Handmade Christmas Gift for 1 Year Old

I made this for Big Seed for his first Christmas

and have remade it for Little Seed's birthday.

It's a nice idea for a Handmade Christmas.

I took a set of 5 little wooden Ikea boxes that pull out of a wooden frame.

You could use any boxes, bowls, baskets, etc.

I filled them with these things:

1: Shells, cones, driftwood sticks

2. Felt balls, wet felted balls with bells inside

3. Buttons

4. Coins

5. Empty... so he has one to transfer objects into.

He always goes for the natural box first because of the great variety of texture.

At 12 months old he managed to transfer the natural materials box into the empty one by himself without being distracted or helped.

He also likes tipping it upside down too.

x

Boot Peg Gnome : For St.Nicklaus Day

I have celebrated St.Nicklaus Day since a small child.

I love this celebration as it's a bit like Christmas without all the tackiness.

It's simple and the message from his stories is easy to understand

for little ones.

So in preparation we made this gnome who will go on Big Seed's boot

the night before the 6th.

The tradition is to polish your shoes/boots the night before and put them on the bedroom windowsill for him to see.

 In the morning if you have been good you will find nuts, a tangerine, chocolate

and a tiny gift.

St.Nicklaus is the original Father Christmas.

More of that in December, here's how to make it.

Draw this shape on felt and cut. I had to draw it on paper several times before I got it to fit my peg.

Sew running stitch but leave threads at each end to pull together later.

Sew the hood together.

Big Seed did this himself as I held the felt for him.

Blanket stitch looks good too if you are able.

Place the felt on the wooden peg, then pull the threads tight to create a ruffle

then tie in a knot.

Your gnome is ready to put on your boot, or make a pair.

x

Have you entered our Winter Fairy Giveaway?

Once Around The Sun - Steiner Style Birthday

It was Little Seed's birthday.

Little Seed is One.

We had an intimate Steiner style birthday.

Homemade cards and gifts wrapped in silks and scarves.

Big Seed is teaching Little Seed to unwrap a gift.

We gave him a wooden xylophone pot.

You stir it to make music - a gentle sound.

We kindly asked family to avoid plastic/noisy toys and they all 

graciously obliged.

We had homemade cake and as I put him to sleep

I told him his birth story about his journey over the rainbow bridge, and how

he came into this world.

As I got to the part where he came out into the world, he stopped feeding and pushed against me 

in the perfect position as if he could completely understand my every word and acted it out!

What a fantastic memorable end to his day.

x

Winter Gnome Giveaway

I am so excited to present our Winter Fairy Giveaway by Rjabinnik.

"SnowFlake is one of the miracles of Mother Nature.

 Her unique beaty and inimitability reminds us of the endless magic that Nature manages. 

One snowflake, one miracle...
We wish You Marry happy and blessed winter times.
Rjabinnik and Rounien"

Isn't she absolutely gorgeous?

To enter this giveaway...

click here to go to Rjabinnik's Etsy shop

and write a comment HERE saying which item you like the best.

The winner will be chosen on the 5th December.

They will ship globally...helping to spread the gnome/fairy love around the world!

Good luck everyone

x

Easy Peasy Bracelets

These are really easy for 3 year olds to make.

Thread beads onto a pipecleaner.

Twist one end around the other and tuck into a bead.

x

We Are Making A Boy's Dolls House

I had asked Daddy Seed if he would make one of those amazing open-plan wooden fairy/gnome

houses...

I went out one day and came back to this!!

OK, it's not open plan but it is fantastic!
He made it with Big Seed one afternoon.
A plywood box with two floors and a secret floor in the attic.

Check out the fireman's pole and the tree to climb in between floors!
A real boyish house, that's not pink and plastic.

Here are the stairs made from a branch from the garden and one of the residents
who can't wait to move in, checking on development.

I am wondering as Big Seed will have input in making it, will he like playing with it more?
We shall see.

Next up...furniture.

Frosty Pictures - Discovering Ice

Today was one of those days when I was so glad to be homeschooling.

Sometimes it just comes together...

Today was a frosty morning and I asked Big Seed if he wanted to make a frosty picture.

I had in mind a drawing with pastels smudged all over as frost...but he already had his own idea. Great!

He went outside and asked for the chalks.

He drew some coloured swirls and said, "That's my frosty picture."

Then he went for a walk around the garden to inspect the frost.

He came back with huge panes of ice and threw them on his drawing.

He was really investigating ice...by himself.

He found them on his toy trucks.

They were thin but he could pick them up...

Some were huge!

He could see his picture through them and it would melt.

It would crack and you could smash them into tiny pieces like glass.

He learnt to share the tiny pieces with his little brother,

to feel how cold they are and how they melt in the hand.

You can slip and slide on them and pretend to wear ice skates.

See what it's like to use chalk on a wet surface.

Mix and melt colours.

Wow, what a science lesson, completely initiated and directed by himself.

I wish everyday was as good as today.