Needlefelted Tapestry - Autumn Song

Jennifer had the pleasure of attending a felted fairytale tapestry workshop at Davis Waldorf School, taught by the wonderful Suzanne Down of Juniper Tree Puppets.  Jennifer decided to choose a scene that represents elements of a new pentatonic song that Rick wrote for his first graders.  Song words, below (and an audio clip coming, soon!).

 Inspiration from Suzanne included looking at felted scenes and also postcards of felted scenes.

After many layers and some extra work at home, the scene is finally finished!

Red, Orange, Yellow, Brown

Music and Lyrics by Rick Tan

Red, orange, yellow, brown

Leaves are tumbling down, down

Trees branches cold and bare

Signs of Autumn here and there, there

Summer's gone and Winter's near

Autumn season's here

Hard at work, the gnomes and fairies

Gathering acorns, seeds and berries

Apples and pumpkins it's harvest time

Scarves and mittens dear friends of mine

Red, orange, yellow, brown

Leaves are tumbling down, down

Trees branches cold and bare

Signs of Autumn here and there, there

Summer's gone and Winter's near

Autumn season's here!

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.

Easter

This year, we will celebrate Easter with extended family for a yummy brunch and egg hunting.

To prepare, we dyed eggs with natural ingredients: onion skins, turmeric, beets, madder root, grass and spinach, tea, blueberries, red cabbage.

Wilson and Mommy felted an egg for each child's Easter basket. The felt is cut open, awaiting to be filled with candy!

Our Ukranian-dyed eggs are hanging from the Spring nature table tree.

Happy Easter!

Indoor Shoes - Felting Wool Slippers

Taking off our shoes at the door and putting on cozy felted slippers inside is a wonderful tradition to add to the home or school day.

We love to felt our own "indoor shoes". We make new ones or mend old ones each summer.

Three summers ago, mommy made herself an elfin sunflower pair from plant dyed wools while at a handwork conference at Steiner College. Then, Joey made herself a taller pair, wet felting and needle felting designs on them. Two summers ago, Wilson made a pair with just two layers, and they only lasted the year before getting holes.

Last summer, Wilson and mommy made a new pair with more layers. They are still in great shape, so we mended the leather bottoms and needle felted "W"s on the sides to spiff them up!

Next, we need to make a pair for Daddy for Christmas! Wet felting takes time and effort, but the end result is so rewarding. For more details on how to make these indoor shoes, click here for our Etsy shop to purchase our eBook.

Handwork eBooks

Need some ideas for handwork projects at home?  Our seasonal handwork eBooks are available through Little Acorn Learning.  Each one features a variety of handwork, verses and pictures.

Autumn

Winter

Spring

Summer

Summer Ideas!

Looking for summer ideas for your family?  The Little Acorn Learning July Enrichment Guide is here!

Week One, July

The Mermaid, Independence
~Sing Songs of Mermaids!
~Take Time for Yourself with Our Caregiver Meditation
~Create a Beautiful Felted Mermaid
~Make a Mermaid Aquarium for Summer Play
~Read Poems to Your Children
~Make a Mermaid Costume with Wrist Ribbons!


Week Two, July
Stargazing, Reverence
~Spend Time this Week Considering What Reverence Means in Your Life
~Making a Felted Big Dipper
~Draw Down the Stars to Your Soul with Our Star Singing Activity
~Read Stories from a Summer Night Sky and Learn About Constellations
~Read Books All About the Stars and Sky


Week Three, July
The Great Outdoors, Solitude
~Celebrate The Great Outdoors with Your Children this Week!
~Read Books on the Woods, Forests, Trees, Meadows and Brooks
~Can You Find Peace in Being Alone?
Meditate on the Beauty of Solitude This Week.
~Take a Listening Walk with Your Children
~Create an Outdoor Nature Table
~Learn to Play 'The Great Smoky Mountains'
On Your Flute or Pennywhistle
~Enjoy the MP3 of the Song As Well
~Listen to the Gifts of Solitude
~Cook Up a Delicious Batch of Caldron Chicken for Your Next Outdoor Adventure

Week Four, July
The Ocean, Inner Balance
~Read Stories of Waves, Sand and Sea
~Sing to the Ocean
~Find Inner Balance in Your Life
~Learn 'The Mighty Ocean' Song on Your Pennywhistle or Flute
~Listen to the MP3 Version of the Song with Sweet Children's Voices
~Make a Labyrinth in Your Own Backyard!
~Create Beautiful Seashell Candles
~Make a Seashell Sun to Hang for Summer

Handwork Felting eCourse! - Starts May 9, 2011

Handwork ECourse from Little Acorn Learning
Felting - 5 Weeks - Only $80!  Starts May 9, 2011
Instructor: Jennifer Tan, MA from Syrendell

Felting is one of the most primitive textile arts. Its origin is unknown, but swatches of felt were discovered in Europe and Asia dating as far back as the Bronze Age. Nomadic tribes had relied on felt's durabilty and versatility to make practical items such as blankets and tents. Created by the massaging of wool fibers in a liquid medium, felt can be shaped into many useful and decorative items. Legend has it that a Christian monk, who was trying to evade Roman soldiers, had found wool hanging from branches and put it into his sandals. After some time, his sweat and water from stream beds as he ran, created felted socks! In the 19th century, during the Industrial Revolution, felted bowler hats were very popular. A process that used mercuric nitrate to make the hats was employed, but the poisonous fumes that the workers were constantly exposed to caused neurological symptoms, which may have led to the expression "mad as a hatter."


Jennifer Tan, master fiber artist, in her five week felting course, guarantees you will neither have to become a fugitive of the Roman Empire nor a lunatic ala Mad Hatter to enjoy the art of felting! She will introduce the techniques of wet felting and needle felting where you will create beautiful projects with a wide array of applications. In her course, Jennifer will accompany her teaching with Waldorf-inspired verses and songs.


You will develop a love of this truly magnificent craft long after Jennifer's course is done. She does not guarantee that your family will not go insane from the many felted items you will undoubtedly begin to create!


Week 1: What is felting? (wet, needle, felting sweaters, felting crochet/knit/woven items) Types of fibers and supplies. Carding fibers.
Week 2: Wetfelting - scarf
Week 3: Wetfelting - sculptural (balls, eggs)
Week 4: Needlefelting - landscapes
Week 5: Needlefelting - sculptural (fairies, animals)



This ECourse is 'Work-As-You-Go' Each Week with New Tutorials and Inspiration Posted Weekly for a Duration of Five Weeks. You Check in When You Have Time. No Pressure, No Requirements - Just Suggestions.  To register and see the list of recommended reading, click here.

Spring Handwork eBook!

Our Spring Handwork eBook is now available through Little Acorn Learning!

Little hands will be busy this Spring as they work along side their caregiver on sweet projects in this
Spring Handwork Ebook created just for Little Acorn Learning by Jennifer Tan of Syrendell.

This e-book is filled with verses, instructions on how to make a Spring Nature Table Gnome, Sunny Luminary, Beautiful Easter Spring Star and Needle Felted Baby Chicks. Also includes a list of suggested resources for people interested introducing handwork to their children at home or school.

Rhythm of the Home Spring Edition

Rhythm of the Home Spring edition is out! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm of the Home is a quarterly online magazine specializing in natural living, handmade, and seasonal celebration. We unite the Waldorf and Montessori community through inspiring articles and projects.

 

 

 

We have two articles featured in this edition:

 

Wet-on-Wet Watercoloring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Felted Birthday Banner and Crown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rhythm of the Home also have an amazing give-away right now on their blog!  Come and enjoy this beautiful magazine, full of inspiration.

Three Kings - Epiphany eBook

Introducing the Three Kings Day & The Epiphany Theme Book!


With Contributions by:

~ Eileen Straiton, Little Acorn Learning
~ Jodie Mesler, Home Music Making
~ Jennifer Tan, Syrendell
~ Valarie Budyar, Jump Into A Book


*Create Stunning Three Kings Finger Puppets
*Make Beautiful 'Stars of Wonder' to hang in your Home or School
*Enjoy Two MP3 Three Kings Day Songs Written JUST for Little Acorn. Learning Along with Song Sheets and Pentatonic Song Music to Use with the Penny Whistle or Flute in Your Winter Lesson Plans
*Enjoy Verses and Fingerplays in the Waldorf Tradition
*Make Three Kings Bundles and Three Kings Crunch!
*Learn More About the Meaning Behind this Sacred Festival
*Meditate on Verses from Rudolf Steiner and Others for This Season
*Read SIX Soul Warming Stories to Your Children Bringing the Spirit of The Epiphany into Your Home All Week
*Learn How to Bless Your Home on this Day
*Find Out What Colors to Use in Celebration of The Epiphany on Your Nature Table
*Create an Epiphany Bonfire!
*Teach Your Child About the Very First Christmas
*Bake Twelfth Night Cake
*Enjoy Additional Book Recommendations from Little Acorn Learning to Bring into Your Three Kings Theme

And Much More!

New Workshops!

New workshops are scheduled for 2011!  Come and join Syrendell to learn more about handwork, art and aromatherapy.  Workshops are held in Davis, California unless otherwise noted.  Davis is about 20 minutes from Sacramento and 1.5 hrs. from San Francisco.  We also travel and teach!  Email us to schedule a workshop near you.

To see the upcoming schedule and register: www.syrendellacademy.com

February 6
Felting 10-12
Spinning 1-3

March 6
Beginning Crochet 10-12
Tunisian Crochet 1-3

April 3
Beginning Knitting 10-12
Wet-On-Wet Watercoloring 1-3

Happy New Year

We are celebrating leaving 2010 and embracing 2011!

Out With the Old....

Cleaning up the yard and turning the compost pile 

 Finishing books that are partially read

Pulling out those "UFOs" (unfinished objects) to finish or recycle

Putting away holiday decorations (except these cute wood and felted snowmen from Daddy...we'll keep these out!)

In With the New....

Creating new crocheted and felted items for the Etsy shop

Blending aromatherapy sprays for the home and school

Designing the Summer garden and ordering organic seeds

Changing the nature table (pictures of the Three Kings to come!)


Have a Happy, Peaceful, Balanced, Joyous 2011!!