giveaway news

just checking in briefly here to let you know two things...

i will be closing my giveaway tonight. thanks for all the comments so far! your support and kind words are so greatly appreciated.

i also want to alert you to another, very special giveaway over at gardenmama. her featured sponsor, imagine childhood is offering a very generous prize of one of their handmade flower fairies and one flower fairy house. this is an incredible offer! these fairies and their houses are so detailed and impeccably crafted, i have been eyeing them for some time now. so trot on over and get your name in the hat. contest closes wed night, dec 2.

i'll be back tomorrow with the winner of the bird ornament!

gratitude and a giveaway!!

this past summer i was given the opportunity to participate in an ornament exchange for my most favorite magazine, living crafts (if you haven't checked this magazine out, you should!). to be a part of this amazing group of talented and experienced women was terribly daunting to me initially! something i struggled with at first. after all, i had never created a pattern for anyone other than myself and i only started hand sewing a couple of years ago! now here i was creating (virtually) alongside some talent that i knew to be quite skilled in their crafts. alas, i was so excited about my project that i was able to get past the intimidation and so thoroughly enjoyed working with all of these gals!!

i chose the bird as my symbol as it represents joy. my creative and endearing coteacher is named joy so that jumped out at me right away. the color and texture of the sweater that i used is pure joy....amazingly rich, warm, and fuzzy! this experience brought me such great joy! it was such a pleasure to connect with all of these women and to bring that joy to each and every stitch.

there were many of us and i never thought for an instant that my project would be chosen for the magazine. seriously. my partner had his mind made up that he was going to see me in print though. ;) we knew that just five of the projects would be featured in the article (the rest are soon to be featured on the forthcoming living crafts blog!). there were so many amazing ornaments these gals came up with, i just never imagined that mine would be selected for print.

my days were filled with anticipation waiting for the postlady to deliver my issue of the mag! it was just so thrilling that i was a part of this project, i couldn't wait to read the article. when i opened the pages to find my ornament staring back at me, i was over the top giddy with pure delight!! it was such fun to reveal the news to matt when he returned home!

i must say that the crowning moment came about a week later. being the incredibly supportive partner that he is, matt had changed our desktop background to a picture of one of my bird ornaments. when my son saw the screen he got all excited. in his broken and over enunciated two year old dialogue he exclaimed *my mom-ma made dat!*. heart. melt.

i am so thankful to have made these connections with these women and to have had the experience of creating with them.....and for all the ornaments i got in return! we have been inspired to have our tree decorated with all handmade ornaments this year.

anywho, to celebrate and to give back to the incredible community of creative and inspiring folks out there who have given so much to me, i would like to give one of my birds to one of you (that one up there on the blue silk)!! all you have to do is leave a comment. i'm not up on any of those random number generator gizmos, so we will be doing the old fashioned pull the name out of the hat!

also, the very talented chris of mamaroots made her second appearance in the magazine and is holding a giveaway for one of her gorgeous rabbit moon ornaments!! go enter quick! contest closes tomorrow night. then head over to her etsy shop and score some goodness for your kiddos stockings!

as for me, i will leave this one open until monday night, nov 30. so go on, leave me a comment! ;)
you do not need to have a blog to enter, just make sure i have a way to contact you!

ornamental fun

sweet little handmade straw angel we found at the thrift store the other day for 50 cents!!

it seems sienna has decided we can start to officially prepare for the holiday season. christmas trees began to pop up in neighborhood houses (seriously) and wreaths on downtown light posts nearly as soon as halloween was over this year. every time we would pass some sign of that *distant* time to come, she would proclaim her frustration with the premature nature of this decor. the other day she exclaimed *i really wish mother earth could talk. then she could tell these people that it's NOT time for christmas decorating!*

since we have the week off from school and we have been making lots of plans for what we will be creating for gifts this year, she must finally be in the spirit! the past couple of days she has been wanting to make lots of ornaments.

last christmas, grandma debbie and grandpa charlie brought the kids a box of unpainted wooden ornaments in all sorts of festive shapes. we pulled them out last night and started painting them using our beloved stockmar watercolor paints. we love using the watercolors on the wood because you can see the grain through the colors.

jasper's ornament

showing off her work in progress...love those little toes peeking out!

we have done this sort of project before several times with simple wooden figures purchased from michael's craft store for $1. this dinosaur is loved as much as the expensive wooden figures in their collection!

edited to add: we seal these up with beeswax finish. we have mamakopp's wood creme. there are a few tutorials on the web to make your own, too.

sienna has joined her first swap! she has been watching mom create, send, and receive packages this past year and she is so thrilled to have the opportunity to do one herself. she is making ornaments for crafty crow's kid's ornament swap. the theme is fairy tales so she wanted to make some pretty elaborate felt princesses (where do you think she got that idea from?), which i'm sure she could pull off, but not 5 or 6 of them before the deadline. we compromised and she is using fabric markers (a first) to draw princesses and unicorns then she will back them with felt and stitch around the edges. she started drawing them today.

wet felted acorn she made last week in class.

we also continued our beeswax ornament making today. we got some incredibly adorable new molds from the spunky bake it pretty online shop. if you do not know this shop, you must go check it out! make sure you see these and these. we are lucky enough to live in the same town as amanda and could not wait to pick up our order today to start making these fun shapes!!

seriously, what could be cuter than a beeswax day of the dead skull...with a handlebar mustache, no less?! ;)

i'll be back tomorrow with some exciting ornament news (lots of you know already) and my very first giveaway!! stay tuned......

she likes it!

she likes it! she really likes it!!
beth received her package today and it was a hit! yay! i am so glad that you liked everything beth and that this sweet little gnome will be loved and cherished.

swap love

celebrating handmade swap

since entering the beautiful and inspiring crafty world i discovered on the web about a year ago, one of the things that i have enjoyed so much is joining swaps. i have been in many swaps in the last year. the first of which may have been (can't remember which came first honestly) the handmade mushroom swap. right about the same time i joined the celebrating handmade swap. since then i have joined a yahoo group that is dedicated to waldorf craft swaps! it's called bits of goodness. see pics here and join us here. i have participated in several swaps there and hostessed one, too!

handmade mushroom swap
another highlight of my swapping goodness has been the seasons round exchange (pics here). i participated in the autumn exchange (harvest) and am now working on the winter one (light). the sign ups for the spring exchange (awakening) are jan 1, but be forewarned....the winter swap filled all 100 slots in less than 24 hours!!

bits of goodness....gnome swap

bits of goodness....easter swap

some of the swaps (mushroom, most of the bits of goodness swaps) require that you make 5 of something and send them to the hostess, she mixes all the swap goodies up and sends you back 5 different handmade items. some of the swaps (celebrating handmade, seasons round) pair you up with a partner and you trade one on one.

seasons round exchange...harvest

i *met* sweet valerie during the mushroom swap at the beginning of the year. she may be the swapping queen!! she is in more swaps at one time than i could possibly keep up with! ;) she also hostesses many a swap. i have enjoyed keeping in touch with valerie and she has been a great help with my new blog venture. when i saw she was having an *enchanted ornament swap*, i had to join! all my favorite subjects were included.....gnomes, hedgehogs, acorns, mushrooms, deer, etc.

she paired us up with a partner and we were to make one ornament and one edible treat. there is a twist this time....this is a secret swap! so, i can only post snippets of what i made as it is en route to my partner right now! this is the first time that i have actually worried about my partner liking what i made for them. i would have to say we have very different styles. i will post an update when she receives it (and i receive my goodies!). by the way, we are not swapping with one another, we all send to a different person than we receive from.
given my recent beeswax obsession, i just had to make these ornaments when i saw them at gardenmama and homemade serenity. they are so fun to make!! they are absolutely radiant in the sunshine! i can't wait to get more molds and make some more designs!

i included this one in my swap package.

please tell me that as i get used to posting and blogger this will go quicker! i can't believe the time it takes me to put this together!! ;)

see you real soon!
rae

p.s. i LOVE your comments! i feel so loved when i see that i have a new one. thanks to you all for stopping by my tiny space. ;)

beeswax lantern tutorial

caution: melted wax is extremely hot! please take all necessary precautions when working with hot wax. hot wax is flammable and can ignite. please do use a thermometer to gauge the temp of your wax as the balloons will pop if your wax is too hot!

these lanterns are just so stunning and they really are easy to make and absolutely magical to create! i want to share this with all of you so that you can make them, too!

i will start by telling you a little story. i recommend that you use a thermometer for your wax. however, i do not. last tuesday we made these in our class. on wednesday, i got out all the supplies and set up our station again so that those students who weren't present the day before could make one and so that i could make some for siblings attending the lantern walk.

i did not plug the crock pot in far enough in advance and the wax never did melt during our free play/ handwork time! so, i left the crock pot turned on (in a safe location) and went about our morning thinking that i would bring the student over when we had a spare moment. well, that moment did not come until a couple of hours later.

as ms joy was telling the story to the class, i checked on the wax. i dipped a leaf in. it fizzed and the leaf curled up. hmmm.....that's never happened before. i turned the crock pot off. it was a good 15 mins or so before story was over and the child and i filled up her balloon with water. i had her stand back as i did the first dip, just in case. sure enough, that wax was too hot to stick a balloon in! fortunately, it did not send wax flying, but the balloon popped and wax boiled over the sides of the pot!

i was afraid my wax would be ruined! however, i let it cool for another 20 mins and then proceeded to make lanterns just fine. i have not had this happen any other time. it is because i had it turned on for too long and the wax just got too hot. so, a thermometer can help you avoid this fate. personally, i use the leaf test. normally when i dip a leaf, there is certainly no fizz and it does not curl up. when i pull it out of the wax it takes only a few seconds to harden. you could also do this project with the double boiler method and perhaps that would eliminate this potential issue.

my crock pot after the wax boiled over!

on to the tutorial! some things to have on hand:

* a crock pot designated for beeswax (thrift store, garage sale, or freecycle are great options)
* balloons (all balloons are not created equal. blow your up and see if it gives you a nice round shape. otherwise your lantern is going to be a bit lopsided)
* water faucet
* lots and lots of beeswax (i suggest you find a beekeeper to buy from, it is much more affordable that way. my friend kelly scores ours for $3 a pound!! that is compared to the $8.49 the health food store and craft stores want!)
* pressed leaves and flowers
* hot glue gun
* a flat plate- to sit your lantern on while you are working
* sharp needle or scissors for popping the balloon
* raffia, if making lanterns


melt a pound or two of beeswax in your crock pot. it is best to use a taller pot so that you have some depth to your hot wax for dipping the balloon. it takes close to an hour in my crock pot to fully melt the wax.

blow your balloon up with air, then let it out. this makes it easier to fill it with water.
next, attach your balloon to the end of your faucet and turn on the water. you want to fill the balloon until it has a nice round shape and is the size of the lantern you wish to make.

holding the balloon by the knot, dip it into the hot wax about 3/4 of the way up the balloon. pull it out and hold it in the air for about 20-30 seconds while the wax hardens. dip it back in up to the same line you made before. do this 5 times letting it harden in between each dip.
after you have dipped it about 5 times, sit it on a plate. using both of your hands around the balloon, flatten the bottom of the lantern on the plate by pushing down and sort of wiggling it side to side. if you get down at eye level you can really watch to make sure that you are getting both the top and the bottom of the lantern pretty even.
dip the wax covered balloon about 5 more times, letting it harden in between each coat. flatten the bottom on the plate again. at this point your lantern should be pretty solid and you will want to add any decorations. if it is not to your desired thickness, continue dipping a few more times.

i used pressed leaves and flowers to decorate. it is helpful to attach them with the hot glue gun. dip the lantern in the wax once again. when you bring it out, use your finger to press down any edges of the leaves that might be sticking out. dip one last time! (you do not want to dip too many times after you have attached the leaves or they will get covered).
now for the excitement...place your lantern in the sink and using your needle or scissors, pop the balloon! the balloon will pull away from the sides and you can pour the water out. at this point, i like to work the top edge of the lantern, folding over any ragged edges to give it a nice clean look (that did not happen with all of the lanterns pictured!).

if you wish to hang your lantern or to have a carrying handle, use a pencil and push through the wax about a 1/2 inch down on each side. we used raffia for our handles. tie a knot on the inside of the lantern, thread it through to the outside of the lantern and pull it over to the other side, threading it back inside the lantern and tie another knot.
we did these in class with our 3-6 year olds. obviously, much assistance is needed with this age group, but i am so glad that we made them a part of it! they were absolutely captivated by the dipping and the hardening of the wax. most of them would hold onto the balloon with us as we dipped. they loved to sit it on the plate and wrap their hands around the warm wax. the smell is absolutely divine! they got to choose their leaves (which they had collected with their families and in class). though most of them did not want to pop the balloon themselves, they LOVED watching it pop and the balloon retract inside!
we also did these with our handwork group last month. it makes for a lovely group project. several ladies worked out of the same pot, taking turns dipping and marveling at the magic happening before our eyes.

at home, we are making these for christmas gifts. the lantern pictured in the top photo does not have holes or a handle. it sits on our table and serves as our meal candle.
i hope this tute is easy to follow! do let me know if you have any additional questions. i hope you enjoy making these as much as we did!

edited to add:

* carey suggests having a bowl of cold water at the ready and going back and forth between the hot wax and the cold water, as when making candles.

* devana had a brilliant suggestion! for finishing the top and bottom- get an old pan, heat it up and just touch the bottom of the lantern on the pan for one second to flatten the bottom so it sits nice. do the same
thing with the lip on the warm flat frying pan. can't wait to try this with my next batch!

* devana also says the temp of the wax should stay between 150-160 and that the water in the balloon should be cold.

thanks gals!

edited: dec 12 *******new lantern*******

i made another lantern recently. i LOVE the way this one turned out. this time i dipped the balloon in the beeswax 20 times before adding the leaves. i used thin leaves (japenese maple) that had been pressed. i held the lantern very close to the crockpot and dipped the leaves one at a time in to the wax. as soon as the leaf came out of the wax, i applied it to the surface of the lantern and carefully smoothed out any tips that were protruding. i will admit that i torched most of my fingerprints off during my waitress days carrying hot plates. so, i do actually touch the wax at this point. this step must be done very quickly before the wax begins to harden.

i did each leaf this way and then dipped the lantern one last time, being careful not to hold it in the wax for long so as not to either melt the wax that was holding the leaves on or to make the layer of the wax on the leaves too thick.

also, this time i did not use the plate at all. i held my lantern during all 21 dips and then afterward used the warm pan on the stove to flatten the bottom and the lip. such a nice finish!

the final product is lovely. before it went on it's way to it's new (still secret) home, it sat on my desk. i fondled it often. it is so smooth and warm and the smell is intoxicating!

have you made any lanterns? thinking of trying? let me know if you do! i would love to see them. have fun!!

our lantern walk

last night we had our martinmas lantern walk. we made these beeswax lanterns in class. they are so stunning! the kids were able to help with much of it though there were obviously some safety precautions with the hot wax. it was great to have them present and to be a part of the process. they really enjoyed the magic of watching these lanterns come to life!
i learned how to make these from my dear friend kelly at our handwork group last month (thanks kelly!). they were so beautiful i just had to share them with the children.
we met a couple of blocks from class and walked to school in the fading light of the evening. it was very windy. lighters were kept in hand and lanterns relit (it's telling me that's not a word, isn't it a word?) many times as we walked. everyone had a great attitude about it though and we enjoyed a lovely walk. as we approached the building, we gathered on the playground in a circle to watch the lanterns and to sing our songs once more. then we filed in to the dark hallway and placed our lit lanterns against the walls.

our little camera is not fond of taking night time pictures. the best picture we captured was of the lanterns lining the hallway. looking forward to parents sharing their pictures! ;)

then we gathered in the classroom and i told a sweet little lantern story (that i can't seem to find online or i would share it with you). i adapted the story so that the little boy makes a beeswax lantern just like we did. then we all enjoyed cookies and tea and lovely fellowship with one another. i am so very proud of the amazing group of families that have been brought together by our little program! it is so refreshing to get together as a group and really soak it all in. so much love in one room! :)

as pre-festival preparations were starting to stress mommy out just a bit (yes, it happened!), dad comes strolling in with his own lantern that he had been crafting. he made this out of wood scraps he had. he is notorious for his elaborate plans that are still being executed at the last minute. he actually wrapped the parchment paper around his masterpiece in the car on the way to the walk! i love how it turned out and i LOVE that he wanted to make a lantern himself.

daddy saved the day with his lantern. our daughter was the one stressing out because her lantern would not stay lit. matt was happy to trade with her as his had no problem holding the flame!

looking away from the camera even in the dark!! ;)

i'll be back tomorrow to tell you how to make your own beeswax lanterns. my first tutorial!

edited to add: i found the lantern story here!

in recovery

just a quick post to let anyone that might actually be reading this blog know that we are all on the mend here. sienna was with fever for 7 straight days! she has now been fever free for 4 and is finally acting like herself again, though eating non-stop! i swear it is taking so long to catch up around here. many, many things fall by the wayside when you are nursing a little one back to health around the clock.

halloween day her fever spiked to 103. we sent dad and brother off to the parade without us. jasper won first prize in the baby category (he was the only entry! it was rainy and many stayed home this year.), and third place overall, bringing home a slew of prizes including 50 bucks! he also made his first newspaper appearance in a photo with dad much like the one above.

this costume is one that i made for sienna when she was 2. it is one of the first things that i ever sewed. it is actually one of martha's *no sew* costumes, but i wanted it to have wings and shoe covers. having absolutely no idea what i was doing, i broke out my sewing machine and made it happen! it was exhilarating and i have been creating ever since!

here is sienna in the costume three years ago:



yes, those are sponges! and cupcake liners for the scales. so fun to make and even more fun to wear. the tail swagger is the cutest ever!

i leave you with mother nature's own creepy crafting. be back soon!