Fall

A couple of months ago we were contacted by Rhythm of the Home and asked to submit a project for their Autumn Edition. We were very excited to participate since we so enjoy the publication. If you are not familiar with Rhythm of the Home, here is a description from their website:

"Rhythm of the Home is a quarterly online magazine. Our focus is to unite a readership which is interested in Waldorf or Montessori education, or simply living intentionally and hoping to incorporate a rhythm and reverence for the natural world in the lives of their children. Each edition will publish seasonally, with articles and projects dedicated to incorporating the upcoming season into the family’s rhythm."

The hard part was trying to decide what to make. We decided to share something that anyone could use to celebrate the season. Michelle and I love to use wreathes in our decorating. The wreath, a symbol of eternity, reminds us of the circle of life; of how one season flows into another, only to return again and again. So, we designed the Autumn Oak Leaf Wreath, combining sewing and stenciling. To get directions for this wreath visit Rhythm of the Home.

And while you are there, pay a visit to their blog. As an extra bonus, they are hosting a giveaway featuring handmade goodies from some of this edition's contributors. They asked for a giveaway that directly related to the submitted project, so we created two over-sized Maple Leaf Potholders, using the same fabrics and stenciling techniques as our wreath. You can sign up to win our potholders or any of the other giveaway items being offered from Rhythm of the Home blog.

It has been a lot of fun crafting and contributing to another publication. You can now visit Rhythm of the Home to find our tutorial for the Autumn Oak Leaf Wreath and check out all the other wonderful crafts being shared to help us celebrate this beautiful season!

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.

HELLO MR. TURKEY - (Sung to "If You're Happy and You Know It)
Hello Mr. Turkey how are you? - (wave)
Hello Mr. Turkey how are you? - (wave)
With a gobble, gobble, gobble, - (make hand a gobbling beak)
And a waddle, waddle, waddle, - (squat down and shake your bum - kids LOVE this part)
Hello, Mr. Turkey how are you? - wave

Need I say more?

Introducing our Thanksgiving Turkey Applique Block. This applique was made to fit a 6" x 6" block but it can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. The pattern for our Thanksgiving Turkey can be found HERE or with our FREE appliques. Enjoy! Or "Gobble!" in turkey.

Grandpa John was a "mushroomer". Now, I'm sure there is some specific term for those individuals lured into the forest to track down and harvest wild mushrooms, but I don't know it. Frankly, our family just called it "crazy". It's not that we didn't love mushrooms. We had them in gravies and on pizza, and sauteed with onions and butter, which we slathered over steak. Personally, I'd put mushrooms in my oatmeal if it didn't gross out the people eating with me! But my parents and Grandma Pearl did not trust Grandpa's ability to discern between edible mushrooms and those that would envoke certain death. 

So, for Grandpa John, "mushrooming" was a solitary event. He'd go off into the forest, pushing fallen leaves around with a long stick, until he unearthed the prize he sought. The only time I'd ever seen Grandpa John cook anything, was on his return treks from the forest, when he jubilantly displayed his booty. Because Grandma Pearl was always certain that the mushrooms he collected were poison, and she had no intention of assisting a suicide, she'd stand back, with her arms crossed, as Grandpa washed his mushrooms, sliced some onion, and sauteed them in liberal amounts of butter. The aroma was intoxicating. I longed to join Grandpa John, as he sat down at the table, consuming forkful after forkful of his potentially life robbing delicacy. 

And, after surviving yet another "mushrooming" experience, Grandma Pearl would always say, "You were lucky this time, John". And, as Grandpa John made his way to his Lazy Boy recliner, to nap after a morning in the woods and a sated belly, he'd smile. I was never sure if the smile was for the euphoric gastronomic experience he just had or if he, in some small part, didn't believe he had robbed death, yet again!

At this time of year, when the forests smell woodsy and damp, I think of Grandpa John and his jaunts into the forest, looking for edible mushrooms... and I hope there are tons of wild mushrooms in Heaven!

As always, this Woodland Mushroom Applique Block was made to fit a 6" x 6" block, but can be enlarged or reduced to meet your needs. Directions for the Woodland Mushroom Applique Block can be found HERE or with our FREE Appliques. Enjoy (Grandpa John!)

It's fall and you have a gift to give. Why not make the wrappings as beautiful as the gift inside? Below are the directions for creating this gift wrap that embraces all that's lovely in autumn.

Materials:
gift box
brown grocery bag
calico fabric for ribbon and petals
wool felt for petals
button for flower center
Wonder Under or other fusible web
pattern

NOTE ABOUT PATTERN: I used the pattern of the Memory Flower Bouquet with the following changes. I enlarged the pattern to 150%. Then, the center flower ring, instead of cutting out a circle, I fashioned another set of petals using the outer ring for size.

1] Make a copy of the pattern, making the changes noted above.

2] Tuck your present inside. :)

3] Cut open a brown paper grocery bag. If you would like, iron out the folds. Steaming works great.

4] Wrap your gift.

5] Using a piece of fabric in autumn colors, rip two 1" strips of fabric. The fabric needs to be long enough to go around the package plus 2 1/2". Check out Rip and Tear Napkins for tips on ripping fabric.

6] Start by wrapping one strip around the package. Begin and end at the center of the tap of the package. You can use a straight pin to hold to on the package. Just make sure the pin does not hurt the gift inside. Overlap the ends of the strip. Turn the end under 1". Sew the strip together. Leave the thread attached.

7] For the second strip, attach to the first strip. Wrap the strip around the package, turn the end under 1", and sew it to the other ribbons. Leave the thread attached.

8] To make the flower, you will be cutting petal 1 and petal 3 out of the fabric you made your ribbons out of. Cut out 2 pieces of fabric for each flower slightly larger than the petal itself.

9] Beginning with petal 1, cut out a piece of fusible web slightly smaller that your fabric. Iron the web to the wrong side of 1 piece of fabric. Remove the paper backing, and place your other fabric piece on top, so the wrong side of the fabric is against the web. Iron together. Do the same for petal 3.

10] Cut out petals 1 and 3 from the prepared and fused fabric.

11] Cut petal  2 and the new petal that you fashioned from the center ring (see above note) out of felt. I used 2 different colors.

12] Stack the flower in the following manner: petal 1, petal 2, petal 3, and the center petal. Choice a button, place in the center of the flower petals, and sew the button on, going through the 4 layers of petals.

13] Using the thread still attached to the strips, sew the flower to the package by tacking the flower to each of the four ribbon strips in the center.

14] Gently "fluff" the flower by pinching the petals with the fusible webbing inside.

You know have a lovely, handmade package... inside and out!

Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's house we go! And you certainly don't want to go empty handed. So, you make a lovely gift to bring along... say, our Wool Penny Coasters or a set of three autumn colored Knit Basket Weave Dishcloths. Now, to wrap them. There is no reason why your packaging should be any less beautiful than the gift you bring, or any less homemade!

This morning we got a last minute invite for dinner at friends. I wanted to bring them a little something, so I hit the cupboard, and grabbed a set of the Wool Penny Coasters. (Note to self... make a new set to replace these. Always nice to have a stash of last minute gifts.) But I wanted to wrap the gift to reflect the season and give it that handmade goodness. It also needed to be done with supplies I had on hand. So, I hit our stash of brown paper bags, (we use reusable grocery bags, but I occasionally brown bag it so I have a few on hand for recycling newspapers and crafting. Anyway...) grabbed a few other things out of the crafting room, and threw together this gift wrap. For you non-sewers, the only sewing done on this was tacking the ribbons and flower on the package. If you really have an aversion to needle and thread, you can hot glue it to the package. Sorry, but you'll have to at least sew the button on!

Directions for Wrapping a Fall Gift, lovely enough to take to grandmas, can be found HERE, or with our FREE Patterns. Enjoy!

I don't know about anyone else, but this time of year poses a real problem for me. Every fiber of my being wants to embrace Christmas. I want to listen to Dean Martin singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and on that same note, lame as it is, I want to watch Will Ferrell's "Elf". I want to pack away all my Thanksgiving decorations with the Halloween ones, and start sneaking out stars and angels, evergreens and mangers. I want the absolutely joy instilling, peace invoking feeling of the Christmas season!

But, I stop myself. Although the Christmas Season officially opens for me when the last vestiges of our Annual Pumpkin Carving Party are  packed away, I've learned from experience, that if I pull out Christmas too soon, including the music, the Holiday itself can feel anti-climatic. Also, if not EVERYONE in your family has the same obsession with Christmas, they are apt to mutiny, and throw you, and all the Christmas trimmings overboard before Thanksgiving!

So, I've learned to bide my time. One of the ways to combat my impulses, is to throw in at least a couple more Thanksgiving and autumn crafts during the month of November. They can't be anything too big, because I AM crafting for Christmas, but it does help keep me in the moment. To that end, I'd like to share an applique block that I totally and completely love! Our Cattail Applique Block is more detailed than many of our other applique blocks, but it is fun to make and absolutely beautiful when completed. As always, it was made to fit a 6" x 6" block, but can be reduced or enlarged to meet your needs. The pattern for the Cattails Applique Block can be found HERE or with our FREE Applique Patterns. Enjoy... and if Christmas is tugging at your heartstrings, focus on Giving Thanks for the next few weeks!

NOTE: The stitch on the cattail stem is called a whipped stem stitch. It is not in our glossary yet but to make one... embroider a stem stitch first using 6 strands of floss. When you are done, whip stitch over the stem stitch, using 6 strands of floss, without going through the fabric below. Basically, you are wrapping the stem stitch. Michelle will include this stitch in our glossary later!

Last night's Annual Pumpkin Carving was a blast! Even though the weather was uncooperative... a fine, misty drizzle... and we weren't able to have a bonfire, our spirits weren't dampened. There were pumpkin guts everywhere and so much good food, and promises of recipes, no one seemed to mind being damp! Today, however, was a picture perfect day, and instead of washing floors like I planned, (there was some spillage of cider and libations last night) Tim and I set up shop on the back deck, and did some coed woodworking. (The sticky floors will still be there tomorrow!) We we working on our Wooden Winter Forest, made using the Christmas Tree Applique Pattern. He was on the scroll saw, and I manned the dremel and the sanding block. It was so much fun being outside on a beautiful fall day, working together. Hopefully, I'll get the pattern up in the next day or two for those of your that are Holiday Crafting.

Since we just had them last night, thought I'd share my recipe for Special Baked Beans. It's a recipe that has evolved over the years, a variation on the standard baked beans. It is always a "crowd pleaser", especially with the men. Think it has something to do with bacon and green chili peppers! This is a crowd sized recipe, great for potlucks, parties and picnics!

SPECIAL BAKED BEANS

Ingredients:
80 ounces canned cooked beans, drained (Sometimes I use all Bushs Home-style or Original Baked Beans and other times I'll use 4 or 5 different beans like northern, pinto, garbanzo, black eyed, kidney etc. as long as they are fully cooked and they total about 80oz.)
7 oz. diced green chili peppers
1 pound bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons dried mustard
1 teaspoon curry

Directions:
Saute bacon and onions until onions are translucent and bacon is cooked. Drain.

Mix the bacon and onions together with all remaining ingredients. Place in a crock pot. Cook on high until beans are heated, (around an hour).

Remove the lid, leave on low, and serve, mixing occasionally. 
 

Saturday night is our 19th Annual Pumpkin Carving Party... I'll tell you more about that later. But when the decorations were unpacked, a devastating discovery was made. Mice had gotten into one of the boxes and ate one of the family's most beloved decorations... our Gourd Ghost Sculpture. I really find it hard to believe it could have been THAT tasty. I made the sculpture 25 years ago! But, alas, everyone of the little Ghosties was chewed on, leaving behind unrecognizable piles of gourd shell, and, little piles of, well, let's just say little reminders that we had been visited by mice!

I was heartbroken. This would be the first Pumpkin Carving Party that we'd celebrate without the watchful eyes of our little friends. I knew that I really didn't have time to remake the sculpture... what with the party 2 days away and out-of-town company coming. But, sentiment got the better of me. I told myself, if I went to our local craft stores, and could find actual dried gourds, not the Styrofoam type, I'd find time to make another sculpture. Well, at Michael's I found some real, dried gourds. Granted, they had been painted, and true, they weren't the shape of my old gourds, but I hadn't qualified my personal pact, so, this afternoon, instead of the numerous other jobs I should be doing, I remade our Gourd Ghost Sculpture... and wrote up a tutorial to boot. So, if you're still looking for more Halloween projects, and can store it away from mice in the off season, you might want to make your own sculpture. Directions for the Gourd Ghost Sculpture can be found HERE or with our FREE Patterns. Enjoy! 

I began this project 25 years ago. No, that's not true. I finished this project 25 years ago, then, sometime in the past year, the mice in my garage thought it would be great sport to eat my nearly petrified gourds, and I was left with a trunk with wires glued to it, and memories of my old Ghostie friends! Obviously, this project comes with a warning. If you make it... store it in a manner that mice cannot munch!

Materials:
1 awesome and gnarly looking piece of wood
coat hangers or thick wire
wire clippers
hot glue gun
small gourds, dried
white paint
black paint
spray sealer (optional)
drill with drill bit the diameter of your wire
spiders, spider web and cheese cloth
 
Directions:
1] Find a cool piece of wood and cut it to size. (Make sure the bottom cut is level. The piece of wood should be able to stand up without tipping over.) Mine is about 18" high by 12" wide. Downed trees in the woods are great (that's where I got mine), but you could also make a really neat sculpture out of driftwood.

2] Cut up wire to different lengths. The wire needs to be long enough to fit the length of your gourds plus additional length to hold it away from the trunk. This is a "plan as you go" thing. Look at your wood. How many ghosts will it hold? Where do you want to position them? When you've made some of those decisions, drill holes into the wood about 1" deep and at a 45 - 70 degree angle... whatever seems right for your gourds. Slip the wire into the trunk and hot glue in place. (I laugh every time I look at my trunk. This was the first time I used a glue gun, some 25 years ago. A little over kill!)

3] Paint your dried gourds with 2 coats of white paint. (NOTE: In a pinch, you can use fresh gourds, but you will need to poke holes in them to mount them to your sculpture. THEY WILL rot. So you will not be able to save the sculpture.)  

4] Using black paint, add eyes and a mouth. If you would like to give them extra protection, you can spray them with an acrylic sealer.

5] When the gourds have dried, drill a hole in the bottom of the gourd. Use a drill bit the size of the wire. (NOTE: I do not often recommend brands of anything, but I have to sing the praises of my Fiskars Hand Drill. It is definitely up there with my "must have" tools in the craft room. Easy to use, sturdy, and hand powered. It's small and easy to use on small projects. I LOVE IT!!!)


6] Slide the gourds on the wires. If a wire is too long, simply cut off the extra length.

7] Add spider webs, spiders and squares of cheese cloth to give a spooky feeling!

 

Note about patterns: We are sharing patterns we have designed and made for our own children, families and friends. Every effort is made to share information in a clear and accurate manner. We offer preemptive apologies for any mistakes that may be made. Please let us know via comments or emails if you stumble upon a mistake or if you stumble upon a mistake or if you encounter directions that leave you scratching your head! We will rectify the situation as soon as humanly possible!

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