Merry Christmas to All!

Our little family is having a superb Christmas with my darling little brother and his beautiful wife who are visiting us from London. Aren't we lucky. We had a sweet family Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve last night, complete with real mince pies and Christmas pudding alight with brandy! The highlight for the kids was being able to choose one gift from under the tree to open. Kitty chose her smallest and Teddy chose his biggest! Funny that.

Today, we travel down the coast to have a huge Christmas lunch with our wonderful friends. We miss, like mad, our loved-ones who are so far away... but we are happy and grateful for what we have.

Here are a few photos of my favorite ornaments decorating our tree this year.

Happy Christmas, Happy Christmas!
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Handmade Christmas Gifts :: Crazy Crayons

Teddy and Kitty will be giving handmade Crazy Crayon Christmas gifts to their friends this year. Not only do these make super cute gifts, they are a wonderful way to get rid of all of those broken crayons lying around. Although the kids don't know this yet, Santa will be bringing them lovely new crayons and so I was eager to recycle the old ones to make space for the new.

Use a fun mold for your Crazy Crayons and make sure it is oven safe.

Your kids will love the breaking part if this project... when else are the encouraged to break their crayons into tiny little bits? Mix all the colors together to make a kaleidoscope of color.

Set them in the oven at a very low temperature (150 F) for about 20 minutes or until they are gently melted.

allow them to cool and then gently pop them out of the molds.

The colors meld together making a crayon of many colors. 

Kitty remarked that she'd like to take one along the next time we go to a restaurant as she will have all the colors she needs to keep her busy for ages :-)

Happy Christmas Crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Handmade Chirstmas Gifts :: Painted Peg People

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Kitty and Teddy are each getting a set of themselves for Christmas this year. It's sweet (and funny) how they often play 'brother and sister' and now they can play 'brother and sister' with their new peg gnomes.

I made them using the little peg people forms you can get at any craft store... mine came from Michaels.

I used a wood burning tool I've been dying to use to draw the outlines onto the little wooden peg people and write the children's names on the bottom of each but a black fine tipped permanent marker will work just as well. I colored in the details with colored permanent markers and then sealed them with a coat of hodgepodge.

I tried to make them look like themselves... Teddy with his golden hair and blue eyes and Kitty with her new short hair and long eyelashes.

And then I put each set in a little box, wrapped them sweetly and put them under the tree. Under the tree is getting fuller and fuller and brother and sister are having an exciting time trying to guess what's inside each gift. This one is about the size of a Rubik's Cube and Teddy thinks it might contain a pair of rain boots for him. I love how Kitty, who of course knows that rain boots would never fit into a package that small, smiles with him and agrees that rain boots would be nice.

Happy Christmas crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Handmade Christmas Gifts : God's Eyes

I know I am not alone in thinking that handmade gifts are by far the best. All gifts are nice when they are given with love, of course, but to be honest, I'd rather receive a roughly sewn 'kitchen towel' with a red potato stamped heart on it (clearly made by a 7 year old) than a perfect store bought one. I'd rather get a mismatched wooden beaded necklace (clearly made by a 4 year old) than a diamond encrusted one... really, I would!

So, with our tight budget this year, we have endeavored to make all of our Christmas gifts.

The ones we have been working on today are God's Eyes. They are made from sticks picked up in the garden and yarn. God's Eyes are a craft from the Huichol tribe of Mexico. We think they are just beautiful with their wonderful color and rich texture.

To make them, find two sticks the same length.

Tie them together with yarn to form a cross.

Tie your first yarn color to the stick close to the center of the cross. Loop it over a stick, pull to the next stick and loop over it in the same direction as the first loop... pull to the next stick and loop the same way again.

You will see a wonderful pattern start to develop.

When you feel like it's time to change the color of your yarn, cut the one you have been using and tie the end to the beginning of your new color. Continue looping as before. You can stick to two matching colors, or add as many as you like.

When you come to the tops of the sticks, cut your yarn leaving a length for a hanging loop. Tie it onto the stick and your God's Eye is ready to hang.

We have a few lovely God's Eyes as ornaments on our tree.

But these two are going to my brother and sister in law. We chose colors that we knew would compliment their home and there's nothing like a little handmade goodness to bring magic to any space.

Happy Christmas crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Folded Paper Christmas Origami Stars

We spent the first day of our Christmas holidays making and hanging our folded paper Christmas origami stars. I love this Waldorf craftThis year we used the Waldorf watercolor paintings that Kitty brought home from school. They are a gorgeous mix of warm colors... yellows, oranges and reds. Perfect for Christmas.

 And, we made a huge one to hang on or front door.

Although these stars look hard to make, they are amazingly easy. Both Kitty and Teddy loved making them. Kitty can make them all on her own but Teddy needs help getting the folds just right. Here is a link to a previous tutorial on how to make folded paper Christmas origami stars with step by step directions.

Happy Christmas crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

Handmade Christmas Ornaments :: Dried Oranges

The kids and I are loving making Christmas ornaments this year from simple everyday things. Today, pretty ornaments made from dried orange slices.

When we dried our apples to make these ornaments, we also dried some gorgeously orange orange slices too.

We hung them outside to dry for a few days.

Our Southern California winter is great for drying fruit as it's cool and dry and we've had a fair share of Santa Anna's to help us along. But, if your climate is a little moist to dry fruit outdoors, a cool dry spot in your house will work just as well.

When they were nice and dry, we squeezed a little glue around the white rind of the orange.

And then sprinkled a little of our vintage glitter onto the glue...

Tied a little festive Christmas ribbon onto our dried and glittered oranges and marveled at what a pretty ornament something as simple as a slice of orange can make.

Now, we just have to stop the baby bunny from trying to eat all of our edible ornaments!

Happy Christmas Crafting,
Blessings and magic,
Donni

,,,

Handmade Christmas Ornaments :: Dried Apples and Cinnamon

When I was 22, I spent a winter working in the delightful Austrian village called Kitzbuhel. I worked in a little family run pension. My job was to help prepare the food for breakfast and lunch for the hotel guests. In the afternoons, I was off, off to the ski slopes until well after the sun had set. Life was so much fun!

On Christmas Eve, the few of us who worked in the pension, were invited to the owners home for drinks. The owner was a wealthy Austrian and it was quite a posh affair. His house was magnificent but what has stayed with me for all these years, is the sight of his Christmas tree. It was the most spectacular Christmas tree I have ever seen. It was at least 10 feet tall and was decorated from top to bottom in edible ornaments... white marshmallow garlands, golden walnuts, pink frosted snowflake cookies. I had never imagined a Christmas tree to be so softly beautiful. I have thought of it often since then and have come to the conclusion that the reason why I found it so lovely was because every single ornament was handmade.

Some of the prettiest ornaments were made with dried fruit. Dried orange and apple slices. So, in a effort to give our tree some Austrian loveliness, the children and I made dried apple ornaments just like the ones I remember.

We cut apple slices and designed a little drying rack that we left outside for a couple of days. The weather has been cold and dry here, perfect for drying fruit, but if your outdoors is too moist, you can set up your drying rack in a cool and dry spot in your home.

When our apple slices were nice and dry, we strung them with a little raffia and added a stick of cinnamon.

They are so pretty, just as I remember from my magical time on the Alps.

Happy Christmas crafting,
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.

Tutorial for making a Quite Book for your child.

Melisa from A Little Garden Flower and Waldorf Essentials has created a project especially for us here at The Magic Onions. It is a 3 part video tutorial on making a 'quiet book' for your child. A quite book is an interactive book made from wool felt that your child can play with and is especially useful for when your child has to sit still for long periods of time like in the car or at church. A quite book is a labor of love for your child and, if you are looking for just the right handmade Christmas gift for your little one, a quiet book might be just what you have been searching for.

Thank you, Melisa for creating this 3 part tutorial for us (I can't seem to get the html code to go away for the link of Part 1... if you click on it, it will take you to the video :-)


Part 1http://www.youtube.com/embed/m0TmO3-SwaI?rel=0"

 PART 2

PART 3

Please visit Melisa's website for more of her wonderful work, especially her new project, Thinking, Feeling, Willing.

Blessings and magic,
Donni

How to Make a Pine Cone Garland

We had a cold front come to visit from Alaska this weekend. She shed her white cloak of snow all over our mountains and her frozen breath still sits heavy in our Southern Californian air. It's so cold we've had to turn on our central heating in our home which is a drastic step for me, who dreads those first central heating days with their funky, dusty, smell and their drying, itching, air.

So, the long and short of it all, is that Winter has arrived to our sunny part of the world and we can at last lose ourselves in her awesome crafts.

Time for the pine cone garland to go up!

Here is our version.

Collect a basket of pine cones. Find some festive ribbon, some eye hooks and your drill.

Drill little holes just the right size for your eye hooks into the tops of your pine cones.

Twist in the eye hooks.

Each pine cone gets an eye hook.

String your pine cones evenly along the festive ribbon, knotting the eye hooks in place as you thread and, Voila! Suddenly your home will start to look a lot like Winter!

Pretty and pretty easy!
Blessings and magic,
Donni