finger paint and chicken play

These were taken about a week ago, right before our week of ill down-time. The chickens are much larger now, even though it's only been a week! They're are growing so quickly and are very happy with their new home. I finally made a version of fingerpaint for Odin to play with. Like most fingerpaints, it was very gel-like and not too opaque, but fun textural play nevertheless. I'm hoping to find a recipe for something a little longer lasting soon and can't wait to use some homemade natural dyes next time. Fall's in full swing now and we've spent much time close to home canning and making jams. Preparing the garden for winter and nestling into our house even more now that we will be spending longer hours indoors. I haven't been able to work on much lately because of the sick babe, but I'm eager to wedge my way back into the swing of things. I have to finish some portraits for trades and a couple more from August's Etsy sales and then I should be all caught up, hopefully by the end of this week. I'll do an art update soon as well as some new post series that I've been brainstorming. In addition to that, I have a catsup tutorial and two different jam tutorials. Exciting stuff! ;)

The fingerpaint recipe we used:

Pour into pot:
2 T sugar
2 T salt
1/3 Cup flour
2 Cups water

Whisk until smooth. Turn on low heat and mix until the mixture thickens. Pour into jars evenly and then add color to each jar and let cool. Then play! Very easy and safe for curious mouths.

Slugs & Snails winners!

Thank you all who entered! Congratulations to Becky Hudson and Elizabeth Nicholson! :D

Make sure you head over to the Slugs & Snails website to buy some. They're inexpensive and are so very lovely!

With love,

Michelle

Olivia and raspberry pie

One of Odin's very good friends came over to play recently and we made the most delicious raspberry pie. Odin loves Olivia (and most other kids) and was beyond thrilled to be able to follow her around all day. For the first time, I brought a chair up to the counter for him to help with the pie and he was so excited! I have always envisioned baking with my littles when I had them and this was really a dream come true. He's pretty adorable covered in flour, am I right?

We have been letting him come up to the counter to help a lot recently. The other day, he helped with making catsup (I'll post a little tutorial soon). He loves being a part of the action, even if it means helping with dishes or cleaning up.

The Sling Diaries, a thank you

With this week bringing a close to the Sling Diaries, I've had a chance to reflect on my experience. This has been a beautiful journey and I'm very grateful to Sakura Bloom for hosting such a wonderful adventure. Thank you everyone for following along with my six entries and for all of your lovely comments. Next week, Sakura Bloom will be bringing the even to a close so I recommend you head on over to the Sakura Bloom and Sling Diaries facebook pages to follow along. 

I am sad that this is over, but very grateful for all of the moments captured along the way. I have just had the photos printed and they are all so lovely! Thank you to Zak and Hadar for taking such amazing photos!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Slugs & Snails: A review and giveaway!

When Odin was a little babe, I heard about the company Slugs & Snails and immediately fell in love. I myself am a huge fan of tights and to find a company that made tights suited for boys was an absolute dream. Odin's first reaction to his new tights was equally exciting, as you can see! Unlike socks, baby tights stay on baby's feet and if you're a babywearer, tights don't ride up. Kathleen's tights are excellent for boy or girl and I must admit, I am hopelessly addicted to all of their patterns. It was really great to find something in the tights genre that wasn't pink or ruffly. We've used them since Odin was a few months old and I am continuously buying the next size up as needed. They're great for any age babe for a million different reasons, convenience being a big one on our part. As an under layer in the Winter or as the only layer in the Spring or Fall, they really are great all the time! They've been able to tough it through Odin's crawling phase and now that he's walking and in size 2-3, they're holding up beautifully through mud puddle splashes and rolling around in the garden. 

I'm really excited to announce that we will be giving away four pairs of these amazing tights to four different winners, hosted by Dancey Pants Disco and courtesy of Slugs & Snails. Two pairs of tights will be given away right here on the blog and another two will be available through an Instagram (@michellemakesthings) giveaway! I'm thrilled to be able to work with Slugs & Snails and even more excited to turn some of you on to these amazing little creations. The winners will be able to pick their style and size from the amazing collection online, I'm a little bit jealous and wish I could enter myself ;) (the mushroom ones are my favorite and I desperately need to buy a bigger size, since ours are a wee bit too small)!

For the blog giveaway:

First entry- Head on over to the Slugs & Snails Facebook page and hit "like." After that, share this post on your Facebook wall or on your blog and leave a comment here letting us know you've done so!

For a second entry- on the blog giveaway, leave a separate comment here letting us know which tights you would pick if you won! There are some really amazing options on the Slugs & Snails site!

For a third and final entry- Click "follow" over on the side bar of the blog. Comment saying you've done so! :)

So there you have it. You can enter up to three times here on the blog and then hop on over to my Instagram and see how to enter there. I am ridiculously excited about this giveaway and am so happy to be able to sponsor it. The giveaway will end in one week, on Friday September 27th at 10pm EST. The winners will be chosen the following day. Thank you for entering and good luck!!!

field time and playing with the big kids

It's so strange for me to see Odin run around the field wildly and play alongside his young aunties, keeping up with them the entire time.   I can't believe he's grown so quickly (and is continuing to do so) and that he's quickly developing his own personality. Toddlerhood has been quite the ride already and no one ever warned me that raising a toddler was not for the faint-hearted. The emotional ups and downs are already reaching extreme on some days and I know it'll only grow more challenging. Sometimes, I feel as if I fall under the category of faint-hearted. I try very hard to maintain my calm and react to a wooden block being thrown at my head or stepping on a pile of squished blueberries in a gentle way. Some days it is much much harder than others, but generally I feel I do well. 

With the challenges comes even more love. Like my friend Angelica from Thunderclouds of Love said-  if I stare at him for too long, it's like staring into the sun, I'll go blind by how perfect he is. Every little thing he does makes my heart skip a beat. The way he whispers "wooww" when he sees something beautiful. The way he looks up at me and flashes me the biggest smile paired with a loud giggle. The way he kisses his baby doll, blue kitty, and stuffed bunny. The way he wraps his arms around my neck when he just needs a quick cuddle. The way he squeals with excitement when he sees our cat and the way he drops down on his hands and knees to give her a kiss. He's so gentle and kind hearted. More times than I can count throughout the day, I find myself in awe of how beautiful he is. With the trials of parenthood comes the most profound love. Nothing has ever compared and I'm so fortunate to have had Odin choose me as his mumma.