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Harvest Colors by Jess of broodbaby

This time of year I am as busy in the kitchen as I am the studio.  The bounty of the summer garden becomes a harvest that needs to be processed, packaged, and stored so that it can continue to nurture us through the long winter months here in New England.  Tomatoes are simmered into sauce, cucumbers are pickled, and fruits of all kind are frozen.  The bounty of goodies requires that I spend quite a bit of time chopping and slicing, but the rewards are many.  Not only will we have a taste of summer available to us in the dead of winter, but I’m finding I’m inspired by the colors around me in the kitchen.  The rich reds of the tomatoes and coral lusciousness of the peaches: suddenly I know what to do with the brightly toned stash of cashmere sweaters that I wasn’t quite sure how I’d repurpose yet.  A creative appetite has been satiated, as well now, as I envision a neighborhood of little playful houses growing on my studio shelves.

My Little House Cashmere Pillows have been a delightfully fun community to build.  Each seems to have its own personality, and all have a secret.  The front door to each one is a pocket!  Use it as a tooth pillow or tuck away messages or a favorite charm.  Perhaps a small little snack for later so that the house that was inspired by my kitchen work can repay its creation with afternoon fortifications.

jessCollage

Easy Frozen Peaches:

10 peaches
the juice of 1 lemon
1/8 cup of sugar

Combine the sugar and the lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.
Slice each peach into eighths.
Toss in the lemon and sugar mixture in two or three batches.
Lay the slices out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze.  Once frozen, bag or pack them in containers of your choosing for storage.

Listing link:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/160427285/little-house-cashmere-tooth-pillows?ref=shop_home_active
Shop link:  www.broodbaby.etsy.com <http://www.broodbaby.etsy.com>

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Needle Felting Wee Folk and Their Friends – Tutorial from the Willodel Blog

With so many stories to tell and much imagination to express, making wee folk come to life is a rewarding and delightful work. This tutorial is designed to pass along my own creative ideas as the simplest way to make pose-able  needle felted figures for stories and gnome play.

The possibilities are pretty limitless. You can use scraps of things you already have at home, I always encourage using “found” materials, and things you might have to buy, like covered florist wire, are not expensive. The size of the figures in the tutorial are 4″ to 5″, but this can be changed to anything you like. Your main tool for the frame are wire nippers(called “diagonals” and needle nose pliers. You want to be sure that in making the frame there are no pointy ends that might poke through anywhere. Also, I do not hesitate the add a drop of glue where I need to starting winding some wool and definitely use this for attaching hair and hats. I like using acorns for hats, but there are many other approaches to the this part of the clothing. Please do not hesitate to write if you have questions.

This is Leif the Elf, working with his wishing well.This little Elf has been a model for many of my homes and other tutorials, proving himself versatile and durable over several years. He is 45″ tall.
Here are an array of bendy figures, including gnomes, elves and animals.
This is the link to the tutorial: http://willodel.blogspot.com/p/making.html
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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)

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Felted Wool Cell Phone Case Tutorial

My cell phone is forever getting lost at the bottom of my purse.  I wanted to make a pretty cell phone case that would make it easier to keep track of.

 

First I knit a rectangle with easily felt-able wool yarn.  Knit it larger than you need because it will shrink when felted.  I simply guess-estimated making it about twice the size as I needed on size 8 needles.  I knit 30 stitches across which ended up being too wide. Make sure it’s a wool yarn that can be felted.  Stay away from yarn that says “machine washable” or “superwash” as it will not felt.  You can knit it or you can upcycle an old wool sweater by felting it in a hot wash cycle.

HOW TO FELT OR UPCYCLE WOOL:

To do this, take your knitted wool rectangle or wool sweater and add it to the washer tied in a pillow case.  (this is to save your washer from wool fuzz.) Wash on hot with other sweaters or a few thick towels or pairs of jeans.  These will help agitate the wool.  Add a small amount of detergent.  Wash once or twice in hot water.  Check your sweater or knit piece to see if it’s tightly felted.  If it it’s felted well then dry it on high. Check often to make sure it doesn’t wrinkle while drying.  Once it wrinkles it’s wrinkled for good.  Now, when you cut your wool the stitches won’t pull apart or fray. If it does fray then repeat the felting process.

My felted rectangle ended up a little large so I cut it to size.  Use one long rectangular piece.  The bottom of the case will be the folded edge.

 

Now the decorating begins.  I used some scraps of wool yarn I had on hand.  I needle felted a single strand of green wool to make a leaf design.

 

Needle felt it well so that it does not pull off when rubbing against things in your purse.

 

Next I chose a brighter peach/pink wool for my flower.  I simply started in the center and wrapped it around and around to make a spiral or circle.

 

Then I needle felted the stem.

 

Blanket stitch the sides together.  Begin by hiding the knot inside at the bottom of the case.

 

 

Blanket stitch all the way up on both sides.  You can add a string so you can wear it by finger knitting the string and sewing it on.  Or you can finger knit a latch and button. Mine works well without a button and surprisingly doesn’t slip out in my purse.  I wanted to be able to easily pull it out in a hurry with out having to fumble with a button.  Though if you want to add a strap to wear it a button might be wise.

I think I’m going to have to make another with a strap for when we go on our walks.  How decadent of me!  Enjoy your lovely, new cell phone case!  And if you make this please link back to us here at Natural Kids so we can see.

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Tutorial: Felt Lettuce Tutorial

When my daughter got in age of playing with playfood, I became obsessed at making them. She now has a bin filled with various food I made her from vedgies to dessert to sushies. Today I want to show you how I made a lettuce!

Cut 3 vague peanut form. Run stitch an inch at the bottom. Gather.

See how they look together, edit the cut if needed.

Cut 3 smaller pieces, pin together. Sew following the piece on top untill 3/4 up.

Cut a rectangle, square or circle (I used a leftover) And push it inside.


Sew at some corners, so that you don’t see any edges from the top.

Should look like this. Stuff with wool.

Attach the biggest leaves to see where you place them.

Sew them on with an overcast stitch.

Cut a circle, Blanket stitch it to the bottom so we don’t see any stuffing.

 

Voilà!

 

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What’s new, and, well, natural from the Naturalkids Team on Etsy

Welcome! I continue my trek backwards through the alphabet to bring to you the most wonderful and imaginative treasures. They are all handmade with natural materials from…yes! the NaturalKids Team on Etsy! This week, we feature wonderful variety of artists who work in either wood or wool, bug and love working with sustainable, natural materials.

Friendly Skunk Toy

Woodmouse‘s Amber creates Eco-friendly wooden toys handmade from sustainably harvested USA poplar. All the wooden toys and figures in the shop are designed, cut, woodburned and sanded by her.  Her water-based paints have been independently third-party tested for safety. They are AP Certified non-toxic and bear the ACMI non-toxic label. Amber seals with organic jojoba oil and beeswax from a local beekeeper. Here is her Friendly Skunk Toy.

Wood Phone Toy

 The Wood Toy Shop  is run by Mark, a stay at home dad, who just installed new solar electric panels to power the workshop! His toys are built to last from hard woods and are finished with non-toxic mineral oil. Most of the wood he uses are mill ends and scrap from cabinet shops. Here is his Wood Phone Toy.

Sea Horse Wool Diaper Cover

Angela, of Wild Child Woolies  is a  stay at home/work at home/homeschooling (I guess she’s HOME a lot!) mom of 5 awesome kids. In her shop you’ll find unique, top quality, handmade wool interlock diaper covers for cloth diapered infants and toddlers. Here is her Seahorse Wool Interlock Pull Up Diaper Cover/Soaker.

Wet Felted Pocket Mirror

Kim of  Viltalakim crafts all of her household decor items, wearables and and other treasures, by the wet felting technique with super soft merino wool. She does this all by hand, without sewing/ knitting first. No washing machine, just her own hands… Here is her Wet Felted Pocket Mirror

From imaginative wood toys for storytelling and play to natural baby necessities to wet felted wool treasures, these are just a few of the natural creations you will find from our shops hailing from all over the world.

Thanks for joining us this week! Please do return again next Monday as we continue to feature all the wonderful members of the NaturalKids team on Etsy. Until then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.

Warmly,
Rebecca aka Nushkie
Nushkie on Facebook
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What’s new, and, well, natural from the Naturalkids Team on Etsy

Welcome! I continue my trek backwards through the alphabet to bring to you the most wonderful and imaginative treasures. They are all handmade with natural materials from…yes! the NaturalKids Team on Etsy! This week, we feature wonderful variety of artist from who have one thing in common – they all work with natural materials.


Babus – From teethers to felted dolls, everything you see in this shop is made with love and by hand by Michelle in Silver Spring, Maryland. Michelle says,”Using sustainably produced wool yarns, I knit and wet felt all my toys to make them fuzzy, warm, sweet and enduring.”

Here is her Original Baby Chain Wool Felt Toy.

AshperJasper‘s Vicky is an artist/homeschooling Mum (to Asher and Jasper) living in Southern California. Originally from England, she moved here after falling in love with a young American artist on a painting trip to Italy. Her husband has been contributing wooden toys to her store for about a year. Vicky says,”I love that we can work creatively together again! I have to admit that I am a wool addict. I LOVE the stuff. We are a family floating in a sea of wool and wood at all times.” They offer natural wood and wool toys and accessories. Here most recent post to her Etsy shop is an invitation for you to begin felting with her Deluxe Needle Felting Starker Kit for Beginners.

Armadilo Dreams is a husband/wife shop run by Dustin and Amanda. They live in Central Oregon. They say, “We combined our love for our children, natural materials, woodworking and Armadillo Dreams was born! Together we make an awesome team and love to work together as a family.” Here is their Rainbow Birdie and Wooden Egg – Toy Play Set.

Those are the featured new items for this week. What a rainbow of delightful treasures from one of a kind felted baby toys, to felting starter kits to lovely wooden toys! All are made from natural materials and from the hands of folks who love nature, children, and open ended toys. This is just a small sample of the quality and variety our customers enjoy from the fine crafters and artists of the NaturalKids team.

Thanks for joining us this week and please do return again next Monday as we continue to feature all the wonderful members of the Naturakids team on Etsy! Til then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.


Warmly,
Rebecca aka Nushkie
Nushkie on Facebook

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

Welcome! I continue my trek backwards through the alphabet to bring to you the most wonderful and imaginative treasures. They are all handmade with natural materials from…yes! the NaturalKids Team on Etsy! This week, we feature wonderful variety of artist from who have one thing in common – they all work with natural materials!

Chimera   is the home of wool felt toys, roving and handspun yarn, accessories for knitters and spinners. Great gifts for your fiber loving friends!  Hailing from New Jersey, Kersin says, “I’ve been playing with fiber and crafting my entire life. Wool is my favorite material because it is so versatile. With wool I can make a silky scarf, spin colorful yarn, sculpt a landscape or felt a durable rug. Adding to the fun is the ability to dye wool any colors I choose, and to add in other fibers to create something truly unique.” Here is her latest…The Secret Cave Needle Felted Playmat.
 
 BostonBeanies specializes in practical and whimsical baby hats from, well, beantown. Rebecca is of course from Boston, and in her words, “I started knitting in grad school to keep my fingers busy so I could concentrate on the lectures. My friends got sick of me giving them scarves as gifts all the time, and then they started getting married and having babies, so I started making gifts for the next generation. I love the creative outlet of designing my own hats, and as a children’s librarian, I love the connection of wearable art and picture book art. So take a look, and enjoy a bit of whimsy!” Here is her Boston Beanies Knit Lavender Blossom Hat.

Wendy, of Birchleaf Designs in Michigan, offers you whimisical, natural wood and fabric playthings and some housewares as well. Everything from silks to swords…her shop is a real treasure trove of natural goodies from a business run by a family that literally lives off the grid! Here is her newest offering…the Reusable, Replayable, Rewrappable Trio of Playsilks for Spring!  
  
Those are the featured new items for this week, from one of a kind needle felted treasures, to lovely baby hat to play silks, all from natural materials and from the hands of folks who love nature, children and open ended toys. This is just a small sample of the quality and variety our customers enjoy from the fine crafters and artists of the NaturalKids team.

Thanks for joining us this week and please do return again next Monday as we continue to feature all the wonderful members of the Naturakids team on Etsy! Til then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.


Warmly,
Rebecca aka Nushkie
Nushkie on Facebook

Posted on

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

Welcome! I continue my trek backwards through the alphabet to bring to you the most wonderful and imaginative treasures. They are all handmade with natural materials from…yes! the NaturalKids Team on Etsy! This week, we feature wonderful variety of artist from who have one thing in common – they all work with natural materials!

Darial Lvovski hails all the way from Israel. She is a wonderful needle felter using eco wool and is the mother to three girls. In her shop you will see “only a tiny part of an amazing world populated by the little beings I create. My works have become the ultimate toys for my own children and the children of my friends.Here is her One of a kind needle felted wool collectible, Pig Soft Sculpture.

Dad’s Wooden Toys from Grand Rapids, Michigan is not only a wonderful craftsman of eco-friendly wooden toys, but a wonderful poet as well. Here is how he describes how he got going on behalf of his children…”I want the best for them all/and that’s how I started rolling this ball/The toys everywhere made noise and light/but I think the kids not the toys should be bright/So my wife and I were searching to find/toys that were natural and good for their mind.” Here is his Great Dane Wooden toy.

Cute Little Thing, is from Farmingdale, Long Island. She took her genetic predisposition for “cute,” a bachelors of fine arts degree in interior design, an absolute love for natural materials and designing with them, to create the tools, and kits and more for “cute little thing.” Cute Little Barn Owl Needle Felting Kit DIY

Those are the featured new items for this week, from one of a kind needle felted treasures, to natural wooden toys to do-it-yourself kits, all from natural materials and from the hands of folks who love nature, children and open ended toys. This is just a small sample of the quality and variety our customers enjoy from the fine crafters and artists of the NaturalKids team.

Thanks for joining us this week and please do return again next Monday as we continue to feature all the wonderful members of the Naturakids team on Etsy! Til then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.


Warmly,
Rebecca aka Nushkie
Nushkie on Facebook

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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!

Have you met Wildchildwoolies? Let me introduce you! Angela is a stay at home/work at home/homeschooling  mom of 5 awesome kids. Wild Child Woolies was born in 2007 after baby #4 sold her on the wonderful world of cloth diapering with wool. She’s a 3rd generation ‘crafter’ for whom it seemed natural to combine her love of wool, her love love of crafting and her entrepreneurial spirit. Here you will find top quality, hand made wool interlock clothing for cloth diapered babies and toddlers.

Here’s her Rainbow Knot Pull On Diaper Cover Diaper

Wool can be formed into so many expressions, like shawls, toys,  decor and crowns… Here is another take by the  Netherlands’ Viltalakim!

In her own words, “Welcome,here I sell all my unique hand felted items. Vilt is Dutch for Felt. I make everything by the WET-FELT/ wetfelting technique with super soft merino wool. I do this all by hand, without sewing/ knitting first. No washing machine, just my own power! I hope you enjoy my creations. “

Her reverseable kids crown is a favorite worthy of passing down to future generations!

Tweet or Willowbaus  works with a variety of materials, including wool and wood.

The designs are “Based on the concept of Wabi Sabi- dedicated to the simplicity and importance of meaningful objects in one’s space. Dedicated to natural, beautiful and time.”

Here is a new treasure that invites another element to join in play…the wind! Enjoy the Sea Urchin Sailboat.

Hand dyed bamboo hooded towel in batik

Ticketybu is the home for luxurious bamboo items for home, bath and body. Bu blankets of all sizes, hooded towels, pillow cases, diapers and wipes…

“Tickety Bu? Tickety Bu, also spelled Tickety Boo and Tiggerty Boo, is a phrase that means, “everything’s alright”. There is argument whether it originated in England, Scotland or India and may have come from a Hindi expression “tickee babu” which means “all alright”. It seemed to fit why I love bamboo and why I started the company and honestly, I like the sound of it. It harkens back to a simpler life, just the way things should be.”

Threefishshop specializes in “handcrafted, premium, unique headwear made with the finest natural and organic yarn.

We think it’s important to use the very best materials in our creations to reflect our high standard of craftsmanship. When possible we like to use handcrafted yarn and other materials to support our fellow crafters.”

New to her shop is the Original Waffle Weave Brim Beanie
 fun for your child to live in and for photo shoots too!
Thanks for looking! 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 fantastic members of the Naturakids team on etsy! Til then, I invite you to browse all our wonderful shops.

Warmly,
Rebecca aka Nushkie
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