GardenMama

The Winners Are...

 

.: Flowers & Feathers :.

Once every week my family along with other families are selling homegrown organic vegetables, fruits, flower bouquets, wholesome snacks and crafts.  We always enjoy the energy and excitement in preparing, gathering and thinking about our farmer's market.  We appreciate that our children know where their food in coming from and just what it takes to get it ready for our community to purchase.  They are always quick to help in preparing for our big day and today that meant collecting the most beautiful flowers from the gardens that we would fashion into bouquets.  Each of my children had a turn to pick their favorite blooms while watching and helping mama tie each bouquet with a pretty ribbon.  I am happy to share with you in photos some other creative energy that was happening during our day of preparing for the farmers market!

 

We have a sweet wild turkey family that lives in the fields around our home.  We hear their calls in the early mornings and during the day and oftentimes are graced by their presence as we walk the driveway or play in the woods.  We have never seen this little family separated, always a mama papa and nine little ones in tow.  We were happy to receive their gift to us of beautiful feathers left behind for my children to collect and turn into magical feather crowns!

 

We have been visited by many intricately decorated butterflies and large moths throughout this summer.    This wonderful creature can't seem to take it's eyes off us! And we in turn were captivated by this beautiful piece of flying art!

 

My daughter took out the jar of sea glass we had collected on our island adventure.  She found a big roll of tape and carefully pieced each frosted gem into place exactly as she had imagined to form a beautiful bracelet and later a matching ring!

 

Floating among the flowers choosing just the right ones to bring with us to the farmers market.

My children went in the house and came back with a beautiful and creative lunch. They love to have picnics under the canopy of the trees.

 

Our finished bouquets all ready to be sold at the market!



My daughter and I had flowers in our hair, my husband had his arms full of bouquets, my eldest son was wearing his feather crown. My littlest one could not be left out so I made him his very own braided crown made of lily leaves.  We were decorated and ready to go!
 

Cooking & Crafting Fun and a Giveaway!

.:: Healthy ingredients set out as my children and I prepared to make a recipe from Cooking Fun ::.

I am excited to share with you a few cooking and craft projects my family has recently enjoyed from two new books called Cooking Fun and Crafting Fun by Rae Grant!  

I was immediately drawn in by the sweetness of the vintage motifs and old-fashioned sentiments that accompany these books. The books will enrich your appreciation of the seasons and of the simple things of life that can bring so much joy!

The heirloom crafts and recipes were lovely to choose from, I appreciated that some of the crafts were multi-part so that you can put as little or as much into them as you choose! I was touched by the recipes that reminded me of the simple and comforting meals my Nana would prepare for me as a child. 

My children and I enjoyed making some of the recipes together recently. I found that the they could participate easily with only a little grown-up help...

.:: Each year on my children's birthdays we take out their birthday crowns and wooden birthday peg people. This year we made beeswax candles from Crafting Fun that were poured into seashells. They will also be added into the birthday box for next years celebration! ::.

While these books are not specifically related to Waldorf education, they reminded me of some of the seasonal Waldorf crafts that my family enjoys each year.  I like having these ideas written down in one spot for us to reach to and remember in years to come as an heirloom memory book.  

Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Rae Grant. She kindly shared some of the memories of her childhood, and how they inspired her to author these sweet books. Enjoy!

Gardenmama: Your books show some of the simple pleasures of times past. What old-fashioned ideas do you feel are worth preserving in our modern lives today? Did your childhood inspire the writing of these books in any way? If so, would you share a memory with us?

Rae Grant: I first started piecing together the material for Cooking Fun and Crafting Fun when my daughter was 5 years old. Like most parents, I wanted to create a wonderful childhood for her. Nostalgia for my own childhood days of wonder surfaced so I decided to write books that captured simple childhood fun.

.:: We made feather journals from Crafting Fun. The kids had so much fun collecting chicken feathers and also wild turkey feathers in the woods behind our home.  This craft also inspired some impromptu feather-laden crowns! ::.

As I worked on the books, Crafting Fun especially, I came to understand just how much I was influenced by family members who had lived through the depression era. They created simple pleasures from life by necessity, yet in that simplicity they passed on to us (the kids) a whole tradition of childhood playing. As kids, we were always accustomed to using our imagination to entertain ourselves and have fun. As a parent, I have seen how simple pleasures can offer a child a solid base from which to grow. Knowing how to take what is in front of you and turn it into something productive is a great skill to have in life. The modern world is complex and we can all use a dose of simplicity just to slow things down. Even though kids today are texting and computer oriented, they still marvel at making handmade things. When that happens I feel like I’ve done a good deed.

.:: A 'Tussie Mussie' bouquet we made hangs on the linen rack.  I glued some of my dried flowers to the edges of the paper cone. My daughter also had the sweet notion that bouquets could be dried in these as well! ::.

Gardenmama:  Where did the inspiration for the artwork come from in your books?

Rae Grant:  "I have been a book designer and a collage artist for years. I particularly like vintage children’s illustrations because that era captures some of what I just believe to be the innocent time of childhood."

Gardenmama:  Did your childhood inspire the writing of these books in any way? If so, would you share a memory with us?

Rae Grant: "I love all the summer crafts because they involve being out of doors in some way. The fall and winter crafts also pull my heart strings."

.:: We gathered fragrant rose petals for the Rosewater recipe ::.

Gardenmama:  If you had to choose only a few crafts or recipes from your books, which ones do you cherish the most in your own home?

Rae Grant: "I grew up in a very old house (one that was legend to have been attacked by local tribes in the Ohio Valley) and it had the feel of another era about it. We carved pumpkins, told ghost stories in October, and in December decorated the house for the holidays with handmade ornaments and evergreens. There were always lots of cookies and treats around. 

Those holidays were a sweet slowing down of the busy school days. I love to bake. All of the baking section in Cooking Fun is a favorite. I had to watch my waistline when testing the recipes in Cooking Fun and was always glad when I had to make the other dishes."

 

.::The kids loved making and eating this crunchy apple salad recipe from Cooking Fun.  

We enjoyed the simplicity of the recipe and the complexity of the taste! A healthy treat for breakfast lunch or snack::.

[Please leave a comment on this post and I will choose two lucky winners to receive one of these beautiful books that Rae Grant is generously giving away. Comments will close on Friday at 8pm EST. The winners will be announced on Friday at 9:00pm EST. Good luck!]

[Comments are now closed. The winner will be announced at 9PM EST]