paint cut paste

my daughter is becoming a gnome lover. she’s a girl who gets a lot of satisfaction out of making her own toys - what a great way to boost self-esteem in little ones. this project was perfect for her: creating her own wooden and wool gnome toys!

i recently blogged about how N was learning to sew gnomes with felt. the newer variety is a bit different, in that she is sewing wool hats and gluing them to watercolored wooden peg bodies. i wrote a guest post on this earlier in the week over on kiwi crate, so check it out to see the step by step of how these little cuties came to be!

N has been playing with hers quite a bit, and has gifted some to friends, too. and shhhh, for her birthday tomorrow, she’ll be receiving more wooden peg dolls and wool felt, so i’m sure more will soon be born!

over the weekend, we had the absolute pleasure of celebrating N’s fifth birthday with a bunch of woodland creatures! our little fox/owl/deer/bunny/bear-lover requested a “forest animal” birthday party this year, so i did my best to interpret N’s request and had an awesomely artful time doing so!

you know how we’re big on birthday themes over here. first we decided to ask my friend, meredyth hite, the one-woman show behind the amazing vegan bakery in the bay area, bliss bakery, to create nut-free, gluten-free, vegan cupcakes (to accommodate all of the dietary restrictions among N’s friends and ourselves!) after i perused pinterest for ideas, i asked meredyth to create fly agaric mushroom cupcakes, displayed in a rustic wood setting — and WOW! she sooo beautifully and deliciously delivered!

mushrooms are foresty, sure. but now i had to figure out how to incorporate the forest animals into the party, since that’s what N had specifically requested. i asked my talented friend, chris willow, of the mamaroots shop on etsy and of the inspiring mamaroots blog, to create five candle holders for my five year old — each a different woodland creature. i order her sweet candle holders as birthday gifts all the time for friends, so it was time that N got her own.

forest friends enjoying the party

our custom set of cute candle holders by mamaroots

and for some more forest animal action, i decided to make 36 (yes, thirty-six) felt animal masks to give to the children at the party. instead of sewing them all, like my mom and i did for N’s halloween owl costume, i used craft glue to afix the features onto the felt, and just sewed the elastic bands onto each one. muuuch easier for a bulk order like this. (reminder: you can click any of the photos on my blog to see them enlarged.)

the bday girl selected these for momma to make: bear, owl, deer, fox, raccoon, bunny

mask basket at the party

the masks were a hit — what a fun party favor!

in addition to the mask party favor, i decided to create some magical acorn necklaces with allll of these acorn caps N collected at the park one day. i just hot glued felted wool balls (here’s a nice video tutorial on how to make them) into the caps. next, i hot glued baker’s twine to the tip of each cap to make them into necklaces. in hindsight, i should have drilled a hole into each cap before putting the wool ball into it so i could thread the string through, but this worked out just fine and was (i imagine) easier to execute.

they looked so cute pinned to a giant redwood tree for the kids to see and select.

there's even a creek babbling by this woodsy park - perfect setting!

for decor, i wanted to keep it earthy, and decided to sew some fabric scrap garland to string between the trees. i used scraps of fabric i had leftover from my bean bag project, and cut them into circles. then i just fed them through the machine, double-sided (right sides facing out.)

strung between the redwoods

the party was basically a playdate in the park from 2-4pm, so being so brief and in between meals, we just served hot apple cider, water, popcorn, fruit, and of course, those adorable cupcakes. to keep things simple and eco-chic, i used compostable hot beverage cups, cloth napkins from my fav cloth napkin etsy seller – love for earth, and no plates. (who needs plates with this light fare?)

i even used our rustic rock picture holders for display signs around the party.

despite the chilly day and the muddy park, the birthday girl and her friends had a blast! N barely stopped chasing her friends around the playground for a sip of apple cider – but she did brake for cupcakes! also, can you tell i had a good time pulling this one off?

we created such beautiful memories of N’s fifth birthday — and now we get to celebrate again on january 26th, when she actually turns FIVE! i know people always say, “where does the time go?” but i feel lucky (and friggin’ tired!) because it seems like i’ve been there for every minute of it all. happiest of birthdays to the sweetest and most energetic woodland creature i know!

we’ve yet to really begin valentine creation over here. generally, we wait for N’s birthday party to be over before we go on to prepare for valentine’s day. but there is one little heart craft i’ve indulged in, because, as my pinboard says, i’m a sucker for garland. and paint chips. and hearts. and easy things to sew.

i pinned this about 6 months ago, originally from ohcrafts.net. so i’ve been psyched to do it for a while, and tiz the season now. i grabbed my trusty heart hole punch and some paint chips from my stash (yes, all of us crafty mom bloggers have paint chip stashes. we’re a weird breed.)

i punched away until there were hearts of many rainbowy colors.

even just this heart confetti is splendid to look at and to play with!

the little one had fun using the punched out paint chips as stencils.

cute as they were on their own, i still took it to the sewing machine and fed each one through while keeping a fairly steady, slow pace with the needle. it was easier than i thought, and the machine was forgiving if i had a few stitches in between each heart. for me, that was an experiment, as i am still learning how to sew.

stitched together

i heart this!

then i got heart-happy and stitched a few more hearts to some colorful paper. i think i’ll add these to some valentine’s day cards soon!

this garland looks festive in our kitchen right now, but notice that hearts are top heavy… expect some twists and turns, or maybe opt for sewing them up double-sided.

this also might make a cute addition to our february mantle, which i’ll share when the time comes (after birthday season!)

strung along

i adore january because it has my favorite holiday in it: my daughter’s birthday on the 26th! all month long we indulge in party planning fun. maybe i’m just cheesy, but we always roll party-theme style for her birthday parties.

when N turned one, it was just a pink & green cupcake theme – from the birthday girl’s outfit and bib to, well, the cupcakes:

one

N’s second birthday fell on the chinese new year. it worked out great because she was OBSESSED with only reading the grace lin books at that time. (our copy of fortune cookie fortunes got completely ripped apart from overuse.) so, naturally, we did a chinese new year theme that year — with origami cranes tied the the end of each balloon string, fortune cookies, take-out boxes full of party favors, lanterns, etc. fun stuff!

two

when N turned three, her birthday party was all about fairies: every child (and some grown ups!) wore wings, enjoyed fairy cake, played in a fairy tent, and were given homemade magical fairy wands.

three

last year on N’s fourth birthday, she requested a “rainbow art party” so we went all out. i created this juicy, hefty blog post showing the execution of all the party details.

four

so far this year, we’ve engaged in our annual tradition of bringing out and decorating her birthday ring with little fairy friends. N chose the color of beeswax for her five birthday candles from our assortment.

she then got busy rolling five beeswax candles for the ring.

she was so excited to place them in the ring and begin the countdown to her fifth birthday!

this year, i’m doing my best to fulfill N’s fifth birthday theme request, and it’s proving to be lots of fun! stay tuned for all the fun party details – i’ll dish here at the month’s end!

do your children have themes for their birthday parties?

welcome to 2012, friends!

this time last year, i wrote a post about how the face and pace of this blog would be changing shape in 2011 and majorly s-l-o-w-i-n-g down. in january, it really looked like it would. then february hit, and it. did. not. happen. i continued to blog my fingers off all year long. and here i am, january 2012, with a similar resolution as last january.

my intentions this year involve devoting much more psychic energy and mind space to building my art therapy practice (and chasing the ever-elusive california LPCC by jumping through multiple hoops called three insane standardized tests. shudder.) that means that i reeally reeeally do need to treat this blogging addiction hobby of mine like what it has always been — a fun outlet. not a career, not a source of income, nor a book i plan to write someday. no stress. no pressure. no deadline. just the rainbowy icing on top – it’s a super delicious treat! so i’m needing to breathe space into the new year, and just let this blog evolve and grow naturally into what my life is becoming.

new years day

don’t get me wrong. i will be CREATING, ALWAYS. i will be MAKING ART WITH MY DAUGHTER, CONSTANTLY. these are also priorities in 2012. i will also be blogging about these on occasion. though, in all honestly, more of my own creations will likely show up on this blog than hers. with the onset of 5 mornings per week of kindergarten this past fall, N’s artistic time at home has been more focused on her true love: drawing drawing drawing for a couple hours each afternoon. and while “look at what my kid drew today! and today! and today!” makes for a nice blog for the grandparents (which is how this whole blog thing started way back in tha day) but, admit it – it’d be sorta boring for all of you wonderfully creative readers. seeing as i’m way too pinspired not to make homemaking creative and meaningful, i’ll share an early january creation with you all…

i wrapped a straw wreath from michael’s (super cheap and on sale) with yarn i already had at home (on new years eve. yep, i’m wild and crazy! but in my defense, my house was plagued by a stomach bug over new years so i didn’t have much choice.) N even helped to spiral up these lovely felt flowers (much like the ones we made for our autumn wreath.)

my poor baby has some dry winter hands right now

we hung it on the window pane we scored at that salvage yard last fall.

yay for yarn-bombing! doesn’t that wreath look cozy and warm? (it should – it’s about 70 degrees *outside* over here!) we dolled up the mantle with a few other warmy wintery friends.

and miscellaneous sidewalk finds and random objects from the back corners of cabinets.

N calls it “the winter circus” and says it’s her favorite mantle yet… AND she wants to be “totally in charge of” our spring mantle… so stay tuned for that! in the meantime, i will see you back here every so often. let’s just see if i can hold to my resolution to reprioritize where and how i express myself and allocate my energy… and maybe there will be a new year’s miracle that gives me the strength to step away from this pretty, colorful, friendly, flickering, alluring screen on some evenings… just maybe.

happy winter! happy 2012!

now for the handmade holiday gift we created for all of the wonderful little friends in our lives — samosa bean bags!

i first saw this idea on the artful parent back in september, courtesy of five green acres (who provides a great tutorial.) i dog-eared it (digitally, of course) as an idea for the holiday season. in november, i got out a stash of fat quarters in all sorts of patterns, and began cutting away!

whatcha need:

• scraps of fabric, each cut to  5 1/2″ x 15″  (one scrap of this size makes 5 weights)
• thread
• sewing machine
• filler material: dried rice, beans, etc. (i used organic split peas, you know, incase the littlest ones put them in their mouths.)

reprinted here for your convenience, the directions in the words of five green acres (in plum), peppered with my photos and my words (in black):

1. Fold the fabric in half the long way, right sides together.  Your piece is roughly now 2 1/2″ by 15.”  Sew each of the 3 open sides closed with a 1/4″ seam allowance.

the bean bag factory in effect!

2. Cut into 5 equal pieces by measuring every 3.” Each piece will be roughly 2 1/2 by 3.”

3.  The first and last piece will already be sewn shut on one end.  Set aside and sew the remaining 3 pieces shut on one end also.

then came the most exciting part of this for me — choosing sets of 5 to be packaged together for which child. i *love* coordinating and playing with colors and patterns! it was a fun process, but photographed very dark because i did it at night. i have to share anyway.

4.  Turn right side out and fill with the rice, beans, etc.

5.  Fold the open ends inside 1/4″ and pin the seam closed, making sure that the seam runs perpendicular to the bottom seam.  You’re not trying to make a rectangular pillow, but rather a sort of pyramid that’s easier to grab… (it turns out like a samosa! love that!)

pinned up

6.  Sew shut, either by hand or by machine.  If you go the machine route, you might have to remove some of the filling to fit it under your presser foot flatly.

too cute!

then comes the packaging! i stamped a slew of cloth bags with a fun dandelion and the word “PLAY” for each set of bean bags to live in.

i printed out little inserts that read:

a few games kids can play with bean bags:

• hot potato
• toss them back and forth while singing a song or rhyme
• throw bean bag in the air & see what you can do before you catch it (clap your hands, turn around, kneel down…)
• toss the bean bags into a bowl or box to see how many “baskets” you can make
• set up hoops or targets for aim
• bean bag “bowling” (set up paper towel rolls or milk jugs)
• learn to juggle
• a child’s imagination will make them into so many things!

*fyi: they’re filled with organic split peas. enjoy!!!

we attached a gift tag and a salt dough ornament to each one, and sent them on their way to the homes of many of our little friends.

more handmade holiday goodness revealed! N and i created a bunch of these lovely lavender sachets for friends this season.

much like we did when making N’s lavender dream pillow in the summer of 2010, we used lavender from our backyard, poly-fill, linen squares left over from all of the flag making we do over here, thread, and stamps we already had on hand. first we cut rectangles or squares of the linen to match in size, and frayed the edges. then N and i went to town stamping one side of each pair.

yep, we put a bird on it. (our stamp collection is heavily avian, oddly.)

sewed them up on 3.5 sides… (gosh, this is all probably self-explanatory.)

filled them with poly-fill and a few teaspoons of lavender…

finished sewing up the opening -

i attached a cute little note with baker’s twine and sent them on their way… into the bureaus of those near and dear.

hope your holidays were relaxing… and if they weren’t, take a whiff of lavender and chilllll into the new year!