The Late Birthday Party

Dear Z,

The day of your actual birthday began in Paris and ended up in London. It was the height of the summer holidays and we weren't at home to arrange a birthday party for you, which is why we held your 5th birthday party in September. I was worried about the weather but the sun shone and shone and shone. You had so many school friends that I didn't know who all of them were. Everyone wore feather headdresses, popped balloons and ran around making animal noises during the find your animal game. Daddy and I made the cake you'd fell in love with when you saw it in the recipe book. Here are some pictures from that happy day. Thank you for being so patient.

With all my love

Mummy

Z's Party Feather Headbands

Yesterday I finished making feather headbands for Z's party on Saturday. I was inspired by felt crowns I've seen around the blogosphere but wanted something easier that could also be incorporated into the party and this is what I came up with. They cost about 45p each so that made me very happy! They've got one feather in the photos but are made to hold five, as it's Z's 5th birthday. The idea is that during the party additional feathers will be given out as prizes so by the end everyone should have 5 feathers. You can see the pockets a little more clearly in this photo of E posing. She was my model while Z was at school.

The ribbons started to fray at the ends whilst I was making them but I discovered if you run the ends near a candle flame it seals them so I spent a happy 20 minutes making all 60 edges fray-free. I love the colours all together.

I've posted some brief instructions below but before I do - random question: Do you think Alex James is bored of posing with cheese yet? See here, here and here.

Instructions in brief - let me know if you want more details

For each headband you'll need

1 metre of ribbon

length of plain felt 26cm x 3.5cm

Scraps of bright felt cut into the letter you want (approx 2cm high)

Sewing machine

Feathers

Place the plain felt onto the middle of the ribbon length and pin along the ribbon side

Use additional pins to mark where you'd like the feathers to be - I didn't measure and just did this freehand

Using straight stitch on your sewing machine, and with the ribbon side up, sew the felt and ribbon together and at each pin marking where you'd like the feather to be sew a little pocket to hold the feather. Repeat until you've sewn all the way around the felt.

Hand sew the cut out letter to the centre of the felt band

Cut the edges of the ribbon and hold firmly close to a candle flame to seal, but make sure the ribbon doesn't actually touch the flame.

From our bookshelf - Autumn

Despite being a family that loves reading I've never written a post on our favourite family books or authors. After reading this post, today was the perfect chance to review a book that I think would make a great additional to a young child's bookshelf. If you haven't discovered the MamaUK blog please do hop over and take a peek - it's about simple family life and has the most gorgeous photographs.

The Story of the Wind Children( (£9.99 by Sibylle von Ofers) was first published in Germany in 1910 and translated into English in 2006. The illustrations are wonderful and remind me of those by Elsa Beskow. It tells the story of a boy named George who befriends a wind sprite named Willow. Together they embark on an adventure blowing dandelion seeds, catching falling apples and meeting Leaf children as they catch falling leaves. The illustrations are coloured in lovely browns, greens and reds and full of autumnal activities. Z and E enjoy counting the Leaf Children in this picture:

It is the kind of book that E can curl up with to look at pictures on her own, or we can read together at bedtime. It introduces some of the seasonal changes outside our window and what might be happening in the next few weeks as autumn progresses.

If you live in Bristol it's available from Playful or otherwise online from the publishers Floris Books whch is also my go-to place if I'm looking for special books to give as gifts.

Happy Reading!

Z's Magic Birthday Invitations

It's party time again here with Z's 5th on the horizon. He was actually born in August but I've delayed the party until everyone is back from their holidays. This year the invite has a pull-out tab that turns the number 5 from black and white to colour. I love the way they've turned out, which is good as they were a lot more difficult to make than I thought they would be. J is a graphic designer and he pretty much took over when I got stuck. I got a little frustrated with the precision engineering required to make the pull-out mechanism work properly and lining up the colour with the outline. Now they are finished I'm glad we stuck with it because they are fun and Z absolutely loves them. He will be handing them out today in the envelopes he helped make with simple brown paper and patterned tape.

Bye Bye Summer

The sun always seemed to shine during my childhood summer holidays. I hope my children grow up with similar sunlit memories of their own.

We spent the last two weeks of August in Cornwall. The first at Cornish Tipi Holidays on the North coast and the second on the South coast in Fowey where J comes from. My highlights include:

• Melting jelly babies over a campfire
• Picking blackberries from the hedgerows
• Taking a walk along the coast with E wearing her fairy wings
• V paddling in rock pools
• Finding starfish at Readymoney Cove
• Swimming at Kynance Cove - one of my very favourite Cornish beaches
• Z learn to drive a boat with Granny as his teacher
• Watching the Eden Project's 10th anniversary circus show
• Spotting shooting stars whilst the children were asleep in the tipi
• Wild swimming in the beautiful lake at Cornish Tipi Holidays

Much as I love our time away, it's good to back at home and back into the rhythm of school. Z started a new school year, E started pre-school today and on Thursday V and I will be going to the parent and child sessions at our local Steiner School. It feels right to be saying goodbye to summer and hello to a new season.