Holiday Fair preparations

Each year for the Hartsbrook Holiday Fair, the early childhood/kindergarten families create, staff, and provide crafts for the Treasures in a Haystack and Children's Bazaar activities for the youngest visitors to the fair. This work is organized by a parent each year, who works with the Director of Development who orchestrates the whole fair, and each kindergarten class has a Fair Representative to facilitates the process for that class.

Each family, regardless how many children, is asked to contribute about 20 small, simple, handcrafted items. Some craft-loving parents want to make more, and other families don't have the time or just find this opportunity stressful and overwhelming, and we balance each other out.

In Fall 2018, as we have done in previous years, we are spending October Thursday morning craft sessions making crafts for the fair to augment what kindergarten families are making on their own, and to have an abundance for the fair. Kindergarten parents are encouraged to join us to make their crafts! We have some supplies, ideas, and encouragement. Please bring your supplies too!

We have a sample box of crafts to look at and get ideas for what kinds of things you could make. Class fair reps will likely have sample boxes out at drop-off and pick-up times near the Early Childhood classes in October. In case you don't see the items in the box, below are photos of many items that have been made in the past, to give you ideas!

October 2018: Sample crafts are in the display window at the front entrance to Hartsbrook Hall.

We strive to make these crafts by hand, with natural materials, but that is not a requirement. We want a variety of items and we want you to have fun making them! We look to include dolls/gnomes/angels with skin tones of varying race or ethnicity, and invite items that reflect many traditions.

As all our community work is woven together to form the fabric of our lives, you may also be interested in school efforts to expand inclusion, diversity, and equity consciousness and efforts at Hartsbrook. If you are interested in participating in this work, contact the school. 

The crafts offered in the Childrens Bazaar do not all have to be treasures specifically for kids! It is lovely to have some items that are more useful for the home or as decoration. Sets of small cloth napkins like are used in the kindergartens have been quite popular; wall hangings, sun catchers, small beeswax candles, dish clothes or pot holders or the like would be lovely. It is wonderful to encourage the children to pick out treasures as gifts for others, not just choosing things for themselves, and opening up the crafting to include items other than those for kids is a good way to make this happen.

Tip: See the Hartsbrook SmugMug site for photos of these activities at the fair in previous years.

Fine-twined baskets

September 13 & 20, 2018... and over the next couple of weeks until we all finish!

We will make another variation of fiber rush baskets this year, using a finer rush for the weavers. No experience necessary! Contributions toward materials appreciated ($5).

Previously we have made fiber rush baskets and egg-gathering baskets.

Example basket

Group's baskets in progress ~ school window display

Granny hexagons coming together

Granny hexagon project

Spring 2018 we learned to crochet! Once we had the basics, we were ready for a project. A handful of us went to Webs in Northampton and bought a wide selection of colors of wool by Valley Yarns, their "Northampton" yarn, to make into a blanket we will raffle for the benefit of the school in September. Please join us!

Now it is September, the raffle is open at $5 per ticket, and we are finishing up the blanket so it will be ready for the winning ticketholder!

Thanks to several folks crocheting the hexagons at home and to those who came on Thursdays and did a few here and there, we have nearly 200 that we have stitched into a blanket. We plan to do the finishing touches just as the school year begins so it will be ready to auction.

Egg/gathering baskets

2018 Spring - exact dates TBA

We will make this kind of basket this year, using commercial reed or natural vines or willow that we harvest. If you have a source of grapevine or willow, please collect some to use or to share! Best is to twist it while still fresh and pliable into two wreaths the same size (each basket requires two), a sturdy thickness you think would be strong enough to be the handle. I suggest a 10-15" diameter, depending what size basket you want to make.

Once you have the wreath/ring, it can dry and you can make the basket later anytime.

The ribs of the basket can be thicker wicker round reed or something you harvest yourself.

For beginners it is easier to use the smooth, bought materials, but beginners who are willing to struggle a little can certainly use the wild goods!

Masks, hats and crowns

In honor of recent and upcoming festivals of Mardi Gras, Carnival, Purim, Holi, and the Asian Lunar New Year Lantern Festival, we will be making a variety of things this week on 3/1/18. Bring any materials you would like to use or share, and we will make costume masks, hats, or crowns, or painting with bright colors. It is also the time for making lanterns (see what we made 2017).

"People wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity."

Colored feathers especially solicited, if anyone has extras to spare! 

Other materials ideas:

• Felt
• Thread
• Beads
• Colored paper, foil, etc. 
• Paint, glitter markers, etc. 
• Scissors, glue, ribbon, elastic

Last year we had fun making felt Hamentaschen for Purim.

Crochet hearts

January 25, 2018

Intersecting our January crochet lessons and making hearts for the Hartsbrook Heartburst*, we are crocheting hearts this week! Help yourself to some yarn and fill from the box in the Hartsbrook Hall lobby, and find a size G crochet hook (use H for worsted weight yarn). 

*http://hartsbrookcrafting.blogspot.com/2017/02/hartsbrook-heartburst.html

Link to detailed step-by-step instructions (with picture) for a granny heart (pictured below)

https://lizziebellablog.wordpress.com/2014/02/01/granny-square-heart-tutorial/amp/

Link to video for simple stuffed heart (video shows each step close up and clearly, narration is in German)

http://ilove-crochet.com/easy-crochet-3d-heart/

Link to instructions for a different granny heart (bilingual English/Spanish)

http://anabeliahandmade.blogspot.com.es/2017/02/crochet-granny-hearts-free-pattern.html