quarter moon cookies

i'm a bit late adding this post but i wanted to share a tradition we've been doing around here to help mark the passage of time in a more gentle and pleasing manner. i love being in tune with the cycles of the moon and started this tradition years ago to mark the full moon each month. this month though, i decided to take it one step further and mark each quarter of the moon.

it all started with baking 'full moon' cookies each month to mark the full moon. we'd bake sugar cookies in the shape of the round full moon and ice them with white or pale yellow icing. i had fallen by the wayside with this tradition and my oldest daughter kept bringing it up, right about the same time i remembered the lost tradition and had considered doing it.

last week, when i baked some cookies for the full moon, i saw a recipe for crescent cookies in my fannie farmer cook book and had an aha! moment: i could bake cookies each week to mark the cycle of the moon! sugar cookies for the full moon, almond crescent cookies for the waxing and waning/1st & 3rd quarters and chocolate cookies for the dark/new moon!

jaden and sage both helped me make the cookies. we had a grand time and the cookies were delicious! i have 2 different crescent cookie recipes so i'll use one for the waxing and one for the waning. now, if only we could make enough at a time to last us the entire week instead of entire day!

waning moon cookies

2 sticks butter softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup ground almonds

more powdered sugar for coating

preheat the oven to 300 degrees f. cream the butter then add the sugar, flour, almonds and vanilla and mix thoroughly. pull a nickle sized ball of dough, roll in your hands and create a crescent shape then roll in powdered sugar, arrange on a cookie sheet or baking stone and bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges start to brown. cool and roll in a 2nd coating of powdered sugar.

handmade holidays - progress update

dinosaurs

i've completed 1 gift so far and have several in the works. sage's wooden toys are finished, finally! i purchased them from an etsy shop called clickity clack. they have great wooden unfinished toys made from pine. there are some pros and cons in working with pine but for the price, you can't beat it. since we don't have the proper tools to cut out the toys, this is the next best thing (although i've put greg on notice that this may be in our futures because woodburning and painting them was a blast!). they smell really nice and they were very inexpensive (generally about 75 cents to 1.50 per toy). the downside is that the grain of the pine wood made it a bit difficult to burn. perhaps drawing the design on with a permanent marker would have been better but i really like the wood burned look.

the trees i made 2 sided so they could use them in more ways as well as on the seasonal nature table...spring and summer...the bush i tried to make as a blueberry but it looks a little hoakie to me. i was going to make the round tree an apple tree but after the blueberry turned out so crappy, i decided not to.

a mixture of spring, fall and winter

fall and some boulders...the boulders i suppose were supposed to be trees/bushes too but i liked nina's idea to make them as rocks instead.

the backside of the same...

wintertime! (these are my favorites along with the autumn tree from above)

autumn

the steps to completing these were to sand the edges down (my older daughter and a friend of hers helped with this step), sketch the images with a pencil, burn them in, water color them, rub a beeswax polish on them (made by melting 3 parts of beeswax and adding 2 parts of almond kernel oil and mixing) then buff with a soft flannel cloth. i'm pleased with the results!

dragon mama and daddy

the castle

the royal family plus the flower fairy for jaden, i still need to make some wings for her

we've also been making lots of beautiful beeswax star ornaments. i may try making some pine needle ornaments, perhaps in the shape of stars instead of hearts depending on how much time i have once i've completed the rest of the kids' presents.

so, in progress or ready to make are:

~clothes for jaden's fake american girl doll kirsten

~a knight costume set for sage: sword (found a year ago at a thrift shop, needs the point sanded down), a shield (if greg is able to make one), a tunic (in progress, making with wool felt), a hood (thanks to tabitha for the pattern) and a matching velvet cape (bought a bit of fabric that will match the tunic).

~a doctor's kit for jaden. now that i've decided to make one, i need to get to work designing it. i haven't given it much thought.

~a shirt and skirt for my step-daughter. she is into skulls and i found some great halloween fabric on clearance. i'm waiting for the shirt pattern to arrive but i think the skirt i will wing, just using a rectangle of fabric.

that just leaves caleb, adelena and ridge. i have no idea what i'm going to get or make them...hand making things for kids that age can be difficult. adelena will be the easiest as she likes a lot of stuff that i make. i have a few ideas up my sleeve that i need to think about more.

chance to win a copy of wildcraft!

this week at herbal roots zine, i'm giving away a copy of wildcraft! head over there and sign up now...

2nd week of advent

traditions in western herbalism conference

i'm looking forward to next september and taking a little road trip to meet up with many kindred spirits that i've only known online for the past few years. this is going to be one of the best weekends of my lifetime. the worst part is going to be deciding which classes to take because there are so many amazing herbalists sharing their time and knowledge that i'm beside myself with giddiness! oh the torture of deciding out on listening to one herbalist over another! i've been to other conferences in the past and have seen participants bounce back and forth between two classes but i wouldn't learn a thing if i did that.

so, what am i babbling about? the traditions in western herbalism conference of course! registration just opened yesterday and the first 100 registrants can receive some great bonus gifts as well!

three days of immersion with great herbalists such as jim mcdonald, kiva rose, darcey blue french, john gallagher, phyllis light, paul bergner, matthew wood, rosemary gladstar, howie brounstein, and many, MANY more!

and, if that weren't enough, R.I.S.E. and arborea are going to be performing!

AND, it's at the beautiful ghost ranch, the former home of artist georgia o'keefe.

it's an amazing opportunity for anyone who is dancing the herbal dance of life. will i see you there?

Herbal Roots - December 2009

december's issue is available now!

december blog party: herbal aesthetics

this month's blog party is all about the beautiful side of herbs. cory at aquarian bath is hosting. swing by her blog to see all the submissions after dec 1.

we have a lot of fun dying silks using herbs. our two favorites are poke berries and black walnuts. it takes about 2 weeks total to do. all sorts of herbs can be used. i've even used dandelion blossoms to make a pale yellow. goldenrod, elderberry and st. john's wort all make great dyes too! poke berry is not color fast, but it is such a lovely color that we just try to re-dye our silks each year.

to dye silks, first, i fill a half gallon jars with the herb i am using. i mashed any berries a bit in their jar (the walnut hulls i just break up roughly & stuff in. i add enough water to fill each jar to the top. then i set them out in the sun for about a week, shaking every day.

the next week, i strain out the plants and add 1/4 teaspoon of alum to each jar. you can find alum in the spice section at the grocery store.
next, in go the silks. i buy ours from dharma trading. (the 35 x 35 make a great size). i've also dyed a silk dress that i found at a thrift shop with the walnuts. it is a beautiful shade of gold. i hope to dye it again to make it darker as it is the same color as my hair right now and makes me look a bit bland.

i push them in with a stick and make sure they are covered. then i let them sit for up to another week, shaking & stirring daily, turning them with a stick to get all areas evenly exposed.

the longer they sit, the darker they get. drain out the liquid and rinse with cool water until the water is clear.

black walnut rinsed and wet:

black walnut dry. can you see the leaf design??? that was a total accident caused by wrinkled fabric but a really nice one.

poke wet:

and dry:

now all that’s left to do is play with them!

these make GREAT gifts for friends! natural herbal dyes can be used to dye all sorts of natural fibers from wool to cotton to silk to linen. each fiber will naturally dye a little differently.

another fun temporary dye using poke berries is for hair dye. poke is not very colorfast, even with alum. when used on hair, it washes out very easily but is a fun way to spice up your hair. simply mash, paint on with your fingers or a wide paint brush and viola!