The kids had been asking & asking when we'd get an Advent calendar for weeks, but that little flu from Thanksgiving really knocked me out. Even this morning they had to force me out of bed at 11. But it's been off-and-on, & yesterday we had a nice round of Christmas crafting. I love singing carols with the kids from The Christmas Star, a Waldorf song-book & cd by Mary Thienes-Schuneman. Especially "It's Advent TIme," to gently remind them that we have a whole month to celebrate & prepare (it doesn't all get done at once!) & "Children Go Where I Send Thee," a traditional African-American song. It requires thinking ahead to count backwards & remember each verse, so it's a rhythmical challenge we all enjoy & look forward to each year. For the first time I read the introduction essays at the beginning of this book & was struck by a few things - this is the first time in history that we don't sing as we work. And this is also the first time that so much work is out of hand, literally. In my own home I'm present to how difficult it is to get things done without music, & the difference it makes to celebrate as we go along. Holiday or not.
So it's good, I think, that they pushed this little project through. It was time to begin counting down, to mark the moments, to call in all of our fairy-angels with the beginnings of a gratitude-festival they won't be able to resist.
They picked the fabrics from my stash, 5 fat-quarters & a bit of green batting made from recycled soda bottles. We pick it up in the summer from Keepsake. I think it's very affordable for projects that don't require the pure stuff. We laid out the background fabric & folded four lengths of the remaining fabric to see what size strips they'd like for the pockets. Then we cut those strips + an inch all around. My big guy then proceeded to use my favorite safety pins - masking tape - to fold down the upper edge of each strip. Then he surprised me with running them all through the machine on his own. I hadn't realized he was paying such attention - he even rewound the bobbin at one point! Shame on me for assuming their interest was a boy + cause & effect love of the pedal. The kids actually love to sew.
I just love that curved edge on the bottom. Yes, that's floss. Cute + fruit-flavoured, they love it.
I couldn't be more in love with this thing.
Just the kind of magic kids love - the back seams accidently matched up perfectly.
Recent Comments