A Nature Shelf! {week 4, October 2012}

What every Nature Shelf needs! A Pumpkin Gnome!

And I'm pleased to let you all know that my anxiety around making this little gnomie was significantly less than expected - yay!


What are you doing this week to being a little bit of nature into your home? What is on your Nature Table this month?  Feel free to share in the comments below; I'd love to hear from you!

A Nature Shelf! {week 2, October 2012}

Pumpkins just exude happiness, don't you think!

Of course, for the October Nature Shelf, we could hardly do something other than pumpkins to represent the plant world, could we?!

These little beauties were found at our local CSA farm; The Little Guy was so excited to bring home these mini pumpkins.


What do you have on your Nature Table this week? what are you doing to bring a little bit of Nature into your home? Feel free to share in the comments below; I'd love to hear from you!

Living Simply

This blog used to be called Crunchy in the 'Burbs. When I first started writing this a couple of years ago, that was my main focus. It was really important for my family to live a 'crunchy' lifestyle (organic foods, to live with a light environmental step, as consciously as possible).

Which is wonderful ... but over the course of the past two years, life here in the CrunchyBurbs home has seen some significant changes, namely two new little ones, our twins Baby Girl and My Little Boy.

Life went from busy to just flat out crazed with occasional dips into merely hectic.

Our focus slowly, slowly went from living as organically as possible to just living.  And then, I found that for our little family, the key to our success was to live as Simply as possible.

For us that means letting go of stuff, both physical and emotional, slowing down, more love, less drama.

So, we turned off the television, gave away a lot of stuff (toys and clutter), we take more walks, and do more craft projects. We bake and cook more, and heat and eat less. We go to fewer kid's classes, but spend more time poking around in the garden.  We spend less time in the car, and more time just hanging out.

My days are still busy, but I'm more likely to be worn out from building playsilk forts than chasing little ones around the mall.

So here we are, Simply ... in the 'Burbs!

A little sunshine

Sometimes it really is that simple ... all we need is a little sunshine!

A Nature Shelf! (September 2012, week 3)

If this week's Nature Shelf had a theme, it would have to be 'preparation is key'.

Somehow the idea that I would have to do something to be ready for the new week, and adding an item representing the animal kingdom, totally escaped me, until I found myself scrambling at the last minute. Not good.

But I found a couple of sweet little birds that I had tucked away, and made a little nest out of some wool roving ... and there we have it; birds in a nest.  Which is really more spring-like, than representative of approaching Fall, but it's something at least!

A Nature Shelf! {September 2012, week 2}

My little Nature Shelf is taking shape!

In the Waldorf tradition, your Nature Table should reflect the seasonal changes in your natural environment. For us here in Virginia, that means the first inklings of Fall are in the air.

The Nature Table is changed each month, with little additions made each week.

In week 1, along with your basics (home dyed playsilks and, for me, a gingerbread (gnome!) house we made a couple of months ago) you add items from the mineral world. I used some tumbled Crystals.

For week 2, you would add items to reflect the plant, and natural world. I added a blue playsilk and some pinecones and seed pods that we've collected on recent walks.

Next week, for week 3, I'll be adding a representative from the animal world.

And for the fourth week of the month, something from the human, or magical world (I like to add gnomes!)

But, really, my favorite part of the Nature Shelf is making the small changes and additions for the week, and then letting my four year old, The Little Guy, discover it. "Oh - look, Mama! Look what the gnomes did to the Nature Shelf!" Truly, it is the stuff that childhood dreams and flights of fancy are made of!

I'll be posting updates of our Nature Shelves ... I can't wait to see what the gnomes do next ;-)