Posts Tagged ‘green’

herbal dream pillow

my daughter is a girl who dreams vividly. she has told me her dreams upon waking ever since her second birthday, always so colorful, odd, and fascinating! usually pleasant or funny, sometimes scary and dark. because dreams have been a big part of her life and our talks, we decided to make a dream pillow.

especially being a therapist, i am a person who feels that it is important to confront dream content — dreams are paths that lead to our unconscious world. dreams are a safe place to explore that which is potentially scary or dangerous. for this reason, i don’t find scary dreams to be unhealthy for a child to have, rather they are often essential for the child’s psyche to process information. however, all of us parents know that being afraid of the dark and/or having nightmares can be really horrible for a child. we do wish novi “sweet dreams” when she goes to sleep, and we always hope that she has a peaceful night. it is in that spirit that we decided to make the dream pillow — for a peaceful slumber and to usher novi into her own fanciful dreamworld each night.

we had a lot of rectangles of fabric leftover from the food flags we made. novi has been asking to paint on them, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity. we set up our fabric paints, and i taped two rectangles of fabric to her art board.

then i wrote a list while novi dictated the things she would like to see in her dreams: “mommy and daddy, owls, birds, flowers, trees, ladybugs…” after the list, we made a plan to put the images of the three of us on one side of the pillow, and a nature scene on the other side that would incorporate the other items.

novi did a great job painting all of the things from her list onto the fabric. she had so much fun with it. we even painted on stamps to stamp her name onto one side of the pillow, and used a bird stamp for the bird image on the nature side of the pillow. novi noted that the nature side of the pillow reminded her of our backyard, where we always have birds, we have a tall tree with an owl statue under it, and colorful porchulaca flowers.

that magenta guy on the branch is an owl, and there is a ladybug climbing the tree.

i hung the fabric to dry outside in the play house.

after it was dry, i ironed it on the backside, against a rag, to set the paint. then i hand-washed it in the sink with our natural detergent. (you could probably throw it in your washing machine, but i didn’t because these rectangles of linen had frayed ends so i didn’t want them to unravel.)

next we picked some lavender from our backyard to stuff into the pillow, as lavender is known to be an herb that helps with relaxation and peaceful sleeping. we used a few of the stems which were already dry for the pillow, and we hung the rest of the lavender harvest to dry to make sachets and such in the future. (you could also include chamomile, mugwort, valerian, or catnip, if you wanted other sleep-inducing herbs, but not all of those smell pleasant and you should research all herbs before using on or near your child.)

as a family, novi, her dad, and i wrote our dreamtime wishes for novi onto soft, handmade paper with sparkly and colorful pens. for example, i included “sparkly sunshine magic” and “hugs and kisses” on a couple of mine. two of novi’s said “owls” and “mom novi dad.” craig wrote “magical powers” and “exploring new places” as part of his wishes for her. we included these inside of the dream pillow, to infuse it with good intentions.

we also put a small amethyst stone inside of the pillow, as amethyst is said to have a calming and protective energy that makes is good for any type of dream work. it helps overcome insomnia and/or nightmares, and may help one to awaken refreshed and energized.

stuffing

i sewed up three sides of the pillow on my sewing machine, and then novi stuffed the goodies inside. i chose to keep the frayed edges visible on the outside to give it a natural feel, rather than sewing the painted sides facing each other and inverting the fabric. you could do it either way.

once it was all sewn up, we brought it into novi’s room before naptime. she was sooo excited about it and loves the smell of the dried lavender!

as novi knows this isn’t the sort of pillow she will lay on or even cuddle with, she chose to keep it on her headboard, right beside a little guy i made for her out of some of her old baby clothes. that way she can smell the pillow before going to sleep, as well as sleep knowing it’s right above her head. and speaking of old baby clothes, this project can be done with any fabric or any old clothes you may have. think about upcycling some of those old onesies with cute patterns. you can even skip the fabric painting step and focus on the idea of making this into a great sleep talisman or medicine bag.

while we’re on the topic of sending your children off to sleep in a peaceful way, and infusing their dreams with a little magic, i would like to recommend a wonderful bedtime book that a friend recently told me about, called starbright–meditations for children. it has amazing ideas for talking your child through soothing visualizations before they drift off to sleep. click on the cover image below to learn more about this book or to order it.

this is just the first of many dream-related art projects to come – stay tuned! sweet lavender dreams to you and yours!

08.29

2010
printer friendly printer friendly

mani/pedi

after novi’s nap (yes, we’re still napping over here at 3.5 and i’m milking it!) she asked if we could paint… but with a sly look in her eye. i said, “sure! whatcha wanna paint?” she said, “i want YOU to paint…” so i was like, “um, what do you have in mind?” she offered, “my fingernails and toenails!”

sometimes we do pedicures, where her toes have to match mommy’s…

"cute as a button"

"full of life"

"chinchilly"

she loves the silly names of the polishes we use. i only use the brands zoya, essie, and sparitual on her nails because those are safe for pregnant women, and if it’s not safe during pregnancy, it shouldn’t be safe for kids or adults any other time, no? green beauty is beautiful, so we stick to these brands. (zoya makes a great nail polish remover, too!) plus, the names are fun!

we’ve only painted novi’s fingernails once. i mean, i can barely keep my fingernails painted with all the art we do around here. but i indulged her today. she chose “shorty pants” for her hands.

"shorty pants"

then she chose both “lilacism” and “mint candy apple” for her toes.

can you tell they're alternating?

now i think we’ll actually go make a painting! :)


08.17

2010
printer friendly printer friendly

bubble wrap ocean print & giveaway!

you know i adore my brilliant and inspirational bloggy friend, pink & green mama. this weekend, she will begin selling an awesome art lesson plan booklet (in pdf form) called “ocean fun art camp lesson plans” on her blog. we got our hands on an advance copy – how special is that? you can get a copy, too! read on – there’s a juicy giveaway* at the end of this blog entry… (*closed as of 7/23/10 midnight)

we have already done pink & green mama’s wooden mermaid clothespin dolls that are featured in the booklet, and they were a huge hit over here! these little sea maidens continue to provide hours of playtime enjoyment.

remember these? they're in the book!

novi and i looked through the great instructional photos illustrating each super-inventive exercise in pink & green mama’s booklet. novi picked one that she wanted to try out today (and she graciously said we can save the other 11 art activities in the book for tomorrow. we’re gonna be busy over here!) this afternoon we experimented with bubble wrap ocean printing!

we followed pink & green mama’s very clear instructions to paint the bubble wrap on the bumpy side with washable acrylic paint. novi chose many shades of blues, greens, and purple and decided to apply it in a stripey pattern.

after novi painted the bubble wrap, she pressed it onto cardstock. (you can use any paper thick enough to hold up to acrylic paint.) it made the greatest bubbly ocean!

pink & green mama gives detailed instructions for making your own very clever ocean-themed stamps (while recycling!) to press onto the scene; however, this time novi preferred to paint the sea creatures herself instead of printmaking. she was inspired by a trip we took to the monterey bay aquarium over the weekend – such beautiful exhibits! i have to share at least one photo with you!

gorgeous sea nettles!

novi got down to business, painting away with the acrylics and chatting about all kinds of sea animals she saw at the aquarium. this art lesson booklet is so timely — such an enriching addition to our summer fun!

we were able to make three pages of prints with just one coat of paint in the bubble wrap. each one was a bit lighter than the one before, but that made for great subtle backgrounds for the paintings.

we had such a giggly, bubbly fun time! here are the three pieces novi made:

(yep, one of them involves a girl and her dog snorkeling...?)

pink & green mama has done it again – crafty excellence! this activity book is chocked full of oceanic fun like this! i highly recommend it to any parent or teacher out there who makes art with kids ages 3-9. the instructions are clear and concise, the photos are fabulous, each of the 12 activities includes a supply list, and all templates are printable.

GIVEAWAY ENDED JULY 23RD, 2010:

to WIN A FREE COPY of these wonderful art lesson plans, leave a COMMENT HERE by clicking “comments” to the upper left. you’ll have 3 chances to enter the drawing:

  1. for your first comment, state your most vivid art memory from your own childhood.
  2. “like” paintcutpaste.com on facebook and leave a comment stating that you now “like” us (or that you have liked us all along. aw, thanks!)
  3. link to this blog entry on your blog and leave a third comment showing us the link to where you mentioned it.

leave your comments BEFORE MIDNIGHT EST FRIDAY, JULY 23RD. at that time, i will draw the winner based on a random number. please also include your email address in the body of the comments so that pink & green mama can send you a copy of this awesome book when you win! GOOD LUCK TO ALL!

___

patty walsh (#23) is the winner of pink & green mama’s ocean fun art camp lesson plans pdf booklet. CONGRATS, patty! it’s an awesome book – enjoy! her comment was:

My most vivid art memory as a child would have to be when I was about 4. I remember going in to my Mom’s make up and mixing water with eye shadows to make paint. I remember having such a good time, I don’t even think my Mom got mad. It really was a great experience!



07.21

2010
printer friendly printer friendly

strawberry basket weaving

there are sooo many glorious things about strawberry season. the sun, the ladybugs, the sweet juice running down your chin, the amazing dessert recipes, the reason to make your own whipped cream… we’re going strawberry picking this upcoming weekend, which is an annual tradition of mine since my childhood (and novi’s!)

left: me in the 70s; right: novi in may 2009

when a friend brought some fresh organic strawberries to me yesterday that she got from a farmer’s produce stand near the beach, i was excited for a pre-picking sneak peek. the berries were delicious, but almost as good were the charming little green baskets they have come in for decades! last year i added a few to novi’s play kitchen, for her fake produce, but this year i decided that instead of recycling them, i’d upcycle them!

i have bins and bins of yarn and ribbon… so i figured i’d give novi her first weaving lesson using the baskets and various yarn, ribbon, fabric materials i have laying around already.

first, i just tied the end of a piece of yarn to the inside bottom corner of a basket, and began to weave while novi’s big blue eyes observed and recorded my motions.

then she wanted to try it with the other basket… so i tied her choice of yarn to her basket and she began to attempt the weave.

“this isn’t easy!” she said after just a few over-under-over-unders.

so i learned that this is not the best first weaving activity to try with a 3 year old (there are other easier weavings we can do, for sure!) but i wanted to post this anyway for those of you with school-aged children who want to upcycle your strawberry baskets. novi asked me to finish up the baskets myself while she happily built beside me with other items from our recycling bin.

i thought the results were rather cute! and so did novi!

novi calls this one "the sunset basket"

these baskets would make great gift baskets for father’s day, graduation, birthdays, or any other occasion. they’re also nice storage for small toys and such.

this strawberry picking season, remember that it’s important to pick and eat organic strawberries! happy weaving and happy summer!

06.17

2010
printer friendly printer friendly

lavender wands

last year when i saw this post on one of my favorite blogs – 5 orange potatoes – i was smitten. isn’t lavender just the most heavenly scent ever? and these lavender wands are so easy, earthy, and elegant.

when i first saw the idea toward the end of last summer, all i had in my yard was very dry lavender, and i tried it out with that. it wasn’t all that attractive or easy then, so i vowed to wait until it bloomed again this spring.

let’s be real – this isn’t a young kid task. toddlers can help you pick the lavender, but it takes a kid of a few more years to do the weaving. (even momma thought it was a tricky small motor skills task!) as per the instructions, i gathered an odd number of stems of fresh lavender (anywhere between 9 and 15 – i did lucky #13 for mine!) that were at least 12″ long (or as long as you can get them.)

then i plucked off all of the leaves, rubber-banded the lavender just under its blooms.

next i followed 5 orange potatoes’ well-written/illustrated instructions and held the bundle upside down (blooms at the bottom.) i then folded each stem downward, one by one, to encase the lavender flowers. after i did that, my wand looked like this.

then i chose a 1/4″-1/2″ satin ribbon, and cut it to about 2 yards in length. i tucked the end of it in at the top of the wand (where the stems start to fold down) and began to weave it around and around through the stems – over and under. it makes a checker-boarded pattern as you go around because you have an odd number of stems.

don’t forget to pull it tight as you go. once the flowering part is covered and you feel like you’ve had enough weaving, wrap the ribbon tightly around the stems, then tie a knot at the bottom. i left a long tail of pretty ribbon dangling from it, too. then i trimmed the stems to an equal length.

these are the ones i made last year with the dried lavender stems, along with the new magenta one i just made. can’t wait to keep making more!

these make for a pretty and natural wand or sword for your little one to play with (and subsequently fall asleep due to the calming properties of the lavender,) or they make nice gifts for drawer sachets or pretty additions to a seasonal altar. i sent the fresh one to a friend for her birthday.

06.03

2010
printer friendly printer friendly

art update

just wanted to post a quick little artsy update to show where some of our art projects have been integrated into our lives… you can click the links throughout to see the post noting how and when we did each project.

you may recall that for mothers’ day this year, we created handmade blooming paper for the cards. well, novi’s 90 year old greatgrandmother (my nana) sent us a photo of her planting her seed paper.

and gwee (novi’s grandmother/my mom) sent us a photo of her first sprout when it happened. (word still out on craig’s mom’s seed paper. we’ll have to get back to ya on that… hey, grandma? how’s it sprouting?)

gwee's first sprout & the plant today

speaking of grandmothers, gwee’s visit is almost here, and we know that by cutting our links off of our countdown chain each night after dinner. novi has acquired some mad scissor skills through this project. hooray!

11 more days!

speaking of plant growth, novi’s cosmos are growing in her fancy flowerpot! no flowers yet, but we’re waiting…

the medicine wand and natural imprints grace our den table along with some smooth stones we found at pescadero beach last month.

novi still plays with her pet rocks and blarney stones on a regular basis. they live in her bedroom.

and she rocks the sandtray every coupla days. i’m sure it’ll see even more action when the weather warms.

the art gallery in novi’s bedroom is alive and well… and expanding!

sadly, what is NOT alive and well is our terrarium. the plants rotted from overwatering. i opened the lid to get some moisture out, but it was too late. it is so stinky now that i’ve been avoiding cleaning it out, so it’s been sitting outside as a visual reminder to dump and scrub it, but alas, i have not after this long, and i may end up on the tv show, hoarders. i just don’t have a green thumb, but i am trying again and again.

hope that ladybug has noseplugs!

but there are expansions happening over here: like my newfound obsession with not throwing the toilet paper and paper towel rolls into the recycling bin, like ever (again, hoarders?) and instead creating cardboard leaves and petals.

and now we’re making larger wall creations for the playroom. (this one still needs to grow – it’s a work in progress)

(updated: a month later)

novi is coloring in her coloring books every single day, for maybe 1.5-2 hours per day. i’m so not complaining because i can cook dinner and she has developed some meticulous coloring skills.

and the magnadoodling just does not quit around here.

"mommy in a blue dress she wore to a wedding and novi in a dress that is blowing in the wind with leaves blowing in the wind"

somehow we still haven’t finished our lemonade from last week yet. (note to self. next time, use less sugar! i feel like i’m giving myself and everyone else diabetes over here! i’ve been diluting each glass of it.)

i’m happy to note that creativity is contageous: novi’s dad, craig, gets creative with novi’s food, just like i do when i bento and make cute breakfasts and lunches.

daddy's egg mango lion!

on a side note: my daily photoblog project with my fellow fotog friend, katie, is still ticking and clicking away. on there you will find that katie received one of our nest zest nesting orbs as a birthday gift, and the birdies have been visiting hers in colorado and pimping their homes! hooray!

photo courtesy of katie day weisberger

which other posts might you want updates on? i’m always happy to share how things are turning out around here…

06.01

2010
printer friendly printer friendly