I’ve been selling these ornaments for a few months at craft shows, and by the dozen to my mother, who fell in love with them.
They are one continuous ribbon of wood, with no beginning and no end.
They are beautiful, but somewhat delicate, so they should be hung out of reach of babies and animals.
Let me know what you think. I’ll be adding more shapes as well, so if you have suggestions, feel free to post them.
Hello there, I’ve been in craft show land all weekend, and I just wanted to share a link with you. There is a great article on The Natural Child Project about Parent Guilt, and he really hits the nail on the head and puts the idea in a cultural and historical context, without pooh-poohing the idea that we need to be sensitive to our children’s needs.
This article is a must read, and the best I have read on the topic. You have to tell me what you think of it in the comments here.
In other news, I’m working hard on toys for you folks for Christmas, and selling at the holiday shows. We had a great show this weekend at the Waterfront in Pittsburgh with I Made It Market. Then I sold at a catholic church nearby tonight which was surprisingly good. My new assistant, Siena, was also there selling soap that she made.
There was a blacksmith with hand forged knives and and this awesome hatchet. There were 2 potters, and several people with knitted items. And there was an artist there with pencil drawings, and I bought one! I’m going to make a frame for it, and hang it some place cool. I’ll do a post on my frame making (lol, probably in January!). It was a cool show, and nice to meet other craftsmen (I prefer that word to crafters, it just sounds more high class) that are close to home.
Okay, it’s way past my bedtime, and rule number one of the holiday season is NO STAYING UP LATE. Sleep is the most important thing to keep your health up when you are busy and should be protected at any cost.
Good Night!
Well, heck, if you have time, please have a LOT of fun every day. But sometimes when things get busy, we forget to have fun. We have all our oh-so-important grown-up things to do, and our kids can get lost in the shuffle.
Come November and December, I’m working practically every minute of the day it seems like. Even when I’m playing games, I’m sanding or wood burning or tracing patterns.
But in the midst of all of this, I try to remember to have some fun.
When you have snow in November, you’ve got to get out early and have a wild snowball fight before it melts.
When it’s 50 and sunny and windy, you’ve gotta get out the kite no matter how many more buses you want to get done.
Take time for silliness and connection. And stop taking yourself and everything else so seriously. Us adults, when we’re wrapped up in something, we can really lose our sense of humor. Remember your parents before leaving on a trip? Haha, or if your house was like ours when we were little, on Sunday mornings, trying to get everyone ready for church.
Or if your house is like mine, when you are trying to get the packages out before the mailman comes!
When we’re pre-occupied, all our kids’ little idiosyncrasies can drive us mad. Little things that wouldn’t ordinarily bother us get blown completely out of proportion.
So have fun.
Keep your sense of humor.
And maybe bake some cookies, but not too many.
Well, I posted some new listings today, and modified a couple yesterday.
I finally got around to posting some new wee people sets. Brown people: which can work well for people of a variety of non-european descents.
And although I’ve been selling these larger women for a couple years, I haven’t had them listed to buy on the site, well here they are:
I also modified the Sun House to make the steps movable, so you could get to the inside of the house downstairs better.
The barn got a redesign as well. Someone suggested that it would be better if the hay loft was opened up. So I removed the front of the hayloft, and it opened things up wonderfully. I think it will be a much more versatile toy now.
I’ll be at the I Made It Market’s Holiday Show on Friday and Saturday. After I’m done with that, I’ll be adding some new toys for Christmas. Any suggestions?
It’s the middle of November, and despite thinking of a million great posts while I’ve been endlessly sanding toys, I have yet to post this month. Yikes. And in October, I didn’t even announce a giveaway. I’ve definitely been letting things slide.
But this is my week to get back on the ball. Here, yes, but also in my home. I just finished up a huge wholesale order, and when I’m working on all of that, my house tends to sink into a state of untidiness (not chaos, not anymore anyway). So when I finished the last items, I shipped everything, and started getting my home to look more like a home and less like a shipping warehouse.
I’m having guests for Thanksgiving this year. And while it’s tempting to let work take over my brain and my house, I have to keep things in check. I won’t have a whole day to put things back in order, and what fun is that anyway?
Start cleaning and tidying now. Get new sheets on the guest beds. Straighten up the closets so they have places to hang their clothes. Wipe down a cabinet or two after you are done the dishes. A little bit each day, and the house will be sparkling by Thanksgiving, without the stress of last minute cleaning (which I also HATED as a kid).
You can approach blogging the same way. I tend to look at the blog like something that needs hours to do. But a little bit here and there, and maybe you guys will still remember I’m alive by the time Christmas is over.
And without further ado, I’d like to giveaway 2 toys this month, to 2 different people. I’m going to giveaway 2 reindeer.
How to enter? Just leave a comment on any of the posts that I write this month. The more you comment, the more times your name is entered.
I’m working on some new toys and redesigning old ones as well, so I’ll be posting them on here soon. Let us know about your holiday shopping, gift giving traditions, and links to fun craft projects.
Mama Made Them 