mamaroots

old meets new with friends

My monthly crafty mama gathering had us embracing the old with the new.  Have you ever seen those beautiful old friendship quilts.  The remnants of a gathering of folks putting together a quilt and adding their names one stitch at a time.  I had a notion of wanting to do this with this special group of crafty friends.  I pondered how to do this with all of our busy schedules.  

It then occured to me, another part of the quilt rescue mission that seems to be a part of my crafty life these days.  I was originally looking for an unfinished top that we could add our names, and then fell in-love with the set of vintage Dresden Plates.  It was just right, the stitching could happen on each mama's lap and happen inbetween sips of wine, breastfeeding babies, chocolate, and more stories.

Once all the blocks are gathered back up, and we catch anyone we missed this month, I will be adding these to a dark red back fabric that I thought looked somewhat Turkey Red, adding a teal back drop and binding, then we will be able to tie it together.

I am continually assured that re-claiming this art/craft DIY movement is powerful.  When women gather and create- watch out!  I am just loving knowing that we supporting each other and creating this new quilt from these vintage pieces.  The original makers probably had not idea how powerful they would be for us! 

I will continue to show you the progress!  Be sure to check back tomorrow as I have a new Once Upon a Table project for you- special for Chinese New Year!

the tea party

You know how sometimes a cup of a tea is just what you need.  It is sweet, warm, always there when you need it.  Last weekend I had the pleasure of having a special crafty mama gathering.   It was slumber party style and so much fun.  We celebrated one of my dear friend's birthday, crafted until the wee hours of the morning and enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the morning.

It was truely a Time to Embrace And enjoy.  I am honored to have such a lovely circle of women as friends. A circle of laughter, crying, crafting and tea drinking mamas.  So what better way to gift them then to search down each one a tea cup all of their own.  I had so much gifting them these vintage cups.  And yes I had quite a good time hunting down the cups too!  Also these incredible edible butterflies were the perfect addition for my friend's birthday that is very connected to butterflies.  Check out all these goodies from Sugar Robot.

I don't ever doubt that when women gather we can bring about change.  So this was a tea party of the different political type.  We are powerful when we gather, when we share story, when we mother and when we create.  And us liberal types will still share a cup of tea with someone who shares a different opinion than us, we just may give them an extra lump of sugar!

I will be back in this space later tonight after I share a solstice day with my boys- we are off for a nature walk and then will be creating a ceremony for me and the boys tonight.  I am moved by this Mother of All Release Ceremony call that is happening world wide tonight.  We will be creating our bundle after our nature walk, bonfire, and celebration Feast!  Happy Solstice everyone!

recipe for life

Hello all- sorry the posts have been lighter the past week, I have taken a little bit of a breather from the shop and did some spring cleaning/re-decorating at The Womb Room this past week.  It started actually on Mother's Day afternoon.  The boys and I worked together cleaning, moving, etc . . . something just felt right giving a good cleaning to the space that I have created to serve the mamas in my community and circle.  

So tonight as I am brewing a couple jars of ice tea on the hot afternoon for me and the boys I thought I would share a good basic recipe for creating a mama activism center.

1- Healthy amount of space-  Having a dedicated space really is helpful.  You might check around in your community to see what you can find.  I have the fortune of using the top of a house that is owned by my doctor.  It really fits our need.  Having a dedicated space allows you as the host to create a nest of comfort for mamas to come and relax in outside of their everyday world- house, work, etc.  The space I have has a library, a giving tub for items people want to share, a kitchen area, and a main gathering room.

2-spinkle of art- I love combining beautiful art and fabric in the space.  Art that empowers us as mothers and women.  I have a leaning towards red- hence the redecorating in the main gathering room!

3-dash of books- the lending library is stocked with all empowering books that are hard to find at the library.  These do not all have to be new books- try finding them used when you can.  

Mix these all together well with programming surrounding sharing real experiences as women, as mothers.  The space respects each other's privacy by creating a safe place to talk.  Because I am so craft oriented there is usually some crafting of some sort happening.  Other activities include activism, blessingways, ceremony work, and general tribe building.  Almost always potluck style food and drink are shared and I ask for a donation when the space is used.

Don't be afraid to have some basic ground rules, don't be afraid to ask for help, start small and watch it blossom.  Social networking sites really help you stay in touch, Facebook Fan Pages and Yahoo Groups are great ways to create events and share the information.  

I will be taking some new pictures this week to share of the updated space, but even if you don't have that magical space, there is pure magic just in women gathering.  I hope that you are able to continue to build your tribe around you!

This week we are crafting with Kombucha and learning all about brewing this great elixir!  For my local mamas- I am getting things arranged to have 1 day a week set hours that The Womb Room will be open- keep you posted!

yep- I am just a bit nuts

The last little bit of prepping happening for Silas' gnome/soccer birthday party tomorrow- I wanted to give his friends all a little something unique- not the plastic nic-nacs etc . . . so I had the notion to make each one a little terrarium.  Most of them are constructed and I just need to add a little gnome to each one.  

I did some more destashing and found these tiny little peg dolls that I thought would work great- luckily it is my monthly Crafty Mamas gathering tonight at The Womb Room.  Yep about 18 little gnome hats to stitch up tonight- think I might just need another bottle of wine and definitely chocolate!  More pictures to come!  Have a wonderful Friday!

Deck the Halls

I wanted to share some of the simple ideas we have around our house for decorating during the holidays, a snip-it here and there if you don't mind!  For long time readers of Soulemama, you may remember her sharing the idea of knitting for her tree.  I was inspired by her that year to make our garland that has graced our tree for a few years now.  I crocheted ours instead of knitting- remember my lack of knitting skills!  This year I actually had to add to it since we got a slightly bigger tree.  But it really is such a simple lovely decoration that you can add to each year and your kiddos can participate as well.  You can knit, crochet, finger knit, even use the knitting tower to create a lovely garland for your tree or to hang some holiday cards on!  Heck you can even hang some kiddo art work on knit garlands too!

 

I really like it each year it comes out of the decoration box.  We are crocheting up a storm of garlands tonight at my monthly Crafty Mama gatherings that I host at The Womb Room.  The basket it packed!  By the way the sweet little house ornament is from Amber at Woodmouse- they are one of our favorites!

So the new item to deck our halls this year is a tree skirt.  I have never had one and was determined to get one.  First I glanced at the stores- seriously about $30-$60 dollars for made in China skirts- really!  So I went to my local Fair Trade store and found a hippie tapestry for $14 and then cut and serged myself a hippified tree skirt that I love!  I found a pattern with a circle motif in the center.  My mama-in-law helped me and we first folded in half then quarter and measured out a pie slice that we cut with a rotary cutter.  She happened to have a serger so I just serged the edges and in about 15 minutes start to finish I had my skirt!  It also has some great scrap side pieces that I can use as table runners too! 

 
Easy as pie and I really love how it fits with the style of our house.  In case you want to try this I used a single size tapestry.  And the sweetest little bird ornament was made by my pal Rae, we were both able to participate in the Living Crafts ornament project last year together- it is a cutie pie!

Any deck the halls secrets you want to share?

whirly and twirly

 

I think I have always wanted to use those two words in a blog post!  Look what I found while searching for a fun poem for this fall Friday:

The Squirrel

Anonymous

Whisky, frisky,
Hippity hop;
Up he goes
To the tree top!

Whirly, twirly,
Round and round,
Down he scampers
To the ground.

Furly, curly
What a tail!
Tall as a feather
Broad as a sail!

Where's his supper?
In the shell,
Snappity, crackity,
Out it fell.

Hope you have a wonderful Friday as well, tonight is local Crafty Mamas- on the craft list is making felted acorns and dragon puppet too.  I probably looked pretty "nutty" gathering up acorn caps where ever I could find them this week while walking to get the boys from school!  So for all of you expert wool felt acorn makers out there, what is your preferred method, wet or needle?

In my squirrel searching this morning I also found this great huge list of different ideas for some squirrel learning on the homefront- enjoy!

 

Before I share wonderful pictures and stories from our September jaunt that we have done with friends the past few years I wanted to share that I packed up a 13 pound box full of handmade cloth moon pads that are destined for Haiti next week.  Just how many cloth pads is 13 pounds?  Well- 109 to be exact. The folks from Operation Haiti will be leaving on Sunday and taking our handmade pads with them.

I wanted to extend a huge thank you to all the mamas who helped tear, cut, and sew.  If you are still interested in helping I believe they are still looking for donations.  Be sure to check out all the details and watch for great details of their return and stories they bring!

I am so primed from making these for the women in Haiti that I am ready to make myself a whole new fresh set.  No matter what I have tried for natural moon products I still come back to cloth.  

Thanks again everyone!

moon pads for Haiti

During my last Wyld Womyns Retreat, I had the pleasure of meeting a woman who had traveled to Haiti after the earthquake to help with the women giving birth.  It was amazing to hear of her travels and to find that she is returning to Haiti and taking students with her.  We found there to be a need for cloth menstrual pads- especially post-partum.  She said that often the women are given the worst rags of the household for bleeding.  The Crafty Mamas decided this would be a great project for us to help with.  Last Thursday was our first gathering to develop a pattern and cut up fabric.  We decided to make the pads a bit bigger with 2 inside layers.  

For ease of making and use we went with a basic all in one pattern, flannel exterior and recycled towels on the inside.  Our goal is to meet once a week between now and September when the group is headed there- we are hoping for a couple hundred if possible.

If you are interested in helping with the project here is a couple ways to help.  Locally- any mama wanting to join contact me and I will give you directions and times to my house.  You may also want to follow The Womb Room facebook page for the weekly reminders.

We have several layers of old towels that we cut up but are in need of flannel.  If you would like to donate flannel for help pay for some flannel e-mail me and I can guide you on how to donate.

   

Lastly if you would like to actually make some pads and send my way to include in the box here is the basic pattern and instructions for making them.  There are pretty quick, start to finish.  If would be a great way to involve your children too.  Jasper helped me with the logo and is wanting to do some sewing also- I did have to laugh though because he thought we were sewing pads that were actual moon shaped- good opener for the discussion of how mama's bleeding cycles mirror the moon cycle- may by boys be ever so knowledgeable in the ways of women's cycles and birth- they will have some lucky partners some day!  Thank you so much if you are able to help in any way- 2 down, many more to make! 

If you want to contact me for more information on how to help you can e-mail me at willow@mamaroots.com

Download Moon Pads Pattern 

love your mama

 

You know that wonderful big mama that we all live on, she supports us, takes care of us, grows food for us, and takes an awful lot of abuse from us.  How about giving her some extra love today and then carrying it forward on the other 364 days of the year!

 Yesterday at Root Children we read my second kids book Elias and the Tree Stairs, talked about Earth Day different things to do on Earth Day today, then we recycled some glass jars by turning them into fun glass jars to put flowers on if we go on nature walks today, and since we were reading all about Mr. Marble maker himself Elias the jars could even be marble collector jars!  We used a pile of stickers that a friend had given me that she had been saving up for quite a few years.

Wouldn't you know it the trees around The Womb Room were quite enchanted and we even found some marballs- or as us humans call them marbles!

What will you be doing this Earth Day?  Here is a quick way you can make fun jars at home too.  Do you have a bunch of tissue paper left over from gifts or packages?  Tear it up into little pieces and use some modge podge to attach to a recycled glass jar.  Spear some glue onto the jar, layer on the pieces overlapping at spots, then once the whole thing is covered, spear one more layer of glue and let dry.  Know you have a lovely jar to put flowers in, make some homemade bath salts with essential oils and epsome salt, or make a wire handle and keep these to deliver May Day flowers to your friends!

This is a super fast project that takes less than half an hour- I like to use frappuccino jars myself, the labels come off super easy, they resemble the old milk jars, and well the vanilla is just darn tasty all be it not that good for you!

Enjoy the day- here is another fun project that I did for Babble also to help celebrate the day!  Of course you can always snuggle up under a tree and read some good books too!  I don't think the trees will mind at all listening!  Happy Earth Day everyone!

eggy

Last weekend it was the rabbits, this weekend it was all eggy!  Friday night the Crafty Mamas had wisps of wool among yummy snacks, tea and wine.  I tried a different way of felting eggs than I had done last year and it was much easier.  Here are some pictures of some of the results of Friday night felting from the mamas.

 

I wanted to briefly share how I did the eggs.  There are a few different methods but I found this method this year pretty easy and fun.

-Take plastic egg, wrap about 5-6 layers of wool roving spread out in layers, crossing each other lengthwise and crosswise alternately.  You don't want to see any of the egg.  It will be quite big in size compared to the egg.

 

-Initially I have hot water- not scalding, but good hot water and I dunk the wool wrapped egg into the hot water.  This is the most odd part- it seems mushy and you are not sure what to do with it, but just gently passing it back and forth between your hands a few times continually dipping into the hot water as needed.  As a few drops of gentle soap like Ivory dish soap.  Once it is soaped up you can start to easily pass it back and forth in your hands and dip in warm water as needed.  You will feel it start to tighten and felt.  You can do this for about 15 minutes continuing to add slight pressure with hands.

 

-When it feels felted and the fibers seem tight, I rinse it well in running warm water, and then I shock it with cold water rinse.  You can then let it dry, or if you want to tighten more, you can put it in nylons or lycra and tie off with yarn, then toss in pillow case in washer in warm wash- this way you can do more than one.  Again dry when done.

 

 -Once it is dry, you can create a slit in one side, I like to start the slit with rotary cutter, then use scissors to get the opening like you want.  Slip out the plastic egg.  I then like to needle felt the edge just a bit, you can add a bit of foam to needle felt against.  You could also needle felt any weak spots or decorations at this stage.  Do a quick little whip stitch starting in one corner and then do up one side down the other and knot off with the start of your thread- tie off and you are done.  

You could add a button at this stage and then just add a little bit of yarn to loop around the button if you want to secure the closure.

 

 

Hope that helps you get started- I made this batch this weekend for the shop pretty quickly you will be surprise how fast they go.  They are pretty addicting to make- dragon eggs are slated for the end of the month! 

I will be listing the weekends eggy work in the next few days, some of the last goodies for the Easter holiday- ahh spring, how I love you so!