We've emptied a bottle of glue

Along with the tons of art supply my mom gave me, was tons of tissue paper.

Seeing that Mariann is ready for gluing things, I remembered a fall project we did in school, it was an apple, made with tons of little balls of tissue papers. I was 6. But does a 3 years old gets tired of pouring glue? No.

I realized I didn't take a picture of the lovely final result...Shame on me, I will before we give to Mariann's "godmother" this weekend , for her birthday. Well, that's what Mariann said she will do. So aunt Marie-Eve will be really really really really happy. Really. Right, Maman?

I've also wanted to try making one of those for some times now. Here's the instruction from A Child's year. Simple enough. Just try to keep glued-covered toddler hands off of your points while you shape them.

So now we have a pretty star to welcome people on our door.

And here's the cleaning team. 3 littles spontaneously picking up brooms. Is my floor that dirty?

Merrick is so proud of walking. He follows the girl around and steal their snacks, enjoying multitasking. 2 free hands!

Pratical Magic Party: Cauldron Magic

We're doing it this year too! Last year, I showed you how I make my teeny tiny hand bound spellbooks. It was fun, and I tried to come up with something PM raleted, but not so obvious. But they do, at one point in the film (Gilly's exorcism) make a bubbly smelly potion so I thought about explaining you some basic of Potion Making, and I took some pictures to go along. Enjoy!

First, making a potion can be very simple, as it can be very elaborate... I better like simple! Since not all of us has access to bonfire in the middle of a meadow or on a shore, I'll propose you something most of us has but seldom use; a chocolate fondue kit. You know the one you can put a tea light under? It makes reasonable size potion and you can safely brew you potion all day long with that. I opted for my big red cauldron in the picture, because.... It makes great pictures ;)

You'll need:

• Cauldron/Fondu kit/ Pot-pourris Burner
• Tea light
• Glass stick, or twig, or wooden spoon (those are great since you can carve symbols into them!)
• Mortar and Pestle
• Ideally Spring Water, but boiled tap water can do.
• Herbs and Essential Oils

Herbs can be substituted by their essential oils, and vice versa. For herbs, you need to crush them hard enough to break them and free their essence, but turning them into dust isn't a necessity.

Previously take your water to boil. By the way, if you don't have any fondue kit, you can makey your potion on your conventional oven, you just have to watch it more closely when it brew. Pour it in your cauldron. At his point you can request help from the fire and water element. As a rule of thumb, have about 2 tablespoon of herb for a cup of water. Crush each of them into your mortar and sprinkle on the water. If you feel like strengthening your potion, you can say aloud the name of the herbs/oils you add and why you do so (ex: "Ginger for success", "Rosemary for memory", "Pine for ideas"...).

You can also say something like:

By the Fire and Water,
By the essence of (herb),
Make it as I wish!

When all your herbs and oils are in, let them soak while your think of your goal. Concentrate on it, and when you feel like it's the time, take your stick and stir 3 times; counter-clockwise for banishing potions, clockwise for others. You can also say aloud your goal.

You can also say a more complex incantation, like this one:

By Water and Fire, By the Air and the Earth,
May the hidden powers come to help,
And grant me my wish.
(Ain't it harm none) It is my will, so mote it be!

The potion we made in yesterday was:

Calming Potion

Chamomile
Lavender (+ 5 oil drops)
Mugworth
St. John's Worth

Hope you all enjoyed! It is very fun to do and it leaves your house smelling good, so I hope you'll try this at home. It can be a really fun thing to do with the kids (Mariann couldn't stop throwing chamomile until there was no more...). Or just by yourself... It is a very relaxing activity, and if time allows you, you can meditate on it afterwards.

I also want to wish you all a very Blessed Mabon! Autumn is here, goodbye Summer, I'll miss you! This year I plan to celebrate and enjoy autumn as much as possible. The scar is healing, I don't hate you anymore, Autumn, so let's be bodies!

For some more magic, head up there and enjoy the party!

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Preparing Ostara

It snowed all weekend. And not lightly; It's still snowing, they forecast snow until tomorrow after-noon and there's around 20 cm that felt so far, around 15 other cm to come!

Maybe you wouldn't say it looks like spring's coming. But I do. In Québec, we have that last winter storm. That one where the thick, heavy snow stick to branches. And it's what's happening right now, so yay!

oh my.. look at those chubby arms!

Ostara is the name some pagans uses for Spring equinox. I love to use it, as I love using fancy names...ahah, not really. It separates  the equinox celebration from Easter. And I love the Sabbath of Ostara. You can read my post from last year about what it means to me.

And now, Mariann is old enough for an egg hunt! I'm thrilled! ahah. It won't be anything overwhelming... Not many eggs (as I try having them all felted by me). With little plaything and piece of chocolate she will most definitely enjoy. I have a daffodil fairy done in the same fashion as the Snow Drop fairy. I will make some chicks with plushy yellow fabric, pompom bunnies, lambs, finger puppets, those kind of things. She will also have a felted horse, should I find my pattern, and maybe a plush hen, if I find the right fabric in my stash. It will be our main activity, along with some colourful baking, for the day. I don't like planning a busy day on a Sabbath day.

We won't decorate real eggs, but I'll draw huge ones in a paper for Mariann to paint over, and we'll proudly hang it somewhere. I might even do a banner like the one we did for Valentine's day, with colourful eggs, flowers and butterfly.

As for meal, we'll have an omelette. Mariann loves cracking eggs! With lots of leafy greens to accompagne it. I think I'll try blowing one or two and decorate it for myself when my daugther will be in bed. It's kind of selfish but I haven't done that in ages! I'll just let her play (break...) it in the morning...ahah!

Do you do something to highlight the Spring equinox at home?

Imbolc or Candlemas

When I first stumbled into paganism and went overwhelmed by the many Sabbaths.. most of which I could relate...But Imbolc was totally new (see post from last year). But somehow this year it all make sense. It's as if the wheel of the year is now complete for me and can now start to spin without making a weird sound on Feb 2 or Aug 1st. I follow blogs from all kinds of blogspheres and I love how my favourite two, let's call them pagans and natural parenting blogs (not to say Waldorf) gets very similar. As I removed my permanent altar from lack of place, I'm itching to having it back AND install a nature table for my littlies. In this second floor apartment, I can wait to have at least a little bit of green of our own for Mariann to run.

At first it seemed weird to start thinking of springtime when I know there's still 2 months of cold weather ahead. One year we celebrated a marriage on a spring equinox in a snow storm.

Today was my mom's birthday. It's Papa's on Friday and my FIL the day after that. They went 7min close to have the same birth date!

Imbolc is one reason more to celebrate life. Life outdoor that is still sleeping again for sometimes. Life indoor; all that painting and modelling and crafting and nesting.

It's a time where I move things around and make changes in how I store my stuff. I'll give up some of it too!

Here's what we do/want to do, for the curious!

-Have a candlelight souper.

-Make and Eat apple crustard. Mariann loves to help

-Eat crêpes (Papa's making them!)

-Most likely listen to Groundhog day (with Bill Murray). We bought the dvd years ago to my FIL at his bday, pretty appropriate. Somehow we never get tired of it (once a year....) And every one feels like learning piano afterwards!

-Make a Brigid's cross and hang it somewhere (with pipe cleaners)

-I'll try making paper snowflakes with Mariann. See how this one goes... (she is pretty good with scissors now!)

How do you celebrate Candlemas if you do?