Make A Colorful Autumn Leaf Wreath

In America, today is Monday Labor Day. American kids have been on Summer Vacation for the last 3 months and tomorrow, the day after Labor Day, is traditionally the day our kids start the new school year (Kitty is starting Grade 3 and Teddy is starting Kindergarten). And so, today, Labor Day, is unofficially thought of as 'The Last Day Of Summer'... why do I feel teary telling you this little snippet of American tradition?

Anyway (blinking back those silly old tears), we have slowly been bringing Autumn into our days. We so love the gorgeous earthy colors of the Fall and collecting all the treasures that fall from the Autumn trees.

But, in Southern California, we have to wait patiently for Autumn to arrive as she takes her sweet time to come all the way down our warm west coast. We wanted to bring her oranges and greens and reds into our home and Kitty had the idea to make a colorful garland. We used the left over paint chips from when we were trying to decide on paint colors for our new home (that's our story and we are sticking to it!)

We needed ::

• Paint chips - about 30 (hardware store)
• Hemp String (craft store - any string will do but we like hemp string as it is waxed and easy to thread through little holes)
• A small hole punch (craft store)
• A leaf punch (craft store)

Use the leaf punch to cut the colorful paint chips into leaf shapes.

Use the hole punch to punch two small holes in each leaf, just above the stem of the leaf. This was Teddy's job and he set about it with great diligence. I love watching him work on fine motor skill tasks as he has a habit of sticking out his tongue in concentration which makes my mothers-heart melt.

It really doesn't matter if the holes are skew or unevenly spaced... the randomness of how they hang will add charm to your garland.

Cut off a length of string about 7 feet long and thread an end through one hole on the leaf and back through the other. Make sure to thread each leaf the same way as the paint chips we used were only colored on one side.

Thread all your leaves onto your string.

Our mantle looks like Autumn has visited our home, leaving her gorgeous colors to tempt us with visions of her as we wait patiently for her to arrive.

Has Autumn come to you already or are you also waiting patiently? Or, is Spring your next season?

Blessings and magic,
Donni

Late Autumn Camping

We are so lucky to live in Southern California where the weather is perfect for most of the year. This means that we can go camping just about all year round. Speaking of camping, I wanted to share ths post from a few years ago...

 : : :

Our little family of 4 live in Los Angeles, surrounded by miles upon miles of urban metropolis. My husband and I have struggled enormously with living such an urban existence. He grew up in the pristine beauty of New Zealand's forests and I spent my childhood on the dusty plains of Africa. Both of us feel more comfortable in a country setting and yet, our life's path has brought us to settle in one of the worlds largest cities. I fought this path vehemently in the beginning. I wanted to bring my children up with the wind in their hair, the fresh scent of open spaces in their hearts. I pleaded and begged with destiny to take us to the forest, the mountains, the meadows. But, alas, it seemed she had other plans for us. It was only when I stopped fighting her, stopped focussing on what I 'didn't have', that I could see that what I did have was so much more important. And, can you believe, it was then that she gave me my hearts desire!

Two years ago, on New Years Day, we passed a campervan parked on the side of the road with a 'For Sale' sign on it. Although we hadn't even entertained the thought of buying an RV until that very moment, we stopped our car, called the number on the sign, scrounged together the asking price of $6000 and, on utter impulse, bought her there and then!

Oh boy, has she changed our lives! She has given us the open spaces, the meadows, the mountains, the forests. She has given us memories and happy times. She has strengthened our family love, our marital love, our Earthly love. She is a blessing in our lives.

Often, on Friday afternoons, the kids and I pack her with what we'll need for the weekend. We put our food in her fridge and fresh linens on her beds. A Good Man knocks off work early, hitches her up to his truck and off we set, excited for the adventures ahead.

She has a place for everything - our jackets hang on the hooks at the door...

K makes sure she doesn't forget her comfy pillow...

Sometimes, she is our little home in the big woods, sometimes our little house on the prairie and, just last weekend, she was our cabin in the mountains.

First thing I do when we arrive, is set out our pretty table cloth...

My Teddy Bear goes straight to play in the dirt...

A Good Man "unhitches" and "hooks up" while I make us some coffee...

Kitty goes off in search of new friends... We make new friends too... We light the fire...

and cook our dinner...

Wholesome food, with the flavor of fresh air...

We pop popcorn...

We roast marshmallows... We have late nights...

Sometimes, we sleep well. Sometimes, the children wake up in the night and we all end up in the same bed. Often, we wake up at dawn, ready to explore our new surroundings.

We walk in the woods...

We feel the texture of grasses in our hands...

Sometimes, it rains. But we don't care... we get wet. We let the raindrops splash on our faces. We notice how clean and vibrant the rain makes everything look and feel...

We spot our favorite things...

We discover magic...

I have found that when you let go, that when you take a deep breath into your very soul and quieten those rumbling of discontent, that when you truly accept that you will make the most of what you have, you find that what you have been wanting so badly all along, is actually right there in your hands.

Blessings and magic,

Donni

How To Make A Corn Cob Doll

Granny helped Teddy make Kitty a Corn Cob Doll. The boy is now a Little House On The Prairie convert... and Granny too!

We started with some old corn cobs that we had cleaned and set out in the warm Fall sun to dry.

Teddy then used a little saw to cut the cobs to the right size...

Then, he trimmed the edges so that they were nice and rounded.

These are the segments he cut for Kitty's doll... a small section for the head, a large one for her torso, two segments each for two legs.

I used a permanent marker to mark where he was to drill holes into each segment so that we could connect them with wire.

He LOVED this part of the project.

He drilled holes through each corn cob segment.

Then he threaded wire through the holes.

Don't you just love his dirty little boy hands?

He twisted the wire pieces together to connect the head to the torso and the legs to the torso.

We cut lengths of rope into threes fro the dolls arms, tied them together with a simple knot.

And braided the rope to make arms.

We measured some pretty fabric for her dress against our corn cob doll and folded it into 4.

Rounded the bottom edges.

And cut a small hole in the top corner for her neck.

With the dress on her, we cut small holes for her arms.

Some hot glue from my gun fastened her corn silk hair.

And a pretty little fabric bow...

Voila!! The prettiest little corn cob doll you ever did see...

Kitty was DELIGHTED! And Teddy was even more so to realize that we can make our own toys. Ha! Thanks Granny... Your sweet doll still sits in pride of place on Kitty's 'SPECIALS' shelf... she say's she will keep her forever. We miss you more than you can know.

Happy November Friends!
Blessings and magic,
Donni