A whimsy of Gnomes

For the past month or two, in my very rare spare time, I have been working on a whimsy of gnomes. (Did you know that a group of gnomes is called a whimsy? Like a school of fish, a flock of birds, or a herd of elephants!) Well, my whimsy consisted of 7 little men gnomes and just a single little lady gnome. I made them life size, having read in a gnome "guidebook" that gnomes are about 6 inches tall. They are tiny Waldorf style dolls made with 100% cotton bodies, stuffed with pure wool, and wool and cotton clothing and wool hair and beards. 

One little gnome stayed home to play with my children. The rest were carefully packed and sent on their merry way to travel all over the US and Canada as part of a craft swap using natural materials. This time the theme was "gnomes, mushrooms and hedgehogs". I chose to make gnomes! This is the first time I have participated in an exchange with this group and I'm excited to see what we receive in return. I had such a good time creating these little dolls! It was a nice diversion as life has been so full of emotional ups and downs lately! 

Make a Weaving Loom with your Kids!

Today (Well, it was supposed to be yesterday, but... Blogger had issues yesterday, so...) I have a guest post over at HomeSpun-Threads! She is hosting a Summer Soiree, a craft camp for kids, with a new idea every day this month to use over the coming summer. We made homemade looms for the kids to learn how to weave. They had a great time and have asked to use them over and over again! Be sure to pop over to HomeSpun-Threads and check it out!

{Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real}

Joining in today for the first time with the gals over at Like Mother, Like Daughter for their weekly {Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real} posts.

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

{Pretty}

Robin's nest in our backyard with four perfect blue eggs.

 {Happy}

I was taking a picture of the roses and peonies when Claire wandered by the window. She was just thrilled to find me standing there! That smile always makes me happy!

Big brother Matthew taking his baby sister out to play. I love seeing them like this, the boys are so gentle and sweet with her. 

{Funny}

 This is what I walked in to find after I asked my 13 year old to please sort and fold a basket of socks...  There were socks spread out everywhere! I couldn't find an angle that actually managed to capture them all!! Sock Art he says...

{Real}

Some brother, who shall remain nameless, left the pantry door open and Claire found a bag of flour... When I came into the room this is what I found! (I'd like to find whoever it was that told me while I was pregnant with Claire, "Oh, you'll have it so much easier now with her. Girls are so much cleaner and less destructive than boys..." HaHa! This little girl makes more messes than 2 boys combined! Maybe not more than all three boys though...)