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.

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 – the American extension of Québec – so 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! :)

Yesterday I blogged about making simple felted balls with my two year old. Our day felting outdoors continued with the making of a rattle/shaker ball. This is an adaptation of a project in the book “Feltique” with inspiration by some wet felted Easter egg projects I had read online earlier this spring.



To start, you will need beans, popcorn kernels, rice – anything hard that will make a shaking sound, a small container to hold the shaking objects, and duct tape (masking tape would work as well). We used a bean mix for our project. Our container is from Kinder Surprise Eggs given to the kids by their grandfather at Easter.



Sophie added as many beans as she wanted (while Ava watched).



Trying out the shaking sound…



Ava wanted a turn, too! Sound kid approved. :)



I covered the shaker with duct tape to give a surface for the wool to grab on to.





I then covered the shaker with core wool – wrapping it in different directions.



Then the fun part. Sophie dips the wool ball into warm, soapy water.



Sophie & I took turns working the first layer of felt in our hands.



Then I added another layer


Dip & Squeeze…





I was satisfied at this point that all the hard parts of the container were thoroughly covered with core wool. Now came the colour. Sophie is into blue at the moment so I chose a blue roving to cover the ball with.



We dipped and rolled & covered a couple more times until you could no longer see any core wool poking through.



Then, I put the ball into an old pair of panty hose and rolled it around on a towel on my lap, and between my hands, to get a smoother surface.



The finished ball. So the ball is pretty plain right, all one colour? I had intended to wet felt another contrasting colour, but Sophie pretty much had enough of felting for one day, and was off “cooking” in her play house. :)

So last night after it dried I started to needle felt it. I finished it today while we were outdoors.







I’d say it’s a hit with the critics. ;)

Today was the perfect temperature to be outdoors, and I decided to take the opportunity to head to the deck and make small wet felted balls with Sophie, my two year old. This is a great project for outdoors since little materials are needed, and the soapy mess that ensues makes no difference at all!



(on a side note: do you see the cloth basket? That was my mom’s. As a kid I remember it always stocked with yarn for hooked rug projects and crochet. Now it’s filled with lots of lot of wool. :))

This is a great project for toddlers. It involves water and wool – and works up really quickly, which is great for little attention spans!

You will need:
A bowl of warm, soapy water
wool roving, you choice of colour
a towel



I started by showing Sophie how to dip the wool roving into the warm, soapy water. The hotter the water the faster the felting process, but with a toddler who wants to dip their fingers in, this water was kept at a comfortable warm temperature.



Together, Sophie & I worked our piece of wool roving, taking from my lead.



After dipping in the water a couple of times and continuing to roll the wool, a ball begins to form.



Our finished mini felted balls, a hit with both the children and cats in our house!

I purchased this wonderful kinder harp (also known as a kinder lyre) from Song of the Sea in Maine – and it sounds just as delightful as the company it comes from.



Tuned in the petatonic scale , at first, it takes a bit of getting used to if you are only familiar with the major scale.



I have not bought any sheet music for it as of yet. My intention is to get to know the instrument. It has such a lovely sound and there is no such thing as a sour note…pluck away and feel the notes as they resonate. It sounds wonderful even when you do not know what you are doing. The only way I can describe it, is if water drops could be musical notes, it would sound like this.

I tried it tonight while the girls went to bed. It had an almost immediate effect on Sophie. I watched as she fell into a calm, pleasant sleep. Ava took a bit longer, but I continued to play and she soon laid down beside me and quietly slipped into sleep.

I enjoyed getting a feel for the instrument – it had such a soothing & calming effect on me as well. A great way to unwind the day! Whether or not you are musical, this is an instrument the whole family will enjoy. I look forward to watching the girls learn to play when they get older. Right now it’s fabulous for nap and bed times!

While in Burlington, Vermont, we stopped by one of my favourite stores: Creative Habitat. I happened to spot these bags of wooden objects on a shelf. We were elated to find they were odds & end unfinished wooden items for just $4.99.



These objects are everything but he kitchen sink: little wooden eggs, flat shapes that I can only assume are for toll painting (including little ginger bread man shapes), drawer knobs, flat discs that look like they were for wheels on wooden cars, tiny cylinders & stick like objects – even a finished wooden yo-yo whose only problem is that the screen printing is imperfect. All unfinished wood and loads of imaginative fun! We broke these open in the hotel room and the kids had a ball. Ava likes to put the items one by one in a bowl. At first, Sophie did not know what to do with them. She expected them to fit together like a puzzle – it made me realize that most of the wooden toys we have at home are supposed to do something – so I was happy to sit silently and just let her explore the potential of these items on her own. Some of the wood became food, and she fed Ava and me. Other items she grouped together in small piles, etc…all in all I was happy to let her play creatively with no expectation that the toy has an “end”. Really wonderful purchase for a few dollars.

AS for me, I am thinking of the painting projects. I will probably get some milk paints and use some of the knobs downstairs on the many drawers and cupboards missing their original knobs. I think some of the cylindrical objects could be drilled further and then made into small vases for our nature table. The possibilities are endless & I am just as inspired as my little girls.

See what came in the mail today:



The colours are beautiful! I can’t wait to start felting! Mind you, I am still waiting for an order of core wool, which I need for most projects, but it was so nice to touch & see all the beautiful colours in person!!

I picked up a copy of Living Crafts Magazine – and this is such a good read. Their motto is: “Craft your whole life”. Creative projects for the whole family from front to back, unique suppliers advertised for all your creative family needs, and wasn’t I delighted to see a “Craft A Story”: The Forget-Me-Not Easter Egg by a Facebook friend, Suzanne Down! (On a side note – the internet is such a wonderful tool to connect creative people together – people you could never get the chance to get to know and/or be inspired by any other way!).



I would subscribe, but with 4 copies a year, I can easily pick these up each season rather than paying the extra cost for a Canadian subscription. Their website has great projects and ideas as well – for example in the case of Suzanne’s Forget Me Not Easter Egg story, the project corresponding is on their craft room page (link above)! There are so many inspiring projects – you are truly motivated to pick up a new skill!

Bravo Living Crafts, for a magazine worth every penny!

I received this today – and am so happy with it –

I wanted to get a painting smock for Sophie for our watercoloring. I had in my mind just the style I would like – and I was delighted to have found this one in the janseams Etsy Shop. She shipped it to me lightening fast and I was so impressed. It is very well made & just what I had in mind!







It’s a girls’ size 5 – but I wanted something larger for Sophie to grow into. Now once Ava catches up to her I will have to order another (and perhaps an extra for any children who come to visit!).

For Mother’s Day this year, I received two books on felting which include how to projects on needle & wet felting.



I’ve wanted to try this out for some time now: the idea of working with wool roving and forming it into felt has appealed to me for some time. Since I have so many creative interests I put it on the back burner until now…the projects you can do with felt are wonderful for little hands.

So I ordered some wool and look forward to getting started. I am worried that this may turn into an addictive hobby. It’s relatively inexpensive to start and the choices of materials is amazing! Then I hear about these fiber festivals and I go…oh boy…this could get dangerous. :)

I can’t give the books a proper review since I have not yet tried out the projects – but I can say from first glance they are well laid out, the directions seem straight forward and the projects look absolutely delicious!