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don't forget today is the last day of the contest for your Favorite Tree- send me a picture of you and your favorite tree- I will post it to the Flickr group and the winner with get their favorite tree made just for them via the Wild Tree Monsters! e-mail me willow@mamaroots.com
Have fun!
Can you tell that Silas was inspired by some fun summertime reading? I took my cue from my boy and had to make a little storyset in the middle of some custom orders for the shop.
Sing with me, inch by inch row by row, or
inchworm, inchworm measuring the marigolds!
A sure hit- give your kiddo a ruler, notepad, and pencil- enjoy watching to see what they measure!
a photo journey of the weekend started off with a trade all the way from New Zealand- a new addition to our gnome corner- the framed gnome holding a crystal- a lovely barter and such a sweet piece!
daddy making Grilled Pizza before I headed to Crafty Mama's on Friday night with my gal pals, and the boys went to Jasper's baseball game . . . mmmmm
A lovely Saturday with daddy experimenting with making homemade tamales (oh my!) and having friends over for dinner. Tandum sit and spin action with Silas and his bud Lily!
Sunday full of cinnamon potion tea, swimming, and the boys working together to make a new toy while mama got in some late afternoon crafting! Now onto some catch up work with the shop and some loving e-mails also! Hope your weekend was soul-filling also!
One of the things I really do love about where I live is natural cycles that come and go. You definitely feel the different seasons. Right now it is definitely summer! When Jasper was just a baby we brought the Waldorf idea of "nature table" into our home. It started off as just as the top of an antique sewing cabinet. My spirituality is heavily based in nature and the seasonal change and we naturally introduced a solstice fairy into the seasonal changes and she brought magic into our home. Tangle Goblinwand lives in our woods, and our hearts and she brings the boys sweet little wood toys (mostly animals) for their nature table. Each time she visits we welcome the new season, change out the table's seasonal cloths and sometimes give back the bits on nature to nature that have found their way to the table.
Now the table is a set of 3 shelves with a bench in front and the nature books on another shelf. Many treasures from nature and I think we have a collection of beetles and bugs at the moment are scattered about. We have loved sharing this tradition that was shared with us.
I was very excited to find through another list that I am on a gal who has created a wonderful spot to learn more about nature tables if you are new to the idea, and she is also organizing a seasonal swap. I am so excited to do the exchange- the sign up starts July 1st.
**A couple contest reminders- June 30 is the last day to be entered in the favorite tree monsters giveaway this month- be sure to send me a picture of you and your favorite tree and I will post to the Flickr group and then announce the winner July 1- I will make you your favorite tree into a Wild Tree Monster with season tags for your own nature table!
Also starting today sign-up for your next chance to win a copy of the July Herbal Roots from Kristine- she does such a wonderful job guide us through the herbs by the seasons! Leave a comment here between now and June 30 and I will draw a winner for the July Issue of Herbal Roots- what do you think the July Herb will be- any guesses?
chalk and cake, not chalk cake, not that we have tried at least! On the bench this week is a couple of projects that I finished up. Inspired by Soulemama's knack for organizing books, I like how she sets up baskets of books by seasons, but as you can guess I have so many children's books and often like to use these to support our learning time. I also am in-love with chalkboards, so I decided to experiment with some chalkboard paint. I found a sweet little rough cut piece of wood and the AP non-toxic paint at Joann's. Drilled a couple holes, and now we can change out the book basket very fast. It was super easy and fun to make.
My first book basket switch was inspired by reading about the sweet party that mama BoatBaby Cindy did for her cutie pie fella Zach. I have had the honor of making some toys for Zach and he shares a love like we do for monsters! It made me think of the book Mrs. Muffly's Monster, and then the next thing you know I was searching the house for all of the fun cake books. Sounds like we will be making some cake this week!
Also in the basket if you like themes like me:
Mrs. Muffly's Monster Mama Panya's Pancakes Mrs. Biddlebox The Hungry Thing Panda Cake Jamberry Rabbit Finds A Way Why Do You Cry?
Some of these are a little more subtle than others with the cake theme, but all enjoyable. I believe that Rabbit Finds a Way and Panda Cake are out of print- those wonderful weekly readers from our childhoods, but you might check your library for them!
Also on the bench are some wonderful little zine-like brochures I picked up at a "mercantile" near the museum at the bottom of the Arch in St. Louis. They were too precious to pass up, ABC Hornbook- this is too sweet, The Button Book, plan to read this before sending onto my favorite button maker (wink!) and last one called Toys and Games from Times Past- I loved this one and made a new set for the shop based on the old dice game Beetle- instead of using paper though, I made a couple more handmade chalkboards so it has a greener edge to it without wasting the paper. I love the chalkboard paint! I hope to make more this summer! The wheels are turning for what I can put chalkboard paint on!
I just noticed also the snake skin that the boys left on the bench- I guess they are still wanting to do some snake learning too!
Enjoy the day and maybe make a cake too! My favorite is Angel's Food! yum
When I look at the word retreat after my journey back from the land surrounded in love and friendships I am reminded of what a "treat" it is for me to go and be with these amazing women, and a few little fellas too! I am so happy I went down to re- treat myself and my soul to this company and love. Here are a few more pictures to enjoy.
I re-joined with women I only get to see a couple times a year, witness power and strength, meet new women, and rejoice in new friendships that will carry into the community I live in. I am still processing so much from the weekend, including a special bonding time I had with my youngest Silas.
I was so gifted also with a dream on Friday night before I went down that has helped manifest the next children's book- I am so thrilled! Most of the story is written in my head and journal, and I also wanted to give out a special thank you to my sweet friend Garden Mama who spurred memories of magical memories in my life with marbles that is a key element in the new book. I am so blessed with friendships physically in my life and beautiful friendships through the internet land with beautiful women- thanks so much!
I am so excited to be with my crafty mama's this Friday for our monthly gathering "Crafty Mamas" My sweet friend Mikayla will be showing us embroidery! I hope to be able to make something as cute as this someday- seriously I love these! This has been on my wish list for a while! I am metaphorically carving a heart for all of you in those beautiful trees whose roots we all share!
we are back! We had to navigate some rainy weather, but enjoyed our little getaway with the boys! We decided to pop up to St. Louis and see a couple of the sites, jump on some hotel beds, and eat some yummy food for a few days. I have a full camera of picture to download, some new critters to make and just general wind down, but I wanted to share just a couple pics this morning before Silas and I head down to the Wild Womyn's Retreat down at the Holyland with MorningStar Community. I am looking forward to my retreat with myself, my community, my friends, and most importantly my baby who is really not my baby anymore, but my boy! Next year he is "braves" age and will stay at home with daddy and brother.
One of our highlights from St. Louis was going to the zoo and getting hands on experience of touching and feeding the rays- the boys really thought it was fun. I thought they were really interesting animals also- very social and beautiful. Here is a link for some neat reading about the symbolism of sharks and rays.
I was also secretly on the look-out for some rays that Tangle Goblinwand (our resident solstice fairy that leaves presents for the boys on the solstices and equinox) could give them for summer solstice. I have to say I am a bit shocked still how in all of these gift shops all of these toys are coming from China. As many other heritage toymakers like myself are closely watching the CPSIA and waiting to see what will happen next spring, how can all of these imported plastic toys still be flooding the market? Boggles my mind- so at 5:30 this morning I gave it my best quick effort whilst boys were still asleep to make a couple wood rays for me- err Tangle to leave for them in her tree- she loves stripes and added them to their tails! I hesitate to make their Tangle presents in case they recognize my toys, but I had to take a chance this time. Maybe the sawdust near my saw this morning will be the bit of fairy dust to continue the magic for them!
Stepping away from blogland for a couple days for some boycation! We just finished ready a fun book that I will share in another post and we needed something else to start reading this summer and we honed in on Howl's Moving Castle - did you know both this and Castle in the Sky were not Miyazaki's original stories, but based on these youth reading books? We adore his movies but as a bookie at heart we know that the books are 99.9% better and allow our imaginations to grow. The covers were recently re-done on both of these novels.
Is it possible to have a crush on a fantasy character? For me, it has always been Howl!
just a couple little pictures this Saturday before we are off to our local River Hang-out with our biking friends! These pillars love our dill plants every year and we decided to get the indoor butterfly garden this year just in time for some sleepy transformations started to happen. Can you see the beautiful caterpillar skin lying next to the chrystalis? I will keep you posted to it's progress!
Just a reminder that sometimes you have to see past the outside to see the inside to really transform- thanks nature for such a lovely reminder! Here is a picture of the beautiful Polyphemus moth that Silas and I found a couple weeks ago almost dead at the gas station. Saddly he had gotten smashed, we could not just let me die next to a gas pump, so we took him home with us to die peacefully. I had to make a wooden ode to him! Thanks to my friend Jenn for helping me identify him! Here is a little mythological background to this moth's name.
Hope your Saturday is lucious!
I am pretty excited to be doing my first "storytelling" gig outside of the monthly Root Children activities at The Womb Room. I was asked to do one of the La Leche League children's sessions for the state conference. I have gathered my books together and had my light bulb moment last night for what the craft will be. I work really well in themes, so I wanted to stick with the frog/pond themes that we are doing at home.
I found this fun frog life cycles poster at the local teacher supply store and am packing along the books Pond Circle, Frogs and Toads All Sang, and Frog in a Bog in my red storytelling suitcase. I wanted to do a craft that did not involve paint or glue since the conference is inside a hotel and so I finally honed in on making a "pond bindle"- basically a square fabric scrap that is pond like, and inside will be a little journal they can decorate to record their observations, and then as a treat I am going to make a wood frog for each of them. So it can serve 2 purposes, one on their travels to some ponds to do some nature observin- and the other as a travel play mat.
I can't help but find out the meanings of names today and found out some history on the bindle stick- aren't words fascinating?
Wish me luck this weekend- I think I am even getting paid for it- yay! Speaking of telling stories and light bulbs, I am super excited to have started the development of my next 2 children's books- I am hoping to have one done by Christmas, and the other by next spring.
