I made these quills today for a birthday party we will be attending this weekend.  Nothing like waking up one morning, deciding to make quills, then watching a few videos, raiding the craft stash for feathers, and then making them.  All in the span of about an hour.

It is such a small thing that it hardly deserves blogging, but I’ve been making these knitted dishcloths and I’m really liking them.  I made an enormous ball of tulle-yarn and I probably have enough to make about a thousand of these.  Which is exactly how many I want.
I’ve lately been thinking about practical things [...]

This year, we decided to put together a farm set for The Girl.  This is the second batch of wooden animals that The Daddy Monkey and I have made, and they are fun and easy to make. I’m very proud of these because the designs are entirely my own.  I’m especially fond of the dog, [...]

Nearly a month ago, I excitedly posted about the yarn that I had spun. The lovely Erin over at exhale. return to center, whom I am honored to call my friend, saw my post and offered me some wool.  How on earth could I say no?!
Not long after our email exchange, this package arrived [...]

Overall, The Day of the Dead party turned out to be quite the celebration.  The weather was quite cool, but a welcome change from the usual heat.

Friends and family from far and wide, old and new, came together to celebrate life.

We ate.

We played.

We celebrated while my handmade papel picado banners flapped overhead.

Ever present, the ofrenda [...]

Here are a few more photos from our Day of the Dead celebration.  This pinata was the third I’ve made and I think it was the best of the three.  I used the cooked wheat paste recipe from Amanda Blake Soule’s Handmade Home, and it was really nice to work with.  It was far stronger [...]

Whenever the seasons change, I always find myself cleaning, organizing and just generally sprucing up. For some reason, candlemaking always strikes me as something to do for a festival, equinox, or solstice.
I lucked out and found some beeswax at my local farmer’s market.  It was unfiltered though, so there were a few bugs and bees [...]

Have you made beeswax candles yet?  You should.

They are so easy to make. They are all-natural.  They are cheaper than buying beeswax candles.
And they smell positively divine.

I delivered two special packages today.

One was full of home made brownies and was hand delivered.

A little bear says, “thank you.”
The other package was delivered to the post office, to be sent to a cold, cold place.

I drew a bit of sunshine for them, on one of The Girl’s paintings.

Since we are now honoring more yearly rhythms in our family, (and really, who needs an excuse to celebrate?) we celebrated Candlemas/Imbolc/Groundhog Day yesterday.  Even though our celebration borrows a bit from many traditions, I have chosen to simply call it Candlemas.  Candlemas is a cross-quarter holiday, which means it falls at the midpoint between [...]