{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Thanks Soulmama!
One of the perks of being a wooden toy maker is that when you are in need of a fire there is always plenty of wood scraps around to fuel it. We try to reuse our scraps as often as possible but there are scraps that just are not usable because of their shape or a defect. It would be a shame to throw them away and since they are completely untreated, natural wood they are perfect for making a wonderful fire!
If you look close you might recognize the cut outs of so shapes from the shop.
Then add s’mores ingredients and you have the perfect treat. My son, Elliot has several food allergies so we went with dairy free chocolate chips for him.
And now the fire…
With just a bit of assembly you have a tasty and fun treat!
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Thanks Soulmama!
What a stormy week it has been all over the US! I hope that everyone is safe and well. Our thoughts go out to all of those who have suffered losses this week.
Ever wanted to try out a French Knitter (also know as a knitting spool)? My oldest has been showing interest in learning how to knit but sadly knitting is one craft I just have never been about to really get the hang of. Honestly, knitting frustrates me so much that knitting needles are much more likely to become projectiles that actually knit anything.
However using a french knitter is not nearly as frustrating and is a great tool to teach the basics of knitting to little ones.
All you will need to make your own knitter is a piece of dry tree limb (or even a dowel rod), approximately 1.25″- 1.5″ inches wide, 4-6 finishing nails, a drill bit that is at least 3/8″, and a hammer or mallet.
First you will need to cut your piece of limb down to size. I made mine approximately 4″ long. Make sure to that the cuts are flat. If the ends of you knitter are rough just sand them a bit.
Next, you will need to drill a hole in the center of the knitter. Try to make the hole in the center of the limb. Allow the drill to remain in place while drilling so that the drill smooths the inside of the hole. This is where the knitted portion will go as you finish knitting each round so you will want it as smooth inside as possible.
This is what your knitter will look like after drilling the hole.
Now you are going to make markings so that you will know where to place your finishing nails. I just used the tip of a nail to make little indents. I did not measure, I prefer to guesstimate this type of stuff. I wanted 5 nails but you can use different amounts such as 4 or 6. The more nails the thicker the “tube” you will make.
This is the type of nail I used. Go ahead and place the nails that you just laid out with a hammer. And yes, I love sparkly nail polish!
This is what your knitter will look like as you begin to put the nails in place. Leave about 1/2″ of nail sticking up. Make sure though that you drive enough nail into the wood so that it is secure.
This is what the top of your knitter will look like after putting all the nails in their place!
Here is a sample of what the “tube” you can knit with your French knitter can be used for. Elliot is loving his new bracelet. Stay tuned, I will be posting a directions on how to knit with your brand new knitter new week!
This week I have been working on some very little hats for a very little baby girl. Hopefully this little rainbow bonnet will bring a bit of cheer to the family of the sweet little mirco preemie it is intended for. This soon-to-be bonnet will be slightly larger than the others I made so that she can grow into it. Grow baby, grow!
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Thanks Soulmama!
Six year ago today I was starting one of the most amazing journeys of my life. I was in labor with my oldest child, Stella. For nine months I had dreamt of this day, I had imagined it, planned for it and secretly been terrified of it. I wasn’t worried about pain or contractions or my water breaking in some embarrassing situation but rather that they were going to let me take this little baby home and be complete in charge of her well being.
Did they not know that I didn’t really know what I was doing? Sure I had held babies, changed a few diapers, and even tried my hand at burping them and rocking them but that just wasn’t the same. I was going to be completely responsible for a tiny, defenseless little creature.
Well I have to say the road of parenthood hasn’t always been the smoothest but it has been a trip that I am so glad to be taking. It’s hard to believe our trip is already six years in the making. When she was first born her repertoire of tricks was quite small- sleep, eat, burp, poop, cry, snuggle to name most of them. But now she has added some many more talking, singing, drawing, reading, jumping, bike riding, painting nails, and hugging and I even had a hand in helping her to learn some of them.
I’m so very, very proud of how we have grown together. We have moved from being a tiny little baby and a worried new mom to a joyful and thoughtful six year old and a happy to live by the seat of her pants mom.
Happy Birthday Stella! I am so proud to be your Mama!
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Thanks Soulmama!
Just in case you missed it earlier this week check out my bookcase potato patch tutorial!
What do potatoes and bookcases have in common?
I just love this sweet potato print by Elise Towle Snow of Argyle Whale.
Back to the riddle…
Well as far as I know not much but bookcases can make a great place to plant potatoes. Traditionally, potatoes are grown in home gardens in mounds. Mounds can take up quite a bit of space and can be a bit unwieldy. Potatoes can also be grown in old tires but concerns about chemicals leaching into the soil I am growing in worry me.
Then it hit me, I had an older bookcase that would serve has a great place to grow potatoes!
All you need is a bookcase with selves spaced fairly far apart, soil, and seed potatoes. If you are reusing a bookshelf that has paint or stain that maybe be unsafe make sure to paint a few coats of safe paint over the old paint to prevent the old paint from potentially leaching chemicals into your soil.
It is a bit late to be planting potatoes but with all the rain this is one of the first times it has been dry enough to get out in the garden. Gardeners up north can still get in on the potato fun and those in the south you have time to scope out yard sales and thrift shops to find the perfect bookcase and get it prepped.
First, lay your bookcase down on it’s side and add a bit of compost or soil to the bottom- about 2-3 inches.
This is what the space between the shelves will look like. If you shelves are super deep add a bit more soil so that your potatoes will be a bit closer to the top of the bookcase and won’t be to shaded.
Now you need a prepared seed potato. I cut mine in half leaving plenty of potato and two started eyes. You can cut your potato in half a few days before you plant them to give the cut side a bit of time to dry to reduce the chance of rotting.
Set your seed potato in the soil cut side down. The compartments in my book shelf are big enough that I put on seed potato on each side.
See this is how I did it…
Then add just enough soil to cover all by the very tippy tops of the potato sprouts.
As your plants begin to grow they will look like the one below. This potato plant is a volunteer from a potato I accidentally left in the soil from last years harvest.
As the plant continues to grown keep adding more soil, covering all of the plant and surrounding area with soil. Just leave 2 or so inches of leaf above the soil line. I keep mounds my plants until the soil is about 1 inch from the top of the compartment. As an added bonus many potato plants have beautiful flowers and lovely foliage.
New Teether Dolls
I received a fabulously fun package in the mail from the wonderful duo, Jen and Jane at Sewn Natural. Inside were some of the cutest little teething dolls I have ever seen!
These soft, cuddly organic teething doll, are handmade with lots of love. Each doll is made of only eco-friendly materials. Their bodies and sweet little hats are crafted from the incredibly soft organic bamboo velour. And the stuffing you ask, oh it is softy springy natural carded Canadian wool with gives the doll a sold yet soft feel. Each face id carefully hand embrodiered onto their head that is made with organic cotton.
Now comes our contribution to these sweet little dolls, the silky smooth all natural rounded corner triangle. Each triangle is hand cut and sanded from hardwood and has no extra finishes or polishes. Just simple wood that little ones love to chomp and chew on to soothe their gums.
Not only are these dolls really darn cute and snuggly but they are handmade from the most natural and safe materials around. No synthetics, toxins, o rgassing off to worry about- super safe and super snuggly- perfection!
I just added the newest dolls in the shop here. These will be the last dolls added before Christmas. They make wonderful toddler and baby gifts and stocking stuffers!