27 April 2014

Beltane Craft Decorative Maypole Wreath

This article is part of Kallan's wonderful Sunday Stew. Please hop on over and read all the different flavors added by each chef. I know that you will love it!




Beltane is a beautifully colorful celebration day with ribbons, flowers, and summer just around the corner. It is one of my favorites. I don't know if you will like the craft that I have thought of, I hope you do. Maypoles are so pretty with their braided ribbons and flowers.

I thought of capturing the maypole as a decoration to put inside the home on a wreath. It was a fairly easy project, but it is a bit messy, so it is best done outside. 

You'll need:

Wreath
Mesh ribbon
Dowel rod
Different colored ribbons
Flowers
Hot glue
Hat pin
Moss
Floral foam half ball

When I ran to the store to get my supplies, it was last minute. They were sold out of grapevine wreath, but they had the straw wreath. After I bought the straw wreath, I realized it was better suited for what I wanted to do.

Let me forewarn you, I was winging it while I made the pics. Kind of making it up as I went along on my merry wreath-making way. Soooo, I end up making an adjustment towards the end. You'll see in the pics.

After my wreath, make sure that you check out all the other crafts that I've found. There are some really good ones.

Okay, first take your straw wreath and wrap it with your mesh ribbon.



I folded my me
sh in half before I wrapped the wreath.


















I basically attached the foam ball where I wanted it with hot glue.

I took the ends of the ribbons and nailed them to the top end of the dowel. I fold the ends before I attached them. I left the sticking out a bit so that the ribbons could move around and I could position them.


















After I attached the ribbons, I just kind of wound them in and out of each other, like it there were people that danced around the maypole with them. This is not easy, and I also could not stop to take pics of the process, sorry.

Here is the wreath with the mesh, the foam ball, the dowel, and the ribbons.


















After you attach the pole, now you can "place" the ribbons on your wreath.

Like this. I just twisted and curled them and dabbed a bit of glue to hold in place every so often.


















I used the orange ribbon to decorate the pole, and I kind of twisted it around the pole.


















Then I decided that I didn't like the pole being so tall and I removed everything and cut an inch off the bottom of the foam base to make it shorter and I cut around 2 1/2 inches off of the dowel. I wanted a shorter pole.




You can see in this pic how much shorter from the top of the wreath it is. 

After your dowel is attached, you can glue the moss to the foam ball, and then drape the ribbon on that as well. Underneath the foam ball I attached a mesh ribbon with a hat pin. Then I added flowers here and there. Some smaller flowers were added to the foam ball and then I put some larger flowers at the top of the wreath.




And there it is, the finished wreath!

Here it is hanging outside, I had to move it to the side a bit, my sun doorknocker was in the middle. You can see it peeking on the right.



I also looked for other Beltane craft ideas that you can do for yourself or with your kids.


A Felt Green Man Mask






                                                              A May Day basket:




A children's Maypole




A deer antler headdress





A Mayday Book




The above book has a song on it's pages, here it is:


                                              


A link to compiled crafts





A ribbon wand




A RAINBOW wand!!




Flower crowns and necklaces



How to make a green man


                                          







20 April 2014

Chakra Series: Solar Plexus Chakra and Your Unlimited Power





This week's focus will be on the 3rd chakra, the solar plexus, the Manipura. The Manipura is your power center. It is the home of your magical power. Have you been feeling as though your magics need a boost or that you are in a magical slump? Then here is where you need to start looking to fix it.

Your ego, your self, your courage, and your ambition are all controlled by this chakra. You will be able to stand your ground, make goals and stick with them, and you will know your self-worth. It is interesting that your courage rests in this chakra and cowards are called yellow-bellied. Because the more courage you have the more brilliant this chakra will shine.

This chakra is a beautiful fiery golden yellow. It is your sun, your furnace, your source of unlimited power. This is also a source of your prosperity. I know you would like to get this in good working order.

With this chakra in smooth running order your possibilities will be unlimited. You will be able to create your world as you want it. You won't just see how you want your life, but you will be able to follow through with it. You will have your power and know how to use it.

So, how do you build the fire in your power furnace?

"With the realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability, one can build a better world." ~His Holiness, the Dalai Lama

First we will look at the symptoms of Manipura deficiency:

shame
low energy
victim mentality
indigestion
ulcers
irritable bowel syndrome
diverticulitis
low self esteem
tendency to be cold, physically and emotionally
easily manipulated
eating disorders
muscular disorders or spasms


Your solar plexus is where your "gut feeling" intuition originates. When it is out of balance, you will have a hard time differentiating what your gut is telling you.

If your Manipura is in BALANCE you will have:

confidence
a great sense of humor
an ego that is in balance
a warm personality
and a good self esteem
prosperity
bliss
self-assurance
wisdom in decisions

Manipura means jewel (mani) place, city (pura)
This chakra sits in the upper portion of your abdomen between your diaphram and naval.

Associations with this chakra include:

Musical note E
Deities Vishnu and Lakshmi
Ten petaled lotus
Ram mantra
The fire element
The sense of smell
Pancreas
Digestive system
Gall bladder
Liver
Adrenals

As always, you can also have an overabundance. Symptoms include:

Aggression
Hunger for power
Temper tantrums
Manipulative
Arrogance
Hyperactivity
Competitive








What are some things that you can do to balance your Manipura?




1. As always, meditate:



2. Yoga poses for the solar plexus chakra:



3. I love this series: 



4. And of course, some of the stones that you want to work with:

Of course the stones you want to work with are going to be anything in the fire colors, orange/red/yellow. Some of the stones that I listed on the root chakra and the sacral chakra can be used since they use the red and orange colors. Also, I previously did not take pics of hematite, but it is an excellent stone for all three chakras, so I finally took a pic of it today.

Orange calcite helps with irritable bowels syndrome, problems with your gall bladder, and general intestinal disorders. It also helps depression and will clear away tensions and anxiety.

This one helps you with decision making and clear thinking. And also action for getting things done.

Amber helps out your spleen, liver, and gallbladder. It also helps for you to have a sunny disposition and works to boost your self-confidence.

Boosts your energy and works on your liver, endocrine glands, and your gall bladder. It helps to strengthen the solar plexus chakra by clearing the aura and releasing tensions.


Prehnite is more of a green color, but it is a golden green. It helps not just your solar plexus chakra but it also will help with the next chakra in the series, the heart chakra. Prehnite helps by enhancing your precognition which will help with your judgement skills, your "gut feelings".

Hematite helps with nervousness and anxiety and also increases intuition. It also helps with OCD and eating disorders.



I hope that you are enjoying the chakra series.

Brightest Blessings,
Saga

























12 April 2014

Full Fish Moon and Abundance Wish Box



This beautiful full moon has several names. They include: Pink Moon,  Fish Moon,  Sprouting Grass Moon, and the Egg Moon. There are other names, but these are the most well known. When I pick a name to use for my Full Moon blog, I look for one that I can easily pair with a story, or a spell, or a craft........or a blend of all. I honestly had a hard time choosing a name this time. In the end I decided to go with Fish Moon. It has a Native American story, I can pair it with abundance. I mean....Pink Moon isn't the easiest thing to work with.

The reason the Native Americans called this the Full Fish Moon was because of a fish known as the Shad. Shad arrived when they were reaching the very end of the food stores. So, the arrival was met with happiness and celebration from the people. It marked the return of Spring.

Swimming from the ocean to the upper parts of rivers to spawn, they are similar to salmon. Shad are sweet in flavor, but they have over 700 bones! The Algonquin gave the fish a name because of the excessive bones, "porcupine fish turned inside out".

According to the legend, the porcupine was complaining to the Great Spirit about his life. As a reply the Great Spirit turned him inside out and threw him into the river! He then turned into a fish, the Shad.

I also wanted to show you this beautiful craft. I ran across it while I was thinking about what I wanted to do. I am planning on making myself a couple of these. This site has excellent photos of the process. I think those of you that are crafty will love it. It would also make a lovely little wish box.

This would be a good craft to make with a child. It can help with manifestation skills. To use the box after you have finished making it, just write your wish on a piece of paper and hold it in your hand and "pour" your wish into your wish paper. See the wish manifest itself out. Place the wish in the box and forget about it. If you would like you can add some stones that help to attract what pertains to your wishes. For instance, ruby can be put in there for health, malachite for abundance, etc.

Okay, my craft is just a wooden box that I have covered in clay. I added some stones and a cloissone fish to the top.


I started with just a simple wood box. Nothing fancy or expensive.

I cover it entirely in clay and add my stones and decorations to the top.


Top view before baking.

I pop it in the oven at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.



                                                
I now basecoat the clay in gray and add little clay "pebbles" in different sizes. 
I bake it again for 20 minutes.


Now I paint the pebbles just random colors. I used blue, purple, pink, flesh and brown. I left a few white. I also painted the spirals with a pearl. When I was finished I coated the top with a glitter. It's nothing fancy, but I think it turned out very cute.



I hope you enjoyed the story and the craft. Brightest blessings to you and please enjoy the beautiful full moon and the lunar eclipse!

Here's an added link about the lunar eclipse: