GardenMama

.: Ice Mandalas :.

   

.: Pink petals suspended in ice create an ice mandala :.

To live presently with the rhythm of each season is a true joy of life. It helps us to soak in each inspiring and beautiful element of the season with gratitude, mindfulness, and artfulness.

.: Cranberries and Evergreens suspended in ice  :.

It is a yearly tradition for my family to make Ice Mandalas in February. The deep cold this month has to offer perfectly maintains this outdoor gallery of art while the monochromatic landscape offers a complementary backdrop for this bright display of color!

.: Berries and greens starting to freeze :.

With much excitement I shared with the children it was time to create ice mandalas. Soon we set out our supplies to create a dream-like world under the trees in honor of the winter season.

.: Baking pans with water set outdoors while nature does her part to freeze each mandala :.

Circular baking pans were filled with water, jute rope was taped to the edge of the pan, and then came an imaginative session of placing in each object that would soon be frozen in ice!

     

.: Each ice mandala sparkles as it catches the light :.

It is wonderful to step outside and behold the morning sunlight slowly returning to sparkle through the colorful objects suspended in ice. 

.: Petals on ice :.

The early evening light highlights the bubbles and swirls that form in each ice mandala. This brings great beauty and a big smile into our day!

.: Cranberries and Evergreens on Ice :.

Nature collaborated beautifully on this project, freezing each icy disk.

  

.: This doile is set in water outdoors to freeze, creating an Ice Mandala :.

A crocheted doile was captured in ice today and was set out in the branches of an old cherry tree to share with us the details of its pattern.

.:The sunlight illuminates each Ice Mandala as it hangs from branches:.

Soon the sun that is shining brightly once again will melt all of the snow and ice and hand back to us this doile that will be placed on a spring table set with fresh tulips from the gardens.

.: Adding petals to water creating an Ice Mandala :.

While we place each medium into the pan of water, we enjoy the yearly traditions we take part in together. These traditions are a way for us to mark the seasons and remind us of what is to come...

   For a look at last year's 'Ice Mandalas', visit the link here.

.:May you capture beauty, tradition and magic with your family!:.

.: Transferring Images Onto Stone ~ Mindful Giving :.

.: Stones we created today with transferable images :.

You may notice that the winter months bring about quite a bit of crafting for my family. We try to enjoy creating each and every day.  Many of you know of my affinity for stones! Like some of you I have quite a collection of stones collected from the ocean this past summer...

I am usually one who will use materials found near-at-hand or materials that can be recycled. Today we mixed things we had on hand and something that caught my eye at the craft store!

.: Choosing our stones for the project! :.

We gathered up a few stones from the collection and placed them in a bowl. These stones were chosen for their smoothness and size so that the images we transferred onto them would fit proportionately.

.: The sheet of transferable images :.

I purchased this sheet of transfers from the craft store. Some of the images appealed to me as I imagined them transferred onto the stones.

.: By rubbing over the image it transfers onto the object :.

I started with a few and soon all three children were gathered around to choose their own images and transfer them onto the stones!  The simple process  entails placing the transfer onto the stone and with the stick provided you rub over the image and it transfers itself. 

.: Butterflies hold significant meaning for me, this one is beautiful! :.

.: I appreciate this little bird sitting atop a stone! :.

The butterfly and bird stone are two of my favorites--they make me happy and now live in my kitchen!

.: A sweet pairing of stones :.

The bird and bird cage made for a fun pair! I think these stones would make beautiful Valentine gifts for  friends, or as party favors!

.: These stones are now placed in unexpected spots around the house! :.

I appreciate discovering them in unexpected places around the house. It makes me smile to see their simple beauty paired with nature!

.: Admiring their work! :.

.: My favorite stone which holds symbolic meaning for me :.

Ginny, who writes the blog Sweet Myrtle wrote a lovely post that I enjoyed reading today. She spoke of choosing a word to focus on in this new year.  Ginny wrote a long list of words that bring inspiration to her before choosing one word to focus on.

This resonated with me because over this past year my family adopted the mantra: "Be here now." Many times I have pondered this mantra and it rang true for me in times when I needed it.

.: A warming word bringing peace to my heart :.

I know firsthand that writing a positive or inspirational word on a stone is powerful. Wouldn't this be a great project to create a few stones with life-affirming words on them and place around your home to bring more encouragement, joy, and mindfulness into your day?

.: Wishing you creativity, beauty, and inspiration today! :.

.: Valentine's Day Garland :.

  

.: A garland of painted watercolor hearts for Valentine's Day! :.

We have enjoyed a beautiful week full of crafting! Many cheerfully colored hearts have been drawn that now adorn surprise Valentine cards. Today while the snow softly fell we decided it would be a perfect time to set out glass jars full with liquid color!  Shades of red swirled together in the water and onto our papers to make a lovely pink. Yellows paired with red manifested orange and other delicious colors in between!

Today we created lovely watercolor paintings that we cut into heart shapes to fashion a Valentine garland that I will happily leave out not only on Valentine's day but all year long! 

.: A tray full with hearts cut from watercolor paintings :.

.: Taking out thread and tape to create the garland :.

After cutting out the desired number of hearts we took out thread and tape...

.: Setting out the pattern for the garland :.

Then we sequenced the hearts in the pattern we desired for them to be strung together in.

.: Placing thread across each heart and securing with tape :.

After flipping over each heart we set thread across each heart and began taping it in place until we acquired a garland of hearts to the preferred length. 
 

.: Decorating the home in color and with love! :.

Next came the fun part of decorating the house in cheerfully-colored hearts!

.: May your home be full with love! :.