paint cut paste

as many of you know, our family has entered the world of waldorf… and as a new waldorf momma, i realized i might need to figure out this whole needle felting thing that always looked so fabulous from afar, but seemed so out of reach for me, somehow. i think i’m intimidated by fiber arts in general, but am warming up to it. alas, i’m here to happily report that needle felting is *not that difficult!*

N and i received a really great needle felting book for christmas that captured her heart right away because of the cute little wooly animals featured throughout. teeny. baby. animals. her weakness. so i knew it was time to get a needle and some wool and get stabbing, which i attempted for the first time a couple weeks ago.

when flipping through the book, i asked N what she would like to make first. if you are a regular reader of my blog, i bet you can guess what she chose — a fox, of course! (i’d recommend beginning needle felting with animals or objects that do not have legs, but this wasn’t all that bad to get the hang of.)

it really is a cool way of sculpting with wool. i was amazing at how the material responds to the needle and changes shape and texture quite easily. i found this to be incredibly satisfying.

i did poke my finger twice with the very sharp needle while doing this, so i was glad i tried this as a momma art project first. (still sore!) however, i have learned there are kits you can get for young children who want to learn to needle felt, and N certainly does! the magic onions also provides a nice post with ideas for safe ways for children to practice needle felting. i think i’ll open it up to be a mommy-daughter activity as soon as my own comfort level improves.

the fox in progress...

N was there beside me every step of the way while making this, cheering me along, “you’re doing great, mommy!” (seriously, it kept me going.) and also gently pointing out that, “this fox is looking kinda long… more like a seal. um, but that’s okay mommy. it’ll just be a long, long fox. i’ll still love him.” haha!

regretfully, when i made this fox, i didn’t yet have that large foam pad ($6) you see just above. see, you need a piece of foam to poke into. for the fox, i just used that teeny gray square of foam that came with my needles, which you can see two photos up. it was tricky, but doable, with the small foam pad.

N is LOVING her new fox pet, and has already asked if i can now make a smaller fox “because he’s ready to have a baby.” i’m psyched, because having made this fox shows me that you don’t really need the book or a pattern to do this. you can totally make it up as you go, but for me the book helped to give me the confidence and a reference and a good look at the materials. i now have two more projects in the works (from my mind, not the book!) so i’ll just be over here, poking away. hopefully not into my fingers anymore.

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!