Make an easy HAPPY NEW YEAR banner.

K is showing great interest in learning how to read. So, when I suggested we make a HAPPY NEW YEAR banner, a craft that uses letters, she squealed excitedly. When she saw that the letters were glittery, she declared this to be 'the best craft EVER!'

We needed,

Glittery letters (from a craft store)

Paper or card stock

Glue

Glitter

A star stamp

Scissors

Yarn

Fold the paper in half and then half again.

Cut your paper in half along the second fold.

You now have the two halves of folded paper. Cut a triangle flag from each piece, leaving the straight side intact, the side that has the fold in it. You will be hanging your flags over yarn and they'll rest on this fold.

I put glue in a recycled plastic lid and K stamped each flag with a glue star...
And then sprinkled the star with glitter.

I arranged the letters on the deck and wrote out HAPPY NEW YEAR on a piece of paper for her to follow.

She had great fun finding the right letter and sticking it onto her paper flag.

I strung up some yarn across our beam and K showed me which letters to put were to make the words HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Now, when you enter our house, you'll be sure to have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Blessings and magic.

How to make Champagne Glass Charms.

I am excited! We are going to a New Years Eve bash. Yay... chink-chink... HAPPY, NEW YEAR!

This is when I have to admit that we have been real old fogys for the past few years... we haven't even made an effort to see in the new year... we have put our kids to bed at their regular hour, watched some TV and then gone to bed ourselves, grumbling at the sounds of revelry coming from our neighbors party, very thankful that we are mature enough to know that we don't have to stay up all night just because it is the eve of a new year. Well, not this year, baby! This year we are going to make it to the first hours of 2010! Whoo Hooooo!

It is my friend who is hosting the New Years Eve party. I thought it would be lovely if we could give her a little something special for enticing us out from under our rock. So, it being a party where the Champagne will flow, K and I made her a set of Champagne glass charms.


We used Sculpey to make them. This is all we needed...
Colorful Scupley
Thin, bendable wire, cut into a bout 6 inch pieces


K and I got to work making tiny little charms with the Sculpey...

We made a heart, a toadstool, a rose, a pumpkin, a sun and a strawberry...

Our collaborative toadstool is my favorite...

When our charms were done, we used the wire to make small holes through each charm...

We then baked them in the oven at 360 *F (180 *C) for 15 minutes and let them cool.

We threaded a piece of wire through each hardened charm. Twisted it to secure it...

We left the two ends of the wire loose to twist around the wine glass but you can get little clasps from a craft store for that 'more professional' finish.

And Voila! Champagne Glass Charms... too sweet, don't you think. Only problem is that now I want to keep them for myself!
So, my friends, are you going to be 'mature' this year and stay home? Or 'silly' and boogy the night away?

Blessings and magic.

Now We Are Six.

My beautiful daughter,

Today you are six. Yesterday you were just five but today you enter a whole new adventure, one you have been waiting for, for so many months... I haven't, so much... six seems so old for my little girl, my first baby I ever loved with all my heart. I remember the moment you joined us, so clearly. The moment when your Granny first saw you, even before I did, and said, with tears of amazement in her eyes, 'Oh, Donni, it's a girl!' I held you against my heart and you gazed, intensely, into my eyes. In that moment, I was overwhelmed with a love I had never felt before... a love of unimagined strength and an understanding that my heart-strings would always, always, be tied to yours. I was now 'Mother' and you were my most precious gift. I knew I could never love more than I loved you at that moment.

For six years I have watched you blossom. I have marveled at your first words, your gorgeous imagination, your protective love for your brother and, can you believe, my love has grown! It has grown and grown with every day, and every moment, and I now know that a mother's love is infinite. I love you with all my heart today and yet I know I will love you even more tomorrow.

Thank you, my little girl, for awakening this fire in my soul. You and your brother are my greatest joys. I value, immensely, all we have shared and I look forward to all the new experiences we will enjoy together.

I am so very proud of you.

All my love, my Kitty,

Blessings and magic to you on your Birthday today,

Love

Mom

K, 27 December 2007, Cape St Francis Beach, South Africa.

"one of my most favorite photos of you"

Your Birthday celebration was very special today. We decorated our breakfast table with all of your favorite treasures.

You chose your precious deers that Santa brought you. And picked Black-eyed Susans from the garden.

A mound of silk clad presents awaited temptingly.

We lit your candles... three red ones signifying me, Dad and T. And 6 golden ones, one for each year of your life... a tiny acorn candle for when you were one, walnut candles for when you were two and three, a milkweed pod candle for when you were four, a glittery star candle for when you were five and a great, golden pine cone candle for your sixth birthday today.

At last it was time to open your gifts...

You got a book about fairies, a flower press, a snow globe soap, a golden bell and a silver fairy.

And then the fairy whispered something in my ear... she said for you to go outside, for there were new friends who were eager to meet you. You ran outside to find your new bunnies...

You are so delighted with them and have spent the whole day cuddling, stroking and feeding them. They have scratched you, but still you love them. They have already had 3 names each today but you went to bed today calling the white bunny Sparkles and the black bunny Clara. You are a delight to your dad and me.

Good night my sweet six year-old, sleep tight with your grand dreams and your wondrous imaginings.

Now We Are Six

When I was one, I had just begun,

When I was two, I was nearly new,

When I was three, I was hardly me,

When I was four, I was not much more,

When I was five, I was just alive,

But now I am six, I'm as clever as clever,

So I think I'll be six now and forever.

By A.A. Milne

Blessings and magic.

Merry Christmas to All.

Merry Christmas to all of you... I hope you had a day filled with many blessings and lots of magic!

Our Christmas was wonderful...

Father Christmas came in the night and left presents on T and K's beds! His reindeer ate the carrots we left for them, Santa drank his milk and even broke into our popcorn tin and helped himself to HALF the popcorn, leaving a messy popcorn trail on his way out! Oh my Gosh... the delight!

We opened his presents on our bed and were utterly enthralled at what he brought us... treasures we never thought we would ever have!

We had chocolate croissants for breakfast, tea and then opened the presents from under the tree.

We played with out new toys...

We had lunch and then the long awaited pleasure of eating our gingerbread house.

And then, totally exhausted by the joy of it all, we collapsed into bed for a group nap.

I hugged my children tight, knowing how lucky I was to be having this quite moment with them. Their gentle sleeping breaths filled my soul with unimaginable love.

To my cousin, Camilla, I thought of you all day and hope you felt my love.

Blessings and magic.

Our Christmas Gift to the Birds.

Dear Birds,

Thank you for 'tweeting', for 'flying' and for 'making nests'... and specially, for leaving us feathers to find.

Enjoy your Christmas feast!

Blessings and magic.

Love K.

How to make a Magical Snow Globe Soap Gift.

Shhhhhh... don't tell T and K... I made them each a Christmas present today. "OH MY GOSH', am I in love with how they turned out!!

I made little Snow Globe Soaps. A handmade Christmas gift so magical and easy to make... I think I'm going to make one for EVERYBODY!

My friend, Shannon (who has a wonderful soap shop on Etsy called Sacred Waters Soap Company... check it out) gave me the glycerine soap and I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it... woodland Snow Globe stocking stuffers!

This is what I needed...

• Clear glycerine soap (find online, at a craft store or convo my friend Shannon above, she'll have some for you for sure.)
• A couple of round molds (I used my funnels but a small dish will work just as well)
• Plastic food wrap
• Nature bits (I cut a few pine fronds from our Christmas tree)
• A few sweet little forest animals
• Glitter

I made a baine-marie to melt the soap by boiling water in a pot and then placing the bowl of soap into the boiling water... this gently heats the soap, melting it evenly and safely.

While I was waiting for the soap to melt, I filled the funnel holes with playdough (see how important it is to keep playdough handy in your fridge!).

Then I lined the funnels molds with plastic food wrap. This is to make it easy to extract your Snow Globe from the mold once it is cooled and solid.

Then I arranged the little treasures into two groups... one for each Snow Globe... it pays to be prepared for this craft as your soap cools pretty fast and you need to work quickly when it's time for pouring your soap into the mold.

Time for the snow part of your Snow Globe... glitter... sprinkle glitter lightly over the plastic film.

At last my soap was melted. I took it off the stove and added a few drops of essential oil so that my woodland Snow Globe soap would smell wonderful, like a walk in the woods!

I then carefully poured the liquid soap into the mold, leaving a space of about half an inch at the top. Please be sure that your children are at a safe distance from you when you do this step as the soap is very hot and would cause a horrible burn if an accident happened.

I let the soap cool just a little and then carefully placed the 'nature bits' and sweet little woodland animals into the soap, UPSIDE DOWN! I left a little bit of their feet sticking out of the soap, shown in the photo below...

I then mixed the remaining soap with green glitter and stirred vigorously, aerating the soap... this makes the soap harden whiter than the rest, to look like snow. I poured the aerated soap onto the first layer of soap, covering the little treasures completely.

I left them aside to cool and harden for a couple of hours.

When my soap was properly cooled and hardened, I gently pulled it out of the mold. The plastic food wrap helps to loosen it from the sides of the mold. When my soap was free, I gently peeled away the plastic.

Voila! I had made a magical woodland Snow Globe soap!

I can just imagine the fun my kids are going to have with these. Bath time will be a longed for part of the day... AND, they will surely be clean!

Blessings and magic.

How to make a Lantern for Winter Solstice.

Today is Winter Solstice... the shortest day of the year and tonight will be the longest night. It is a time to celebrate and mark the year by inviting the light back into our lives. In all this darkness, it is a time to reflect inwardly and ask that light and warmth grow our hearts too.

In honor of Winter Solstice, we made a winter lantern. We collected 'nature bits' that remind us of winter. As we worked, we talked about the things we love about this time of year and the things we look forward to as the sun returns. My children feel magical when they are holding a lantern... it signifies the capturing and nurturing of light... a power they know they posses inside. I love to see the excitement it brings.

To make a lantern like ours, you will need...

A small balloon

Tissue paper (we chose white for the winter snow)

Glue

Nature bits

Scissors

Bendable wire

Tear the tissue paper into small strips.

Squeeze glue into a recycled dish (we used an old yogurt tub and put it in the recycling bin when we were done with it).

Dilute the glue with a little water (you want the glue/water mix to be the consistency of light cream).

Dip a tissue paper strip into the glue and wrap it around the round end of your balloon.

Continue until the round end of your balloon is covered in a layer of tissue paper...

Stick your winter 'nature bits' to your tissue papered balloon and cover with another layer of gluey tissue paper. This layer seals your 'nature bits' into your lantern.

Set your gluey tissue papered balloon in the sun to dry. As it dries, the glue hardens, making the tissue paper firm and sturdy.

When the tissue paper is completely dry, pop the balloon with a pin. Once again, T found this the BEST! He is our official 'balloon popper'!

As the balloon pops, it comes away from the hardened tissue paper, leaving a lovely round lantern.

Cut a length of wire, about 20 inches long, for your lantern's handle. Poke one end through one side of the tissue paper and twist to fix in place. Repeat with the other side.

Voila! You have a delightful winter lantern.

Before dinner, we lit our lantern. T and K took turns holding it as we sang our favorite Christmas carols and I could see the light in their hearts grow with each second that passed. Light and warmth is now kindled within us for us to nurture throughout the year ahead.

I want to end this entry by taking you to this beautiful winter lantern made my Luciana and her family.

Blessings and magic.