Faking the Season: Winter Part 3 - Wintry Scene

It's beginning to look a lot like winter even in Moomin Valley at our house!

The illusion of snow is better than no snow at all, thus the kids and I set out to make a wintry scene. Our Moomin Valley has finally received a blanket of snow, albeit made out of cotton balls, but snow nevertheless!

The beloved Moomins were created by Swedish-speaking Finnish illustrator and write Tove Jansson.  Moomins are very popular in Finland and Japan, but unfortunately not here in the United States. Moomins are white, roundish characters with large snouts and their adventures have captured the hearts of Finnish people since 1945.

You can find out more about the Moomins here: All Things Moomin BBC News Magazine also wrote an interesting article on Tove Jansson earlier this year. Tove Jansson: Love, war and the Moomins

If you would like to make your own wintry scene, you will need the following items:

• tray
• white printing paper
• double sided tape
• glue
• cotton balls
• small characters of your choice

I laid out a piece of white paper and used double sided tape to attach it to the bottom of the tray. Then the kids and I made a scene with the characters. Lastly we glued and taped cotton balls all over the scene.

What do you guys think? Would you like to make your own wintry scene? Would it help you get in the holiday mood? If so, I would love to receive a photo or a description of your scene! It would be great to be able to post one of my dear reader's creation here on my blog!

Next, I am going to make another wintry scene with my son. He is crazy about Super Heroes and Star Wars... I wonder what kind of winter I can create for them. Share your wintry scene, and I'll share our action figure scene when it is ready :-D

Faking the Season: Winter Part 2 - Snowflakes

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Raindrops have finally been falling on my head here in San Diego! California has been so dry all year long that these past three days have felt heavenly for me! It is almost possible to believe that winter solstice is just around the corner. 

And to lift the mood even further, our family has just plunged into faking the season and making snowflakes. We try and cover most of the windows of our house with paper snowflakes. This involves multiple nights of scissors handling and paper clippings all over the floor. Often we have even asked for help from friends and neighbors. It is so much fun to get together and see who has natural talent! The best part though is to compete with my better half who seems to have a real knack at making snowflakes. His ones turn out fabulous every time, and mine are usually just mediocre - unless I strike gold and make a randomly brilliant flake by accident. It has also been wonderful to notice how both of my kids are now able to make snowflakes of their own. 

If you would like to make snowflakes, you will only need scissors and paper (printing or tissue paper, white and light blue paper works beautifully). It also never hurts to add some sparkles with glitter! If you need instructions on how to fold the paper, you can find them here: How to Make 6 Pointed Paper Snowflakes 

Just watch out, soon your floors are full of paper cuttings as well! Enjoy!

Faking the Seasons: Winter Part 1

Wintry Pine Cone Wind Chime Terhi-tivity

My favorite season, winter, starts right after Thanksgiving at our house! There are no icy snowflakes on the corners of the windows, nor is there any snow in the ground, but I won't let that bother me. Instead, I will create a winter wonderland of our own and fake the season, right here in sunny San Diego. 

Our family loves to go on day trips to our local mountains. We always look for nature treasures during our hikes and visits to the day use areas of nature preserves and state parks. We had gathered up a huge bag full of pine cones and now I had an idea of making a wind chime out of them.

After working on the chime under our carport, we moved it to our back patio. Now the fake snow and glitter add sparkles into our living room through the windows.

If you'd like to make your own pine cone wind chime, you will need the following items:

• a big tree branch 
• pine cones
• fishing line
• spray can of fake snow
• glitter (Any color would do. I chose iridescent glitter.)

The tricky part of this project is attaching the pine cones to the fishing line. I just kept on twirling the fishing line around each pine cone multiple times and that seemed to do the trick. These pine cones were quite large. Little ones would make a cute small pine cone chime! 

Let me know if I inspired you to make one too! Until it's time to fake the season again...

Seussical Terhi-tivity

Whimsical Dr. Seuss Inspired Holiday Trees

After visiting the Dr. Seuss art exhibit, the kids and I were inspired to do some weird and wonderful, dare I even say, "Seussical" art. We went to a local park and picked up some interesting looking branches with seed pods. I am ashamed to tell you that I do not know what plant those branches came from. I can tell you all about the trees and plants of Finland, but my knowledge of the local plants here in Southern California is really limited. Please, educate me if you recognize the branches :-D

We brought the branches home. Took out some acrylic paints and had some fun painting some of the leaves and tops of the seed pods.

Here are some pictures of the end result. 

The kids had fun naming our Seussical tree. Windula and Whims Noel were our favorites. If you would like to make a Seussical tree of your own, you will only need the following items:

• branches of any trees or bushes
• paint brushes
• acrylic paint
• a vase

What I love about Dr. Seuss' art is that it is not perfect. It is interesting and unusual. Until next time, make something! Something fun! Just like Dr. Seuss would! And I would love to receive a picture of your creation!