may day blossoms

:: little blossoms grace our seasonal nature table. we gathered blossoms in the garden and around the yard and put them in small little bud vases and spread their goodness around the house. what flowers are you enjoying in your garden?

happy may day everyone

making flower children

:: we wait in anticipation of each blossoms we will see unfolding around us. each day brings even more beauty into our lives ~ snowdrops, daffodils, magnolias, cherry blossoms, pear blossoms, rhododendrons, violets, dandelions, grape hyacinth, bleeding hearts and our hyacinths anyday. 

:: my daughter and i made a little snowdrop in preparation of spring. we used the pattern in feltcraft. the little snowdrop has been sleeping under my little one's pillow every night and i can tell her love for him comes from us crafting him together. i especially enjoy these days when we can look at our festival resources together and decide what we would like to create. in the background is the flower book with beautiful ida bohatta morpurgo illustrations from 1946, which my little one found in her easter basket. 

 :: i found some violets and dandelions on my walk with the baby today. i arranged them on the nature table for my little one to discover. i hope you too are enjoying the beauty that is unfolding around you.

easter preparations

wishing you a happy easter.

first day of spring

:: happy spring 

shades of green

i just love this time of year, birds chirping with the rising sun, the morning sun filling our house with rainbows and warming our faces, and blooms and buds starting to peak up everywhere. with the last piles of snow melting, we are almost ready to welcome spring and all the beautiful shades of green it brings. from the vibrant, chartreuse greens, a perfect combination of green and yellow, to the rich, velvety moss green.

it's can be wonderful to bring some of the outside in. some trimmings from a flowering tree or maybe making a garden dish. originally inspired here and here, by carol petrash's book, earthways, in making our garden dishes. this year, we started working with modeling beeswax, so that will be a fun way to add to our garden dish.

i have a fun little bird's nest project, i'll be sharing tomorrow. come back and see.

candlemas blessing day 1 & day 2

we had a two day candlemas celebration. we started the first day making some pancakes and singing a candlemas verse. we also made this song into a little fingerplay, which are always enjoyed with much excitment.

The Groundhog by C.Aldinger from Sing a Song of Seasons
Ground-hog in your hole so deep
Raise your head and take a peep
If your shadow makes you leap!
Curl back up and go to sleep

we read a story called, the sun is my favorite star by frank asch. but the mothering board had these suggestions:
the snowdrop adapted from hans christan andersen
the coming of spring
the candles by hans christan andersen

i really liked this family's day of celebrating, shadow tag and this little verse.

Little Candle
Little candle burning bright
You are such a pretty sight
Show us all you shining light
Little candle burning bright

:: with winter keeping us tucked inside, we cut paper snowflakes. we used nail scissors, which made it so much easier for my little one to cut with

:: using our new modeling beeswax to make a little snowman for our nature table.

advent cones

:: our advent calender focuses on seasonal activities, baking, and crafts for the family to celebrate and share the season together. over the years it has changed a little and i have found it best, in our house, for the calender to contain the supplies we need the family activities. we make these paper advent cones and hang them over our nature table. the elves will gift us cranberries to bake some muffins, popcorn kernels to air pop for our family movie night, or a chocolate bar to make hot chocolate after an afternoon of sledding. the elves also gather our supplies for us, like our paper and scissors for making paper snowflakes or our cookie cutters for baking some sugar cookies. celebrating the advent this way really keeps our family all snug at home, enjoying the entire season together as a family, with maybe a venture or two out of the house, for a trip to a museum or out sledding. i'd love to hear some of your advent activities or family traditions?

advent sky

:: this year, we created an arch "sky" on our nature table and my little one will be adding a star sticker to the sky for each day. i thought it would be really magical to watch our sky fill up with stars and our woolen angel move closer to earth, with each passing day. i wonder about how my little one feels as her anticipation builds as she gets down to the last few stars.


:: here's a revealing of the advent sky. i had to go back and add some more tape, so i took a picture as i did not explain it so accurately in the comments. i started at the bottom left side and taped most of the lights going up the edge all the way to the top. then, i let the string of lights loosely fall to the bottom. i work the lights back up to the top, where i taped the top lights near the edge of the poster board again. i did that i few more times and then layered a playsilk over the top. i taped the playsilk on the back side of the poster board so the curved edge could be seen. hope that helps explain.

leaf bouquet

:: collected leaves from our nature walk and a leaf bouquet found it's way to our nature table. my little one has always enjoyed collecting leaf bouquets.

autumn nature table

:: our autumn nature table. i always try and keep a tidy scene, but our autumn table always has a tends to accumulate lots of found treasures as the season swings in. And all those pine cones. We are going to decorate them and gift them for the holidays.



:: a closer look at our treasures from nature. the canning jar holds random things we have found over the years. my little one's favorite is a stem from a pumpkin.

:: we were lucky to pick a few tomatoes. the autumn colors seem so fitting.

last bits of summer saved

:: late summer nature table. our nature table has had a lot of activity with our recent trips down the shore. found treasures occupy the table as we hold on to the last bits of summer

:: my little one quickly pulled this little acorn off the table as I was about to take the nature table pictures. she said if was for fall table, which will soon be here. we talked about the progression of the seasons today. we noticed the green leaves on the trees and just a tiny bit of autumn color coming in, picking apples, picking up pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, celebrating Halloween and Thanksgiving, winter with snow and sledding and making gingerbread cookies and hot chocolate. as she grows older, the rhythms of the year are emphasized by our activities and celebrations.

rainbows around

:: a rainbow of colorful beads made into a water shaker

:: my collection of vintage glass beads. a favorite for my little one to play and sort

:: a rainbow telescope

:: a rainbow tree


:: paintings

:: fairy wands and found acorns on our nature table

:: found feathers

:: rainbows

:: found growing along a neighbor's yard. while we only picked one of each, i wish we hadn't picked them.

I was inspired by Waldorf Mama's postings during rainbow week.

making bark boats

:: today we gather and collect some additional supplies to make our bark boats, found among the wonderful activities in Earthways by Carol Petrash. we've been collecting bark for the last few weeks. some pieces of bark went into soup, other were incorporated into play scenes and the little brittle pieces left a winding trail through my house.

:: boat one

:: boat two

:: boat three & four


:: a bark boat makes it's way to our summer nature table



:: other pics of our summer nature table. my daughter had fun painting some sea shells last summer. the summer has come in quickly and already it is july (oops, I noticed our book is still in june)