Each morning, we partake in a nature walk…with a one year old and a two year old, walking around our quaint little property does the trick! Mostly we gather flowers for our nature table, and any other gifts that may be given to us by nature (the other day we found a bird’s feather to add to our table).

We have been slow at planting crops in our two square foot gardens this year, ironically enough – considering we have had stellar weather this past spring. One crop that is doing nicely is the small patch of strawberries. Yesterday we gathered an extra special treat on our small trip of discovery: juicy red strawberries, that taste even sweeter than the organic ones up the road!





A small garden for your little ones is highly recommended.

I needed a quick project to do with my 2 year old as our morning was cut short due to chore load. It’s summer so I thought it would be nice to break out the felt (Tuesday is felting day – in our weekly rhythm) and make a butterfly for the play house.

This project could easily be adapted to wet felting as young children love – however due to our shortened morning I decided to needle felt it and have my daughter participate by adding friction or simply touching the piece when she desired.

I also wanted to add that you don’t hvae to be particularly artistic or crafty to do these kinds of projects. Believe me I churned this out fast this morning and the butterfly is lopsided – the children don’t care! They simply cherish what you make with them.

All you need is dyed wool, pipe cleaners and your needle and mat for felting.



I took one pipe cleaner and folded it in half and twisted it together.



Then twisted the endos of the other two together, forming a circle



Twist your circle into a figure 8, and shape the wings as you wish.




I covered the body part with wool and had Sophie roll it back & forth in her hands. The friction starts the felting process. Then I ran my felting needle over it a few times.



Sophie is too young to use the sharp needle, but that doesn’t mean she can’t mimic the movement. I catch her “needle felting” in the play house with her bubble wand. Here she gives it a go on the body of our butterfly.



The body is now done.



Then I attached the body to the wing armature I formed, criss-crossing the wool around the center of the wings and body. I lightly felted this into place with the needle. I wanted to be able to loop string through here later.



I started to lay the wool on the wings to felt – weaving over and under the pipe cleaner armature – then felted it into place.





So as you can see, our butterfly looks more like a dragonfly than a butterfly! This is great too – but I told Sophie we were making a butterfly. :) I could have made a second set of wings, but again due to our short morning I simply snipped the body with scissors and felted over the bottom. We will keep the other half of the body to make another later.



Sophie of course requested blue for the body, and then I jazzed it up a little bit…



…adding fuschia & purple felt to the body.



Just one last apple green element added to the top – and our butterfly is ready to take flight.







Our butterfly now lives at the front door of our play house. Where he will stay all summer long. :)

Today was officially the first day of summer and although the good weather has been upon us now for several weeks, you could definitely feel the festive energy emanating from the neighborhood.

Among many things, I have been working on our rhythm. Part of that is assigning certain days for certain creative projects. I haven’t actually had an official crayoning session with Sophie – so I decided to give it a try on Mondays. Bonus is, today we got to do it outside!



We bought this bench at the end of the season last year at Canadian Tire. It was marked down to a steal of a deal – we got it for approx. $20! Here is the best part about it…



It easily converts into a picnic table!



I brought out the block crayons and paper. I chose a cover stock paper since it is thicker – really durable, and removed the corners. If you have never used or heard of block crayons – I recommend you give them a try. They are made of beeswax which gives a wonderful sensory experience for your child as they warm up in their hands. Not only do they smell good, but the shape makes it easier for young children to hold onto. Which also means they last a long time, so don’t let the price scare you.



Since children learn from mimicry, I sat down beside Sophie to do my own picture. Remember she is only two and a half, so I wanted to keep my movements simple – just back and forth – no actual shapes. The goal was for her to get a feel for the crayons as well as experience colour. Children of this age do not have the brain development to make shapes.





Sophie’s first creation.



My first “picture”. I must admit I was really looking forward to crayoning as well. There is just something so freeing to allow the colour to develop on the page with no real direction – just as the heart desires. If you were ever firmly encouraged to only colour “in the lines” as a child, this process can be very freeing/healing. Looking at it, I like how the yellow stands out more than the rest of the colours. It’s like good energy shining through.





We filled three pages each this morning, and then it was time for snack followed by flower picking/swinging at the park time.

I plan to keep these drawings in a scrapbook – and I will hold onto my own as well. You never know what emotions may unfold as time goes on. A simple act can mean so much. I know for me – I found the crayoning very relaxing.

Today was Father’s Day, so what better day to relax, splurge and throw a… hot dog on the barbeque. ;)

I found these during our last trip to the US – and guess what? They taste goooood!



It’s still junk food – but now every so often when I have the urge to have a hot dog with all the fixins, I now can have it with organic beef and even more importantly – no chemical nitrates!

This week, I have been trying to tackle tasks that have been on my to-do list for far too long. One of them, was setting up a nature table for the girls (and all members of the family, adults included) to enjoy a little bit of outdoors inside. As summer is soon officially here, and we are spending a lot of the day outdoors – new treasures abound just about every day!

I have to admit, part of my hesitation for setting up a nature table prior to now is the intimidation factor – I have seen some beautiful tables that really showcase the beauty of nature as well as the creativity of the families who put them together. The concept is fairly new to me although it resonates with me – so I knew my table would have very humble beginnings. But – it has to start somewhere! :)

The place I wanted to set up is in the corner of our living room. There is a lot of light there and it already is home to our fountain. I liked the water element & wanted to incorporate it in. The nesting tables it is on are fairly small; eventually we will look at getting a nice round table for the space, but for now, small is good for the very tiny hands that will tend to it. :)

Monday started off rainy so this was a good project to get started that morning. Then we donned our rubber boots and rain coats to go look for flowers to add to our table.




Sophie was happy to arrange the flowers in our flower holder (actually made to be a pencil holder – but I thought this would be a great flower holder with lots of holes for arranging).





Phase I of our table. Most of these items were purchased on Etsy from a lovely little family run business called Natural Earth Farm in Vermont. We consider Vermont our second home Рthe American extension of Qu̩bec Рso we were honored to have items straight from their property, lovingly made by them.

The little candle holders are from Imagination Kids. They also double as flower holders.



Even my one year old enjoyed observing the set up.


It’s a start – with plenty of room to add new treasures we find throughout the summer! :)



We added coloured felt – brown for the earth, green for the grass and blue for the water. Also two postcards – one with a lovely village scene with cows – I wanted to add a farm animal element into it as Old McDonald is a song well requested in our home :)). The other is of a fairy child sitting n a flower. Two rocks that Sophie lovingly collected last summer also adorn the table. The mermaid & child in the water is a creation by the daughter of Kristie Burns of The Dream Angels.



Underneath our table is a basket of felt balls (mostly made by us- see this project) & scarves, shawls and handkerchiefs that I gathered from my closet. Eventually we may add play silks to the collection – but I really believe that creative objects for your child really do exist already in the home.



I’ve had this plaque for awhile – before I had children – and I decided to place it on top of the fountain not so much for them but as a reminder to me, that I mean so much greater to them than just a person – children look up to their parents like we are God. It is a reminder to me to treat them with patience and respect as they learn by my example.

We still have some charming wood hooks to fill with goodies, as well as some objects to craft out of felt & wood, but I must say even I enjoy glancing at this simple homage to nature in the corner as I type this. Every morning, as we go out to explore, we bring back fresh flowers for the table. It is a wonderful and simple addition to our home & my two year old enjoys either admiring it or tending to the flowers. :)

For my dad’s birthday last month, I decided to send him a handmade card featuring a recent photo of the girls, and a pictures drawn with block crayons by Sophie, age 2.





Sophie enjoyed decorating the inside of the card – and was just as excited to drop it into the mail box. I “helped” her write “Happy Birthday” on the inside of the card – obviously she is nowhere near even comprehending writing, this was just for adult entertainment, and she was excited to just see the letters form on the page.

I bought these blank cards on sale at AC Moore last September on a trip to Nova Scotia (and driving through Maine to go home). A simple easy keepsake for extended family! :)

I discovered Kate Quinn Organics when I was pregnant with Sophie, and soon after made my first order. The clothes for babies and children are not only stylish but built to last. And they have a soft comfort – who wouldn’t enjoy wearing that?

A few months ago I recently tried out her newest line for women – I bought a couple of shirts and I was hooked! Recently they had a $10 sale and I bought several tank tops and T-shirts. What I like about them, is that they are longer and have a cut to them so they don’t just hang straight down like you are wearing a potato sack. ;) Perfect for layering. Comfortable, well made & stylish – and wasn’t I delighted when I received an email the other day that they have just recently launched a Canadian online store!

Etsy is a great place to buy handmade items, it is also a great resource for supplies. I wanted some plain undyed wool to use in the core of projects (such as our felted rattle balls) so I looked to Etsy since I wanted to start with a small amount.

I found just what I wanted from Etsy Seller 8muddyfeet. Wonderfully soft, washed dorset ram wool that was shipped promptly. Just what I have come to expect from Etsy sellers. :)





This should carry us through for a few projects.

While away on our anniversary trip, we stopped into the New England Aquarium. Rick & I went four years ago, and not much has changed. That does not mean we were disappointed! It was nice to see the penguin exhibit again and the girls were fascinated by a giant sea turtle swimming around and around in the larger exhibit.



I wish I had taken more pictures, but the lighting was low and I was uncomfortable exposing the marine life to flashing bulbs. I have video from our first visit I should dig up and post…

All in all, we has a lovely morning there. The size is perfect for small children – enough to keep them interested but not too big that they grow tired half way through. Their cafeteria had tasty food and it was reasonably priced, much to our surprise.

Some of the wool used in our recent projects comes from a great little shop in Montpelier, Vermont called The Knitting Studio. We stopped in on our way to New Hampshire last week. Their motto is “Vermont’s Friendliest Knitting Shop” & I would have to agree! I can’t wait to stop in again the next time we are in the area.



Beautiful local Alpaca wool…this is the type of thing I am always in search of. A well known art & craft chain sells wool for felting from Nepal – at very steep prices. Why when there is such wonderful local product to be collected? This gets me excited to attend my first ever Fiber Festival! I hope to make the one in Vermont in October.

Today was Rick’s birthday, and it was an utterly quiet, relaxing day at home. It was cute to see Sophie drag the bag of birthday goodies out this year – it was so much easier to get her to do it this year than last year. :)

Here are a few items he received.



Organic cotton shirts, Made in Canada from Green is Black



Organic hemp socks, Made in Canada from Rawganique



Compost thermometer, from Lee Valley




Organic fertilizer, also from Lee Valley



Tonight’s dinner. Fresh sea scallops from the local poisonnerie, and this wonderful naturally cured bacon, also local.