Handmade Holidays - Double Lucceted Treble Clef Ornament

Wilson wanted to make a Christmas gift for his violin teacher. We decided to make a treble clef ornament. Originally, we were going to crochet, but Wilson had the idea to use the double lucet so that we could string a piece of wire down inside of our cord. Double lucet from Sister Maide.

Once the lucetted cord was done, we strung a piece of wire through the inside until it touched the knotted end. We cut the wire, took the loops off of the double lucet, and then tightened up and tied the open end. With a weaving needle, Wilson wove in the ends. Carefully, we bent the wired cord into a treble clef shape, and then added a metal hook.  The project took a couple of hours.  We used yarn and wire leftover from previous projects. The violin teacher loved the gift!

Handmade Holiday Gifts

Joey's Sewn Horse for Wilson

 





 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This year, we made an effort to handmake the majority of our gifts for the holidays.

Scarves for aunts, brothers, cousins and great-grandma.

Herbal tea for uncles and neighbors.

Tunisian crocheted hats for the children.

Ricky crocheted gnome puppets for Wilson.

Crocheted bookmarkers from Wilson for family and teachers.







 
 
 
Ricky felted/crocheted a headband and choker for his cousin.

And...wood sprites for nieces, felted ornaments and more, but already wrapped up before we got pictures!

Hope your handmade holidays are blissful and sweet.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Memories

Advent Wreath


Decorated Tree and Straw Star Garland

Presents Wrapped in Silks with Watercolored Tags

Handmade Stockings

Stocking Stuffers: Maple Candies for Ricky, Crayon Rocks for Wilson, Chinese Jumprope for Joey, Dr. Hauschka Lotion for Daddy, Crocheted Flower for Mommy (from Joey)

Gifts:  Felted Fairy Mobile by Ricky for Joey, Wildcraft Board Game, Nature's Prints Photo Paper, Books, Waldorf in Education Book for Daddy, Massage Certificate for Mommy, Crocheted Items for Everyone from Joey

Since the kids were under the weather, we didn't all get to see the cousins and other relatives.  Mommy made a soup and a vegan carrot cake with macadamia nut-lemon frosting using veggies and lemons from the gardens.

Happy Family,
Peaceful Day....
Merry Christmas!

Winter Poems

Making a Straw Star Garland

This project is fun, inexpensive and very easy to do! You may also incorporate geometry by discussing symmetry, angles, shapes. This picture shows our garland through the window from the outside of our home.

1. Find or purchase straw. The straw should be not too dry and not too green. We ended up purchasing ours for $1.25/bundle at Steiner College Bookstore (Call them to order). We had 3 bundles it was more than enough.

2. Soak for a couple of hours in water.

3. Cut each straw in half (knife, exacto blade or scissors...might need parent or older child to help, like Ricky here!).

4. Iron as flat as possible.

5. Position your straw pieces and weave matching thread around the center. Trim the ends of the straws (straight, angle, V).

6. Leave the ends long and knot at the top so that you have a hanger.

7. Crochet chain, braid, lucet, or spoolknit a long piece of yarn. Joey crocheted a chain using a size P hook and some white yarn with bits of gold glitter.

8. Hang your stars on the yarn and attach the yarn to a window, doorway or other place in your home.

Notes: These also make lovely ornaments! Try to layer another smaller star on top of one and then weave them together. Consider using a contrasting color of thread to feature your weaving skills.

A wonderful place to get more information on straw stars is in the book The Children's Year.

From Fall to Winter....

We've learned to slow down our transition from one season to the next. Instead of a 1-day transformation, we spend days working on the Dell.

The "nooks" were all cleaned out and reorganized. Fall-colored silks were replaced by Winter-colored silks.

The childrens' vibrant orange and yellow watercolors are down, and new, blue-toned watercolors are up!

Our outdoor Seasonal Spot once had pumpkins, a cornucopia and corn. Now, it full of pine boughs and holly berries. (Too cold outside to take pics!)

A simple garland of straw stars will adorn our front window near the Christmas tree.

An advent wreath is displayed in our entryway with the kids' own dipped candles. Some stones and crystals are inside the wreath from the first week, and this week we added fruit, twigs and leaves.

Daddy made us a finger puppet stage last Christmas. Our knitted and Tunisian-crocheted gnome puppets love the little stage!

The family is busy weaving up our handspun/dyed yarns into a Winter table runner. Should be done, soon!

The manger is up, waiting for the arrival of more needlefelted people and animals.

Now, it's time to plan our Christmas play!