paint cut paste

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!

since winter’s coming, we decided to help out our bird friends, once again. we’re definitely friends to the winged creatures around here — pimping their living spaces with our nesting orbs and birdhouses in the past, so this time we thought we’d help them dine on some fine holiday cuisine with a couple birdfeeders.

i’ve always been a bit wary of creating birdfeeders with my nut-allergic little one, so safety was key to this project. i found some great nut-free birdseed at the hardware store. it was still processed in a facility that has nuts, so we played it safe and donned dust masks and gloves while exposed to the seed.

the first type of birdfeeder we wanted to make is a cute sleeve feeder to put onto a tree branch a la the mofatt girls blog. all we needed was:

• birdseed
• a cardboard tube (toilet paper, paper towel roll, etc)
• nut/seed butter — we used sunbutter sunflower seed butter

N applied the sunflower seed butter to the outside of our tube.

we spilled some seed out onto a baking tray, and she rolled the sticky buttery tube through the seed to cover it (with gloves on.)

we ventured into the backyard and found a branch to slip the tube over… it’s in the same tree as three of our kid-painted bird houses. love that.

when we checked on our feeder a few hours later, we saw that we’d entertained some customers! and the next day, the birdseed was totally gone. see photos below:

the second type of feeder we aimed to make was more complex, but promised a little more aesthetic satisfaction. we followed the tutorial on mom ready for these birdfeeder ornaments. our supplies included:

• birdseed
• 2 packets of gelatine (we used knox)
• a jello/chocolate mold and/or cookie cutters
• string

first, N mixed up the gelatin concoction. we used 2 packets of knox gelatine with a half cup of cold water. (*note: this may be the wrong ratio – read on…) we put it in the fridge to wait for it to gel a bit.

after about 10 minutes in the fridge, we slowly stirred 2 cups of birdseed into the gelatine. in hindsight, i would have used less birdseed – maybe 1.5 cups – but when reading the mom ready blog, it seemed important not to have too much extra gelatine in the blend. i just think ours could have benefitted from more “glue” — thus, less seed or more gelatine.

then we used our gloves and masks while pressing the wet birdseed mix into our trusty heart mold tray (the one we usually make upcycled heart crayons in.) apparently you can also spread a layer of seed out on a cookie sheet and use cookie cutters to cut the shapes… but our loose seed blend was of no consistency to survive that.

once they were pressed into the tray, we used a pencil to poke a hole in the center (to allow for less string slippage) of each heart. we put them into the fridge for 3 hours to “gel” and then left them out for 2 days to “harden.”

after they were hard enough to pop out of the mold, we tied some baker’s twine through each hole. the ones that survived this looked pretty cute!

survivors

we trimmed a tree in our yard with these edible ornaments – waiting for a partridge, 2 turtle doves, 3 french hens, 4 calling birds, 6 geese, or 7 swans to swing on by our house. (gosh, there are a lot of birds in that christmas carol!)

i think this is one of the cutest ways i’ve seen to upcycle those random buttons you might have around… make button christmas trees! (wow, i’m on a tree kick this holiday season, huh? most of our holiday artventures have been tree-oriented.)

i first saw this idea on modern minerals, via pinterest (pinned it this summer for later use.) we modified her tutorial a bit to make it more kid friendly, and let me say that it was a total hit! in lieu of using string to bind the buttons together, we used pipe cleaners – so easy for small hands to maneuver. N and i gathered up various buttons we had around (including a lot of white and green ones,) some pipe cleaners, and a few shank buttons (the kind with a loop on the back of them) we had around to use as “tree toppers.” (you can see the shank buttons on the left in the pic below.)

(yes, as you can see we've also been painting more wooden ornaments - we do this each year)

we started by bending the pipe cleaner in half, and putting the shank button on first.

then we put the two ends of the pipe cleaner through two opposing holes in each button, working from small button to large button.

it was fun to experiment with various color schemes. N was really into making pink and purple trees!

here are some of our trees before we cut the pipe cleaners off of the bottom. (they’re kinda cute like trees on sticks – i bet they could be used so many ways like this, too!)

then we twirled one side of the pipe cleaner around the other side to create a “trunk” look at the bottom. [you can also use small brown (or other color) buttons for a trunk.] i cut the extra length off of the pipe cleaners.

we tied a bit of baker’s twine through the hole of the top shank bead and hung them on the tree. (and tied a few to some lucky gift recipients, as well.)

(some of these remind me of wedding cakes – with the right color scheme and topper, this could be modified for weddings or bridal showers in some way, too!)

in the past, we’ve done our fair share of beeswax candle making – usually of the rolled variety, like we did for N’s birthday ring and for michaelmas this fall. but when i saw this idea for cutting beeswax with cookie cutters on family fun, N and i had to give it a whirl!

this was one of the activities in our advent calendar, actually. we were both excited when N opened that envelope! first, N chose 5 colors of beeswax from our wax stash. (yes, we have one of those. is that weird?) i love the color scheme she ended up with!

then we tried to cut them with a cookie cutter… and tried… it was hard for a 4-year-old (and for mom!) to push through our wax (even one sheet at a time) with our metal cookie cutter.

puuuuuuuush

so we found another way and held each sheet up individuall and pressed through it on the backside.

then N stacked the 5 layers in the order she wanted them to appear.

we sandwiched a piece of wick (leaving about an inch at the top to light) between the layers, and pressed them together. we used our teeeny tiny cookie cutters (shown in bottom photo – i heart these!) to cut out a wax star for the top of this tree.

it made for a really cool candle!

here is our wax sculpture posing by the real thang… it’s so madame tussauds.

though after this one was made, N decided to use the rest of these sheets of wax in an old, familiar way instead of cookie cutting more of them.

maybe i’ll cookie cut more later — they make cute gifts for any season or holiday!

this summer we ended up with a lot of beach treasures, so rather than let them sit in buckets in our shed all winter long, this pinspiration (courtesy of beachcomber) made me want to give these beauties a new (and festive!) life.

remember our trip to a nearby salvage yard? well, we scored this distressed cabinet door for under $5, which made for a perfect backdrop to our driftwood christmas tree. N and i gathered up various sizes of driftwood, and began our work.

driftwood itself is just so lovely.

N was a huge help in organizing the pieces of driftwood by length.

then she set to work lining them up on the board in a tree pattern. after she arranged them how she liked them, i hot glued the wood to the board.

once they were glued down, we sourced more beachy items (starfish for “tree topper” and shells and sea glass for “ornaments”) and N “decorated the christmas tree” with them.

thankfully, she didn’t clump them all in one spot (like she did on our actual christmas tree!)

it’s just so fun to look at!

and it makes for a handsome holiday mantel!

okay, so i keep blogging about projects from pinterest that i want to do (not necessarily child-centered – ack!) but at least N helped a great deal with this one, right…??? and she LOVES it… does that count? [insert sheepish grin here.]

let the holiday season begin!

every year, i wrap our holiday gifts in natural kraft paper, which makes them sort of like a blank canvas for whatever ribbons and adornment we select. this year, i’m thinking butcher twine and these wonderful handmade tree tags.

i saw this idea on pinterest (of course because i live on there! wth?!) and had to try it out! i’m always the chick who’s pocketing paint chips at the hardware store, so that part was easy. i have a large stash of buttons and ribbon, and a glue gun, so we were set to go. N was excited to cut the paint chips into triangles together, and was a huge help in doing so.

after she cut these lovely green ombre triangles, i hot glued a loop of ribbon under a button to the top of each one. N instructed me NOT to put a brown trunk on each one, so we left the trees as they were.

they turned out to be so cute! now i just need to get the actual GIFTS made!

paint chips are so naturally amazing — in what sorts of artistic ways have you used paint chips?

you may remember my gushing about an artist couple N and i met at a local art festival – they’re rick and heather from earnest efforts natural woodworking, and they make the most amaaaazing art out of trees: beautiful boxes and magical spirit shakers that will make you swooooon!

N checking out the earnest efforts booth at the kings mountain arts fair last month

i’ve scored an interview with the artists and they’re giving away a spirit shaker and a rattle to my readers (one winner for each) so read on to learn more about the art of wood and enter for a chance to win a lovely handmade piece!

my interview with heather of earnest efforts

jen: can you tell us a bit about how and when you came to find the gift of your woodworking craft?

Heather: Earnie Efforts (aka Rick) has been selling his woodworking wares at the Eugene, Oregon Saturday Market (the longest-running outdoor, handcrafted marketplace in the US) since the 1980′s. I, Ellie Efforts (aka Heather), joined the Market in 1994 with my fiber arts. In 1998 we got to know one another, fell in love, and married in 1999. Earnie was an apprentice cabinet maker to his grandfather and continued working in wood to supplement his family’s income. I tell people that I not only married him out of love, but the fact that he had a woodshop – I had wanted to work in wood since I was little.

"Earnie & I in our booth at the Saturday Market"

jen: i notice that each of your pieces clearly has resonance with the spirit of the wood from which it was created. how do your natural materials inform your work?

Heather: If you could crawl inside Earnie’s head and see the world through his eyes, you would know that he doesn’t see driftwood on the beach… he sees boxes. Each piece of wood has it’s own personality, story and destiny. We don’t just see wood or trees; we see life on many levels. I think we forget that wood is still living long after it has fallen to the earth and will continue to live on long after that box we made is discarded and goes back to the earth. This is also why it is so important to us that we maintain the integrity of the wood with a natural beeswax finish. We want you to be able to feel the warmth of the wood, not a plastic coating so often used in “preserving” wood and we want the wood to return to the earth clean.

"Earnie cutting up driftwood on the Coquille River - note the top left piece of wood has been chewed by a beaver"

"River Alder Box - chewed by a beaver"

jen: my daugher and i just love making music with the spirit shakers and rattles we’ve purchased from you! can you tell us a bit about how they are created (like, what’s inside?) and why you call them spirit shakers?

Heather: The spirit shakers are very special to us on many levels. Earnie & I scavengers and hoarders (in a good way) – we don’t waste anything. When he cuts the boxes, the heart of a box becomes another box, a rattle, or a spirit shaker – until all that remains is kindling for our house wood stove. I’m going to leave the spirit making a little bit of a mystery for you, but inside are copper BBs. We call them spirit shakers because we have witnessed that the essence of the living tree continues to live in on in the wood and within us as we touch, make music, and meditate with the wood.

(these are our earnest efforts rattles & spirit shaker - isn't that purple one AMAZING?! no dyes or paints - that's the natural color of the wood!)

jen: how can parents and teachers help inspire children to begin working with wood as an art material?

Heather: Taking children to meet artists at art festivals is a wonderful way to introduce children to art in all of it’s forms. When children can touch, smell, feel and see artwork with an artist they can ask questions and process in a way unavailable in books or online. We meet children at every festival who are interested in woodworking and we encourage their parents to seek out woodworking classes at community colleges or art centers since so many schools are closing their woodshops.

"Earnie cutting a box on our 1953 Boice Crane bandsaw"

jen: is there anything else you’d like to add?

Heather: Take care, be good & kind, and don’t forget to laugh.

giveaway

Oregon-Myrtlewood Spirit Shaker & Maple Baby Rattle/Teether

earnest efforts is so kind to offer one spirit shaker (left in photo above) and one rattle (right in photo above to two paintcutpaste.com readers who enter the drawing. the rattles are beeswax coated and completely safe for babies to chew on. heather says, “these are representational photos – they are not the actual rattle & spirit shakers we are giving away, as we will chose beauties with lovely sound for the winners.” oooooh, and they’re all so lovely!

i will use a random number generator to choose TWO winners (one for each) this thursday evening, october 20, at 9PM pacific/12midnight eastern.

how to enter: comment on this blog entry and let us know your favorite type of tree AND the age(s) of your child(ren) — incase you are a winner, the child’s age is how i will know whether you should receive the baby-safe rattle or the spirit shaker. please be sure your correct email address is associated with your entry so that i can contact you if you’re a winner. (comment link is up there on the left, under the date of this post. i’ve gotta move this at some point…)

two winners were chosen! thanks to all who entered!

please do yourself a favor and check out earnest efforts’ awesome etsy shop to view and purchase more of their wares. (think: holiday shopping!) and be sure to “like” earnest efforts on facebook.

good luck, woodchucks!