Yarn Along

I'm linking up with Ginny today. This jumbled, chaotic mess is pretty much what's going on, right now. I have the only winter craft show I'm doing coming up this Sunday and I'm (as usual) woefully unprepared. I do always manage to turn it out in the end with a few long, frantic nights. It's stressful, but it's almost here, which means almost over.
So, right now on the needles (and hook) are some new gnome pods (which I will first list in the shop) and on another set I have a wee tree for an order I'm in the middle of. The book is Winter Solstice and I've not cracked it yet. But it just arrived today and I'm hopeful there will be an opening in time coming up before too long (wishful thinking).

Just an FYI, tomorrow I will be removing all made to order items from my shop until after holiday shipping (about mid-month). Anything that's already made up will remain, though, made to order is the bulk of my shop. So if there is anything you just have to have before Christmas you'll need to place that order tonight (Nov. 30). And, should you decide to place an order tonight, feel free to use the discount code lastchance to receive free shipping.

P.S. Don't forget to enter to win 3 of my patterns.

P.P.S. I noticed someone has added a sweet little baby bonnet to the Hand Knit Hand Me Down group. Perhaps it will fit your little one?

Meltdown Monday Giveaway

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Happy Monday, everyone! Mine is off to a rather slow start. Kinda feel like I'm being pulled in so many directions. Gah! There's so much to do! But I'm finally here with a giveaway.

This week I am offering TWO readers any three patterns from my shop.

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. You can let me know how your Monday is going or, better yet, tell me how you beat the dreadful Meltdown Monday or just say hi. Whatever.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
Share on Facebook
Blog this giveaway
Like me on Facebook

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday November 20th and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!

The First Light of Advent

It is late and I am tired, but I wanted to stop in for just a moment and share what is on my mind right now.
Tonight we lit the first Advent candle. I really appreciate the quiet serenity of this period, though, I must confess that I have not fully connected to it yet. It is one of those that has been a little slow going with me. Christmas, in general, really. I know that I am not alone of feeling a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of making Christmas meaningful for me. It comes with so much baggage and such an overwhelming presence that I had briefly thought of giving it up all together. But I think that I would be doing myself and my children a grave disservice by doing that. I think it is important for me to work through this one and that we will be rewarded by it in the end.
So, yes, I am thinking thoughts of festivals.... I'm sure this doesn't surprise my regular readers. My apologies if I do go on and on at times. They are on my mind much of the time. Much too much. But I am reading (and re-reading) a few articles here , here, and here. I am feeling the beginning of clarity, reading them. Things beginning to connect. Perhaps you'll find them useful, too.
But for now, I'm off to bed. Goodnight!

Waldorf Inspired Home School Themes-Thanksgiving

We are Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, just starting out in kindergarten. Each week follows a theme, inspiring our work and play and learning. This theme is chosen based on the season and what's on our minds. Each week I will share what we've been up to and some links and resources that will hopefully inspire you. There is a link-up at the end of this post... I hope you will share what your home school has been up to. You can find previous weeks here.

Oh, the earth is good to me
And so I thank the earth
For giving me the things I need
The sun and the rain and the apple seed
The earth is good to me

As Thanksgiving was this week we focused all week on the upcoming day.

I was inspired by this tutorial to make Indian corn hanging sunflowers.

Removing the kernels was messing work. They kept popping all over the place!



I used the different colors to make a design but the girls just spread theirs out mixed up. And, unlike the tutorial, we didn't try to set them on end, as this would have required hot glue.



Some of the pieces popped off and so I covered them in Modge Podge and let them try over night. This sealed the really well.

I also didn't cut the husks into petals, but instead kept the natural shape and simply cut them down a bit.



We glued a piece of yarn to the back for hanging and the glued over it a piece of paper cut the same size.



The girls tucked theirs away in their Solstice gifting box.

On Thanksgiving we used the empty cobs to make bird feeders.

I screwed tiny hooks into the tops for hanging and then we coated them with peanut butter and birdseed.

Songs
Johnny Appleseed
Over the River

Stories
The Animal's Thanksgiving
Hugin and His Carrot We read this one on Thanksgiving day and then made carrot soup to go with our dinner.

As always, you can find my homeschooling board here and songs and stories here.

ThanksGiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Right Now

All is pretty quite on the home front at the moment. I am busily working on filling orders with a holiday craft show looming up ahead in a week and a half (eek!). As usual, totally unprepared for that. I did receive this array of candy colored wool in the mail so if all else fails there will be gnome pods!

We're also preparing for a pretty quite Thanksgiving this year. This will be the first year we're not celebrating with extended family (for various reasons) and I have mixed feelings about that. On the plus side, it's also the first Thanksgiving in two years that we'll be celebrating as a whole family (with Daddy) and I'm definitely happy about that.
So, all is good and busy. How are you?

A Hand Me Down

We received a package last week. It was from a very generous lady that had knit this beautiful little dress and then offered it up on the Hand Knit Hand Me Down group. I just had to have it! I've been wanting to knit some new dresses for the girls but have zero time for it between orders. So, obviously, I pounced right away when I saw this.

There was an extra item in the package that I haven't had the chance to take a picture of yet. It's a gorgeous, striped shrug that also fits River just perfectly. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Martina!

I'm sorry there is no giveaway this week. I have none lined up a the moment and with all the commotion here at the house I felt like taking a bit of a break. But there will be one next week and, as usual, if you would like to offer a giveaway here I would love to have you! Just use the contact form up there at the top of the page and I'll get back to you asap.

Thanks and Giving

I wanted to step in just briefly and share a little about the gratitude tree the girls and I are working on. Talking over Thanksgiving (and festivals in general as this is dominating our thoughts at the moment) with my Waldorf mama friend we both became a little stumped with the 'season of giving' that follows. We both really want the things we do with our girls, the festivals we celebrate to be meaningful and the elements need to make sense to us. Sure, I love giving, especially making gifts for my loved ones. But how does a season of thankfulness turn into one of giving one another gifts?

I'm not entirely sure how this custom started as there are so many different sources of festivals of light in nearly every culture this time of year. And I'm not so sure the history even matters that much here.
Let me back up just a hair here and tell you that my thoughts lately have been to include as much festivity and seasonal focus into our every day. My goal is to have these focus points scattered throughout the year and in between to work toward them... almost a perpetual state of celebration and focus that will keep us connected and flow into one another smoothly and naturally, like a beautiful dance.
And here we are at Thanksgiving, filling our Gratitude tree with all of the things we are so grateful to have in our lives. And it occurred to me that someone who has so much to be thankful for also has so much to give. So what we will do is this, once we are past Thanksgiving we will leave our little tree up and instead of filling it with gratitude, we will begin to fill it with our gifts. Look deep within yourself... what gifts do you have to give? Perhaps you are rich with things that may fill another's needs, a talent that will bring a smile to someone's face, perhaps you have time to give. This will be my call to myself and my children, to dig deeply and share our gifts. And one season flows into another...

Just a couple more things; my gratitude to you, dear reader, for all your thoughtful and encouraging comments on this post. They each mean so much to me.

And the other; I have a winner for you...

Suzie

Congratulations! I have already contacted you and you have 48 hours to get back to me with your mailing address.

I hope you all have a beautiful week!

Waldorf Inspired Home School Themes-Harvest

We are Waldorf-inspired homeschoolers, just starting out in kindergarten. Each week follows a theme, inspiring our work and play and learning. This theme is chosen based on the season and what's on our minds. Each week I will share what we've been up to and some links and resources that will hopefully inspire you. There is a link-up at the end of this post... I hope you will share what your home school has been up to. You can find previous weeks here.

Harvest time is here again
In the garden we must dig
Carrots, radishes, onions, too
All so fresh and yummy, too
Harvest time is here again
Won't be long til you know when (Thanksgiving)

Since Thanksgiving is just next week we focused this week on harvest time.

We made corn husk dolls after reading the Oneida legend of why the corn husk doll has no face (see resources at the end of the post).



Since this Friday is the last before Thanksgiving we worked on gratitude trees with our Waldorf homeschooling friends. Or, as I prefer to call it, a Thanks-Giving tree... but I'll go on about that in the tomorrow's post.
We went with watercolor leaves for our tree. Painting with friends is always fun and I really enjoyed watching just three colors swim and blend together so beautifully. I don't sit down and paint enough myself. I really should do it more often.

We will fill our tree over the week. The small bowl beside holds the rest of our leaves.

We also made a yummy, veggie soup with our friends. We brought all the veggies to the table and everyone pitched in with the chopping.

Yes, right on the table. My table is a mess of paint and crayon marks and beeswax and knife dents. We live here, darn it!



It was delicious and our girls were very proud of their contributions.

Songs
Harvest Time
Vegetables
Here's What We Do At harvest Time

Story
Why the Corn Husk Doll


My home school board can be found here and songs and stories here.

...

Hello. I've been avoiding you a bit. I'm sorry about that. I still haven't shared our lantern or our homeschool week. I think I may just skip that alltogether this week.
You see, I have something else to share, haven't known how to approach it but I don't feel genuine writing anything else til I do. So...

my husband moved back in over the weekend. And I truly don't know what else to say about that. I had been going over and over it. We're ready for this, I hope. We're both ready to make changes and I'm at a point to be more flexible and let some things go that really only bog my life down. I saw a quote on Pinterest (that I am sorry but I don't know where the source is or who the author is) that said something along the the lines of -It's only a part of your life because you keep thinking about it-. There are things, between he and I, between myself and others, that I have been holding on to. Thinking about and letting have to much sway over my emotions and outlook and life.
I have to admit out loud, when he left here it wasn't just him to blame, though, I wanted to think for a long time it was. But it was also (a big part) of things I was holding on to and letting determine who I was as a wife.

This is still very overwhelming to me. I am finding myself having these strange emotional reactions to very random things. But I am truly happy and, of course, the girls are beside themselves with happiness. We are trying to settle in and get used to things and finding our new family rhythm. It will take time. It has two years since he moved out. It is definitely going to take some time.
But we're all in it together and ready for this new chapter.

Meltdown Monday Giveaway

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Good morning, dear readers! This week's giving is coming from Lucinda, who makes the most enchanting little gnome homes, furniture and also bird houses! You can find her keeping shop at Willodel and her personal website here. Now, let's get to know Lucinda!

Hello, and welcome to Meltdown Monday! Tell us a little about yourself so we can know the person behind the work.

Like many others, my story starts with my childhood. I grew up with creative, nature loving parents & was always encouraged to "make and do". My mother was a master doll maker, making marionettes and many other dolls from patterns she designed herself. My father was a naturalist and photographer. We lived in a very rural setting & much of my child hood play was about playing with Fairies and Elves in the garden and woods. This was a reflection from the book "The Giant Golden Book of Fairies and Elves" , illustrated by Garth Williams. This book was precious to me. So among the wild Violets, Maiden Hair fern & Forget-me-nots, hours of "pretend" would pass by, often blurring the lines of what was real and what was not. By the time I was 12, I was making paper mache houses in the form of tree trunks with doors and windows for the local puppet Theatre, I was also painting the back drops. I did this through high school. Besides painting and fabricating things, I loved making things from wood. I instinctively wanted to make everything from scratch and it had to be "original", in our house copying was never allowed! I was eager to learn how to make everything & if I wanted something, I just assumed that I would make it.

So as an adult, when I found myself a single parent of three, I rolled up my sleeves and did what I knew how to do best- make things! The passion for making things has stayed with me all my life and the originality and love for what I was doing always seemed to help sell what I made, for which I am truly grateful. Making things that people find joy in is wonderful thing! I took many college classes to learn skills such as etching, stained glass, pottery, drafting and house designing and then used this knowledge, which I combined in many ways, for my projects.

What inspires your creations?

My primary source of inspiration has always been Mother Nature and a passion to share and magnify that beauty so others can be inspired too. I also have always loved making things for children, things that reflect nature to help them love it and have it a part of their happy and pure world. This is also reflected in my artwork I think. I also think being "original" is important, as this made me draw deeply into my own imagination and creative powers and thus developed my creativity to a much higher level than a child given coloring books that just filled in line drawings. I made my own coloring books, including the line drawings!

How do you balance 'making' with mothering?

This was always challenging of course and in the early days I tended to work during nap times and at night. Much of what I did was done on the kitchen table so I could keep my eye on things. I wanted to be a stay-at-home Mom because I felt that strong pull to "do it myself" and that my children were my gift and responsibility. So of course I had them and let them make messes making things and creativity of their own was always encouraged. Once school age was there it was a lot easier of course. We did puppet shows for the classrooms and a lot of 4-H projects. As the children got older they actually participated in the businesses, in fact two of my three helped pay their way through college making birdhouses and going to shows with me --which pleased me to no end! And without a doubt, my original passion for art and making things was such a part of my basic character & identity that it , in itself, pulled me through, almost led the way at times. That is not say there were the usual moments of discouragement & wondering, but solace was always found in Nature, in gardens, trees, sky and wind. And so I would take a deep breath and begin again. Art has always been my form of meditation and rejuvenation, allowing me to re-center and focus. I am so grateful for it!

Today Lucinda is offering the bedroom set in the above photo.

Mountain Gnomes will jump with glee for how cozy they will be, to have such a place, no more a sad face for lack of a bed to sleep! This hand crafted one of a kind furniture is made from natural windfall Aspen and is sealed with beeswax and natural oils. The size is for larger Gnomes. The bed mattress is 5" long and 2.5 " wide. The dresser is 3" tall and 2" wide. The set includes:

A bed with wool felt pad, pillow & plaid blanket, a dresser, a night stand, a chair and a jute rug. The rug is 9"x9" and is hand painted with flowers. This makes a nice play place to stage the bedroom set.

The beautiful Gnome is from Painting Pixie.

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. You can let me know how your Monday is going or, better yet, tell me how you beat the dreadful Meltdown Monday or just say hi. Whatever.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
Share on Facebook
Blog this giveaway
Visit Lucinda's shop and come back here and let me know what you love there.
Like her on facebook
Follow her blog

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday November 20th and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

*Please note, due to the cost of shipping heavy items, this week's giveaway is open only to US and Canada residents.

PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!