...chocolate air...: hide and seek.

someone else's thoughts

"The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." - Margaret Nadauld
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." - Helen Keller

03 December 2008

hide and seek.

Okay, I've been holding this little project under wraps for a while now, waiting for the advent to start and not wanting to spoil the surprise for a certain friend of mine. But I got the all-clear, so here goes.

This is Ollie, a little elf who came straight from the North Pole to stay with us. See his elfy hat? And his jingly legs? And his official elf badge? I had a little too much fun making this guy. This was my first chance to make a doll (*ahem*) for my own family that wouldn't be completely snubbed by my son. And I jumped on it.

His entire body, as well as his hat, was created from recycled wool sweaters. His head is basically a Waldorf design that I found instructions for in the book The Children's Year. I twisted wool yarn into a rope and then stitched a few together to create the scarf. Sew on a few jingle bells, and voila! A festive little friend to join us for the holiday season.

The best thing, though, is that Ollie has a brother who has found a home, also. That's Pippin on the right. And the two of them have cooked up a fun holiday tradition. Every night (or maybe every day in Pip's case) in December, they play a game of hide-and-seek, and the kids get to do a search for them. And maybe, if we're lucky, they'll leave us a little note with an idea for a simple game or craft or activity that we can do together to brighten up our holiday.

They even have their own blog, where Kirsten and I will share our adventures with you. Please come see us... Pip and Ollie. And feel free to play along, if you like. I'd love to see some more elves make their way into other families' traditions.