Twig and Toadstool

Solar Dyed Silks

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:15:00 +0000

I was recently given some lovely white playsilks and it got me thinking... natural dyes... hmmm... what colors we could create?

I researched the possibilities and choose the simplest ways I could find.

Here is what we came up with...

~ Sunshine yellow ~

and lilac purple ~ perfect spring colors!

Here’s what you’ll need

For Yellow....

3/4 cup of turmeric powder

Large pot

Water

White Playsilk

Jar

Sun

In the process of my research I found that Turmeric is a natural direct dye and does not need any fixative at all. Good stuff! I also learned that apparently this is one of the ways the monks in Tibet dye their beautiful yellow robes.

First fill your dye pot half full of water and bring this to a boil.

Add the turmeric powder and continue boiling for an hour.

Pour your tumeric concoction into a jar and add your silk scarf.

Place in the sun.

Let the solar rays do their work (for about one hot day)

Rinse the scarf until the water runs clear.

Dry and enjoy!

For Purple...

1/2 a purple cabbage

1/2 cup White Vinegar (your fixative for your purple dye)

Water

Large pot

White playsilk

Knife

Cutting board

Sun

Chop the cabbage.

Add the vinegar to the cabbage and add enough water to cover the cabbage.

Bring the pot to a boil, and then turn down the heat to simmer it until the cabbage starts losing its color.

When the cabbage has lost most of its color strain it.... keeping the water.

Place your cabbage water and silk scarf into a jar and place in the sun.

Wait patiently as magic happens.

Rinse, dry and...

put into the hands of little people ready to play!

In the spirit of sunshine and Lilacs
~ Shanti ~

PS. Don't forget to enter our giveaway...it's running all week long...the prize is a beautiful hand felted Toadstool purse. Enter HERE and leave us a comment with a way of contacting you in case you're the winner!

Wooden Spoon Garden Stakes

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:52:00 +0000

With the fabulous season of gardening upon us we decided to create some sweet garden stakes!

This is a very quick, inexpensive way to mark the tender beauties growing for you.

To create you will need

Wooden spoons

Pencil

Watercolor pencil crayons

A wood burner

Outdoor modpodge or a sealant of any kind

Begin by drawing your plant pictures and words on your spoons.

Next, take your wood burning tool and trace over your picture and words.

(With close supervision it seems to be easy and safe for little people (sevenish and up)

Color them in with your watercolors...

Put a sealant over your spoons

and there you go!

Unique garden stakes that will always remind you of your kiddies.

Thinking these would make a great gift for grandparents!

After admiring their colorful handiwork we decided to give them a home.

First up was planting our sweet peas...

giving them a good drink...

and marking our new babies!

Now they smile up at us, reminding us of the beautiful bounty soon to fill our table and bellies.

Celebrating the goodness of gardens

~ Shanti ~

PS. Don't forget to enter our giveaway...it's running all week long...the prize is a beautiful hand felted Toadstool purse. Enter HERE and leave us a comment with a way of contacting you in case you're the winner!

Pretty Patchwork Vase....

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:05:00 +0000

Wanna make one??? Here you go...

Now a good friend of mine just gave me some great advice...she said, "don't go waitin' around for some man to buy you flowers...BUY YOUR OWN DAMN FLOWERS!!!"

Go on...you derserve it!

(and now that you have a pretty vase...you can totally justify it!!)

xoxoxox maureen

PS. Don't forget to enter our giveaway...it's running all week long...the prize is a beautiful hand felted Toadstool purse. Enter HERE and leave us a comment with a way of contacting you in case you're the winner!

Toadstool Purse Giveaway!!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:36:00 +0000

Today we'd like to give a big HUGE Twig and Toadstool Welcome to one of our sponsors

Rebecca of

and

Creator of beautiful Waldorf dolls, quality doll clothing and children's clothing, felted purses and other natural handmade treasures.

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Rebecca: I live with my husband and 9 children in the "back woods" of

the Ottawa Valley. I grew up here, and I love it. I love that I can sit out on my back porch

in the early morning and hear silence. I love that I can walk down the road to a sparkling,

clean lake to swim. I love the drama of the seasons.

My father and mother instilled in me a deep love for all things handmade. My dad was a

Luthier. He built gorgeous one of a kind guitars. My mom was the type of "self-

sufﬁcient" woman who would make her own granola, hand-smock each one of us dresses

for Easter, always had a knitting project on the go, and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty

in the garden. She had me sewing my ﬁrst outﬁt when I was six years old. I'll never forget

it. So many seams sewn and then ripped out....and then sewn again. Did I mention she

had the patience of a saint!?:)

Creativity was always encouraged in our home. It was a very "organic" process. We had

trunks of fabric scraps, yarn and craft supplies always at our disposal and we were en-

couraged to just "try stuff". My mother would teach us the skills necessary, and then give

us free reign to design and create. Of course she LOVED every single project even more

than the last! A woman can always use another pot holder, right?!

Recycling or "upcycling" as some now call it, was and is just a part of life in a big family.

Things are passed down...re-used and re-purposed. We often shop second hand. There is

something so ultimately satisfying in taking someone else's "junk" and making it into

something funky and useable all over again!

What inspired you to open your Etsy shop "Handmaiden Canada"?

Rebecca: After six months of my husband

being off work with ulcerative colitis and awaiting imminent surgery, I started to rack my

brain, trying to think of a way I could make some sort of an income from the home. I

have been a stay at home mom for the past 18 years, and though I'm so grateful I've had

the opportunity to be home with my children during these tender years, I do feel I am a

little behind, with very little outside work experience under my belt.

So what to do? I decided to start a business from the home. As soon as a friend of mine

introduced me to the website www.etsy.com, the lightbulb went on. This was something I

could do! I could make things and sell them on the internet. I opened a shop and called it

Handmaiden Canada.

Now, what to sell? I started to experiment. I started knitting bags and then felting them. I

then started making things with recycled, felted sweaters and that was a lot of fun. Then I

discovered Waldorf Dolls!!

Her daughter Megan.... with her luvkin doll, modeling the doll & child matching dresses (a beautiful line made by her mother!) available in her shop.

I have always loved dolls. I think I actually played with them until I was about 12 years

old. Shhh...don't tell anyone...everyone thought I was just dressing them for my younger

sisters. So I thought I'd give it a try.I ordered enough supplies to make 2 dolls, and I was

hooked! What fun it was to dream up ideas for eye and hair colours, fabric

combinations...oooh the possibilities were endless! I spent more than a few sleepless

nights with visions of dollies dancing through my head.

I made those two, and then went on to order more supplies...and more and more dollies

were born.

One beautiful thing that has come out of all of this, is that I am starting to see it turn into a fam-

ily endeavor. My girls know how sew, and can help with the stufﬁng. My husband does some of

the shipping, my 14 year old son is great with the camera, and I have cute models of almost

every size from ages 2 to 18! This business seems like a perfect ﬁt for our family, and I look

forward to seeing where things go.

Thank you Rebecca for telling us about yourself and your business...we wish you SO much success in this fabulous business of yours.

Now...onto the giveaway.

You can win this beautiful wool felted toadstool purse made with love by Handmaidencanada!!

~~To enter all you have to do is go pay a visit to the Handmaidencanada etsy shop or her Luvkin etsy shop and let us know what your favorite item is.~~

~~For an additional entry come like her page on facebook.~~

~~You have until next Friday at midnight to enter. We will announce the winner next weekend. Good luck to all who enter!~~
The winner is Jill...we'll be in contact with you for your shipping info soon.
Thanks to all who entered.
(fyi...we use random.org to pick our giveaway winners)!

Thank you for helping us support such a great mama run business!!

xo maureen and shanti

Rainbow Ribbon Wands

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:42:00 +0000

RAINBOW

to dance with ... who could resist?!

We had so much fun making these rainbow ribbon wands.

Simple and and sure to bring delight!

To create you will need

A rainbow of sharpie markers

White Ribbon (fairly thick & wide ~ we found ours at the dollar store)

A sturdy twig

A key ring

An eye screw

Rubbing alcohol (over %80 works best)

Medicine dropper

Glue gun

A plastic table cloth (to protect your work surface)

Begin by scribbling thick lines with your sharpies along the ribbon ~ going in order of the rainbow.

Then take your medicine dropper and drop drops of the alcohol....

onto the ribbon.

You may need to coax the alcohol a bit in the blending process
(by rubbing the tip of your dropper between the colors)

Watch as the colors blend into beautiful rainbows ~ MAGIC!

We did this on both sides of the ribbon once we realized it didn't bleed through and were so pleased with the results.

Now for the wand.

Take your twig and screw your eye hook into one end.

Thread your key ring into your eye hook.

Then take your ribbon, fold two inches or so over the key ring and glue it to the ribbon.

There you have it!

Let the dancing...

the twirling...

the running,

the whirling

and swirling...

Begin!

Happy trails my friends

~ Shanti ~

Acorn Toadstools!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Tue, 15 May 2012 03:22:00 +0000

Okay okay...I'm still pretty darn predictable!

My first craft post...and it would "have" to be a toadstool inspired something or other!

This craft woke me up from a sleep in the middle of the night...it was my "eureka" moment of last week!!!

Simple, fun and sweet...the perfect little craft in my opinion.

So to make your own you will need:

an assortment of acorns with caps

red paint

white paint

paint brushes (one should be a very fine brush for the spots)

glue gun

First of all pull the tops off your acorns...a nice variety of sizes works well...

Next find yourself a pint sized helper to paint the caps red...

If you're a perfectionist like me, you may want to paint the little white dots on yourself...use a very very small paintbrust for this...

Now go do something enchanting while you wait for these to dry...

Turn those acorn bottoms upside down...make sure they balance well and stay standing up...you may want to sand them to help them stand better...

Get out your glue gun...put a generous dab on the inside of the acorn cap...press onto the tip of the acorn...you may have to hold it in place for a minute. However, low and behold...you should soon have a sweet little something that looks like...

this!!!!!

Voila!

Look at what you just made!!!

Stay crafty y'all!!

xo maureen

My How We've Grown...

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Sun, 13 May 2012 04:07:00 +0000

So it was a year ago today that we shut down our blog...it was overwhelming us...overtaking our
lives and to be completely honest, we were burnt out on the blog, and finding creativity was becoming a chore to us both. We never intended to shut it down, we wanted to keep it up as a continued source of inspiration for mamas like us. In the past year we've continued to grow, (even though our posts stopped), people continue to visit and we've been inspired by this to get back on the blogging horse, (so to speak). This past year has allowed us time to get back into our lives, to grow and mature as women, and figure out what we're all about and most importantly what brings us happiness.

The truth is, that the blog did bring us both creative joy...it forced us to find creativity in the simplest of things, and focus on the beauty around us. We discovered that quitting the blog made us give up a part of ourselves that brought us JOY and fufillment and so after alot of discussion we're ready to come back, (with a semi creative vengeance)!!!

While we hope to bring you the same great craft tutorials and musings on life and motherhood, we also want to come back with a new message. The message is that we're two mamas who are fumbling through this journey just like you. We don't spend our whole day crafting and comparing notes on who's greener, and we don't spend our entire lives at the beck and call of our children. One of the greatest gifts we've both gotten from the past year is finding that space to enjoy ourselves again...taking time away from our children to do things that fill up our own hearts and souls! We hope we can inspire you to do the same. We want you to remember that we all have gifts in this life to share...this blog is our little gift to you...and you give us a gift too, by coming over, sharing comments and inspiring us right back. We're all in this crazy and creative soup together mamas!!

And on that note...Happy Mothers Day!!!!
Here's to US mamas and all the crazy work we do,
(and to the mamas to raised us to be so darn good at it all)!!

xoxoxo maureen & shanti

We're Coming Back!!!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:42:00 +0000

On May 13th...one year from the day we stopped the blog, we'll be back.

Stay tuned for some fresh Twig and Toadstool goodness and an amazing welcome back giveaway from our spring sponsor Luvkin...she makes beautiful Waldorf dolls and accessories.

We've missed being a part of the blogging world and can't wait to share with you again!

xo maureen & shanti

On Saying Goodbye...for now.

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Sat, 14 May 2011 03:23:00 +0000

These past few months Shanti and I have been experiencing this on again, off again love affair with blogging. When we started this blog we started with gusto...neither Shanti or myself had any experience with blogging, (other than reading blogs). Our goal was to create and grow a blog, and share our creativity with other mamas. This time last year we were posting about 5-6 times a week...I would dare say the majority of last summer was spent blogging our hearts out. This blog is like a little creative baby that Shanti and I have nurtured together...it's hard to just "let go"...on the other hand it feels kind of refreshing to just say, "LET IT GO!!!" Shanti and I both homeschool our kids, we both work, (at least) 25 or more hours a week outside of our homes, we garden, create and homestead. When I think about how we found the time to blog, I have to think about what's suffered in our lives as a result. While the blog has been a fufilling creative outlet for us both, there have also been times when we put so much pressure onto ourselves to get a post up, I fear that there were times when we both sacrificed precious moments of family time trying to manage our blog.

Recently Shanti went on a trip and returned home having really enjoyed being "unplugged"...after we talked, we realized that we're both on the same page with this, we need to get back into our lives again. We have both loved sharing on the blog and being part of the blog world. It has inspired us, brought us to live creatively, challenged us to grow and brought us JOY! With spring here and summer around the corner, we want to make the most of it and spend every possible moment soaking up the beauty. We want to turn off the "blog post" planner part of our brain. We want to learn how to "just be" more and slow down our lives. We want to say thank you to to all of you new found blog friends. Thank you for all the kind words you have shared, the inspiration we have received from your blogs and the opportunity to be a part of such a rich community of kindred spirits. We are so grateful.

In the meantime our blog will stay put...we don't plan on taking any of it down, and we may return sporadically, to give you little updates on our lives. We aren't planning any craft tutorials any time soon, so please refer to our archives for craft ideas. I think we managed to create something really special here...I hope that we will continue to be a resource for mamas out there who appreciate beautiful crafts for beautiful little people. We wish you JOY and we thank you for supporting us.

with all our love
xox
Maureen & Shanti

An Earth Day Craft!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 18:26:00 +0000

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.

~Native American Proverb~

In honor of Earth Day I wanted to share
our earth lovers craft...

A globe luminary

An opportunity to "light up the world"

taking a moment to offer a blessing of gratitude

for our great mother earth

and the many gifts she bestows upon us all.

To create you will need

green & blue tissue paper

mod podge

glass bowl

paint brush

To begin rip your blue tissue paper into smallish pieces.

Paint mod podge onto your glass.

Add pieces of tissue paper on top

Paint on more mod podge over your tissue paper (love that stuff!)

Once your first layer has covered your whole bowl and dried...

add another layer.

Draw out your pieces of land onto your green tissue paper.

I used this basic outline.

Mod podge it onto your globe.

Let it dry

and ignite your flame!

   Earth teach me stillness
   as the grasses are stilled with light.
   Earth teach me suffering
   as old stones suffer with memory.
   Earth teach me humility
   as blossoms are humble with beginning.
   Earth Teach me caring
   as the mother who secures her young.
   Earth teach me courage
   as the tree which stands alone.
   Earth teach me limitation
   as the ant which crawls on the ground.
   Earth teach me freedom
   as the eagle which soars in the sky.
   Earth teach me resignation
   as the leaves which die in the fall.
   Earth teach me regeneration
   as the seed which rises in the spring.
   Earth teach me to forget myself
   as melted snow forgets its life.
   Earth teach me to remember kindness
   as dry fields weep in the rain.

Take nothing but pictures.
Leave nothing but footprints.
Kill nothing but time.
~Motto of the Baltimore Grotto

And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.
Khalil Gibran

Here's to celebrating our earth
and all the practical ways we can help preserve her gifts.

What ways do you teach and celebrate Earth
Day with the children in your life?

With Love
~ Shanti~

P.S. in honor of digital detox week (taking place right now all over the globe!) and Easter we shall be signing off for a couple of weeks.
See you again soon!
xo
Shanti & Maureen

Birch Bark Basket

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 03:32:00 +0000

Last fall I spent many an afternoon walking in the woods with my girls on the hunt for birch bark from fallen trees. I had big plans to do some serious birch bark crafting over the long winter...

My high hopes didn't make it that far though ~ I did make a birch bark costume for halloween but that was about it!

I decided it was time to use up some of my collection and thought attempting a basket might be just the project.

This was a quick craft with very little supplies needed

birch bark

glue gun

ruler

pencil

scissors

moss

To begin you can follow this simple patten I found.

After you figure out your dimensions...

Draw out your lines.

Cut where you see here (so hard to describe these things ~ thank goodness for pictures!)

Fold your birch bark on all the lines.

Glue together.

Add moss on the edges by laying down a line of glue and squeezing it on.

Cut a strip of bark for your handle and glue on.

Fill your basket with moss, grass, straw... and there you go ~ a sweet little basket to put Easter delights in!

In the last couple of months we have been graced by a new family member...

Stella (actually now skylar as we just realized he is a male! sold to us as a female...oops)

He is a well loved little guy that Luna saved up many many allowances to buy!

We're thinking he's in with the Easter bunny and might even help him out this year ; )

A wee wonderful pet that we have all fallen in love with.

(I actually recommend these little guys as pets... quiet, litter trainable, cuddly and just so darn cute!)

Wishing you beauty in every step

~ Shanti ~

Fern & Flower Adorned Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:48:00 +0000

There’s a bridge of wondrous light
Filled with colors shining bright

Red and orange, yellow, green,
The fairest colors ever seen,

Blue and violet, magic rose;
Down from heaven to earth it goes

Here we go, to and fro,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

Gathering light from sun and star,
gathering light from heaven afar,

Down to earth all things to greet,
sharing the light with all we meet.

Here we go, to and fro,

over the rainbow bridge we go.

Treading softly, treading slow,
over the rainbow bridge we go.

After we created our Vibrant Vegetable Dyed Eggs we decided to have some more fun with them.
So we gathered up our pressed and dried treasures... flowers, grass, ferns, monarch wings...
Found our trusty mod podge and set out to embellish our eggs!
oh so easy..

Using a small paintbrush, apply a dab of Mod-Podge to the egg where the flower will go. Using the same brush, carefully pick up a flower, and gently decoupage it onto the egg. Apply another thin coat of Mod-Podge on top of all of your egg.

Allow the egg to dry on a skewer (I stuck mine in plants ~ seemed to work well) for about 10 minutes, or until the flowers are dry to the touch.

I am looking for a way to hang these or display them for easter....
any good ideas?

Have a beautiful day!
~ Shanti ~

Fae Fabulous Tutu Tutorial!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:32:00 +0000

Recently while shopping at our local thrift store ~ where most things can still only cost a quarter! ~ my eyes landed on a big bag of pink tulle. I almost walked away (self control Shanti, self control...) until I remembered seeing the sweetest no sew tutus on line that I had someday hoped to make. So the pink tulle came home with us and was quickly transformed into some fabulous fae wear for my youngest!

Here is a girl you will often find up in a tree with a dirty face, battered jeans and an old plaid shirt, but offer her a pink tutu and she can switch roles rather instantly ~ soon to be found spinning in graceful delight. I suppose what girl can resist the allure of fluffy tulle...

Here is a super simple way to create a tutu.

Thinking it would make a sweet gift for Easter or as a quick great gift for a birthday party.

In the words of my eight year old "It looks complicated but really it's SO easy!" She made her own version in navy blue and dark green, almost completely on her own ~ simple it truly is!

Enjoy...

You need

3-6 yards of Tulle (or 2 rolls of 6" tulle)

elastic

scissors

Hows that for simple!

To begin..

Measure the recipients waist and cut your elastic to fit (with extra to overlap where you sew).

Sew your elastic together ~ zig zag on the machine or by hand

Decide how long you want your tutu to be, then double the desired length of the tutu + one inch. For example- If you want your tutu to be 12 inches long, you need to cut the tulle in 25 inch lengths.

Then you can cut your squares that length and pile on top of one another

Next cut you pile of squares into strips of about 8 inches or so (cutting them all together makes it go a lot quicker).

I must say tulle is the MOST forgiving fabric I have ever worked with. Your lines can be a rough cut and it still looks fabulous when put all together!

Stretch your elastic around a chair, your knee or (as we used) a stool.

Fold the strips in half & loop it around the elastic by pulling the ends through the loop. Pull tight.

Keep tying the strips of tulle onto your elastic until it fills up full.

This one only took about 30 minutes or so.

There it is... pretty and pink awaiting a fairy to dance in it.

We also decided to add a little extra color.

So we tied on some grass green ribbon to swirl when twirled.

One very happy fairy discovered her new skirt and took it out to play.

Magic ensued...

and more joy!

A fitting gift for my Solana Fae!

I had so much fun creating this and loved being the photographer on the sidelines while the "new skirt" directed a whole story ~ unfolding with dragons, a wedding, tree climbing, a handsome fairy prince, dancing and best of all big grins and giggles!

May you have a "fae"bulous day!

~ Shanti ~

Fluffy Egg Chicks!!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:17:00 +0000

Here's an easy egg craft that is great for chick lovers of all ages!

I was inspired by an old 1960's craft book...all about egg crafts for your home.

(yes, that's right...there is an entire book out there devoted to EGG crafts)!

You will need:

blown eggs

wool felt, (yellow, orange and black/brown)

wool roving, (yellow)

embroidery floss, (or yarn) in orange

wire

all purpose craft glue

To start take your wire and bend it into a chicken foot shape. Mine looked like this...

Basically you want two front toes and one toe in the rear...don't be shy with the size, as it has to support the weight of the chick. Ours were about 2-3 inches in size.

Now cover your wire with glue and start wrapping around some orange embroidery floss or yarn. You don't have to go all the way down to the end of the toe...it's really up to you!

Cover your egg with glue, (a side at a time), and cover with fluffy roving. I pulled my roving apart to make it super fluffy. Now this is where you will look at your "chick" and go..."oh goodness...what a disaster"...trust me, it will work out!

Take your egg and wrap your hands around it, pressing the roving to the egg...see...it's not so bad now!

Now cut out some wings, eyes and a beak with your wool felt.

Glue them on.

Glue on your feet...the wire will fit through the little hole you make at the bottom end of the egg when you blew it out. Now, it may be a bit wobbly...do not fear, prop it up between 2 objects until the glue dries...then you can take it, and bend the toes and make it stand up!

Oh my...super cute if I do say so myself.

Ruby and I now have a little family of chicks in the house...there will be more made tomorrow...windowsills will be graced with fluffy chick goodness!

How "EGG"cellent!

(heehee)

xo maureen

Sugaring Time!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:30:00 +0000

Today was one of those gorgeous spring days... brimming with thawing and flowing... full of sweet sunshine, gulps of fresh maple sap, puddles to jump in, lambs to kiss and a sugar shack to hang out in.

Truly Spring is here!

We were gifted with an afternoon at our friends farm where they tap trees and spend the month harvesting their first crop of the season ~ maple syrup!

It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time outside and take part in some of the maple syrup making experience...

The collecting...

Riding on the back of the four wheeler for collecting... jumping off, chasing it...

jumping back on... rosy cheeked and giggling.

The checking...

Yelling with delight when they found one full... sometimes almost overflowing... tipping their mouth up to the rim to take a sweet sip.

The pouring...

Pure fresh goodness.

The tasting...

( caught Papa indulging in some sweet sap )

The watching...

The big boil in the cozy sweet smelling sugar shack...

After the satisfaction of "helping out" they spent the rest of the afternoon running in the woods...

jumping on frozen puddles, climbing in hay lofts and letting their play time shout "It's Spring!!"

I must admit... I have fallen in love with the maple syrup making process.

It leaves me in awe of how much sap it actually takes to make our beloved maple syrup and inspires me to want to make this not only an annual adventure...

but someday doing it ourselves!

Our good friends at Two Tree Farms with just the beginnings of their maple syrup harvest.

Good ol' Canadian maple syrup at its finest.

A plate of pancakes shall never taste the same!

“A sap-run is the sweet good-by of winter.

It is the fruit of the equal marriage of the sun and frost.”
John Burroughs, Signs and Seasons, 1886

Grateful that spring is alive and flowing!

~Shanti ~

P.S. Here is a lovely sugar time circle song.

Vibrant Vegetable ~ Dyed Easter Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Well our much desired spring seems to be playing an April fools trick on us today... by bringing us snow! So I decided today would be a good day to share our Easter egg project ~ knowing that the "real" Spring shall shine her face upon us soon! This process took awhile and created quite the mess (my white counter now has so much character ; ) but was lots of fun!

This was a first for us so it was very thrilling to prepare it all, let it sit and then oh and ah the beautiful results.

There are so many different colors you can attempt to dye your eggs but we opted to try our hand at the three primary colors and see how it went.

To create ~ begin by taking your room temperature (helps with the process) eggs and pierce the top and bottom of the egg with a large needle. This can be done by kids (my eight year old loved the whole process) but obviously with care. Be sure to pierce the egg yoke to make for easier blowing. Then enlarge the hole at the end of the egg you will be blowing out from. It gets a little messy ~ we had eggs breaking, eggs landing on chairs, eggs on clothes and hands, but hey thats half the fun!

You can then rinse out your eggs and prepare your vegetable dye baths.

For red dye: Take 4 beets and roughly chop them. Combine it with 4 cups water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid for dyeing.

For yellow dye: Heat 4 cups water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt in a saucepan. Add 6 tablespoon ground turmeric and stir well. Simmer for just a few minutes until the turmeric dissolves.

For blue dye: Take 1 large red cabbage (about 1 pound) and shred it. Combine in a saucepan with 4 cups water, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer 30 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid for dyeing.

If you want to play around with some other colors here is a helpful chart.

We had one little girl get so involved in the process she decided she needed to dress the part ...

stirring her pot of medicinal goodness.

After you have strained and cooled your dye you can add your eggs. We got a little stuck as to how to keep our eggs from bobbing back up ~ hence we came up with this method. Seemed to work!

Then leave your eggs in their dye baths and let nature work its magic! We left our eggs in overnight to see how deep we could get the colors.

The results were lovely.

You can then drain your eggs (we placed ours upright into plants to drain), gently dry your eggs and then give them a rub down with a little oil to make them shine.

There are so many ways to go about creating beautiful eggs.

To name a few...

Tie-Dyed Eggs

Collect a handful of different sized rubber bands. Wrap the bands, one at a time, around the eggs. Dye the eggs, remove them from the liquid and let them dry completely before pulling off the rubber bands.

Crayon Eggs

Perhaps the easiest technique of all is the color-with-crayons method. Simply draw a design onto your eggs and then dye as you would any other Easter egg.

Dip Dyed Eggs

Dip dyed eggs into a second coat of darker dye to add a whole new color. The first coat is boiled and the second is cold-dipped for 5 to 10 minutes. To cold-dip, place egg in a small glass bowl or paper cup and prop it up against the side. Some great color combinations include coffee and blueberry; turmeric and red cabbage; and onion skins and cranberry juice.

Wrapping with Onion Skins

This method is a little messy, but the results are always a pleasant surprise. Rub eggs with white vinegar and wrap in onion skins. Secure the skins with cotton string, dental floss, narrow rubber bands or nylon stocking. When boiled, the skins dye the shells giving a natural tie-dye look. To achieve a full, rich effect, practice using many layers of onion skins. Hint: Pre-dampening the skins helps them stick to the egg.

I thought perhaps we may use our pretty eggs for an Easter treasure hunt (by hiding the clues rolled up inside each egg ~ needing them to be smashed *gasp* to be found) and then having their Easter baskets at the end of the hunt. The girls also want to write wee love notes, roll them up tight and slide them inside the eggs to hand out as Easter gifts. We shall see what inspiration hits!

Have fun coloring your world!

~ Shanti ~

Searching For Balance In Blogging

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 03:48:00 +0000

Recently our internet went down for a couple weeks. At first it seemed to be such an inconvenience and had me feeling some real “withdrawals”.

As time went on though, I felt myself feeling so present to my life, so productive and just plain free!

After it reconnected I realized I was left with some fresh perspective.

It helped me to honestly and humbly admit to myself how much of my real life was being given to my online life. It also helped me to consider the addiction that the internet world can be and to recognize my tendency to use time on line as an escape of sorts. ouch.

So I decided it was time to give up the internet completely ~ the blog, other blogs, facebook... all of it and just sink my teeth into life! I felt done sacrificing time with my girls, my love and myself to be on line. I spoke with Maureen about all of this and she shared that she had been feeling similar. We agreed it was time to jut let it all go and focus on our personal lives with more dedication and attention.

But then the flip flopping began…

Can I/ we really just let go of it all… Is this the right thing to do….

On and on my head hummed.

So I took this indecision and decided to run with it. literally. (I have recently started running again and find this time of my day is truly medicine for my soul ~ it seems to calm the chatter in my brain long enough for my intuition to be heard) And after one of these runs I finally had real clarity. My inner wisdom seemed to say that what I really needed to do was to learn discipline. That there was no need to be so extreme in my decisions but rather a need to use this new found clarity as an opportunity to exercise discipline in my life.

Life as a blogging/homeschooling/working mama is such an intricate dance and requires real balance (something I feel I have been lacking) in order to be productive and peaceful.

But I feel there is a way.

So I am setting out on a journey to find balance. A journey that I hope can allow me to feed my love of being creative and being inspired by all of your creativity ~ while keeping myself focused and fully present to my moment to moment life.

One of the first steps I have taken was to buy myself an egg timer. I decided it will live next to the computer and will be wound up to a reasonable time each time I go on line and when that bell goes off… it is time to get off! Whether I feel “done” or not.

I also decided that my time on line should be reserved for times when I know all my priorities are in check ~ after my life has been fed, my homeschooling is done, I have made time for myself to be active and I have had quality time interacting with the life around me!

I am grateful for the gift of my unintended internet fast and plan to revisit it again ~ whenever I feel like my real life is taking a backseat.

I have been so inspired by the creative beauty being shared daily in this big bloggy world. I value being a part of this kindred spirit community and look forward to continuing sharing in it ~ with a new found commitment to moderation and discipline!

So I put this question to all you blogging mamas out there ~ How do you do it? How do you foster balance in your full lives?

Maureen & I welcome any words of wisdom you can pass our way….

With Love

~ Shanti ~

Taking Care of Mama Monday...revisited!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:52:00 +0000

If you've been keeping up with our goings on at all, you may remember that I declared this year my "taking care of mama" year. Yes...I had things I needed to do...lose weight, carve out some mama time, and persue some of those "to do's" that have been on my guilt ridden back burner for years and years.

Me in the morning just about to leave and very excited!!!

This past weekend was a hands on lesson in self care. I took a Friday night off work, and got up bright and early Saturday and headed 2 hours to Ottawa...BY MYSELF!!!!!

oh...did I mention I was BY MYSELF!!!!!!!

Can you see why I'm scared of city driving? These are the things I contend with on my daily drive...wild turkeys and fields full of deer!!! I took this picture on my way to Ottawa!

Now...here's my confession...I haven't driven in the city in 5 years...I actually hate city driving, and I've developed a bit of a "phobia" when it comes to driving on those big, multi laned highways. I purposely left early so I could avoid the city traffic, (and ease my way back into city driving)...well...I did it!!! I actually let out a hoot, "WAHOOOOOOO!!!!!". At first I felt a bit crazy for yelling out loud in the car, then I thought...what the heck...I'm alone in the car...driving on the 417..."WAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

I also had some time to meet a fellow blogging mama...we had a lovely "blind blog date" over coffee.

You know you can just tell that someone is a kindred creative soul, and seeing this lovely gal sitting there sewing little wool lambs...I knew I was in the spirit of a creative kindred! She gifted me with a lovely little bunny from her new etsy shop LittleWool. If you're in the market for a lovely gift for your Easter basket you should check her out, her creations are inspired and beautiful, (and besides...we should all do our part to support handmade)!!

My main reason for going to the city though was to indulge in a totally delusional fantasy and try my hand at spinning wool! There was a beginners spinning class happening, and I had signed myself up. It was a wonderful class and I managed to spin some very errrrr "artistic" yarn. I have new admiration for all your spinners out there who make it look so effortless, and who produce such lovely yarn. I think there will be a wheel in my near future...I've started a savings jar!!! Of course I have my friend over at the Knitty Gritty Homestead to thank...she sat me down and taught me how to knit...now she's unleashed this fibre monster who just can't get enough!!!!!

Here it is...my super art yarn!!!!

My reason for sharing all of this is that all of the things I did on this day scared the hell out of me...from driving on the highway, to meeting someone new, to taking a class by myself in an unfamiliar city. At the end of the day I felt such a sense of accomplishment...a holy sh** I actually did this feeling!! This year has been full of little things...I've started running, (and signed up for a 5k run in May), I've lost 24 pounds to date, I've been taking time to learn new things, and make the time to enjoy the things I LOVE...none of these things make me less of a mama...instead they make me take notice of myself as an important, (and dare I say), integral part of this family...this mama is PROUD to exist and happiest when everyone is cared for...including myself!

Here's to doing the things that scare the hell out of us!!!!

Let's start a revolution mamas!!

xo maureen

Our First Fabulous Sponsor and a Giveaway!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:03:00 +0000

Today we'd like to give a big HUGE Twig and Toadstool Welcome to Rebecca of Handmaidencanada

Here are a few of Handmaidencanada's beautiful creations...

and oh...for the love of dolls!!!!

Please tell us a bit about yourself.

Rebecca: I live with my husband and 9 children in the "back woods" of Canada. I grew up here, and I love it. I love that I can sit out on my back porch in the early morning and hear silence. I love that I can walk down the road to a sparkling, clean lake to swim. I love the drama of the seasons. I love that I can see and feel God in His creation that surrounds me.

My father and mother both instilled in me a deep love for all things handmade. My dad was a luthier (built handmade guitars) until I was about 8 years old, and my mom was the type of mom who would make her own granola, hand-smock each one of us dresses for Easter, always had a knitting project on the go, and wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty in the garden. She had me sewing my first outfit when I was six years old. I'll never forget it...many seams sewn and then ripped out....and then sewn again. Did I mention she had the patience of a saint!?:)

Creativity was always encouraged. It was a very "organic" process. We had trunks of fabric scraps, yarn and craft supplies always at our disposal and we were encouraged to just try stuff. My mother would teach us the skills necessary, and then give us free reign to design and create. And of course she loved every single project even more than the last! A woman can always use another pot holder, right?!

Recycling or "upcycling" as some now call it, was and is just a part of life in a big family. Things are passed down...re-used and re-purposed. We often shop second hand. There is something so ultimately satisfying in taking someone else's "junk" and making it into something funky and useable all over again!

So my biggest passions in life, in a nutshell? My family, my God, the master creator, the beauty of nature, working with my hands and being creative and being a good steward with the resources I have been given.

What inspired you to open your Etsy shop "Handmaiden Canada"?

Rebecca: After six months of my husband being off work with ulcerative colitis and awaiting imminent surgery, and I with a little one still breastfeeding, I started to rack my brain, trying to think of a way I could continue to stay at home with my children and still make some sort of an income.

I have been a stay at home mom for the past 18 years, and though I'm so grateful I've had the opportunity to be home with my children during these tender years, I do feel I am a little behind, with very little "work experience" under my belt. Don't get me wrong...I have been WORKING...motherhood is definitely not for the faint of heart, but just not in ways that the world would necessarily recognize as valuable.

So what to do? I decided to start a business from the home. A friend of mine introduced me to the website www.etsy.com and the lightbulb went on!! This was something I could do! I opened a shop and called it Handmaiden Canada.

Now, what to sell? I started to experiment...I started knitting bags and then felting them, I then started making things with recycled, felted sweaters...then I sewed some things, then I discovered Waldorf Dolls!!

The ladies of Twig and Toadstool, Shanti and Maureen, actually gave me the idea to make Waldorf Dolls. I have always loved dolls. I think I actually played with them until I was about 12 years old. Shhh...don't tell anyone...everyone thought I was just dressing them for my younger sisters!

So I thought I'd give it a try.I ordered enough supplies to make 2 dolls, and I was hooked! What fun it was to dream up ideas for eye and hair colours, fabric combinations...oooh the possibilities were endless! I spent more than a few sleepless nights with visions of dollies dancing through my head. :)

I made those two, and then went on to order more supplies...and more and more dollies were born! Four have been sold to date. ;)

One beautiful thing that has come out of all of this, is that I am starting to see it turning into a family endeavour. My girls know how sew, how to attach the doll's hair and they can help with the stuffing, my husband does some of the shipping, my 14 year old son is great with the camera, all my kids are more computer savvy than I am (and love to give advice) and I have cute models of almost every size from age 1 to 17! It seems like a perfect fit. I look forward to seeing where things go.

Thank you Rebecca for telling us about yourself and your business...we wish you SO much success in this new endeavor of yours.

Now...onto the giveaway. You can win this beautiful Waldorf doll, made with love by Handmaidencanada.

~~To enter all you have to do is go pay a visit to the~~ ~~Handmaidencanada etsy shop...~~

~~and let us know what your favourite item is.~~

~~For two additional entries, become a "follower" on Rebecca's new blog~~ ~~Heartfelt Mama, or "like" her on~~

~~facebook. You have until this Sunday at midnight to enter. We'll announce the winner on Monday.~~
~~Good luck to all who enter~~

The winner is Rachel...we'll be in contact with you for your shipping info soon.
Thanks to all who entered.
(fyi...we use random.org to pick our giveaway winners)!

Thank you for helping us support such a great new business!!

xo maureen and shanti

and the winner is...

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:38:00 +0000

CelticCastOn

you can go check out her blog here, (so many beautiful knitted delights on there!)

Thank you thank you to everyone who entered...for your kind and love FILLED comments and for your support and encouragement!!!

Now...don't be bummed if you didn't win this one...because we'll be posting another giveaway later today or early tomorrow morning...stay tuned...after all it is our BLOGIVERSARY week, and we can do as many giveaways as we darn well please!!!!

xox maureen & shanti

Blogiversary Giveaway!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:14:00 +0000

Twig and Toadstool is almost a year old!!!! To celebrate we wanted to do a little blogiversary giveaway...

so here's what you can win...

A festival star candle holder...a green playsilk...a rainbow of modelling beeswax and 4 playclips!

To enter simply leave a comment below...you'll have until this Thursday at midnight to enter.

If you're a "follower" of Twig and Toadstool you can enter once daily until Thursday!

And we'll ship to anywhere in the world!

Good luck and thank you for your support in our blogging journey!

xo maureen & shanti

A Spring Welcome Wreath!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 17:33:00 +0000

Spring

Busy gnomes chip away

At the winter's hard ground,

So that bulbs may burst forth

And spring's beauty abound.

In the woods, damp and dark,

They must labor below

Crooked roots and cold stones,

Pushing stalks through the snow.

Undines melt snow until

Water can flow again,

Filling the leaves growing

Green with spring rain.

Sylphs, they are dreaming

Of winds softly streaming

Through petals all yellow

And purple and blue.

To welcome this glorious much awaited first day of spring I thought our front door was in need of a welcome wreath that shouted SPRING IS HERE!!!

Here is a simple tutorial

For this you will need

milkweed pods

glitter

glue

moss

a wreath base

fimo clay

roving

Begin by making your flower from your milkweed pods ~ brush glue on the inside, sprinkle on your glitter and shake off excess.

With a glue gun, glue your pods together

If you choose you can glue on an acorn top for your center

Next take your wreath base

and glue on your moss

For your robin eggs ~ roll your fimo in your hands until you get your desired egg shape and bake.

We then wet felted a little nest, filled it with moss and glued in our little eggs.

We added on some feathers for a little extra splash of color and voila!

Our spring wreath!

We played around with different layouts...

And finally settled on one

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush."
- Doug Larson

Here's to NEW LIFE my friends!
~ Shanti ~

Root Children

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:31:00 +0000

The Spring Nature table is slowly coming to life with some sweet little handmade creations. The first order of business was to create some "root children" to bring the first Spring shoots onto our table in these early Spring days.

I was trying to make mine look like budding root bulbs...

Basically they are peg dolls with a brown tube...the one with the round hat has a hat made with 2 brown "doughnut" pieces...one of the holes is for the head to fit through, and the other hole is whipstitched and some "greenery" is poking through, (it's full of wool stuffing), and then glued onto the head.

The other one has a triangular hat, with the top folded down and again some green poking through, (again glued on)!

Then of course, I got totally sidetracked and started looking up "root children"...oh my goodness...look what I found!!!

from elfenweige on etsy

This was made as an art display...more info can be found HERE

from haddy2dogs on etsy

from Sage Dream Design

(can you imagine having THIS on your nature table!!!!!)

from fernbirdecostore in New Zealand

from Mountainhearth on etsy

from Knittypants

from our good friend Softearthart on etsy

from the Handmade Homemaker on etsy

Are you feeling it...the root children are coming, the root children are coming!!!

Today when I look outside of my window I actually see spots of GRASS poking through the snow...

Spring is near!!!!!

xo maureen

Discovering Waldorf...Spring!!

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 10:35:00 +0000

Hey there beautiful friends...so today I'm a guest blogger over at the Magic Onions, (as a part of the Discovering Waldorf series)! The post is all about Spring, with some ideas to help you celebrate the season!

I'd love to know, as I notice I am seriously lacking in the Spring book department...what are some of your favourite "Spring" books for the kids?

xo maureen

Holy Pink!!!!! (aka the Co-Sleeping Connundrum)

noreply@blogger.com (TwigandToadstool) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:11:00 +0000

When Ruby was born, the crib that I painstakingly polished and painted, died a quick death. There I was, a co-sleeper true and true. Now, I know that co-sleeping doesn't work for everyone...and sometimes in certain circumstances it can be unsafe, but for us, it was just meant to be. The advice I got from fellow co-sleepers was, "just enjoy it...it won't last forever...it's not like your 13 yr old is going to want to sleep with you." Well...I don't know if I can wait another 5 years to find out...I have had children in my bed for 8 years now...do I love it still? Errrrrrr...not so much! I'll tell you right now that the only action my bed sees is when the kids jump and bounce on it with their friends...so in a nutshell, it ain't workin' no more!

Soooo...how do I discreetly get the children out of our bedroom??? Well...it all starts with some fushia paint.

I figure in order to make this work, I have to let Ruby play interior designer...we're getting bunkbeds, (at her request), the walls are getting painted "hot pink", and I'll be hard at work the next week or two making this a bedroom that 2 little girls will LOVE! I started having panic attacks as I'm painting away...I've never painted a room this colour...it's not my choice, but then Ruby comes in and declares, "ohhhhhh, it's perfect!" and little Matilda says "I LOVE it!!"

I'll be sure to share some "after" pictures, but for now, grab a paper bag and hyperventilate with me while we bask in the pink!

xo maureen

ps...any decorating advice...advice on places to get wonderful prints, etc...would be MOST welcome!