To go with this week’s story The Ox-Cart Man, our craft for the week was making our own candles. Since working with hot wax really isn’t an option with young kiddos, I ordered a Natural Beeswax Candle kit from one of my favorite stores… A Toy Garden. I could not find anything local but fortunately Sonya ships super quick 🙂 and we got our supplies in just a couple days.
The kit came with 6 sheets of beeswax and wicks. The project was simple enough. Cut the wick slightly longer than the width of the beeswax. Place the wick along the edge at one end and carefully turn over the edge of the wax to hold it in place. Roll the wax slowly and tightly. You want room temp or slightly warmer wax to avoid cracking. The directions suggested using a hair dryer to warm the wax slightly. Our wax was fine at room temp in the sunny dinning room. Once rolled, hand press or roll the top edge firmer to tapper the top. Trim up the wick and tada… your very own candle! A Toy Garden also sells colored wax sheets that you can use to cut out shapes and such to decorate your candles if you would like. For our first go we were happy with au natural. They are the perfect candles for our nature table.
The girls really liked the smell of the beeswax… hence the silly photos. BTW – we were left with a waxy residue on the table. I would suggest using painting boards or maybe wax paper on the table if you would like to protect it.
I can’t believe that it is November already! We always host Thanksgiving for our family at our house. This means you will be seeing lots of crafts and projects from us preparing for this festive time of year.
Week Ten (Nov 3-8)
Ox-Cart Man
Farmer’s Market Rounding
J is for Jasmine
We will be coloring the Jasmine page from our Flower Fairies Alphabet Coloring Book and reading the accompanying story in the Flower Fairies Alphabet Book.
I am trying to track down the supplies locally (since I didn’t get a chance to order them) to make beeswax candles.
I would like to visit a couple of our local shops that sell handmade items… maybe get some new candles that smell like pumpkin pie and such.
Gingerbread Cookies
INGREDIENTS
1 (3.5 ounce) package cook and serve butterscotch pudding mix
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
DIRECTIONS
In a medium bowl, cream together the dry butterscotch pudding mix, butter, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon; stir into the pudding mixture. Cover, and chill dough until firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease baking sheets. On a floured board, roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thickness, and cut into man shapes using a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies are golden at the edges. Cool on wire racks.
Over the River and Through the Woods (or A Boy’s Thanksgiving Day)
Over the river, and through the wood,
To Grandmother’s house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
through the white and drifted snow.
Over the river, and through the wood –
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose
As over the ground we go.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To have a first-rate play.
Hear the bells ring, “Ting-a-ling-ding”,
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Over the river, and through the wood
Trot fast, my dapple-gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting-hound,
For this is Thanksgiving Day.
Over the river, and through the wood –
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow,
It is so hard to wait!
Over the river, and through the wood –
Now Grandmother’s cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!
by Lydia Maria Child
Kindergarten/Preschool Term One Overview: Harvest Time