apple candles

Well shoot I thought I had a picture of them lit up.  Anyway we made these candles for the table.  They look really pretty once they burn down a little and the whole apple lights up. 

handmade jump rope

We attended the local Waldorf holiday fair.  In one room they have jump rope making!  K was able to pick his own colors, string them on a machine, and coil them into a jump rope.  He and his brother have been having a great time playing with the rope. 

boat

K and I made this funny little boat from a half a milk carton, a straw, paper, and paint.  We found the idea in family fun magazine. 

Corn lights

Another Family Fun idea.  We used pop bottles to make light up corn. 

Finger knitting

I taught K to finger knit the other day.  He actually did surprising well.  I wasn't sure if he would understand the weaving part.  The only problem was that the 2nd he got it he was bored and wanted to run off to do something else.  Oh well.  Perhaps in another 6 months we can try and re-visit.  The top picture is his finger knitting and the 2nd picture is what he decided to do with it.  This is hanging from our ficus tree in the living room. 

Waldorf gnomes

Here are a couple of little gnomes K and I made in his mom/tot waldorf class. :) 

texture cards

We used these texture cards during one of our circle time walks through the woods.  I got the idea from a great little science book for kids.  As the children walked through the woods they looked for things in nature that felt like the cards that they were carrying.  They had a lot of fun and were able to find matches for all of the cards.

Fishing boy

K has been requesting a little fishing boy for his pond.  His straw hat was a swap gift from my little swapping group.  :)

Skunk

A while back my mom had bought a whole bunch of wooden cut outs of animals from a garage sale.  Casey and I have finally gotten around to turning one of them into an animal.  I should have taken a before picture. Oh well.  First we used the dremel to give the skunk shape.  Then I sanded him down, used a wood burner to draw his features, painted him with water colors, and used beeswax to seal him.  I plan to give him to K for Christmas.

Koolaid painting

We've been meaning to do some koolaid paintings for a long time.  Boy was it a wonderful smell as we painted.  We just bought a variety of koolaid colors and added a little bit of water to each one.  The colors turned out great and the paintings smell great too.

Apple cups

 

I found this idea in Family Fun magazine.  K and I used a melon baller to carve out apples into little cups.  we filled the apples with cranberry and apple juice.  They were fun to drink out of and then eat. Even L enjoyed himself as one of the cups was made into applesauce for him.  :)

Circle Time

 

A friend of mine started a wonderful little circle time at our local nature center.  Each week the kids (from about 6 families) meet at the nature center.  First the kids take a walk through the woods (in all weather).  Often time they find sticks and laves to carry with them.  The walk ends at the backdoor of the nature center where the children gather for a circle of seasonal rhymes,  songs, poems, and stories.  Afterwords the kids sometimes do a seasonal craft (one week they made pictures out of beans and seeds, another week they laminated fall leaves that they had found.  This coming week we plan on making flags for the children to wave on their walks).  When circle time is over the children often share a snack and wonder through the nature center visiting with the animals and playing with their friends. 

Kindess Tree

I know I've posted in the past about the Kindness tree that K and I were making.  We first water colored paper in fall leaf colors.  I then cut out 27 maple leaves from the paper.  Then I put a random act of kindness on each leaf.  some examples are:
hold the door open for someone
draw someone a picture
sing someone a song
leave some quarters in a public place
Then I laminated all the leaves and put strings in them to hang them.  On Nov. 1st we hung them all over our ficus tree.  Each day (when we haven't been traveling or busy with visiting family/friends we've picked a leaf and done what it says for the day.  My original plan was to have it as a count down to thanksgiving, but in the end I decided we'd just finish the tree when we finished it.  So far it has been a lot of fun.  K surprised his great grandmas one day by calling them each and singing to them.  He spent one day running around the house turing off lights (to save the earth).  :)

pond update

K and I have been working hard on our pond habitat.  K helped me sew lilly pads on the water.  We also made a little fishing pole for the gnome.  I'm hoping to make a little fisherman soon.  We also just made the little dock out of twigs we found on a walk.  

I still plan on making a little row boat with oars, more fish, and a willow tree.  Kalan also really wants a frog so I'll have to think about how to do that one.  Oh and I think I might make a log for the turtle to sit on.  

Halloween sensory bin

I just made my first sensory bin.  Here are some pictures from when I first set it out.  I used red lentils and black beans and believe it or not I actually had all the other little things on hand. 

So I put this bin together and handed it to my 3 yr old.  He messed around with it for about 5mins and then walked away.  My 1st thought was that this was just not going to work for my little guy. 

Well the next day my mom brought me a pack of electric tea lights.  I added some of those to the bin along with some more little containers and a spoon to scoop and dump.  BINGO!  Now he can't get enough of this bin!  The lights are so fun in the evening.  I think I'll be adding those to our next bin too (well if it make sense). 

So now I can't stop thinking of other ideas for bins.  I know K would love a gardening bin (he keeps pretending this one is a garden) and a construction vehicle bin.   I have no idea what I'll do next, but it will probably depend on what sorts of materials I run into.

muffin tin lunch

Muffin tin lunch.  Ok its not a terribly creative muffin tin lunch but it was my first so I figured I'd post a picture, besides I just love this muffin tin.  I found it at a garage sale some time back.  K hasn't been eating much, but loved this idea so much he actually had a good sized meal.  Hopefully I'll be able to get a little more creative in the future.

Dinner Candle

The boys and I are taking a waldorf parent tot class together every Tuesday.  I love the little crafts we get to do together.  This week we decorated a wax candle.  Its currently sitting on the nature table, but I hope to eventually use it as our dinner candle.  

fall nature table

Fall nature table

Mushroom Napkins

Ok I know napkins are not terribly exciting but I really loved this print and wanted to share it.  :)  I've been buying material each season and making napkins to go with it.  Its especially great to wait until right after a holiday and scoop up the material on clearance.

swaps!

Here is our pack n play filled with swap stuff!  The bag has my rainbow swap stuff and pretty much everything else are packages that are arriving for the knights, dragons, and castles swap.  Very exciting!  

rainbow swap

Here is a not so great picture of the items I received from the rainbow swap.  At the top is a knitted knot ball, some colored peg people with matching pots, a rainbow apron, a rainbow wall hanging, and a sun pillow.  I'll be giving these items to the boys for Christmas most likely.

knights

Yet another swap.  This little army of knights is destined for the knights, dragons, and castles swap.  I'm actually hosting this one so I'll be back to post pictures of all the items that are currently arriving at my house.  Everything is so wonderful!  I can't wait to post and send stuff back so everyone can see everything.

Sweater balls

I entered a rainbow swap and decided to make these sweater balls.  Let me tell you how hard it is to find a  used orange sweater. :)  I ended up making a few extras so that I can give them to the boys and some friends for Christmas.  

Corn husk dolls

Here are K and my first corn dolls.  I love K's little corn baby in the 2nd picture.  He was so proud to have done it himself (he just need a little help with tying).  We first soaked the dried out corn husks before shaping them into little people.  

pounded flowers

Just a quick picture of the flowers K and I pounded out.  We placed flowers in-between sheets of paper and used hammers to pound the color out.  It was quite fun and they turned out pretty neat.  

Thanksgiving count down

Ok I know its really early for this but K and I have already started working on our Thanksgiving count down.  We first water colored many sheets of paper with yellow, red, and orange.  I then cut out 28 maple leaves.  I've spent that last few days coming up with random acts of kindness that we could do together.  It sure is hard to think of that many little acts that a three year old can do. :)
My plan is then to laminate them (so we can use them for years to come), punch holes in them, and hang them from a branch in the living room.  We will then take one down each day to do and place it at the bottom of the tree.  It will be our thanks count down to Thanksgiving.

bath tea

L broke out in a horrible rash that lasted weeks before we finally got it under control.  Anyway to help sooth him I bought organic herbs to make a bath tea for him.  For the first bath I just rubber banded the herbs in cheesecloth, but my mom and I plan on make a whole ton of them and actually sewing the bags shut.   

I got the recipe for the tea from a great herbal book.  

Felted bats

Here is one of the many felted bats I made for a Halloween swap.  I felted old wool sweaters and sewed these together.  I hear the swap items were mailed back today and I'm really excited to see what I've gotten!

Heidelberg Project

We went to visit the Heidelberg Project this weekend.  We enjoy visiting it here and there to see the new art and how things have changed.  K was lucky this time to be able to talk with Tyree Guyton ( the Artist).  Tyree invited K to paint a pink dot in the road (K's favorite color).  If you're intersted in more information about the project visit their website:
http://www.heidelberg.org/

Busy Bag Swap

I participated in a busy bag swap recently with some friends in our area.  The swap went wonderfully!  We had 21 participates and each person made a bag for everyone.  We went home with 21 little preschool activities in a bag.  We have some number games, letter games, color games, beading games, fine motor activities, and more!  Here are some pictures of my activity.  I made a little clothes line with tiny clothes to hang up.