Giveaway Day 2010 (closed)

*Giveaway is now closed**

I had so much fun with SewMamaSew's Giveaway Day last year, I'm doing it again. (If you don't know about Giveaway Day, go to the aforementioned web site and enter to win many other giveaways!)

Here are the dry felted wool mama and baby duck that you may win from me. I was going to give away just one, but how could I separate a mama and baby?!!

They are propped on a piece of scrap wool, which I can pretend is to represent some green food they are eating, but really it is to sit them up straight because their heads are a bit heavy. In the hands of a storyteller or young child, I don't think this will be a problem.

Please leave a comment here, with your email address or blog profile with an email address in it, if you would like me to send you these soft little duckies. If you are a lovely follower, please do say so in a second comment for a second entry. I will randomly draw a winner on Saturday. I will ship internationally on The 20th. I can't imagine this will get anywhere but down the street before Christmas, though I do think this would be a fun stocking stuffer. Best of luck to you!

Becoming Waldorf: Our Nature Table

You may have noticed to the left over there that I am now teaching Kindergarten. Quite a jump from the fifth grade that I am used to, especially since this Kindergarten is in a Waldorf-inspired school. This is just one bonus of my new job, as Waldorf education has always resonated with me. Other bonuses include the school being a short five-minute drive away, Little Miss will be attending school there next year, the school's foundation is helping me to obtain my Masters in Waldorf Education.... the list keeps going on. THIS is the silver lining of the lay-off cloud! Something better was waiting around the corner. I am so grateful.

One of the features of the Waldorf Kindergarten is a nature table. This is a place to bring nature indoors and reflect what is happening outdoors. I like this idea so much that I have created a nature table in my home as well. Here is a picture of my first attempt a few weeks ago:

Not too bad. Uncluttered. Lavender wand (Want to learn how to make one? I bet I could tutorial that... Let me know). Beeswax candle (YUM). Seasonal flowers. A dry felted bee (Yes, that black blob is a bee. We have big, black bees swarming our passion vine all summer.). Some sycamore bark that I found on the ground. I am excited to keep this evolving as the seasons slowly change. I hope to one day get (make?) a postcard holder, as there are some beautiful postcards with seasonal images at the local Waldorf college bookstore.

So, in preparing for this job, I have been (and will continue to be) reading a lot of books written by Waldorf educators, talking to a lot of Waldorf teachers, and I have found some really neat "waldorfian" blogs. The first addition I have found to add to the nature table next summer is a strawberry, inspired by The Wonder Years. Bonus: Little Miss will be able to make some of her own to play with. Keeping our eyes open for small pinecones...

Baby (Doll) Sling... Sew What?!!

I have to tell you, these Sew What?!! challenges are really getting my creative juices flowing..... Unforunately, I am in class for the next three weeks and do not have the time, at the moment, to see all (any) of these ideas to fruition. I have a list going... But, I did manage to get one more thing done tonight for the final Sew What?!! challenge: Carry It. In other words, make something to carry something else. I have a couple of things I probably should have made, but I wanted to make something fun for my little one to carry her little one.

A baby doll sling.

Modeled after my own baby sling (I think it's called a Maya Wrap?), which I was shown how to make four+ years ago (I wanted to share a picture of me using it four years ago, but I think those pictures got wiped when the computer freaked out some time ago. I'll keep looking...). So, I don't have a pattern, I had to just look at my sling and copy it on a smaller scale. Since this isn't going to carry a real baby, I'm not worried about any minor imperfections. It seems to be serving it's purpose just fine.