little heart garland kit.

To make your little heart garland kit you will need: a length of twine (or strong yarn), two push pins (these wood ones are nice), some felt hearts (as many as you like!) tied with a loop of embroidery thread and a pouch to put them all in.

You can make the pouch however you would like!  I used a muslin tea bag that I had.  You can usually buy them in packs of 2 or 4 at your local tea and coffee shop or at health food stores.  If you want to buy them in bulk you can order them here.  To start, tie off the bags draw string and snip of the extra thread. Then, sew a button on the front of the bag, on the bottom and in the center.

Next, take some embroidery thread (it should be long enough that you can wrap it around the button a couple of times to keep the pouch shut), tie a large knot in one end and bring it through one side of the top of the bag.  If you would like, you can stitch a felt heart to the end. Put the push pins, twine and felt hearts into the pouch and give it to a loved one!  When they open it up they can string the hearts onto the twine and find a special spot for it!

e n j o y !

a trip.

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I couldn't let the weekend come and go without posting about this wonderful organization.  Craft Hope's mission is to combine individuals love of creating with helping those less fortunate in the world. You can visit them here to get more information about some of the amazing projects they are working on. Most recently, they have created Craft Hope for Haiti.  Craft Hope for Haiti is an etsy shop where artisans have donated their goods and ALL proceeds of the purchases go directly to Doctors Without Boarders in Haiti. I will keep a link to them in my side bar!

little paint chip books.

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Even though our little house is made out of lovely birch wood I am always so drawn to the array of paint chip colors at our hardware store.  I love sifting through all of the names, "Sunbaked Orange, Apricot Seashell, Summer Dragonfly".  Recently, I found some that were just the perfect size for making lots of little books for my son to drawn in and for me to keep notes in. 

I punched some small holes along two paint chip samples and through some plain paper(this is a nice project for using up scrap paper that has been used only on one side!) and then did a simple blanket stitch with embroidery thread to connect the layers.

I think this would be a nice project for an older child as it involves cutting, hole punching and a bit of sewing. It is also a nice way to create something that can be used for writing in or drawing in later on. So, punch, cut, sew and doodle away!

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lip balm.

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This past weekend, here at Good Egg Farm, I started making lip balm.  It is really such a delightful thing to!  There is always something so satisfying about making something with your own two hands that you are accustomed to buying in a shop. Isn't there? Anyway, I strapped on my favorite apron and set to work.  I used this really wonderful book for a basic recipe and then made a few batches, each time adding a little more of one ingredient and a little less of another until I got the balm just as I wanted. I ordered my ingredients from here.  

The end results where quite nice even though I still may make some small changes in order to have a firmer balm. Most importantly it felt so comforting knowing exactly what went into making the product, where the ingredients came from and that is was made lovingly by hand and in small batches. It is good enough to eat which is an added bonus with a little lad who has taken to smearing on Mama's lip balm whenever possible.

Oh, and I was quite happy with the way the beet root powder added color.  The recipe did not call for it and I had never used it before so I just gave it a go. You can still see specks of it in the finished balm but once you put it on your lips it just blends right in adding just a tint of rosy pink.  

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haiti.

I am thinking a lot about the recent earthquake in Haiti. So many people whose lives have been uprooted. Mothers and fathers, grandparents and children. Life is feeling very precious. You can make a donation to help those in need using the link above, here for the American Red Cross, here for Save the Children and here for Unicef.

january days.

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wool. button. ribbon

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Oh, I love being snowbound on Sundays! We have spent our day listening to good tunes, cooking good food and playing by the fire.  We have no where to be but here, together in our little home. Anyway, I thought I would share the craft I made for my sweet little nephew for Christmas.  Wool balls with a button and ribbon.  I learned to wet felt while in graduate school training to be a Waldorf kindergarten teacher.  It is such a lovely thing to do!  What better craft than one that involves wool, warm water and clean, soapy bubbles! It is a wonderful way to spend some time indoors when the days are short and cold and equally as nice on hot, sunny days out amongst the grass, sun and dandelions.  I love too that one must be so patient while felting, you really can't rush the process.  You just have to sit back and relax and help the wool along.  

Over the course of a few days (it is handy that you can just leave the felt wet from one day to the next as you work, picking up where you left off and taking as long as you need) I wet felted the balls and once they were completely dry I added on a button with some long ribbon.  I thought they would make a nice toy for a little one to roll, to pull on or chew to boot! 

The possibilities with wool are so endless. How amazing that it can be used to make something as large as a house or something as small and soft as a newborns first slippers.  I made the ones above a few years ago for a friends first child.

You can find lots of wonderful felting books and felting supplies here! Enjoy!

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