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 also being beautiful.  I’ve always been a real homebody, but now that I am home full time again with both kids, and we are home so much, I want my home to feel beautiful.  Not perhaps in the traditional sense, but in a comfortable, lived-in, and loved sense. Why can’t things that are meant to be practical also be beautiful?

I’m thinking of this broom.

And about a dozen of these cups.

And pretty much every thing at Herriot Grace.

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, even though somehow his scale got all messed up and he stands as tall as the cow!

barn photo by Finns and Flowers

To go with the animals, my mother and I split the cost of this beautiful handmade wooden barn, made by Finns and Flowers on Etsy. I couldn’t be happier with it.  It is gorgeous.  My father bought this cart from The Wooden Wagon to go with the horse, for pulling loads of hay and oats, of course!

I’ve really simplified our gift giving this year, and I’m so thrilled to be giving my Girl this set which was made by the loving hands of true craftspersons (and her parents!).  Along with the usual holiday messages of goodwill to your fellow humans, gratitude, and peace, I feel it’s important to show my children that we can create things on our own, without going to the store.  That items made by the hands of real humans do indeed have great value.  And that it’s nice to have playthings made of natural materials that will last a very, very long time and not end up in a landfill.  Perhaps that is the greatest gift of all.

Not long after our email exchange, this package arrived on my doorstep:

Squee!  As I said in my thank you note to Erin, there really aren’t enough capital letters and exclamation points for me to express how EXCITED I was to receive this package!!!!! I held it in anticipation for just a moment, looking at the wool I could see already peeking out of the hole in the wrapping. The anticipation did not disappoint.  Inside I found:

Four ounces of the most gloriously soft, soft, really soft, creamy white roving, already carded and ready to spin. I have written before of my love for the perfect creamy shade of off-white that I love so much.  This wool is that perfect color.

Next I found eight ounces of an equally beautiful gray blend.  Flecks of brown, light gray and charcoal gray, carded together into wooly perfection.  Gray, how much I love you in the winter.

When I wrote to Erin and asked her where this wool came from, she told me it was from her very own shetland sheep named George and Gracie (so cute!). She has since gotten rid of the sheep, but the wool remained in her basement.

Dearest Erin, thank you again from the bottom of my heart.  Your blog, your friendship, and your wool mean so much to me.

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 (shrine) sat nearby, laden with fresh fruit, handmade sugar skulls, corn, candles, copal incense, pan de muertos, salt, water, marigolds, and the photos of many departed loved ones.

Dia de los Muertos is a special day to me, and I am so honored that my friends and family joined me to celebrate those who have come before us. It’s a party I will never forget.

A very special thank you to Nathan and Camille Pyatte, our talented photographers.  You can find their work at pyattestudios.com.

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 than the uncooked wheat paste I usually use, and much smoother.

I originally made the pinata seven layers thick, but it felt a bit weak.  Remembering that the last party’s pinata got busted much too quickly, I added one more layer of paper and it was instantly rock hard!  I was a bit concerned that it would be one of those pinatas that eventually takes a grown-up to crack, but the kids did a great job.  The grown-ups were making wisecracks about the pinata being made of cement, but it lasted through three rounds of kids, each turn consisting of three whacks.  I think it worked out just right, and will certainly make it that thick again next year.

It was filled with small trinkets and organic lollipops.  The kids had a grand time breaking it open, and a fun time enjoying their booty!

A very special thank you to Nathan and Camille Pyatte, our talented photographers.  You can find their work at pyattestudios.com.

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 in the wax!  I made the usual candles, in my reused glass containers, but these are my first candles using a mold.  I wanted to purchase a mold for making pillars, but they are pricey, so I thought I’d try using a teacup.  It worked!  I sprayed the cups with cooking spray first, so the candles would slip out.  (My only investment was for the can of cooking spray I had to buy.)  After pouring the candles, I let them sit for a bit, then when they were still warm, but starting to set up, I put them in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.  Then they just popped right out!  It was all very scientific, and I’m sure I’ll never be able to replicate the exact conditions again.

I’ve already said before how much I love beeswax candles, and they are so easy to make, anyone could do it.  They smell fabulous, they are all-natural, and they are so much better for you and the planet.  What’s not to love?  I’m pretty hooked on them now.  Obviously because I keep talking about them.

I’m hoping to get back to regular posting, soon.  I’ve been way busy with home improvement projects, Halloween costumes, and getting ready for our wintertime New York trip.  I’ve managed to squeak in a bit of holiday crafting here and there, so I’ll be back to share those projects soon!

They are so easy to make. They are all-natural.  They are cheaper than buying beeswax candles.

And they smell positively divine.

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 the winter solstice and the spring equinox.  In a nutshell, it’s about welcoming the return of the sun after the darkness of winter.

The ancient Celts began celebrating this holiday in honor of their goddess Brigid.  Goddess of fire, healing, poetry, home, and fertility, she is the keeper of the eternal sacred flame, and ushers in the arrival of Spring.  Any remaining yule greens would be removed from the home and burned, thus sending winter on its way.  It is a time for a cleansing of the home, both literally and figuratively.  The Celts called their celebration Imbolc, which means “in the belly” referring to the pregnancy of the ewes.  Imbolc is still celebrated by pagans today.

When Christianity swept the globe, the church realized that they could not prevent the people from celebrating their goddess, so they sainted her and renamed her Brigit.  Thus it became that Candlemas is a day that candles are made, or brought to the church to be blessed.  It is considered the day that Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem.

From Candlemas, the holiday became Groundhog Day in the US and Canada.  Long ago, it was believed that hibernating animals began awakening on this day.  If the groundhog fails to see his own shadow (due to overcast weather) the worst of winter is over, and spring is on its way.  Spring doesn’t arrive officially until March 20th, however I’m happy to report that our “groundhog” did not see his shadow yesterday.

It used to be believed that due to the lengthening daylight hours that occur around Candlemas, housewives of long ago would no longer need to work by candlelight in the morning.  Hence the saying, “candlemas, candle-less.” And indeed, in our little home, we noticed just a few days ago that we are now eating our evening meal while the sun is still out.  Spring is coming!

While I shared simplified versions of these traditions with my children in the morning, I’ll admit that most of this research has been for my own benefit.

In preparation for the changing of the nature table, The Daddy Monkey and I made the figures above.  Brigid, lamb and ewe.  I designed and drew them on the oak board, The Daddy cut them out, and I sanded and painted them.  I am so in love with them.  I cleared away the winter nature table, and replaced it with a white silk, our figures, the freesia we planted, and the beeswax candles I made.

I made our favorite pancakes for breakfast, a round symbol of the sun.  We ate breakfast by candlelight, which the kids thought was a novel idea.

I was originally planning on making candles with the kids, but once I thought about it, I realized that me + 2 hyper kids + hot wax = a trip to the emergency room.  So I made beeswax candles by myself.  The whole project took less than an hour, and I have to admit that I am now completely head over heels for beeswax candles.  I cannot get enough of that fragrance.

I made two Brigit’s crosses out of wheat, with The Boy’s help.

We planted a basket of wheat grass for the nature table.

We read poems (Shel Silverstein) in honor of Brigid. Bedtime stories were The Happy Day and A Little Bit of Winter, both from our own collection and both perfect for Candlemas. (I’m so sad to see that A Little Bit of Winter is out of print.)

I know most families don’t celebrate Candlemas, but for us, I think it was a perfect fit.  Living in Florida, it’s about this time of year that we start seeing longer days and warming temperatures.   All in all, I’m glad I did all the work leading up to this, and I know that next year’s celebration will be much easier, now that I know all of the stories and traditions.  It was a special, fun day, but I think next year, I will stretch out the activities over a week or so, rather than making it all happen on one day.  It seemed like a bit too much for me. I also look forward to including the kids a little more in our celebration next year.

Special thanks to all the links I’ve included above, the book “All Year Round,” and the countless bloggers over in my blogroll who have written about their Candlemas celebrations of years past. I’ve tried to link to information that I read online, but I’ll admit it all started to blur together after a while.