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. 





Swaps

Here's my latest creations for a one-on-one swap...

He's called a Tomten and he's a sweet little Swedish gnome.  They were believed to take care of a farmer's home and children and protect them from misfortune, in particular at night, when the housefolk were asleep. We have a lovely storybook about him and I am making one for us to keep as well.

Tooth fairy Swap

Little bits of toothy goodness!  I made these hangers to hang on the child's door.  Of course, they could put the tooth inside the pocket, but why not a note to the Toothfairy instead?  Instructions?  Requests?  Poems???

I included the sweet little poem below and some tiny, blue-green shells recovered from Grandma Carr's endless craft supplies. 



Calling all Tooth Fairies

This night it is a special night
As fairies dance upon the roof.
All the fairies must alight,
For _____ just lost a tooth!

The Fairy Queen gives her commands-
Twelve bright fairies must join hands
Then together in a circle stands
To guard _____ while he sleeps.

The Tooth Fairy into the circle leaps
The hidden tooth she borrows
Ah, but has far to go
Before returning tomorrow.

Three times around the world she flies
Over valleys deep and mountains high;
Skirts the storm clouds thick with thunder,
Wings over waves all wild with wonder.

Deep within their earthly homes
Finally she finds the gnomes,
Who upon the tooth must work
Never once their magic shirk.

Some are hammering, hammering, hammering,
Some the bellows blow
Others sweat at the sweltering forge
And then cry out, “Heigh Ho!”

The tooth’s been turned to a shining stone,
A glimmering, glowing gem
The Tooth Fairy takes the gnomes’ good gift,
And bows to all of them.

She returns to ____ bed,
Before the sun’s first rays are shown,
Places the gift beneath his head.
And then - - - away she’s flown!

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".

Stocking Stuffer Swap

LOTS of goodies to sort and ship... almost done!

One-to-one Swap

For the first time, I decided to participate in a one-to-one swap.  In these swaps you craft for another mama and she crafts for you.  No theme, you just decide what to craft after getting to know her better.  So, my partner has two kids.  A six year old boy and a 3 year old girl.  I thought they would enjoy a stacker.  Lord knows my kids adore our rainbow stacker.  My partner mentioned that her kids might like a gnome home and that became my inspiration.  So here's the finished product...

It needed some greenery, so they are getting the 3 little shrubs too.  And one extra little surprise.  :)

Off to work on the fire stacker for R.  It was his "mama made" request for Christmas. 

Halloween Swap back!

I sent off the wooden black cat faces and ghosts, remember?

I received these (bad photo alert)...

One day of the dead felt face, three upcycled wool leaves, one needle felted bat (hard to see in this picture), one sewn pumpkin, and a rune set in a cute tin. 

I have to say, not nearly as "Halloweeny" as I expected.  But overall really cute and it has given me a fabulous idea of what to make S for Christmas. 

Now, off to work out birthday details.  My boy is rapidly approaching 4, don't cha know!

Autumn Sprites

Sent these off Saturday morn...

Halloween Swap

What do I see?

What could that be?

Ghostly traces?

Black cat faces?

It must be Halloween!

 

Enjoy these little wood-burned figures (with watercolors) sealed with beeswax.

 

Happy Halloween!!!

 

(Dropped in the mail on Friday!!!)

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. 

All my "free" time...

... has been spent on this project:

These are "quiet book pages".  My parenting group decided to do a swap.  Problem is, we had 15 participants.  So, I've sewn 16 pages (14 to swap and one for each of my kids).  That's 16 tea leaves, 32 coffee beans, and 48 sugar cubes.  All with snaps attached.

Animal Swap goodies

Well, these swap goodies got nabbed straight away.  No saving them for gifts! 

I sent off my hedgies and I received back four animal themed child-sized napkins, a plush snake, mama and baby elephant finger puppets, a bear mask, and an owl oven mitt.  All super cute. 

(bed head!)

BOG Easter Swap has Arrived!

I had three "slots", so I received 15 items back...

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...

More Easter Swap sneak peeks...

Bunny and carrots wall hanging:

Life cycle of a tulip on a sweet little egg:

Flower Child

Here's a prototype for an upcoming swap... she's from this story...

She's a violet (as in flower) root child.

Tree spirit swap

Here's my entry into the BOG "Tree Spirit Swap"...

Just to clarify, I participate in two regularly occuring swap groups.  One is called Bits of Goodness (BOG) and it's a Waldorf Inspired Group that ships and swaps internationally.  The items are usually for our kids and they must be made of 100% natural materials.  The other swap is through my local attachment parenting group.  The items are not always for our kids and do not have to be all natural (though they usually are).  Each group has a theme and a deadline.  I enjoy these swaps because they result in cool stuff for my kids and I love the creative challenges.  Okay, let me know if you have questions!