Acorn Bird's Nest

The hunger for spring is in the air! We can't wait to feast our eyes on the return of the Robins, listen to their cheerful song and hopefully get a peek of sweet bright blue eggs nestled in a nest.

Until that day arrives we decided make some wee nests to bring spring into the home!

To craft these miniatures you will need
Acorn caps
Small beans (we used soy)
Moss
Glue gun and glue
Robin blue paint
String

To begin paint your beans blue
Tip ~ I discovered that by painting on tinfoil, it keeps the beans from sticking as they dry.

Next put a dab of glue inside your acorn top and add the moss

Add your eggs with a dab of glue on each

With your glue gun draw a fine line of glue across the bottom of the acorn and up the sides. Carefully place your string into the glue and tie at the top to hang.

Oh the magic in miniatures...

For the love of spring

~ Shanti ~ 

Wet Felting A Cradle For Our Blossom Baby

"spring is coming, spring is coming

birdies build your nest.

weave together straw and feather

doing each your best.

spring is coming, spring is coming

flowers are waking, too.

daisies, lilies, and daffodils

now are coming through.

spring is coming, spring is coming

all around is fair.

shimmer, glimmer on the meadow,

joy is everywhere."

Last year I remember seeing my first felted egg over at Childhood Magic's blog (still miss the gorgeousness she always had to share!) I thought to myself  "what a sweet idea for spring..."

She left me inspired to give it a go.  I have never felted before, so I was thrilled to see how it all worked and that it DID work!

I think I am hooked...

For any of you who have never felted ~ creating these wet felted eggs is simple, satisfying and definitely a do-able project (even for the little hands of your home).

Here is a simple tutorial 

You will need

An egg (we used a marble egg but plastic eggs work too)

Wool roving

Dish soap

Bowl of hot water

and patience!

Continue wrapping the egg until you can not see the egg any longer ~ the thicker the wool coat, the stronger your felted egg will be. 

Take your wrapped up egg and pour some dish soap onto it.

Now for the fun part!

 Immerse your egg into a bowl of very hot water. 

When it is all warm and soapy you can start to very gently rub the egg (the girls were giggling watching me pet the furry egg and tell it what a good egg it was ;)  and gently squeeze your soapy egg. Keep turning it in your hands ~ squeezing and rubbing... squeezing and rubbing (continually dipping into your hot soapy water) until you  start to feel the wool fibers binding together. Most importantly be gentle with your little egg so that the fibers keep together ~ if you get impatient and too rough it will start to fall apart.

                   

After it has all begun to hold together nicely, it helps to roll your egg on a wash board or a bamboo mat for the felting to go a little quicker ~ roll for a bit and then put it back into hot water and roll some more...

Once you begin to feel the fibers felting around the egg, it is time to add the burst of color (if you wish!) Rip off small, wispy bits of roving and place them onto the egg in varying directions. Pour some soap onto the egg and repeat the same process of squeezing, patting, rubbing, rolling and dunking. What fun! I was so thrilled to see it come together. 

Grinning to myself ~ it works it works!

Now rinse out the soap.
Dip it into cold water to help strengthen and tighten the fibers.
Wrap it in a cloth, squeeze out the extra water and place it somewhere to dry.

 You have a felted egg ~ hurrah!

Once it is dry you can cut it open with sharp scissors ~  either how we did it (to make an egg cradle), straight across or in a cracked jagged line...

and let your little egg be birthed from her woolen world!

                              

You can then blanket stitch around the openings (making it much more durable for play).

We decided this little egg was in need of someone to make a home of it ~ thus wee blossom baby appeared.

To create

Sew up a little triangular piece of felt for the hat. Glue it on ~ and Voila ~ Blossom baby!

We tucked her into her cradle

She got all cozy

and slipped off into her enchanted realms.

For now she is nestled warm in her wooly world until ...

lt is time to unwrap again!

 My girls seem to be smitten ~ open the cradle, button it down, pull her out, put her back in, unbutton...
as you can see this could go on and on...

Thinking more of these felted eggs shall be appearing in our home in the coming weeks!


Falling in love with felting
~ Shanti ~


P.S. If any of you seasoned felters out there have any extra tips or advice for our readers, by all means please share! 

St Patrick Peg Person!

Here's another easy little peg doll craft just in time for St Patricks day...a wee peg

St Patrick!

You will need:

wool felt, (white, green & brown)

wee bit o roving

embroidery floss & needle

glue

wooden peg dolls

One day I'll learn how to make a printable PDF file, in the meantime though, here is a sample of his outfit.

Try making your pieces on paper, and play with the sizing, then transfer to the felt.

(cut out 2 pieces for the hat and staff)

First I sewed on his "tube" with snake on the bottom...I know on many of the religious statues I see of St Patrick, (I have one in my porch), there is a snake as his feet...you don't have to add the snake...leave it blank, or add a clover or two. 

Next I sewed up his robe and attached it to his body..

Add a roving beard, (glue it on), and then his "hat"...I decided that he needed a little shamrock on his hat...now he really looks like St Patrick!

I sewed up his "staff" too, but didn't attach it to his body...I just lean it up against him on the nature table where St Patrick currently resides, (whien he's not being played with of course).

And of course, there is nothing that says St Paddys day more than Irish music...time to dust off the ol accordion...

"I've been a wild rover for many a year...

and I spend all me money on whiskey and beer..."

I want you to check out Little Acorn Learning...they have a free e-book called "Rainbows, Creating colors"

Go and download it for free...it's full of great ideas that you can bring to your St Patricks celebration next week...of course Little Acorn also has other learning guides you can purchase...I've gotten a few and I can honestly say they're a wonderful addition to our homeschool week!

May the Irish hills caress you.

May her lakes and rivers bless you.

May the luck of the Irish enfold you.

May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.

~Irish Blessing

xo maureen

Rainbows, Shamrocks and Leprechauns! OH MY!

Well, it must be that wee bit of Irish blood flowin' through our veins...

We are in the St.Paddy's spirit over here ~ gearing up with some good ol' craftiness!

***

There are lovely purple shamrocks living here at the moment 

so we decided to give them colorful new homes, in some brightly painted rainbow pots.

A festive St.Paddy's project for all ~ who doesn't love a rainbow!

( yes that cowgirl getup is just an average "every day" kinda outfit around here ;)

We also decided we couldn't resist creating these playful little leprechaun gnomes (found over at wee folk ~ love their creations)

These were super quick and fun to whip up!

I made two 

 and then realized my mistake...

Double. Trouble!

I could just see them scheming away... whisper... whisper...

working out their plans of mischief.

Hopefully we can keep them out of trouble 

for now...

Magic 

Sandra’s seen a leprechaun,
Eddie touched a troll,
Laurie danced with witches once,
Charlie found some goblins gold.
Donald heard a mermaid sing,
Susy spied an elf,
But all the magic I have known
I've had to make myself.

— Shel Silverstein (Where the Sidewalk Ends)

In mischief & magic

~ Shanti ~

* Pussy Willow Wonderment *

Pussy Willows

Close your eyes

and do not peek

and I'll rub Spring,

across your cheek-

smooth as satin,

soft and sleek-

close your eyes

and do not peek.

by Aileen Fisher

The signs of spring are slowly but surely revealing themselves. The days are getting a little longer, the birds are active, the sun is shining a little warmer, but judging by what hit in the last day or so...

winter isn't done with us yet!

The pussy willow is the true harbinger of spring! These fuzzy little friends won't be bursting forth for awhile yet though, so I decided to take this "spring matter" into my own hands!

These lovely ladies helped feed the fire of inspiration! 

To create these pussy willows you will need

brown felt

cream colored roving

brown thread 

thin branches

Pinch off a piece of roving and roll it in your hands until it becomes a little ball.

Cut out a rounded triangle from your felt.

Place your roving ball inside and stitch up with a couple stitches.

Place your pussy willow where you want it on the branch, wrap your thread around the bud and branch until it is on securely and knot in the back.

Once our pussy willow creation was complete it seemed to be begging for birds to live in it... how could I resist the need for a wee nest?!

To create the nest ~ sew some blue glass beads onto a piece of felt (we used a felted sweater).
Cut a small circle around the beads you have sewn. 

Place a dab of glue inside your acorn cap and press the sewn beads inside. Glue the felt down the sides and pinch together at the bottom. Then trim off the excess felt if necessary. 

There you have it ~ a pussy willows fix while the snow still blankets us... pure delish!

Pussy willow wakened from her cozy winter nap,
For the frolicking spring breeze, on her door would tap.
“It is chilly weather, though the sun feels good;
I will wrap up warmly and wear my furry hood.”
Mistress Pussy Willow opened wide her door;
Never had the sunshine seemed so bright before.
Never had the brooklet seemed so full of cheer;
“Good morning, Pussy Willow, welcome to you, dear.”
Never guest was quainter, than when Pussy came to town,
In her hood of silver gray, and tiny coat of brown.
Happy little children cried with laugh and shout,
“Spring is coming, coming,
Mistress Pussy Willow’s out.”
     — Author unknown

We placed our newly crafted pussy willows on our nature table (with some dried real ones from last year) and thought they did a fine job of "playing the part" to welcome spring! 

Would love to hear what ways you welcome spring in your home?

* Love & Light *

Shanti