteau. I was always so fascinated with his ocean explorations as a kid. His study of sharks is what really got me to love him, though. (You may remember the mention of my shark obsession in my WIPster interview.) He really worked so hard to destroy the fearsome man-eating image most people envisioned when they thought of sharks. He taught people to see them for how amazing they truly are, and respect them. He reminded that in a world without sharks, humans would not survive. He did all of this in his amazing lifetime and that is just barely the tip of the iceberg of all his work.



"We must not only defend sharks because they are useful and beautiful, but we must protect the sea that feeds them. And also restore the balance of the great ocean's ecosystem, of which sharks form an important link and on which we ultimately depend."
Requins, Innocents sauvages, J-Y Cousteau et Yves Paccalet, Ed. Robert Laffont 1997.



Even though he has left this earth he will forever have my admiration. So you can imagine my excitement when I found the Cousteau Society headquarters *almost* in my neighborhood. I kid you not, it's literally a 7 1/2 minute drive. I am so happy I discovered this before we moved! The girls and I drove there on Tuesday. They had a tiny museum filled with some of the most amazing things. The girls were not as excited as I was, although K really liked the mechanical shark. If only we lived here while they were older...


Life size mechanical great white shark

I could have spent hours in that tiny museum but they let me have about 45 minutes. I think we reached a good compromise! (That is one of the keys to parenting, wouldn't you say?) I learned so much about his life and his amazing family. I look forward to the day when I can share my love and gratitude for Jacques Cousteau with my girls, and have them fully understand. Until then I can continue telling them stories of his expeditions and teaching them to respect and care for our oceans and planet. I think that's what he would want us all to do.


From the Calypso


Underwater camera from the late 1970s

A True Hero

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                                                                     Bamboo Fall 2011

                                                                     Bamboo Winter 2012

Older items still to come!

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