mamaroots

Slow Rhythms for Slugs and Snails

Welcome June!  Sometimes (often) summer is a busy time of trips, gardening, baseball etc . . . but I have been trying to be mindful of keeping it slow too.  Trying to get caught up on projects that keep talking to me in my head and just enjoy my home, my boys, and just being present. 

One project I have been wanting to make since I saw it in the Rhythm of the Home Spring Issue were some updated fancy cloth napkins.  Mind you we have our stack of everyday cloth napkins that are a hodgepodge of different napkins, but I wanted something fun and special for our little garden parties, birthdays, etc.  So I rounded up different patterns of vintage sheets and upcycled them up nicely into some fun napkins- now to just plan the next wee little party to use them!  I could not help but to make some little sleeping bags from the scrap fabric for some summer slugs in the shop!

Cloth just makes more sense to me- and not too hard to wash up, a good green option.  They make great gifts too!  Summertime makes washing so much more easy, rugs and laundry drying outside make my day!  

June 1 is also the day for the Summer Issue of Rhythm of the Home.  For the summer issue I contributed a Summer Snail Fingerpuppet pattern to help you slow down and enjoy some storytelling this summer.  I hope you enjoy it and the whole summer issue- I can't wait to take it all in nice and slow this weekend!

To help with your storytelling I am giving away the snail I made for the project to one of my readers- just leave a comment here between now and Sunday at 5:00 pm and let me know something you are doing to slow down this summer.  Bonus entry for following me on:

facebook

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Good luck!

March Rhythms

Welcome March and also welcome to the spring edition to the Rhythm of the Home Magazine.  Thank you to the hard working folks behind this wonderful magazine.  Thank you again for the honor of including my piece with such great other submissions for the spring!  I just love it when March arrives!

Be sure to stop by and check out my piece on making surprise yarn eggs, and if you stop by the ROTH blog you can sign up to win a chance a getting the set that I made for the project- good luck!

Time to make some "in like a lion" cookies with the boys!

weaving

The needle, thread, fabric, yarn, and dust, dust, dust are weaving and flying throughtout the house.  The week before the holidays is a big crunch time for finishing up the merry making.  This is mixed in with some ebbing and flowing with some family health issues have taken me to place of understanding and growing in the way in which the universe is woven and my place as a mother.  

But I figured there are other last minute merry makers out there so I made a Once Upon Table Project for you this week.  If you enjoyed the Spider Ornament that I did for Rhythm of the Home, I thought you might like maybe just one more- this time with a little walnut influence.  

May the holidays weave peace and magic around your family.  I highly recommend the book The Christmas Spider's Miracle to go with this tutorial.  The spiders are so cute on the tree let me know how you like it!

Download Christmas Spider

welcome December!

Hello December old friend- one of my favorite crafty months- game on!  I could hardly wait to put up my new gnome from Painting Pixie that now graces my perpetual calendar on our ledge- one of my favorite morning rhythms.  The nature bowl which resides next to it is looking a lonely with just the greens, I think we will have to remedy that this week!

Today is also the launch for the winter issue of Rhythm of the Home, I hope you will make yourself a big cup o' tea and join me there today.  My contribution is of the spider type!  I was touched to find this tradion from the Ukraine of spiders in trees through the new book this winter The Christmas Spider's Miracle by Trinka Hakes Noble. 

Enjoy the tutorial and I will have another Christmas Spider projects and tutorials next week here for Once Upon a Table.  One way or another I will work through my arachnaphobias! 

One of the most magical moments of working on my submission was the day I wanted to photograph the tutorial was a lovely fall day and I thought I needed to find the perfect evergreen tree somewhere and then saw this evergreen shrub in my neighbor's yard.  When I went over it had beautiful webs all over made from just the most tiny little greenish yellow spider.  I took it as a sign and when I saw how beautiful the web was in the sunlight it was no wonder such a wonderful Ukraine folktale has evolved!

Don't forget to check the Rhythm of the Home blog also for lots of wonderful give-aways including one of my surprise yarn balls. 

Hope you have a wonderful beginning of your December- you don't even want to see the mess in my studio right now!

September Rhythms

Welcome September!

I am so honored to be a part of Rhythm of the Home for the autumn edition.  I realized this marks my 1 year anniversary of contributing to this wonderful on-line magazine!  I hope you enjoy this fall issue- just in glancing through this morning I got all excited!

I bet you will be able to find my project wink!  Also be sure to check out the Rhythm of the Home blog- Mr. Fall Tomten is making his appearance as a give-away there!

I also did some big updates to both mamaroots and resting rabbit antiques this morning too.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons!

Enjoy!

Summer Rhythms

Welcome June!

I am excited that June will be moving from the school day rhythms to the full on summer day rhythms!  With school finishing up I will be fully absorbing my family and taking a bit of a break from the shop and the blog after this week.  But I have some fun guest bloggers lined up and off course have some posts planned out too.  I hope that the first day of June finds you under Mr. Sun today!

June 1 also means the release of the summer issue of Rhythm of the Home.  I am just having so much fun contributing to this growing, wonderful magazine!  I hope you enjoy my submission- Summer Bindles and be sure to check out the other wonderful projects!

Don't forget tonight is the deadline for the Herbal Roots Zine give-away- I will announce the winner tomorrow!

in the shopping cart

quick stop by the grocery last night:

1 dozen eggs, vinegar, purple cabbage, beets, turmeric, and panty hose!  Yep we did some natural egg dyeing last night.  I had seen the idea in Country Living magazine and on the Rhythm of the Home blog for doing the plant resists this year and had to give it a shot.  I loved it!

When I read the directions in Country Living it seemed a little odd to boil the eggs so long in the dye- we like to eat our hardboiled eggs each year so that just did not sound too tasty.  So I did a cold soak method. 

First I hardboiled my eggs and then cold shocked them.  In 3 separate other pots on the stove top I boiled 1 quart water, and my produce.  I boiled that for about 20 minutes.  Strained off the beets and cabbage and gave that to hubby to transform into the dinner vege dish (quite tasty with butter, salt, pepper, fresh parsley, and spot of red wine vinegar!)  I then added 3 T white vinegar to each jar of dye.

Followed the instructions of taking the plant I wanted to resist, I found violet, fern, and marigold in the yard.  Layed that on the egg, secured some panty hose around and tied it up tight.  We then dropped the eggs in the jars and dye and ended up just leaving them in the dye overnight in the fridge.

Took them out this morning, removed the hose, and I love them!  Now we are almost set for egg hunting tomorrow!  Wool eggs, naturally dyed eggs, and 2 special wood story eggs I am finishing up tonight while they slumber! 

I have loved seeing all the story eggs popping up in the blogs this spring, I am so happy the tutorial has helped provide so many beautiful eggs and can only imagine what stories will bloom.  I am inspired to do some story egg swaps and barters after Easter- if you are game leave a comment!

I hope you are enjoying your Easter weekend and hoping you and your kiddos have lovely stained hands today from dyeing eggs!

March News!

Congrats to lucky #2- Anne you are the winner of the March Issue of Herbal Roots Zine- I will e-mail it to you today and always the biggest thank you to Kristine for sponsoring the give-away each month!  If you did not win, it is not too late to still get a copy from Kristine- you will love it! 

Both Kristine and I have contributed to the just fresh Spring Issue of Rhythm of Home- it is up and running- I can't wait to take it all in!  Be sure to go to the Rhythm of the Home blog as well for all kinds of wonderful give-away options including one of my birthday candle holders- a little March lamb!

I hope you enjoy my contribution to the spring issue of Rhythm of the Home- it is on creating Story Eggs this spring.  The inspiration for the egg in the project is based on a little story the boys and I wrote a couple years ago that you are welcome to read here. 

I guess I have been a little egg focused, I ended up making eggs for a Waldorf spring swap- I think I am going to need to make a couple more for the shop- my never ending love for the world of fungi always brings me joy!

Last but not least on the March news front, my taxes are done- yay!  Now I can fully focus on spring updates in both mamaroots and at the antique shop Resting Rabbits.  I did a couple big updates in each shop- I can't wait to add more.

Happy Spring everyone!

Hello December!

There you are on this 20 degree day- I knew you would find us!  Welcome back December!  How fun- King Laurin Day (aka St. Nicholas Day), St. Lucia Day, Solstice, Christmas we love it all!

I wanted to first announce the winners for the 2 give-aways this week.  Random number generator friend  has chosen:

For the December issue of Herbal Roots- #30- Stacy!

For the wood Resting Rabbit- #19- Herbmother!

If you both of you ladies would e-mail with your info I will get your give-aways to you!  You can contact me at willow@mamaroots.com

I wanted to share also on this first of the month on reading tradition we have done most of this year and a few of you have asked about the books.  We love these- a fun way to welcome in the month!  Two of the books are from Tasha Tudor: Around the Year and A Time to Keep.  The other title is also called Around the Year by Elsa Beskow.  I try to keep most of my book recommendations here for you also if you need to try and track one down.

I also am so excited for Dec 1 because it is the first day of the winter issue of Rhythm of the Home.  I love contributing to this fantastic magazine and cannot wait to make a cup of tea and start looking at all the amazing projects and ideas in store!  I hope you will join me there!  My contribution this month is under the Connection section- look for the Star Child project!  I was so inspired by this re-telling of the Grimm Story that I knew it was to be a winter project.  I hope you will enjoy it too!  And the book- just gorgeous! 

There is a chance to win one of my Father Frost sets on the Rhythm of the Home blog, and I can't resist doing one more giveaway to celebrate the first day of December and the giving spirit of all the contributors of the magazine and the amazing job the folk do who put the magazine together I am giving away one of the Star Children- just leave a comment between now and Sunday Dec 5th at midnight and I will announce the winner on St. Nicholas Day.  Bonus entries as always for following me at Facebook! 

Enjoy and have a wonderful start to your December!