Make a Valentine Spool Doll...

I've said it before, Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays!  I don't think Valentine's Day should be a holiday only for couples as it is so often represented.  No, it's a celebration of LOVE!  So it should be a day to celebrate all those we love.

This little spool doll would be such a lovely Valentine gift to make for your Mom, Grandmother, friends, teacher, anyone you'd like to show your love and appreciation.  Also, this could be a fun project for kids to make (especially if you leave out the wood burner).  It's an easy project.  Sorry this has to be said, but, this tutorial is provided for personal use only please. 

First, buy some wooden beads (approximately an inch wide) and spools.  Lightly sand them, then wood burn the spool & paint it with watercolor paint. You can wood burn your spool, paint it, write messages on it, whatever you feel inspired to do.  I added a little, "you are loved" message to one of mine.  I used Stockmar watercolor, but you can use any watercolor paint.  Make sure it's AP certified non-toxic if it's for kids or kids are making them. After it's completely dry add a layer of beeswax sealer to the painted spool. Wait 20 minutes or so and then wipe the beeswax sealer off & buff it with a clean cloth. Draw your face with a pencil or colored pencil or leave it Waldorf simple.  Add a layer of non-toxic varnish to seal the face completely. 

I tried a couple different ways of joining the bead to the spool.  I wanted it to be glued securely. On one I used a wooden peg wrapped with a pipe cleaner & then glued. The other I just used a pipe cleaner and glued that in.  Either way works.  Children may wish to not glue the head in and have a funny little revolving head.  After gluing I made my little gnome caps and sewed them up using a blanket stitch. Wee Folk Art has a gnome cap tutorial here.  Just make sure you make it slightly larger to fit your wooden bead head.

Both of these spool dolls are at my MamaWestWind etsy shop for sale.  Until next time, sending love to you and yours!

***

PS: Don't forget to enter my Valentine's Day giveaway at Little Woodlanders Facebook page.  Also please "like" my MamaWestWind Facebook page to stay up to date on all my etsy shop happenings.  

Posting at Natural Kids Blog Today!

I'm very excited to be sharing this creative project over at Natural Kids blog today! 

Come & visit! 

Happy Spring Equinox!

We have been celebrating the arrival Spring!  It's been so warm and lovely here and then yesterday it snowed & hailed and was cold all day.  Today the sun is out but it's still a chilly first day of Spring for the desert!

I painted this recently for our Spring nature table.  This painting is from one of our favorite books, "Story of the Root Children", by Sibylle Von Olfers. Here are some root children waking up.

And some eggs wood-burned & painted with little flower children also inspired by the book.  Look for a couple of these in my shop soon.

We've started some indoor seedlings.  I'm hoping to have tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, carrots, basil and a few other herbs.  Also, maybe we'll add a wine barrel of potatoes.  We're hoping to make use of our tiny outdoor space.  I really need to get to work on a garden plan.  Last year we had plenty of zucchini, very few tomatoes & almost no green peppers.  I think it was because of not planning the space well enough.  We are gardening novices here. 

Here's a snippet of our garden space.  Our backyard is pretty ugly right now.  With dead shrubbery and weeds, it's a mess.  But it's small so it shouldn't be too hard to clear out.

The boys have a dirt pit. They love to dig, find bugs, make ponds, rivers, mud holes & construction sites.  It provides hours of dirty, muddy, fun. 

We've been planting flowers in pots.  

 

And we're having so much fun with our new little kitten, Kiki.  We adopted her one week ago to be friend to our Poe.  They did not like each other at first and so we kept them separated for awhile. 

But now they seem to be getting along quite well.  We love the added chaos, humor & love they've added to our home.  What's Spring without new life?

Happy Spring friends!

Until next time...

The Angel Sounds...

Last week we started on vowels!  This is a big deal for us.  All year we've been working on the consonants and reading/ telling fairy tales that go with each story.  Our curriculum tells a lovely "container story" of a little girl who is on a journey to receiving a great gift.  I wrote more on that here.  Anyway, we are finally at the point of learning what those gifts are, the vowels of course!  The key to reading!

A week earlier we learned the roman numerals and made some keys for each number. Now, Michael has to use his keys in order to open the 5 doors.

I quickly drew 5 doors with their corresponding Roman Numeral on this piece of wood.  Michael really loved pretending to unlock the door.  

I told him the story of "The White Snake", by Brothers Grimm for letter A.  This is not the fairytale story that the curriculum provides, but... have you ever had a Grimm's story just rub you the wrong way? There have only been a couple that I really don't like and ,"Our Lady's Child", is one of them.  So, with the recommendation of my friend Becca over at Cedar Ring Mama, I chose, "The White Snake".

I told the story with the help of a few props, including a little wooden castle, tree, felt pond and a couple of gnomes.  Then we practiced some words using our vowel sound.

Our watercolor cards have been a tremendous help in learning all of the sounds.  I notice Michael remembers the sound better when I've drawn or painted something simple on the card from our story.  Some of them have this and some are just plain letters.  I've been a little inconsistent with them. I want to illustrate the plain ones as it really does seem to help.

We go through our cards every school day to remember the sounds.  To make it fun, we also use scrabble tiles as well.  We tile them up on the wooden tile stand, saying each sound as we go. The last letter that is put on, filling the stand, gets to push every other letter off.  Of course Michael thinks this is great fun! 

So, I'm not really sure how this reading thing goes. I feel a bit like I'm on the edge of a great abyss or waiting with bated breath to see when it will all just click.  Does it happen that way?  Right now Michael sounds out the words really well but has a hard time getting those individual sounds to sound like a word.  Does that make sense?  I guess, we will just practice, practice and keep it fun.  Any sage advice or stories of your experiences are more than welcome!

Until next time...

Shop Update: Gnome Clothespins & Tutorial too!

I've been having fun painting clothes pins lately!  I've just added these to my etsy shop, MamaWestWind.  They are awesome little clothespins to hold your play silk collection.  They're easy for children to pin and un-pin for themselves at clean-up time and displaying the silks on a line at their eye level means the silks are always accessible to the children. I've found that friends coming over are always attracted to the bright colored rainbow on the wall! So needless to say they get played with often. These little gnome pins are also just fun for play & imagining with as well.  For those who would like to make them yourself I'm offering this tutorial for your own personal use. 

If you'd like to buy them check my shop. If when you read this you don't see them at my shop, convo or email me and ask and I will make you some. 

 

You can find packages of clothes pins at your local craft supply store.

First, lightly sand the clothespins.  Sometimes they are a bit rough. Sanding keeps them safe for little hands and if you sand the inside, the wood won't snag your play silks. I take sandpaper and fold it in half and then putting it inside the pin slot, lightly sand both sides at once. After sanding, paint them.  I like watercolors because I love the translucency of them. I use Stockmar watercolors and mix them with a little vinegar instead of water to help the color stain the wood. (Warning, if a child puts them in their mouth, the color will start to come off).  Make sure you use a non-toxic, AP certified watercolor or other paint of your choice. Stockmar is non-toxic of course. I've also had fine results with Reeves watercolor, also AP certified.  And Reeves you can find at your local art supply store.

After painting, lightly sand with a buffing paper to make them smooth.  Watercolor gets into the wood fiber and raises the wood fiber a bit making it slightly rough.  Buffing will make them smooth again.  Beeswax the pins. Here's a recipe for the beeswax finish.  This will hold the color in better and maintain the moisture in the wood. 

Add a layer of beeswax  and let it sit for a half hour or so and then clean it off and buff them with a dry cloth. 

Now, time for the hat!  I use 100% wool felt.  

 

Here is the shape of the hat laying flat. (sorry, no pattern, I don't know how to do that on the computer 

quite yet.) Start sewing with the knot inside the top of the hat. Of course you could simply glue the hats but I'm always afraid it will look messy or that it could be easily pried apart my wee fingers.

Fold the hat to make the gnome hat shape.

 

I'll let the pictures do the talking now. 

 

 

Knot the end on the inside of the hat. 

 

Then glue the hat on using craft glue.

 

This is the way it looks from the back. 

 

And from the front. 

 

And with some friends!  

Don't forget to add the eyes.  I use a sharpie marker in blue or brown and add them after the beeswax layer so the color doesn't run. You may want to wait to do the eyes until after the hat is on to see where you want them. 

And now you have a lovely set of gnome clothespins for your little ones!

Until next time...

Watercolor Alphabet Cards & Seasonal Paintings

I've been working on my goal of painting our watercolor alphabet cards to correspond with our stories.  I wrote more about that here.  I'm running a little behind on them but this what I've done so far.  I'll be drawing something from our story on the T and I'm not very happy with my S. I'd love the S to be white and the swans to be more prominent as our S story is The Six Swans by Brothers Grimm.   I may redo it but I don't want to get too precious and picky about them because when I do that then I don't finish things.  Some of you may now how that goes, perfectionism can lead to procrastination! 

Happy first day of Autumn by the way!  This is our first year of including Michaelmas within our festival year. Painting this painting of St George and the dragon helped me to internalize a bit of what this festival means to me.  Fall is by far my favorite season of the year.  I've always felt a little left out since moving here to the Southwest.  Our Autumn is just not the same as up north or back east where I'm from.  NY in Autumn is a thing of beauty!  I'm working on being happy where I am and noticing the way that Fall arrives in our desert. However, I just had to paint my beloved maple tree.  

a detail.

This is another Michaelmas painting that I made to fit this frame. It is exhibited on our rather unkempt nature table.  The crystal is there because of our story "Pebble" from a Donsy of Gnomes.  I wrote about that here. 

I look forward to our first festival week of the year, next week!  We plan on making dragon bread, I have a stuffed dragon in the works for a story, a few more crafts and I think a fun bonfire night is in order. Nights are getting cooler now so it should be lots of fun! 

If you haven't entered my giveaway of an Autumn peg doll, please do so here.  I will anounce the winner October 1st.

Until next time...

Waldorf Home School: The alphabet & Magic Onions Giveaway!

I am just in love with my first grade curriculum.  As I mentioned I’m using A Little Garden Flower curriculum this year along with verses, projects and supplement ideas from Earthschooling. 

What I most love about the curriculum is the container story that includes all of our form drawing, alphabet sounds, roman numerals, verses, riddles, Grimm's stories, writing & drawing.  Whew, that includes a lot.  So much so that the story that guides all of this learning will take most of the year to complete.  Talk about learning patience!  I imagine it will inspire Michael to be so excited to wake up everyday to find out more about Katie and her journey to meet Wise Sophia.  This story is just beautiful! In fact I completely teared up at the end when Katie meets Wise Sophia.  Picture me, ah~ by myself,  in blissful quiet at the musty smelling library. (I don’t care because it’s quiet.)  Anyway, there I am crying at the absolute beautiful idea of making reading such a sacred and lovely and magical gift!  Oh, that I could have learned reading this way!  Watch out I may be writing a similar post about Waldorf Math soon! 

At the end of the story I have this idea to make a wooden box with all of the letters that we've learned contained within.  As we go along in our studies I will be drawing and painting these watercolor cards that I've already cut, or rather carefully ripped for that beautiful beveled edge.  The cards will relate to the imagery of the Grimm's stories that we read along with our letters.  I envision this box, adorned with wood burning (another excuse to wood burn) & sealed with beeswax and opened with a key.  (anyone know where I could get such a box, unfinished?) At the bottom of the box underneath our watercolor letters maybe a special new reader to practice our reading skills. (Does anyone have a suggestion for a really lovely first reader?) I think this will help us have fun with our review which comes right after completing the story.  Michael will see the letters that I make each week but this will be the first time he sees them all together.  

Whew, ok, I've said it here so now I have to follow through!  I decided rather than try to make the cards all at once.  I will begin and make them a few at a time well before the week we will need them.  That way I don't become overwhelmed and give it up entirely. 

Speaking of the alphabet and Waldorf  there is a beautiful post at Magic Onions about Waldorf reading.  She's also hosting a giveaway of a dreamy, Waldorf alphabet frieze.  In addition to our cards I think I have to buy this frieze or book, or both, they are just beautiful! 

Our Nightly Tasks in Pictures

So after I made our daily rhythm chart I thought it might be helpful to make these.  These are the nightly tasks that I find I have to remind my Michael to do over and over again.  The evening is not my favorite time. I'm usually tired and ready for little boys to go to sleep and my time to begin.  So now I can just point to the signs and he remembers his task.  Or I say go do everything on your chart and he runs to check it.  He loves the drawings and finds it fun to complete the tasks now.  I have to say I neglected to draw a "put pajamas on"  sign.  I guess I thought it was obvious, but no, I find I too often have to remind him.  So I'll be adding that. 

This has helped us so much in the evenings that now I plan to make a set for our morning chores as well. 

Until next time...

W.I.P. Wednesday... Dreaded Dremel & Stitched Memories

A couple of trees in the works

This is my first week posting as apart of Musings from the Fishbowl, W.I.P. Wednesday!  I can't wait to see what everyone is working on.

A toadstool, owl, racoon & Mama Bear in progress

I both love and despise the Dremel tool!  When I started making these wooden toys. I was using hand chisels, rasps and sand paper.  Whew, is that a lot of work!  I thought if I could just get the right Dremel bits this could be much faster. Well, it is faster but not very enjoyable. I do love that I can make them a little more sculpted in a fraction of the time it took to hand sculpt. However, I'll be finishing these with good old fashioned sand paper and some elbow grease.

I'm also working on a couple of late Mother's Day gifts.  I'm so horrible, always late on the holiday gifts!

These are made using some of my six year old's drawings.  I took some thin, natural colored, weaved fabric and put it on top of his drawing in a sunny window.  I used pencil to lightly trace it in.  Then I painted a few parts that I wanted to emphasize in watercolor and added some simple stitching. 

The hoops will be the their frames.

I love all the little people inside the airplane.  Michael did this drawing when we came back from our extended stay in NY.  It reminds me of our adventure and I love the happy little sun guiding our journey. 

And this drawing I chose because of the happy color he used.  He says it's a giant in a castle. I love the creature/angel figure with the sly smile & adorable ears. 

Now, I need to work on a few for me.  I would LOVE to have a wall just full of these!

Please leave a link to your W.I.P. projects!  

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