Celebrating Candlemas

Yesterday we celebrated Candlemas for the first time.  This holiday has both Christian and Pagan roots, and it is the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox.

"If Candlemas Day be fair and bright

Winter will take another flight.

If Candlemas Day be cloud and rain

Winter is gone and will not come again"

                   --Festivals Family and Food

We took advantage of the good weather and spent time at the park in the morning and at the beach in the afternoon.  This good weather is apparently a sign of more winter to come, so we are outside every chance we get.

We visited a local honey farm and purchased some lovely blocks of beeswax.  We then melted the wax and poured it into molds to make ornaments, which we have hanging from our nature table tree.  (I used the instructions at The Magic Onions for how to make the wax ornaments.)

Dinner was eaten by candlelight, which was a special and memorable occasion for Little Man.

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Birthday Crown

Yes, the birthday crown was finished in time!  It worked out exactly how I pictured it in my head, so I was really pleased with the results.  And Little Man LOVES it.  He wore it almost the entire day on his birthday.  It is nice when you spend a lot of effort on a project to have the work appreciated by the recipient.

I used two colours of felt for the body of the crown, and repeated this layout on the back.  Little Man loves nature and the outdoors, and I wanted to create images on the crown that would have a lot of meaning for him both now and in the future.  There is a cedar tree, a sun, and a mountain towering over the ocean.

 

Although I machine-sewed the body of the crown together, all the designs were hand-embroidered (both the detailing and in attaching them to the body).

 

I sewed velcro to the ends of the crown, both to make it adjustable (it even fits me!) and reversible.  The moon on the reverse side of the crown makes it a great wizard's hat.  I know we will have fun incorporating this crown into our daily play.

For more photos of the crown, including closeups of the detailing, please visit my Flickr site.

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Work In Progress - Birthday Crown

One week to go, and Little Man's birthday crown is a pile of mostly uncut felt.  He has decided he doesn't want to nap anymore, and won't sleep when it is bedtime.  So my crafting (and rest, and blogging) time has been nonexistent for the last week and a half.

Much to do, but still time for it to be crafted with love.  Now I must go so I can tuck someone in... again.

Inspiration for birthday crowns:
Ada's crown
Dieter's crown
O's crown

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Wool Felt Ball

Inspired by a tutorial at Duo Fiberworks, I wanted to make a felt ball for Little Man. I am so pleased with how it turned out. He really enjoys playing with it, which brings me great joy.  I will be making another one shortly for a Christmas gift for a friend's child.

I made it with 100% wool felt from Holland.  Using quality materials makes a huge difference with this project.  The wool has a completely different feel from the craft-store type felt I have used for projects in the past.  The ball is also stuffed with 100% wool batting.

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