Autumn Nature Tables

Autumn is a favorite time for us when it comes to creating nature tables.  Going on nature hunts for rose hips, fallen leaves, oak balls, dried herbs, and acorns is part of the fun! 

We read books about the harvest, gnomes, and the changing of the seasons as the root children begin their descent into the Earth.

We celebrate Michaelmas and bring out pumpkins in anticipation of Halloween.

Rainbow summer colors, green leaves, and ocean waves disappear as hues of orange, gold, eggplant and brown appear.  A time to celebrate the cooler weather and a time of rest and contemplation.

Spring and Summer Swaps & Exchanges

We love participating in swaps and exchanges!  They are wonderful ways of meeting the nicest families, while giving and receiving beautiful handcrafted items for our home and nature table.  Much of what we give and receive is Waldorf-inspired.

Items that we created for the Gnomes, Hedgehogs, Mushroom Swap


This year, we have continued to enjoy being a part of Bits of Goodness swaps, including the "gnomes, mushrooms and hedgehogs" theme!  We send out 5 items to be swapped, and 1 item for the hostess.  Then, we receive 5 different items back.  Coming up is a "summer play" swap and we eagerly sent out our handcrafted streamer sticks.  Can't wait to see what we get back!

Items that we received in the Gnomes, Hedgehogs, Mushrooms Swap

We have also participated in the 4 Seasons Exchange which is a one-on-one exchange each season.  Here is Spring:

Items that we received in the Spring Exchange

Items that we gave in the Spring Exchange

And, here is Summer!

Items that we received in the Summer Exchange

Items that we gave in the Summer Exchange

Both groups have flickr.com groups where you can see pictures posted.  Bits of Goodness runs a yahoogroup where you can sign up for swaps and see more information.  4 Seasons Exchange is on Facebook.  What I love about the 1-1 exchanges is that we write a letter to the family, telling them what we made and why.  It is such a joy to see handcrafted items from different parts of the world come to us for our nature table.

Nature Tables

We love creating nature tables.  It can be as simple as gathering seasonal objects from nature and displaying on a mantel, or making artistic projects to feature in a nook or on a shelf.

The nature table is not stagnant, but rather alive and constantly changing!  As the seasons progress, so does the nature table.

Children can be involved in so many ways.  Even the process of taking down one season's setting, cleaning, gathering items, and talking about how to set up the next season can be a lesson all on its own.  Reverence for changes in nature make us feel connected to the Earth, and also help us to understand the changes that we feel within ourselves.

Sometimes, the weather drastically changes earlier or later than we estimate, so rather than sticking strictly to the solstices and equinoxes, we change the nature table when we "feel" that it is time.  Then, little creatures appear for holidays, such as bunnies and chicks for Easter. 

The nature table can get cluttered!  Taking away is as important as adding to the setting.  Keeping special objects in a moth-proof/critter-proof container is helpful for storage. 

Each year, we like to create at least one new object for the nature table per season.  Singing, sharing stories, and saying verses while changing the nature tables is a happy family ritual.  For inspiration on nature tables, look at pictures on Flickr, take a peek inside of Pre-K-5th grade Waldorf classrooms, read books about the seasons, or search for pictures on blogs.

Early Spring Nature Table

Spring is coming, Spring is coming
Birdies build your nest.
Weave together, straw and feather
Doing each your best!
Doing each your best.

On some days in March, the sun is out here in Northern California!  Bulbs are blooming and Spring is almost here.  We always look forward to the transition from cold Winter to Sunny Spring.  Creating a new nature table together introduces pretty, pastel colors, flowers, and most of all...hope.

We start off with the kids taking everything down from Winter and cleaning the shelves.  A little Spring cleaning feels great!  Then, the kids go through the baskets of naturally-dyed silks and choose a color that reminds them of Spring.

We gather the first two daffodils that bloomed in our yard.  Our Davis home is still relatively new to us, so we were pleasantly surprised when daffodils popped up in the corner of our garden!

Daddy's hand-carved wood snail loves to make an appearance at some point.  Our little Spring dolls made from wood and naturally dyed wool and felt (from Mama Jude's on Etsy) look like flowers themselves.  Our friend squirrel carries a sign stating, "I love Spring!".  Lucy Leprechaun will make an appearance pretty soon with a clover in her hands. A crocheted fairy ring of felt flowers circle a beautiful handmade beeswax, egg-shaped candle by Jan Schubert of Bee Happy Candles.  I think that we will be reading Jan's book, The Sun Seed later this week! 

Happy Spring....

Felting a Winter Queen Tutorial

O Winter Queen!

Thy crown silver and bright

Snowdrifts spiral from your cape

O Winter Queen!

Thy dress blue, purple, white

Long hair curls at the neck's nape

Give us light!

Wisdom and sight!

O Winter Queen

Supplies

1.  White wool roving (corriedale, romney, other)

2.  White wool locks for hair

3.  Blue, purple, flesh-tone or other colors of wool roving
4. Angelina fiber for sparkle

5.  Tin foil

6.  Needle felting needles and foam base

Step One - Prep The Fiber

If needed, card your wool fiber so that it is easy to needlefelt. 

Step Two - Body  With one piece of white roving, wrap around and around until you have a long cylinder shape, a bit longer than the height that you want your queen to be.  Needlefelt until it feels connected.  The body does not have to be felted solid unless you prefer it that way.  Tie a piece of yarn at the neck and needlefelt the head portion into a more spherical shape.  Turn the body upside down and needlefelt the base to be a bit wider so that it will stand.  With a wisp of flesh-tone roving, wrap the head and gently needlefelt in place.

Step Three - Cape and Dress

Pull apart wisps of white roving for the cape.  Each piece will be needlefelted into the neck area, drape downward (lightly needlefelt to the body), and then swirl outward from the body in snowdrifts.  To make the ends spirl/swirl, pinch the end with your fingers and roll the end in one direction, then needlefelt to hold the shape.  Add as many of these cape pieces as you want around the sides and the back.  You might want the cape wool to be a different wool or shade of white than the body.  With wisps of purple and blue roving, spiral and layer along with white on the dress portion that shows in the front under the cape.  A circle brooch may be made by twisting slender pieces of roving and then spiraling around into a circle.  Add wisps of angelina fiber as you felt for an icy sparkle. Needlefelt until you feel that everything is attached and shaped the way that you like it.

Step Four - Hair

Wool locks are wonderful and provide instant curly hair!  Layer these on the top of the head and needlefelt into the head and neck and (carefully) into the cape, as needed.  In our pictures, we had slender strips of wool that we layered and twisted instead of locks.  You can also take roving, pull into strips, twist, and create your own hair.

Step Five - Crown

With tin foil, fashion a crown by cutting and folding to fit the head of the queen.  A tin foil scepter is another option.

Continue to needlefelt with a smaller needle, all of the finishing touches, including shaping hair, head, body and cape.  Make sure that the base is balanced so that she will stand on her own.  Now, place her in your nature table, showcasing the coming of Winter!  Sing songs, write stories and read poems to her and thank her for bringing wisdom and light during this darker time of the year.

Waldorf Postcards

Waldorf postcards are a beautiful addition to nature tables, seasonal spots, and homeschooling displays.  They also are wonderful gifts and can be used as actual postcards!

We are now featuring Rick's wet-on-wet watercolor paintings on postcards.  The front side is in color, and the back side is in black and white.  The first postcard available in our Etsy shop is "Fairy Tale" and taking orders for "Creation". Coming soon, "Four Seasons"!

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!

Swaps and Exchanges

A wonderful way to add to your nature tables and homeschooling supplies is by joining swaps and exchanges!

Participating is a nice way to teach children how to give and receive and to learn about other places in the world where people live. It is also an opportunity to work on creating a new seasonal table together.

Here are just a few of our recent forays into the world of swaps. Some are items that we created for the swap, and some pictures show items that we received....

Bits of Goodness Spring Nature Table Swap

Ravelry Gnome Exchange (our exchange partner was from Denmark!)

Bits of Goodness Summer Nature Table Swap

Bits of Goodness Flower Children Swap (Joey spun the yarn and Mommy crocheted them)

Bits of Goodness Autumn Nature Table Swap

Bits of Goodness Fairy Swap

Bits of Goodness Treasure Bag (Biome) Swap