Morning, Noon, and Night

Three little windows into our world. Inspired by Mothering with Mindfulness. 

 Morning sunlight, the only thing softer than your caresses.

The afternoon sky, still grey and chill. A hint of Spring can be felt on the breeze. 

Playing quietly before bed. Warm wood, that smells faintly of honey, lemongrass, and summer.

Good night and be well.

Please Welcome My Dear Friend Loomer

Hello Blog land, I'm so happy to share this new Etsy shop with you. This store (LoomyLife) belongs to a young friend of mine. She is a talented, hardworking young woman and I am so lucky to know her.

Hi Loomer, How old are you?

Loomer: I am 14 years old. 

How long have you been knitting?:

I have been knitting for 6 years or so the regular way, but began loom knitting this past December. 

Tell us about yourself:

I am a very ambitious person, and I love to make make make! I have a wide variety of interests, but I especially have a heart for children. Often, when I don't have a project going, I make something for one of my special friends. I enjoy music, and love hanging out with my friends. 

Why did you start this store? 

I started this store on recommendation from a friend when I gifted him with a homemade hat. I realized what an opportunity it is to share my work and at the same time raise money for an upcoming mission trip I'm taking to Mexico. I attended this trip last year as well, and my entire point of view was flipped around! It's crazy what spending a week and a half in another country will reveal to you. One, I am incredibly thankful for my family!!! Two, I am grateful to God for allowing me to meet such fantastic people as I did on that trip. Three, don't take anything for granted!!!

What inspires you?:

My parents inspire me to never stop doing, learning, growing. They have taught me to be my own unique person, and to love who I am. I have learned from them what a gift it is to be living the life that I am leading, and I don't take that lightly. I strive to learn something new all the time, in struggles, or in good times. Taking a step back and taking a look at the big picture can teach you a lot. My pastor inspires me. He is ever faithful to encourage the youth in our congregation, and challenges us to make the most of our opportunities. He has taught me to live life abundantly. Finally, my God inspires me. His creation leaves me awestruck. I learn in school about the intricacies of cells, animals, and plants and it's amazing to me that he would create such a beautiful world for me to discover, because he loves me so much. Looking at a child inspires me. They are so sweet and trusting, and want to just do as much as is humanly possible in one day! 

What would you say to other young people who want to start an Etsy shop?:

Don't think that you are too young. Don't take for granted your gifts and talents. If you love to do something, do it! Do it with your whole heart. And if that is making something, share your gift with the world! You never know who would love the things you do individually. There is not one person on this planet like you. Not one. So be you, and show the world your uniqueness!

Thanks for joining us today Loomer, Please check out her shop and giver her a warm welcome. Be well.

Ice Lantern Tutorial

We made these ice lanterns for Candlemass. Another blog mamma was making Earth Candles.. But our yard is covered in 5 feet of snow so I got to thinking.. What CAN we do? (pun intended). If you add a little food coloring to the water you could make them red for Valentine's Day.. For that matter the white is pretty too.

First you will need two containers. One is cardboard and the other glass. Milk cartons would also work for the larger one. The only important detail is that the glass jar just needs to be smaller than the other container.. Oh, and it helps if you can cut the larger one later. ummm, I'll explain that later. We made a mistake.

Fill the large container with water while the little container is inside to take in account water displacement.
 
Fill the small container with something to weigh it down that you can easily take out later. We used corn.

Freeze the container and then pour out the weights (i.e. corn). Fill the empty weight container with warm (not hot) water. It will melt the ice slightly on the inside so you can pull the jar out.

 

Then try to melt the outside the same way to slip the ice out... We did not take into account that ice expands and cardboard has some give to it.. ah hem.. Blushing... But it still worked out, we just had to cut the cardboard away (yes it was recycled), and then we took it outside to enjoy our new lantern.

 Have a beautiful Weekend Everyone. Happy Valentines day!

Wet Felting With Cookie-Cutters

 Hello everyone. Bear is watching Panda so I can sneak in a little blogging. Here is the next video in my felting series. This is a fun project for ages 3 - 100. Grab some loved ones, wool roving, soapy water and let the fun begin!

I forgot to mention that it's probably best not to touch the felt while it is drying. You can get more advanced with your felting techniques with screens and the like, but this is just a simple project. 

When I was done with all of the hearts (and they were dry). I used a yarn needle and yarn to sew them all together to make a simple garland for Valentine's Day. 

 And here it is on my mantel! It's so simple and so pretty. I love how our mantelscape turned out this year.  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Thank you, have fun, and be well. 

20 Crunchy Mammas

Hi, I've been MIA for a few months so here is the scoop. Panda is developing a hatred for the computer room. I used to be able to blog while he napped but no more. Sigh.. I think he hates the hum of the computer but moving on. I have started a FaceBook group for 20 Crunchy Mammas (hey that's also the name of the group!). I can still use my phone to FaceBook while Panda is napping so I'm not completely off the map yet!  This is a place for mammas to make friends, share crunchy stuff, and be all granola-iey (is that a word?). I am opening this group up for 20 women and ONLY 20 women. I'm keeping it small so that we can all get a chance to get to know each other and keep the air of the group familiar and friendly. I think all to often in groups that reach in the thousands in memberships tend to get a pack mentality and I was looking for a way to avoid that. Yep, that's about it. We have 7 members right now but I am hoping that a few of you might like to join. SO here is your invite! Click on the picture to go to the FaceBook request/join page.. Hope to see you there!

Wool Ball Tutorial

Hello and Happy New Year everyone! I have a friend that has been requesting for quite some time that I do a few posts about wool and felting; so for the next few weeks I will be making  a few different felting posts. Today I am going to show you how to make a wool ball. These are great for toys or to use as dryer balls. This is one of my longer videos, but I hope you like it. Have fun and Be Well!

Update: OK, so I was asked what the benefits are of using wool dryer balls. Face Palm! I can't believe that I forgot to put that in here, soooo. they soften your fabrics without chemicals, and separate your clothes in the dryer allowing more hot air to flow between the fabrics which makes them dry faster. Faster drying time  cuts the energy output needed to dry laundry, is cheaper for you, and better for the environment. You can also put a few drops of your favorite essential oils onto them to lightly scent your laundry. Mmmm lavender lovey naptime blankets and cinnamon bedsheets and towels in our home. mmmmm cinnamon....

Felt Bird Give Away Winner!

Happy New Year! The winner is #2, Mrs. Bartos! Congratulations. Have a blessed New Year and thank you everyone who left comments. Be on the look out for more giveaways in 2014! Be well!