Valentine Sweeties...

Valentine's Day is coming up and I am having so much fun making little gnome & toadstool tot sweeties. 

Little Valentine bears are in theme too.  Come and visit my shop, MamaWestWind, to see all the Valentine pretties.

Until next time...

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

I am in love with making these pretty heart ornaments.  They are made out of cashmere sweaters & wool stuffing.  I love cashmere but it doesn't make good, sturdy doll making material. Through the years I've amassed a small collection of it and I'm so glad I now have a project to use it all up.  I embroidered a pretty snowflake design with shiny glass beads to sparkle on the tree.  We stamped these cute little containers with the teachers last name initial and filled it with candy & a "heart felt" thank you note.

I think I'll have to make a ton of these for my handmade tree.  I can't decide which I like better, the red cashmere with white embroidery or taupe with red embroidery.  Which is your favorite?  

Until next time...

Fresh Eyes...

We are back from our blissful stay in New York!  It was rainy and cool quite a bit during our month-long stay which was perfect weather for us sun worn, Southwest transplants. I won't say it was a vacation because there was much running around trying to see everyone, but it was really fun.



It's amazing how much your perspective can change through the years.  When I was a teen in New York it was the place to leave.  Even though I loved my family, I wanted to set off on my own and see the world a bit.  I haven't really seen the world yet but I have lived in a couple different areas of the country.  I've seen a bit and hopefully more to come.

What seemed a little dead about New York was my old, dead thinking.  It was what propelled me off to new and exciting places.  I wanted to learn and see and grow.  Now, when I go back home to New York it's alive with a whole new world of life I never noticed before. From the weather, to the wild animals, maple trees, wild flowers grape vines, Lake Erie and it's beaches, the Amish and their beautiful, simple life, it's all alive with excitement.  I see it with fresh eyes. 

It doesn't hurt that I have my little boys now and get to see it through their eyes.  Can you see the hummingbird in the picture above?  I just had to see a Ruby-throated Hummingbird after being able to so closely observe our Black-chinned mama bird here.  And yes, I remember seeing Ruby-throated hummingbirds when I was a child, but did I care then?  Not so much, no. 

My sister in law, niece, Mom & I had a great time looking around Amish country & shops.

Amish haystacks.  Note boys walking up the road, far in the distance. 

These are the scenes outdside of a beautiful, Amish toystore.

A little Amish boy we had fun watching.  He had been enjoying a horse swing inside.

 

An Amish, one-room schoolhouse and boys and girls outhouses.

My brother & sis in law live right in the heart of Amish country.  This is a typical scene outside their front door.

 

One of the many beautiful, Amish gardens we saw.  Most of them boast a row of beautiful flowers around the outside edges.

I brought back a few items!  An Amish cookbook, rug for my kitchen, clove scented heating pad, a cedar ornament for the closet, toaster tongs, a couple of cards drawn by an Amish boy, a lucet and my favorite, peach jam.  What's not featured here? The chocolates from the Candy Shop.  Yah, that was gone by picture time.

If you like images of Amish countryside, check out my sis in law's brand new etsy shop, SLPPhotographs.  This photo is one of hers.  

Until next time...

Easter Fun...

  

Happy Belated Easter! We had such a beautiful day yesterday.  The morning began with two, little boys waking and trying really hard not to be too loud.  It was quite cute!  My husband and I asked that they not wake us up until it was light outside so, they were quietly talking in their room.  When I woke and came out with my camera to capture their wonder, I heard my eldest shush his brother because he heard the squeak of my door.  Excited much?

 

This is the first pic I took of Michael's surprise coming out of his room. As you can see he was moving fast.  It is our tradition to hide chocolate foiled eggs, or rather the Easter bunny does. So it's always a dazzling site to see all those brightly colored foiled eggs "hidden" about. 

This year I painted some hollow, wooden eggs to fill our baskets.  So the eve before I had the boys hide 8 wooden eggs around the house.  We left a note for the Easter bunny inviting him to have an Easter egg hunt of his own and find the wooden eggs.  We hoped he might fill them up, but we didn't ask of course, that would be impolite.  I kept 2 of the wooden eggs and filled them with a special MamaWestWind bunny, from their Mama with love.

The first thing they spotted at their places at the breakfast table were some child-sized Bolga baskets from Cedar Ring Circle.  Inside was their special bunny doll filled egg.

This year the Easter Bunny found some pretty awesome Mama makers to trade with and buy from.
The boys were especially excited about their adorable knit toadstool necklaces.  The little cap can be raised to find a tube of Burt's Bees chap-stick. Plus we found that the Easter Bunny did fill those wooden eggs with candy & bubble gum and hid them with their Easter baskets.  He did enjoy his hunt and left a drawn picture of himself on our note!

After a spot of breakfast & later a second breakfast of sweet rolls the boys spent all morning playing with their Mama made bunnies at their tree house. 

 

I was so surprised that the bunny dolls seemed the hit of the day, besides the chocolate of course.  I figured since they had seen me making them for my shop, they would be old news. But no, they really seem to treasure them.  Warms this Mama's heart! 

The rest of the day was filled with good food and family.  I hope you had a lovey Easter too! 

Until next time...

Last Minute Christmas Crafting...

This year I did a little Christmas crafting for myself in making this simple garland with heart ornaments.  They are white wool hearts with red, beaded snowflakes.  I'm learning to embroider bit by bit.  Well, free hand embroidery I guess.  I finally learned the french knot by making these! My inspiration for the snowflake was this beautiful, delicate brooch I saw on A Polar Bear's Tale made by Waterrose on etsy.  I just love her delicate embroidery.

 

The garland is white wool wrapped twine I found at 50% off at our local craft store.  I love how simple and pretty it is.

I would love to fill our tree with hearts and these white & red wool star babies too. 

The other big craft project was making dolls for the tree house Santa brought the kids as their shared gift.  The tree house is from Magic Cabin. The furniture came from Monkeys on the Roof on etsy.  I made both boys a couple of dolls each to be the resident tree house family.  They love their tree house, it's getting played with daily.

I hate to give a bad review but I really wish I had found a source on etsy for the tree house.  It came with damaged pieces, some pieces roughly sanded, or not even finished with beeswax and not at all as pictured on the website or catalog.  The instructions on how to put it together are not helpful at all.  I really should have sent the tree house back but my littles were too excited to put it together and play with it.  I've emailed and asked Magic Cabin to replace some of the badly damaged parts & missing bolts & they have agreed to do that.  I will finish up the pieces that came rough and not waxed. 

By contrast Monkeys on the Roof furniture came exactly as pictured & exceeded my expectations.  They are sanded & polished so beautifully smooth & irresistibly touchable.  We bought the bedroom set and the table and chairs. They came in sweet, cotton bags with beautiful decorative wooden tags as well.

 Anyway, live and learn.  I'm just happy my boys are thrilled. 

Until next time...