Baby Announcement!!

 

Hello. We have a bit of an announcement to share. Some of you know about the frustrations Bear and I have been having and of our loss and tears, but now we have an announcement of joy!

 We are safely into our second trimester so we feel the time has come to share that our little Red Panda is on the way and will be hatching next spring. This one is a sticker! This ultrasound was taken at 10 weeks. You can see our wee one's little heart beating. Thank you everyone for your prayers and encouragements. Thank you God for this amazing blessing and privilege. 

Red Panda, we look forward to the day we can welcome you into this world, kiss your sweet face, and nibble your tiny toes.

 I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

Fall Leaf Crafts

 Fall is here bringing bright warm colors, beautiful leaves, pumpkins, the smell of wood fires and of course all things apple :) But this post is about the fall leaves.

 This fall tree was made by my three year old neighbor. We got the idea to use her hand print for the trunk from the Crafty Crow. She loved tearing strips of paper for the leaves, but her favorite part was using glitter on all the extra glue poking through the leaves.

 These leaf rubbings were also made by my three year old neighbor. She was a little skeptical when I showed her how to tuck the leaves under the paper and rub a crayon across the top. Once she saw the leaf prints appearing however there was no stopping the gleeful giggles. In her own adorable words, " It's magic and soooooo beautiful". When she was done I helped her cut them out and tape them into the windows. The sun makes them glow.

Unfortunately this is the best picture of our wax dipped leaves that I could get. I think my camera is dying. These were made with the help of slightly older neighborhood children as we rang in the fall with hot cider and fresh cinnamon rolls. 

Whatever season you are in and however you choose to ring it in have a blessed day and have fun!

Felt Costumes

Hello, just some fun costumes I've been working on. It's getting to be that time of year again. One for a neighbor boy of Gimli the dwarf from Lord of the Rings.

 And a cheetah for my niece. Lots of fun and lots of felt. What costumes will you be making this year?

 Have fun!

Painted Rocks: and a new garden

 Hello, this is a fun and easy craft that works from ages 3 to 100. I know, recently I had 5 children over and here are the beautiful gems we created. I finished them with a clear coat glaze so they can be put outside in the garden. I also hot glued felt circles to the bottoms just in case they wanted to display them indoors and not scratch tables and shelves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 This weed patch (and future home of some of those painted rocks) has greeted guests since we moved in. This summer a young neighborhood friend has been helping me move landscaping rocks out of the bed so we could turn it into a garden. (Thank you J for all your hard work)..

Using leftover garden supplies from other garden projects this is what we came up with. Bear and I LOVE it!! The painted rocks will show up like gems in this garden. I can't wait to place them. Have a blessed day, and Have Fun!

Egg Carton Caterpillars

 I'm behind again, but I have several crafts to share in the next few days. I recently had the joy of entertaining two sweet sisters ages 3 and 5 with craft time. This is one of the crafts we did together.

First save an egg carton.

Next cut out three egg sections. This is the body of your Caterpillar.

 

 Paint the body and allow to dry.

 Poke two holes in the head and feed a pipe cleaner through and twist together to form the antennas. (we used half of a pipe cleaner folded in half).

Done! This was a simple and fast project. The girls really enjoyed watching the paint change the water different colors as they cleaned their brushes before adding another color. Have fun!

Needle/wet Felted Wool Balls

 I've been needle felting and wet felting little wool balls lately. This is my farm ball. It is painstakingly decorated and one of my favorites. On this ball there is a barn, silo, rooster, hen, two chicks, a butterfly, flowers, apple trees, a cow, a pig wallow with two pigs, and sheep all under a bright sun.

 

Here is another picture from the farm ball of tiny sheep playing in a flower dotted meadow.

 The four seasons.

 I have many others and will post them at a later date. These will be posted in my etsy store soon. If you have a ball you would like custom made for you please drop me a line at applecratetoys@gmail.com.

Thank you for looking and have a blessed day.

Waldorf Puppet: Innocence

  Recently a young neighbor of mine (age 10) was visiting and saw my Waldorf table puppets. He asked me if they were difficult to make. I told him that they were not. Then he surprised me by asking if I could help him make one.

He asked if we could make a Legolas from the Lord of the Rings.

This is what my neighbor came up with. It was such a delight to watch him work. I helped him a little with the hair and some suggestions on how to connect things, but for the most part he did this all himself. Tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth and all ;) 

Have a blessed day today and have fun!