The puppy licked my nose!
Finger puppets help bring out the imagination in our children; the imagined worlds and characters of children are fascinating to watch! With this simple tutorial, you can make animals, monsters, aliens, sea creatures, people or whomever your imagination might introduce to you. Adults and children alike,please be careful with the felting needles, as they are very sharp, please supervise your children while felting.
piggy tail
The secret to needle felting is SHAPES! You determine the shapes that make up an object, felt each one and sew and/or felt them together-Voila-easy as pie! I will show you step-by step how to make the frog finger puppet in this tutorial, but there is a shapes guide that can be printed for the cow-pig-rat-frog and dog at the end of the tutorial to help you determine the shapes that make up the other animals.
pig, cow, rat, frog and needle felted finger puppets
sunset on the Tel Aviv beach
Summer is grinding on at our house; toys, Barbies, crayons and swimming goggles are flying around my head as I sit at my sewing machine, my kids are whining I’m bored and I’m trying to think creatively to keep them busy.
flip flop feet
The girls’ new game while we’re driving around town is waving at everyone that will look at them! Most people ignore their weird, friendly greetings and some smile. I just shrug my shoulders and shake my head as I drive because I can’t pretend they belong to someone else like I usually do. Even though their frantic waving at stangers is fairly embarassing, the belly laughs I hear from the back seat make me chuckle too.
summer swimming
I’ve been concentrating on tidying up the house (which was ignored the last 5 years that I had my store). The girls and I have been washing walls, organizing drawers, cleaning everything, making new bed curtains and table cloths, dusting things that haven’t been dusted for 5 years and throwing out piles of junk. The downstairs-storeroom (which I called the troll hole) was filled from with boxes, sewing machines and fabric from the store; it has finally been turned back into a useable playroom again. Really, this is a huge achievement because you used to have to climb over things to get to the couch to watch the t.v. which was framed by “stuff”, you could barely walk down there after we unloaded everything left from the store. I was supposed to tidy up this area a long time ago so I could work downstairs, but I couldn’t bring myself to work without a window and lots of light, so I took over the kitchen table as my little work space.
(Before) storeroom/family room
I wanted to get all this done before we take off for our vacation in August. The trip in August should supply me with endless photo opportunities at which time you’ll see where we are when I post some of the photos on my blog.
Emili in the pool
Creative summer kid activities include:
1. The girls and I planted our baren window boxes that were filled with dead plants and twigs with herbs and flowers.
2. I painted a small wall in the kitchen with chalk board paint which has proved to be a new “fun” place in the house. I was worried about the dark green paint being “too much”, but with all the art covering it, it’s o.k.
3. The girls and I attempted to make our own sushi one evening with a kit. I’ve been watching the Japanese sushi makers at the restauant down the street and thought “that looks like fun, and much easier than one would think”. We were deliciously successful!
4. Trips to the pool and the beach in the evening (armed with a bottle of vinegar to combat the jellyfish stings.)
kitchen wall chalkboard
We have seen quite a few visiting friends and relatives we haven’t seen in a while, that’s always fun! Stay tuned for photos of our vacation, followed by new needle felting tutorials of some cute (Waldorf style) toys.
sprinkler park in Tel Aviv
Needle Felted Hooty Owls
Emili holds the Hooty Owls in nests
Egg and tomato mushroom centerpiece
I‘m always looking for child friendly projects that my girls can make; this one takes place in the kitchen. These cute little mushrooms are made from eggs and tomatoes! It’s an easy thing to make with a little adult supervision, adorable and the kids can eat them when they’re finished. The deviled egg version can be served at dinner parties as a festive appetizer.
Egg and Tomato Mushroom Recipe
4 boiled eggs
4 medium sized tomatoes
mayonnaise
mustard (optional)
salt and pepper (optional)
toothpick
wheat grass or lettuce leaves (optional)
Simple version
1. Boil and peel the eggs, cut off the tip of the widest part so they’ll stand up.
2. Cut off the rounded ends of the tomato and hollow them out.
3. Position the eggs in the wheat grass or a platter and put the tomato halves on top.
4. Dot mayonnaise onto the tomatos with a toothpick.
Deviled egg version
1. Boil and peel the eggs, cut off the tip of the widest part so they’ll stand up-put cooked egg yolks into a bowl.
2. Cut off the rounded ends of the tomato and hollow them out.
3. Mix the cooked egg yolks, 2 Tablespoons of mayo, 2 Tablespoons of mustard, a dash of salt and a dash of pepper together. Fill the eggs with this mixture.
3. Position the eggs in the wheat grass or a platter and put the tomato halves on top.
4. Dot mayonnaise onto the tomatoes with a toothpick.
It's an egg, it's a tomato, it's a mushroom!
Putting small cherry tomato halves on top of a cheese sticks also make tall, skinny edible mushrooms.
Eggs and tomatoes that look like a mushroom are a simple, healthy kids' snack
I’d like to thank Neroli, the natural food market on Shabazi street in Neve Tzedek for giving me the remains of their wheat grass. I used the square of wheat grass as a prop for my mushrooms, but after the photo shoot, I planted it outside in a big planter. I think the planted wheat grass looks like a mini lawn. If you put the wheat grass square upside down in your garden or planter, it will serve as a great compost for the soil.
By the way, these (real) red spotted mushrooms in the wild can be poisonous to eat, but they are a delight to see.
Edible mushrooms (eggs and tomatoes) on a spring day.
