Tag: beeswax

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Michaelmas

 

As days grow short

hearts grow bright.

Saint Michael with his sword

shines out against the night…

Heinz Ritter

 

The above is an excerpt from a poem in Celebrating Festivals with Children by Freya Jaffke.

For those asking, what is Michaelmas?  It’s a day, at the end of September that marks the time of year when the light & intensity of summer has dwindled.  In the Northern hemisphere the days grow shorter and colder. It’s a time when we look inward and learn from the story of the archangel Michael & the dragon.  The Bible speaks of Michael hurling the dragon (Satan) out of heaven.  The idea of an angel symbolizing all that is light and good, vanquishing evil is something all of us must do in our own inner lives.  Simply put, it is casting out inner dragons.  What are the dragons we cast out?  What thoughts are not filled with light?  Do they serve us?  It’s an inner work that is especially important for those that live in cold and snowy climates.  When days are spent inside keeping warm, inner joy, light and the courage and strength that the archangel Michael symbolizes is so important to see us through.

Children learn about Michaelmas through story & activity.  One of the activities we enjoy in our home is making the Michaelmas candle.  The Michaelmas candle is written about in All Year Round, A Calendar of Celebrations.

 

You can buy or make your own candle to use for Michaelmas.  We chose to roll candles this year.

 

My son Michael drew a dragon on paper and then while I cut the beeswax dragon scales & spikes he put it all together.  The thin sheets of beeswax warms with your touch and easily sticks to the candle.

 

Michael cut out the stars at the top with a wax cutter. On Michaelmas, September 29th, the candle is lit.  Last year I was so impressed to hear my six year old son exclaim, “Mom! The flame is St. Michael’s sword and he’s defeating the dragon!”  The Michaelmas candle is a reminder to hold the light of good inside.

Do you celebrate Michaelmas in your home?   What does Michaelmas mean to you? What are your cherished Michaelmas traditions?

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Nature Table, The Mess of It All

Everything gets a little messy from time to time even our beloved Nature Table. Sticky hands and messy play can do a little damage but never fear all can be cleaned. With a little care your natural toys will last many lifetimes.


Unfinished Wooden Toys:
Regular care: Clean with a damp sponge, but do not soak unfinished wooden toys as they will absorb water. Alternatively, wipe gently with a cotton ball moistened with rubbing alcohol. Wood needs to have its natural moisture replenished in order to prevent it from drying out, warping or cracking. The best way to keep your wooden toys hydrated and well-nourished is with a natural oil or wax, like plain mineral oil or beeswax polish. Periodically rubbing with oil or beeswax will help refresh the wood and provide some protection.

Stains/Discolorations: Fine-grade sandpaper may be used to remove any discolorations/stains (from food, crayons, markers, etc.).

Water Damage: Fine-grade sandpaper may be used to restore the toy to its desired smoothness if the toy has been exposed to water and become rough.

Finished/Painted Wooden Toys:
Regular Care: Wash gently and quickly with soap and water. Please do not soak them.
Stains/Discolorations: Spray and wipe with a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water.
 Play silks
 Recommended care: Hand or delicate cycle cold wash, hang or air dry.
 Felted toys
Care: Spot clean with a damp sponge do not soak in water.  Best kept indoors.

There are other great items from our team members on the NaturalKids Team website:
http://www.naturalkidsstore.com/cat_tables.html

Please leave a comment and share with us some ways you celebrate spring!

Article by Beccijo, The Enchanted Cupboard

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What’s New, and, Well, Natural from the Natural Kids Team on Etsy

Welcome! Today I’m going to continue my trek backwards through the alphabet to bring to you the most yummy treasures, which are handmade with natural materials from…yes! the Naturalkids Team on Etsy!

 Danielle is the creator behind Princess Nimble Thimble dolls.  She hails from St. Louis Missouri and features little hand sewn bendy dolls made from wood, and wool. They are small but mighty and incredibly cute.

There are few listings in Danielle’s shop, as they sell out quickly. Check in for her stocking calender and see when the new arrivals will be…arriving! Here is her  Birthday Party Bendy Doll    

When you visit Pretty Dreamer, you will be asked to remember your days of wonder…”that five year old self that managed to stay with you through the years … at the heart of toymaking is a giving life to the cherished plaything. I hold an image of many far away workshops and kitchen tables in close and distant lands where love and imagination shaped a wonderful plaything…”

She makes her handmade Waldorf-inspired and classic wood toys, art toys, home decor and housewares from materials that are carefully chosen and non-toxic.. And they are always “Lively, useful, colorful, simple – for home and play.  Here is her Golden Egg – Fairy-tale inspired beeswax candle.

Dayanra of Pin Pon  is a native Chicagoan, who studied art at Columbia College. As a former Early Childhood Educator, she understands the need for open-ended play, simplicity, and nurturing in a child’s life. “Inspired by the Spanish lullaby my mom sang to me as a child I create one of a kind, original playthings for the young and young at heart.”

In her shop you will find soft dolls, wooden toys, and imaginary friends made of natural and re-purposed fabrics, mostly cottons, wools and linens. They are all stuffed with cotton.

Here is Barry the Polar Bear

Pinkhouse Handworks is the dream of Janice Kearley, who came upwith the name years before opening her shop. “The birth of my first child in November 2007 has made the business a reality. After being a Montessori guide in Austin, Texas for 10 years, I left my classroom to be at home with my daughter.”       She makes “Montessori Baby Toys” from wood and cotton, which are appropriate for all babies and can be appreciated by Montessori and non-Montessori families alike…Here is her Wintery Blue soft Circular Rattle/Teething Ring .
That’s it for this week….from rattles to bendy dolls, from beeswax to stuffed polar bears, it is a pleasure to bring you all the new treasures from these fine crafts folk/artists. 
Please visit again next Monday as we make our way through the alphabet, featuring all the wonderful members of the Naturakids team on etsy! Til then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.

Creatively yours,

Rebecca aka Nushkie

 

 

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Let’s preserve Autumn leaves with Beeswax.

Hi, this is Donni from The Magic Onions. When we go for our daily walks, we always take a basket for our special finds. Lately, it has been all kinds and colors of Autumn leaves.


Today, we preserved our favorites, dipping them in melted beeswax. Aren’t they beautiful…


To preserve leaves in beeswax, you will need;
*Beeswax (buy online or at craft stores. I carry these beeswax blocks in my shop, Fairyfolk)
* Collected Leaves with stems
* A bowl
* A plastic bag.


Put the plastic bag inside the bowl. you will pour the melted beeswax into the plastic lined bowl. The plastic will prevent your bowl from being ruined by the wax. When you are finished, all you do is let the leftover wax in the plastic bag cool. When it is cold, it comes away from the plastic easily and can be reused for another beeswax craft.


Melt the beeswax using a homemade bain-marie and pour the melted wax in to the plastic lined bowl.


Hold each leaf by it’s stem and carefully dip it into the beeswax. Submerge each leaf fully.


Lay the wax coated leaves on waxpaper to cool.

Voila! You have beautifully preserved your Autumn leaves to enjoy long after the trees outside are bare and the snow is like a blanket of white across the lawn.


Visit The Magic Onions for more crafts to do with your children.
To see my felted acorns and needle felted toys, visit my Etsy shop Fairyfolk.
Blessings and magic to you,
Donni

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Thursday How To: New Life for Old Wood

Donni of The Magic Onions loves old wooden bowls. She loves them so much that when she finds a negected specimen, she cleans it up and restores it to it’s former glory. You can read about her entire restoration process in this post, but today she shares her recipe for a lovely, creamy polish.

After the cleaning process, an old wooden bowl will have a vintage look and I often leave it just like that. But sometimes, a bowl needs to have a little more TLC. This is how I make my polish.

The pictured bicarbonate of soda was used to clean the bowl, you can read all about my cleaning process here. I couldn’t find my measuring cup anywhere (Kids! *big dramatic sigh*) so I improvised with an old yogurt container (4 oz).

You’ll need:
1 cup of odorless Turpentine (2 yogurt containers)
1/2 cups of melted beeswax (1 yogurt container)
a few drops of essential oil (optional – lavender is my favorite)

Make a bain-marie on your stove to melt the beeswax (if you want instruction on how to safely melt beeswax, take a look at the this post about working with beeswax).
While it is melting, sit your turpentine in a bowl of warm water… you want it to be warm when you add your hot melted beeswax. When wax is melted, add it to the warm turpentine and stir thoroughly. When it has cooled a little, add your essential oil and stir again.

As the mixture cools, it emulsifies into a wonderfully thick polish.

Use a lint free rag to rub the polish into the bowl evenly. I apply a few coats and Voila! A beautifully stained and polished wooden bowl. I love knowing that it has had a myriad of lives before this on, that it has been loved, tossed aside, forgotten, discarded, found, restored and then loved again. Phew… how romantic! Look at the beautiful grain marking that appeared.

Isn’t it amazing how you can turn a grotty old thing into a beauty?

Donni’s shop Fairyfolk is filled with colorful felted acorns, felted stones and needle felted toys. Waldorf Inspired, all natural, handmade and eco-friendly. In her own words, “Needle felting is how I reconnect with myself, being creative is a necessity. It is the language of my soul and try to speak it often.”

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Tutorial Thursday

How to make your own organic lotion at home – eco and money conscious! AND ALL NATURAL!

As a mom to a young toddler with eczema, I learned firsthand how making my own skin cream could be healing (I could customize the ingredients) and save me a bundle of money. Making one’s own skin cream is a wonderful, easy thing to do for anyone – it’s luxurious, and you can re-use (sterilize first) all the glass jars you may have, including jam jars.

You can experiment with different oils and even use cocoa butter or coconut oil – the recipe is not super exact, so you will either end up with a thicker or thinner cream depending on the combo of ingredients you use. The only challenging bit is at the end: once you add the water and the oil mixture together in a big bowl you need to stir constantly without a break for 15 or even 20 minutes until it thickens. I’ve learned from experience you can’t shorten this process: if you do, your oil and water won’t mix together properly and you’ll get a really lumpy cream.

What you need to start:

EQUIPMENT – not much, just stuff in a regular kitchen
2 cooking pots that fit into each other (to make a bain marie), 2 big mixing bowls (again, that fit into each other so you can make a bain marie to cool the lotion down faster), a spatula, plenty of glass jars and lids

INGREDIENTS – mostly things you can find at a health food store
your favorite essential oils (organic is best as these can carry chemicals as they are so concentrated), note: benzoin essential oil is great as it acts as a natural sort of preservative, carrier oils (high grade, cold pressed, unrefined and even organic oils are best – olive oil, hemp seed, almond oil, grapeseed oil, macadmia nut oil and in small percentages, you can use rose hip oil, hazelnut oil, wheatgerm oil), emulsifiers to thicken your blend (I use beeswax), and a little time… maybe 30 minutes tops.

RECIPE – feel free to adapt this and see what works best for you

2 cups oils (of choice)
1/3 cup of melted beeswax – if you buy it in chunks lik me, just cut it up first
1/3 cup of cocoa butter or coconut oil
1 cup distilled, or filtered water
about 30 drops of essential oils of your choice (or less if you want just a whiff of scent)

Warm the oil, beeswax and cocoa butter/coconut oil in a double boiler until melted. In another pot heat the water until it’s roughly as hot as the oil (neither should “boil”). Meanwhile put a big bowl into an even larger bowl filled with cold water. This will chill the bowl a bit and cut down on the amount of time you need to spend stirring in the next step. Now pour the oil/beeswax mixture into the big empty bowl and then pour the warm water very slowly into it, stirring constantly. Whip it constantly until it cools so that the water and oil don’t separate. When it’s cool and has become more opaque, stir in essential oils, and let it cool completely. Than spoon it into your clean, dry, sterile jars. I store mine in the fridge, just to help them stay fresh longer.

Big thanks to Jen for sharing this awesome tutorial for Natural Kids Team’s Tutorial Thursday! You can go check out Jen’s shop at http://www.SewnNatural.etsy.com