How to make Playdough Christmas Ornaments

On the day before Thanksgiving, when I had so much to get done for our massive FEAST  and my children desperately wanted to play with me too, we brought out the beloved playdough recipe. Together, we made such lovely colored playdough and then they played with it for hours and hours, making all sorts of fun little goodies. You can see our recipe and the cute little guys we made in this post here.

Yesterday, we used a little of this playdough (which we store for ages in the fridge) to make some pretty little Christmas Ornaments.

We rolled each color out flat with a rolling pin.

Then we cut out Christmassy shapes using my Christmas cookie cutters.

Poked a hole in the top of each using a skewer and sprinkled them with glitter.

We used my special vintage glitter that I found at an Estate Sale a while ago... can you see the store price sticker that says that a bottle of glitter costs 19c! Those were the days.

Teddy made a Christmas Tree.

We popped them onto wax paper and then into the oven for an hour at a low temperature of 250 F.

When they came out of the over, we let them cool and then tied a little Christmassy ribbon to hang them with, They are waiting to decorate our Christmas tree :-)

We love their colors and that the glitter sparkles in the winter sun.

 Just a reminder that Fairyfolk is having a Black Friday / Cyber Monday Sale... 10% off everything. Enter the code BLACKFRIDAY11 in the coupon box at Etsy checkout and Etsy will compute your discount for you.

Happy Christmas crafting.
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Thanksgiving Sale at Fairyfolk

Happy Thanksgiving to ALL! Thank you for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me and my family. We are eternally grateful for all we have.

In celebration of the fantastic year Fairyfolk has had, we are having a Black Friday Sale! Everything in the shop is 10% off... everything, everything, everything :-)

To redeem your 10% discount, enter the coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY11 at Etsy Checkout and 10% will automatically be taken off your total.


BLACKFRIDAY11 coupon code is valid for the whole weekend through Monday 28th November 2011.

Here's a small sampling of what you might find at Fairyfolk...

Happy Thanksgiving from Fairyfolk, my Friends :-)
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Homemade Playdough

It's one of those Murphy's Law things (and totally true) that when we have the most to do, that's when our children want us the most. I find that if I spend a little while with them, setting them up in an activity, they'll forget all about needing me and play happily for ages on their own and let me get to all those important  things I so desperately need to do. The trick is in spending the time with them first, before trying to get to my other things. Patience, Mother, patience!

Homemade playdough is one of my fall back activities. We spend half an hour making the playdough and by the time it's ready, they are so invested in it that they play with it for at least an hour or two... good return, I'd say!

So, if you have stuffing to cook, yam to bake and and an apple pie to make, make some playdough with your kiddies first and you'll be able to get all of you Thanksgiving trimmings ready without their needy cries holding you back.

Tips: I put an old table cloth on the floor for us to work on. Playing with the flour is part of the cool part for our kids and it won't be nearly as fun for them (or us) if we are insanely worried that it will spill all over the kitchen. When we are done, I just bunch it up and shake it out outside - no mess at all :-)

This is our favorite (never fail) playdough recipe. I often double it up and keep half in the fridge.

* 3 cups of flour
* 1/2 cups of salt
* 2 tbs cream of Tartar
* 2 tbs vegetable oil
* 2 cups of boiling water

Add the flour, salt and cream of Tartar to a bowl and let your children play 'snow'... ooooo, they love this game. The flour feels so wonderfully soft falling through their hands.

Cream of Tartar can be found with all the other spices at your local grocery store.

Next, add the oil and boiling water. The kids watch as I do this part. I always keep a little of the boiling water aside and add it if I feel like a the dough needs it... when the children have played 'snow' a little of the flour ends up outside the bowl and the dough might not need as much as 2 full cups of boiling water. Stir dough with a wooden spoon until it is cool enough to knead. As the dough cools with kneading, let your children kneed too... working with the warm dough is wonderfully soothing and pleasurable for them.

When the dough is well kneaded, it's ready for playing with. If you would like to add some color to your playdough, now is the time to add a little food coloring.

We divided our dough into 4 and added 4 different colors.

We used a neon color set we found in our local grocery store... blue, yellow, pink and green.

Homemade playdough is such fun to play with, quite different from the store-bought kind. It smells wholesome and just feel so much more natural, really... you'll be amazed.

We often fill a bowl with assorted beans and dried pasta to play with too.

Teddy's little duck.

 Kitty's hedgehog that Teddy fell in love with.

Happy playing.
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Glittered, Wax Dipped, Pinecone Christmas Ornaments

With Christmas coming, our crafting has gone into overdrive. We love finding goodies from nature and turning them into handmade Christmas gifts and ornaments.

Four of our very favorite things all in one craft... beeswax, pine cones, glitter and Christmas. This weekend we made some wax-dipped and glittered pine cones to keep for our Christmas tree. Are they not the cutest little pine cones you've seen yet!

So, what we needed to make these little beauties is...

* Beeswax
* Pinecones
*Giltter
* Thread (for hanging your pine cones)
* A Glue Gun

In this post from last year, when we made beeswax leaf ornaments to celebrate Autumn, you can read about how to safely melt beeswax in a homemade bain-marie. As you will see, there's nothing to it.

But, as we work with beeswax often, I have dedicated a small crock-pot (found for next to nothing at a garage sale) especially for melting our beeswax. I don't think you could find an easier way to melt your beeswax... just break it up into small bits, pop it into the crock and set on medium to high heat and wait for your wax to melt. We put down an old drop-sheet to work on so that a few drips of wax won't worry us.

While the beeswax is melting, we used our glue gun to glue hanging thread loops onto the tops of our pine cones.

When the wax was melted, the fun dipping began. Holding then hanging loop we had just stuck onto our pine cones, Teddy and Kitty dipped their pine cones into the hot wax.

In and out, in and out, until we had a few layers of golden wax on our pine cone. We didn't let the pine cones rest in the hot wax for very long as this melts the layer from the previous dipping.

It's wonderful to watch the wax drips dry.

After the last dipping, when the wax is still warm on the pine cone, we set it in a container and sprinkle it with glitter. The glitter sinks into the warm wax and sticks fast.

Oh, isn't glitter glorious!

Green, pink and white for us this year.

Sparkly prettiness from our resident pine tree.

Here are some variations on this craft from previous years...
wax dipped pine cones

pine cone Christmas ornaments

Happy Christmas crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Inspiration

"Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have"   

Norman Vincent Peale

Blessing and magic,
Donni

Friday's Nature Table

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 :: Corporate Influences On Children

Today, Discovering Waldorf links to another New York Times article... 'Corporate Influences on Children'. I found the letters to the Editor especially encouraging.

To read the other articles in the series, go to the Discovering Waldorf Page at the top of the page.

And, if you haven't already entered our SUPER $50 Giveaway from A Child's Dream Come True, please visit this post to have a chance to enter.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

A Child's Dream Come True GIVEAWAY!

We have our winner... it's Lauren! Congrats :-)
And if you were wondering what Lauren thinks she'll get with her $50 spending spree, this is what she wrote in her comments...
"Hi... I found your awesome Giveaway through Hybrid Rasta Mama's tweet... I would love to enter:) if I win I would probably get the "Tidy Up Kitchen Set", the Wax Candle Rolling kit, and some roving... My daughter would love your shop...',

Thanks again to Debbie and A Child's Dream Come true for offering such a super giveaway!  For all of us who weren't lucky enough to win this one, don't forget that Debbie has offered all Magic Onions Readers 10% off their entire purchase until the end of November. So, Friends, now's the time to get those goodies you need from A Child's Dream Come True. Enter the word 'MAGIC' to redeem your discount.

* * *

Three years ago I discovered the wonderful art of needle felting and a whole universe opened up for me. I had always known that I was creative... I had, from a very young age, held a deep yearning to create, yet nothing I tried in the artistic realm seemed to work. Painting was not it no matter how hard I painted. I failed miserably in my pottery phase, I dabbled at making jewelry but could never master the intricacies of working with the different materials, and the list goes on and on.

But, friends, this is the truth... the very first time I picked up a felting needle, I KNEW I had found my medium. It was love at first sight. I made the cutest little toadstool on that first day and I was hooked. I have been a needle felting addict ever since, creating little woolen treasures at every available moment.

 A few days after making my first toadstool, I realized that I needed my very own library  of wool... I needed every color ever made. I called my expert felting friend and asked her where I could buy my own stash... her answer was A CHILD'S DREAM COME TRUE. Oh my gosh, I was totally blown away by what I could find in this gorgeous shop... any color roving my heart desired... moss green, fuschia pink, turquoise blue. I loved that I could purchase just a few colors at a time... I could pick and choose, getting just a few ounces or a pound.

I waited anxiously for my first order to arrive and sat with my new colors arranged carefully in my lap, gazing at them for the longest time. I was almost too nervous to actually use my new beautiful wool but soon I was away, making all manner of magical gnomes and mossy lands.

I discovered that I could buy braided wool for wild fairy hair.

 I could buy curly sheep's fleece, IN RAINBOW COLORS!

I could buy felting needles when mine broke.

I could get my own felting board too.

So, when Debbie from A CHILD'S DREAM COME TRUE contacted me a while back asking about sponsoring The Magic Onions I was truly delighted. As I browsed through her shop all these years later, the excitement of my first needle felting adventures came flooding back to me... the flutter of my heart when my new package of wool arrived from her shop, the delight I felt when I first saw the gorgeous colors in person, when I held my roving in my own hand, the amazement I felt at the treasures I could create with this beautiful wool.

So friends, I'm so excited to present my new sponsor, A CHILD'S DREAM COME TRUE.

In Debbie's words, we offer a mouth-watering selection of natural wool felt, felting wool, kits and creative supplies for all ages. You'll also find some little wood toys, soft treasures and favorite books for children and families. We're Waldorf-inspired, family-owned and operated and thankful to work, live and play in beautiful, rural North Idaho

I enjoyed reading about how Debbie and her family found a way to work their love of Waldorf into their everyday lives, here. An inspiration to all of us who want to work what we love.

Please have a browse through this amazing Waldorf inspired shop, A CHILD'S DREAM COME TRUE. I have always loved giving my friends and family Christmas gifts that can ignite a whole new creative adventure for them. And, for yourself, if you have been wanting to give needle felting a try, now you know where you can find the best of everything.

GIVEAWAY!

Debbie has generously offered a $50 spending spree gift certificate to one lucky reader. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post, telling me what you would (perhaps) get with your $50 from A CHILD'S DREAM COME TRUE?

You can enter 4 additional times by...
* 'liking' A Childs Dream Come True on Facebook
*blogging about this Giveaway so that others may have a chance to win too.
*tweeting about this Giveaway
* 'liking' The Magic Onions on Facebook

Please come back and add your additional entries by leaving an additional comment for each extra entry.

Winner will be chosen on Sunday, 20 November 2011.



And, if you just can't wait and need to get something from this gorgeous shop right away, remember that Debbie has offered all Magic Onions readers a %10 discount until the end of November... just enter the code MAGIC at checkout for your discount to take effect.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!

Thank you, Debbie,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Sorry, this draw is closed. Lauren won but A Child's Dream Come True is offering all Magic Onions Readers 10% off their entire purchase until the end of November 2011... enter the word 'MAGIC' to redeem your discount.