Making a Birthday Crown

Linden loves crowns, so we made her one for her birthday and one for play. 

We started with plant-dyed wool felt, roving and embroidery thread from Mama Judes. 

Drawing a fairy-like, curved-pointed design with chalk, we created the look for the base piece.

Embroidery thread was used to hold together butterflies and the crown bases and also as embellishment.

Our Syrendell plant-dyed silk ribbons were seen onto the ends of the crown base to tie in a bow at the back of the head. Using ribbons allows the crown size to be adjustable.

Next, we need felted wools roving and a bit of Angelina sparkle onto the wool butterflies.

The crown is complete! We then made a crown with different colors and flowers/leaves.

Linden's 3rd Birthday

Our baby Linden turned three in October! Seems like yesterday that she was born blissfully at home in the waterbirthing tub with family present.

We used cuttings from the yard for simple decorations.

Linden loves butterflies! We made a crown of butterflies out of plant-dyed felt and roving from Mama Judes on Etsy. Crocheted bunting was made by Jennifer, originally for our 20th anniversary celebration. The colors were perfect for the butterfly birthday!

Extended family came to celebrate.

Kids had handmade fairy bubble wands.

Kids and adults needlefelted butterflies and dragonflies.

Our oldest son and his girlfriend made a beautiful "3" cake.

Sweet Linden Faye. Crochet pattern for her top by Chez Plum. Silk Cape dyed with Logwood from Griffin Dyeworks.

Birthday and Advent Ring

Here is a true sign of having a little one around the home again...We wrote this blog post months ago and never published it!  Although it is well past Advent, the ring may be purchased at any time of the year and is beautiful for birthdays and more.

Instead of the traditional four tall candles around a circle, this year we purchased a beautiful, round, wood candle ring  for Advent.  Each Sunday, we light a candle and add a little something extra.  The candle in the middle was given to us by our midwife when Linden was born.  We lit it and sang happy birthday after her blissful home waterbirth.  We have been saving the candle for something special and decided to use it for the middle of the Advent ring. Crystals and stones from homeschooling projects.  Dried sage from our CSA box from the local organic farm.  Ricky made the yellow ceramic candle holder in the middle.

Advent ring by Joshua Rutherford of Honoring Fallen Trees (he does custom orders, too!). Organic candles by Oakmoss. Wood wolf by Halushka. All shops on Etsy. Third week...crystals, plants, beasts....

Birthday Rings

We have always wanted a birthday ring that we could also use on our nature table for festival celebrations, including Advent.  One of our local Waldorf dads handcrafts these beautiful rings and sells them in his Etsy shop.  We asked for one unfinished so that we could paint it ourselves!

The wood is sycamore which is already so beautiful on its own.  We tested out how it would look on our kitchen table and in our nature table area.

Wilson and Mommy decided to paint rainbow colors using our Stockmar watercolors.  Then, we polished them with natural beeswax polish. 

Now, the birthday ring is ready!  It's so beautiful, we have it out in the kitchen right now.  When the new baby is born around October, we will use it to celebrate the birth with a candle.

Halloween Birthday - Ara Wilson Cerda Tan

Our son Wilson is turning seven on Halloween.  It seems like just yesterday that he was born. 

Here is a link to our blog post from last year where we shared about Wilson's unassisted home waterbirth.  Happy memories from that day!

Joey crocheted Wilson a tie.  Mommy crocheted a hat and scarf.  Joey helped Mommy (because Joey is a much better sewer!) cut and sew a cashmere hat out of an old sweater.  Now, Wilson is set for the cold weather at school!  Daddy is carving something special out of wood.  We will also make a felted banner with Wilson's name.

Speaking of names, Wilson has four names, just like our other children.  We create our kids' names from family members, trying to represent both Jennifer and Rick's sides.

Ara:  "King", Armenian, great-grandfather's middle name
Wilson:  "Protector", English, great-great grandparent's surname
Cerda: "Handsome", Philippino, grandmother's surname
Tan:  "King", Chinese, father's surname





Cousins are coming over to celebrate the birthday and then trick-or-treat in our new neighborhood.  We will end the night by singing our song (see last year's blog post for words) that we wrote for Wilson before he sleeps.  Happy birthday to our sweet, piano-and-guitar-playing, singing-and-dancing-loving son!  We are inspired by his zest for life...pure joy.   

Our Halloween Baby - Home Waterbirth

During the evening of October 30, 2003, Jennifer went into labor with baby #3, ecstatic that the baby would be born on Halloween!

Ara Wilson Cerda Tan (we call him Wilson or Wil) was born gently into a warm waterbirthing tub at home, unassisted, after 4.5 hours of labor. The birth was peaceful, powerful and pleasurable! Pure bliss....

Ara: Armenian Great-grandfather's middle name, "king"

Wilson: English Great-great-grandfather's surname, "protector"

Cerda: Filipino Grandmother's surname, "handsome"

Tan: Father's Chinese surname

We utilized yoga, meditation, acupressure, aromatherapy and flower essences. The warm water was amazing, too! Daddy sat outside the tub, Grandma and big brother Ricky sat nearby on the bed, and big sister Joey sat in the waterbirthing tub, sharing a raspberry leaf tea popsicle with Mommy. Wilson was welcomed into the world with the hushed, excited tones of his loving family in a warm, happy, familiar environment. He didn't cry, but looked at us with his glorious little eyes. An exquisite birth....

Happy 6th Birthday to our Halloween baby!

Wilson's Song (played on flute and harp)

Once, there was a baby

Inside of me

He danced with such glee

We named him Ara Wilson

Because he's a king

Protected by thee

Now, he's about to be born

As night turns to morn

He is water-lorn

Magic abounds

As the fairies and frogs

All leap up

At the sound of the horn

Now, there is a child

A brother and son

He can jump and he can run

His gifts and talents are many

He plays with a smile

And flies towards the sun

Once, he was my babe

Bright as the day

A pleasure in the bay

Magic abounds

As the fairies and frogs

All kneel down

To sleep as he lay

The stories of his birth, as told by Jennifer, Ricky and Joey, may be found in issue #12 of The Mother magazine.