A Father's Day Gift :: Felted Soap-on-a-Rope

Father's Day is just three weeks away. We usually leave things to the very last minute, so, I was very happy when Teddy's teacher asked if I would help his class make a little woolly gift for all the class dads. Nice to do things without the rush, for once :-)

We made wonderful felted soap-on-a-rope for our dads. The children LOVED this project as it's such a tactile activity... the wool, the soapy water... a child's dream.

We needed...

* soap (make sure the soap is the foamy sort... handmade soap is far better for felted soap than store bought soap as handmade soap foams so nicely. The soap we used came from my dear friend Shannon from Sacred Water's Soap Co)
* wool roving (you can find all sorts of wonderfully colored wool on Etsy)
* Yarn
* Warm soapy water


I cut each bar of soap in half. Half a bar is just the right size for a child's little hands and felting will happen more easily if the soap is smaller. (alas, I remembered this trick only after I had tied the yarn around this soap pictured)

We cut a long length of wool yarn and tied it around the soap, leaving a long loop at the top end of the bar for the *rope* part of our soap.

Then, we placed a length of wool roving down. Made a little hole in it for the *roap* to pass through. Then we wrapped the soap in the wool, leaving the *rope* free on one end.

We placed another length of roving down and placed the partially wrapped soap down on it, going the other way. We wrapped it again, making sure that the whole soap is now wrapped.

Now for the fun part. First, we placed each wrapped soap inside a sock... any sock will do.

Then, we dipped the soap filled sock into the warm water and agitated it, trying to make it nice and foamy. The children rubbed their soaps every which way... making sure to agitate the wool evenly. Soon they felt the wool inside the sock start to contract and firm up (felt).

We took the partially flelted soap out of their socks and the children had another go at felting their soap-on-a-roap even more.

Their hands got wonderfully foamy as they rubbed and rubbed on the delicious wool.

When the wool had felted nicely around the soap, we rinsed them and hung them on the tree to dry in the sun.

Voila! Don't look Dad, but here is a wonderful soap-on-a-rope for Father's Day.

Blessings and magic,
Donni 

Silent Saturday

 Finger knitted friendship bracelet.

Blessings and magic for a wonderful weekend,

Donni

Friday's Nature Table Link-up.

You are most welcome to share this great resource on your own blogs... (save the above Friday's Nature Table button to your desktop and then add it to your blog as a picture gadget linking to this code...

http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/search?q=Friday%27s+Nature+Table)

Welcome, Friends. I want to thank you all for the wonderfully inspiring links you share here on Friday's Nature Table. Kitty and I go through them each week and are often amazed at the super cool things you all do. You all rock!

Friday's Nature table is where we share our inspiration with each other. I can't tell you how many wonderfully fantastic ideas we have found from your links... your blogs, your creativity, your families, your loving... has touched my heart and enriched my life.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

Discovering Waldorf - 'The Birthday Story'

(Please feel free to add the above Discovering Waldorf button to your blog. You can do this by saving the above image to your desktop and then adding it to your blog as a Picture Gadget that links to this code:

http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/search/label/Discovering%20Waldorf )

Discovering Waldorf is a weekly series of articles written by 'everyday' Waldorf families. The contributors to this series share their 'real-life' insights and inspirations on all kinds of Waldorf topics. This series is not meant to be Waldorf philosophy in its purest form, but rather a snapshot of how we can all incorporate Waldorf ideas into our lives to help nurture and encourage the magic that is in our children. If you have a topic you wish to learn more about (or want to share) on Discovering Waldorf, send me an email at vined(at)ymail(dot)com.

:::

I want to share Teddy's Birthday Celebration at school and, most of all, share his birthday story so that I can remember it forever.

Here is the birthday boy feeling like a prince in his velvet cape and crown.

The Rainbow Table with the 4 rainbow candles, each one for a year in Teddy's life.

The Rainbow Bridge.

The Birthday Story Blanket.

Ms Laura began Teddy's Birthday Story...

: : :

'Once upon a time, there was a little star that shone with a silver light in the evening sky. This shining star lived with the angles in the heavens. He played games in the soft, fluffy, clouds and he laughed and sang with the angles in a voice that was more beautiful than any they had ever heard before.

Once, when the little shining star was playing in the clouds, a spot opened before him and he could see down onto the earth. He saw a beautiful family there... a kind and loving mother, a happy father and their sweet little girl. He could see how much they loved each other as their hearts shone with a golden glow. But, he could also see that they were longing for another child... a little boy to make their family complete. As the clouds closed up again, the little shining star felt a deep longing to be with the family he had seen down on Earth. He went to the angles and told them of all he had seen. He told them of the mother and the father and of the little girl who was longing for a brother. He told the angels of the love he was feeling for the Earth family and of his deep desire to be with them. The angles smiled with joy... "You have chosen your family, sweet Shining Star'!" they told him. "We will take you down the Rainbow Bridge to Earth so that you may live with them and be their son. We will miss you, for how you have brightened the heavens!" they sang. "But we will not be sad as we know that we will see you back here with us after you have lived a full and happy life on Earth. And, we will watch over you, always".

Holding the hands of the angles, the little shining star descended the rainbow bridge. They nestled him softly on the grass under the shade of an old oak tree.

The little Earth girl woke up bright and early with the sun that morning. She yawned and stretched her arms. The sunlight shining through the open window looked so warm and inviting that she had an urge to run, barefoot in the meadow. As she stepped out of the house and greeted the Sun with a happy smile, something under the old oak tree caught her eye. Moving a little closer, she saw that it was baby boy. She gasped in wonder and ran back to the house as fast as her little legs would carry her.

 "Mother, Father!" she cried. "Wake up, wake up! The angles have left us a gift!"

When they saw the little baby boy lying under the oak tree, they were overjoyed. The mother picked him up and held him close to her heart. She smiled down into his shining face and knew that she loved him just as much as she loved her little girl. She knew that her prayers had been answered and her little boy had been born. The father smiled happily at the little girl, pride swelling in his great chest. 

"What is his name?" the little girl asked. 

"His name is Teddy" her father replied. "He is your little brother, Kitty, and you must look after him and love him always."

And that is the story of how Teddy came to his mother and his father and his sister, Kitty.'

: : :

Ms Laura invited Teddy to light his birthday candle. He used it to light each of is rainbow candles.

 

Kitty and Teddy and Dad, whose eyes are just a little moist.

:::

To all the people out there who make our children know how special and how loved they are... Thank You!

Here are the other inspiring posts in the Discovering Waldorf series.

Blessings and magic to you!

Donni

Scenes from a Spring Faire.

Flowers, fairy boxes, watercolors, rainbow silks, plaited raffia, roses, sunflowers, crafts, homemade food, pink hydrangea, lavender, origami animals, puppet stories of the Moon Maiden, baskets, quilts, Spring sunshine, happy smiles and everyone waring flower crowns.

Thanks to all who helped to make this a very special day indeed.

The Maple Village School in Long Beach, CA, is now enrolling... for more information, please visit The Maple Village School Blog.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

Words of Light

 From time to time, my dear friend, Marie, will bring us Words of Light and share her needle felting with us. Marie is a wife, a Mother and a full time needle felt artist with two online shops. She lives the peaceful life in New Zealand, surrounded by green organic gardens and beautiful trees. Being surrounded by Mother Nature gives her the creative energy to put light into her works of art. Her wish is to warm peoples hearts and ignite in them a stirring of their spirits. Please visit Marie's Etsy shop, SoftEarthArt and her Blog, Softearth's World.

Words of Light from Soft Earth's World.

 The sun shone brightly, it's golden rays warmed the young child

Quietly she wandered  into the garden

Soft was her tread

The sound of bird song could be heard

She always carried some breadcrumbs in her pocket

She loved listening to their sweet song

It always filled her with joy

She caught a faint whisper on the breeze

 She knew who was whispering

It was the flower children

 She spied them smelling the flowers

Their perfume filled the air

Oh how she loved the garden 

It was her favorite place to play

Remember to take the time to go quietly out into the garden and be still and quiet

You just might hear whispering

Love and light  Marie