a gift

you're maybe thinking that you've seen this incredible box of magic before? i know i have, right here. i just had no idea that i was the lucky friend to receive it. the leaf pattern is made by - well, leaves, plant dyed. this is a repurposed, reused, thrifted, ecologically sane and skillfully decorated treasure box. i so adore it. thank you, mona!

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mona is a clever and innovative plant dyer and a maker of many things. you can see some of her work here, here and here.  

nightmare + book = dress

she woke up before dawn, crying; a nightmare. dead tired, i grabbed a blanket and a random book from the shelf and tucked her in close to me. an hour later, she'd looked at each and every one of the pictures in the book, and 'decided on this one'.

ooops! i'd handed her mark ryden's 'the tree show'. some of the images in there are quite disturbing for little people. but she never mentioned any of that, only The Dress.
alright. i didn't have a pattern or an even remotely similar fabric, but that didn't get me off the hook. she dug into my fabric stash and found one of her old sweatshirts, size 6 (repurpose, you know!) 'so there's no problem, mummy!'

she decided on another fabric that she liked, and i spent the entire day trying to stitch the two pieces together without loosing it. my conclusion is, that as with knitting, a pattern is required. if no pattern, then at least a plan.

i managed to make it appear like a dress, all in one piece, at least (or, should i say, so far). and she's happy. and i want a pattern for a real 50's dress.

(yes, i did ask her if she wanted me to do something about those, but she opted for the spaceship look)

so there it is. inspiration moves in mysterious ways.

gift making

little ones on their way to their new owners.
the little doll with the hat is about 16 cm (6") tall, and the other one is about 33 cm (13").
i haven't made these kind of dolls in several years, and i could definitely use some practice.

more for the market

a couple of crowns, some magic wands, some more snowflake dolls, one more egg baby. i think i'm done now. the market is on sunday, i won't even get to see it because i'll be on the train for the big city by then. 10 days away from home, and i really do not want to go - my head is filled with ideas for x-mas! i have to make sure i write them down before i go. i love it when my head and body is bursting with creative energy - gotta savour it, some times there's drought.

that time of the year

when your kids are attending a waldorf school, there's one time of year that gets especially crafty - and busy! i'm talking about the x-mas fair, a long standing waldorf tradition. there's a lot of meetings, planning, and making going on. fifteen years ago, i didn't particularly like the waldorf seasonal dolls and all that goes with it; they were simply too cute. today i'm a born again waldorf toy fan, and i love making them. these days, i'm up to my neck in half finnished projects for the fair. some are getting close to finnished, though:

i've attached ribbons to some of the leaves, so that they can be hung around the neck. 

then there's the eggs we're making, i haven't been able to take any decent photos of mine so far, except the one on top her.  

the most fun part of this is finding new things to make. i'm currently working on some magic wands and seasonal dolls.

hope you're enjoying this time of year too, and don't get tied up in all the x-mas stress out there! i'm doing my best to avoid it :)

not a political post

a week ago, i wasn't sure what was the worst of things - that our world leaders decided to ignore basic scientific facts and experiment with the future of the human race, or the fact that i hadn't sent any yule cards yet.
hm.
well, since this is not a political post, i'll skip right to the essentials;
never, ever, ever be tempted to think that you have everything under control if the calendar says 'december'.
you don't.
don't be tempted to try out your newly aquired stress management skills. they don't apply in december.
i did try that out, only to wake up to (literally) "Holy Shit!" on the 18th. i've never had so little preparations to do, yet never had such a stressful pre-yule time as i did this year.
to me, the beauty of yule is in all the handmades, and this year there just were'nt enough of it to make me happy.
i managed to squeeze in this little project for my daughter - a last minute project made the night before.

this is something i was inspired to make last year, after a friend sent me this link. i decided i could do it myself, and bought a ready made cardboard suitcase.

i only had a few hours, so there was no time for fancy decoration. i didn't have any shiny new objects to put inside either, so i used the stuff that was already hers - only making a tiny needle book and giving away my own measuring tape.

i'd love to have given her some proper knitting needles and some embroidery thread, but that will come later. so far, she's thrilled and loves it very much. i put a new piece of linen on her embroidery hoop, and she immediately started embroidering a bright yellow sun. out of ordinary sewing thread, but still - very appropriate!

did you make any gifts this year? please leave me a link to your blog so i can admire it and get inspired - i'm always hunting for good, homemade gift ideas!
(btw, i have to admit, that by now, i actually really miss blogging - and you guys!)

eat, craft, give

i keep forgetting about my lunchboxes. i want to show them mainly for inspiration; i know i love to see others lunchboxes to get some new ideas! in this one, there's white rice, tandoor chicken, whole grain 'knekkebrød' (crackers) with cheese, mango chutney and a salat mix of lettuce, paprika, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese.

another friend had her birthday, so a new gift was made. i knitted two cotton dish cloths, made a set of six linen napkins (stamped, like the previous gift - i got a bit hung up on these, i guess) and added a small jar of homemade chocolate spread. did she like it? yes, indeed.

i meant to buy her an apple tree for her garden...

...as it was her birthday.

instead, i made her linen napkins from the remains of an old sofa cover, printed with some of my hand carved rubber stamps.

a moleskine garden diary, also printed with stamps.

a stamped card;

paper apples.

for now.

in which i have no title

on sunday, we visited my brother, his wife and their children - 3 of my kids' 5 cousins (to say that we are a small family would be an understatement). i thought we were done with the easter candy, but my brother had arranged for a quiz with prizes - we left from there with a whole bag of leftover candy. thank goodness they're back in school with wholesome lunches, so i can eat all the candy while they're away :)

the photo turned a bit pale, but here's wholewheat couscous, organic scrambled eggs with herbes de provence, tomatoes, cucumber, organic paprika, soy sauce (in that cute little fish bottle that comes with store bought made sushi), a small slice of organic bread with organic peanutbutter, and a tiny container with nuts and dried fruits. phew. all that 'organicness' should make up for some of the candy.

here's the hankies that i sent off to robinsunne. i made her two, both from vintage pillow cases. i added a definately non organic ginger and lemon chocolate. i hope she liked it.