I went to a parenting talk a year ago and what I came away with from it was this  – if our ‘cup’ is empty (ie we are not filling ourselves up with the things we need to be happy), then we have nothing to spill out and give to those around us. We need to keep filling our own cup to be able to pour out into everyone else’s.

Since adding a third child to the mix, my cup has definitely been empty (more like a stone dry well actually!) and I keep going back to what I heard in the course…that I need to fill my cup. I need to carve out time for feeding my soul. This doesn’t need to be a huge amount of time on a weekly basis (that would be nice, but lets be realistic!), it could be a 10 minute meditation each day, it could be a long hot bubble bath once a week, it could be a monthly afternoon out with a friend. I love to be creative, and my natural high comes from making something out of nothing with my own two hands (and perhaps the help of a sewing machine!), so for me – I want to make time to pursue my creative fantasies (fixing holes in children’s pants does.not.count) – to do what I love for the sake of just doing it because I LOVE IT! Whether you love sewing, gardening, cooking, shopping…you know what feed your soul and I’m telling you – you need to make time for it!

To follow through with my wild notions of nurturing myself I need an actual plan to do this. I must choose and work to carve out the time – otherwise sneaky old regular life gets in the way of cup filling efforts. Luckily, my husband is on board with this plan (perhaps in the hopes I’ll become less cranky) – if you have small children at home all day every day then you need to enlist the support of someone to give you some alone time. Or, during school or nap times, wedge some cup-filling in there for you instead of cramming work/cleaning/cooking/washing into every free minute. Shiny happy mama = shiny happy family (you know it’s true)!

Most days I’m not even sure what day it is, so I’ve made a pretty little reminder clipboard for my nurturing plans. It’s propped up against my mirror where I’ll see it every day, and I can make a date/plans with myself on a slip of paper and keep it on the board for that week. Each week I will find the time to do one nice thing with myself – and once done I can switch the paper out with my following weeks plan. You can make one too! Yeah! Lets make 2011 the year where our cups are full, our families enjoy the splashings and we truly love and care for ourselves…wishing you all good things for this new year!

Emily

Nurture time reminder clipboard project

Supplies:

Mini clipboard (office supply stores carry these)

Acrylic paint & foam brush

Paper (think scrapbook, gift-wrap, hand-made, magazine pages)

Mod podge/gel medium (or any white glue)

Ribbon or lace

Stickers, tags, fun things to embellish with.

Steps:

Cover all or part of the clipboard with your papers. You can make a collage of papers, or use one special piece. Paint the glue onto the clipboard to stick the paper down on, and then coat the paper in another layer of your glue.

Once the paper is dry, paint the remaining portion of the clipboard with 2-3 layers of acrylic paint (I simply lifted the metal clip to paint underneath it).

Add a strip of ribbon or lace using the glue.

Choose a word such as ‘nurture’, ‘nourish’, ‘breathe’, ‘my time’ to serve as a reminder to yourself!

Decorate the clipboard with any stickers or other fun things to make it your happy place.

*on the back of the clipboard I glued a library pocket to hold ‘ideas’ – then each week I can choose an idea from the pocket, and add to it as I feel inspired.

Some simple and (mostly!) inexpensive nurturing ideas:

Have a bubble bath

Read a magazine in bed

Take a solo trip to the library

Play with some watercolour paints

Visit a garden

Treat yourself to a nutritious meal at a favorite cafe

Download a meditation online, lay down and relaxxxx

Lay outside on a blanket and watch the clouds

Attend a class that you’ve always been meaning to try

Write a list of things you are grateful for

Receive a massage

Doodle with crayons

Sit in a park and people watch

Visit a museum or art gallery

Go for an indoor swim

Read a chapter of a book

Plan a girls night with some friends – organize and send invites

Have a home facial

Go for a walk and take photos of things you see

Take a self portrait

Create a visual soul collage from magazine pictures

Organize your wardrobe

Burn oils and listen to music

Write a card/letter to a friend

Plant something in your garden or in a pot

Phone your best friend for a chat

Write some goals in your journal

Try a new recipe

Set your timer for half an hour of crafty time

Give yourself a hand massage & manicure

Take yourself out for coffee/hot chocolate

Make a cd of your favorite music for listening to in the car

More Ideas from Emily

A Year in Your Life

Felting Fun

No-Knit Scarves for Fall

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Gathering with some families or a group of children to create and decorate a tree for the animals is a wonderful alternative to your normal holiday party. It’s a lovely way to give back to mother nature and connect with your surroundings. With winter chill bringing many of us inside for more of our days – taking the time to visit the outdoors and think of the creatures who live there is a fun activity for one and all!

Tasty ornaments are simple and pretty to make…

*Cut slices of apple, orange or other fruits and using a large embroidery needle and thread – create loops to hang the slices from the tree.

*Gather pinecones and loop string around the top for a hanger. Spread peanut or almond butter in the pinecone grooves, and sprinkle seeds or chopped nuts onto the buttered parts.

*Thread popcorn, cranberries or other yummy snacks for the birds and squirrels – stale bread crusts, mild cheeses, roasted vegetables, dried fruits. With a large, blunt needle even the littlest helper will enjoy the work of threading.

*Tiny baskets can also be filled with seeds, nuts and cake/breadcrumbs, and hung directly on the branches.

Once you have created a basketful of ornaments it’s time to hang them on your tree! Perhaps you have a nice tree in your backyard you want to decorate, or you could take a walk out into the woods and choose a tree there to adorn…whatever you do, Christmas carol singing makes it merrier!

Dangle the ornaments from the tree and wrap your strings around the branches. Doesn’t it look beautiful? Imagine the delight of those woodland creatures as they come out into the cold and discover the magical tree that has been decorated just for them! It will be fun to watch and see what gets eaten first. If possible, replenish your tree throughout the winter with more treats to see the creatures through until spring.

Maybe this can be a new tradition…it will certainly be one of ours!

Wishing you and your family a happy and peaceful Christmas full of love!

Emily

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There are tons of great websites that you can quickly upload your photos to and turn them into all sorts of cool gifts – from bumper stickers to neckties (really, what uncle doesn’t want to wear a necktie with a picture of his favorite niece on? I just don’t know.).

I grabbed 12 adorable (of course!) photos of my kids from the past year and popped them into a simple calendar for the easiest of easy gift!

I then uploaded all sorts of pictures to make fun note-cards for various people I love!  I took pictures of candy, pictures of my children’s toys, flowers, alphabet pasta, random happy things! The idea was to put together a note-card set to give as a gift, although when the cards arrived in the mail – I wanted to keep them all for myself!

I made a simple felt pouch by sewing together two pieces of felt with strips of fabric attached to the top to tie the pouch closed. This took a whole, um, 5 minutes to make – and I have a ‘handmade’ gift to give (a cute one at that!).

If you have a few more minutes up your sleeve you could make a slightly more detailed pocket for the note-cards and a pen to live in. With raw edges and ‘rustic’ (my new word for uneven) cut fabric – you can whip this out in no time!

Have some fun and take yourself on a ‘photo adventure’ around town (or even your home) – photographing various things to create a card set. Know someone who loves horses? Head to a farm and snap away at those ponies! Candy lover? Fill different bowls or jars with colorful candy, or spell out a word in skittles! Get creative and take photos of all those fun things your family love for a personalized note-card set.

Wishing you lots of stress-free days in the upcoming season, and hoping those last-minute handmade gifts come together joyfully!

Emily

The post Last Minute Handmade Projects appeared first on TodaysMama.

Using little colorful scraps of fabric I created a funky, freestyle scarf that would also look uber-cute on a little person, and then a quick and easy soft scarf with just the right amount of whimsy added thanks to some yummy pom-pom trim.

Add your own flavor to these ideas by mixing up the color or shape, making it perfectly ‘you’ – then make a couple more for your friends and go out on a pretty fall day and jump in piles of leaves!

May your necks stay nice and warm!

Emily

QUILTED SCARF – No Knit Scarf Tutorial

Supplies needed:

-Sewing machine

-Colorful thread

-Scraps of cotton fabric

-Cotton quilt batting

POM-POM SCARF Tutorial

Supplies needed:

-Cotton knit fabric (you could even upcycle and old tshirt or sweater!)

-Pom-Pom trim (find at any Joanns, or other craft/sewing store)

-Sewing machine and thread to match

More Project from Emily

I Spy and Quiet Book Tutorials

Recording Your Year

Last Minute Handmade Projects

The post No Knit Scarf Tutorials – Quilted Scrap Fabric Scarf and Pom Pom Scarf appeared first on TodaysMama.

That is…until…a few weeks ago I was browsing a fabric store and saw a design that made my insides jump with deliciousness. It was fabric so cool, so yummy, and so…so expensive! I could never buy enough to make a skirt or curtains (which is what I really wanted it for), but I just had to get some! Half a yard? I could justify that! So what to do? Maybe – just maybe I’d try making my first ever quilt – something simple using this awesome piece of fabric as the feature, and some less expensive bits and pieces to go with it.

Having never been one to make anything with precision, I’d figure this pup out on my own – my own way!

So over the past few weeks I snuck time here and there to work on my little quilt – a gift for my baby who is soon to turn one. I’d cut, sew…sew…cut! It wasn’t without frustration (or the odd swear-word I’ll admit), and at one point a desperate plea for help (Ma? How do you put this thing together?!!) via the web-cam – but when this quilt of mine finally came together I was ready to sing from the rooftops in glee!

Here’s my photo journey of making my very first quilt (minus the hissy fits and angry faces!), I hope it will provide amusement to those esteemed quilters out there, and perhaps a bit of motivation to those of you wanting to try it for the first time too.

Whilst making it I swore I’d never make a quilt again in my life.

Now – I’m already planning the next TWO!

Emily

The post Quilt Making – From Zero to Hero! appeared first on TodaysMama.

I’m of the opinion that you can never have too many slings. A nice sling is easy (and affordable) to make, so you can put my theory to the test and try out different types of sling to see what works best for you and your little one. This month, from my humble kitchen I’ll show you (yes you! these are perfect beginning sewing projects) how to make both a wrap sling and a ring sling and how to put your baby in (and out!) of them. I hope you enjoy!

Emily

baby slings from embers on Vimeo.

The post Baby Sling Pattern appeared first on TodaysMama.

A blessingway can be held in whatever space or format you wish – that’s the magic of it! Using simple and natural decorations such as fresh cut flowers, rose petals, garden-picked greenery, candles, glass jars filled with tea-lights, stones, blankets or fabrics, juicy pillows…you can set the space for magic to happen! (my friends held a special evening for me at a local beach, and I recently honored a mama-to-be in a small living room with just her family present.)

You don’t have to be all crunchy and earth-mama-y to be involved in a blessing way! Keep it as simple as you like. Life is so crazy and busy and well, crazy these days we often forget to stop, breathe and actually take time out for honoring or just being together. Don’t let your pregnant friends give birth without celebrating and honoring their amazing womanly mama-selves first – throw them a blessingway!

Decide on a space and perhaps a friend to help host the blessing way with you. Send invitations in plenty of time to allow guests to gather their ‘goodies’ to bring to the blessing way. Collaborative, heart-felt gifts from the mama-tribe will mean so much more than plastic toys and cheap bibs!

Plan a gift to be gathered or assembled at the blessing way such as:

A quilt for the baby

A mobile

Scrapbook/photo album

Collage art for the nursery wall

A special item to be placed on an ‘alter’ for the mama’s labor (i.e. a shell, candle, stone etc).

After guests arrive on the day, it is nice to gather everyone in your designated ‘space’ (with all the yummy flowers and candles and things, maybe some nice music…) in a circle to start off the blessing way. Create a flower wreath for the guest of honor to wear as a mama-crown during the blessingway (start with a length of braided fabric/yarn to be tied around her head and have guests tuck different flowers into the braids). Each guest can then in turn state their name – and who they are the daughter of/mother to, honoring the mothers everywhere (for example – “I am Emily, daughter of Jennifer, mother to Ivy, Yindi and Banjo!” it this seems silly wait until you try it – powerful stuff in a room full of women!). Alternatively, sharing how they are connected to the mama or what they love about the mama is also a nice way to begin the day.

An assortment of fun and meaningful activities can be  done throughout the blessing way…

Paint the mama’s belly with body paints or henna.

Have a beautiful blank journal available with a jar of yummy pencils/crayons for guests to draw mama-art and write inspirations in.

Lighting love – offer colorful beeswax sheets and wicks for each guest to make a candle (or have each guest bring a candle to the blessingway). They can be left with the mama to light during her labor, or taken home with each individual to light and home when they hear of labor beginning.

Have a bead ceremony – prepare a bowl of colorful, beautiful beads to string into a necklace, bracelet or anklet for the expectant mama. As each bead is placed on the string, a wish can be made.

Take individual photos of each guest with the mama, a Polaroid camera would be fun!

Ask each guest to bring a square of fabric cut to a specific size to be bound into a quilt for the baby (this can be made after the blessingway, by someone who knows what they are doing!)

Give the mama a yummy foot bath. Fill a beautiful bowl with warm water and flower petals then drop scented oils or salts into the water. ‘Wash’ away fears of labor as you wash her feet.

Pamper the mama-goddess in a variety of ways – have her lie down (on her side) on a throne of pillows/sheepskins/blankets and gather the group around her. Massage her feet, her legs, her hands, brush her hair, give a scalp massage…end with all her loved ones hand touching her somewhere – sharing their energy and love to both mama and baby.

Pass around a pretty bowl and nice paper cut into leaf or heart shapes. Write wishes for the mama and keep them in the bowl.

Make a ‘labor’ massage oil – pass around a tray of essential oils and a larger bottle with a base oil (olive, avocado, almond oil etc). Guests can smell and choose an essential oil to drop into the base oil, creating a yummy, collaborative massage oil for the mama to use!

Blow hundreds of bubbles while the mama sits on her ‘throne’, and listen to a special song or piece of music.

Make delicious, nurturing foods to feast on, after all – what is a gathering without partaking in homemade yummies? All those good vibes and emotional outpouring will have your guests hungry. Keep it simple with soup/salad/bread, or a tea + cake party, or have everyone bring something they know the mama loves and do it potluck style.

Before the blessing way ends, pass around a roster (created prior to the day)– guests choosing a slot to bring a meal/do a load of laundry etc after baby is born. A pretty flower sketch with petals as the sign-up space can be hung on the mama’s fridge so she can see who will be bringing help each day (as babies tend to come in their own time – instead of dates on the roster, have the first person sign up to bring help on the first day after baby is born and so on!)

A phone tree is also a good idea to let everyone know when labor begins…so they can light their candles and send love and happy vibes at the right moment!

Giving birth is such an intense and amazing time in a woman’s life – don’t let it go by unnoticed! Even if you gather together and just do one of the activities above, share some mama-wisdom, talk, enjoy…I promise it will bring about something really special.

(Way more special than eating baby food blindfolded).

I won’t say I told you so

Blessings and happiness to mothers all around!

To delve deeper into blessingway rituals, check out:

‘Mother Rising’ by Yana Cortlund, Barb Lucke & Donna Miller Watlet

‘Blessingways: A Guide to Mother-Centered Baby Showers’ By Sheri Maser

BirthBeads.com

The post Blessing the Way to Motherhood appeared first on TodaysMama.

These make a great last minute gift idea – why, I bet you can whip up several in an afternoon (children present and all!).

Let me also add that permission for matching mother-daughter hair accessories is granted!

So with a bundle of elastic, ribbon and other crafty stuff  I’ve been hoarding, let me show you five fun and fabulous hairbands that you can make too!

Flower Power

supplies needed: length of colorful elastic, flower embellishment.

1. Cut 2 lengths of elastic (lingerie elastic is super cheap and comes in fun styles and colors!) to stretch comfortably around your head.

2. Sew ends together to form a loop.

3. Hand or machine stitch a decorative flower to each of the elastic pieces. Easiest, funkiest headband ever!

Doily Love

supplies needed: Large-ish doily (go thifting or find a granny who can crochet one!), bias tape.

1. Cut about ¼ from the circle and discard.

2. Open bias tape and lay cut edge of the doily inside.

3. Pin bias tape (with doily sandwiched inside) together.

4. Use a funky thread color and zig zag stitch from one end of the bias tape to the other. Tie loose ends under back of the head and prepare for the compliments!

Leafy Goodness

supplies needed: length of plain black elastic, fabric leaves (or cut your own from felt)

1. Stretch elastic around head to get desired size, add an extra ½ inch and cut.

2. Starting approximately 1” from the end, begin to machine sew the leaves to the elastic, overlapping each one slightly until you reach 1” off the end.

3. Secure the two ends to one another but sewing a little square with an ‘X’ in the middle for durability. Pop on your head and wander with the woodland elves!

Patch-Happy

supplies needed: wool felt (or sturdy knit fabric), fabric scraps, wide elastic

1. Measure head from earlobe to earlobe then halve that length. Fold felt in half and cut a strip (either plain rectangle or tapered in on one end like I did) to be that length.

2. Cut different size and shape pieces from your fabric scraps and machine stitch each piece one by one to the felt, forming a patchwork. Once the felt is entirely covered, you may want to add a few strategically places patches over the top for design purposes.

3. Trim any excess fabric that may be hanging over the edge,

4. Sew a 4” length of wide elastic to each end of the felt. Wait for all your friends to beg you to make them one…

Braided Bliss

supplies needed: 3 x long ribbons or fabric strips, elastic

1. Measure head circumference, cut 3 ribbons each to the same length.

2. Secure ends of three ribbon pieces by machine stitching together.

3. Braid the three pieces together, stopping about ½ an inch from the end.

4. Secure end by machine stitching.

5. Trim ends to tidy them up, then attach elastic to each end – sewing a slim rectangle with an ‘X’ in the middle for extra strength. Feel gorgeous and greek goddess-like when wearing.

The post DIY Hair Accessories appeared first on TodaysMama.

As Easter is coming up, I share with you how to wet-felt an egg, and then needle felt a little chick to live inside the egg. Wet felting is great fun to do with your children, but as the felting needle is extremely sharp and scary it’s best to leave that for the adults (I have drawn blood many times, so be careful!).

Enjoy watching, and Happy Easter to your home from mine,

Emily

felted eggs from embers on Vimeo.

Below are some links to wool supplies:

http://www.treetopscolours.com.au/

http://www.thefeltedewe.com/rovings.html

http://www.thesilverpenny.com/woolroving.html

Plus a few inspiring things made by wet-felting:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Rounien

http://www.etsy.com/shop/roommate

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Lebenskuenstler

The post Felting Fun appeared first on TodaysMama.

I hope you enjoy watching – I’m such a visual learner that seeing rather than reading makes so much more sense to me! Let us know what you think! And please find the written instructions for the project below – for your reference (or just in case my Australian accent + newborn-baby-mama-brain doesn’t quite make sense to you!).

Happy creating!
Emily

stepping stones project from Michael Falconbridge on Vimeo.

Stepping Stone Instructions

Supplies needed:
Bag of sand/cement (available from home depot or hardware store)
Broken tiles (tile shops will often give rejects away)
Clear contact paper
Hammer
Cloth rag
Old towel
Bucket and stick for stirring cement mix
Old frying pan (one that you won’t use for cooking!)
Pen and scissors

Step 1
Choose a design (see ideas below) and choose appropriate color tiles for design. Layering the tile between two pieces of cloth, give the tile a good bang with the hammer to break it into smaller pieces.

Step 2
Choose pieces you like the shape of and lay your design out on the floor.

Step 3
Trace the bottom of the pan onto the contact paper and cut out the shape. Peel backing off and carefully lay the sticky side down onto your tile design. Press each tile piece to ensure it holds to the contact.

Step 4
Carefully lift the contact and your tile design up off the floor and place it upside down into the pan (so the back of the tiles are showing).

Step 5
In an old bucket, mix up some cement – you want it to be the consistency of a cake batter – slightly on the runny side. Immediately pour the mixture over into the pan – filling it to whichever thickness of stepping stone you desire! Leave to set.

Step 6
At least 24 (and preferably 48+) hours later, lay and old towel or blanket onto the floor to ‘bang’ your stepping stone out of the pan. A few good whacks of the upside down pan should do it!

Step 7
Peel the contact paper off your stepping stone. You may have excess cement on some of the design – scrape it off with an old knife or stick – or rub it with a rag/scourer to reveal the whole piece of tile. Place it in the garden and enjoy! (or get to work on the next one…!)

*obviously working on several at a time is more time-efficient! Hunt around at garage sales or thrift stores to get a small collection of pans/pots to use – I have even had success in a square Tupperware container, so think creatively and use what you can!

Design Ideas
(these are some my 7 year old and I came up with while brainstorming!)
Tree
Ladybug
Dragonfly
Butterfly
Toadstool
Heart
Star
Fish
Flower
Peace sign
Leaf
Carrot
Bunch of grapes (with ‘fairy stones’ as grapes)
Ice cream cone
Bird
Apple
Smiley face
Different letters of the alphabet to spell out a word (when lined up with other stepping stones)

The post Video Tutorial: DIY Mosaic Stepping Stones appeared first on TodaysMama.