paint cut paste

many of my closest friends are having/have had their second baby this year. to celebrate these new little people entering the world, we have held mother’s blessing ceremonies (or blessingway ceremonies) in lieu of the traditional baby shower. with an older sibling in the mix, it is essential to include them in the celebration, as this is a huge rite of passage for them, as well.

this spring, i prepared an intimate blessing for a dear friend of mine, where her son (then 18 months) participated in an art project for his little brother to be. first, i gathered the prayers, wishes, and blessings from the family’s nearest and dearest via email, and i wrote their words on pretty paper. i cut the papers into small strips. then i painted a mandala for the growing family. in the mandala i painted a symbolic, abstract portrait of the soon-to-be foursome. after that, i visited the family and engaged their son in a fingerpainting project, which he really enjoyed! his mom and dad also helped with the painting for the new baby.

big brother to be

after the finger painting was complete and dry, i glued the mandala to the center of it with the blessings radiating out from there. i put it into a simple frame, and the family now has it hanging in their sons’ bedroom. the energy of this piece encapsulates the words of the family’s family and closest friends, and the marks of mom, dad, and the big brother, with an image from me, as well.

framed blessings

at another blessing ceremony for another girlfriend in her second pregnancy, the group of us created a beaded necklace to bless the big sister to be and honor her new role. first, i handed out small pieces of pretty papers to the group of gathered family and friends. on these papers, everyone wrote sweet wishes and notes to the eldest child. each participant brought or selected a bead to offer, as well.

beads & blessings

we went around in a circle and read our wishes aloud to the child, and offered our beads. after the ceremony, i strung the beads onto a necklace for the big sister to wear, and pasted the blessings into a small book that she can forever cherish.

big-sis-to-be with her necklace & blessing book

there are so many art projects that are involved in mother’s blessings; however, here i chose to share just a few artful ways in which i have honored these joyful new beginnings for the eldest sibling in a family.

a few months before our upcoming loooong flight across the country with our toddler, i saw a great idea in cookie magazine, dog-eared it, and executed when the time came to whip out a fun mid-flight snack… a crunchy, tasty version of the candy necklace — a froot loop necklace!

all ya need are dental floss and froot loops (or any cereal with a hole in the middle, but froot loops are nice and colorful. uh, admittedly not the healthiest choice.)

morningtime materials

just string the cereal on the floss and tie it around your little one’s neck. the smaller the kid, the bigger i’d make the loop for ease of use and snacking.

on the second leg of our flight, i brought out the rainbow treat and she crunched away, smiling at the novelty of eating a necklace!

flying high on a rainbow of froot flavors

if you know kids, you know that they are at their best (and often most creative) when they are freely exploring outside in nature. i, however, have to find some sort of diversion when i am outdoors in order to make me forget the oppressive humidity and pesky mosquitos where i currently live. so, i turn to one of my greatest loves: accessorizing! my daughter, who was born to play dress-up, loves to work this into her outdoor play, too.

so we’ve been making adornments from nature. hey, the boho chic look is in – earthy and fabulous! i’ve been making clover necklaces, bracelets, and headbands in the backyard since i was N’s age, so the other day i asked her to collect all of the white clover flowers she could find and to pull the long stems with them (hey, free weeding!) and bring them to me. i knotted them together to make a headband that can rival any of those in the spring line at free people.

clover headband

we also made a groovy nature bracelet in our backyard recently. i saw this idea on makingfriends.com, and thought it was simple and stylie enough for my little one to enjoy. all you have to do is put 1 inch masking tape around your child’s arm with the sticky side out. then go hunting for tiny leaves, flowers, berries, seeds, feathers, etc. to stick onto the bracelet.

ooh la la!

another cute idea i saw on a great blog called chasing cheerios (that jives with the magnolia trees growing all around us) is to make a crown fit for tiny royals. N loved to pretend she was the tree princess in her majestic magnolia leaf crown all afternoon long. just collect medium to large leaves. leaves that are more rigid, like magnolias, work especially well. then cut poster board or cardboard to fit the circumference of your child’s head, and staple or tape it together. then staple the leaves to the paper, and hark! all hail the nature queens and kings of the land! (N’s little monkey friend even became a prince with a golden magnolia crown today on their parade around the neighborhood!)

the prince and queen on a wagon parade!

what are your favorite homemade natural adornments?