Slippers

S wore out her slippers and I've been promising her for a month that I'd make her some new ones.  Well, we are cooped up because of the rain.  Perfect excuse to sew something!  She picked out the fabrics:

I put some denim on the bottom to make them last longer than the last pair.

They are far from perfect, but she's happy with them.

Crafting: Part One

There's been a lot of crafting between finals and work around here.  Here's a brief breakdown:

Swaps:
Martinmas (which seems like ages ago) Hats

Note: I am still waiting to get my Martinmas package, there was an issue with shipping from Canada, but I expect it any day. 

 

The next swap I did was the one-on-one Winter where I made the Tomten and trees.

 

Then there was another one-on-one Autumn swap where I made some fall themed wood goodies, but I forgot to take a picture.  I am also still waiting on to find out what that mama made for me.

 

Facebook Waldorf Swap - theme Winter Nature Table Swap:

 

 

 

 

 

 I made wooden owls with little tiny owl books and placed them in these little bags. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the amazing things I got back from this swap

A wooden snowflake candle holder, a bear in his den, a "icicle gnome" who I have renamed Jack Frost, and this lovely playsilk (the background).  There was a beautiful heart ornament, but my rotten dog ate it right away. 








 

Etsy Stocking Stuffer Swap:

 

I made bean bags - two to a set, ten sets.  It was a lot of sewing. 

 

 



I just got back my items and I'm sad to say that I will only be able to use a few of the 10 items I got back as actual stocking stuffers.  Some are just not a good fit for the ages of my kids and some aren't what I would think of as stocking stuffers.  So a little disappointed here. 





Gnome

After all this swapping I had to make my own kids some fun little additions. 

Here is my first gnome:

TMI Alert!

There has been a lot of crafting going on around these parts.  In addition to the birthday and Christmas presents, I've got a couple swaps.  But in between all this crafting, I made myself a couple new mama cloths.  Also known as reusable menstrual products.  I've been using them for years and mostly have bought them.  But I figured, I'm urban homesteading, I can make my own.  So here's an example.  Turned out okay!

Crafting

I haven't posted much lately because between school and my job I have very little free time.  In that free time I'm crafting.  My boy's birthday is nearly here and I promised him a quilt.  A whole quilt.  There's a lot more too.  I'll have pictures for you soon.  But for now, I've got to get back to my sewing machine.

Making Beer

Making beer has been much more fun than I expected.  Messy, but fun.

And talk about the SCIENCE involved.  Precision, sanitation, timing and even more sanitation...

Here are a few pictures from the process (which took 3 weeks from brew to bottle, but we won't be drinking it for at LEAST another 3 weeks)...

Kitchen Swap

And just as soon as the Sleepytime swap items arrived, it was time to send off the Kitchen Swap goodies. 

I made bacon and eggs (okay, egg). 

Sleepytime swap...

So, if you remember I made soap for the Sleepytime Swap.  Here are the goodies I got back:

A beautiful dreamcatcher (complete with fantastic poem), A small moon candle and sachet of Roman Chamomile (smells heavenly), A needle-felted angel, A rose quartz from our hostess, Some Blissful Bedtime Balm (also smells heavenly) and A really neat wooden candleholder.

R has had his nose pressed into the sachet!  He loves the smell!

The dream catcher is in R's room as that is where the kids and I sleep.  (I know, not exactly what I had planned as the family bed, but you know... life happens).  The angel is hanging over S's bed (someday, someone will sleep there).  The candle, candleholder, and quartz are in the grown-up room and that balm is waiting in the bathroom for after bath time tonight. 

Sweet Sleep Soap

This most recent swap is called the Sleepytime Swap.  I haven't done one in a while, but this sounded fun.  My creation is soap!

A blend of coconut oil (which is my new obsession), lye, a hint of shea butter, lavender flowers, chamomile flowers, organic oats, and honey.  It's to die for!  The lather is thick and creamy and doesn't leave your skin dry.  I'll never buy store-bought soap again.

Here's the little bundles all ready to go.  And since I wanted to include something extra, I wood-burned some stars to go with it.  One star says "Dream" and the other "Rest".

Turning lemons into...

Not lemonade! 

This week I had a much anticipated second interview for a job I really wanted.  As it was in training not in education, I was a bit conflicted.  It did not offer summers off and time to take my kids to dentist appointments, but it made up for that in salary and benefits.  So when I got the (really nice) rejection letter, I was quite disappointed.  So how to turn lemons into lemonade?  Literally? 

R and I whipped up a (my first ever) batch of wine (lemons and oranges).  I had been collecting dandelions, but missed the initial crop.  So I modified the recipe I found here.  Instead of a gallon of dandelions, I used my pathetic amount and added in dried rosehips and dried elderberries.  Should be interesting.  I have about $50 invested in wine making materials and less than $3 in this first batch.  And it should yield a gallon of wine... in 6 months. 

The fire stacker...

R's mama-made gift in all it's finished glory!

Autumn Sprites

Sent these off Saturday morn...

More Quiet book

Working away...

Quiet book

On Tuesday morning I got my quiet book pages back from the swap (which occured while we were in KY).  Yesterday I got materials to put it all together.  I would have started sooner, but things have been crazy around here. 

I was about to begin when I realized that I needed an extra page to make the books a bit more equal.  So I busted out another page - took all of an hour!  I had the cut outs already.  I used a friend's Sizzix ages ago.  I was going to use them for hair clips, but this is even better. 

This page will probably go in S's book.  She should enjoy pulling the flower apart and putting it back together again. 

Hedgehogs

For some reason, I can not get a good picture of the wooden hedgehogs I made.  *sigh*

Here's the best I could get...

These were made for an animal themed swap. 

Rainbow Stacker

One of my favorite projects to date!

I ordered the rough wood cut-outs from another MI seller on Etsy.  I sanded them all smooth.  Then I watercolored the pieces and sealed with beeswax. 

I'll give these to S as a gift for moving her into her "Big Girl Room"... and out of the family bed.

BOG Easter Swap

So, for the BOG Easter swap, I have three "slots".  The bunny and carrots hanger, the violet root children and these little flower children:

I hope to get these in the mail in the next couple days!  Then move on to my next Easter Swap goodies...

The beard, some crafting and birthdays

So we've had quite the chuckles over this facial hair. It's already gone, but it inspired some "vintage" hair-do's as well... glad I got one shot (even if it was during bathtime).

 

 I've been crafting like crazy.  These are some necklaces for my BOG swap.  I made brooches for the mamas and these necklaces for the little ones. 

 I've also made some new brooches for my Etsy... just in time for Valentine's Day...

 And I recently sold a nursing necklace so I made up some more to list.  Here is my most reliable "tester".  She makes sure that they are durable enough for the roughest babe.  And she's so stinkin' cute to boot!

Must not forget...

A Very Happy Birthday to my Father (a.k.a. Grandad to my kids). 

Hmmm he must be 57 today (if my math is correct).  Happy Birthday Dad!  We love you!

Next up: S's First Birthday Celebration!

Naps and other strange things...

So Saff appears to be transitioning to one nap.  But it's touch and go with the morning nap (or like today, the morning nap was all she got).  Since it is impossible for me to "parent down" one kid when the other is wide awake and also in the bed, R is missing some naps.  Actually, he's taking it quite well.  He's having a nap every other day-ish.  We've moved bedtime up to 7 for days when Saff only gets one nap and R misses his.  So far so good.  Tonight she was alseep by 7:15 and he was asleep by 7:30.  We actually had some time to do other things.  Yay!

Here is my silly monkey on the kitchen counter "helping" me make dinner. She is eating a chunk of left over pork loin. Choking hazard? Nah!

Back by popular demand:  The bug sensory bin!  Now with more bugs!

 Since we skipped a nap today, we decided to make a house/fort out of left over Christmas boxes.  Both kids really enjoyed playing in the boxes.  Guess I'll have to keep them around a little longer.

 Finally, I've been using my extra wool sweater bits to make V-day brooches and flower hairpins for the upcoming swap.  These are 100% upcycled wool with needle-felting and vintage buttons on some.  I'm liking them!

Sunday update

As you can see, the Sensory Bin went over well.  He even shared it with a friend Friday evening (it was difficult, but he did it). 

We've been inside a lot with the weather turning colder.  We've started building "couch forts"...

Finally, my latest Waldorf swap items came.  This theme was "baby".  I made my nursing necklaces, if you recall.  Here's the goodies I got back.  I am especially excited about putting the little baby in someone's stocking...