What is the perfect holiday gift for children? One that engages their creativity, imagination and innate playfulness? I think Marilyn Scott Waters new book The Toymakers Christmas fits that bill perfectly!
Do you have a favorite gift you love to give? A gift which is eagerly anticipated by its recipients year after year? My favorite gift to give is potted flower bulbs.
Every year, in early October I buy several bags of bulbs. I rummage through my old pots and pick up a few extras as needed. I shovel a little dirt & sprinkle some water. Then, I wait. Within weeks I see tiny green shoots. All that is required of the recipient is to give a little bit of water, a little sunshine, patience...
And, ta-daaaa!
This gift is a mix of faith & magic... Faith that after the dark of winter, spring will arrive and these small, quiet bulbs will sprout and bloom. Magic? Because what could be more magical than nature. A little sunshine, a little water and... magic! (note: The flowers in the photos above are from last year... we will have to wait until March for more flowers. As I mentioned above, this is a gift which requires patience...)
Another favorite gift around here is books. This year for Hanukkah I gave Mr. Bloom three books: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan and Await your Reply by Dan Chaon (yes, my husband likes exciting books!) I also gave my brother a copy of Eating Animals plus a copy of Best Food Writing 2010 edited by Holly Hughes (reading about good food is almost as fun as eating good food...)
Wednesday, December 1st was the first night of Hanukkah this year.
On Wednesday afternoon, Little Mr. and I settled in for a fun project to bring in the light -- We made candle lanterns from recycled jam jars, kite paper & Mod Podge.
Then something ironic happened. On this first eve of Hanukkah we had a power outage which resulted in a black out... Luckily we had our new, pretty candle holders all lined up and ready to brighten our night.
No, I have not moved to the southern hemisphere, but this swap over at Rhythm and Rhyme has had me thinking about summer.
Now I live in Northern California, 10 miles on a small, winding road from the ocean.
Northern California beaches are a far cry from the beaches of my childhood; Around here we dress in wool caps and pullovers when we head to the shore.
Our beaches are blustery and rocky, teeming with tide pools and wild life. My favorites are the soulful-eyed sea lions, ever present, basking in thin rays of sunlight on rocks nearby.
I started by cutting shapes and laying them out on white paper.
Having the company of a curious kitty is always nice, don't you think?
After that, it was just a matter of brushing Mod Podge on my jar & applying the paper cut-outs. After it had all dried I gave it a second, all-over application of Mod Podge.
The little lantern looked like a mess while it was drying, but once everything had dried completely, the result was lovely!
Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos while I was creating this little water sprite... Now that her paint is dry, she has whispered in my ear that she is looking forward to testing the waters in the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland (that's where she's headed!) She says the water around here is too chilly for her taste and she's longing for warmer climes.
As part of the Southern Hemisphere Seasonal Exchange we may send 5 items total. Not all of them are required to be hand made so I am including a beeswax votive (for the lantern) and two stones from our wild, rocky shores. I hope my exchange partner will enjoy bringing the seashore to her nature table.
What a perfect activity for a seven year old (or a twelve year old, a 25 year old, a 45 year old or a 72 year old!) I love that origami teaches Little Mr. B. the skill of carefully reading & following detailed, step-by-step instructions -- the same skill he learns when following instructions for putting together a Lego set. Except that, at the end of a Lego project, he ends up with a big, plastic piece of junk, while when he completes an origami project, he ends up with a lovely bit of paper-art (Me? Biased against Legos? No, not me!)
Mama & baby owls...
Papa & baby hedgehogs...
And a little, purple bat!
The other morning Little Mr. B. asked why he had no clothes in his bureau drawers. My response was, "Because all our clothes are in those 3 large laundry baskets sitting on the family room floor." Little Mr. B. asked why I hadn't folded all that laundry. When I informed him that I'm just too busy, he said he might fold it(?!) Well, that was 4 days ago.
This morning I woke up to find seashells scattered beneath me across the sheets. Had mermaids swum to my bedside secretly in the night to whisper songs of the sea in my ear as I lay sleeping?
Courtesy of a swap dreamed up by Nicole over at Gardenmama, stones from afar have been arriving in my mailbox.
Wrapped in pretty paper & tied with colorful string (sometimes accompanied by a poem) each adorned stone is unique and lovely. Sweet Baby helped me open the little packages which arrived Saturday...
This beautiful stone was sent to me from Massachusetts by Nicole of Gardenmama...
She adorned the other side of the stone, too...
This soft wool-felted stone (accompanied by an Emily Dickinson poem) was sent to me from Louisiana by Rachel of Woolgypsy...
This magical, two-tone, beaded stone was sent to me all the way from Australia by Shannon of Rhythm & Rhyme ...
I'm fascinated & charmed by the little golden-wire swirls on the flip-side of this stone (definitely a "thinking-outside-the-box" stone...)
And finally, this stone came to me from Valaries garden in Tennessee (her blog is A Place Like This...)
"They look like a nice family, but I'm not sure I belong here... Maybe if I stop drooling they'll let me really be in the photo. Meanwhile, I wish that kid in the red shirt would stop using me as a sofa cushion." Yes, this really is an unfortunate photo. And, no, this particular photo will *not* be featured on our holiday card.
After taking some "proper" photos, we got silly and started rolling around on the floor...
Hey, little baby, please let go of those (fragile & expensive) wire frame glasses...
Ouch...
"Hey, where are you going? Come back!"
"How did I get stuck up here, suspended at the top of this photo? Could someone please get me down?"
If I Were a Featherbed
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Another favorite lullaby...
Here's a link in case you want to hear some of the melody...
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. -- Dr. Seuss
