Michelle's blog

Last year we created a Handmade Holidays Shopping Directory. It was set up to offer FREE advertising to our readers that have small online shops that feature items that are handmade or offer supplies for crafting. It was a huge success, and we are expecting more of our readers to participate this year.

Of course, we always like to challenge our readers to make as many gifts as possible. It's fun, it's economical and it's satisfying. But we also like to encourage our readers to support SAHMs that are crafting lovely gifts. So, if you'd like your shop to be included in our directory, and your site is family friendly and in keeping with the spirit of Wee Folk Art, read the instructions below. Shops will be listed in the order received. If you don't have a shop to include, please check the resource list frequently to see what new crafty goodness is being added, and consider buying from our readers. Finally, whether you are a "shoppee or a shopper", include a button on your website that shows you support Handmade Holidays! Yay!

INSTRUCTIONS:
If you would like your shop to be included in the listing please send me an email (michelle@weefolkart.com) including your Name, Shop, Website and a brief description of the products you carry (about 80 words will fit). I will choose a product image from your site to be used in your listing.

You must sell handmade items or crafting supplies (family friendly, of course, and in keeping with the spirit of Wee Folk Art) to be included. This is a FREE listing that we will maintain through the holiday season. We hope to have many shops take advantage of this opportunity to share their crafty goodness with others, thus making our holiday shopping a bit easier this season. The more the merrier!!!

PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT have to have an "ETSY" shop... just your own shop that sells handmade items or crafting supplies. No site is too big or too small to be included. And although it is not mandatory, we do encourage our participating shops to include the Handmade Holidays button with a link to this directory on their site to help spread Handmade Holiday Joy.

Jen (HereWeGoAJen) - Little Star Shop Little Star Shop provides custom designed onesies, t-shirts, babylegs, and cloth wipes. You can also find simple children's toys for open ended play. Rainbow eggs and playsilks are some of the more popular items! Most items are created just for you, so please ask for exactly what you'd like! SHOP http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleStarShop

Nicky - MagicRainbowDreaminx Hi, I am Nicky. I am offering lovingly handmade little treasures and accessories of many kinds: from felt accessories (NEW in 2010: items made of a most lovely 100% pure wool felt) to creating gem stone earrings (with 925 Sterling silver) to paperware to fun knit and crocheted items. I do love custom orders ~ so if you don't see what you're looking for, just contact me! Happy Season to you all! SHOP http://www.MagicRainbowDreaminx.etsy.com

Sarah - Nothing But Soap Each bar of soap is made with cold process high quality vegetable based ingredients. With true premium blends of goats milk, shea butter, concentrated blends of aloe, olive oil and more. Each bar has an abundant aroma of the essential oil soaps it is made from, making it a fantastic fragrance soap. I offer soap deals (the more you buy the more your discount) and gift sets that include a handknit washcloth and a wood soap dish. Enjoy! SHOP http:www.nothingbutsoap.etsy.com

Michelle - Wee Folk Art This is an example of the directory listing. Please include your name, your web address and a brief, about 80 words, description of your site and the products you sell. I will choose an image from your site to be included in the directory. Businesses will be listed in the order in which I receive the request to participate. SHOP http://www.WeeFolkArt.com

If you would like to include the HANDMADE HOLIDAYS Button on your site (whether or not you are listed in the directory) you can save the image to your computer and upload it to your site or copy and paste the code listed below. It will link to our 2010 Handmade Holiday Shop Directory.

BUTTON:
<a href="http://weefolkart.com/content/handmade-holidays-directory-2010"><img src="http://weefolkart.com/sites/default/files/handmade-holidays-2010.jpg" border="0px" width="125px"></a>

BTW- Please note that we do reserve the right to exclude any site we feel does not meet our guidelines.

Our Week with Tops and Bottoms

Here are some highlights from our week with Tops and Bottoms. It has been hot and hardly fall-like this past week but everyone was excited to get started. Pixie was thrilled to have her own school work and the older kiddos were very enthusiastic about the books and projects they remember so fondly. I was actually surprised how into it Bug got... he was the one insistent about completing the salt dough project, we couldn’t get to it fast enough.

And then while picking raspberries we had one of those precious moments that reaffirms that this is right where my family belongs right now. At our favorite U-Pick farm we had the raspberry fields to ourselves. The weather must have scared off most and the few other brave souls there were picking the early apples. In the berry patch, the children had spread out and where happily filling their buckets, Pixie in manner that couldn’t help but bring to mind Blueberries for Sal, Kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk! Although it was hot a lovely breeze was keeping us comfortable and Bug looks up at me from a few yards down the row, with his container half full, and says, "It is so peaceful out here. This is the best day." Yes it is sweetie.

If you have been working on Tops and Bottoms and would like to share your adventures with us, remember to add you blog links in the comments below (if you have blogged about this week more than once you are welcome to add multiple links).

This week we are starting our Harvest Time unit. I will be posting a weekly introduction every Monday to give everyone a space to chat about the program. If you would like more information about the program you can learn more and download the free homeschooling curriculum on our Harvest Time page. All of the directions for the art projects, recipes and activities are included in the curriculum guide. If your family is participating in the Harvest Time curriculum either for homeschooling or after school enrichment we would love to hear about it! Please leave a comment in this post in regards to your experiences with Harvest Time’s Week One activities. You are welcome, and highly encouraged to leave links to your Harvest Time’s Week One blog posts or pictures in the comment section of this post.

Harvest Time Week One
Primary Book: Tops & Bottoms,
Enrichment Book: The Vegetables We Eat,
Activities: Salt Dough Veggies,
Field Trip Idea: Grocery Store Produce,
Art: Bull Vaulting,
Poem: Little Boy Blue,
Flower Fairies: Bugle Fairy & Coloring Page

Links from Our first time completing the Unit...
Salt Dough Veggies
Farmer's Market Field Trip

Basic Salt Dough Recipe
1 Cup Salt
2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Room Temp Water
1 TBSP Vegtable Oil.
Bake at 200 F for several hours until dried through. Paint when dry. .

For a realistic touch, we used small twigs for stems. We also used toothpicks for adding details. I was surprised how well the Salt Dough retained its modeled shape. .

Note: Both puppies and almost 2 year olds like to eat the finished veggies! Keep a close eye on the little ones if you have 'em.

If your family is working on the Harvest Time curriculum either full time or just for some family fun enrichment, you are welcome to add the Harvest Time button on your website. You can save the button to you computer and upload as a photo to your site (you may want to link it back to the Main Harvest Time Page http://weefolkart.com/content/harvest-time-preschoolkindergarten-curriculum) or just copy the green text below and add it to you site.

Fall is just starting to creep in around here. In the past week we've noticed a few trees in our yard that have leaves that are tipped with gold. Chilly mornings have led to the kids digging deeper into their drawers pulling out long sleeved shirts (although by mid-afternoon these are really too warm to wear) and maybe most noticeably the food requests have started changing. Chili with cornbread and Vegetable Beef Soup with dumplings have made it to the table in the last week. Today after school we plan to switch out our seasonal decor and prepare our nature table for the fall.

This has reminded me of a fun project the kids and I did last year around this time. We made this Felt Fall Leaves Garland together. This was originally posted on Wee Folk Activities in September 2009.

It has been cold and rainy all day. So after we finished up our school activities we raided the craft cabinet for a project. This is what we came up with... a Felt Leaves Fall Garland.

What you need...
Various pieces of fall colored felt (craft felt is perfectly fine here - no need for wool)
Yarn
Yarn needle
Lots of beads with large holes
Leaf Pattern (get one from Wee Folk Art or collect leaves from your yard and trace)
(Embroidery floss or fabric paint if you would like to add the leaf vein details - after trying one, we decided to leave ours plain).

Cut out a bunch of felt leaves (we used 13).

Cut a long piece of yarn (3 to 4 yards) or for multiple family members cut out a yard of yarn each.

Poke the yarn needle through the top of a leaf about 1/2" from the edge and tie a large knot on one end.

String about 12" of beads and then add another felt leaf. Continue until you have strung all of your garland.

We each beaded a one yard section starting with a leaf and ending with a section of beads.

I took all the completed sections, tied them together, added the last leaf so both ends ended with a leaf, then trimmed the yarn to make our one long garland piece.

I think it adds a fun festive touch to our mantle.

Winter Wonderland 12 Week Curriculum
(Preschool-Kindergarten / Ages 4-6)

Here is the second preschool/Kindergarten term that I know many of you have been anxiously waiting to see. It has a very similar rhythm to the Harvest Time unit with a focus on animals in winter and simple nature studies. Enjoy!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual began by Amanda at Soule Mama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment you want to pause, savor and remember.

Have a lovely weekend ~ Kimara and Michelle

After several days (or was it weeks?) of miserable heat and humidity that was making everyone cranky, the weather broke and we are now free to enjoy being outdoors again. We've spent hours outside in the last few days making up for lost time. Although Pixie loves being outside, she can't go long without her art supplies. This often includes water colors at the picnic table, sidewalk chalk on the front porch and now since my grandma's move and we have piles of packing paper she has added to the mix soy egg crayons on the driveway. She has been very busy coloring on a large scale and we now have many, many, many colorful sheets of paper that will make wonderful wrapping paper for all of our upcoming fall birthdays.

Last week we dusted off some of our books, pushed aside the stacks of papers I never got a chance to organize from last year and dove into a new school year. Although I didn't feel totally prepared myself (our library needs some serious purging and reorganizing), the kids were ready for their routine to be re-established and were begging to start school.

This year in history we will be studying the Middle Ages. Bug is chomping at the bit to get into all of our history lessons... he has ear marked many, many pages in our Days of Knights and Damsels Activity Guide. The first project on our list were these Medieval Pockets. Clothing during the Middle Ages did not have pockets sew in and were instead worn on belts.

This felt version was fun to make. The kids helped cut out the pockets. Then they decided that they wanted to embroider pictures on the fronts of their pockets. Bug had a very specific spiral motif in mind, Fairy wanted to add her name and a flower and Pixie had the grandest plans of all... she kept telling us she was making a cow. LOL - squint, stand on your head or well hmmm... not sure I can get it to look like a cow. But she was pretty pleased with her pocket. Gammy joined in and made a beautiful flower pocket. I was busy helping little hands. After completing their pockets, the kids took them outside to fill with little treasures.

 

We haven't started up with everything yet. We will not be starting our Harvest Unit until September... the week of the seventh most likely. And, for everyone who keeps asking, I plan to have my Winter Unit posted in the next week or two. It is all done, it just needs some editing. The Spring Unit will probably not be posted until sometime later in the fall. I haven't even started typing it up. You can start looking for it at the end of September... my personal due date though is Halloween.

This project started off on a whim. I was at my mom's and had forgotten my knitting bag at home. What to do while enjoying a cup of coffee while the kids played? I raided my mom's stash of felt-able wool and came up with this cute little pouch.

I was originally intending it to work for me as a cell phone/wallet carrier. My hubby harps on me because I never have my cell phone on me... I always leave it in my purse in the car. The pouch size turned out perfect for my cell phone and wallet... but the strap wasn't quite long enough to work as a messenger style strap... which is what I wanted. BUT it makes the cutest purse for my girls! Fairy inherited this one and I will be making another one for Pixie... and yes probably a third for me with double the length in strap.

Needed:
Worsted Weight Felting Wool (don't know how much... I was stash busting scraps)
Size 11 needles
Large button
Gauge is 6 sts = 2"

Cast on 41 sts with two strands of worsted weight 100% wool. Work with double strands of yarn throughout the piece.

All rows: Slip 1, Knit to end until piece measures 6" x 13".

Fold in half and stitch up the sides.

Cast on 7 sts. Work in garter stitch for 3 feet (for child), 5-6 feet (for adult). NOTE: I like the 7 sts width for the child pouch but I will probably only use 5 sts when I make one for myself. Stitch the strap in place.

Braid 6 strands of yarn into a 4 inch long cord (or make an i-cord). Sew it in a U shape to the top edge of one side of the pouch.

Wash and dry on hot along with a towel to felt. Sew on a large button on the opposite side of the opening for your closure.

This summer we have discovered a fun new hobby... Letterboxing or as my kids call it... Treasure Hunting.

What is Letterboxing? It is a fun hobby that combines hiking, clues/maps and stamp collecting. You follow the clue to find a box. Inside the box you will find a special stamp and a notebook in a waterproof container. You stamp your notebook with the found stamp and the Letterbox notebook with your signature stamp, then you re-hide the box. This is a great way to encourage kids to hike! The first time out my little ones did a 3 mile hike and wanted to keep going for the next box.

What do you need to get started... just a journal for collecting stamps, a signature stamp to leave your mark (homemade or store bought), an ink pad and pen, possibly a compass and a clue map. I also keep sunblock, bug spray and a water bottle in our pack.

To find lettingboxing hunts in your area log on to Atlas Quest. Choose a hunt that is active (been found recently) and has in fact been found before. Some letterboxes are not maintained well and it is very discouraging if you can't find the box, especially the first time out.

I have printed out a bunch of hunts in our area and we leave our letterboxing kit in the car. It has become a fun spur of the moment, afternoon activity for us. We have not created our own signature stamps... yet. We will sometime soon but I was anxious to get started so we grabbed what we already had and set off on an adventure.

Have any of you tried letterboxing yet? Our favorite find so far was found in a small, old cemetery. It was a very cool fairy stamp.

This is a project we tried last summer and was originally post on July 3, 2009 at Nature's Way Learning. It was a good first attempt and is definitely something I want to re-visit again this summer. This time I will be limiting our colors to only primary colors so they blend nicer (our orange and blue last year turned brown and purple with the kids over zealous dipping). I will also be purchasing some squirt bottles to give us more control over the dyes. I will post again when we make our second attempt.

This is a project I have wanted to do with the kids for awhile now... a great summer project. My nephew's birthday was last week and we will be seeing his family for the first time in a long time at a wedding next week. The kids have already picked out a gift for their cousin but I wanted to give him something homemade too... something the kids could make for him. Sooo... Bug and I decide that the t-shirts would be cool.

This was our first attempt but the kids have already been asking to do it again. I'm sure we will get better at it... of course the big mistake was on my part. I had too many colors to pick from for the first try. The kids wanted to use all the colors and like an Easter egg that has been dipped in every color (if you have ever dyed Easter eggs with a two year old I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) the shirts started to take on that mucky brown/purple color.

We started with washed but damp 100% cotton shirts, Dylon brand permanent dyes, salt, rubber bands and containers. The Dylon brand dyes are reactive with salt and warm tap water (safer for the kids with no boiling water... of course don't eat it or get it in your eyes). You will probably want gloves... but I didn't have any. I think I need a manicure before the wedding ;). The kids were dressed in their swim suits and old t-shirts.

Then off course comes the tying part. Bug was able to do this part on his own but the girls needed help. They would pinch off the fabric they wanted tyed and I put the rubber band on for them.

After the shirts were tied I prepared the dyes. I followed the directions on the packet, which included I believe (I didn't save a packet to look at) 4 TB of salt, 4 cups warm water and the dye. A quick dip was enough to get light colors. Had we only used one color... thorough soaking would have led to much brighter colors. The dye colors mix like they should... red and blue will make purple.

Then we rinsed the shirts until the water ran clear (I actually did this part... the kids held the hose for me).

It was very exciting when we took the rubber bands off. Of course the kids didn't totally understand what was supposed to happen and they eagerly awaited each shirts unveiling. I rinsed them again and then hung them to dry in the shade.