Playtime deconstructed

So before our little Bean was born, I had read a lot about Waldorf and Montessori education. I found a lot of things that I really loved, especially the simplicity and importance of play in a child's early years and development.

There have been many reports on childhood development and sorting skills. With that, the lovely Wee Folk Art gave me an idea! I pulled out all the supplies for this project, having ordered acorns and bowls way before there were little ones to play with them from Casey's Wood Products. 

• I got out the acorns, bowls, the paint, beeswax and olive oil and got started. (Be mindful, whatever the sorting toy you buy, that it is large enough not to create a choking hazard for your little one!)
• I chose six colors, painted the bowls and acorns and let them dry.
• While they dried, I used a cheese grater to get a hunk of beeswax to meltable size and used a double boiler technique for melting it down.
• Then I added four parts olive oil (to one part beeswax) and added it to the hot wax. I put the polish in a container to cool down and it hardened up a bit to a coconut oil consistency which I could then rub over the paint to seal it.
• I then buffed off the excess with a dishtowel.

After an hour of silently putting them in and taking them out of the bowls, I am really pleased with the homemade toy!

I think she likes it!!!

My "selfie" image

I've been away from this blog for quite a long time. Life has been hectic and wonderful with our daughter and I have been focusing on transitioning from a person, to a person who's focus is now wildly shifted. I'll write more about that transition later. But for now, I'd like to talk about something I've been thinking about a lot lately. 

Sass selfie

I take a lot of selfies.

I don't always post them to public media, But sometimes, if I feel like it's not too unflattering, I'll send it out. 

I've been thinking about why I do that . 

Adorable baby wearing selfie!

I think that generally, I want people I don't get to see very often to share in m life. Do I think they need pictures of my face to do that? Probably not. But as the family photographer, I have shockingly few pictures of myself. 

But I have a secret: I hate pictures of myself. I am always criticizing myself. "My hair's too gray/frizzy/short." "My rosacea is so ugly/my skin is too wrinkled." "My smile is so goofy and my eyes are to squinty."  

So I decided to take each reoccurring complaint I had about myself and turn it into something I am grateful for. 

"I have too many wrinkles" - My life has been full of laughter and tears, I have spent years focusing on listening, on smiling and sometimes I have cried. These wrinkles are roadmaps of the woman I have been. They remind me of the joy and sadness in my life that has led me here.

"My hair is frizzy/skin is too red." - My hair and my skin are mine. I can put products on them and try my best to care for them, but they are part of what makes me Magpie. Each dot, each mole and red cheek and flyaway hair are part of the whole of me. 

"My hair doesn't look good." - I have to remind myself that there are people who wish they had hair, but for various reasons do not. My style can always change, but I should be grateful for the hair I have!

"My eyes are squinty/forehead's too big/face is covered in moles..." - Everything I usually think makes me unappealing is part of me. I am alive and healthy, I see a dermatologist fairly regularly, and when I squint, it's because that is the face I make when I'm truly happy. It's my most genuine smile. 

Baby bump selfie!

Really, it boils down to hearing all this negative self-talk, recognizing it and eliminating it as part of my daily routine. 

Frankly, as much as I've supported positive self image in others, I've rarely felt it in myself. And now, I'm responsible for teaching small people that they are perfect just as they are. And the number of times in a day the hubs hears me say things I hate about myself will soon become things my children hear. 

I don't want them to start hearing me pick apart every small detail I dislike about myself. 

I am me, My face and body are mine and if I want to teach confidence and self appreciation to my children, I need to start with me. 

Show off your beautiful self and share it with the world! We need to see ALL faces and shapes. We need "everyday" to become the extraordinary we see regularly instead of the airbrushed, photoshopped images we've become used to comparing to.

Let the world see you embrace yourself. You never know who might need to see someone like them be confident!

~MythicalMagpie

Resolve, instead of Resolution

As the new year begins, many of us take on resolutions, hoping that a blank slate will jump start us to break bad habits and create better ones in their place.

Merriam Webster defines resolution as the following:

1.  

   
   

What I notice about these definitions is that resolutions are characterized as solutions to problems or resolving a situation. When we think of starting New Year's resolutions, we are encouraged to such things as "eat better" or "exercise more" or "set aside more time for X". While I think those are great starts towards a resolution, I think they could better be defined to actually help solve what is likely a bigger problem. 

So, I have identified five steps to creating successful solutions. 

What is important here is to find calculable challenges and goals and that they need to be attainable and healthy. Do you want to lose weight/inches? What is a healthy goal and what are healthy steps along the way? The more specific, the easier they are to follow and stay on target. (For "what is a healthy goal", I encourage you to consult a Primary Care Physician to help tailor personal goals to your life.) 

It's important to understand that when talking about changing a behavior or habit, it is said that anywhere from a full month to eight months for a new habit to be formed and accepted into your brain. So do not be afraid to take time, but stay with it and surround yourself with people who will support and encourage you to keep trying, especially if you have a setback. 

So don't just make a "resolution" make a SOLUTION!

And have a very happy new year!!!

~MM

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Cloth Baby Wipes

So I've been looking around the house and decided to start documenting the many tricks and home made items we use at home.

Today I'm going to explain the SUPER Easy process of cloth baby wipes.

So what you need is the following:

• Baby Washcloths (about twenty)
• Microwavable mug or cup
• Preferred brand of liquid baby soap
• Coconut Oil
• Essential Oil *optional* (Tea Tree or Lavender)

First, you need to prep the cloths, you lay them out like so:

Fold the bottom one over

Then lay the next on top and continue the process. 

Now is the fun part, place the stack in the baby wipe container

Fill coffee cup with water and heat it for thirty seconds and add teaspoon of coconut oil, stir until melted. (Coconut oil has been proven to be gentle to skin and anti-fungal, so it is the perfect additive to the wipes.)

Add teaspoon of liquid baby soap

Stir until all is blended.

(Depending on your baby's skin, adding one or two drops of essential oil like Tea Tree or Lavender can help to reduce bacteria and be antiseptic. But ask your pediatrician before adding even diluted essential oil to ensure no burns or allergic reactions.) 

Pour soap solution over the wipes, close and voila!!!

I hope you enjoy this super simple tutorial! Now, when you use the wipes, you can toss them in the washing bin (if you use cloth diapers, just toss these in with them!) And you aren't tossing away money and filling a landfill with dozens of wipes a day. 

Muppet Birthday Dress Up

So for the Bean's first birthday I wanted to have a kid-friendly Muppet activities section.

I grew up on the Muppets and our family loves them, so when I decided to have a party for her, a dress up table was a MUST!

I found several cheap items at JoAnn's including felt for Kermie's collar, dress up pearls and a blonde wig and gloves for Miss Piggy, a cape for Super Grover, white ribbon with pink polka dots for Fozzie Bear's bowtie,  and a chef's set.  

Everything save for the Kermit collar was already sewn, so I decided to get creative.

I cut an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of lime green felt in half lengthwise, then folded it over on itself  like an accordion in about inch and a half folds..

I started about an inch down the folds and cut on an angle and flipped the felt over and did it again until I had a point. 

Then you open, cut little holes on the top ends and secure ribbons so the kids (of grown up kids) can tie on their own Kermit he Frog collar.

The finished birthday dress up table!

The kids and kids at heart had a blast dressing up with the costume pieces!

And since daddy magpie and I prepared only paleo foods and recipes, we were able to enjoy an entire party, knowing we could eat anything served!

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Prep for deviled eggs

Fruit Skewers

Beef and Veggie Skewers

It was all in all a great time!

She had a blast with her paleo birthday cake hand crafted from Daddy!

What a Year!

So much has happened to us in the last year. We had our lovely Bean four months prematurely. For the first 92 days, she was in the NICU and on various levels of oxygen therapy. When she came home, we had appointments several times a week and were just pooped.

Finally, things started to find a rhythm and we fell gloriously into a routine with our amazing and healthy bean!

Most of our lives were put on hold until we really got the hang of this parenting thing. We've googled almost every possible home remedy for croup, diaper rash, baby formula. We have been making a great effort to keep her as close to cloth diapered, on Weston A. Price's formula, and have gotten really into babywearing.

We're finally getting back into our lives plus our new parental roles. and I'm eager to share some of the more natural recipes and fixes as possible.

First up, home made dry shampoo.

I know sometimes, the second day mom hair can look downright frightening! So I bought a bottle of dry shampoo. It was somewhere around $10 US and I wasn't sure I'd like it. While it did the job, it also had the effect of spraying my dark hair with a mist of white powder. So I began researching methods of making my own that would work better for dark hair.

I found a recipe for dark hair on the Mommypotamous Blog and tried it out.

2 tablespoons arrowroot powder or non-GMO cornstarch

2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder

3-5 drops of essential oils (optional – lemon, peppermint, rosemary, bergamot, lemongrass and lime are good options)

I grabbed an old poofy blush brush and set to dusting my hair at the roots. It worked AMAZINGLY! Not only do I like the simple, toxin-free, non-spray method, the cocoa powder helped keep the powdered wig look to a minimum!

Here is the recipe for light colored hair

¼ cup of arrowroot powder or non-GMO cornstarch

1 teaspoon of cocoa powder (You may or may not need this depending on the color of your hair. If it is very light or white you might want to skip it)

3-5 drops of essential oils (optional – lemon, peppermint, rosemary, bergamot, lemongrass and lime are good options)

Tip: Start sparingly. If you over do it, it will dry the hair out and will have a dusty look to the hair.

Pictures will be incoming, please let me know if you'd like to see more recipes.

Crochet OSU Baby Set

So I'm a native Ohioan. As such, a great majority of the people around here are rabid Buckeye fans!

I had been asked to make a crocheted baby hat with a block O on it for a family friend who was having a baby and loved the Buckeyes.

Well I loved making the hat, so I decided a bib was necessary.

I played around with dc decreases and increases and ended up with this set! 

The back closes with a crocheted "button".

I really loved being creative and coming up with something new

on my own!

Don't be afraid to experiment, make mistakes and you will be surprised what you might be able to create!!