Tag: children

Posted on

‎~* Love Letter*~ by FeeVertelaine

I’ts been a while now that I’m thinking about creating this item… You maybe already know how my gnome love to travel…well they did find a new way !!!
… this little love letter is another great way to say ” I LOVE YOU ” to your cherish one !

 

Of course it is a perfect valentine little present BUT can also be an everyday gift to show your love to your children, partner, friend, parents….name it !!

Let me tell you a short story on how we celebrate valentine in my familly….

Every year I create a little special thing for my daugther, to show my love but also for her to keep…a ”love souvenir” ! A little things that will be cherish for year and filled with love…because you know,  she is my sweet little valentine !! I remember a couple of years ago I did create a little felt heart filled with wool and embroidered with cotton floss and some glass beads. It was written on it ” Je t’aime mon petit coeur ” She was deligthed and since then it’s been an habit for me to use it frequently as a little love note…

When I make her bed I leave the heart on her pillow or I leave it with a little “snack”….leave room for your imagination…a little thing that say I LoOove you ♥… she always ENJOY’S this little gesture !!! That is why I did create the ”love gnome” .

 

 

Here are more links for FeeVertelaine:

SHOP: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FeeVertelaine

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/FeeVertelaine

FLIRCK: http://www.flickr.com/photos/feevertelaine/

Posted on

Using a Peg Loom

Growing up, my parents always gave my brother and I a craft to do for Christmas. My husband and I have taken on that tradition ourselves and this year we got our family a peg loom.

Peg looms are a very simple loom design that are often seen in Waldorf kindergartens.  Comprised of a solid base with holes for removable pegs and pegs with a hole in the bottom for the warp to go through, the design really is very simple to make.  The great thing about peg looms is that you only put in as many pegs as you want the width of your project to be.

We got a large loom but started off on our first project with only a few pegs.  Putting the warp thread through the bottom you only have to weave in and out of the pegs back and forth.

When you are done the length you wish, you pull the pegs out slowly and pull the warp thread through carefully.  Then when all the warp threads are through the weft, you tie off their ends and you have your project.  We then felted our project by throwing it in our regular wash and drier and made it in to a doll pillow.

Because it is so simple to use, you can make a project in no time.  My daughter, who is three, made this project in 15 minutes with minimal guidance by herself.  You can make chair cushions out of roving, rugs, and coasters.  We love ours and are looking forward to more creative projects to come.

 

 

Posted on

Advent and Christmas German Style: December Traditions

There are many ways of making the Advent season meaningful.  In our society where the holiday season for children often means a big case of the “gimmies”, how can we celebrate in a way that brings meaning to the season? Or rather uncovers the meaning already present.

In the coming weeks we will be writing a series of posts called December traditions.  This article in the series is about celebrating Advent and Christmas German Style.

Our family, an interesting patchwork, has three nationalities among it with five different countries of birth.  The children identify with their countries of birth, so the flag of the country is an important symbol in our home.   If had ever wanted to design it like this, it would have never worked.  So nature just threw us this patchwork.

When December comes around, the celebrations of the parents’ cultures seem to take over though.

Advent is a deeply celebrated tradition in German culture.  Without an advent calendar and an advent wreath, the Christmas season cannot be celebrated properly.  This year, I created a modern and simple wreath without any greens, since we will be in Germany to celebrate the second half of the advent, where my mother-in-law always has a beautiful green wreath with red candles.

The creation of this year’s wreath took some glass star decorations and some clear glass marbles that my daughter and I spread over a glass plate around 4 candles.  The 4 candles are lit one-by-one each Sunday of the advent period leading up to Christmas.  This year the first candle was lit on December 2 by our first-born.

Another tradition we have is the advent calendar for the kids.  Our advent calendar starts each year on December 1 (even though advent might start as early as 27 November, or as late as 3 December).  A few years back, when we just arrived in Kenya, I created a re-usable advent calendar for the children by sewing some small stocking shapes out of 3 different kangas, clipped to a ribbon with a numbered wooden peg.  Each little stocking has room for a small gift or chocolate and by opening a stocking each day we are counting down to Christmas Eve.  We do only have half a calendar here in Nairobi this year as the other half will await the children when they get to Germany, prepared by their grandparents.

Near the end of advent, on 22 or 23 December, the Christmas tree is decorated.  This is a true family event where we all work together, grandparents, parents and kids to decorate the tree.  My husband’s family insists on using real candles on the tree, which will be lit on Christmas eve, for a most beautiful effect.

On Christmas Eve the gift giving celebration takes place.  Family gifts are appear quietly under the tree as soon as it has been decorated, and to top it off, Father Christmas also leaves a few gifts for the children in the early evening.  Under the candle light of the tree, we open the gifts one-by-one with each family member taking part in the enjoyment of one of us opening a package.  After this, we share a lovely late dinner and later on light up the candles on the tree one more time.  The next two days of Christmas (25 and 26 December) a lot of time is spend with family.  We visit, walk and talk amongst ourselves to spend the goodness of the season with each other with only a few days left before we welcome yet another year into our lives.

Our children are growing up celebrating rich traditions of their root cultural backgrounds.  I believe that it is important for them to be aware of these traditions as they help them in establishing their own cultural identity in this interdependent world.  I also think and hope that they pick up some new traditions, or modifications, by the time that they are parents themselves, but I am looking forward to sitting with them under the Christmas tree in 30 years with them saying ‘this tradition always meant home to us’.

Posted on

Celebrating Saint Nicholas: December Traditions

There are many ways of making the Advent season meaningful.  In our society where the holiday season for children often means a big case of the “gimmies”, how can we celebrate in a way that brings meaning to the season? Or rather uncovers the meaning already present.

In the coming weeks we will be writing a series of posts called December traditions.  Here is the second in the series, this time about celebrating Saint Nicholas.

Our family, an interesting patchwork, has three nationalities among it with five different countries of birth.  The children identify with their countries of birth, so the flag of the country is an important symbol in our home.   If had ever wanted to design it like this, it would have never worked.  So nature just threw us this patchwork.

When December comes around, the celebrations of the parents’ cultures seem to take over though.  Our first celebration is that of St. Nicholas, the patron Saint of Children.

Preparations start in the middle of November, when St. Nicholas officially arrives in the Netherlands in preparation for his birthday on December 6.  This event is broadcasted on TV and this year we managed to experience it though the internet.

In the three weeks leading up to December 6, kids are allowed to put our their shoe in the evening with their wish list, drawings and a carrot for St. Nicholas’ horse.  However, since St. Nicholas, or Sinterklaas in Dutch, and his helpers ‘de pieten’ are such busy people, we only put the shoes out once a week.  The next morning, the kids are delighted that they were not forgotten in the far-away Kenya, and find a chocolate coin or two in their shoes. On the morning of December 6, there is also a small gift from the good Saint and his helper, who on that day quietly return to Spain to prepare for the next trip to the Netherlands in eleven months!  December 6 is also ‘Nikolaus’ in Germany, so Dutch and German culture meet that morning, although ‘Nikolaus’ does not come from Spain and has only one helper with him, ‘Knecht Ruprecht’.

Now that we live in a city with a larger Dutch expat population, Sinterklaas and some Pieten do pay a personal visit during the day and the children have a chance to meet them up close and personal!  The children are excited that Sinterklaas manages to even come to Kenya with so many children already wanting to see him in the Netherlands and Belgium.   Here are my three with Sint en Piet this Saturday.

Do you celebrate St. Nicholas?  If so, what does your celebration look like?

More about our traditional German advent celebrations will follow soon. . .

Posted on

Tutorial: Making Simple Felt Tea Bags With Your Child

Southern England is really starting to cool down now.  It rains most days, and when it isn’t raining it looks like it might.  There is a lot of tea brewing in our house.  So much so that our daughter makes make-believe tea more than anything else on her play stove.  We were given two beautiful tins of tea years ago when visiting my family in Canada and I haven’t been able to throw them away.  I decided that it was time to hand them over to the playroom but first, a craft that my three year old daughter could do with me.  Make some tea bags.  I am sure there are many more sophisticated ways to do the following but that wasn’t the point of this craft.  We were sewing, cutting and using up some of mama’s scrap felt pieces.

 

What you will need:

Scissors

Embroidery Thread

Darning needle (very blunt round tip needle)

Scraps of fabric or felt

 

Cut a square of felt the size of a tea bag

Cut another square of felt the size of the tag

Measure and cut a piece of embroidery thread

Help guide your child to pull the thread all the way through the bag a few times then tie off

Repeat for the tag!

Brew

(please pardon our duct taped tea pot)

Posted on

Playsilks & Gnome Clothes Pin Tutorial

The best gift I feel I can give my children is the freedom and opportunity to imagine!  This is why I love playsilks!  They are so versatile and fun, they are only limited by our imagination. They can be capes, cloaks, skirts, head wraps, belts, backdrops, plays capes, forts, tents, flaming rocket balls & so much more.  My children play often with their blocks, gnomes, trucks & legos but not a day goes by that they don’t play with their playsilks.

 

Last year I made this playsilk and gnome clothes pin set for our cousins.  The gnomes pin up the silks on a line to make them easily accessible for play.

To read about how I dyed the silks and where to buy them read here.  For a tutorial on how to make your own gnome clothes pins read here. The gnomes could also be a fun project for your kids to make for their friends & family or for you to make one or two to clip to their Christmas stocking.  Such possibilities!

If you don’t care to make them yourself many of our lovely Natural Kids Team members sell playsilks. Team shops like Birch Leaf Designs, Gypsy Forest, Mosey & The Enchanted Cupboard.  & I sell the gnome clothes pins at my shop, MamaWestWind.

Do you have playsilks at home?  What do your children create with them?

Posted on

Dyeing Wool with Kids

In our family we love rainbows, and once in a while we wish for rainbow colored wool.  While pure wool yarn is not difficult to obtain here in Kenya, the colored part is the challenge, unless you are into some DIY and crafting with kids. . .

A few years back I learned that it is rather easy to dye your own wool with food color of all things.  Food color easily dies protein fibers (e.g. wool and silk), but not others like cotton and man-made fibers.  This makes it a great craft project to undertake with your kids as most spills in clothes will easily wash out again.

What you need for this project:

  • Wool yarn
  • Food coloring
  • Vinegar
  • Plastic gloves (food dye can stain your hands for a day or two)
  • Cling wrap and/or old towel
  • A microwave (alternatively use a steaming pot or the sun)

First, in the event that your wool is in a ball, unwind it and create a skein.  It’s easy to use the back of a chair to do this.  Tie the skein loosely in a couple of places with some left over wool, or another string.

Soak the skein for an hour or longer in a solution of half vinegar and half water.  This vinegar bath is the mordant for the dyeing process and it is important to ensure the bath is completed before starting this craft with your kids.

Select the colors in which you want to dye your wool and mix them with some water to the desired shade.  The amount of ‘dye’ depends on the number of colors and amount of wool you want to dye.  I used five colors and each color was less than half a glass of fluid.

Cover your work surface with cling wrap, or if you are eliminating the use of plastic an old towel will also work well.  Take the skein out of the mordant and squeeze excess fluid gently out of the wool.  Place the skein on the work surface and carefully spoon the dye onto the wool.  Gently squeeze the dye into the wool, ensuring that it gets absorbed well.  Work color for color and be aware that the colors might blend.

Then carefully transfer the wool to a microwave safe dish or plate and cover it loosely with cling wrap.  Microwave the wool for 5 minutes, check on the progress and then microwave it on high for another 3 minutes.  This cooking of the wool will help set the color.

If you do not have a microwave you can also steam the wool in steamer pot, or have the wool covered with the cling wrap steam in the sun.  Do an internet search for the timing and instructions for these steaming methods.

Place the wool in an area where it can dry, but make sure it is not in the direct sunlight.

Once the wool has dried, you can wind it into a ball and it is ready to use.

A fun project to undertake with kids, and there is more fun to be had in deciding together on a new project in which to use the yarn!

Happy dyeing!

Andrea

Posted on

Handmade Holidays: Tutorial for Sweater Pants

Pants made out of sweater sleeve is a classic in our house. They are comfortable, cheap and easy to make. I always get compliments on them when my little guy is wearing some. When I explained how easy it is, they all say : What a great idea!

This is a very easy and quick project that the even the I-barely-ever-touched-a-sewing-machine beginner can do.

You’ll need:

  • Sweaters
  • Thin or wide elastic for the waist.
  • The recipiant children’s pair of pants for a guide.

Cut out the sleeves of your sweater. The older the child, the bigger sweater you’d like to use.

Fold guide pants in half and place over sleeve. Cut.

Turn once sleeve inside out. Put the right side out sleeve into the inside out one.

Sew along.

For the waist, Method 1:

Serge the waist or double fold it. Sew along leaving a place to insert the elastic.

The elastic should be the circumference of the waist. Insert, sew both ends of the elastic and close the whole.

Method 2 : this one is less pretty, but it’s useful when you know there won’t be enough room for the butt if you fold at the waist. Some might want to use a coordonating color one. You can easily dye elastics. Ultimately it doesn’t show when there’s a shirt over it.

Take a wider elastic and sew ends together. Place wrong side facing elastic over right side facing pants and sew or serge around.

Now you know what to make of that pile of sweater people always give you ( I know I’m not alone! Someone even gave me only the sleeves…) I always make a pair of those for the Winter Solstice morning and they are always a hit.

Posted on

Good Night Songs

Many natural parenting communities emphasize the importance of singing and the use of song with children.   For a non-singer, singing sure has taken over our lives.  Some of my favorites are bedtime songs.  Ours seem to change every six months or so when my daughter rejects what it is I am singing and I am forced to move on (I mean gladly move to the next beautiful song in my repertoire).

 Our most recent bedtime song is by Renee and Jeremy from their album Its a Big World.  Its called Powder Blue

Go to sleep my baby

 Sleep now little you

Go to sleep my baby and dream of powder blue

Flowers in the sunshine and boats upon the lake

Dream my little baby, I’ll see you when you wake

Dream my little baby, I’ll see you when you wake.

What is your bedtime song?

 

Posted on

The Halloween Sugar Fairy

So, you’ve gone trick or treating with your kids and you have gobs of candy!  As parents of little ones we have some choices.

  • Do what my parents did and let the kids have free reign.  This usually involves eating mounds of candy and getting a whopping stomach ache.
  • Or, let them choose a few pieces, put the rest away and then be the candy police until Thanksgiving!

Either one of these choices are fine but they do have their drawbacks. My favorite thing to do is to have the Sugar Fairy come!

The Sugar Fairy is a little fairy who eats nothing but sugar.  Her family, her whole community relies upon the candy that falls on the ground on Halloween to see her through the long winter months.  Now, the luckiest children know of the sugar fairies’ plight and choose to give her their Halloween candy.  In return the sugar fairy will bring them little (handmade) gifts and leave them on their doorstep.  (The handmade is my addition.) Check out this more detailed story of the Sugar Fairy, to tell your little ones.   Last year the Sugar Fairy brought my kids, age 6 and 2, little needle felted monsters and a fun Halloween story dvd. The cute thing is that my six year old saw his monster’s wool roving in my stash and said, “ha, the sugar fairy stole your wool to make our monsters!”.  I giggle every time I think of it.