Pinecone Fairies

December is finally here! As you can imagine, as a doll maker I'm knee deep in making for the holidays right about now. But I'm still making time to start a few festivities around the homefront, too.

My dear friend Lucinda made a new tutorial last week that the girls and I just had to try. In our new place we have no evergreens, but that's OK, because we  saved up some pinecones from last year. And our acorns are too small but thankfully a friend of ours has some lovely enormous caps so all we had to find were some wing appropriate leaves.

Zoe and I worked on one together and Kaiya (our new resident crafter) worked alone. These were so much fun! I was out of the small beads for the hands so we left off wrapping the arms. I think we'll have to gather up some more supplies and do this one again. The girls even made a couple without the hanging string for play.




Here are more from another NC mama.
Love the use of the poplar seed pods and sweet gum balls.



  Do you have any fun projects you're working on for the holidays?

Giveaway From Mosey Handmade

Comments on this giveaway are now closed and a winner (Rebecca Vanderburgh) has been contacted.

Hello again! I'm breaking my (busy) silence with a special giveaway for you all.
This giveaway come from mosey handmade.... co-owned by Jes and Stephanie. Sit back with a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy their gorgeous photos while you get to know them a little better.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

mosey handmade is a team of two crafters ~ Jes Anthonis and Stephanie Martz. We met in highschool and became quick friends, we used to publish a zine together.

A few years ago we reunited and have been crafting together ever since!  Steph is an art teacher and Jes has her own Waldorf Inspired school, Morning Glory Garden.

We work together as a team creating everything on mosey.From ribbon to the colorways we chose it all carefully and we put it all together with as much love as we can muster!

 

How did you get started making children's things?

Jes: We both grew up making all kinds of crafty things with our Mama's, and then became teachers, so it seems like the perfect marriage of both!

Steph: Yes, and I've always been a fan of children's vintage aestetic which we try to bring into the color pallette and playfulness of all we make for mosey.

 

What inspires you?

Jes: We are very inspired by the families and children we make things for. Of course we are also inspired by Waldorf Early Childhood education and all the beautiful wooden and wool toymakers out there.

Steph: I think we are a mix of natural materials and a bit of vintage styling...which makes perfect sense given who we are.

What is your favorite thing to do together with your children?

Jes: Right now we have a new baby & a toddler, so finding that special time with my older daughter is really important. She calls everything crafty "Mama's Knitting" and she has been especially interested in sitting at the electric sewing machine! When we were making Halloween costumes I let her run the pedal while I did the sewing, she had the BEST time! Other than handwork we love to go to our local story hour and meet up with friends there!

Steph: I love to find things for the children that they will love, little surprises and treasures. Especially if it's thrifted! Also singing and dancing!

 

So what are you offering one of our lucky readers?

We are giving away a mosey handmade Birthday Party Pack!

♥ The mosey handmade Party Pack ♥ includes:

 1 Birthday Crown 1 Personalized Birthday Bunting 6 Award Ribbon Party Favors

 ☆ All wrapped up in one of our hand dyed playsilks ☆

To enter this giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post! 

For more entries; (Leave a comment for each additional entry.)

Add Mosey Handmade to your Etsy favorites

Like Mosey Handmade on Facebook

Refer a friend to their Facebook page (each friend must LIKE and POST on their timeline letting them know you sent them... one entry per friend referred)
Follow their blog 
Share this giveaway... anywhere!

Like This Cosy Life on Facebook

Giveaway is open worldwide. A winner will be drawn randomly on Thursday, November 29th.

This and That

Hello again! My work and homeschooling are keeping me quite busy at the moment. So, while I hate to be so quite here, I'm so grateful for the tasks that are feeling my days.
Are you making plans for Halloween? Are you completely ready for Halloween? I'm not, at all. Zoe has told me she would like to be a cat. Easy enough. Not sure about the other two yet, but we'll get there.









But we have visited the pumpkin patch and carved our pumpkins. Kaiya carved hers all by herself! And she's beginning to look a bit like a grinning jack-o-lantern with those missing teeth. Hehe! Zoe lost her first last week. She was so excited that the tooth fairy would finally be visiting her. Then the Kaiya lost another the following day. Needless to say, the tooth fairy has been hopping!

 Hey, have you entered to win Lucinda's beautiful gnome house yet? Get your entries in before Halloween and don't forget to refer your friends to her Facebook page for extra entries.

Giveaway and Review of Willodel

Comments on this giveaway are now closed.

Hello again, friends! I've had a very busy couple of months and don't foresee that letting up anytime soon. Business is booming, homeschooling is marching on and we all are very well. But I wanted to come in for a bit to host this wonderful giveaway for my sweet friend Lucinda. If you don't remember her from her past giveaways here, Lucinda is the very talented artist behind the Etsy shop Willodel.
We are very happy to own some of her work. A set of furniture....

These pieces are amazing! Many of them are one solid piece and they are very sturdy. My husband has stepped on a couple of the chairs and they broke cleanly, no splintering and, after a little craft glue they are as good as new!

Lucinda offers the furniture is a coupe of different sizes to fit your doll house. We chose the larger size and they work perfect for our Plan dolls and other various bendy dolls.

The bendy doll above is made by Lucinda, not the purple baby (tooth fairy present!) or cradle.

A co-sleeping family catching their zzz's in Lucinda's bedroom set.

Lucinda is a true artist and strives to be gentle to the earth in her work. From her Etsy shop; "Willodel is a shop filled with lovingly hand made items meant to delight the heart, inspire the imagination and foster creativity for all who are wanting. Willodel embraces everything natural, as Nature gives the artisan both material and inspiration, it becomes inherent in the work to protect, sustain and revere the environment that is the source of it all.
I have been making delightful, functional & eco friendly homes for birds, toads, fairies and gnomes, out of found wood and recycled materials, for many years.......time tested and loved by all."

The superbly crafted and simply beautiful toys and animal homes Lucinda makes are just magical and the kind of thing that is treasured and passed down through generations.

These are homes one can dream in! Looking at her little gnome houses just sets my imagination into work. Couldn't you imagine little gnome sand fairies really making their homes in there?



To add a little magic to your desktop....
 

Today Lucinda is generously offering one of her wee gnome homes to one lucky reader (acorn gnome and sheep not included)!
*Please note; due to the high cost of shipping this item, the giveaway is only open to US and Canada residents.*

 To enter simply leave a comment.

For additional entries;
Add Lucinda's Etsy shop to your favorites
Like Willodel on Facebook
Like This Cosy Life on Facebook
Share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest
Refer friends to the Willodel Facebook page (you will  receive one additional entry for every person you refer that a)'likes' Willodel and b)leaves a  comment on the Willodel page letting us know who sent them) 

This giveaway will be open for 2 weeks.. I will announce the winner (drawn randomly) on  October 31st (Halloween!).