Pixie Packages Magical Arrival

Blooming between a rock and a hard place.

I oft times believe life can sometimes be like this.  You are stuck in the most un-favorable predicament you could ever imagine.  Yet somehow,  there’s just enough room to bloom (get-by with a wink and a smile).  That’s where we are at right now.  Sometimes the unblogable location is torturous.  Still, every now and then, little surprise sprinkles of merciful rain give you just enough to go on.

I loved these flowers as a kid.  They were everywhere around the back of the house where I grew up.  I thought they looked like little grapes.  Remnants of a long forgotten blub flower bed of my grandmothers, I think.  See I lived in the house my dad grew up in as well.  My brother lives there now.  I love it when there’s a tangible connection of memories shared by generations of one family.

Well today we received a kind magical rain in the form of our Pixie Pouch Swap Package.  The girls were giddy as ever to open up their Fairy Treasure.

Okay, some were down right beside themselves with joy while sailing over the moon.

Hope was thrilled with all her little treasures.

And her pixie pouch was extra special with charmed butterflies floating everywhere.

And the treasure inside was equally enchanted.

 

Including a wee sweet invitation to a Midsummer’s Eve Ball at Dusk.  Yeah, one more magical event to plan for.

Princess’s package was equally delightful with a special unicorn pouch from her fairy friend Elsa who Wand Swapped Princess last year.

And Lea was equally thrilled with her pouch and goodies.

Magic mushrooms, a fairy shovel and pixie seeds, Perfect for Spring.

And yes I,  Even I received a sweet bundle of inspiration.

Special Thanks to Missy and her magical Swap,  I have a feeling the girls and I are going to actively entertaining the fairies this week.

A Spot of Spring.

Spring can’t come soon enough for me.   We just had another blast of winter reminding us that it’s still in charge.

Although spring is trying to fight  back.

And I’m doing my best to nourish the hope of good things to come.  My tomatoes are up and going.

The peppers are trying but I think they have an aversion to NW weather.

The kids are busy as always and itching for something to do.  So I send them out to play with power tools.

O.K. Abner’s been busy working on his Eagle project.  Clearing a nature trail and replacing plant identification signs.

 

And when not sending my kids around to play with power tools.  I just pray for snow, Yeah, Right (heavy sarcasm added here.)   For when it snows, no matter how sick of it I am, the kids disappear.   

 

And sometimes they can’t be bothered with shoes.

At least when Hope takes off when there is snow on the ground, she returns quickly.  Humm, maybe I should hide her shoes more often.

My best hope of spring this week arrived in the form of a package from my swap partner Beth of Road to Joy.  We were teamed up in the Luck of the Fae – Fairy Swap.  Hosted by Missy of  Fairychild Heirlooms Weblog.

 

When opening my package I was immediately enveloped in a delicious scent I’ve never really sniffed before.  She sent sprigs of orange blossoms in the package and I had to keep going back for delightful whiff’s of sweetness throughout the afternoon.

Inside was a sweet new little fairy whom I immediately named Violet.

I love her dearly and I barely know her.  Immediately I started planning a fairy garden for her and her little abode which was also in my package.

Complete with a darling shelf and crockery.

I’m going to have to spirit her away because my little princesses just couldn’t get enough of her…

 

and her sweet hidey-home.

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Fairy Queen Beth also sent me this delightful, delicate Fairy Wand.

 

Complete with magic charms galore.

  Princess also received her swap package from her Pixie Wand swap partner who was Beth’s daughter.  Can you tell how excited she is?  She was practically levitating with joy at getting a package in the mail.  It might be her first ever package just for her.

   

Princess couldn’t wait to dig into her pixie pouch.

Which was charming because it’s reversible.

 

Pixie dust, fairy charms and a beautiful bracelet along with a flower wand were the goodies she received.

   

Thanks Beth and daughter!  Now I’ve got to get off my computer and clean up my messy house, dream of spring and find where I put those orange blossoms.    I put these stickers on my laptop to remind me to stop living vicariously through everyone else and start making my own dreams come true. 

There’s Magic in the Air.

I just found out that the magical goodies Princess and I crafted for our last swap arrived safe and sound. Princess and I lucked out and happened to have the delightful Beth and her daughter for our swap partners in the Pixie Wand & Luck of the Fae Fairy Swap hosted by the creative genius Fairy Child Heirlooms Weblog.

I’ve never made a fairy doll before so it was quite the learning experience. You wouldn’t believe how much I learned and I’m eager to try creating another one soon – with tutorial, if I can.

My favorite part was the Wands. I had a really hard time letting go of the one I made for Beth.

I wood burned a rose vine and this quote from William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.

I've posted a wand tutorial on my Mommy Blessing Page if you want to try something similar yourselves.

Here is the wand I helped Princess make for her friend.

She did all the painting work.

Her sister Lea helped with the smaller details.

She also sent these goodies with a pixie pouch.

My swap partner received a brand new fairy.

Along with petal skirt, golden locks of hair.

And wings made out of my secret craft obsession. Who would have thought that dollar store Bend-able cutting boards could be so versatile.

I’ve made Good Witch Glenda’s crown, the Tin man's Tin Suit and now fairy wings out of it.

Here’s the rest of the magical package, pixie dust included, that I sent to Beth. I know my fairy will find her home absolutely delightful.

Magical happy wishes to both Beth and her daughter and to you all.

It’s March Already…

I’m still struggling with the concept of not putting 2008 down as a date and it’s March already.

Yes, we survived being unplugged for February.  Loved it as always and I’m not particularly happy that March is here ALREADY. 

Yesterday the two kids who have the hardest time getting along ended up spending two whole hours on the back deck playing with bubbles of all things.  No bubble wands necessary.  Just a wee bit of water and a lot of dish soap. 

 

Your fingers are the bubble wand.

Usually I have to drag the kids to the sink to scrub up.  Now, I’m just going to have to remember to send them outside to make bubbles next time they need to clean up.

We're also starting off National Craft Month (March Already) with a bang. 

Princess and I are involved in a Fairy/Wand Swap in a couple of days and we’ve been giddily crafting away all weekend.  Lea even wanted to help out.  In fact I think three or four kids ended putting in some time up helping out with the wands.

 

I know this is a sneak peak, won’t show you the finished treasures until our swap partners get them.  I ended up using some tools I probably haven’t used in 4 years and you know what?  It was kind of fun.

 

I’m also trying my first ever doll/fairy.  I was hoping to maybe make something out of material or wood but ended up going back to my clays.  I’m the most familiar with them and since I’ve never attempted anything like this before I thought I’d better stick with what I kind of know. 

Believe me she’s going to look a lot different when she’s done.

Note to Self:  Next February when we do the whole unplugged thing all over again.  We are definitely going to add Audio Books to the banned list.  I think our family, and one 15 year old boy in particular, went through nearly 9-10 books that way.  And in his case he didn’t move off the couch while listening to them.  That seems a bit too plugged in for me.

I also think we are going to try and make weekdays unplugged days as well.  There was quite the grumble from the kids when we announced this tonight.  Probably because they put in a good 6-8 hours of TV time after church today.  I’m tempted to extend the whole TV unplugged thing until April.  UGH!  I am not looking forward to hearing them complain about it after school tomorrow.

Regardless,  February was great.  I love the whole unplugged thing even if it means I don’t have as much time because I’m helping the kids get an imagination.  Seriously why can’t the TV break instead of the kitchen.  That’s a Murphy visit I would welcome any day.

We are however going to try and crank out a load of fun, super inexpensive crafts this month, and I promise to share some of those ideas with you.  That and I’m going to be hopping around visiting all my favorite blogs.  I’ve missed you guys and that is one reason why I guess I’m glad it’s March Already.

Swap Happy

So I participated in my first ever apron swap...

Hosted by Aunt Pitty Pat and am tickled pink in more ways than one. My swap partner was Maria from Canada and I so wish she had a blog so I could see more of her work, because the package she sent me was adorable.

I'm going to have so much fun wearing this sweet apron. It sings of Spring.

Sweet Maria also sent me some wonderful craft goodies. I'm especially excited about the button's, ribbon and barrettes. I can just smell hair bows for my girls. I forgot to take a picture of the darling quilt pattern she gave me. A cute country threads 'Over the River' pattern that I must add to my 'to-do' list.

Here's part of me trying on the apron. Love it.

The apron I sent Maria I made to fit her hobby of quilting.

Now I know why I don't quilt that often. It takes a lot of patience.

Maria's favorite colors are green and brown so guess what color her apron is?

And since she's a quilter I made quilted pockets for her to keep her sewing goodies in. I also made the width of the apron skirt to be as close as I could get to measureing 1 yard. I would have sewn a measuring tape on it but I couldn't find one that matched the material.

I'm always misplacing my scissors and pins so I made some button & fabric strips attachments to hold her's.

And of course I send a few more goodies. Like little squares of left-over fabric. Maybe she could quilt a matching pin-cushion. I had to include a new find. A Fiskar's 12 in 1 sewing tool that you can take with you anywhere you go. I must get one of these for myself soon, then figure out how to attach it to myself so I don't lose it.

Anyway it was a truly wonderful swap and now I'm itching for more.