THE TIPPING POINT

All too often life can feel like a little bit of a blur. Especially when children are involved. The days roll one into another and with the regularity of schooling and other commitments, there's not always a great sense of time passing, until the week before school holidays when all of a sudden you are reminded that things are going to change up again. 

But there are bigger yardsticks. And these can catch you quite by surprise. We had one of those this past weekend. It was the school's Spring Fair, an event that played a big role in setting us on our journey.

After our European holiday in July 2015 we decided to investigate the idea of leaving the city, and living in a coastal or country area. The main idea was to be on a parcel of land, where we could change our lifestyle. But crucial to this whole scenario was the children's schooling. It was important that we could find a school that met many of our needs and ideals. 

Not long after we started to investigate different areas, we learnt that one of the schools we were considering was about to have a Spring Fair. We thought this was be a good opportunity to attend and learn more about the school, see what the other children and parents were like, and get a general sense of the school community. 

We were blown away. It more than surpassed every expectation. While the school was reasonably new, the grounds were beautiful - and thoughtfully designed. There were veggie gardens and landscaped paths and buildings made from straw bales. The children's work that we saw on display was impressive. And all of the fair activities were incredibly well thought out and executed with an eye to practicality and beauty. 

The children were able to make floral wreaths and build boats. We ate delicious homemade food and drank memorable chai tea. And after visiting the fair we decided that we would move to the area so the children could attend the school. 

A year has now passed and yesterday we attended the Spring Fair again. This time as parents of children who are enrolled. Our eldest son and daughter played with friends from their classes. We chatted to the familiar faces of other parents. And ate all that good food again.

But more than that we realised how much has changed in our lives since the fair last year. How it was a catalyst for our decision to make a tree change. And how many wonderful things that have happened since then. 

The photos above are from when the children attended the fair last year.

images the indigo crew


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FAIRY FIRES + WANDS

 

It is almost time for the school's big event of the year - the Spring Fair. Each child has been asked to contribute in some way and we were asked to make Fairy Fires and Fairy Wands. They were quite simple to make, and if you don't have the same resources you could easily adapt them - using cardboard or felt instead of the circular pieces of wood. And you could you make one of these fairy wands or a star wand too.

FAIRY WANDS

Sticks

Hooks

Drill

Ribbon

1. Cut sticks to the required length, using a saw. Drill a hole into the end and screw in a hook.

2. Tie a ribbon from the end.

FAIRY FIRES

Wood (or you could use cardboard - painted, coloured or plain - or felt) 

Small river stones

Felting wool (or you could use pieces of coloured cellophane)

Hot glue gun

1. Cut wood into discs - about 8mm thick - using a saw.

2. Using a hot-glue gun, attach river stones into a circle formation on the wooden disc, leaving enough room for the fire in the middle.

3. Pull three fine strands of felting wool (using red, yellow and orange) and fold in half. Glue into the centre of the disk.

images the indigo crew

Thank you for supporting Imprint House, our online homewares store, which helps to make this space possible.

FAIRY GARDEN BIRTHDAY PARTY

It is easy to get excited about birthday parties. They are a joyful time, and can be a lot of fun - even in just the envisaging and organising. But after all of the planning and preparation when the clock ticks down and the guests arrive, we try to keep the occasion as low key as possible. 

But there are parameters. Over the years we tend to find that children can get a little restless if there's no structure. So we usually have in the back our minds a run down of how things should go. An activity or two followed by food and cake. Two hours seems to be a good time limit too, and generally we prefer morning get-togethers - from about 10-12 noon. That way the sugar and excitement can abate as the day wears on.

Last year a craft-based fairy-themed birthday party was quite a hit and so this year we continued with this theme but with a twist. After seeing an idea for a potted fairy garden party on Cloistered Away, I thought it would be a great activity for our soon-to-be five-year-old. It also suited our current location as we could set up a table outside and have plenty of space for the children to forage.

In the days leading up to the party, I bought a few craft supplies and also rounded up some of our own, including shells we had found at a local beach and feathers that we've accumulated this past year. We also made some toadstools the day before from air-dried clay, moulding the shape, inserting a skewer and painting with poster paint.

For the party, we carried the supplies in old jam jars (easy to transport with the screw-on lids) and egg carton containers. Everything was placed in the centre of the table. We also bought small strawberry plants for the girls to plant in their fairy garden pot. Each of them was given a terracotta pot filled with soil and were free to decorate the gardens as they chose. There are some amazing creations on Pinterest, but I wanted each child to have the freedom of opportunity to create their own design.

When everyone arrived we gave them all a paper bag to forage in our garden where nothing is precious. The girls picked black-eyed Susan flowers, bamboo leaves, sticks and pebbles. And I had some paper butterfly notes from Poppies For Grace from years ago, which I taped onto skewers, and they inserted into their gardens. Each child also got a little Schleich rabbit to use as a decoration. And along with the potted gardens, this was their party gift.

Food was cobs of corn and organic sausages cooked on our make-shift outdoor fire, and one of our homemade cakes that we make and decorate every year. This year chocolate sprinkles were made to look like a toadstool.

Decorations were kept to a minimum as we are the midst of renovating The Stone Lodge, where we hosted the party. A painter's drop sheet created a neutral backdrop and was adorned with simple white bunting.

Creating the fairy gardens was enjoyed by all and, of course, something you can do at any time of year.

images the indigo crew

NEW WAYS OF LEARNING

About a month ago the seven-year-old learnt to knit. It is an activity that is encouraged at his new school, and something the children learn before writing or their times tables. Even before I had the chance to read about the reasoning for this teaching method, I found myself buying yarn and a set of bamboo needles. Initially it was because I wanted to help him and couldn't quite remember how to knit as I hadn't done it since I was his age. Then as he became more adept, I became transfixed watching his new-found dexterity with the needles. It seemed like a fun activity to do together.

After teaching myself from a few online tutorials, I soon became addicted too. Moving through the stitches and rows can create a meditative state. It is a repetitive action that is incredibly calming. And while many experienced knitters can talk and not even look at their stitches while they work, focusing on the task at hand creates the single-minded calmness that I have only experienced before from yoga, swimming laps and meditating.

The school's literature states that the amount of attentiveness required to knit helps to train young children's concentration spans which will help with their problem-solving skills in later years. It is also an activity that focuses on fine motor skills, which can assist in learning to read and write, especially the repetition of moving from left to right.

Counting the number of stitches and rows and devising patterns with various colours for the piece that they are working on can help children to develop mathematical skills in a stimulating yet enjoyable way. 

Then there are the conversations that we have had as a result of this new activity. Why wool is better than acrylic. The pluses and minuses of using different types of ply and materials - from twine to cotton. And the cost of wool - as he was going through so much so quickly - and why some products from countries such as China are cheaper - but explaining how the companies who produce such goods get those costs down.

While he learnt French knitting at his previous school, and got a loom weaving kit the previous year, which he went through spurts of using, the act of having knitting as an ongoing class activity has spurred his interest in all sorts of knitting, knotting and weaving again. He sometimes intersperses his knitted pieces with French or finger knitting. This way he has created bunting, which now hangs from his sister's bed, and a bag that he uses to carry his school hat inside. Also, in the past month he has created various bracelets for his sisters and a stock whip, which he enjoyed learning to crack.

His current focus is on using a bale of sisal twine, which has lead to many interesting twists and turns in our talks. We have spoken about how you might create string bags, coasters and light shades using this material. The work of Indigenous artist Regina Wilson also came up. She has created home furnishings for Australian furniture and design company Koskela in the past. He was impressed with her dilly bag design and some of her other weavings.

"We cannot underestimate the self-esteem and joy that arise in the child as the result of having made something practical and beautiful - something which has arisen as the result of a skill that has been learned. In an age when children are too often passive consumers, who, as Oscar Wilde once said, 'know the price of everything and the value of nothing', learning to knit can be a powerful way of bringing meaning into a child's life." - Eugene Schwartz, "Knitting and Intellectual Development" in Waldorf Education: A Family Guide (ed Pamela Johnson Fenner and Karen L Rivers), Michaelmas Press, 1995.

And if you're interested in a few other facts about knitting, here are a list of six unexpected benefits.

images the indigo crew

STEP-BY-STEP WILDFLOWER CROWN - 2 WAYS

The other day on a morning walk I came across some pretty purple wildflowers and was inspired to collect them and turn them into flower crowns for the girls. When I have created flower crowns in the past, I have always used a daisy chain type method, although using string to hold them together rather than piercing them through. However, for the second flower crown I tried out a different method, which is detailed below.

YOU WILL NEED
Flowers
Scissors or secateurs
Twine

FLOWERCROWN - VERSION 1
1. Trim flowers of leaves and cut stem to about 7cm long. Attach subsequent stems about 2cm from base of first stem. Repeat until about halfway down.
2. Change direction (creating a wreath arrangement) until you reach the top and join the top pieces. Trim any loose threads.

FLOWERCROWN - VERSION 2
1. Measure the circumference of your child's head and cut a piece of twine to that length.
2. Attach stems at two points, about 1cm from the flower, and about 1cm from the base of the stem to the circular twine piece. Repeat until you reach the top again. Trim any threads.

images the indigo crew

CHRISTMAS TREE 2015

This year we might not get the chance to get a real tree. So in the meantime, we have created a craft-inspired one. It all began on Saturday when the children were asking to get a Christmas tree, again. At that stage it wasn't even December so a crafted one seemed more appropriate.

School boy likes to get really involved in these projects so he drew the star and we used that as a template for the rest. The girls helped punch the holes into the paper, and thread the pieces. And together we hung the stars in our dining room. 

At this point, the children decided they wanted to hang string lights around it and create a base. It all came together in break-neck speed, but they were incredibly happy, and did individual and a group performance of "Twinkle twinkle little star".

YOU WILL NEED
Pencil
Paper
Scissors
Hole punch
Raffia paper string
Washi tape
String lights (optional) and masking tape to hang

HOW-TO
1. Draw and cut a paper star. 
2. Create holes on two sheets of stars.
3. Thread raffia paper string through the holes until they are back on the same hole. However, when you are about 5 holes from the end, fill with paper. Or you could insert rosemary or cloves for a nice fragrance. Tie a knot at the top and leave enough string to hang.
4. Create 15 stars so you can hang in a triangular tree formation. Hang with washi tape.
5.  To hang a string light outline, you will need stronger tape, such as masking tape.

images courtesy of the indigo crew

SAWDUST ART

My son has an ability to create a project out of almost anything. Last weekend while my husband was renovating, he got his sisters to help him collect some sawdust and they turned it into an art project. They really loved creating these artworks - I think it had a lot to do with sticking their hands in the pot of sawdust! Sand or some other dry material would work equally well too. It was just as much fun for the seven-year-old as the two-year-old. Of course, the results were quite different. I have to admit that there was sawdust all over the kitchen floor but they had a lot of fun. Next time I will set up a craft station outside. 

YOU WILL NEED
Sawdust (or sand)
Paper
Glue stick

HOW-TO
1.  Use a glue stick similar to a pencil and create a design on the piece of paper.
2. Sprinkle sawdust on top - quite generously.
3. Up-end the paper so the excess saw dust falls off.
4. Allow to dry.

images the indigo crew

PAINTED PUMPKINS

It has been a little while since we got the paintbrushes out, and so Halloween seemed the perfect time. We bought a bunch of small pumpkins that the children could paint, and we all had fun creating our own designs. School boy wanted to create an Aboriginal dot painting inspired design while the preschooler went for something more colourful. 

It was a fun way to create focus towards Halloween while spending time together talking and painting at the kitchen table. 

And now we have something to display on our table, which helps create a sense of occasion for the impending big day.

images the indigo crew

HALLOWEEN PAPER CHAINS

One of the decorations we added to our Halloween craft cache this year was paper chains. We made them out of a bat and spider. They were quite impromptu so just using some black tissue paper that we had in our craft cupboard. Depending on the size and intricacy of the decoration, they are an easy one for children to make who can either fold the paper as required and/or cut along the lines.

YOU WILL NEED
White paper (to create template)
Pencil
Strips of black paper (we used tissue paper to get the desired length)
Scissors
Tape or pins to hang

1. Draw your design on a folded piece of white paper. It needs to be symmetrical.
2. Fold your paper in a concertina style.
3. Use your template to cut required shape.
4. Open up and hang using tape or pins. If you want to join in a longer line tape two or more strips together.

images the indigo crew 

HALLOWEEN SPIRIT

As the Halloween festivities are starting to get into full swing, I still stop every now and then to think about the rise in popularity of this American cultural tradition in Australia. It seems every year over the past five years or so its popularity has doubled, at least. Now there are stores dedicated to selling all sorts of related merchandise and the supermarkets have also caught on and are selling Halloween produce and wares.

Yes, the commercialisation of this festivity gripes a little but there's a lot of good that comes from it too. I enjoy creating traditions with my family and finding a way to celebrate Halloween that fits in with our lifestyle and interests. Not surprisingly, a lot of our focus relates to craft and decorating our home. Baking, too. We usually try to make biscuits or something that's not overloaded with sugar - and, again, is about not buying into the celebration, but creating our own activities related to the day. I also want to create these great fruit treats this year.

Most of our crafts are paper-based and recyclable - as in get used for a few years in a row. A little like Christmas decorations. We made the bats and spiders last year using chalk on black paper. More recently we created these spiderwebs, and will share a few more of our projects this week.

It's also lovely walking around the neighbourhood with our children and getting to meet and talk to some neighbours that we don't always see that often. And, of course, there's a great atmosphere of celebration on the streets with all the children walking around dressed up in their costumes. As I said, it's not all bad at all. 

How do you and your family celebrate Halloween? 

image the indigo crew