Beautiful vases and lanterns

Lately I have come across a lot of creative projects that include the use of Mod Podge, and I just had no idea what this was, so I set out to find out, and what I found was that it is basically the same as the white glue/water mixture that I use for lanterns and such, except it has an added water based sealer included in the mix, which add a shine or not depending on the kind you get, as well as gives your project a more protective finish. I wanted to make my own and found different suggestions, one is to mix wood glue with water until you have the desired consistency, and another says to mix white glue with water and then add a water based sealer to that. Well looking around at the different options in the craft store I went with a bottle of actual Mod Podge, just to try, this way I know what my homemade one should look and feel like. As for a project to use this with, I have seen on both Gardenmama and Earthboys this past week beautiful flower vases, made in the same way we make our lanterns, and thought that that might be just the project to try out this Mod Podge.

We found some old glass jars, removed the labels, and added with a paint brush, the Mod Podge to the glass, then added the tissue paper, and then covered the paper with Mod Podge, up until this point it seemed much like the good old white glue/water mixture, if perhaps a bit more sticky.

Once dry we gathered flowers to add to our little vases, Keenan chose colorful flowers, I choose to fill mine with herbs, and Kaleena wanted hers to hold a candle and be a lantern.

For extra decorations we added some beads. A few weeks  ago Kaleena very much enjoyed to sit and play with beads and she made these beautiful little loops in different colors, and they added beautiful details to these sweet vases. Also a few weeks ago I had laid a few Queen Ann's lace flowers to dry between some books, and thought that a couple of them might look pretty added onto my vase. The Mod Podge worked great for this,  I am really happy with the result. As I look at the creations all finished, I really like the shiny addition of the Mod Podge, and it seems like these will indeed last longer than similar lanterns or vases we have made on different occasions, where now the paper is pealing off. 

All in all I really enjoyed my first Mod Podge experience:)

~have a  wonderful day~

Lavender air freshener wands, and children's art

Inspired by a post I saw the other day on "Golden Sun Family", I set out to find some fresh Lavender sprigs, I was fortunate to find a few big clusters growing by the road and picked up a few. Check here for tutorial on how to make these wands. It took me a bit to get the hang of it, this is a weaving project, and takes a little effort.

Once I got started I realized that these would make great air fresheners for the car, and the bedroom and well the kitchen area as well. The great thing about the wands rather than simply hanging the flowers, is that the little flowers are contained inside the weaving, and so do not drizzle off the stems. The lovely wands have already filled the air with the sweet calming scent of lavender. Once the scent get weaker, a few drops of essential lavender oil could be added.

I added one to the wreath that we made the other day, to add the calming lavender scent to our bedroom

this one hangs in the dining/kitchen area

and this one in the car, I absolutely love to come into the car, and be greeted by the scent of lavender

I also wanted to share some beautiful pictures the children painted this morning. We had some old pieces of wood laying around, and the children have been wanting to do some painting, other than water coloring that is, so we got out the acrylics some sponges and they loved it.

I really love how they turned out.

This one is Keenan's

and this one Kaleena's

so pretty...

~happy, sweet lovely monday to you~

Making a grapevine wreath

This morning we went to our favorite park. While the children rode their bikes, smelled flowers, found blueberries to pick and climbed trees, all the usual, I 

 looked around for inspiration for a project. I have been a little low on inspiration lately, still recovering from a stomach virus that hit us this weekend past.

I passed a beautiful flowering bush and saw that it was covered with grapevines growing 

all over and around it. Remembering that the wreaths I usually use as bases for our advent wreath and any other wreath we might make, are made from grapevines, I thought that this might be a great project.

Helping out this beautiful struggling bush, and making a home made base for future wreath projects.

Here is Keenan bringing the tangly vines, after we all got busy taking the leaves off.

We went back several times until the bush was almost free of vines, this I think was Keenan's favorite part of the project.

Kaleena got straight to work twisting the vines around each other, 

such a monkey she is, look how she uses her foot to work the wreath.

Keenan too enjoyed twisting and turning the vines around, his never turned into a wreath, but he took the task very seriously.

Here Kaleena's is all finished 

And here is mine, I was very happy with it, and believe that it will turn brown once it dries, just like the ones found in the craft stores, although I will have to wait to know for sure.

Back home and after a swim, we all got busy with wool, felt, cutting

and sewing 

This was what Kaleena made, and it was added to the big wreath to make it a pretty summer time center piece, perhaps for the front door once we get a nail hammered in.

This was Keenan creation, he too insisted on cutting and sewing the felt, 

and this was what he made,  he was very proud of it.

I made a sun center piece for the wreath

And here is the finished wreath. I think it turned out very cute,

simple and homemade with love.

And I look forward to see it changing with the seasons, and in time be part of our advent wreath.

Thanks for stopping by!

~And have a lovely day~

Glowing ballon lanterns

In preparation for our weekend back yard camp out we decided to make some lanterns.
 This is such a simple project, and we have used this technique many times before, mostly to make little glass lanterns for Michaelmas or for Christmas decorations. Having used all available glass ware in the house for recent jam and herbal medicine making, we decided to use balloons instead.
(although glass lanterns would have probably been better suited for outside use)

(A few tips from this experience, next time I will not glue paper up so close to the knot as it makes it harder to take the balloon out once popped, also while you don't want to thick of a layer of paper, do make sure that there is an ample amount of glue on, at least enough that all paper is wet through, as this makes for a smoother surface and a bit harder lantern shell. the children's had not quite enough glue, and so had a bit more flimsy form, still beautiful though for sure.)

Ingredients are the same whether you use glass or balloons for your lantern;

watered down white school glue, tissue paper and paint brushes, and in this case balloons.

We then added strips of ripped up tissue paper with the glue unto the balloon

and once we had a couple of layers hung them up to dry.

Once dry, which took the better part of the day, we popped the balloon, and ended up with a scrunched up little raisin looking thing, the children did not like that part, yet they are easily straightened out once the balloon is removed. Then I cut around the opening and added a small candle, which of course I watch carefully.

Here they are all lit up, although you cannot really see it, as I haven't quite figured out how to take a picture without the automatic flash popping up (In my defense it is a relatively new camera, and I rarely read owners manual:) ) None the less, the children love their simplicity and warm glow.

Kaleena making a wish before bedtime.

We are looking forward to enjoying the effect of these lanterns around our tent,
and I will surely post pictures of this little event.
I do hope the weather holds up, saturdays forecast says it will, yet right now there is lots of thundering and threatening clouds.

Thanks for checking in,

and have a wonderful day!

Garden Mandalas

We created amazing Mandalas in the garden today, they were so beautiful, and were greatly enjoyed by the children and myself alike, from the gathering of plant material, to the creating of the Mandalas and in true Mandala style, reminding us that it is the journey not the destination that truly matters, the breaking down of the beautiful creations.

Here are our well loved baskets full of plant beauty

Keenan really got into it, as a three year old I thought he would quickly loose interest, but he stayed on for a long time adding on to his creation

Kaleena, who loves these kinds of activities, made first one and then started over and made another

and here are the different stages of the one I made, I got a little carried away with the camera, but I just adore the progression.

And when we were done creating we gathered up the corners of our "canvas"

and created yet another pile of plant material to start all over again.

Do share if you have, or feel inspired to make beautiful plant Mandalas.

And a beautiful sunflower from our plant gathering walk.

A perfect reminder that summer truly is here.

May your day be wonderfully creative:)