I'm delighted that Thanksgiving has fallen so early this year, thus giving us an extra week for Christmas and Solstice preparations and gift making. My Earthways book has a wonderful section on making gifts with very young children. Since we grow our own oranges, the pomander balls seems like a perfect choice.
I'm not an experienced pomander ball maker, but so far I'm really impressed. Our first pomander (still a work in progress, actually) is smelling fantastic! This is a project that Dieter can make for the adults in his life. Of course, at not-yet-three he needs lots of help, but I can say he is fully participating. It's much easier to insert the cloves into the oranges if you make a hole first (Dieter likes doing this with the oven-thermometer, with lots of supervision, of course). 
This is what we've gotten so far.
I figure these can be an ongoing project throughout the holiday season. We want him to experience giving, and children this age are just so natural that way, I think. He has no concept that he's going to get any toys for Christmas. Making gifts for others is just as fun.And my own gift making? It's very slow, but I'm determined to follow through! I'll keep you posted.
2 comments:
I'm learning to needle felt. I made a sheep. The kids (and almost everyone else) says it looks like a panda. Kris, who taught me the technique, very generously said it looked like a sheep. I may make everyone a sheepanda for gifts.
We love making pomander balls. I don't know if you know but if you roll them in a mixture of orris root and cinnamon they will last soooo long. You can usually get orris root at your local health food store. Hope you make lots more-we're starting ours this week too!
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