Sunday, March 29, 2009

Crafty, Crafty...

In studying Waldorf I have really embraced the beauty that they bring to their spaces. I like the clean cut lines of Montessori, but the beauty... the art of Waldorf.... Wow... it speaks to my soul. And it IS my daughter. She is LOVING this new artsy bent to our schooling, and eating up the new concepts and stories. This is the way she learns.

The beauty of being crafty, is that it is usually thrifty... (all of these materials I found at the dollar store or in my garage craft stuff). Being thrifty is really important right now. When I first posted this picture below, I was completely stressed out. The gas and electric company had just issued us a collections notice for the gas bill that we have not been able to catch up on... that there was no way we could pay it. We are figuring it out... but it has been a very stressful week. Add in some PMS and a couple snowy mornings that are followed by pouring down rain and house bound children, and you can imagine our week around here. When the sun came out last Thursday, we BURST out the door to the zoo. We have a membership and brought our lunches, so it didn't even cost anything and we had a great time. And that started a new week.

The two crafts I am sharing here are both from the book I reviewed here. Creative Play for your Toddler.

The mobile is just for decoration, but the fish are a set for Logan's Easter basket that have magnets in them so he can 'fish' from the basket.

The book is a wonderful, bite-sized collection of crafts and just the basic principals of Waldorf Education. This isn't a new thing for me... just a re-exploration of the ideas that I have loved in the past. For a while, my children had no plastic anywhere in their lives. I enjoyed the idea of living toys and my kids had mostly wood and then baskets of things like rocks and pine cones we had collected on our walks to the grocery store. But I found it very hard after Alex was 8 years old to find any 'open ended' toys that he was really interested in. Just looking was hard... there were things like this and this online... but that was about it if you didn't really know where to look and didn't have liked minded people around you. (Now there are way more than there used to be. HearthSong Magic Cabin I can even find good toy stores around me for these types of toys in recent years.)

After we had started the flood gates of plastic, noisy things it was hard to stop. They may not help with learning at all, but you have to admit, some of those toys are just down right FUN.

In the end, for me, it is always about balance. Sometimes I go one direction and we watch lots of movies (esp when we are sick), play with plastic toys, and do no crafts at all... other times, we don't watch movies for weeks, and we have crafts going all over the house where wool, paper, wood, and seedlings abound. We are in one of those times right now. The times where my kids draw all day long and after they are in bed, I drink tea and do crafts like the ones pictured here. I like both times for different reasons at different stages in our lives. But the ones like these sure are prettier. ;)

SHARE:

4 comments

Nessa said...

I have been reading your blog for sometime now. Found you via My friend Janet who is a homeschooling, sewing, organic friend of mine. She's a rare gem in the area we live in. We used to work together, that's how we met. She had her third child and stayed home. I am still working, though I wish I was not. She has grown and changed so much and really loves being home and homeschooling her children.

Your blog seems to calm me during my hectic day. I love your crafting, gardening, and cooking notes and find your true to heart thoughts regarding parenting and life refreshing in today's world.

These crafts are truly cute. I struggle daily to find the time to do more for my home life than my work life. (I luv the fish!)I think I will try out this book so that I can help prepare for Christmas this year ( I want to make the gifts) as well as get Bella more involved.

Just wanted to thank you for inspiring me.

Nessa

Val in the Rose Garden said...

Thanks for the comment Nessa! I enjoy your blog as well. FL must be really nice this time of year. It seems like the perfect time to be in FL... not too hot, not to wet.

As for the crafts, I have really found them grounding lately. We have been having some hard money issues and it has helped a lot to have something to do in the evenings. My husband works swing shift and so he isn't home until very late. I find that alone time with my thoughts can be hard.

It really helps to get feed back like yours on my blog. Thank you for your kind words. This blog is often my attempt to see those moments that make a life. Not the huge gas bills and the dirty diapers and sassy teens. You know? So thank you for letting me know I am successful. :)

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Val

Chell said...

Love you craftyness. I am anxiously awaiting school to finish so I can get back into some of my crafts I enjoyed doing and maybe just maybe I will learn how to use that sewin machine of mine. I really want to learn to sew...

Tan Family said...

I love your blog! I understand what you mean about Waldorf appealing to one's soul. I'm going to start following your blog. --Jennifer www.syrendell.blogspot.com

Blogger Template Created by pipdig