Getting Ready for the Holiday Fair at Hazel's School

Sharing Saturday is still open for you to share your child-oriented crafts and activities or to be inspired by the amazing ones already shared!

As we approach the holiday season, I found out that we need to supply some things for the amazing holiday fair at Hazel's school, Cape Ann Waldorf School. At the fair they have a Wee Folk Shop where the young children (through second grade) can "shop" for a certain number of tickets they get to go into a room that is set up with silks hanging from the ceiling making it more their size and wonderful gifts to "buy" and then have an elf wrap for them. The idea is for them to get a gift for a family member, but in reality they get themselves a gift. Last year Hazel got a barrette (don't know why since she won't wear one) and a needle felted sheep. She went into it twice. Every family in the Early Childhood Program at the school is asked to donate at least 20 items to the Wee Folk Shop. 

There is also a Pocket Lady. Basically it is a person who wears a dress with pockets everywhere and a child can use one ticket to pick a gift from any pocket. These gifts are meant to be small and can be something like a marble or stone or shell or something small that is homemade. All are suppose to be Waldorf type of gifts and we were asked to wrap these in tissue paper. Every family in the school is asked to donate at least 20 Pocket Lady gifts as well.

With Hazel sick the last few days, I needed something to work on where I could sit next to her, so I made some of these gifts. I needle felted some acorns and used the acorn tops we have been finding. I also needle felted some lady bugs. Oh, and I needle felted a jack o' lantern for Hazel (see above). And of course I made extra acorns and an extra lady bug so Hazel could have some as well. I used the double and triple caps for Hazel.

We also used some stones, pine cones, and shells that Hazel has and Hazel helped me wrap them all.

In the end, we ended up with 40 Pocket Lady gifts and bagged them in groups of 20 (which we were asked to do).

For the Wee Folk Shop I needle felted some snowmen. I saw a cute one at Better Homes and Gardens. I made mine a bit more plain in that Waldorf way of using your imagination.

At the Pumpkin Patch Holiday Fair, I saw some of the cutest ribbon barrettes. Some were Disney princesses (I may try these for Hazel's birthday) and some were snails and animals. I googled, and checked Pinterest and found some tutorials and some ideas. I made a couple of simple bows. Then I tried some flowers. And I attempted the snails (which I fell in love with at the fair). I have more to make, but wanted to share these. They are so easy to do with glue, ribbon and barrettes.  I also had two unused headbands sitting around from our teddy bear picnic and I had some wool felt flowers I bought awhile ago on clearance and just sewed them onto the headbands. They are cute as well.

So here are the first 10 of my Wee Folk Shop contributions. I will be making some more, but thought I would share what I have been up to. Enjoy!!

Outside Play & A Couple Princess Crafts

At last week's Sharing Saturday, I featured 2 Big, 2 Little's Playing with Water. I knew we had to try it and we did. Both Saturday and Sunday. Hazel loved it!! She has a water and sand table, but we found she always put the sand in the water so we made it a sand only table. We took some of the water toys from there and some from her bath for this though. We also used our colored water spray bottles that we used for snow painting this winter.

She insisted on bringing out her chair so she could sit while playing.

She had some of her kitchen toys out from her sandbox as well. She was whisking the color into the water.

Then when she got a color she didn't like anymore, she dumped the water and refilled it.

You know she enjoyed it since we had to do it again today when we played outside.

This time she got her wind-up duck working and checked to see what would float. I told her the duck wanted the water to be orange so she made him orange water.

We also had to make her a house on her swingset. The house we built at school this morning was taken down by the other kids as soon as she switched to another toy and she got really upset so I promised her we would make one outside today. I sewed the edges of these and bought large clothespins. You can see more here. We have also added her pillow pet and a blanket so she has a place to rest in her house.

She also could not wait to try out her new red chair. We had bought her one ages ago and last summer it broke, so she has been asking for a new one. We found one at Christmas Tree Shop and bought it. This is the first time I let her bring it out and opened it up for her. She was very excited about the drink holder even if her sippy cup didn't fit in it.

I know I shared this book before, The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven. It is a cute story about the adventures of a paper princess a girl draws and cuts out and then the wind blows away. The princess wants to get back to her girl and this is the adventure of getting back home. Well since Hazel is still in the scribble stage of drawing, we found these people cut-outs and bought the girl ones at AC Moore for $1. We used watercolors on them. I tried to make the dress like the forest and the tights like the night sky and the feet like watermelons, but the colors ran. I still think they came out lovely though.

My Princess

Hazel's Princess

The other night I also needle felted Hazel a new princess. I used pipe cleaners in this one for stability. She loves her.

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Some Felt and Felting Projects

Happy Mother's Day!! 

 

I found this wool felt bowl on clearance at Michaels awhile ago. I actually bought two--one brown and one blue. I thought the brown one would make a neat bird's nest. I finally got around to making Hazel some birds for it. I needle felted her a light blue one following the directions in Beginner's Guide to Needle Felting by Susanna Wallis. I haven't added the legs yet which they used metal and I wasn't sure I wanted to. Then I tried to copy one with wings out. He has a white stomach, but I didn't get good pictures of it. This bowl is one I picked up the other day and am thinking I will make some more birds and give it as a gift to Hazel's teacher for the end of the year.

I'm not sure why we were using plastic balls in there, but I figured they made good eggs until I get something to be the eggs.

We also found these wool felt purses and wool felt flowers on clearance. I sewed the flowers onto the purses. Hazel wants the blue one, but I figured the purple can be for a friend when we get invited somewhere and need a small gift.

Then you may remember a couple of weeks ago I featured a Felt Rainbow Sorting Game from One Perfect Day at Sharing Saturday. Well I cut one out for Hazel. I used the Eco felt since I didn't have all the colors in the wool felt.

I wish I had more time to make all the wonderful ideas I see at Sharing Saturday and on Pineterest and everywhere. Don't you?

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Huckabuck Bread, Felted Can Opener and Wet Kitty

Fluffy in one of her favorite places

Since we do not have school this week or next, I decided we would make Huckabuck Bread on our own. I have the recipe the teachers use each week. Somehow ours does not turn out nearly as good, but todays was pretty good. Hazel has been asking to make it at home for awhile. She was not happy about me taking pictures however. And she quit part way through on me.

Huckabuck Bread

Ingredients

	2 cup(s) water, warm
	1 tsp honey
	1 Tbsp yeast
	4 cup(s) Flour, organic, white, Bread
	4 cup(s) whole wheat  flour
	1 tsp table salt 2 tsp cinnamon dash of ground cardamom
	1/2 cup(s) olive oil
	1/4 cup(s) molasses
	1/4 cup(s) honey

Frothy Yeast

1. Dissolve the honey in the warm water. Then stir in yeast. Set aside to get frothy.
2. Combine the flours, salt, cinnamon and cardamom in a large bowl.
3. Combine oil, molasses and honey in another bowl.
4. Add yeast mixture to dry ingredients and combine. Then add oil mixture. You will need to mix with your hands. Then turn out on lightly floured surface and knead the dough for at least 10 minutes.
5. Put into oiled bowl and cover with cloth and let rise for 30 minutes (I let it rise for over an hour).
6. Punch down and knead on lightly floured surface and shape into rolls. Place on greased baking sheet.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (I found I needed to bake it longer, but I was not using a small toaster oven like they do in the class.)



Kneading the dough

8. Serve with honey butter (ok, I didn't make the honey butter today, but we do have it that way at class).

Before Rising

After Rising

Out of the oven

I also made Hazel her can opener for her kitchen. I decided to needle felt it. I was trying to make it so she could turn the handle and spin one of the buttons, but my method broke after I spun it a few too many times (apparently).

I used a hook button for the handle and two round buttons for the cutters.

I think she will like it when she sees it tomorrow. What do you think? I made it the same colors as mine (except mine does not have anything wooden on it).

And our crazy kitty, Fluffy was hanging out in the sink again. This is the bathroom sink in what we call Hazel's bathroom (it is the main floor bathroom that is not the master bath). She actually lay there while the water was running for a bit too and then decided she wanted a drink. She loves to jump into the bathtub after we have showered or bathed so she drink the water or roll in it. She is a bit of a crazy cat.

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Easter Celebrations

We have had a lovely weekend celebrating Easter. My parents came to visit and Hazel has been in her glory. On Saturday we went to church for the Easter Fun Day. I will share more about this tomorrow, but while there she was given a gift from one of our friends.

Rainbow sheep that she needle felted and the book Rainbow Sheep by Kim Chatel. Thank you, Barbara!!

The book is a wonderful story about a shepherdess and her sheep. They live through a week of rain and are all muddy when a sad rainbow comes out. The shepherdess tells the rainbow how she stays happy--often using some imagination of what might live in the forest and water below. Finally she gets the rainbow happy--so happy she is laughing so hard she cries and turns the tears turn the sheep colors. At the end of the book are instructions to make the sheep. All the pictures are needle felted and it is a lovely book and story.

Then at church on Sunday Hazel was given another gift. A few weeks ago when Hazel and I were cooking she asked if I could make her a can opener for her kitchen. Ok, I haven't made it yet, but said well what would you open with it. We decided to ask our friend, Jack, to make her a wooden can. Well, he of course agreed and made her not only one can, but three and more.

They are all labeled with Miss Hazel's Soup or Hazel's Soup. One even says home cooked and made with love and kisses. Aren't they wonderful?

He made her an apple and some eggs as well as blocks and wooden balls.

Sorry the picture of the wooden balls didn't come out. But wasn't this a great gift. Needless to say, Hazel loves it!! Thank you, Jack and Donna!!

Hazel was also extremely excited to receive two books from her aunt. She got two of her favorites and recognized them when opening them from their backs. She got Ant and Grasshopper by Luli Grey and Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes. I posted about the Ant and Grasshopper here. We still need to make Ant's house for Hazel. We love Kevin Henkes books. We fell in love with his Little White Rabbit last year and then My Garden. This year we have loved his Chrysanthemum and Sheila Rae, The Brave. His writing always shows imagination and these two also show some normal children fears and life. For a short time Hazel's Ducky was named Chrysanthemum after the book's character.

Anyway, that is all for today. I hope you are having a wonderful day!! Tomorrow I'll share more about our family activities this weekend for Happy Family Times!

Creative Play and Felting for Easter

Last weekend we made a deal with Hazel. We would all go through her toys and bag some up to get rid of and then we bought her two new ones to replace the three plus bags we will pass on to friends or donate. One of the toys she picked (we used Kohls dollars to pay for the new toys so it was like getting them for free) was the Melissa and Doug birthday cake. It is a wooden circle that is sliced and decorated as a birthday cake with Velcro to add candles or other decorations. She has been loving it. Remember it is my or Ducky's birthday every day at our house. Well the picture above is her dolls and animals sharing the cake at Ducky's birthday party the other day. I love how she puts them all in the high chair so they can all be sitting to enjoy the one piece of cake she gives all of them.

She has also decided that Ducky is now potty training, so she lets me know when he needs to go to the bathroom as well. We had gotten her a doll that takes a bottle and then goes potty with a potty seat. She never puts the doll on the potty seat but it is Ducky's now. (Did I mention our living room is now Ducky's bedroom since we have the cradle my father made when my oldest sister was born in there?)

Today got up to 60 so we spent some time this afternoon outside. Hazel spent most of yesterday outside between our Drumlin Farm adventure and the afternoon with a babysitter. Here she is using our friend's swingset (we only have it in our yard for about a month more since the friend is finally moving into their own house again).

She wanted to play boat again. She steers up in the clubhouse and I sit on the swing. She informed me she was bringing me to school. How exciting that I take a boat to school.

She also went on her own swingset. We also dug in the garden, played hide and seek and she brought a book out to read. She also pulled out her chalk and a few trucks and her small umbrella table (without the umbrella), but the plates on it blew in the wind.

The Hopscotch She Asked Me to Draw--She Told Me what to write on it

Her drawing of a house and butterflies

Oh, and she brought out her CD player so we could listen to Sesame Street outside. I of course was enjoying the fact that spring has sprung in the yard (oh and I brought out some wet felting to try).

It got too windy for Hazel so we came inside. Plus she was getting tired and hungry. Snack time! I just love how her imagination is developing and listening to her ideas. We also moved her small slide that we have in her family room so she could have a pretend pool. Basically all the stuffed animals and dolls are swimming in the pool all the time now.

I decided to try making this adorable chick in egg that I saw posted at Living Crafts Blog. I'm not sure I had the right size eggs and think that wooden eggs would probably have worked better, but I tried it. My eggs improved with practice. I did two of the chicks following their directions and the other two I did wet felted without using a plastic egg as a mold and then needle felted on the beaks and feet and eyes.

Egg felted around plastic egg (still inside)

A few comments I have is I definitely think the directions had too much soap. I have never wet felted with such a soapy mixture before. Also I really felt the chicks came out better without the egg unless you wanted to make finger puppets. Perhaps mine would have been better with more practice, but I found them easier without the egg as a form and a better size to get in the eggs.

Chicks following their directions

Chicks done as solids

To make my other chicks I rolled some roving to form somewhat of an egg/chick shape and then wet felted it. This method makes a solid chick so they are not finger puppets like the other ones, but I could control the size better.

Miniature needle felted chicks

I also needle felted some animals for Hazel's Easter basket (since I had the roving and needle felting tools out). To make the chicks, I made a ball/egg shape with yellow roving and needled it. Then added some orange to be a beak and feet.

I also did a rabbit and a duck. The rabbit was done similarly but added a tail and ears and tried to form a head a bit. The duck is slightly larger than the chicks.

View from top

I also made a pair of swans. I am imagining Hazel using the chicks, rabbit and swans and possibly the duck with her knitted farm mat that she will get from the swap I organized.

I also played with making some needle felted Peeps. They aren't perfect, but I'm happy with them. All of these needle felted animals will go in Hazel's Easter basket or in the plastic eggs for the egg hunt.

What are you doing for Easter baskets?

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