Thoughts of gratitude

As the energy around us settles down and people gather with their families in the spirit of gratitude, I like to take a moment to remember all the blessings in my life. Thanksgiving is not a tradition close to my heart, being born and raised in Denmark it is not something I grew up with, and then there is the plight of the indians.....Yet over the years it has become a day for me to remember all the things for which I feel grateful. I do attempt to keep gratitude in my heart everyday, yet on this day I make a more conscious effort to remember a few of our blessings...

~my sweet children~

~their sweet laughs~

~Their love of nature~

~our family's good health~

~the upcoming reunion with Miguel; my husband the children's papa~

~the loving support of family and friends~

~true friends~

~homegrown food~

~homemade medicin~

~stunning scenery~

~the little things we do for our planet~

~the love and support we share~

~life, beauty and all that is~

~happy Thanksgiving to all~

Gingerbread houses and birthday cake

Look at the beautiful birthday cake the children and my sister made for me today. 

They let me sleep in, had a lovely birthday table ready and a most delicious breakfast....

How very fortunate I am, and how grateful I am for 39 healthy journeys around the sun..

 In the afternoon we went to see the yearly Gingerbread house display that has been happening in these parts for 16 years. People traveled here from twenty states to participate, and the chance to win $3000. Every part of these creations are edible, some the children simply could not believe were actual cakes, so real did they look... I thought I would share some of my favorite... 

Leather pouch for treasure collecting; Handmade Holiday

Today I made Kaleena this sweet leather pouch for her to bring along on hikes, to keep all the treasures she gathers.

Inevitably when we go out into nature she finds treasures of all kinds and they usually end up in my pockets, as well as her own. I thought this bag would be a lovely little bring along pouch to keep safe all those lovely finds. It was really easy and quick to make, and now I am excited to make a smaller one for Keenan and perhaps one for the dolls as well.

We have here in town a lovely store, that among many other crafty items and natural fibers, sell leather scraps by weight,  I got a rather large piece for a couple of dollars, gotta love that:)

I cut it into five pieces, the back and lid one piece, two side pieces, one front piece and one bottom piece, as well as two smaller strips, not pictured for the belt loop in the back  

with this lovely tool I punched holes all the way down the bottom, the tool easily punches through the two layers

(before that I did sew on the cross for the belt to slide through)

then sewed it together using a hemp string

then added the front piece to the bottom, and then the two side. Only the corners were a little tricky to make nice. Then I sewed up the sides and

 added two wooden buttons to the front, and cut little slits in the lid to close it.

The only thing I will do but haven't yet is to add a shoulder strap, because for now I doubt she will wear it on a belt...

 After christmas she will have a lovely pouch for gathering all her treasures in, made with all my love

~may your sunday be full of joy~

This Moment

A friday ritual inspired by Soulmama

A single photo, no words

A moment I want to pause, treasure and remember

~A happy weekend to all~

Handmade Holiday

Greetings...

A quick update on the christmas gifts that I am busily working on.

I am almost halfway done with an extra long wool scarf for my sister. I made one of these a couple of years ago for my husband, and since he has been away I have been using it, and it has become clear that I must also make one for myself. I love it!. The secret is to make it extra long. It is very simple yet time consuming; I cast on 36, and then knit 3 purl 3 and so on. I think I will use 3 skeins of the Lambs pride bulky weight yearn to complete it, maybe even a bit more.

I am also in the process of making a special woolen blanket for Kaleena. I am loving using felted woolen sweaters and I am using these for her blanket. So far I have cut perhaps half of the squares that I will need. I need to find a few more lighter colored sweaters to complete the look I want for her.  I will share the finished product once I have it ready

I also finished two more pairs of fingerless mitts for the youngest girls of the house, I may add a scarf to these, I have not decided yet..

 Today at the homeschooling group one sweet mama gifted me with this bunch of soft delicious alpaca wool, straight from her friends farm. I don't know what it is about wool that makes me so happy, but it does!! I am continuously amazed at the generosity of this wonderful community we share, and will surely miss this amazing group when we move on!!

As for this lovely wool, I have plans to make a couple of knitted animals that will need stuffing, and who knows what other lovely projects will spring from this gift.

~happy creating y'all~

The yearly advent bags

Inspired by an amazing homeschooling Waldorf mama back in Miami, I have been using these simple advent bags to count down the days to Christmas since Kaleena was two years old.

I have actually been using the same bags every year until this years. As I have mentioned so many times already, most of our belongings are boxed and stored, and that is also true of our christmas treasures, so this year I made a new collection of bags.

I keep it really simple, I use plain paper gift bags and this time I used scrapbook paper, the first set I made I used an antique looking gift wrapping paper for the numbers.

Then on the first sunday in advent the children wake up to find these bags strung on the wall using clothespins. The first year I tied each bag with a red ribbon, and the effect was lovely, but very 

time consuming and hard for the children to get down on their own, so since then we have used clothespins.

For the most part the surprise in the bag is a project to be made together during that day, some things repeat on certain days each year. The first bag always contains candles for the advent wreath, and that day we make the wreath together, make aebleskiver ( a danish tradition of round pancake like balls), and drink hot chocolate. On the 1st of dec we they always find pine branches in the bag and that day we get our tree. One day we bake cookies, another make christmas card for family and friends, and so on. Usually each sunday will hold a little simple gift. The children love this tradition and each day wake up excited to check on the surprises of the bags.

 To make them I simple take the paper of choice cut out the numbers from one to usually thirty, each year will be a little different depending on what day christmas falls on

  glue them on

and hang them....

clearly they have not been hung yet, I would usually have them on more of a straight line as to me it looks prettier:)

~A beautiful day to you~

This Moment

A friday ritual inspired by Soulmama

A single photo, no words

A moment I want to pause, treasure and remember

~Have a wonderful weekend~