Wordless Wednesday: Rainbow cookies

Earlier this week i came across this recipe for rainbow play dough cookies, and couldn't resist making them. We do love rainbows! i added lolli-pop sticks to half the batch to create rainbow cookies on a stick. An instant hit my kiddoes.

See more Wordless (or in my case) Not-so-Wordless Wednesday posts here.

Slowly progressing.

Once again, i am way behind on posting. i have about 6 half written posts i just need to sit down and finish. After a week of beautiful weather, we are having a week of cooler temps and rain. So hopefully i can take this time to get caught up a bit.
i spent most of the last week trying to get my garden in, flower beds thinned out, and strawberries transplanted, but have come across a few road blocks. So it is still not entirely in. i know many of the locals around here don't even start planting until Memorial day, so i'm not behind quite yet...although it feels like it.
i haven't posted much on my doll progress, because they have been put aside for a bit while i focused on outside work...which just never seems to get done. i have been slowly working on a few new dolls though, and wanted to share.


This is my first attempt at a little boy doll. i really love the way he turned out. His hair was a huge pain to put in, and isn't 100% finished yet. The technique for doing the boys hair is much different than that for the girls, and much more time consuming. i doubt that i will be making very many boys, i may just save them for special order only. i already have this guy pictured as wearing a tie-dye t-shirt and blue jean bib overalls. i just haven't found the fabrics yet. He is made out recycled materials, and reclaimed yarn...and his clothing will be recycled as well.


i've just started getting into some of the handspun yarns that i got from my MIL. i didn't want to use them until i felt somewhat confident making the dolls. You can check out her Etsy shop here. She doesn't have any handspun yarns available on there yet, but my FIL makes weaving and spinning tools at a very affordable price out of reclaimed wood. So definitely check them out.


This is the dolly i made using the above yarn. She turned out quite cute. She still needs another layer of yarn in the back, so her hair will be a bit fuller. Still finishing her outfit as well, and trying to decide whether to make her a fairy or not.


This is my newest doll. i just whipped her up yesterday while we were getting a thunderstorm. This is going to be a new favorite style! i've always loved making mermaids and have made many different styles of mermaid dolls in the past, so this was an easy transition from the regular waldorf dolls i have been making. She is small only measuring around 8-9 inches long. Her hair is again handspun by my MIL. You can expect to see many more of these soon, in a few different sizes.

i would really love feedback on the dolls. What styles/colors do you like or not like? Do you like the funky colored hair or prefer the traditional hair colors/styles? Do you like the dolls to have an older look or prefer them to look like baby dolls?

i am really enjoying experimenting with the different styles and sizes. i am somewhat eager to get some finished and up for sale (so i can buy more materials!! lol) , but am really just enjoying the process of making each dolls, and the knowledge and experience i am gaining with each one.

Husband's Shop Buddy.

My husband's glass shop is an incredibly small space. It was build onto the side of a garden shed, and is probably only around 8 x10. Once you add the work benches, and glass storage and a kiln. It becomes a rather claustrophobic space. You can really fit no more than two people in the space comfortably, although even that seems a bit cramped.


So i'm sure you can imagine the surprise of turning around to put some glass in the kiln and seeing this black snake hanging out underneath it.

The snake seems to like the heat from the kiln, and was probably feasting on mice...who are attracted by the chicken corn that is stored in the garden shed.


Here's my snake wrangling hubby trying to get the black snake out of his shop, while still holding the hot glass in his hand! He's holding a 'marble in the works' that is at least 1500 degrees.

It wasn't a very big blacksnake, compared to the ones we usually come across. Still a bit of surprise. Hubby released it, and we watched it sneak right back into his shop through a little hole in the bottom of the wall. ha ha.

Folded Paper Spring crafts.

Yesterday i decided it was finally time to take down our snowflake decorations, and our paper stars which were very faded. i wanted something new and spring themed to decorate our windows. Last week or so, i came across this picture from Little Acorn Learning. i really wanted to make some flowers for our windows, but when i sat down to make them i had completely forgotten where i had seen them. So i ended up creating my own flowers, inspired by the picture i had seen. It wasn't until i found the photo again, that i realized i had made mine very different. My petals are turned the opposite way, giving it the look of a lotus flower.


After making a few of the flowers, i decided to use the same basic folding pattern to create butterflies and dragonflies.

i made all of these using this Checkered Star pattern. i was going to post a tutorial for it, but there is a great tutorial for it here.
This is the main fold i use for stars, butterflies, flowers etc. You will want to practice this fold, as i use it for all of these spring paper tutorials.


First thing you want to do it cut your tissue paper into squares. i used 2 1/2" squares, but you could use 2" or 3", whatever works best for you. Once you have a bunch of squares cut in different colors, you will want to fold them all into the checkered fold.

For the Lotus flower. i used 5 checkered fold squares in Pink, and three in green.


i lined up the back petals first. Use a glue stick, to glue them together at the base.


You can click the above picture to see it closer up. Next i place the side petals, and use glue stick to secure them. Lastly, i add the very center petal and glue it on top of the other four.
Arrange two of your leaves underneath and glue in place.



The last leaf, i place over the other two, but slighty behind the flower. You can arrange the leaves and petals however you like to give the flower a slightly different look.




The butterfly is created using the same fold, with layered tissue paper. Click the picture for a tutorial on how to make it.

Click the dragonfly picture for a tutorial on making it.

i use my washable glue stick to stick these right in the windows. They make a beautiful spring decoration and are easy for kids to put together. You may have to do the checkered fold for younger kids, but older kids will be able to do it themselves.

Feel free to ask questions if anything isn't clear! Happy creating!

Lazy Bones Photography- Artist feature and Giveaway!

About Tara Sullivan Garvin:

How long have you been creating art?

I've been creating art for as long as I can remember. I have very vivid memories of art class in elementary school and of drawing pictures on my closet door when I was five and trying to blame it on someone else despite the fact that I'm an only child.



What inspires you?

I haven't quite figured out what triggers my bursts of inspiration. Generally they seem to come out of nowhere. Although I will say that if I visit a good art museum I usually come home pretty inspired.


How long have you been interested in photography?

I played around with cameras all my life but I fell in love with photography in high school. Digital photography certainly has it's huge advantages but I very much miss working in a darkroom and I hope to build myself one in the future.

What type of camera do you use?

I use a canon xsi, it's not the best camera on the market but it suits me just fine.


How long have you been painting?

That's kind of a funny question because the answer is “a few months”. I decided that I wanted to start making collages and discovered through that process that I really enjoyed the painting aspect of it. Since then I've been doing at least one or two paintings a week.

What types of paint/materials do you use?

I generally stick to acrylics on either canvas or watercolor paper. I also do collages with found objects, vintage book pages, buttons, keys, tiny gears, ect...


Did you attend college/art school/ classes anything that would be relevant to your art?

I am for the most part self taught. Aside from three wonderful years of high school photography classes everything else has been through books or experimentation.

Now for the GIVEAWAY!!


Tara has offered one reader any 1 print or painting from her Etsy shop ($30 or less)

MANDATORY ENTRY

Head over to Lazy Bones Photography have a look around, and then come back and let me know your favorite piece!

Please include your e-mail address in the format of Yourname(at)email dot com or make sure it is visible in your blogger profile so i have a way to contact you if you win. Otherwise a new winner will be chosen!

EXTRA ENTRIES (make sure you did the mandatory first!!)
please leave a new comment for each extra entry. You can do as many or as little extra entries as you like! If you qualify for 5 entries, leave 5 separate comments.

1. 'like 'Lazy Bones Photography' on facebook 1 entry

2. Visit Tara's site & let me know 1 thing that Tara likes. (hint: bottom of homepage) 1 entry
3.'Heart' Tara's Etsy shop. 1 entry

4. Follow The Enchanted Tree blog via google friend connect. 1 entry

5. Be a fan of The Enchanted Tree on Facebook. 1 entry

6. Share this giveaway with your facebook friends! 1 entry

7. Tweet about the contest and a link back to this post. Leave a link to your tweet.
8. Blog about the giveaway. Include a link to http://www.tarasullivanphotography.com/ and to this post, leave a comment letting me know where to find it. 4 entries



**Rules**

• Giveaway ends May 21th. 11:59pm EST
  
• Winner will be chosen via Random.Org. i will then contact them by email, and post the winners name on my blog.
  
• Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email or another winner will be chosen
• This giveaway is open to everyone.