Paper Mache Volcano and Wet Felting with Kids

 Also from the Art and Yoga Camp - paper mache volcano with a bottle inside to allow for vinegar and baking soda lava.  JUST like on the Brady Bunch....

Wet felted vignettes - made inside plastic bags.  With tabs sewn into the tops and hung on twigs they make cute little art.

Handmade Ornaments by kids

Well, you get the idea.  The kid made ones were really easy, great motor skills crafts, and kept everyone busy for at least 40 min.  AND look darling on the tree.  I cut card stock circles, made slits around the edge (embellished by J with the hole puncher) then let them wrap away.  J also made a tree out of punched holes which he laced himself.  I had a pile of embroidery floss from a lovely friend - what a great use for it.  There was a pile of felt too, so J and I made the star (I cut and helped him sew) and then there was a pretty plea for a princess ornament.  I'd seen a bunch of felt mushrooms on Pinterest lately so I made one of those too, with Sweet P helping place the dots and sitting on my lap while I sewed.  I'm not totally sure how the bunny I made a while back got in with the Christmas stuff, but she went up on the tree too and seems quite content. 

And in the top row I must describe two important ornaments - a precious glass horn from Germany from Mr. Sycamore's childhood.  And a first for this blog - a Memaw Craft!  Mr. Sycamore's mother made half a dozen of these little sock children one year from a pattern in a magazine (and still she claims not to be able to sew on a button).  Thank you Memaw!

Eyeballs Filled With Catnip

Mmmmm. Catnippy eyeballs.

WIP - More Spring Flowers

Not sure what these will be yet - small bags? Sachets? J has been learning to sew on buttons, so I put this together for a crafty project for him to put together. Then I'll sew them up with his "help" on my lap - aren't sewing machines fascinating?! Just keep your fingers out of the way!

Felt Growth Chart

This is for you Gina! Needs more leaves, and some bunnies. Those both seem like good winter day projects, I just haven't gotten to them while I can go outside and play.

Felted Beads for Mother's Day

Made by J at school - I went in last month and did a felting project with six 2-3 year olds, which involved mostly making roving soup at an outside picnic table - fun! We rolled and rolled and rolled our roving until all the roving was gone, Ms. K put the beads out to dry and then a few days later helped the children string them on twine for us Moms. This is my first made present from my children, so it is unbelievably special. If only taking a few weeks to get a photo of it up is any indication.

Felted Trees Sprouting Knit Leaves

I think this is about half the leaves I'd like - it is lovely to see it come to life. MUCH better metaphor for growth than the bare branches when I first hung it up.

Tree of Growth

So, this is a WIP from waaaaay back. Back before Gina left for the outback. Luckily, she walked me through felting these trees before she left or who knows what I would have come up with on my own (I should learn to start small! But Gina knows all about felt so it came out ok!!)

Here is the photo from last August, in the heat of summer, the wool roving (custom dyed here) laid out to be felted. Which we did.

Now, I bought the white duck fabric for the back ages ago also, and finally Mr. Sycamore said "won't they be grown up before you finish their growth chart?" which coupled with the TWO WEEKS of snow days, spurred me into (slo-mo) action. So here is the partially complete growth chart up in our hall way, marked with 12" intervals. I guess I knew but had supressed that J and Sweet P were equally long at birth - 20" - but it said so in the records (good thing we wrote that down). We had a fun time finding out how tall they are now.

The remaining steps are to needle felt in two white bunnies at the base of the trees, and to attach knit leaves (I have a bag of them ready to go. Check back in twenty years to see if they are all still in the bag, or on the chart) The trees were a big hit with the small folk, although who knows if this will help win the battle to get J to eat enough meat to get big enough to go down the water slide. If he never reaches the pedals then we won't have to worry about his learner's permit, right?



Thank you Gina for such a fun afternoon. We miss you!

Pretend Food - Yum

More boy crafts.

A healthy breakfast.

Bowtie and penne

Sandwich fixin's. One issue I didn't anticipate - by making everything approximately life-size I made it so nothing fits in the mini pots and pans set, which leads to some giant soups. Not that they are any less delicious.