Making Flower Fairies & Elves

The girls have been busy crafting on and off this summer. While I pour myself over waldorf books and lesson plans, the freedom and imagination nurtured by a waldorf inspired education has allowed me the time to prepare for the challenging year ahead.

I love so much about Waldorf education, but one of the things I love is how it nurtures the imagination and creativity in children. So in-tuned with the natural development of the human being is it, that I find myself tickled to see how many waldorf inspired children work with their hands to create such beautiful and special treasures that are truly age appropriate :D I've seen it on so many other blogs and I see it in my own house.

A few years ago, when we just were coming to waldorf education, I came across a very easy tutorial on how to make simple flower fairies. Through the years, we've made many - for the girls play, for decoration, for gifts for friends and little cousins, and for dressing up gifts (these tie on really well to packages)...so one of the items the girls will be making this Christmas will be Christmas fairies (shhhhh...don't let our family know)...


You will need to run to a crafts store where you will find all of these items. Many of your crafty mommas will already have them at home...

Supplies:
~wooden beads of various sizes if you are making families
~pipe cleaners
~silk flowers
~tacky glue
~embroidery floss
~feathers
~skinny sharpies of various colors (if you want to put faces on them)
~scissors

The tutorial can be found here. Here are some pictures of the fairies the girls made this morning...(winter themed)

These are a couple that Charley made a while ago with faces...

And Elena's with faces...

An acorn boy and a Christmas elf...

And Charley's Winter Fairy Queen...

Elena's Winter Fairy, trying out various silk flowers to hold in stead of a scepter...

A baby she made a while back (without the wings)...we always say they are elves when they don't have wings. Otherwise, we've made fairies and angels with feathered wings.

These are some we made years ago to be attached to presents.

For a nephew who loved the dark spiderman and his sister, who loved fairies...(I wrapped black wool roving around the design to make the spiderman - which he ripped right off as a 3 yr old rough and tumble boy! So I wouldn't recommend these for the under 5 crowd, unless they are gentle players or will mainly be decorative)...

And some Star Wars themed gifts for two of my nephews who can't get enough of Star Wars :D I used the same flower fairy formula and made clothing out of felt and O.B. Wan's beard is wool glued to the bead.

So many possibilities! Have fun with this one! You could make these as party favors for birthdays, stocking stuffers for the holidays, wrapping embelishments, make them into Saints for those in Grade 2 or those studying the Saints, seasonal/nature table spreads, storytelling, toothfairy gifts, or just plain freeplay fun!

You can see a gift inspired by these that the toothfairy left for the girls when Charley had lost a tooth here. I wrapped the edges with embroidery floss to avoid the pinchy wire, which I recommend doing :D These can poke when the ends are not folded properly.

Painting Peg People

Peg people are so fun! You can do so much with them, and so can your kids. The twins have been painting them and making little families for their freeplay.

You can purchase them at most crafts stores, online, or on etsy, even! We use standard acrylic paints on theses and then once they dry, the girls polish with beeswax :D

Once dry, it's off to Adventureland...look out for the Volcano!

Using a branch they found on the ground for the tree...

And the village is ready for play!

We also used the female peg people when we made our math gnomes for Grade 1. The tutorial can be found here.

The Twins First Real "Job"...

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
~Mahatma Gandhi

This is Juan - weighing in at 2 lbs 15 oz and dumped in what is considered by many to be the worst shelter in Southern California. He was dumped most likely because he contracted kennel cough and treatment wasn't an option for his owners. Juan was neglected and tossed aside, but what a little sweetheart...Lucky for Juan, he got a second chance...but many are not so lucky...

This cutie was waiting for her family to come for her. Swollen nipples indicated she had given birth, though she was just around 2 years old...I waited for her to move to the adoptable list, but she never made it there and I am still trying to find out if her owners came for her or she was put to sleep without even being given a chance to find her forever home.


Shelters across our country are filled with beautiful, loving dogs that have been thrown away like yesterday's newspaper...


Over 450 dogs on average are waiting in this County Shelter. Many don't last more than a week or two after being removed from the waiting list (waiting for their owner to come claim them). They are simply put down on a metal table and thrown into a refrigerator, piled one atop the other, to be disposed of...


But lucky for Juan, there were four rescue organizations in line for him. The first one never showed - probably because of the kennel cough. We were #3...but the 2nd organization did come for him and I am sure they are treating his kennel cough, which had progressed to the point of him sounding like a barking seal. At under 3 lbs, his poor lungs just can't take too much more...he was full of kisses and a tiny waggy tail for me and the girls. We will always remember little Juan...

This summer took us in an unexpected direction. I have always been an animal lover - growing up surrounded by a variety of them. I used to be unable to even set foot in a shelter, within a minute, breaking down in a flood of tears. I tried once before I was married and literally had to pull off the road where I cried uncontrollably for about 30 minutes before I could pull myself together enough to make it safely home.

It's just not fair...

This is a beautiful picture I took of four purebred corgi pups - three of which couldn't find homes. They were bred by someone we know through one of the local homeschooling groups.

We had just rescued Jacky from the shelter, but even though it upsets me when people breed for money - each pup that is born takes a spot in a home that might otherwise open their heart to a shelter dog on the clock that is ever-ticking - my husband and I vowed to help find loving homes for them. There are people that don't want to rescue from a shelter - without knowing the dogs history, they are unable to take a chance...

~ Rescue organizations are wonderful for those who need a little more reassurance, especially those who foster dogs in homes. The foster homes usually do basic training (potty and behavioral) with the incoming dogs and the foster family can tell you whether or not that dog is a good candidate for a home with children or other animals, etc.

Pet Finder is a great source and you can even plug in particular breeds that Breed Rescues have saved!

We found a home for this little guy, whom the girls called, "Little Bear"...


A business associate of Tony's just lost her corgi mix and was broken hearted. Little Bear helped fill that void...we took him home that night and drove him to her office (about 40 min away) the next day...

He was just beautiful...It was fun to have a pup for a day, but it was also a lot of work...I tried to convince Tony to let me rescue another chihuahua mix from death row, but because Jack is "damaged goods", we are working hard to fix the wrong that was done to him. Tony just wasn't ready for another hard case while we are working to heal Jacky - but Jack is so playful and Farley is just too old to scamper around with him. Jack so badly wanted a buddy to play with.

More time passed and still no homes for the other two corgi's...corgi's are Tony's weak spot...(Farley is 1/2 corgi and we're not sure what the other half is...) - but...

Tony kept talking about *what if* we took one of the other pups - they were getting old. I was told even the pet shop turned them down because they were too old to sell. I struggled a lot with the decision - taking in a perfect purebred corgi puppy???? who didn't have a bad past? who wasn't in a shelter????

Y...E...T...

I have never had a purebred dog. I'm a mutt girl - a shelter girl - I'm drawn to the ugly, the damaged, the rejected - this corgi was p-e-r-f-e-c-t...Well - now he's our "perfect" corgi...

After I told the breeder that we couldn't take him off her hands, I couldn't sleep that night and started to feel guilty. I mean, it was either rescue no one and just stick with Jacky & Farley until Farley passes away someday...or we can open our home to a perfect purebred that needs a loving home. How could I turn my back on this little guy who had no control over how he was brought into this world...besides, he could play with Jacky...

So, we informally rescued him...and he's wonderful...

You can feel the difference in this dog - there is no sense of nervousness/anxiety or skittishness that you see in just about any dog who has been caged - whether it be at a shelter or a pet store. This dog came directly from a home with children to dote on him, both of his parents, and his siblings - into our home. He's different than the other dogs Tony & I have taken in.

That got me thinking about the link to the calmness of many homeschooled children, especially those who have been Attachment Parented. There is just this - calm...


And he just loves his *brothers* (and his twin sisters :D)

We've named him Koda - which is Lakota for "friend".

Well (squeamish beware...) that wasn't all we *rescued*...we had our very first rattlesnake sunning on a rock in our front yard...

Our neighbor, who grew up in the hard core desert removed him for us and Tony and Tom set him free in one of the nearby canyons...

Meanwhile, Jack finds comfort on the silks...


And the doggies bond...

The girls and I are now working for a rescue organization ISO small breeds - mainly chi's because they are the most seen breed in the So Cal shelters. We have been assigned to a pretty nasty shelter which is about an hour and a half away, but that is our main focus. We are identifying and transporting candidates that would fit with the rescue org and eventually hope to foster, when Tony is ready. The girls are so proud of their first "job" - Charley kept telling everyone that she and Elena are working to save animals! It has taken much of our free time this summer, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Each life is so important, even if you only save one.

To that dog, YOU are the world...