mamaroots

poetry in the field

On one of our many non-school days in February, Jasper and I did a mama/son field trip.  I offered him several choices of museums in town and also threw in the Antique Mall because of my addiction to going there.  That day he choose the Antique Mall- really, not that I was disappointed but now I needed to figure out a way to make it educational.  He had been doing some after school poetry classes so we decided to look for things that were different from how we do things today, we would take a picture and then he would write a poem about it and we would put together a book of poetry.

 

 

It was a blast, we found old wood pulleys, a butter box, typewriter, jelly jar, bull horn, and milk jar.  It took a couple weeks but we finished up the last of the poems and put the book together tonight to take to school as an Above and Beyond project.  I think we may need to go back so we can work on Volume II- all in the name of poetry!  

 

 

Jasper also found these awesome old tools that had to come home with us that day- the hammer and saw were for him and the old pliers we got for Silas who immediately said now he could go to the North Pole and help Bumble take out his teeth!  Gotta love what they say!

word of the day

As we anxiously and excitedly watch spring start to unfold I found a fun addition to the spring days- it is the word of the day!  I wish I could say I found this bunny in a vintage shop or flea market but this little cutie I could not resist when I was at the ol' Hobby Lobby getting some supplies last week.  I think it is suppose to be a name card holder and I was not sure what I was going to do with it, but when I was cleaning over the weekend and put him up on in the kitchen we came up with the "word of the day." Jasper got the first shot and I was thinking create, or abundance and he dashed off and came back from his room with "Clover"- so I sent him on a mission to see if he could find any clover and low and behold he did!

 

 

I think I am going to like this word of the day thing- maybe when it is my turn I will choose dishes and see if they respond to helping mama out with some chore help- snicker snicker!  I will keep you posted on new "words of the day" and of course my wheels are turning a little for making a little wood critter for the words of day holders- what do you think?

Dust Bunnies

Just about a year ago I had done a rabbit making marathon and had these memories of sitting on my deck under the sunshine working on this vision of the Goddess Rabbit Grove for the shop- a rabbit that corresponded with a letter of the alphabet that matched a goddess name.  First it was the research of lovely world goddesses and then the making.  

True to form this was the weekend I designated to the rabbit marathon and just like clockwork that lovely orb in the sky made a nice warm outside spot to make the girls this weekend.  So among the twittering birds, and the many running feet of different friends that came over to play with the boys this weekend the girls got made.  My hands are a little sore and will have a break for a couple days, but it was so fun to make with my little helpers that would ebb and flow past me and every once in a while grab a rabbit and sand paper and give a little minute of sanding before the leaped away.  I love that kiddos in my tribe and friends tribe have gotten to know me as a toymaker and come sit by my side and add some handmade love into them when they want.

I thought it would be fun to share with you the process on these so you see how my I made them.  

-Friday after school- boys run down to play with friends, I cut out around 14 of the 26 girls before we all head out to go to a local music Haiti relief show- I discover SeaDog Raspberry Wheat beer- WOW

-Saturday am wake up before all boys, eat banana and finish cutting out the girls

-Saturday mid morning- friends come to play- get them all settled playing, set up dremel and palm sander out on deck- do initial dremel work- rounding the edges.

-stop to make kiddos snack and chase Silas in his superhero suit!

 

 
 -After lunch do the first round of sanding with palm sander/medium grit- give hands a break and get ready for b-day party for nephew!

-Check local store for the SeaDog Raspberry beer- they don't carry- rats!

-Come home with bellies full of hot wings and settle down to watch Ponyo with the boys and start the 3rd sanding stage- all handsanding with fine grit soft sanding sponges.

-Fall asleep during snuggle bedtime with boys and dream about making fish!

-Sunday am wake up early and finish sanding and have cup of tea and another banana.  Add the eyes on the gals and wipe them off- get ready to paint.

 

 -Paint about half of them before hubby has pancakes ready.  Finish painting with watercolors after breakfast and do some cleaning chores while hubby takes boys to library.

-After they dry- use very fine sanding sponge and lightly sand back down where the watercolors have raised the grain.  Add the white tails, dry and lightly sand.

-Welcome more friends to play and make a huge pot of popcorn and set up scavenger hunt for kiddos.

-Seal with beeswax polish and buff.  Set up photo boards outside along with my favorite stick prop and jelly beans- give some to boys for finishing scavenger hunt!

-Photo the girls before dinner, load into Flickr and correct any lighting on them.  Read books with Silas while daddy makes dinner.

-bath time, clean up bumps and bruises from the first weekend of boys bike riding, read one more book, make big cup of orange tea and match photos up with Goddesss Names and re-list the Rabbit Goddess Grove while watching skiing world cups- still going through Olympic withdrawal.  Finally finish up the last listing at close to midnight with the girls all laying out on the art table with little name labels!- Go to bed!

 

 

So that was the basic process for the rabbits, I normally don't do that big of a lot of one thing, but heck they are rabbits- my power animal and I love seeing them all together like a bunch of easter eggs!  I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them and like seeing a little glimpse in my world of making them!  Hope your weekend was warm and creative also!

vintage answers

The vintage gods heard my request last week!  As you have seen from previous posts, checkers was a game of choice this winter.  Our checkers board is a fun cloth that I love but to my lament it came with plastic checkers pieces.  I contemplated making some wood pieces, but time had not presented itself for that project.  On a whim Jasper and I headed to the flea market last week when we had a couple hours together and there they were on a dusty shelf tucked in the back, a complete set of vintage wood checkers pieces- reasonably priced at $1.50 with the original tag on the bottom, they were a whopping .25 cents in 1960- how funny!  

 

So checkers the monster was made as a bid to our winter checkers playing will give way to outside romping and exploring after school!  This is the view from the back half of our deck and the woods just begging to be green!  It does not stop the boys for some fun exploration!  

 

 

in like a lion

Something about just being in March helps my whole psyche bloom.  Knowing the green seeds are wiggling in the ground and the trees are getting ready to bud makes me excited!  You know that saying In like a lion . . .well we are still feeling some of the those lion like winds in the morning, but I know those lamb like days are on the horizon.

Part of our welcoming of March this week includes switching out the winter books in the reading basket upstairs and this week we are going to make some fun lion springerle cookies with this great Lion wood cookie mold.  Anyone have any tips for a virgin springerle cookie maker- tips or favorite recipes would be most appreciated for the non-cook of the house- the boys are always so forgiving of my many attempts and mistakes in the cooking world!

Hope your March is treating your well so far!  Because I adore books so much I put together a little March reading list to share with you.  There are a couple title that I included that are out of print, but the links will send you to Powells- one of the best Independent Bookstores and has a great used selection of books.  I affiliate with Powells and will be sharing with you the first book that I got from the affiliate fees.  Thanks to all of you that helped with your Powells orders via mamaroots.  We are having fun reading this one at home and then it is on its way to The Womb Room lending library- be on the watch a bunny, oops I mean funny feature tomorrow wink hint!

Download March Reads

Light the candle

I am looking forward to sharing with you about the first focused gathering at The Womb Room called "In the Tent". It is gatherings with a very specific topic that will be happening this year in conjunction with the other wonderful tribe events that we are doing.

But before I do that I am continuing to hold some space for a dear dear friend of my who experienced a loss this week.  This is a woman that I am just so grateful for.  She helped me through a challenging time and now my heart just breaks for her.  So I am continuing to hold that space for her.  

My heart breaks for her and I light a candle in her honor.  I will be back in a couple days . . .

slow twitter

We have noticed it happening the past couple mornings- the cardinals are starting to tweet and chatter-oh yah spring come on, we are ready!

 

You may also notice that I don't Twitter- right now it is just more than I can manage.  I fought Facebook for a long time knowing how much it takes to blog- which I love,  but gave in and find Facebook a fun way to help promote mamaroots and get the skinny on what is going on with my friends quickly before I see them again.

 

I really don't totally get Twitter at the moment- maybe I will in the future, but I have been reading this book called Less is More that reminds me to keep it all in perspective.  After all I am 24/7 mama, book buyer during the day, crafter/toymaker, and mama activist- shew I think I can let Twitter ride for a while so I have time to listen to the twitter of the birds in my trees!

 

The boys and I love to see where everyone comes from when the visit the blog- they like to look the map when I bring it up- I would love to have you visit my Facebook spots:

mamaroots fan page

The Womb Room fan page for your local mamas

or you can just friend me, you can find me- I think I am the only Chris Willow in Missouri.  I am not on Facebook everyday but try to pop in a few times a week.  I will often announce give-aways, winners, and share other giveaways there.  

Speaking of give-aways, the random number generator helped draw the winner for the Vintage Blue hankie and the winner is Genifa!  If you can e-mail me your snail mail addy I will send it your way!  More give-aways coming soon!

 

 

cakes in the pan

I could not forget to make the boys some pancakes this afternoon for a snack after school.  Shrove Tuesday brought us some cakes, one of our favorite pancake stories with a buddy, and then daddy's famous yummy Mardi Gras food!  

 

 

 

  

 

 

I did cheat a little and break out the camping pancake mix instead of scratch but added some honey and they were tasty we did not even need syrup and those pancakes ran right into the mouths of those eager boys!  

There is still time for you to mix up a batch before bed and don't forget the Once Upon a Story Project that you can do with the sweet book The Pancake that Ran Away.

fishing olympics

A little look at the second attempt I have done with embroidery.  My sweet friend Mikayla taught me how and Jasper and I wanted to make his grandpa something special for his b-day.  We made him a placemat of honor with something he loves to do- fish!  I really enjoy Jasper's perspective on composition.  This is the picture he first drew on paper.

 

He then drew it again on fabric and I stitched over it while watching the Olympics the night before the party.  I almost could not part with it, but it is a good excuse to have fun with this new craft to give my sanding hands a break!  As many of you know don't forget Amanda Soule's books for wonderful embroidery ideas.  Also a newer book full of stitches Rainbow of Stitches that came out last fall.  At least thinking of fishing helps warm us up on this cold February day!

 

 

love is . . . .

 

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentines weekend- thank to all of you for coming and reading and sharing in my many loves!