Window Stars Revisited

 
I've posted about window stars before, but a recent purchase of an Origami Suncatcher kit (which I found in-store) has gotten me on a major paper-folding binge.  The instructions are for very simple stars, but they're still fun and beautiful...plus it comes with 60 pieces of very nice paper already cut into squares (which I much prefer to cutting from large rolled sheets!).  It even comes with a glue stick and a nice box to keep it all in.

One thing that has kept me from making tons of stars before now was the issue with paper.  Actual kite paper is hard to find.  You HAVE to order it.  Period.  Double sided origami paper holds it's color really well, but it isn't as transparent as I'd like (particularly if you're doing something intricate).  Tissue paper is delicate to work with, fades like no tomorrow, has to be cut down from large unwieldy sheets and, did I mention, it FADES LIKE NO TOMORROW (it's worth repeating)....but it's cheap and readily available.

Figure 28 from Window Stars made from the kit's paper

Which brings me to the paper that came in the kit - it's very nice, the color is even and bright and it seems to hold up well to the sun (so far).  The drawbacks being that I have no clue where to get it besides in the kit, it's a bit plasticity so it doesn't hold a crease or glue as well as other things, and it only comes in 6 colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple).  I was going through it rather fast so I decided it was time to break down and order some kite paper.

Figure 21 from Window Stars made with Folia transparent origami paper

In my previous searches for a good (see "cheap") source for kite paper I heard mention of transparent origami paper.  I decided to revisit that avenue this time and it paid off: Folia Transparent Origami Paper  And the best part....IT CONTAINS 500 SHEETS!!!  Plenty of places carry it, but Supermart was the cheapest ($15!) and the shipping was also inexpensive and it came QUICK.  One of the reviews I read for it before I ordered complained that it was basically colored wax paper which is exactly what I needed.  I had gone so far as to look into how to make colored wax paper.  Yeah...screw that!  I don't have time for such things!  It comes in 10 colors: red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, blue, purple, pink, white, and brown. I may also order some plastic origami paper which I am guessing is probably very similar to the paper that came with the kit.

The view out my "knitting room" window

As for instructions I have Magical Window Stars, Window Stars, Making Folded Stars from Colored Papers, and Origami Suncatchers (kit).  If you're not ready to buy, here are some online tutorials:

GardenMama - A Tutorial For Waldorf Window Stars
Duo Fiberworks - Window Star tutorial
Arwen Art - Waldorf Window Stars / Tissue Paper Stars Tutorials
The Enchanted Tree - Folded Paper Butterflies, Flowers, & Dragonflies & Tissue Paper Hearts

Here are some more stars for your viewing pleasure:

5 Pointed Star from Magical Window Stars made from tissue paper

Pinwheel Star from Origami Suncatchers made with the kit's paper

Figure 23 from Window Stars made with the kit's paper

Our front door and a variety of stars from all 3 books as well as a few improvisations

Happy folding!

Summer Vacation - Nags Head, NC

Nags Head, North Carolina is my absolute favorite vacation spot.  I fondly remember trips there from my childhood.  Honestly, I don't think we really went there more then 2 or 3 times...but it's one of those places that really sticks with you.  On this particular occasion it had been 10 years almost to the day since I'd been there.  The situation was virtually the same, except this time I was an adult, married, with 2 small children of my own.

We left home on Friday in the afternoon.  We lucked out because both kids napped for the first few hours of driving.  Both of them travel really well, I can't complain, but 3 or 4 hours in the car is rough with any small child.

Path over the dunes by the hotel

I'm forever in my wonderful aunt's debt!  Bonnie vacations in Nags Head every September  and adores my children, so she insisted upon getting us a room for 2 nights in her hotel.  Were it not for her, we probably wouldn't have gotten to do this at all....or would have at least had to get a room a ways away from the beach.  Even in the off-season, rooms aren't cheap!

The hotel was just on the backside of the dune so we immediately got to go walking on the beach after chucking our bags in the room and checking out the view from Bonnie's 5th-floor balcony.

No surprise, Dani was taken with the huge waves.  She and Aaron played in them for probably an hour before heading back in to get cleaned up and ready for dinner.

She's wet because a wave knocked her over

Day 2 brought bubbles on the balcony and shopping before a full-fledged beach excursion.

Two of my favorite places to visit while in Nags Head is Jockey's Ridge State Park and Kitty Hawk Kites.  Because it was a hot and very sunny day, we put off the trip to the Dunes til later that evening, but the Kite Store was a nice air conditioned distraction.

I picked up a reasonably priced basic kite for $12 and then a lovely cooperative board game called Mermaid Island (for Dani's upcoming 3rd birthday) from Peaceable Kingdom.  After checking out there, we headed for the local Sweet Frog location and enjoyed some frozen yogurt before hitting the beach.

Outside the Kite Shop

I literally PUT the kite into the air.  No running or help required.  It was that easy.

Recent storms stirred up a lot of impressive shells

Building castles

Oscar had this vacation thing down

I must say, taking 2 small children to the beach is exhausting!  Getting them and all the various paraphernalia that children require there and back again damn near killed us both!

Being at the beach was lovely, however.  My husband, Aaron, has only been to the ocean probably one other time in his entire life.  He was born and raised near Fargo, North Dakota.  Beaches are NOT something they have out there!  Dani, needless to say, had a blast!  Oscar mainly slept, but that's just fine for a 3-month-old.  I mostly took photos and helped Dani look for shells and rocks in the sand.  I packed knitting and several books to read, but I didn't really get much of an opportunity to either knit or read.

By the time we were done playing in the waves and had drug all the stuff back to the hotel, Aaron and I were ready to collapse!  We ended up putting off the Dunes til the next day.

The Dune from afar

Arrrgh!  Pirate baby.  Yep, I forgot his hat.

Putting off going to the Dunes til day 3 (our final day) was a mistake.  We ended up going at noon, I wasn't prepared at all, and it was just too sunny for the littles.  Oscar was probably the biggest obstacle on that venture.  At 3-months-old he already weighs at least 16lbs!  It's a lot to carry...particularly UP a very LARGE sand dune.  In the end, we didn't go beyond the wooden observation deck.  I really wish we'd been up for it the night before!  At dusk it would have been perfect.  Oh well, there is always next year.

We ended up leaving for home a lot earlier on Sunday than we had expected.  Dani was tired and missing home.  She really didn't understand the whole hotel thing.  Nighttime was not fun.  She had a really hard time falling asleep in a strange place (something she definitely got from me!) and our laptops refused to play the DVD's I'd brought along for downtime in the hotel room.  The 2nd night we borrowed Bonnie's laptop which would play them, which was a lifesaver!  Again, the kids napped in the car for most of the way home.  I did too!  When I woke up I had a headache from hell and we stopped for a pretty terrible lunch at Denny's before making the last hour of the trip.

In all, it was a great little vacation.  The sleep issue was something of a bummer, but I imagine another year will make a world of difference on that front.  :)

A Day In Nature - The Beach

Labor Day weekend we packed the kids up and headed to my parents' house near the Potomac River in Westmoreland County.  I admittedly have a very love/hate relationship with the beach because of living there for nearly 12 years myself....but now that the children are getting older the beach can be a lot of fun.

Dani is really starting to notice nature more and more.  Finding acorns and leaves in our yard, feathers in parking lots, shells at the beach.  The best thing the world for her right now is an empty pail she can collect bits of nature in!

Sandcastles are finally something she can enjoy making as well!  She had a wonderful time slowly filling up a large bucket with damp sand and getting her father to help flip them over.  Grandpa also got in on the action while the rest of us sat close by in the edge of the river chatting and playing with the babies.  Dani is also extremely social these days and instantly made friends on the water's edge and recruited other young kids to build with her.

After a few hours of playing in the sand we went out on the boat and headed for what the locals call "Sharks' Tooth Island".  You actually can find sharks teeth there, though they aren't the fresh white teeth most people are used to.  They are ancient black teeth from ages ago that get washed ashore.  My sister-in-law, Jessica, is particularly adept at spotting them...meanwhile I have little luck with it myself.  Aaron did, however, find two teeth after she told him what to look for (he assumed they were white at first).

Oscar, thankfully, doesn't mind his life jacket (which ALL of the children wear at all times when on a boat that is underway).  He napped most of the trip til we got to the island where he enjoyed some jacket-free time while he nursed and then sat on Grandpa while the rest of us combed the beach.  He is very fond of my father, it seems.  My father is pretty funny looking though....so it's no surprise.  lol

There were lots of gulls on the island.

Dani enjoyed looking at the bird tracks in the sand as well as making tracks of her own.  She looked for rocks and shells, mostly and it was a special treat when we found what we have always referred to as "Phospors".

They're actually a creature called Ctenophora or "Comb Jellies".  They're little balls of jelly similar to a Stinging Nettle or Jelly Fish, but without the venom or tentacles.  They also light up at night when you touch them.  We've been finding them in the river my entire life, but until now I never knew what they were actually called.  Gotta love Google!

An oyster shell.

 The trip, all in all, was very enjoyable for everyone.  

Onward to adventure!

Productive Thursdays - Giraffes

Teething giraffes - done

Stormy Weather

It's really hard to take photos in a hurricane.  It's a shame though, because Dani had a wonderful time playing in the rain!

Mother nature is having a field day with our neck of the woods, as of late.  First an earthquake on Tuesday (which is almost unheard of in Virginia) and now hurricane Irene passing through on the weekend.

Saturday for us brought a lot of wind and rain.  Oddly enough, nothing was damaged in our yard.  I thought for sure at least one of the many old trees that surround our house on all sides would have at least dropped some large branches on us....but they didn't.  Many of the other trees in the area came down though, sadly.


As of 2:30-ish on Saturday our power went out.  I was napping on the bed with the kids while Aaron ran out to the store.  We really weren't thinking the storm would do much in our area so we didn't really plan for a long-term power outage.  Later we had to make another trip to get some snacks that didn't require opening the fridge or cooking.  I also thought to grab an activity book for Dani while we were out.

I have to say, the Funky Sticker Backpack was a real lifesaver!  It kept Dani busy the whole weekend!  I was pleased with the variety of activities and themes it included.  Some were "girly", but most of them were gender neutral or even "boyish" (in some people's opinions).  We set her up by a window while it was still light and after dark we lit all the candles we could dig up and continued playing and coloring by flashlight.  At which point I did some experimenting with make-shift oil lamps...

Between these two tutorials I came up with a couple different types of lamp.  The first using a baby food jar, yarn, and some wire.  My favorite was made with nothing but tin foil, a strip of old t-shirt, and olive oil.  Just shape the foil into a shape something like a Genie's lamp and lay in the wick.  It works great and is truly the easiest type of lamp to throw together in an emergency!

 After awhile Dani and Oscar started getting tired out.  We played with shadows in bed for a bit and then read storybooks by flashlight til they both fell asleep.

The camera's flash was the most light we'd had all night!

Power was still off this morning and it was doubtful it would come back on anytime soon so we headed out for food and then took the contents of our fridge with us to see my good friend Amanda from Not My Expectations.  The girls had a great time and so did the littles!

We had a tea party on a lovely stump table and chairs

Dani and E

Oscar enjoyed the Storch Leo I borrowed

A in the Girasol

Surprisingly, the power IS back on now.  I much say I'm surprised....we had been told it wouldn't be on before tomorrow night.  I must say I've had enough wild weather for quite some time!

Mother of Two

I had the baby.  He's almost 2-months-old.

Oscar Kiel Harrison S. born June 7th 2011 born at home weighing 10lbs.8oz.

I'm just starting to get back into the swing of things.  It's hard sometimes being home alone with two small children.  Frustration runs high for me.  The baby is easy, but sometimes the needs of a toddler and a newborn don't mesh well.  It's wonderful to not be pregnant anymore, but it's an adjustment to be doing things again.  Being pregnant makes me lazy.  My lack of mobility is so bad that I just had to sit for a couple months....so now I have to remind myself to just get up and do stuff instead of putting it off til later.  My mantra at the moment is "if it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now".  I'm working on it.

Dani loves Oscar....sometimes a little too much.

So, back to blogging....I hope.  lol

Zero to Hippie

First of all, thanks to Eicelynne for the sweet name idea...originally intended for an Etsy, but at the very least I want to use it for my blog.


So, I have gone crazy hippie lately, it seems.  It's odd for me to feel weirder than usual....I didn't think it possible....but then I went on a sewing binge and let my hair dread.  Haha!

I made some diapers for the new baby.  By the way, his name is Oscar or Oz for short.  


These are flannel Darling Diaper Newborn fitteds.  Link takes you to the free PDF pattern.  I need to make like a dozen more.  Also some covers.

I tie-dyed some onesies...a lot more than pictured here....and some toddler tees.

I turned a bunch of old adult clothes into baby clothes of Oz.

And a bunch of rainbow ponies to sell.

Plus a whole ton of skirts and gowns for my daughter who suddenly refuses to wear pants!

I also made some upcycled wool longies and some dread bands....and yes, I'm letting my hair dread naturally.  Thanks to Jenn for pointing me in the direction of this natural dread site.  I have ALWAYS wanted dreadlocks so I'm super excited.  :)

Dani - The Imaginary Breastfed Toddler

I have been informed that it is impossible to breastfeed your child past a few months.  You absolutely WILL HAVE TO give formula at some point because there is no way you will be able to keep producing enough milk for more than a newborn.  Okay.  Well, I intended to nurse my daughter til at LEAST the age of 1 and beyond....let's look at how this is working out so far...

Oh look!  A newborn!  Breastfeeding at this point is going well.  No need for formula yet...

Two months later and she's quite a bit bigger.  Hm...still have milk...wonder how long that will last....

Look at the chubbiness!  What?  All breastmilk so far?  How odd.

Well...so far she doesn't look underfed.

Six months old.  Still breastfed.  Still no formula.  No interest in solids AT ALL.

Look!  She's breastfeeding right now!

Standing and cruising around the living room.  Yes, that is a black eye from being mobile.  Still nursing.

Walking!  Almost to 1 year!

Dani's 1st birthday!  Loves cake.  Loves nursing.  Hasn't had formula or cow milk.  No bottles at all, actually.

Enjoying time outdoors.  Still nursing.  No cow milk.

Look!  She's at it again!

She also like apples.

Dani's at the park with her friend Ella.  Ella is breastfed too!  Ella's mommy had supply problems when Ella was a newborn so she had some formula.  They worked through their problems though and Ella hasn't had formula since she was 10-days-old.

Oh!  I forgot to mention that she had teeth!  Lots of them.  Nursed anyway.

Dani LOVES pizza.  Probably her favorite thing after mama-milk (which she calls "meecies").

Well wadda ya know....Dani is 2-year-olds and here she is nursing again.  Not a drop of formula yet.

So it looks like it IS possible to nurse more than a few months and formula is NOT automatically necessary.  Did my milk ever dry up?  Well yes, actually it did.  It's been about 2 months now (Dani was over 2-years-old) since my milk dried up due to pregnancy.  She never had formula.  She's only had a few sips of cow milk here and there out of curiosity.  She eats solid food just like any other child from 9 months onward.  She didn't starve.  She wasn't malnourished.  I didn't struggle to keep it up this long either.  Sure, the first few weeks are hard...but it's downhill once you get over the hump.

So much for being imaginary.