It is hard for me to believe that we are now the third day into 2012. My how these past few weeks have flown! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday. I had wanted to share some of my handmade gifts with you before the season past us by but I was swept up in so much of its frenzy that I never found myself able to do so.

I thought I would at least share one of the gifts I made for Ariella- even if it is a little bit over due!

A little while back I came across some tutorials for bendy dolls- cute little dolls made from pipe cleaners. When I saw these I just knew they would be perfect for Ariella as she loves little toys that she can manipulate and carry around. I set about gathering up my supplies in early December to make her some as well as a little wooden box (which I painted pink with white polka dots) to keep them in.

I cannot tell you how happy I am with how they turned out! I used silk flowers for their clothes and my naturally dyed yarns for their hair. To me they look like sweet little flower fairies. After some flip-flopping decision-making I decided to go without painting their faces on. I really liked the idea of her imagining them for herself.

I am very pleased to say that she seems to love them and has named each one. (With rather unusual names I might add, like Izzia, but that is my Ariella for you- always coming up with interesting things.)

Below you will find links to the tutorials I used as guides. I know I will definitely be making her more of these in the future. Not to mention, my thirteen year old wants me to make him some that resemble zombies. I think I like the idea of the flower fairies better though.

• The Enchanted Tree
• On Flickr
• Juise

Where do I even begin? It has been quite the month! These days find me overwhelmed with trying to stay on top of everything and feeling like I am accomplishing nothing. More times than I can count this month I have considering letting some things go as I feel I just do not have the time nor the energy for it all. This blog being on top of that list. I feel guilty when I cannot write a post on a regular basis like I like to and I just cannot seem to get to the blog these days. I keep reminding myself of all that has gone on in our lives recently. So many changes and adjustments. It really is no wonder I am exhausted. I feel as though I am walking a tightrope lately and am trying desperately to keep my balance- balance that seems way off right at this moment.

I worry about keeping up with my blog but am torn because my younger children need me so much. We are still going forward with homeschooling Ariella but that is proving to be so much harder than I imagined considering her autism. Gabriel is rapidly approaching two and boy does it show in his behavior! He is so full of the devil and wanting to assert his own mindedness. As I sit and type this I can hear him downstairs running my husband into the ground. The little man is unstoppable! Some days it feels as though all I do is chase that kid out of trouble. He has the sweet face of an angel but oh my goodness, don’t let that fool you!

We are (so far!) having a rather dry but chilly fall. Today we absolutely loved the sun streaming into our windows despite the quite chilly and even icy weather outside.

A few days ago I did some experimenting with some of the plants in our new garden. We have inherited a thornless hawthorn tree and it is dripping in berries right now. I decided to see what color of natural dye these berries might hold for me. I’m still testing them out but below you can see I did indeed achieve a nice color off of them.

I have been attempting to squeeze spare moments out of the day every chance I get for holiday gift crafting. I do hope to share some of that with you here very soon.

I  will try to be find my way back to this blog this week….

Until then,

xoxo

In the picture above, clockwise from the top: tansy (large pot), shasta daisy ‘sunny side up’, viola, passionflower, yarrow, goldenrod

This afternoon I finally got out to the garden to do some clean up and to decide once and for all what plants are coming with me when we move and what plants are staying behind. I am trying to be very disciplined with myself and not take transplants and cuttings of everything. This is not an easy task for me as I tend to get very attached to my plants. For example, I have had the same oregano plant, chives, and mint for nearly 10 years now! Some plants are easier than others to dig a bit up and take with you.

hollyhock in flower

I am willing myself to take mostly seeds and only a few transplants. I’ve gathered seeds of hollyhocks, chamomile, calendula, and some other favorites. I decided to dig up a few of my dye garden plants such as goldenrod, madder, and tansy. I just couldn’t part with them entirely.

I dug up this pretty little viola and potted it up. It was just too pretty for me to leave behind.

this sweet little viola is self-sown

Although both can get weedy when it comes to self-sowing, I still have to take some seeds from my borage and Queen Anne’s lace. I just love them too much to not grow them in the new garden.

borage in flower

It may self-sow like crazy but the bees love borage. Because of this I always plant some by my tomatoes.

Queen Anne’s lace seeds

I still need to dig up just a few more plants before the big move. I am also wanting to take some Egyptian walking onions with me as well as some of my French tarragon that has been with me through four moves.

I get excited when I think about starting over with a new garden but as I went through this garden today I could not help but feel a little bit sad. So much of one’s heart and soul go into raising a garden. It is very hard not to get extremely attached.