Tea Bag Cozies

Take a look at the fun project I've been working on! These will make nice additions to a gift of a tea cup, some tea, and some cookies. Or I might use one on tea tray to serve my hubbie or daughters for a special occasion.

This is a free pattern, courtesy of Prairie Flower Farm! Just scroll down and sign up to receive it on the right hand side of her blog, and leave a comment saying I sent you. She also has some adorable cozies ready-made that she sells.

I made the polka-dotted one entirely of cotton fabric, and the purple one is from purple wool felt on the outside with a cotton fabric lining.

After machine-sewing the outside and lining together, the rest is hand work, allowing you to finish them on the go, or while watching the Olympics!

If you make these, please let me and Linda at Prairie Flower Farm know!

Flowers and Poems

A sweet lady and friend, Linda Stubbs, at Prairie Flower Farm has posted a tutorial showing you how to make this adorable flower pin. It could also be used as a name tag, a decoration on a bag--you name it. She gives you more ideas at her blog. Check it out and leave a message telling her I sent you.

A lovely poem we came across:

True worth is in being, not seeming;

In doing each day that goes by

Some little good; not in the dreaming

Of great things to do by and by,

For whatever men say in their blindness.

And spite of the fancies of youth

There's nothing so kingly as kindness,

And nothing so royal as truth.

Alice Cary

Best Winter Memories

Aren't making memories important as our children grow up? Some of the things that will probably stay in our memory so far this winter are the caroling we did for neighbors at Christmas, and the project we did today. We took time as a family before Anna goes back to college to sort clothes donated to Crisis Assistance Ministry for people in need. I can't say it was totally unselfish, because it was part of Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" where you donate time in exchange for free tickets for one of Disney's parks. But, knowing the value of teaching our children to serve, we jumped at the chance to have a lesson in it today. They worked with willing, joyful hands! What a blessing. Those are the non-academic lessons that are such an important part of homeschooling, right?

I laugh as I think about another winter memory that sticks in the mind of 9-year-old Abby. Like this year, we had a forecast of snow, but woke up disappointed. So we covered the living room floor in old computer paper and had our own indoor fight, balling up pieces of paper and throwing our "snowballs" at each other. What fun! That was 2 or 3 years ago and she still mentions it with fondness and a smile.

Hope you enjoy making winter memories!

Abby's Bug Etching

Yesterday's art project for school using complementary colors: Put down a heavy layer of orange crayon, cover this with a heavy layer of dark blue oil pastel, and then draw a bug from a photo using a toothpick or stylus to scratch his image, revealing the orange underneath.

Her first words were: "I don't think I can do it. I can't draw from a photo, Mommy." Don't we homeschool moms all hear these words at times when our children face a daunting task? They need our encouraging words that will lead them to believe and try. While I could feel frustration rising within me, I instead chose to deliver encouraging words with a loving tone. And Abby chose to believe and try. With that, and directions from "The Phonics of Drawing" art program, I think she did a pretty good job, don't you?

Yo-yo's!

Not the toy, but the fabric kind! This is a super easy hand-sewing project, which our Abby, who is 9 years old, enjoyed with me. We made a Christmas doily for our coffee table out of them, but you could make one for any time of the year. Our friend Linda Stubbs' blog was where we first saw them. http://prairieflowerfarm.blogspot.com/2009/11/christmas-raspberry-jalapeno-jam-and.html She tells you at the bottom of the post how to make them, or you can search the web for more detailed instructions.

Our doily is 24 X 11 inches, which is 13 rows long by 6 rows across. We traced around a lid about 4 inches across to cut the fabric circles. This added such a nice touch to our Christmas decor!

Such a nice craft for Christmas!

We really enjoyed quilling a few of these sweet snowflakes for the tree! Would you like to try them for next year? You can see the basic pattern here (you don't have to use the red paper background) http://www.whimsiquills.com/images/test/Xmas%20Snowflake%20with%20Directions.doc

We used 1/8 inch strips of white paper and a quilling tool. You can buy the tool at a craft store (and precut strips if you want) or you can even use a toothpick in place of the tool. They look nice with 1/4 inch stips as well, which might be the size you get if you use a paper shredder. Here's a web site that gives you basic instructions for quilling http://www.handmade-craft-ideas.com/paper-quilling-instructions.html

In the following picture, my daughter used gray and tan in addition to white. Hope you try it!