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BirchLeaf Designs a Farm

Playsilks and Swords and Shields, OH MY! We recently came across a photo of a boy who was not afraid to play. His imagination was wondrous!

Boy who was not afraid to play.
Boy who was not afraid to play.

Wondrous and amazing…very much like this mosaic shield. Made from a blank shield from our shop and then sold at an auction to help raise funds for the Portland Waldorf School in Portland, Oregon.

Mosiac Shield. Photo courtesy Portland Waldorf School.
Mosiac Shield. Photo courtesy Portland Waldorf School.

The mosaic shield reminds me so much of our life…with the family in the center, the heart, the hearth, the fiery life-force. Then, branching off of the heart center are our many activities in which we are involved. Each day is filled with a bit of this and a bit of that…from eating healthy foods, to homeschooling, to farming, to making toys. These past few weeks have found us in the woods. Many blessings are upon us!

Maple Sap is flowing!

Pro Maple sap taster!
Pro Maple sap taster, Kiah.

Little baby chicks are healthy and here!

Baby chicks are a'peepin'.
Baby chicks are a’peepin’.

And little lambs have arrived!

Meet Patience.
Meet Patience.
Kiah and her lamb, Patience.
Kiah and her lamb, Patience.
Milo and his lamb, Temperance.
Milo and his lamb, Temperance.

It only gets livelier from here on out! Garden starts are ready to be planted. Piggies are due to arrive April 20th and bees shortly thereafter. Festivals and art shows are in the not so distant future…which brings us back to our shop…BirchLeaf Designs…Playsilks and Swords and Shields, OH MY…

Wendy, Mojo and their 2 children, Kiah and Milo live, homeschool, farm, and make toys off the grid near Marquette, Michigan. Please visit their shops at http://www.birchleafdesigns.etsy.com and http://www.northernchildren.etsy.com

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~ It’s time for a new spring/summer wardrobe !!!

I don’t know if you are like me, but every time spring is near I’m anxious to go to my wardrobe and start wearing my little dress and skirt again ! Not to mention that I love to go shopping for a couple of new sets…I don’t know why but it’s not the same for fall…do you feel the same !? Spring is really a  ”blooming” season, you want everything to look fresh, clean…all new !!  Also it’s that time of the year we, as parents, need to find new clothes for our children…omg they grow so fast ! I think my daughter gained 2 inches more this winter !?? She is going to turn 12 soon, and shopping for her is now a bit of a headhache. She’s not an adult yet, but children’s clothing don’t fit her anymore…boy oh boy..I have to be really creative to find something decent for her ah!ah!

Sometimes I kind of miss the time when she was younger, to dress her up in little colored shorts and skirt sets, with bows and frills…you know what I mean !? I used to work as a fashion designer for children and I’ve always loved clothing…to mix and match them and not to mention to design them. I just loOoove designing clothes…sketching, drawing… it’s another passion of mine!

I’m now the creator behind FeeVertelaine, handmade natural toys and dolls. Lately I did offer myself a treat ! I started a project that I’ve been dreaming about for many years now…Creating my own paper doll !! As a little girl, paper dolls were one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to play with! So I took my pencil away from the cobwebs, and started to draw Emilÿ…it so reminded me of my time in fashion school. I also loOove watercolor,  so I told myself why not do the coloring this way…so I did ! Every little step of the creation of this project was a pure delight for me.

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After many months of sketching, coloring, editing…she finally came to life. This was pure joy for  my daughter, who was my assigned tester 😉 She and her friend had such a great time playing.. humm sorry testing…all the new spring/summer wardrobe that Emilÿ comes with. It was so sweet to watch them mixing and matching everything together…4 hands on one doll is a true test !! So I knew she was ready for the world to meet her !

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My heart is filled with excitment to introduce her to you today…Emilÿ my first paper doll…all ready for spring with her new wardrobe !! Enjoy !!!

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You can find her here in my Etsy shop.

 

This lavender dress reminds me of a dress that I sewed recently for one of my winter fairy dolls…a last glimpse of winter just before spring shows up  at our door !

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If you wish to see and read more about my creative process, I invite you to visit my Facebook page where I add pictures of my everyday work and things I cherish…. I will soon offer Emilÿ as a giveaway…keep an eye open !!

Happy spring !!

Warm regards,

~Julie xo

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My Enchanted Life

As the weather gets warmer my days get busier so I need meals to be simple. I run a full time business, The Enchanted Cupboard, while running my household and homeschooling 4 children. I need to keep our meals healthy and nutrition filled! I love this recipe because it is what I make with the last 2 chicken breast when I am doing big batch cooking and it is packed full of yummy veggies. Dicing up the veggies and adding it to chicken salad is a great way to boast your kids diet with lots of color that are full of antioxidants! I serve this for lunch on whole wheat bread and a cup fruit salad. You could easily make this low carb. and gluten free by serving it on big lettuce leaves like a wrap! If you like this easy recipe and want more come checkout my own blog and see what is cooking in my kitchen.

Mama’s Chicken Salad

Ingredients

2 skinless boneless precooked chicken, diced
2 stalk celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 med. size onion dice
1/2 red pepper
1/2 yellow or orange pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
1 cup prepared or homemade mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a mixing bowl, toss together the chicken, veggies and herbs. Set aside.
Add mayo and mix gently until combined.  Salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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On my work table I often have much smaller versions of play food just right for Waldorf Style dolls. I work with wood and paper clay to make play food.

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This sweet little set is made of wood and is just right for doll house dolls. I so enjoy creating for this miniature world of childhood play. Come on over to the Nature Table and see what is cooking at the Acorn Cafe.

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The Acorn Cafe

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On the first day of Spring the world was a buzz of activity at the Acorn Cafe.

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Everyone was enjoying the wonderful food made by Miss Dandelion.

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Grandpa was having his favorite tomato sandwich.

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A few fairies stopped in for tea and sweets.

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Four forest friends enjoyed an after noon treat.

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All were happy on this bright spring day.

Items on the Nature Table:

Wooden toys, playsilks, and dolls can be found at The Enchanted Cupboard.

Felt Woodland Friends can be found at Muddyfeet.

Acorn Cafe  and table & chairs were created by Willodel.

 

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An Advent Calendar in Stories – December Traditions

Part of our preparation up to Christmas is to read a daily story from the lovely book ‘The Light in the Lantern’ from Georg Dreissig.  Dreissig’s short stories (up to two pages) form an Advent calendar in itself and they commemorate Joseph and Mary’s trip to Bethlehem.

The 28 stories have been divided into four weeks and in the stories the challenges and miracles of Mary and Joseph’s journey are addressed.  In addition, each week’s stories relate to a common theme.  The first week they relate to the mineral world, in week two to the plant world, in week three to the animal world and the final week to the human world.  The book does take into account the maximum number of days for the advent time, and thus allows for some years to read multiple stories on a day.

While the stories can be somewhat complicated for the small ones, I read it to all three of my kids at the same time.  I managed to get an accompanying calendar to the book, which made it even for the 3 year old a daily adventure to open another window and move closer to Christmas.  It is the third year in row now that we (re)use the lantern calendar as well.

The lantern calendar has four panels with each seven windows, and a fifth panel with one large window with the depiction of the nativity scene. The beautiful illustrations were made by Cécile Borgogno-Arcmanne.

Please note that the front cover depicted is the Dutch language version, the English version has a different illustration.  A sample can be found here.

What books do you read over the advent time?

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December Traditions: Pagan Yule part II

A new thing we have is a little collection of holiday books. They are to be saved until the first day of snow, when I take them out and read one of them. How the kids are thrilled when we take them out of the box!

Our main solstice tradition is to have a great meal together. A cipaille, potatoe candies, candy cane bark and other delightful things!

A cipaille is a slowy cook dish composed of various meats; originally woodland hunted animals such as moose, white-tailed dear, perdrix and hare, it is now more commonly made with beef, porc, calf and chicken. You would need a lot of potatoes too! As much as many different kinds of meats as you have.  And a good broth of chicken or beef. Cut everything in cubes and throw into a big deep dish and add the broth with some allspice and thyme, let your meat and potato marinate in it for a while. Get it out of the fridge and cover with your favorite crust recipe. Put it oven and let it cook slowly for around 6h. My mom used to start it  before going to bed and let it cook over night. We’d wake up to the wonderful smell and have some for breakfast!

(Image source)

The other thing we like to do on solstice night is take a walk in the brisk air. I remember walking with my mother once. It has been warm that day and actually rained, which never happens in Québec in December, and it froze in the night. The trees, all departed of their leaves, were covered in icecles and illuminated by the street lamps. It was gorgeous!

I also do a personal ritual; a very simple one. I reflect on what happened to me and my family since the Summer Solstice, how and what changed, what did not. Then I think about the half of year to come. What I’d like to achieve until Summer Solstice, little goals I set to myself. I can also write a wish on a paper and burn it to send my message to the universe.

This is a time where we will be moving a lot; we are renting and planning to buy a house to sell it some years later and move back to our original region. That much to say that I didn’t want to be bothered moving the huge plastic pine someone kindly gave to us along with us every move. I told myself I’d find something good enough for a Yule tree that is not time consuming and ecological. I came up with a construction paper evergreen that my daughter helped me with; She cut all the fringes while I was doing the gluing. Her brother was doing the “I mess around with any other craft supply on hand” part of the project. It’s way too small to put on any handmade ornaments we have… But it fit that salt dough moon that purposefully watches over the cedar bed.

I hope you like this little intrusion in our family’s custom! Please stay in tune to read what other families are doing in December!

December Traditions: Pagan Yule part I

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December Traditions: Pagan Nativity

Afoot our Yule tree stand different characters from your usual nativity scene. Ours represent the rebirth of the Sun God, who’s noted absence brought us self-reflections and slowed schedule. We are thankful for It’s return. We appreciate the lessons that if you want light, there must be darkness. And as we know for sure the Sun will rise on the morning, we are also confident that after this time of darkness, the days will grow longer, the weather warmer and our heart, lighter.

I wanted to make sure the scene would be playable for my young family…And what’s more playable then toys?

Here you see the Sun God on a bed of cedar. I actually cheated to show you the whole pictures; like some does with baby Jesus, we don’t place our baby Sun until the our of the Solstice is passed (it changes every year, this year it’s on December 21st, at 11:12).  After the pictures I carefully place Him in our kitchen cauldron to reside until It borns again. The cauldron symbolize the Pregnant Goddess.

Surounding the Sun God are the woodland animals, creatures and people that came to witness Its birth. I use our regular wooden figures and playscape accessories; Accorn people, felted animals. wooden ones and felt everygreen.

There are tree importants figures that specially came to watch over the Reborn Sun. The Maiden (white) is all that is new and begining. The Mother (red) is what is fullfilled and comited. The Crone (black) is the wisedom gained by living and everything that is ending. They are the Goddess in her Trinity form, and are very dear to me. Their symbol is that everything goes in cycle, that ends are always new beginnings.

There are a lot of people on this picture. Now I only left the animals and the Trinity. Everyone will come back on the Rebirth Day. We will then have cookies and hot cocoa to share together in expectation of opening our stocking!

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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. . .

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Maman! The snow came to our house!!!

This is what I heard as I walked down the stairs this morning. So much joy and exitement in her little voice! After came the running sound of her brother, and they stood by the window, amazed. I wish I could have captured the initial face, but I rarely have my camera on hand when I wake up.

I’m so thankful for this joy, this present moment. For some minutes, forgetting what snow implies for me, the adult: triple the time just to get out, car to unsnow, careful driving on frozen streets and the cold icy bitting wind. Nothing of that I could see in their eyes. Just magic.

“Let’s make snowmans!!!!”

Yes my darling, lots of snowman ahead.

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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.

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The Walk To School

Before I moved to the village I live in now, I lived on a farm.  I was able to see the seasons change by watching the life cycle (and fleece cycle) of the sheep, the apples on the trees and the birds in our garden.  Now I live in suburbia where I can more readily collect a multitude of leaves but somehow I have felt more disconnected to nature and her rhythms. It was right before our midterm break when I decided to slow down our school drop off and pick up walk.  Even in the two weeks I have been doing it, the things I have noticed with my daughter have been so soul nurturing.

 

Here are a few pictures taken on our journey to school.