Modeling beewax - and why it is the best.

So - there I was at Big Lots. I saw this super rad set of wooden castle blocks for crazy cheap. I had to have it - being the quality toy junky that I am - so - I did. I haves it.
Today Tilde and Papa went off to the Archery Range for a work party - so it was just me and the boy! So yeah! We did some finger games, some nursery rhymes and general circle stuffs - but... we were getting bored. I actually am not morning sick or really tired - so -  it would be actual child abuse to put him in front of a movie. Then I remembered my impulse wooden castle blocks purchase :D ! Oh yeah. We are buildin' some towers and knockin' 'em down and he asked " Hey! Wheres the guys?" Like - yeah! There are no "guys"?! So - I figure I'll felt something up right quick - but dude. These blocks are super small... felting sturdy "guys" was not happening. This sounds like a job for modeling bees wax. So we pulled out our materials and got to work. Here's what me and the Hugo made ^_^!

This is the boy hard at work on his "Cwockadiywil"

And here are the Gardens- you can see the Croc in the "stream" .And since Tilde was away - I got to be the fabricator - so i made a horsy and a kitty ^_^ !

Here we have the throne room... ummmm ... mama might be a George RR Martin fan... and that might be an Iron Throne.

The queen is in her chamber eating milk and honey! And look at the little baby Hugo made - he is such a sweet heart <3 br="">

And of course - all castles need a cat on the battlements!

And then when sister came home!

Look! They are playing together! So much awesome!
So yes. You SHOULD spend that much on beeswax. It is the best.

Lego shortbread cookies!

Lego shortbread cookie day.

So - to do this fun and silly little craft - we took a basic short bread recipe here- doubled it and added a bit water - to make it play dough like.

To color it - I have to admit you either have to purchase a nicer food dye - such as Wilton brand food coloring - but if you only have access to mccormick (like me) - just own the fact that you are going to need the whole bottle to achieve these colors. And I staight up just used my hands to mix it- like my hands got good and stained - but by the time it was mixed - the childrens hands stayed pristine -

My poor stained hands.

So here is the handy dandy lego mold I got off amazon here. I cut it down the middle so that I could use the outside to press the indents into the bottom of the lego cookies - making them actually stackable.

Then you press your different colored dough into the mold - pop it out - and bam. You have lego cookies. also - you can use the dough to just make little guys and stuff to go in your lego structures you will build with your amazing cookies.

Here are childrens enjoying their craft!

Ah! Look how hard they work!

Fun for even the littlest guy ^_^ !

It got experimental toward the end.
So there you have it! A quiet fun geeky craft for the littles on a late winters day!
Cheers!

pirate map craft day!

A dear friend had the idea we should make treasure maps. We took it to a pretty rad level!!!

One of the many things I love about home school is that we have the freedom to just let my girl do what she pleases for hours of the day. And she loves to sew and craft. I like that I don't have to 'make her' - it just happens! Here is Tilde hard at work.

Tildes indepentent felt project

 So Tilde was sitting in the kitchen during our irish pirate day celebration, when suddenly she said - "I am going to make a nature table for Hugo" and she just started felting away And here are the fruits of her genius!

 The Mama

 The Papa

 The Baby

 The Sister

And the field and sky!
Hugo loves them and she is not bothered that she will have to repair them regularly.

Felting!

 Here are our felted soaps Tilde did the main parts - she is so much better then me and I did the needle felting on top.

 these are some wax gnomes she did. Just a bit of randomness.

 Here is her march lion. Her first needle felting! I couldn't believe it ! She did not poke her self even once.

Here is our bunny. He is needle felted! She did the pink ears.
We love felting! I was so intimidated by it at first. It took ages to find all the materials. But in the end I bought a kit from our local Cable Arts Store. We have a couple of books - Magic Wool and the Needle Felting book from Paper Scissors Stone. But the Crunchy Parent from You Tube was the one who taught us wet felting. And BAM! We are felting fiends! Though its my little girl who is best at wet felting. She is so much more patient then me.

Nature Table

And here is our nature table! We have worked very hard to finally have one. Tilde has done so much. She sewed the snow drops and daffodils, the fairy clothes and much of the fairy bodies. I am so amazed by all she does.