Hand felting with Labra-doodle fleece

We did it!  It worked!!
Tomorrow, the photos.

Today, Sarah and I continued with our eye opening and enlightening conversation.  She told me something interesting...  Friends of hers own a local well known chain restaurant that served a Monday night "all you can eat pasta".  Recently, the restaurant decided to stop serving this meal.  Why?  Because of the amount of vomit they have to clean up- sometimes, the vomits happen at the table as they serve another lot of food. 

What is that??

As Sarah said, 'Happiness is not in a bowl of spaghetti".  I love that quote of hers!!

It makes me realise how important the work of Mama Moontime Club is.  Where people can be helped to find something within, rather than seeking life's joys from without.  

She also told me of a program she watched that showed that, on average, we only keep things for SIX MONTHS before we throw it out and get something new.

That is a mightly lot of garbage!  And a very strange and expensive way to 'fill the soul'. 

I'm intrigued and curious to find out more ways to bring the Mama Moontime Club to more people.  It is proving to be a real winner with the girls and is everything I hoped for in supporting people in finding their everyday creativity....

If you have any ideas, please let me know. 

The art of digestion

antacids, originally uploaded by Elliot-B.

The creative process is all about digestion. The taking in of images, the swirling around of the bits and pieces, until we take what we need through our life filter and make it into something else.
What is left is rubbish.

I have been striving hard to digest a whole lot of stuff lately that just hasnt wanted to go down. It has been all about burps and belches.

I take notice of my body when it speaks (in whatever language- burps included!!) because it is always right, so I have had to help the digestion process by filtering stuff- to see what I really need and want and what is truthful - from all the garbage.

Right now, I have to find the goodness, and I'm doing this by reading a whole lot of craft, art and design books and magazines. Food for the soul, easily digested. Thank goodness for good nourishment!

Henrietta, the budding photographer.

A watermelon moment.

Henrietta captured these photos of her baby brother so I thought I would share.

The many faces of a toddler in 5 minutes!

Moondew Playgroup Halloween Party

The days around Halloween is a time where it is recognised that the spirit world is not too far away.  The gateway is ajar.  

The wearing of Halloween costumes originates from a time when people actually did fear this gateway and worked to put a layer of protection between them and malevolent entities.  Pumpkins were carved as a protection to place outside one's door, and bowls of salt graced the doorstep for similar reasons.

In my kindergarten work, I never 'celebrated' Halloween with a party or a dress up day.  Occasionally, I did carve a pumpkin beforehand and place it on our nature table or meal area as a small gesture of recognition- both of historical content and a nod to the souls of those who have passed.   I would hold these thoughts in my heart only, and the children would carry on as normal.

This year at Moondew, I wanted to have a dress up party and what better day for the children to recognise than Halloween so we planned it for this week.

Ned wore my 'apple gnome' outfit.  It was my template for a kindergarten festival from many years ago.

He didnt like the hat!

Henri was having a "mental health" day at home so she helped out.

Sometimes, the mental health day is really a saviour for Mum's mental health.

We baked bread as usual.

And then decorated biscuits with orange, black and white icing in true halloween style.

These cute little bags were 10 for $2.  They were a perfect fit for two biscuits.

Henri made these for Ned.  See the upside down 'Ned' on the grey biscuit.

The storms had passed and we all shared the bread whilst the children played happily. 

The children love bread, but the mama's love it too!

Rainbow Ridge Steiner School- Gorgeous!!!

The lovely Simone, with her loyal staff Robyn, Kathryn and Alenya, hosted our Steiner/Waldorf early childhood Regional Meeting last Saturday at Rainbow Ridge Steiner School.  We get together about 2 or 3 times a year, to share our thoughts, resources, ideas and of course to laugh and eat.  Eating is always such a big part of our day.

I think Rainbow Ridge might now be my favourite kindergarten I have visited!  It was definitely the biggest kindergarten space of all our local schools, and was so open, airy, bright and had plenty of FRESH AIR.  Delightful.  One of my favourite things was how the bifold doors opened up to the outside world and had these large carved planks across the openings that prevented the children from escaping/falling but allowed the outside world to come in.  The birdsong and twittering butterflies connected the room to nature. This space was like a little piece of living artwork in the room.

A well managed space is so important for the young child.  Little nooks and crannies actually allow children the opportunity to 'enfold' themselves in a cocoon of imaginative play.  Remember the many cubbies we built as children- they were our own little worlds.

A kindergarten needs lots of these little nooks to provide safety and security for the young child who is now entering the big wide world.   Rainbow Ridge did it so well.  I could imagine small groups of children, all independent of one another, playing out their worlds in complete harmony. 

(I won't say peace-  Kindergarten teachers know that although their spaces may be, and usually are, peaceful, imaginative play can be noisy!! )

I love this restful fellow.  I covet his restful state.

Storytime Magic.   We all wanted this corner in our homes, as well as our kindergarten rooms.  A designated story area.  Wow!  I would almost sell my soul for one of these.

I also loved their outside play area.  There was a large area under the building for play, which means there is never a problem in the summer storms.  I could imagine how safe it would feel to be under here in a storm.

The paved sandpit and crystal-sewn water area were special and I just loved the area where children could dig in the dirt to their heart's content. 

Thank you ladies, and your school community for the opportunity to visit you.

It was an occasion to remember, and for me, a big reminder that Steiner school education is growing, changing and evolving but that the essence of caring for the child remains. 

(Ps. Thank you to my friend Amanda, for joyful conversation and sharing of love stories!  I love a car journey with a fellow mama bear.  There is so much to learn from one another!)

Objectivity and Perspective

Macro Monday Transparent through a magnifying glass ..., originally uploaded by aaronmac1.

Years ago, I was at a conference and walked in (late!) to what I thought was my afternoon workshop.

The participants were asked to introduce themselves, and give a reason they had chosen to come along.

Listening to their answers, I realised I was in the wrong place! But I was stuck as I couldnt leave again without looking completely stupid!

Soon it was my turn so I acted flustered, and asked the circle of introduction to come back to me at the end. I soon realised that this talk had some connection to 'God' and wondered what I had got myself in for. But, that interest group was one of the best learnings I have ever had. A mistake I was there??
I don't think so!!!

The facilitator of the group, I later found out, was a nun with the Christian Science church. ( I had never heard of it). She posed a question about objectivity. Could it be possible that the stories of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John might not be the full picture? And that there may have been others with slightly different viewpoints who could have expanded the picture for us?

She said it like this.

If we all stood around to watch a story/situation unfolding in the middle of a field, we would all have a different take on the story depending on 1. where we stood and, 2.the things that might have blocked a portion of our view. A tree, a person in the way, that extra distance from the field or being up super close.with a restricted view of the whole....

I remember this when I am faced with any challenging situation. Our task is to try to find as many different viewpoints and then try to see the full picture. Clarity of thinking comes from objectivity- not emotion, not fear, not coercion, not friendship, not 'solidarity', not 'wanting to belong'. We might not always like the picture we see, but at least it will be truthful.

I believe in truth, beauty and goodness. I try to live life by these three things. I know (from prior experience) that not everyone wants to see the truth, that it is easier to plod along in a somewhat happy life, that finding the truth may demand change, and that sometimes humans dont want things to change. I accept this. We all need to make our own decisions in life.

But just as some people are willing to push the truth under the rug, other people are wanting transparency, clarity, and Truth.

I stand up for truth, even when it would sometimes be easier to duck my head and hide under the rug with others....

Mama Moontime Club- Small things to spark creativity!!

Last week was our third week of Mama Moontime Club.  We've had a few extras join us, and book in for the term. 
Our topic was Goodness.  We're cooking up a storm of creativity and continued to stew our creative thoughts. 

Our tasks were little, some things to fit into 10 or 15 minute slots in the day and were designed to provoke the mama's to think outside the square. We can bring a creative jolt to just about any part of our day and surroundings.

The mama's walked away with a little trove of handmade treasures, some for themselves and some for others, but also with the knowledge that the little things they do can make a big difference to someone else.

I'll ask the mama's to leave a comment to share their thoughts on their journey so far....

Potato printing at Moondew

The children printed on paper bags (they took their bread scraps home in it!) and calico, which the mama's will sew up into a little Moondew bag to carry their hats and drink bottles in.

We used the non-toxic Crayola paints, which are washable and come out of clothes easily.

I pressed cookie cutters into a halved potato, then cut in from the sides to remove the excess potato.

We had stars, moons, circles, flowers, hearts, squares and triangles.

I cut a little handle in the top part for little fingers to grab on to.

Moondew is so busy that I forget to take pictures.

This is Ned's creation!

Busy times and things to do...

These past couple of days I have missed my blog!

What with my talk on Thursday "The Biographical Picture of Life" (well attended by the community by the way and hopefully inspiring people to learn more about this and find their own 'gold drops of wisdom), another long meeting yesterday and the organisation of our Steiner early childhood regional meeting held today, I am pooped!

This is from a 'stay at home' mum. I've never been busier in my life!!

Burning the midnight oil, but not getting much rest!

Today, though, was a wonderful nourishment and tonic for me, as well as an inspiring source of creativity. I LOVE my Steiner early childhood regional meetings. I love catching up with colleagues from around our area (Byron Bay to Noosa), eating magnificient food (thank you Rainbow Ridge families) and spending time with people who really want to deeply understand the journey of young children.

I have some photos to post tomorrow. Gorgeous.
But today, I need sleep!

By the way, our Moondew Friday group now has eight confirmed families but we have space for two more, so if you would like to join us, please send me an email! We'll begin early November.

Sleep tight!

Crafty perfectionism

I get cross with crafty books sometimes.  Actually, I get cross with the 'stylists' whose job it is to make handmade things look perfect.  My crafty bits NEVER look like the photos I see.

(Come to think of it, my meals never look like the pics in food mags or books either!)

I love styling, and the look of things as much as the next person BUT I am a little afraid that the average Jo (or Joe) might never have a go or experience the joy of making something with their own hand, because they fear their work WON'T LOOK LIKE THE PICTURE!!

So what is the answer?

I believe it is looking at real examples of things people have made by hand.

Check out the handmade knitted jumpers in op shops, visit markets for a look at recycled and refashioned clothes, shop or browse online at
Etsy for inspiration, scour your relatives and friends homes and observe their handmade treasures. School fetes and festivals are also great places to see real-life, handmade things on show.

Real life beats perfectionism every time.

I'm reminded of the possible myth that Native American women purposely add a mistake into their weaving of threads and in basketry. One possible reason for this is the thinking that only the Gods create perfectly and acknowledges the necessity that anything man-made must be imperfect

The website SergeSew quotes some Quilting myths to give some idea of where this originated.

"This myth has various possible origins. One is from the Greek legend of Arachne the weaver. Another is found in Navajo weaving practices. Most likely the quilting version of this myth came from the belief that Amish and Mennonite women put a mistake in each quilt because only God is perfect therefore it would be prideful to make a perfect quilt. Though some purposeful mistakes may have been for religious reasons it appears for others it was more a matter of superstition. In reality all quilters make mistakes, it's almost impossible to make a perfect quilt. As making a purposeful mistake was never a common practice a mistake found in an antique quilt is unlikely to be purposeful".

Goes to show, we all make mistakes. Let us love our little imperfections and create some more!!!

Home, Playgroup and Kindergarten games- "The Winter Whales"

I am a big believer in rhythm, as I know it works.  But sometimes, mama's get fed up with the routine of always having Monday as housework day, Tuesday as Playgroup day, Wednesday as cooking day and so on.

One way to break through these challenging thoughts (and parenting fills us with challenging thoughts) is to find a way to bring your creativity (yes, that ol' chestnut!) into your daily rhythm in small doses.

There is no reason why the little transition games we do at a Waldorf playgroup could not be transformed for a mama in the home. 

A little game provides

• an opportunity (or excuse!!) to SING
• an opportunity to make something to go with the game
• an opportunity to make something up eg a song, a movement, a verse
• a way for the children to follow your directions without having to yell or coerce
• a little bit of fun!

This game here came from the lovely teachers, Suzette and Katrina, that led me on my merry Waldorf way.

Humpback whales are a fairly common sight in our parts from about July (heading north to Hervey Bay where they rest and birth)  to October on their southern migration.  The homecoming is happening now, so I set this scene up for the nature table and then use the whale in the game.

The whale is on puppet strings and can be moved by holding it with two hands, to imitate the gentle undulating glide of a whale under water.

I sing this song, as I circle around the group and 'gift' a treasure of a little 'kiss'- the whale stops and 'kisses' each child on the head which signals to them that it is time to wash hands for morning tea.
I have also used a couple of shells as the 'treasure' and the children place them in a friend's lap before washing hands and swapping turns. 

Here is the song.  (Original author unknown)

"As the whales swim through the waves, upon the deep blue sea
Dancing in and out the waves, as happy as can be
Treasures on the ocean floor, we see within our view
Leave a treasure*with a friend*, look and see*, is it you*??"

*Blow a kiss out loud.

Chicken in a Basket Game

Chicken in the Basket Game by Amber Greene

When finishing my daily story, I always like to use a little transition game to help the children move gently and purposefully from the story to wash our hands for morning tea. This is my little hen game that I often use after "The Little Red Hen" Story. It is called 'The chicken in a basket".

All children sit around in a circle formation, sitting on their mushroom cushions after storytime. I carry the basket that holds two hand-crafted felt chickens. I show the children the chickens, as I say to them,

"Hide your eyes, from the skies".

I also demonstrate the action of hiding my eyes behind my hands.

When eyes are hidden, I sing,

"Two chickens in the basket, Two chickens I can see
The chickens go a-hiding, I wonder where they'll be"

During the song, I walk around the circle behind the children. I carefully place a chicken in the laps of two different children.  For an extra challenge for the older ones, I place it behind their backs.

We then sing,

"1 2 3, look and see
Where, oh where, can the chickens be??"

To which we hear cries of "I have one".

The children return the chickens to my basket and head off with their parents to wash their hands, satisfied that they have had a turn. Children 3 and older can also participate in the handing out of the chickens.  In this case, I have two baskets and each child puts their chicken in one. They carry their basket and place their chicken into a lap or behind the back of their chosen friend on the next song.

In playgroup situations, every child has a turn each week, no matter how long it takes us. With a classroom situation (with children 5-6 years old), I may choose to either use more chicken props or only play the game through only 3 or 4 times. These children also learn that sometimes they will have a turn, whilst other times they may not (an example of what happens in real life) and so long as they have at least one turn over the week, most children of 5 1/2 -6 can cope with this as part of their transition to entering formal schooling.

Different learning takes place depending on where the chicken is placed.  Placing a chicken or prop behind a child's back requires them to open up new faculties of listening.  In western societies, most education and learning takes place in front of children's eyes, such as scanning a blackboard, reading a text or writing on a page.  Visual learning, including the all important non-verbal cues a teacher gives through their movements and facial expressions, is often overvalued to the detriment of auditory and kinesthetic (body action) input. Sadly, this skews modern day educational success towards the children who are primarily visual learners.  Anything we can do then to even up the portals of input is beneficial for those children whose main style of learning is something other than visual but can benefit everyone by bringing the senses into balance.

Secondly, many children spend so much time being 'still' (for example, during screen time) that they don't even have an awareness of the parts of their body they can't see or reach. A 'hiding game' like this one forces their intelligence into different parts of their body and supports this 'opening'. Another great way to make them more flexible in body and thinking!

Creative Interference

Life as it happens is sometimes a creative interference.

I have been reading through some of my creative notes this past week, and I wrote that 'allergies are symptons of interference'.  So when we have the wrong diet, the wrong rhythms, the wrong education, the wrong life choices (for us, of course) we become 'allergic'.

I think this is true of creativity too.  With too many impressions, too much negativity, too much to do, we find we become 'allergic' to the creative process. 

We actually can't do it. 

I know that when I feel like this, I have to say stop- to something.

Saying yes to everything (in work or fun) is an allergy-provoking decision. 

We have to set up our 'creative boundaries' if we want to create.
Here are 5 to think about.

1. Remember to set time aside for creativity.  A "creativity schedule", even for 10 minutes a day, keeps our creative flame healthy and roaring!
2. Find a bit of down time.  Set aside one day a week to just 'veg'.  This is stewing time.
3. Break a habit.  Drive a new way to work.  Eat out on a weeknight.  Turn off the tv and play scrabble.
4. Know your boundaries.  Say NO to excess work/invitations/meaningless do's
5. Eat well and exercise most days.  Walk for your creative jiggle-jaggle.

Do you have others??

The many jobs of a dentist

090610-M-8990S-006, originally uploaded by First Marine Logistics Group.

My dentist played the creativity game the other day.
He was a kindergarten teacher, playing with clay and molds and tools to scrape and tools to dig and tools to smooth.
He was a archeologist, digging ever so carefully into hills and valleys, looking for that special treasure.
He was a sculptor, finetuning his artwork until it was perfect.

Then, there was the technology! A few modern x rays taken with a pen-like instrument that beeped when pushed up against my teeth, somehow transformed into a 3D image on a computer screen.

A few swipes of his magic wand mouse and he had a perfect image which was sent to a machine in the room next door that then carved the perfect tooth from a block of acrylic. Soon, there will be no need for those yuk clay molds! This is good.

I'm all for technology, especially if it means I never have to endure 3 hours in a dentists chair again, but I believe true creativity is a human endeavor, that requires a little effort.

Human effort.

No computer can fill a creative void, but a little human creativity definitely has the potential to make one's soul WHOLE!

The view from the top of the mountain is sweeter when you have climbed it yourself!

Creative Time and Space

I thought of another sacrifice-  cleaning my car!
That is why we have teenagers who want to earn pocket money.

I'll swap this one in, and take the 'exercise' one out.
I know- I should do more exercise.

To be honest, my walking hour is one of the best ways to stir up and stew creative thoughts.  I always take along my pencil and notepad, and if by some chance I forget, I use my memory tools.

If I think a thought that just needs to be caught, I'll give it a keyword- like 'sacrifice'
Then, I will say that word (and any other key words) out loud whilst touching a finger.

For me, this links the keyword to the finger and later, when I want to recall, I just tap the finger and out pops the idea.  

I might have 4 or 5 keywords (and the corresponding thought processes) in one walk.  An amazing amount of ideas for an hours space.

It works for me. 

Do you have a creative way of jotting down those elusive ideas when no paper or pen is handy??
Why not share here??

Sacrifices for Creativity

(251) Your surprise surprises me, originally uploaded by Sarajea.

Today, I sat in the dentists chair for over 3 hours and had time to ponder. Today, I noticed my super hairy legs and realised that I choose to sacrifice some things for a creative moment in time.
Shaving my legs can never beat an opportunity to create.

I began to list some of the others things I give up so that my creative flame can continue to roar.

Creativity begs the attention of TIME and SPACE, and as we each only have a 24 hour daily dose, we are entitled to be picky as to what we choose to spend our minutes and hours and seconds on.

Any artist, singer, painter, craftsman, sportsperson, activist and an "Everyday Creative" knows that to be good at something, there must be effort. Effort implies that SOME THING will be achieved. (Some THING is open to intepretation, of course. It will be YOUR thing) This striving requires dedicated time, time that could be used for so many things.

I suppose, all people who succeed in creative endeavours make a decision to spend their daily allocation of hours/minutes/seconds on the creative process. As everyday creatives, we can do that too.

So, the question is "What would you, or could you, sacrifice for creativity? "
The dictionary says, to sacrifice, is to "give up something (usually valuable) for the sake of something else.

For the sake of creativity, I am prepared to sacrifice many things.
Here are my top 10.

1. Having hair-free legs
2. Elaborate three course dinners
3. Regular eye brow waxing ( is this a theme? )
4. Blonde foils every 6 weeks
5. Hours aimlessly wandering around the shops
6. Scheduled play dates ( I limit to one per week)
7. Facebook (sad, but true)
8. I eat microwavable 3 minute porridge for breakfast (I know- terrible but just as yummy!)
9. Regular exercise (this could just be an excuse!!)
10. Television. Of course. Biggest creative time zapper of them all.


Tell me, what are you prepared to sacrifice for your creativity??

Our own NORTH STAR

Star of the Show, originally uploaded by Mr Geoff.
Today, in the Mama Moontime Club, we'll hand felt our very own journey book cover. 

We take steps forward each week to unfold another aspect of our creativity. We strive to become 'everyday creatives'.


We have begun our journey and we make notes of our steps along the way, mainly for reflection and to see how far we have actually come...

Today, we'll look for our 'orienting point', the thing that will hold us and guide us, like our own NORTH STAR.

We all need our own NORTH STAR.

Hand stitching at Moondew

Our lovely mama's were stitching and sewing today.  These are our little hand towels for the children to dry their hands on before meals.

Stitch and sew, stitch and sew

This is how the needle goes.

Every child has a symbol- a mushroom, a cupcake, a tree etc- and each mama has a crafty basket identified by a tag with their child's symbol. This is what our mama's used as a guide for their stitching embroidery work.

Children begin to recognise 'their' things, like their cup, and bowl and handtowel by finding their symbol. It is a wonderful pre-writing skill to be able to recognise shapes and forms and letters.

Our Moondew mama's only have a short time to stitch, whilst their little ones play around us all.

Haven't they done a tremendous job!  Some of our mama's have never even stitched before!

A blessingway ceremony

Two of my friends are having babies in the next two weeks.

(This is Ned, the day he was born. I am reminded of how little and precious these new bundles are)

Yesterday, we celebrated with one of our friends, Naomi.

Jen, my friend and celebrant, prepared a lovely ceremony for Naomi and for Frida, her 4 year old who is soon to be a big sister for the second time.

A blessingway is such a lovely way to honour the journey of the mother and child.

Each child that comes to us on earth brings his/her own special gift and qualities that have never before been seen in quite the same way.

Jen prepared her Blessingway circle mat and it await us filled with brightly coloured petals, felted bead bags, and a candle.

We took turns to introduce ourselves, name our "quality" ( a challenge for the ego) and then acknowledge something about Naomi that we love.  I love her forthrightness and integrity to stand up for what she believes.  Go girl!

Later, we shared a little of the beads we had brought.  My contribution to the bead necklace were two rolled glass beads from the coast of Africa, tumbled and bumbled through the oceans of time.

Frida liked the blue. Naomi was given the green one.

Everyone brought a packet of seeds and shared their reasons for choosing those.

Seeds symbolise new life and growth, the very things we hope for this new baby.

A number of letter telegrams travelled across the waters to be with Naomi on her special day.

This was an extra, welcome, surprise!

Our voices raised up with Jen to sing her Blessingway song.  It is true.  Life does go on, and on, and on.

We shared a meal.  For a recently reformed chocoholic, there was a dangerous element on the table.

 Naomi's husband had made the very delicious "kladdkaka" recipe.

It was a kind of chocolate fudgey thing. 

Decadent.

Best baby blessings Naomi and Gabi.

We look forward to meeting your little ones soon!

Gold Coast Autism Mother's Retreat Weekend

My teenage daughter was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the end of Grade 5.  There were many years of grief, worry, concern, disbelief, horror, anxiety, sadness, wonder and absolute astonishment in the years prior to her diagnosis.  We truly did not know what we were dealing with. 

As a single parent back then, I took on a lot of the blame, and wondered what I could have done differently. Yet, I knew that she was different from a very young age.

Aspergers Syndrome is on the Autistic Spectrum.  Aspergers manifests as an inability to know or understand social cues, and this means children are always on the outer.

Imagine having your child never be invited over to visit a friend, never be asked to parties, having parents of other children avoid you.  Imagine having to always be 'on guard' or 'on watch', waiting for the next inappropriate comment or action from your child.  Imagine never having a break.  Imagine phone calls from school representatives asking you to collect your child, again and again and again.

For most children and families, school is a treasured time.  A time of learning, of friendships, of fun, of new things and games.   For Asperger children, school is often a nightmare.  For parents, home schooling begins to look like a reasonable option!  Imagine waiting years for the schooling journey to be over, finished, complete.  I'm nearly there.  I honestly can't wait!  

Yet these children are filled with goodness, and quirkiness, and an eccentricity that makes life with them interesting and never dull.   They see life in a way we couldnt imagine, as though they stepped off a plane in China,whilst expecting to arrive in the USA.  They try to communicate but lose their bearings.

For an Asperger child, every little sign, symbol, facial expression, quirk of nature, saying, motto, sarcasm, tone of voice and nuance has to be explained, examined and understood.  Luckily, through the patience and loving guidance of teacher aides, Visiting advisory teachers, classroom teachers, Social workers, Therapists, doctors, and natural therapists, and of course parents, siblings and extended family, these children build "experience banks" which help them negotiate the world.

This journey has been a tough one, and one I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy but we are through the gates of fire now.  A quiet calm has been restored for the moment.  We keep our fingers crossed. 

This weekend, a group of mothers in the same boat met for a rare weekend away.   I know what a treat this is!  Henri's old teacher Helen, invited me to come and do a hands on crafty workshop for these mums and I jumped at the chance. 

In the short time we had, we made a fleece Christmas Angel.  These are always a big favourite.

They sit peacefully on top of the tree or be strung up in a special spot.

A christmas poinsettia flower brooch was our other little task.

I think the mum's enjoyed it!

Did you know Christmas is only 11 weeks away??